Hi Friends!
Here is a History / Bible Line Thought for you.
Was Shem Melchizedek that Abraham saw?
Now Abraham had to rescue his nephew Lot and his family from an alliance of Kings that had invaded. (See Genesis 14:1-16)
When Abraham returned with Lot, his family and his goods the King of Salem (Jerusalem) came out to meet him.
That King of Salem is called Melchizedek.
Companion Bible Notes says this –
Melchizedek = King of righteousness.
Gen 14:18 AKJV/PCE And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God.
Gen 14:19 AKJV/PCE And he blessed him, and said, Blessed be Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth:
Gen 14:20 AKJV/PCE And blessed be the most high God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And he gave him tithes of all.
Now we see a few things here –
Abraham who knows the true God accepts Melchizedek’s authority and power to bless him.
So Melchizedek must have been priest of the true God.
Now Abraham (Abram) was the son of Terah.
Gen 11:31 AKJV/PCE And Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran his son’s son, and Sarai his daughter in law, his son Abram’s wife; and they went forth with them from Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the land of Canaan; and they came unto Haran, and dwelt there.
And the genealogy in Genesis 11 shows that Terah was a descendant of Shem.
Abraham did accept Melchizedek’s authority as the priest of the most high God.
And it would seem like he had to be a descendant through Shem to have that position.
Shem seems to have been given the authority to represent God.
Gen 9:26 AKJV/PCE And he said, Blessed be the LORD God of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant.
And Ham’s son Canaan is to be ruled over by Shem (through his descendants).
Noah’s other two sons Ham and Japheth don’t seem to have been given that authority.
It would make sense then if Shem was still alive at that time and the king of Jerusalem where God would later place His Temple.
The article “Who Was Melchizedek?” says this “The ancient Targumim (Aramaic interpretive translations) identify Melchizedek as Shem—son of Noah.”
https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/1326593/jewish/Who-Was-Melchizedek.htm
QUESTION – What do you think about this mystery Friends??
Hope this has given you something Biblical to think about.
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