After Abram (he was not given the name Abraham until he was 99 years of age when he was told by God that he and Sarai, who was now to be named Sarah, and who was 89, would have a son) rescued his kin from captivity, King Melchizedek of Salem,"a priest of God Most High", brought out bread and wine and blessed him.
Melchizedek is an interesting figure. Jesus himself is said (in the Christian Holy Book) to be "a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek." There is a spiritual lineage here which continues to exist including and transcending Jewish-Islamic-Christian bounds.(Painting by Dieric Bouts, 1462)
Hi George:
ReplyDeleteFascinating post. I looked about a bit and found this:
The Second Book of Enoch suggests that Melchizedek was the only son of Sofonim (or Sopanima), the wife of Nir, a brother of Noah. Sopanim conceived without knowing the father, and the child came out from his mother after she had died and sat on the bed beside her corpse, already physically developed, clothed, speaking and blessing the Lord, and marked with the badge of priesthood. Forty days later, Melchizedek was taken by the archangel Gabriel (Michael in some manuscripts) to the Garden of Eden and was thus preserved from the Deluge without having to be in Noah's Ark.
This suggests to me that Mel was some sort of diety. Perhaps a part of the polytheistic pantheon Genesis implies? I discovered that some traditions treat Mel as an incarnation of Jesus Christ--perhaps as a result of the virgin birth referred to above? Anyways, thanks for a thought provoking post!
Brad
It strikes me that the virgin birth story (especially with Melchizedek) is also a resurrection story. The new born arises out of the corpse of the old.
ReplyDeleteI am also aware that the divine and human realms not only sit side by side, but intermerge while remaining distinct. The two are interdependent: the divine requires / creates the human as its forming, the human requires the divine as its creator. It takes the two to tango this reality.
In the line of Melchizedek we are Light bearers which is what a priest (as mentioned in the reference above to Jesus) really is -- a Light bearer (and we do not just bear it, as in endure it, but are more like Light re-joy-cers and rejuicers -- get that joy juice flowing again) -- forever -- in the same lineage and order as Melchizedek -- a very long line of Light that continues unbroken inside and outside of all history.