He is merciful, even when wielding the rod of correction

“I am in great distress. Please let us fall into the hand of the LORD, for His mercies are great; but do not let me fall into the hand of man.”
2 Samuel 24:14

Driven by pride, David made a big mistake.  He set out to count the people in Israel, presumably so that he could see how great His kingdom was.  God sent Gad, a prophet, to rebuke the king.  God determined to discipline David.  Yes, God disciplines those He loves (Hebrews 12:5-11).

God gave David three choices: (1) Seven years of famine, (2) Three months fleeing from his enemies, or (3) Three days of a plague.  David chose number three, resigning himself into the hands of God rather than to the hands of men.  Why?  Because David knew that even in discipline, God is merciful.

How do we handle the chastening of the Lord?  It certainly is not pleasant, but it does “yield the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.”(Hebrews 12:11).  Let us not, therefore, “despise the chastening of the Lord, nor be discouraged when we are rebuked by Him.” It is proof of His love. (Hebrews 12:5-6).

Let us realize that we are safe and secure in His hands, even in the midst of His displeasure.  He is merciful, even when wielding the rod of correction.

Anybody lack patience or self-control?

And the princes of the people of Ammon said to Hanun their lord, "Do you think that David really honors your father because he has sent comforters to you? Has David not rather sent his servants to you to search the city, to spy it out, and to overthrow it?" 2 Samuel 10:3 

In sincerity David sent condolences to the king of Ammon when the previous king (the new king’s father) died (v.1-2).  The new king’s advisers convinced the young king of Ammon that David had sinister motives—which David did not!  The Ammonites wanted to go to war against Israel, but because they were afraid to lose, they hired the Syrians to help (v.6).  Israel defeated both Ammon and Syria (read the rest of the chapter.)

This chapter is a great lesson in not jumping to conclusions about other people—especially when they are doing something kind.  Because the Ammonites misjudged David, they went to war with and lost to Israel.

This chapter is also a great lesson about not joining in a fight that is not your own.  Because the Syrians joined the Ammonites in a fight that was not their own (and one that the Ammonites shouldn’t have been in either), they too were defeated by Israel.

Patience and self-control are two in the list of the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22-23.  May love for Christ and walking in the Spirit produce patience and self-control in us—not to mention not being quick to assign malicious motives to kindnesses shown by others.

Three applications...

LORD, how they have increased who trouble me! Many are they who rise up against me.  (2)  Many are they who say of me, "There is no help for him in God." Selah  (3)  But You, O LORD, are a shield for me, My glory and the One who lifts up my head.
Psalms 3:1-3

David wrote these words when his son, Absalom, led a rebellion against David, seeking to wrench the kingdom from his father.  When you read the narratives of this episode in David’s life (2 Samuel 15-18) it is uncanny how calm David was.  Why?  Because his trust was in the Lord.

Like so many of David’s Psalms, this is a Messianic Psalm in which we can hear Jesus’ voice when Israel rejected their Messiah/King, demanding that He be crucified.  Yet, like David, Jesus was remarkably calm while being nailed to the cross, praying for His Father’s forgiveness for those who drove those nails that tore through His flesh.  Why?  Because He knew He was fulfilling the will of His Father in whom Jesus trusted.

May we, regardless of the severity of our trials, trust in the Lord who “is our shield,” and who “lifts up our heads.”  May we, no matter what befalls us, experience “the peace that passes understanding” (Philippians 4:6-7).

On the "wrong side of history"?

Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.
1 Corinthians 1:20-21

How wise is this world?  The world threatens to “cancel” Christianity because we believe the Bible about such things as gender.  Christianity and the Bible are not new.  In fact (with precious few exceptions) the main stream of the human race has understood the obvious concerning gender. 
(a) There are two: male and female.  (b) Whatever gender one is born as is what that person is for life.  Gender cannot be changed, denied, renamed, or redefined.

