Melchizedek the unlikely

STANDOUT PASSAGE - GENESIS 14:17-20
…And Melchizedek, the king of Salem and a priest of God Most High, brought Abram some bread and wine …

I love the story of Melchizedek, it gets my blood going with excitement as all Christophanies do, as I see in this man the second person of the Godhead, the pre-incarnate Christ. It is one of those golden nuggets which demonstrates the perfection of God’s plan as through it you can see the actions of an Eternal God unconstrained by the bounds of time. Naturally therefore I read, devoured, the study notes on this passage and came across this phrase:

Notes from the NLT Life Application Study Bible (Melchizedek):

Are you aware of the similarities between yourself and others who worship God, even if their form of worship is quite different from yours? Do you know the God of the bible well enough to know if you truly worship him?

I like the way the second question turns the first on its head, and shows our arrogance in the process. We would expect it to ask “… to know if they truly worship him?” This would confirm our prejudice that we are correct and all others wrong but reminds us that sometimes we are confronted by the unexpected person who also worships God Most High. The Jews expected that worshippers would be genetically “of Abraham” and yet Melchizedek clearly is not – he is an unexpected follower, even a priest. Each time they came to this passage in the Torah this should have challenged their thought and reminded them of their prophetic role yet it remained a quirk and was written off as they continued to introspect. They were the chosen people yet they forgot why they were chosen.

Today we who follow Christ are also chosen for a reason and we need to remember the purpose of our calling and ensure that our focus remains on those who do not know God. Their future and our love for them and for God should be our driving forces. But we also must remember that not all worshippers will come in the shape or form we expect. We need to take their response as a challenge and ask ourselves, “Do we know the God of the bible well enough to know if we truly worship him?”

Lord, keep my focus on the lost. May their future drive me to greater obedience as an expression of my love for you. May I know you more and more and more each day. In all of my life and all that I do, teach me to worship.