DEFINITION OF TERMS

MELCHIZEDEK
MELCHIZEDEK
PRIEST
PRIESTS AND LEVITES
I. The biblical data
II. Wellhausen’s reconstruction
III. Some reactions to Wellhausen’s reconstruction
IV. Priesthood in the New Testament

David and Kathy wish you a happy family time, including the birth of our Saviour and Lord also. 

Through His death on the cross, through the very blood of Jesus shed for us, we have been adopted into His family and been made a kingdom and priests to reign on the earth.

We have been adopted into the family of Jesus.

PS: Picture is of how a 'Jewish Jesus' likely looked.

This is confirmed many times throughout the New Testament. Three examples follow.

Along with our adoption into the family of Jesus comes a responsibility to live in the way that Jesus did, to be totally obedient to the will of the Father in living our lives.

And again.

Being members of God’s family we are disciplined by our Father!

In early New Testament times the universal priesthood of believers was accepted and practiced without question. There was no question of establishing another separate priesthood class, other than the one of believers and Jesus.

Jesus is our ‘high priest’.

And we are to individually approach His throne of grace.

Jesus had been so critical of the Pharisees and religious rulers that great care was taken not to set up another religious class.

Of course there are always leaders, formal or informal, when you groups of people together. People were assigned roles such as deacons and overseers. However, while there were moral qualifications no elevated ‘religious role’ was given or implied.

In fact, leaders were not expected to fulfill a superior religious function, but rather, to be servants of the people they were leading. This actually is a principle established, though not often lived, from Old Testament times.

The great Moses was a servant.

Isaiah prophesied (which Jesus quoted) that the Messiah would be the ultimate servant.

Paul too, acknowledged his servant leadership role, at the start of many of his epistles. For example, in Philippians;

....as we look at the history of the church and see what the Bible says.

Our adoption into the family of Jesus comes with both privileges and responsibilities, expressed in spiritual terms as blessings and sacrifice.

We are all into the blessings, but few are truly prepared to make the sacrifice of obedience to God's will.

May we become fully convinced to become true disciples of Jesus.

BIBLE ARCHAEOLOGY

Hazael King of Syria

Could Hazael seen here be the same man who was anointed by Elijah?

This Ivory Statuette standing nearly 7 inches tall represents Hazael, ancient King of Aram Damascus (Syria) who fought against Israel. In the Bible the Lord sent the prophet Elijah to anoint Hazael to be king over Syria in the future. Many years later the Syrian king Hadadezer became very sick and Hazael suffocated him and seized the throne. Hazael reigned for about 37 years (842-805 B.C.). He went to war with Israel in the north and Judah in the south. Assyrian records indicate wars with Syria, and an inscription by Shalmaneser III mention Hazael and his son Ben-hadad by name:

"I fought with Ben-hadad. I accomplished his defeat. Hazael, son of a nobody, seized his throne."

"In the 18th year of my reign for the 16th time I crossed the Euphrates. Hazael of Damascus trusted to the strength of his armies and mustered his troops in full force. Senir (Mount Hermon), a mountain summit which is in front of Lebanon, he made his stronghold. I fought with him; his defeat I accomplished; 600 of his soldiers with weapons I laid low; 1,121 of his chariots, 470 of his horses, with his camp I took from him. To save his life, he retreated; I pursued him; in Damascus, his royal city, I shut him up. His plantations I cut down. As far as the mountains of the Hauran I marched. Cities without number I wrecked, razed, and burnt with fire. Their spoil beyond count I carried away. As far as the mountains of Baal-Rosh, which is a headland of the sea (at the mouth of the Nahr el-Kelb, Dog River), I marched; my royal likeness I there set up. At that time I received the tribute of the Syrians and Sidonians and of Yahua (Jehu) the son of Khumri (Omri)" - Shalmaneser III 842 B.C.

"Ben-Hadad II (Heb.), was the king of Aram Damascus at the time of the battle of Qarqar at 853 BC. He, along with Irhuleni of Hamath, led a coalition of eleven kings (listed as twelve) against the Assyrian king Shalmaneser III, at Qarqar, and fought Shalmaneser six times with the aid of Irhuleni twice more and possibly the rest of the coalition that fought at Qarqar. He appears again in the Tel Dan Stele as most likely the unknown author's father. " - Wikipedia

This ivory statuette came from the palace of Hazael the ancient king of Damascus. It was discovered in the ruins of Arslan Tash in north Syria (ancient Hadatu) and is important in the study of Biblical archaeology. Several artifacts from the palace of Hazael are now in the Aleppo Museum in Syria.

2 Kings 13:1-3 "And the anger of The Lord was kindled against Israel, and he delivered them into the hand of Hazael king of Syria, and into the hand of Benhadad the son of Hazael, all their days."

Note: The Stele of Zakkur also mentions "Bar Hadad, son of Hazael".