Compare that with the new idea that there are multiple genders, that gender is a social construct, is based on feelings, and can be changed.  This idea has only gained popularity in the last 2-3 years—and it keeps morphing.

Those who embrace this new idea insist that Christians who believe the Bible are intolerant, non-inclusive, hateful, and must be “canceled” (excluded from the conversation).

Who is intolerant again?  Though we are condemned for being on “the wrong side of history,” the “woke” crowd knows nothing of history (apart from the last five minutes)!

We must be prepared to be marginalized more and more for our historic Christian beliefs.  I pray that we will not cave in to be accepted by those who hate Christ and His Word.  Christianity appears to be headed in the direction of being “cancelled.”  But the wisdom of God is eternal and the wisdom of this world is not only fleeting, but foolish.

Though the Church is hated by those who disagree with God,
we must not hate those who suffer with gender confusion issues. 
These dear souls need our compassion and our prayers.

When is repentance not repentance?

Then Saul said, “I have sinned. Return, my son David. For I will harm you no more, because my life was precious in your eyes this day. Indeed I have played the fool and erred exceedingly.”
1 Samuel 26:21 

When is repentance not repentance?  Saul sinfully wanted to kill David.  God never allowed him to accomplish that sinister scheme, but Saul kept trying.  David kept running.

David had two perfect opportunities to kill Saul (1 Samuel 24 & 26), which would have halted the madness.  On both occasions, David refused to kill Saul.  David knew that Saul had been chosen by God to be Israel’s first king and David rightly honored Saul’s position, even if Saul was a most dishonorable man!  Instead, David trusted God.

After the second time David spared Saul, Saul was moved to acknowledge his sin, promised not to continue pursuing David, and acknowledged the foolishness of his actions.

Saul proves that mere words of confession and repentance—even when fueled by deep emotion, are not always true repentance.  Though it is true that Christians often confess the same sins over and over, and God is faithful to forgive time and again, true repentance is marked by a genuine desire to turn from sin, and to obedience to the Lord.  Apparently that was not the case for Saul.  He was so blinded by sin that he even resorted to the sin of necromancy (attempting to consult the dead for counsel) since God would not answer him.

Sin not truly repented of will eventually have a blinding effect.  Saul was spiritually blinded by his sin.  Lord, grant us repentance before we are blinded by our sin.

When we will see His face!

As for me, I will see Your face in righteousness; I shall be satisfied when I awake in Your likeness.

Psalm 17:15 

Much of Psalm 17 is made up of David’s laments and cries to the Lord regarding the suffering he experienced because of the attacks from his many enemies.  In many ways Psalm 17 is a Psalm of lament.

But the final verse (v.15) is a beautiful encouragement to one and all whoever we are and no matter how we might suffer in this life.

Dear child or God, your sins are forgiven!  And because of that wonderful fact, we have confidence that when we close our eyes the final time in this life, we will open them to see the Lord Jesus Christ.  We will behold the face of righteousness.  And when we do, we will experience the complete and total satisfaction of being in His likeness.

Let us remind ourselves, as David did, especially when life is rough:  We will see His face!

Jesus bought the field and the bride

“The LORD bless him!” Naomi said to her daughter-in-law. “He has not stopped showing his kindness to the living and the dead.” She added, “That man is our close relative; he is one of our kinsman-redeemers.”
Ruth 2:20

A key element of the book of Ruth is the concept of the “kinsman-redeemer.”  The kinsman-redeemer was a close male relative who, according to Jewish laws, had the privilege/responsibility to help a relative who was in trouble or need.  To maintain family property rights, the kinsman-redeemer had the right to purchase property a relative in need might have sold due to poverty, thus keeping the property “in the family.”

In the book of Ruth, a family sold property due to poverty.  Ruth was a Moabite who married into that family in which all the male heirs had died.  Boaz was a close male relative of the family.  He had the right to buy the property to restore it to the family.  In this case buying the property also meant marrying Ruth.  Honorably, Boaz did both.

