Melchizedek is High Priest of the cosmic Order of Melchizedek, which includes all who serve from divine guidance. Though he has lived on earth, he was not born and did not die. Melchizedek gifts mankind with freedom, forgiveness, creativity, the science of alchemy and transmutation, and sacred ritual.
a person who encountered Abraham only once, in a very brief story of the OT (Gen 14:17-20)
he is said to be " King of Salem "
(i.e. the city of Jeru-salem ! see Gen 14:18; Heb 7:1-2)
etymologically, the two parts of his name ( melchi + zedek ) mean "king of righteousness" (Heb 7:2)
but since "Salem" or " shalom " means "peace," he is also called "king of peace" (Heb 7:2)
he is called a " priest of God Most High " (Heb. El Elyon ; Gen 14:18; 7:1)
note: he is not a Jewish priest, since he lived prior to the establishment of any priesthood in Israel (recall that all Jewish priests are members of the tribe of Levi, who was a great-grandson of Abraham, while Moses and Aaron lived centuries later) .
and since he has no genealogy or descendants recorded in the OT, he could be considered "a priest forever" (Ps 110:4; Heb 7:3)
in the OT story, he offers Abraham bread and wine , rather than sacrificing any animals, as priests might normally do (Gen 14:18)
this is later interpreted as a foreshadowing of the Christian Eucharist
he also blesses Abraham with a prayer addressed to "God Most High" (Gen 14:19-20; Heb 7:1)
in turn, Abraham gives him a tithe (10%) of everything he has (or at least everything he had captured in the recent battle; Gen 14:20)
According to Hebrews , this encounter shows that Abraham recognizes the superiority of Melchizedek:
logically, the inferior is blessed by the superior, and the inferior offers a tithe to the superior, not vice versa (Heb 7:2)
thus the priesthood of Melchizedek must be superior to that of Levi and Aaron (7:4-10), descendents of Abraham who lived generations later
thus also the priesthood of Jesus, a new and different type "according to the order of Melchizedek," is superior to the Jewish priesthood, based on the tribe of Levi and the order of Aaron
