Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was the priest of God Most High. And he blessed [Abram]… Genesis 14:18-19

Melchizedek is a biblical mystery man. He appears only three times in the Bible. Historically, he appears only once, in Genesis 14, where he is called a king and a priest of the Most High God. In that passage, Melchizedek “brings out bread and wine,” he pronounces a blessing on Abram (Abraham’s name had not yet been changed), and Abram honors him by giving him a tenth of the spoil from the spoils of the war in which Abram liberated Lot. That is it.

And by the way: (1) Bread and wine had no religious significance at that time like we now know because of the Lord’s Supper. And (2) The tenth was not necessarily a “tithe” as we know it since the law of tithing had not yet been established.

Melchizedek is referred to in Psalm 110, and in chapters 5-7 of Hebrews; and in each case he is presented messianicly, as a type of Christ. The emphasis is on the Jesus the Messiah, not on one who merely foreshadowed Him.

I do not point these things out to speak ill of Melchizedek. He had a measure of important—but only because he was a “type” of Christ.

Sadly, some who do not know how to read the Bible, make much of Melchizedek, in a way that diminishes Christ. The Mormons have a “priesthood of Melchizedek” completely made up! The Roman Catholic church views Melchizedek, not only as a prefigurement of Jesus, but also of Roman Catholic priests who offer the sacrifice of bread and wine in their “Eucharist” (which is similar, but very different from Christian Communion).

Can you see that in both cases, the importance of Melchizedek is inflated, and Christ’s importance is deflated? Let us insist that Christ is ALL!