As it turned out, Boaz and Ruth were great-grandparents of King David, from whose line Jesus the Messiah would come.

Boaz as a kinsman-redeemer was a prophetic type of Christ.  How?  By his sin, Adam sold the human race and the planet into bondage.  To restore the land, but more importantly the people, a kinsman–redeemer was needed.  Jesus is the ultimate Kinsman-Redeemer.  Only God who is sinless is able (worthy) to buy it all back.  But the kinsman-redeemer had to be a relative (human), so Jesus, who is God, became a human being to be our Relative.

By His death and resurrection, Jesus paid the price to redeem “His people” and the planet.

As Boaz was the wealthy and loving relative who was willing to buy the field and marry Ruth, Jesus is the wealthy and loving relative who has redeemed the Bride (the Church) and the field (the planet).

Footnote:  Ruth was a Moabites—a most undesirable, but that didn’t stop Boaz.   We are undesirable sinners, but that didn’t stop Jesus!  Hallelujah!

Hope.

If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable.
1 Corinthians 15:19

 Christianity gives hope.  Consider the alternative.  Evolution says we are here by chance—a series of accidents that resulted in the cosmos, life and eventually humanity.  If that is true (which it is not) there is little, if any hope.  A few more “chance accidents” and we could all disappear even as the evolutionist insists we appeared in the first place.  Life is meaningless and therefore hopeless, except for a few laughs until we die and revert back to the nothingness from which we evolved.

Christianity on the other hand is hope.  We were created, by God, in His image no less!  This gives us meaning, dignity, and since we have a Creator, it also assigns accountability. Because we all have sinned and are less than perfect, the Bible says we are all destined to judgment.  But God answers that problem too.  Jesus Christ died on the cross to pay the penalty for our sins.  Then He rose from the dead to secure eternal life for all who believe in Him.  If evolution is true, Jesus was only a man.  He died and stayed dead.  But since evolution is not true, we have hope.  He rose, and as many as trust in Him will also rise to eternal live.

Thank God that our hope is not merely in this life.

Do you love God at all?

Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.
Deuteronomy 6:5

As mentioned last time, believers are often concerned about how much they love God, for fear that they do not love Him enough.  R.C. Sproul used to address this concern by asking, “Do you love Him at all?”

Those who said, “No” were then advised to hear and respond to the gospel because they were almost surely not saved.

To those who said, “Yes,” were then counseled to understand that if they loved Jesus at all, that is a strong indicator that they were saved, for those who are not saved do not love God and those who are saved DO!

That counsel was followed by the encouragement to grow in grace and in the knowledge of Christ, which in the hearts of the redeemed will cause love for God to grow!

Our problem regarding loving God is that the word (and indeed the concept of), love has been hijacked.  It is common to think that love is only an exciting emotional set of feelings.  Loving God may involve excitement and emotional feelings, but it is not synonymous with those things.

Loving God is more of a commitment than a feeling.  Those who love God have a desire to engage in certain activities, regardless of their feelings.  What activities are desired by those who love God?  Desire His Word, His Church, prayer, the sacraments, obedience, and desire to please Him—enough to engage in these activities even when you have no particular emotional feelings to do so.

What do you know about loving God?

Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.
Deuteronomy 6:5

Believers are often concerned about how much they love God, for fear that they do not love Him enough.  How much is enough?  The commandment says we are to love Him with all our hearts, souls, and strength—in other words, with every fiber of our being.  Which of us has ever come close to that?  Add to that, our all-out love for Him is to be all the time every second of our lives.  None of us has come close to that either.

If salvation is based on obeying God’s commands, including and especially the command to love God, who can be saved?  No one.

This is why we need a Savior.  This is why God has provided a Savior: Jesus Christ.  As our Savior, Jesus perfectly loves the Father for us because, due to sin, we haven’t and can’t!

Salvation is not based on our keeping God’s commands.  It is based on our trusting in Jesus who has obeyed God’s commands for us, and then gives us His righteousness as though we had only ever obeyed God’s commands perfectly.

