Hebraically, Melchizedek is spelled מַלְכִּי־צֶדֶק (with a hyphen between the words). Remember, Hebrew is written from right to left. “Melchizedek” is one of several possible English spellings because we use a variety of phonetic ways to print the Hebrew sounds “mel-kee” and “zed-eek.” “Melchi” means king and “zedek” means righteousness.

Melchizedek is a word that shows up for the first time in Genesis 14:18 “And Melchizedek sovereign of Salem brought out bread and wine. Now he was the priest of the Most High El.” This verse tells us he was the king of a city-state called Salem (which eventually became Jerusalem) as well as the priest of Elohim. He was a king and a priest at the same time, but also was “the priest” as if to say there were no others. Melchizedek is the term used of the firstborn “brother’s keeper” principle that Elohim set in place from the very beginning. The firstborn was to righteously rule and mediate with Elohim for the people.

Adam was the man Elohim created and instructed to populate and take dominion over the whole earth. If he had not sinned and consequently died, Adam would always have been the one who righteously ruled over the world and mediated between the people and the Creator. Here we see kingship and priesthood combined in one person, the first Melchizedek. Unfortunately, Adam died and had to pass the position down to his son. Seth was not the literal firstborn son. Cain was, but he made himself ineligible by killing Abel. So Seth became the designated firstborn and took over the responsibility to rule over the world and mediate for the people. He eventually died, of course, and passed the responsibility on to someone he considered worthy. In this way, the Melchizedek position was passed on to Noah and from him to Shem and then perhaps to Eber. We do not know who was next. Yeshua, Shem and Eber's descendant, was brought into the world as a man to become the second Adam to take the dominion of the world away from Satan and restore it to mankind. He, Yeshua, would become the last and eternal Melchizedek—the Holy One who rules righteously as a King and as our High Priest who lives forever because He is without sin.

The principle was that firstborn sons were to take over for their fathers upon their deaths, but very often the literal firstborn disqualified himself in some way and another son was given the blessing. In future lessons we will see how Esau gave away (sold) the birthright to his twin Jacob, who was Elohim’s choice. And how Reuben, Jacob’s firstborn son, disqualified himself and Elohim chose Levi and Judah to share rulership responsibilities. Judah began the line of kings and Levi began the line of priests (the Levitical priesthood).

We believe that Yeshua, the Melchizedek forever according to Psalm 110:4, brought the two lines back together and did not have to pass the position down to anyone. This could only be true if his adopted father Joseph was of the line of Judah (which he was) and Mary was of the line of Levi (which we will illustrate in Parashah Chayei Sarah. Mary was a cousin to Elizabeth, mother of John the Baptist—who was the legitimate but exiled Levite high priest.) Yeshua was resurrected after His murder because He was sinless, so He was able to take back Adam’s Melchizedek position and serve as our Melchizedek High Priest forever. “He ever liveth to make intercession for us” (Hebrews 7:25). Notice the parallel between Abel, who would have been the Melchizedek after Adam but was murdered (ironically by Adam’s literal firstborn) and Yeshua, who was murdered (by the serpent who stole dominion from Adam by deceiving Eve and causing them to die) (John 8:44). Yeshua became the final Melchizedek because it was not possible for the grave to hold Him! He thus made it possible for us to be resurrected into Elohim’s eternal kingdom.

Now let’s look at circumcision. Lesson 3 introduced Elohim’s command to Abram to physically circumcise the foreskin of every male in his household as a sign of his intent to keep the covenant between his descendants and the Elohim of all the earth. Elohim had a plan to bring the eternal Melchizedek into the world through Abraham and his descendants, so it was most important for them to always remember and guard the covenant. If they had not done so, no one would have the opportunity to be resurrected and live in the Kingdom with Elohim forever! Such an important plan required the ultimate sacrifice, if you want to put it that way. The men had to have the skin protecting the heads of their penises removed as a continual reminder that Elohim was their Protector, and the One who causes them to bring forth children. It was to remind them daily that since they would bring forth the Messiah they needed to behave in a manner worthy of Him.

But Elohim wants more from His people than ritual. He wants obedience and worship from pure hearts. Paul explains this in Romans 4 and in many other Scriptures. It seems to be a hard concept to grasp, for some because they grew up with Jewish physical circumcision and think it makes them special—and others because they did not grow up with Jewish physical circumcision and think it is just a ritual that puts someone “under the law.” They refuse to obey, not understanding that Elohim expects everyone to comply with His eternal instructions so they can be part of His eternal Kingdom. Paul says that if your heart is right, you will obey Elohim’s commands—including circumcision. It is a sign of the condition of your heart but yet could be done ritually without having a proper heart for it. In this chapter he points out very clearly that Abram was circumcised after he believed Elohim and his belief was reckoned to him as righteousness. And then he obeyed the command to circumcise himself. This was so that everyone could be considered righteous by their belief, after which they would take a covenant action—circumcision—to prove their belief. You cannot simply claim Abraham as your father; you have to do something.