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Chapter-a-Day

The Mystery of Melchizedek

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Melchizedek
Melchizedek (Photo credit: Lawrence OP)

Chapter-a-Day Genesis 14

And Melchizedek, the king of Salem and a priest of God Most High, brought Abram some bread and wine. Genesis 14:18 (NLT)

Time to put on your Geek glasses this morning and connect some dots. Melchizedek appears in today’s chapter. Mel is an interesting figure on the landscape of God’s story. Let me share a few reasons:

In today’s chapter, Melchizedek is called “priest of God Most high” but he lived and is identified as “priest” many centuries before the priestly system of the Old Testament was established in the Law of Moses. At this point of history, there is no mention of an organized and systematic worship of God. We’re not sure who Melchizedek really was or where he came from.

In the lyrics of Psalm 100, David refers to God as “High Priest in the order of Melchizedek.” It presumes a divine and priestly position separate, older, and greater than the priestly system established in the Law of Moses.

After Jesus’ death and resurrection, a great conflict rose up among the Jewish followers of Jesus and their Jewish leaders. Those who did not believe that Jesus was the Messiah argued that He couldn’t possibly be because the Messiah would be God’s “High Priest” but priests in the law of Moses could only be from the tribe of Levi. Jesus was from the tribe of Judah. It’s an interesting argument anyway because prophecy clearly pointed out the that Messiah would also be King in the line of King David of the tribe of Judah, so how one person could be King from the line of Judah and Priest from the line of Levi at the same time is a head scratcher.

In the book of Hebrews (see chapter 7), this argument about Jesus having to have come from the tribe of Levi is addressed. The author points out that Jesus is, indeed, God’s High Priest, but not from the earthly system established by Moses through the tribe of Levi, but through the older and more eternal order of Melchizedek just as David established in his song.

Notice that when Melchizedek goes to meet Abram he brings bread and wine, a interesting parallel to Jesus’ last supper when He established bread and wine as a metaphor of His eternal sacrifice.

One of the cool things about an ongoing journey through God’s Message is the way the layers of time, teaching, and tradition fit together in the larger story that God is telling. I’ve always said that those who avoid reading and learning about the story of the Old Testament are missing the opportunity to mine the depths of meaning that exist in the life and teachings of Jesus.

Chapter-a-Day

Don’t Worry, It’s on the List

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Chapter-a-Day Psalm 56

You keep track of all my sorrows.
    You have collected all my tears in your bottle.
    You have recorded each one in your book.
Psalm 56:8 (NLT)

Lists. My life is full of lists. Wendy is the Queen of the Lists. Her royal highness manages the Vander Well realm via a series of lists. There is the white board calendar list which used to list our daughters schedules, but now lists our evening meals for the week. There is the kitchen grocery list that is updated any time you use the last of something in the kitchen. There is the Playhouse list of what needs to go to the lake. The other day I was asked to print the rehearsal list for the theatre. I have a work list, a honey-do list, and a list of people to call. I have a list of chapters we’ve covered on this chapter-a-day journey. There’s a list of DVDs we own, a “must see” movie list, and a list of movies in our queue. My computer holds mailing lists, show lists, and cast lists.

This post is beginning to feel like Dr. Seuss.

Big list. Little list. List, list, list.
How many lists must I insist
on managing all that life persists
to throw my way as I exist?

In the days when David wrote the lyric of today’s psalm, kings and rulers in authority were known to be keepers of lists and records. Because the written word was rare and reserved almost exclusively for rulers, it was a big deal for Kings to have anything that was written down read to them. Sometimes, if the king had a bout of insomnia for example, he would ask his servants to read from the records, chronicles and lists. In doing so, he would sometimes run across an item on the list on which he would act. There are at least two very clear references of God using circumstances like this to fulfill His purposes in the old stories:

In the story of Esther: “That night the king could not sleep; so he ordered the book of the chronicles, the record of his reign, to be brought in and read to him.” (the chapter-a-day entries for this chapter from 2009 and from 2012)

In the story of Josiah: “Then Shaphan the secretary informed [King Josiah], ‘Hilkiah the priest has given me a book.’ And Shaphan read from it in the presence of the king.” (the chapter-a-day entry for this chapter)

When David’s lyrics refer to his tears being stored up and his troubles recorded, the image he is creating is that of his lament being written on God’s royal record. It is chronicled and will not be forgotten by God who sits on the throne. God sees. God knows. It will not be forgotten. It’s written on the list.

We all go through periods of life when we feel alone. Our troubles seem so huge. Our prayers seem to hit the ceiling and bounce back. We wonder if God is listening. We question whether God even cares.

Today, I’m reminded that God says the number of my days is already accounted for in His records. My name is recorded in His book. Even the decreasing number of hairs on my head is on a list somewhere in heaven’s royal archive. Certainly, I am not abandoned despite the intensity of my feelings to the contrary. My troubles are not forgotten. My cares are known.

