Malchizedek

“But Malchizedek, king of Salem, brought out bread and wine; he was a priest of G-d the Most High, Maker of heaven and earth; (Genesis 14:18)”

Many Christians assert that this verse contains three prophecies that predict Christianity. They believe that their deity's kingship, priesthood and final meal were spoken of in this verse due to many misunderstandings. One point of confusion is the Hebrew word  כהן (kohen) which is used in multiple places to identify those who are leaders in religious servitude, simply someone who serves HASHEM.

The descendants of Aaron from the tribe of Levi are set aside to serve HASHEM as a special group of kohanim and only those from that group are qualified to perform those specific temple services. Many Christians mistakenly believe that this is the only type of kohen, they believe that the word kohen is never applied to people other than the descendants of Aaron. The word kohen itself is used generally to refer to those who serve HASHEM, the descendants of Aaron included. Moshe’s father-in-law, Yisro, is called a kohen of Median (Exodus 2:16).

Many Christians connect this verse with Psalm 110 where King David is referred to as a priest in the order of Malchizedek (meaning he served HASHEM as Malchizedek did), yet attribute it to their deity instead of King David. Some Christians go so far as to say Malchizedek was a manifestation of HASHEM on earth who came to foreshadow their religion. They say that other than the descendants of Aaron, only G-d can be a priest. This is nonsensical, because HASHEM does not perform servitude for Himself.

Malchizedek's name means righteous king. Many Christians claim that their deity was foreshadowed by Malchizedek's reign. The Christian deity never reigned on the throne. An event that never occurred is void of meaning. The claim of kingship is irrelevant in light of this fact. David and Malchizedek were both kings of Jerusalem and both inspired service to G-d. Malchizedek was a king and a priest of HASHEM, just like David.

Tradition says that Malchizedek was a title for Shem of the sons of Noah and that he could have reached the same heights of righteousness as Avraham had he not reversed the order of the blessing that he gave to G-d and Avraham. He said,

"He blessed him saying: "Blesssed is Abram of G-d, the Most High, Maker of heaven and earth; and blessed be G-d, the Most High, Who has delivered your foes into your hand... (Genesis 14:19-20)"

This disqualified him from imparting HASHEM's divine will to the world as Avraham has done. Malchizedek should have mentioned HASHEM first in this blessing.

Many Christians associate the meal of Malchizedek and Abraham with the meal of their deity as recorded in the Christian Bible. This is incongruous since there were no similar components to the meals other than the fact that they both served common staples of their time. The bread and wine that were offered by Malchizedek to Abraham are very common items to be served to guests. They are basic elements of a meal and do not necessitate special significance. It was perfectly normal for someone to bring out these items and it doesn’t foreshadow any religious event. Bread, and breaking it together, is symbolic of peaceful interaction, while wine symbolizes joy and celebration. Malchizedek was celebrating with Abraham.

Importantly, serving bread and wine has nothing to do with flesh and blood, which Christians symbolically, some even believe literally, eat in remembrance of their deity's human sacrifice. HASHEM abhors human sacrifice (Deuteronomy 12:31) and HASHEM gives clear instructions not to consume blood (Leviticus 17:10-12). This is a pagan practice.