Salvation is based on His performance, not ours.  So trust in Him instead of in yourself.  And believe that for those who are “in Christ Jesus,” there is therefore now “no condemnation!” (Romans 8:1)

Do you have reason to praise and worship—and yes, love Him!?

Jesus is our city of refuge...

Then you shall appoint cities to be cities of refuge for you, that the manslayer who kills any person accidentally may flee there.
Numbers 35:11

God’s law about cities of refuge in ancient Israel were God’s answer regarding the difference between murder and accidentally taking another person’s life.  It not only defined the difference, but it made provision for the “manslayer” (the person guilty of involuntary manslaughter) to escape execution, while still maintaining the sanctity of human life.

Simply, if a person accidentally killed someone, to escape the execution at the hands of the “avenger of blood,” he would flee to the city of refuge for protection.  The manslayer would have to remain in the city of refuge until the death of the current high priest, after which he could venture out.  If the avenger of blood did anything to the manslayer after that, the avenger of blood would be guilty of murder.  What gospel application is in this law?

1. While execution for murder was averted, there was still a burden to bear for having taken a life.  This is important because human life is precious, as we are created in the image of God.  This reminds us that doing harm, even unintentionally, is still harmful.

2. Christ is pictured in these cities, since it is to Him that we flee for protection from the consequences of wrongdoing, whether done intentionally or not.

3. That the manslayer was free upon the death of the high priest, we are free from all condemnation as we (a) flee to Christ, and (b) because Jesus, our Great High Priest, did die and has even risen from the dead to give us new and abundant life, even though we have sinned.

An athiest's answer to what is self-existent

Before the mountains were brought forth, Or ever You had formed the earth and the world, Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God. Psalm 90:2

God is from everlasting to everlasting.  C.S Lewis paraphrased “everlasting to everlasting” with these words: “from vanishing point to vanishing point.”  In other words as far as can be imagined—and beyond.  The reality is, we cannot fully comprehend eternity—either future, and certainly not past.  But God is eternal in both directions on the timeline.  There was never a time when God was not.  He has no beginning, and He did not create Himself, or else He created Himself before He existed!  Impossible!

That God did not create Himself means He is eternally self-existent.  The Latin word is aseity, meaning His existence is within Himself.

I recently listened to a conversation between a God-fearing Jewish man and an atheist.  They were discussing the origins of all that is.  The Jewish man (though not believing in Jesus) rightly asserted that God must exist and that nothing else that exists is self-existent.  The atheist acknowledged that the idea that “nothing exploded into being everything” [the big bang] is absurd.  What he was left with is that matter has always existed and is self existent.  With all due respect this is also absurd.

The reality is everything was created by something apart from creation—and that someone is God.

That being true, and the only reasonable explanation, what can we do but bow in worship to our Creator God?

Worship God because of who He is, not because of who you are

All who were numbered of the Levites, whom Moses and Aaron numbered at the commandment of the LORD, by their families, all the males from a month old and above, were twenty-two thousand.
Numbers 3:39

God required a census of Israel, numbering the adult males in each tribe who were 20 years old and older since they were the military.  The smallest and largest tribes were Manasseh (32,200), and Judah (74,600).  The total from all the tribes (except Levi) was 603,550.

The priestly tribe of Levi was numbered separately, since their men were exempted from militarily service, to dedicate themselves to their priestly duties.  The number of the men of Levi (only 22,000) was much smaller than any other tribe.  What makes their low number even more striking is that the males of Levi that were numbered from only 1 month old and older (not 20 years old)!  I am encouraged that even the youngest can worship God!

Each of the 3 clans within the Levite tribe had different, and very specific religious duties.  While only a small number of the Levites offered sacrifices in the tabernacle, most of the Levites’ duties had to do with setting up and taking down the tabernacle, and carrying it as they moved about in the wilderness.  But every member of the Levite tribe was involved in facilitating worship—no matter how glamorous or mundane their assigned task was.

