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Tribute To Melchizedek


Just think how great he was: Even the patriarch Abraham gave him a tenth of the plunder!  Now the law requires the descendants of Levi who become priests to collect a tenth from the people—that is, from their fellow Israelites—even though they also are descended from Abraham. This man, however, did not trace his descent from Levi, yet he collected a tenth from Abraham and blessed him who had the promises. And without doubt the lesser is blessed by the greater. In the one case, the tenth is collected by people who die; but in the other case, by him who is declared to be living. One might even say that Levi, who collects the tenth, paid the tenth through Abraham, because when Melchizedek met Abraham, Levi was still in the body of his ancestor.  (Hebrews 7:4-10)

          There are cultural issues here that I don’t understand, some perspectives that I don’t think we hold any longer, so let’s walk through the events briefly. Kedorlaomer and three other kings defeated the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah and three other kings. After fourteen years, Sodom and Gomorrah and the three other kings rebelled, to Kedorlaomer and his buddies attacked them, defeated them, and took everything as plunder, including Abraham’s nephew, Lot.
          When Abraham found out, he collected his own men and caught up with Kedorlaomer & Co. He defeated them. By rights, everything they had plundered was now his. The king of Sodom came out of hiding, but the king of Salem, Melchizedek, came out to see Abraham, bringing refreshments as a good host. Melchizedek pronounces a blessing on Abraham and praises God and Abraham, in return, gives Melchizedek a tenth of the plunder. It’s all his. He can do as he wants with it, and the first thing he wants to do is pay tribute to the king of Salem. He effectively declares himself a subject of Melchizedek.
        At that point, the king of Sodom tells Abraham he can have the plunder, just return his people to him. It’s a noble gesture on his part, but it’s a gesture. None of it belongs to Sodom any more. He lost them to Kedorlaomer, and Kedorlaomer lost them to Abraham. Sodom is not only walking up after the fight and asking for a division of the spoils, but he’s dictating which spoils he wants. It could be said that it’s not even a noble gesture. It’s a common-sense choice. With people, he can have an ongoing source of income, a replacement of the spoils taken. Without the people, he’s a beggar or a sitting duck for the next king to come along. But the point is that his rights are tenuous at best. Abraham then tells Sodom he can have everything back except the tenth already given to Melchizedek and the division of the plunder that rightfully belongs to Abraham’s men.
          In generations to come, the people of Israel would pay God a tribute through the tenth collected by Levi. This is where we get to the figures of speech. To whom did the Israelites pay their ten percent? To God, through Levi. To whom did Abraham pay his ten percent? To the King of Peace, who was a priest of the Most High God. Who did the blessing? Melchizedek, who was declared through Abraham’s tribute to him to be the greater

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