On Melchizedek (2)

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Noah, also, has three sons, one of whom is cursed, and one of whom receives blessings (Japheth receives blessings as well as Shem, but Japheth’s blessings are rather “neutral,” compared to Shem’s). Now God chooses one of Shem’s descendants to carry on His message, and to prepare the way for the Messiah, by creating a nation that bears His name—Israel. Abram is this son.

What would be more natural than for Abram to be blessed by the son of the man God chose to carry His message, and life itself, through the Flood? What if Melchizedek is none other than Shem himself? This would certainly explain his priesthood, which is inherited directly from Noah, who was a prophet and priest before the Flood. His kingship over Salem, the future place of God’s habitation, also makes sense, as a matter of preparing the ground of that place for the future of Israel.

And it makes sense in another way, as well, for legend has it that Gilgamesh, who is known in the Scriptures as Nimrod, went out to seek a blessing from one of the men who had lived through the Flood. It would make sense that this person was his ancestor, Ham, who’s son Canaan was cursed. What would be more natural for Shem to bless Abram as God changed his dealings with men once again, bringing one period to an end, and ushering a new one in?

What can we learn from this idea? That God always carries things forward in an orderly way. Just as there were 7000 in Israel who had not bowed the knee to Baal, there was a line, a line prepared from the foundation of the World, through which the Messiah would come. That God kept tabs on that line, and the people within that line knew the importance of their heritage, and the importance of their blessings. That the people within that line passed this blessing down generation to generation, although sometimes skipping generations with the blessing.

We can see Shem, old, and full of years, a King, and a Priest, wondering when God was going to push the line of the Messiah forward. We can see him standing at the altar, praying: “God, it is none of these, my children, you have chosen. Who, then, is it?” Shem must have felt like Abram, later, when the promised child didn’t appear until it all seemed hopeless, and until Abram had tried every other avenue to produce an heir.

And then there is the day when Abram comes back from defeating the Kings, and retaking Lot. Just at this point, Abram has learned to trust God, that Lot is not the heir in question, and that he must look for another. At this point, God judges Abram mature enough to handle the blessing Shem has held in his heart all these years. And Shem comes forth, bearing bread and wine, the symbols of a covenant far in the future, the covenant of a Messiah, and blesses Abram, passing the torch to the representative of the next stage in God’s plan.

Again, there is no proof that Melchizedek is Shem, just a tradition, and a pattern that fits everything else we’ve seen. It’s provocative, but not certain.