I am also encouraged regarding that it doesn’t matter whether one’s role is upfront, or behind the scenes; seen or unseen.  What matters is that we all do whatever God has called and gifted each one to do—as an act of worship.

Let us worship the Lord!

Why do we read books like Leviticus?

Oh, how I love Your law!  It is my meditation all the  day.
Psalm 119:97

Frances and read Leviticus this past week in our quiet time.  I admit, reading this “book of the law” can be tedious.  Some parts (details about skin diseases) are even “icky”!

Why do we read books like Leviticus?

1. Leviticus is in the Bible and “all Scripture is given by inspiration of God and profitable…” (2 Timothy 3:16-17)

2. Let the law point us to Jesus.  Let us remember that Jesus obeyed God’s law perfectly for us, and suffered every bit of the wrath of God we deserve for breaking God’s Law.  Be reminded of how we have broken and continue to break God’s law even after we were saved.  And praise God for His amazing, all inclusive grace purchased for us by Jesus!

3. Though we are no longer bound by either the Jewish ceremonial law or the civil law of ancient Israel, let us look for the moral principles that are back of, and woven throughout both.  These moral principles are no less true and binding than when Leviticus was written.

4. When the details may seem tedious, think about the fact that God is so meticulous about how He is to be worshiped.  Even though we do not follow the ceremonial law this side of the cross, we had still best be careful not to add our ideas about worship, sticking only to what is prescribed in His Word.

A tip that may help reading long sections of the law and genealogies: If you have a Bible app on your phone and it has an audio feature, listen as you follow along.  This will help you keep moving and remain focused.

He forgives without ignoring sin

...The LORD proclaimed the name of the LORD... and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children’s children to the third and the fourth generation.”  Exodus 34:5-7

Do not miss the goodness and the grace of God when He proclaimed His Name.  He is “merciful and gracious, longsuffering and abounding in goodness and truth.”  If it were not so the human race would have been erased when Adam and Eve disobeyed God in the Garden of Eden.  And how many times since?  But He is “merciful to thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin.”  I trust we are all grateful that we too have been the recipients of His forgiveness!

What about the words in (v.7) “by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children's children to the third and the fourth generation"?  Is this a contradiction?  Not at all.  God does forgive, but not by failing to notice and punish iniquity.  God cannot pretend our sin does not exist and remain holy and righteous.  Instead of castigating all sinners, however, He diverts His wrath.  And the ultimate example is God redirecting His just wrath on Jesus instead of on those Jesus came to save.

He truly does remember mercy, even in His justice

Winning our battles by...

And so it was, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed; and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed. Exodus 17:11 

The Israelites were being attacked by the Amalekites.  Joshua was down in the valley leading the troops in military combat.  Moses, flanked by Aaron and Hur, was atop a nearby hill where the battle could be observed.  Moses prayed, symbolized by lifting his hands.  When Moses prayed, the Israelites gained victory.  When Moses’ arms tired and he stopped praying, the Israelites slumped toward defeat.

Joshua and the fighting men were important, but clearly the decisive factor was prayer.

The decisive factor is always prayer.

When Moses grew weary in prayer symbolized by dropping his hands, two men, Aaron and Hur stood by and held up his arms, symbolizing that they joined him in the all-important prayer meeting. 

There are times to be alone for prayer.  There are also times for group prayer.  I pray not that you would merely pray and participate in prayer meetings.  I pray that you would sense the desperate need for prayer—both individual and group prayer—and that awareness would move you to pray—alone, and in prayer meetings.

Who knows what battles we may be losing in the spiritual realm because of a lack of prayer?

On being a blessing to this mixed up world

So Jacob blessed Pharaoh, and went out from before Pharaoh.
Genesis 47:10

In Hebrews 7:7 we read:  “Now beyond all contradiction the lesser is blessed by the better.”

