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Hebrews 7:9 “One might even say that Levi himself, who receives tithes, paid tithes through Abraham”.

 

Abraham, the one chosen by God to be the father of our faith, gave Melchizedek a tithe of his spoils. Melchizedek was not a Jew, such a thing did not exist yet, nor was he of Abraham’s family, yet he was the high priest sent to Abraham to bless him. (Hebrews 7:6). Since, “the inferior is blessed by the superior” (Hebrews 7:7), Melchizedek was superior to even Abraham, and so Abraham received his blessing and offered him tithes. And Levi, the first priest of the people of Israel, the namesake of the priestly tribe “who have a commandment in the law to take tithes from the people” (Hebrews 7:5), can even be said to have paid tithes to Melchizedek through his ancestor Abraham.

 

This passage is explaining how important Melchizedek was, and how he foreshadowed Christ. Jesus has become “a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek” (Hebrews 6:20). For all his importance, though, we don’t know much about Melchizedek at all. He only shows up in the scene with Abraham, while he was still Abram, after Abram has won a decisive victory. We are told Melchizedek is “a priest of God Most High”, who brought bread and wine to Abram and blessed Abram saying “Blessed be Abram by God Most High” (Genesis 14:18-19). So Melchizedek is a king and a priest, thus establishing for us that there is a royal priesthood that existed before Abraham; Melchizedek is king of Salem, which will later become Jerusalem; and he is a priest of God Most High, that is, he knew of and served the God of Israel before Abram had even been called by Him. Abraham, the father of Judaism and Christianity, received Melchizedek’s blessing and paid him tithes, showing that this royal priest was above him in every way.

 

We can see in all of this how Melchizedek is a type for Jesus. In tithing to Melchizedek, Abram does so for all his descendants, even the tribe of Levi who will eventually accept tithes from the people themselves. This encounter between Abram and the mysterious Melchizedek shows that the royal priesthood of Jesus Christ precedes His coming to earth and is above even the priesthood He will eventually call to serve Him.