Melchizedek King of Salem (Genesis 14:17-24)

2022-08-20

Abram’s encounter with the mysterious king Melchizedek was after the miraculous defeat of Chedorlaomer’s alliance by the Hebrew’s band of 318 men. Five vassal kings could not defeat their lords, but this band slaughtered them. After this war, we see Abram’s interaction with two kings: of Salem and of Sodom.

Melchizedek was a king of Salem and a priest of “the most high God” (Genesis 14:18). He blessed Abram in this fashion:

And he blessed him, and said, Blessed be Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth: And blessed be the most high God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And he gave him tithes of all. (Genesis 14:19-20)

The king blessed Abraham because he was “of the most high God.” The most high God is “possessor of heaven and earth.” As Creator, He owns all; He owns us, and all that we have. The blessing also includes a blessing to God Himself. That God was the same that “hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand.” Like Gideon and his 300 men, one knew that such a defeat must have come from the Lord. “After these things the word of the LORD came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward” (Genesis 15:1). The gift to Melchizedek came after the blessing.

The king of Sodom also tried to bless Abram, but with physical reward: “And the king of Sodom said unto Abram, Give me the persons, and take the goods to thyself” (Genesis 14:21). Maybe this king’s intentions were noble. After all, he was just delivered from the suzerain kings, and perhaps he was grateful. Knowing the background of his nation (“But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the LORD exceedingly” according to Genesis 13:13), they most likely were not. Abram responded:

And Abram said to the king of Sodom, I have lift up mine hand unto the LORD, the most high God, the possessor of heaven and earth, That I will not take from a thread even to a shoelatchet, and that I will not take any thing that is thine, lest thou shouldest say, I have made Abram rich: Save only that which the young men have eaten, and the portion of the men which went with me, Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre; let them take their portion. (Genesis 14:22-24)

First, note that Abram referred to God in the same way that Melchizedek did: “the most high God, the possessor of heaven and earth.” He also uses His personal name, Jehovah. There is no God higher, and He is the Creator/Owner of all. He provides for the needs of His people, not the pagan world, of which the king of Sodom was part. If anyone is going to bless Abram, be it physically or spiritually, it is going to be God, not the world. He did not speak for his confederates, Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre; he let them decide what they would do with their share of any spoils.

We belong to the Lord only. We do not need what the world has to offer, only what comes from him.

A further discussion of the theological implications of the king Melchizedek in Psalm 110:4 and in the book of Hebrews will be discussed elsewhere.