This lesson is based on this prophecy: "The Lord has sworn, And will not relent,'You are a priest forever Of the order of Melchizedek' " (Psalm 110:4).

The Order of Melchizedek

The Bible begins with the message, "Someone is coming!" Later, the Bible tells us, "Someone has come!" Finally the Bible says, "Someone is coming again!" Of course, we all know who this Someone is. We have just read a prophecy that "Someone is Coming!" the Christ (Messiah) who will fill the highest kingly and priestly offices as one.

1 Christ a Priest and King Like Melchizedek

The psalm likens this man of the future to Melchizedek, who was the king of Jerusalem long before the Jewish people existed. Melchizedek was not only a king; he was also a priest of the Most High God. On one occasion, Melchizedek blessed Abraham (forefather of the Jews) and received tithes from him.

In giving the blessing and in receiving tithes, Melchizedek acted in both his priestly and kingly capacities. This symbolic event happened when God was making the promises to Abraham —especially the Messianic seed promise, that exciting promise that one of Abraham's seed (or offspring) would bless all nations and be King of kings.

2 Christ Cannot Be a Priest on Earth

We have gone into the symbolic aspects of Melchizedek's royal priesthood for a very good reason. There are certain conclusions one must draw if one comes to believe in Jesus Christ as both priest and king.

There is a popular and widely published teaching today, that Jesus is soon returning to this earth to sit upon the throne of David, rebuild the temple in Jerusalem, reinstate the law of Moses, and bring back animal sacrifices.

The doctrine cannot be true, because Jesus must, "according to the order of Melchizedek", be a priest on his throne. "If he were on earth he would not be a priest" (Heb 8:1-4) because he is not of the priestly family of Aaron and Levi as required by the law of Moses. Christ’s throne and his priesthood are in heaven and will forever remain so.

Someday Jesus will gather his elect from earth and take them into his heavenly kingdom . They are a living temple that cannot be destroyed, the Lord is their altar, their Lamb, their High Priest, their firm foundation.

3 Christ Has Changed the Law

We find the conclusion in Hebrews 7:11-14 that "There has been a change of law." This means total abolition of the old law, not a mere ammendment to it. The law-covenant of Moses has been replaced by a new and better law-covenant (Heb 7:18,22, Heb 8:8-9,13). This better covenant provides for one Man to be both Highpriest and King —not possible under the old covenant.

The writer acknowledges that "Our Lord arose from Judah, of which tribe Moses spoke nothing concerning priesthood", and from this tribe "no man has officiated at the altar" (Heb 7:13-14). If Jesus is the "priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek" then he is not a priest according to the order of Levi and Aaron, but according to an entirely new order superceding theirs. In which case a new law-covenant must exists to validate the new priestly order. The new law-covenant must at the same time invalidate the old order, and the old law-covenant under which it served. This is a far-reaching but necessary conclusion.

So what of the popular and widely published teaching that Jesus is soon returning to this earth to sit upon the throne of David, rebuild the temple in Jerusalem, reinstate the law of Moses, and bring back animal sacrifices? It's wrong because it goes quite contrary to "the order of Melchizedek".