 

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Chapter-a-Day

Chapter-a-Day Hosea 3

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Hoshea was the last king of the Israelite King...
Hoshea was the last king of the Israelite Kingdom of Israel and son of Elah. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

This shows that Israel will go a long time without a king or prince, and without sacrifices, sacred pillars, priests, or even idols! But afterward the people will return and devote themselves to the Lord their God and to David’s descendant, their king. In the last days, they will tremble in awe of the Lord and of his goodness. Hosea 3:4-5 (NLT)

Hosea was a prophet and his book is part of the Hebrew books of prophecy. It is impossible to read them and not think about their message in the context of history, time, and events. This morning, these two verses caught my eye for their prophetic nature.

Israel will go a long time without a king or prince… Indeed, Hoshea was the last king of Israel and he finished his reign in 712 B.C. Even if we count Zedekiah who was the last king of the southern nation of Judah, we only make it to 586 B.C. So, we’re now at roughly 2500 years Israel has been without a king.

without sacrifices, sacred pillars, priests, or even idols!…  When Jerusalem was destroyed by the Romans just 40 years after Jesus’ death and resurrection, all of the Hebrews’ extensive genealogical records were destroyed along with the temple. Because God’s law specifically requires that the priestly and sacrificial systems be carried out by sons of Aaron and Levi, the sacking of Rome made it impossible for these systems to continue. It’s been nearly 2000 years.

But afterward the people will return…. Israel’s statehood in 1948 has resulted in millions returning to their native land.

and devote themselves to the Lord their God and to David’s descendant, their king…. What’s interesting about this is that the destruction of the genealogical records in 70 A.D.  make it nearly impossible to determine who is a direct descendant of King David. Yet Jesus’ family tree exists. The line through both his mother and his earthly father is recorded in the gospels and traced back to David.

In the last days, they will tremble in awe of the Lord and of his goodness. Today, I feel like I’m living out this prophecy as I ponder in wonder. I’m amazed at God’s story, His plan, and His prophets. I’m grateful to be living in such amazing times and witnessing so much from  a man walking on the moon to the ability of holding more information than all the ancient libraries combined in the palm of my hand. At the same time, I’m reminded that it is all part of a larger plan and story that God is telling through human history. It was foretold through the ancient prophets, has been working itself out and is yet coming to be.

Chapter-a-Day

Chapter-a-Day Psalm 21

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The king rejoices in your strength, Lord. Psalm 21:1

I’ve been thinking a lot about leadership lately as I seek God’s help in molding me into a more capable leader.

This past week I’ve been personally disappointed by two different leaders. There is a unique difference between the two.

I am confident that one of them rejoices in God’s strength and places his trust in God. While he has disappointed me to the point of hurt, I find it easy to forgive and submit to his leadership despite the mistakes I feel he is making.

I am unsure exactly where the other puts his trust, which is unnerving to me. His word and actions appear to me to reveal that his strength is in himself and flawed mankind. I find myself repelled. I don’t trust him.

Today I am reminded to find my strength in God, both as a leader and as a follower.

Chapter-a-Day

Chapter-a-Day Zechariah 9

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Ticker tape parade for presidential candidate ...
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“Shout and cheer, Daughter Zion!
   Raise the roof, Daughter Jerusalem!
Your king is coming!
   a good king who makes all things right,
   a humble king riding a donkey,
   a mere colt of a donkey.” Zechariah 9:9 (MSG)

I think about the mental images in my mind of Kings and Generals marching victorious into their cities. I see in mind the rows upon rows of German troops with Hitler riding in his car up Paris’ Champs-Elysees’ with the Arc de Triomph in the background. I see American heroes riding through Manhattan, the sky so thick with ticker-tape that you’d think it was a blizzard. I envision massive crowds, starched dress uniforms, and and polished dress shoes reflecting the noonday sun like millions of tiny mirrors on the streets. I imagine the impressive site of row upon row of Roman legion with their bright red capes flowing in the wind as they march through the streets of Rome.

I contrast that with the fulfillment of Zechariah’s prophecy. I can picture King Jesus on a small donkey with his hapless parade of simpleton followers; Fishermen and yokels from out in the sticks north of Galilee marching into Jerusalem’s gate for the Passover. No wonder the mighty Roman Governor, Pontius Pilate,  looked with incredulity when the beaten, bloody Jesus was brought to him by the religious power brokers less than a week later.

“This guy? A king?!” I can hear him say. “Seriously? You’ve got to be kidding me.”

Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place.” John 8:36 (NIV)

One of the things I love about Jesus, one of the things that leads me to believe that he is exactly who He claimed to be, is that He is not like any of the others my history books describe. He is a King, though not of this world.

Jesus is nothing that I have come to expect, and everything that I’ve discovered I need.

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