Consider who was greater in the eyes of whom when Jacob blessed Pharaoh.  Jacob was a shepherd, which was an abomination to Egyptians (Genesis 46:34).  Jacob was in Egypt because had he remained in Canaan his family would have starved, while in Egypt there was food.

Humanly speaking, Pharaoh was the better, yet Jacob blessed Pharaoh.  How is that?

The people of God, no matter how lowly we appear to be in the eyes of the world are in a unique position to bless those who appear to have it all.  We have Christ and the gospel.  They need Him.

We can and must bless this evil and foolish world by praying for people to come to faith in Christ as we speak of Christ and the gospel.  This is the world’s ONLY hope!  If we trust in ANYTHING else to straighten out this crazy world, we trust in vain!

No matter how much this world thinks the Good Shepherd and His sheep are an abomination, we are called to bless this world that needs Christ.  Love, not hate.  Prayer, not politics.  With the gospel, not debates about lesser things.  These are how we bless this world.

Who you marry matters

“…swear by the LORD, the God of heaven and God of the earth, that you will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites…” Genesis 24:3

“When Esau was forty years old, he took Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite to be his wife, and Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite, and they made life bitter for Isaac and Rebekah.” Genesis 26:34-35

Clear back in Genesis, God’s Word instructs us about the sin of a believer marrying a non-believer.  This was not about ethnicity, it was a spiritual matter.  Throughout the rest of scripture the same message is repeated in seventy-five percent of the books of the Bible, either by direct teaching, or through narratives that record the disasters that befall those who disregard God’s revealed will in this matter.

This brevity of this column disallows citing more instances, or explaining the sad and disastrous fallout that is the result of disobeying this clear teaching of the Bible.

Why does this pastor frequently bring this matter up?  Because God’s people frequently insist that they know better so that God’s Word does not apply to them—as though God speaks so often about this, but somehow didn’t realize that these people’s circumstances were unique and therefore gained them exemption.

Although this is a marriage issue, more fundamentally, it is an “authority of scripture” issue.

Let us enter into marriages as an act of worship by obeying God’s Word about who we marry.

BTW:  Once a person falls in love, reason usually evaporates, so wisdom says do not allow yourself to enter a relationship that could even hypothetically lead to marriage—because once one falls in love, it is usually too late.

The key to understating nine of forty-two chapters of the book of Job

And so it was, after the LORD had spoken these words to Job, that the LORD said to Eliphaz the Temanite, "My wrath is aroused against you and your two friends, for you have not spoken of Me what is right, as My servant Job has. Job 42:7 

This verse is the key to understating nine of forty-two chapters of the book of Job.  In these nine chapters, Job’s friends seek to “counsel” their hurting comrade.  One of the great mistakes people make when reading Job is to figure, “Since it’s in the Bible, it must be true, right?”  Kind of, but not precisely!  What is recorded in the Bible is recorded accurately.  In that sense it is true.  But that doesn’t mean that everyone quoted or written about in the Bible does or say what is right!.  The devil is written about and quoted—and he certainly is not right!

God warns us in Job 42:7 (albeit at the end of the book) that Job’s three friends did not speak what was right.

To make it more challenging, though some (certainly not all) of their observations were correct, they routinely arrived at false conclusions.  Their conclusions are the conclusions of those who reason from a human “tit-for-tat” perspective.  They say certain results always follow certain actions.  They say the good will prosper and the bad will suffer.  While that is ideally true, and sometimes is true, it certainly is not always true.  The wicked often do prosper and the righteous often do suffer.

Their counsel, therefore, was basically that because Job was suffering, it had to be because of sin in his life.  This of course was not true.  (Read the first two chapters!)

When you read the parts of Job in which his friends are speaking—be discerning!

Now here is some great counsel regarding offering counsel: Do not make blanket statements telling people why things are the way they are, because you and I do not know.  Are there exceptions?  Yes, but they are exceptions, not the rule!

Melchizedek is a biblical mystery man

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!