1This Melchizedek was king of Salem and priest of God Most High. He met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him, 2and Abraham apportioned to him a tenth of everything. First, his name means “king of righteousness.” Then also, “king of Salem” means “king of peace.” 3Without father or mother or genealogy, without beginning of days or end of life, like the Son of God, he remains a priest for all time.
4Consider how great Melchizedek was: Even the patriarch Abraham gave him a tenth of the spoils. 5Now the Law commands the sons of Levi who become priests to collect a tenth from the people (that is, their brothers), even though they are descended from Abraham. 6But Melchizedek, who did not trace his descent from Levi, collected a tenth from Abraham and blessed him who had the promises. 7And indisputably, the lesser is blessed by the greater.
8In the case of the Levites, mortal men collect the tenth; but in the case of Melchizedek, it is affirmed that he lives on. 9And so to speak, Levi, who collects the tenth, paid the tenth through Abraham. 10For when Melchizedek met Abraham, Levi was still in the loin of his ancestor.
To properly understand these verses one must read the referenced verses, Genesis 14:17-24
David Guzik commentary highlights;
a. The writer to the Hebrews wants to remove these intellectual problems the Jewish Christians had with the gospel. These intellectual hang-ups kept them from continuing on to maturity in Jesus.
b. In the same way, many Christians are hung up on intellectual issues that could be resolved, allowing them to move on with Jesus. If a Christian is hung up on issues like creation and evolution, the validity of miracles, or other such things, they should get the issues resolved so they can move on with Jesus.
e. Without father, without mother: There is nothing said about the genealogy of Melchizedek in the Genesis 14 passage or anywhere else. As far as the Biblical record is concerned, he has no father or mother, no beginning of days nor end of life. “We see but little of him, yet we see nothing little in him.” (Spurgeon)
i. Though virtually all the commentators disagree with each other on this point, some think that without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the Son of God means that Melchizedek was a heavenly being, if not a pre-incarnate appearance of Jesus Himself.
You see, the Jews had an issue with Jesus because He came from the wrong tribe. He didn't descend from the Levites, the tribe of priesthood set by Moses with the Law. The writer of Hebrews was explaining to the Jews that Abraham gave a tenth of spoils, (tithes) to Melchizedek who was without father or mother and was before Levi, in fact while Levi was still in the loins of his ancestors.
I recall while volunteering as a chaplain at the Arizona State Veterans Home another chaplain and I crossed paths. He was from a hospice organization. We cordially discussed our chaplain corps and then he asked me the question. The Holy Spirit guided my answer. What divinity school did I graduate from? I knew from his implied question his insinuation due to the fact he had already stated his graduating divinity school. My reply was simply, I graduated from the divinity school of Moses.
"b. In the same way, many Christians are hung up on intellectual issues that could be resolved, allowing them to move on with Jesus." David Guzik
Tomorrow, the Heavenly Priesthood!
If you care to go deeper into David Guzik' commentary here is the link for Hebrews 7;
https://enduringword.com/bible-commentary/hebrews-7/
Blessings, David
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