Melchizedek Melchizedek is a mysterious biblical personality whose name means “king of righteousness.” He was a Canaanite priest and king; there is no record of his family or of the beginning or end of his life. Abraham met Melchizedek after defeating four Mesopotamian kings. The Mesopotamians had raided Sodom and Gomorrah and captured Abraham’s nephew Lot (Gen 14:1-16). When Abraham returned from battle, Melchizedek, king of Salem (=Jerusalem; see Ps 76:2 and footnote there), was with the grateful kings of the Dead Sea confederacy. When Melchizedek gave Abraham bread, wine, and his blessing, he was acting as “a priest of God Most High” (Gen 14:18), the true God who created heaven and earth (see Pss 7:17; 47:2; 57:2; 78:56). Melchizedek correctly understood that Abraham worshiped the true God, and he praised God for giving victory to Abraham (Gen 14:19-20). Abraham received Melchizedek’s gifts and gave him a tithe, which demonstrated the prominence of Melchizedek (see Heb 7:4-10). While Genesis gives genealogies for many of its characters, Melchizedek appears suddenly without any such record, and he disappears just as quickly. Much later in Israel’s history, King David was...

Abraham “By faith . . . Abraham obeyed when God called him to leave home and go to another land. . . . He went without knowing where he was going. . . . By faith . . . Abraham offered Isaac as a sacrifice when God was testing him” (Heb 11:8, 17). These key events in Abraham’s life illustrate the faithful obedience for which he is best known. God called Abram from the city of Ur to become the patriarch of God’s people. Abram’s family relationships are recorded in Genesis 11:26-32. Terah had three sons: Abram, Nahor, and Haran. Terah left Ur with Abram, Abram’s wife Sarai, and Lot, whose father, Haran, had died. On his way to Canaan, Terah settled in the city of Haran (11:31). God had called Abram to a new land while he was still in Ur (Acts 7:2-4). God told Abram, “Leave your native country, your relatives, and your father’s family, and go to the land that I will show you” (Gen 12:1). God blessed Abram by making a covenant with him that included promises of great blessing, numerous descendants, and a new land (12:1-3). These promises later saved Israel from destruction when they repeatedly failed to keep their covenant with God (see Lev 26:40-45). Abram left Haran at age se...