Who Is Melchizedek?

Melchizedek is a mystery to this world. Hebrews 7 shows that he was the King of Salem and is the Priest of the Most High God: “Without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days, nor end of life …” (verse 3). This is not some normal person.

The late Herbert W. Armstrong, our predecessor and founder of the Worldwide Church of God, explained in Mystery of the Ages that Melchizedek and Jesus Christ are one and the same. Before Christ was Christ, He was the Word—the Spokesman for the God Family, one of two eternally existing God Beings (John 1:1).

The God Family truly became a family when Christ was born of the virgin Mary, making Him the Son of God the Father. Father, Son—family. Now many more sons have been called and begotten into God’s truth, to be glorified as spirit-born sons in the Family of God at the return of Jesus Christ. That will be the first resurrection.

God is re-creating Himself through His Family. We must be born again into that Family as spirit beings!

Melchizedek had a dual crown—He was both Priest (Psalm 110:4) and King (Genesis 14:18). Until this end time, He was the only one who ever possessed a dual crown. The end-time fulfillment of Joshua the high priest also receives a silver and gold dual crown (Zechariah 6:11). How could a normal human being have a dual crown like God Himself when He was on Earth as Melchizedek?

The ancient Israelite King David was also a prophet, but even he wasn’t a priest over the temple. Today, the temple is spiritual—the one true Church of God. During the seventh and final Church era (see Revelation 2-3), an end-time type of Joshua—who is a type of Jesus Christ returning—is a king and a priest! God has revealed this phenomenal truth!

The “firstfruits” who do God’s Work and prophesy this truth before the Second Coming will soon possess double crowns just like the end-time Joshua does. They will rule with Christ on His throne forever. This is monumental, momentous and wonderful!

You need to understand the truth about Melchizedek.

King of Peace

Melchizedek and Christ have the same rank and are the same God Being (Hebrews 6:20). One is His identity before becoming the Son of God, and the other is after. That is the big difference.

Anciently, Abraham’s nephew Lot was taken captive in a war between a number of city-states in the lands of Mesopotamia, or Canaan. Abraham marshaled 318 of his trained servants, a small army, to pursue and conquer Lot’s captors (Genesis 14:12-16).

“And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was priest of God Most High. And he [Melchizedek] blessed him [Abraham] and said, ‘Blessed be Abram by God Most High, maker of heaven and earth; and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand!’ And Abram gave him a tenth of everything” (verses 18-20; Revised Standard Version). Abraham tithed on the spoils of victory, paying a tenth to Melchizedek, King of Jerusalem. He was a King! He was a Priest!

Salem means “peace.” Who could really be the King of peace besides God Himself? Humans are incapable of establishing peace. We are sinners in need of forgiveness. Only God can give us peace.

God the Father is not the Priest of God; Christ the Son is. Christ has always been a Priest. But at the time He worked with Abraham, He was not the Son of God. This subject is so inspiring because it points us to Joshua’s double crown and Christ’s return. The righteous angels are already preparing for the Second Coming, preceded by the turbulent and terrible Great Tribulation and Day of the Lord.

Countdown to the Second Coming

Let’s look more closely at the dual crown of Zechariah 6. “Then take silver and gold, and make crowns, and set them upon the head of Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest; And speak unto him, saying, Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, saying, Behold the man whose name is The Branch; and he shall grow up out of his place, and he shall build the temple of the Lord” (Zechariah 6:11-12). God is building a spiritual temple comprised of human beings. He is re-creating Himself in us! This is unique.

The Jamieson, Fausset and Brown Commentary states: “The high priest wore a holy crown above the mitre (Zechariah 3:5; Leviticus 8:9). The Messiah shall wear many crowns, one surmounting the other (Revelation 19:12). It was a thing before unknown in the Levitical priesthood that the same person should wear at once the crown of king and that of a high priest. The only person in the Bible to do that was Melchizedek.” Yet today, an end-time Joshua wears a double crown! Why would God give such a fabulous dual crown to a mortal man?

The Branch will “grow up out of his place” and appear in a special way right in God’s own Church (Zechariah 6:12). He is using a man with a dual crown to show that all God’s loyal people will receive double crowns very shortly. His place in this verse means David’s root, according to Clarke’s Commentary. Christ is the root of David and a son of David; He created David and will be the last descendant of David’s kingly line, ruling from David’s throne forever (Luke 1:30-33).

“The sense here is, ‘Behold in Joshua a remarkable shadowing-forth of Messiah,’” states the Jamieson, Fausset and Brown Commentary. In God’s Church today is an end-time type of what it will be like when Christ takes over David’s throne very soon! We are in a transition period just before the Second Coming of Jesus Christ! (Study my free book The New Throne of David to discover the amazing truth about this transition period.)

God considers His loyal people today to be king-priests already: “And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen” (Revelation 1:6). Those who do God’s Work now are king-priests in embryo, to be born as king-priests when Christ returns!

The end-time Joshua is an urgent sign of the imminent return of the Messiah to save mankind from annihilation (Matthew 24:21-22). It’s all about the dual crown.

The end-time Joshua has a double crown and the key of David. “And I will clothe him with thy robe, and strengthen him with thy girdle, and I will commit thy government into his hand: and he shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to the house of Judah. And the key of the house of David will I lay upon his shoulder; so he shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open” (Isaiah 22:21-22). Joshua administers God’s government within the Church in this end time. He teaches about David’s throne.

“And they that are far off shall come and build in the temple of the Lord, and ye shall know that the Lord of hosts hath sent me unto you. And this shall come to pass, if ye will diligently obey the voice of the Lord your God” (Zechariah 6:15). The Moffatt translation talks about God reassuring us that everything will work out if we listen carefully to Him. God commands us to obey. Otherwise, we won’t understand His revelation. Only the childlike and teachable can grasp such wonderful truth (Matthew 11:25).

The dual crown in God’s Church today is preparing us in every way to be ready to rule with Christ and stop the madness of this world: “Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this” (Isaiah 9:7). Men cause war; God brings peace. His perfect government will last forever!