Sermon Direct Link
9/14/25
Rev. Clint Smith
The Hebrew Scriptures provide a timeline that spans approximately 1,656 years from Adam’s creation to the beginning of Noah’s Flood. From the Flood to the birth of Abram, there is an additional 292 to 352 years. Then, from Abram to Moses, we find another 600 to 700 years. Throughout these generations, God specifically chose key individuals—Noah, Abram, and Moses—and gave each of them a divine commission that would significantly impact the course of history.
God chose Abram. God blessed Abram. Throughout Abram’s journey, God continually interacted with him, revealing His will and introducing him to Melchizedek.
After his courageous victory over the kings who had captured Abram’s nephew Lot and plundered his city, Abram was met by Melchizedek, the King of Salem, and Priest of God Most High. Melchizedek greeted the victorious yet weary Abram with bread and wine and offered him holy blessings. He blessed Abram, calling him “Abram of God Most High,” and gave abundant glory to God, the “Possessor of Heaven and Earth,” who had delivered Abram from his enemies.
In a reverent response, Abram presented Melchizedek with a tithe (a tenth) of all the choicest spoils of battle he had gathered. This act demonstrated that Abram recognized Melchizedek as a priest with a higher spiritual authority than his own. Genesis 14:10-24
Melchizedek appeared as a precise historical time without father or mother, no ancestral lineage, and no record of beginning or end. He is described as one “made like the Son of God,” a priest who remains without interruption and without successor. Melchizedek is understood by many scholars to be a Christophany—a preincarnate appearance of Christ, foreshadowing the eternal priesthood of Jesus.
Melchizedek, Priest of God Most High, appeared on the historical scene around 600 years before the establishment of the Levitical priesthood. This significant time gap underscores that Melchizedek’s priesthood was distinct from, and predates, the Levitical/Aaronic priesthood that God later formally instituted through Moses. Exodus 28,29,30