The Order of Melchizedek

This essay is the result of a review of Ken Johnson’s book, “The Ancient Mysteries of the Essenes,” section 3, “Ancient Order of Melchizedek.”

And this is clearer still, if another priest arises according to the likeness of Melchizedek, who has become such not on the basis of a law of physical requirement, but according to the power of an indestructible life. For it is attested of Him, "YOU ARE A PRIEST FOREVER ACCORDING TO THE ORDER OF MELCHIZEDEK."         Hebrews 7:15-17 

This passage quotes from Psalm 110:4 that the Messiah would not be a priest from the lineage of Levi and Aaron, but from the order of Melchizedek. Is this a reference to a particular person or to a particular group of priests? The Hebrew word combines two words, melek meaning “king” and zedek translated “righteousness” (see Hebrews 7:2). The priests who lived in Qumran where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found were direct descendants of the Jewish high priest Zadok from King David’s time. They saw themselves as priests of righteousness, waiting for the Teacher of Righteousness (Messiah) to come.

Ten Melchizedekian Priests 

The Dead Sea Scrolls contain many more fragments and documents than just Scripture, including the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs. These were believed by many to be the writings of the twelve sons of Jacob, last words to their children dealing mainly with morality, but also some prophecy. They are not accepted as authoritative by Judaism because the scrolls are not available in Hebrew and also because they contain a number of references to the Christian Messiah.

There are also fragments of the testaments of: Enos (Adam’s Grandson), Enoch, Lamech (Noah’s Father), Noah, Abraham, Jacob, Levi, Judah, Nephtali, Joseph, Benjamin, Kohath (son of Levi), Amram (father of Moses and Aaron), and Aaron. They teach that there was never a man named Melchizedek, but a reference to a particular priesthood. The priesthood represents a man chosen to intercede with God on behalf of man. According to many, the Melchizedekian priests were more than priests, they were a combination of priest, prophet and king. There is much evidence in these and other sources that support this understanding. Ken Johnson has done much research to provide a new narrative that there were ten Melchizedekian priests beginning with Adam and ending with Jesus, the Messiah. 

Adam, the First Melchizedek 

To recognize Adam as a Melchizedekian priest, we must see him fulfilling all three offices. Since God gave him dominion over all in the garden, his kingship is clear. His priesthood can be derived from a review of Genesis 4 and Abel’s (blood) sacrifice being acceptable while Cain’s was not. In Genesis 4:3, So it came about in the course of time that Cain brought an offering to the Lord of the fruit of the ground. The Hebrew literally says, “after the end of the day” and is thought to indicate the year’s end and the appointed day when the priest would offer the blood sacrifice. We can conclude that their father taught them about blood sacrifices as a priest. 

To see Adam’s role as prophet, we see from Josephus’ commentary that God had revealed to Adam that times of apostacy would result in the destruction of the earth, one by fire and another by flood. It was not clear to Adam when they would occur, and which would come first. In Josephus’ Antiquities 1.2.3, The world was to be destroyed at one time by the force of fire, and another time by the violence and quantity of water.

Cainan, the Second Melchizedek 

The second Melchizedekian priest was Cainan, son of Enos and Adam’s great grandson. The Ancient Book of Jasher (Book of the Just Man), one of the thirteen ancient history books written around the same time as Genesis and Exodus and quoted in Joshua 10:13 and 2 Samuel 1:18, has the following about Cainan:

And Cainan grew up and he was forty years old, and he became wise and had knowledge and skill in all wisdom, and he reigned over all the sons of men, and he led the sons of men to wisdom and knowledge…. And Cainan knew by his wisdom that God would destroy the sons of men for having sinned upon earth, and that the Lord would in the latter days bring upon them the waters of the flood. And in those days Cainan wrote upon tablets of stone, what was to take place in time to come, and he put them in his treasures.           Ancient Book of Jasher 2:11-13

In Verse 14, it states, Cainan reigned over the whole earth and turned some of the sons of men to the service of God. Cainan demonstrates from this history the required attributes. 

Enoch, the Third Melchizedek 

God made Enoch the third King of Righteousness in 687 AM. [AM stands for Anno Mundi and measures time since creation.] According to Genesis 5:24, he walked with God and God took him. According to the Ancient Book of Jasher 3:12, Enoch reigned over the sons of men two hundred and forty-three years, and he did justice and righteousness with all his people, and he led them in the ways of the Lord. God gave Enoch a prophecy that the Messiah would come seventy generations from his time (Ancient Book of Enoch 10). This is verified in the genealogy of Jesus in Luke 3:23-38. Enoch slowly withdrew from public life to spend more time alone with God and he was raptured in 987 AM. 

Methuselah, the Fourth Melchizedek 

Enoch’s son was Methuselah, which is made up of two Hebrew words: meth meaning “death” and selah meaning “to send.” Put together, the name means “when he is dead, it shall be sent,” speaking to the fact that the flood would come when he is dead. Methuselah died in the year of the flood, 1656 AM. He would become the fourth King of Righteousness.

All the days that Enoch lived upon the earth, were three hundred and sixty-five years. And when Enoch had ascended into heaven, all the kings of the earth rose and took Methuselah his son and anointed him, and they caused him to reign over them in the place of his father. And Methuselah acted uprightly in the sight of God, as his father Enoch had taught him, and he likewise during the whole of his life taught the sons of men wisdom, knowledge, and the fear of God, and he did not turn from the good way either to the right or the left. But in the latter days of Methuselah, the sons of men turned from the Lord, they corrupted the earth, they robbed and plundered each other, and they rebelled against God, and they transgressed, and they corrupted their ways, and would not hearken to the voice of Methuselah, but rebelled against him.     Ancient Book of Jasher 4:1-4

Noah, the Fifth Melchizedek 

Methuselah understood by inspiration that it would be his grandson, Noah, who would become the fifth in the Order of Melchizedek. Noah was born in 1056 AM, so he would be 600 years old when the flood came (Genesis 7:6). In 1536 AM, God revealed to Noah that man had one hundred and twenty years to repent or the judgment would come in the form of a flood. Both Methuselah and Noah preached repentance without success for that entire period. The mark of a call of God is that he continues even when there is no evidence of fruit. In the Testament of Noah, Col. 7, You will govern the entire earth; all that is upon it, including the mountains and seas. 

I atoned for the whole earth. I offered a male goat… afterward I burned the fat upon the fire. Second, I offered a thank offering consisting of ox, ram, and sheep. Then I poured out all of their blood on the base of the altar and burned all of their flesh on the altar. Third, I offered the young turtledoves (flesh and blood) with them upon the altar. Then I offered fine wheat flour, mixed together with oil containing incense, for their meal offerings. I said a blessing and was putting salt on all of them, and the scent of my offering rose up to the heavens.  Ancient Testament of Noah, Col. 10

This tells us that Noah operated as a priest in offering a goat as an atonement offering, then ox, ram, sheep and turtledoves as thank offerings, fine wheat flour with oil as a meal offering, and incense. Noah demonstrated the three offices of king, prophet and priest. We are further told in the Testament of Noah, Column 8 that Noah brought “written accounts” of the patriarchs with him in the ark. 

Shem, the Sixth Melchizedek 

The next of the Kings of Righteousness would be Shem, Noah’s son. In the Ancient Testimony of Noah, Columns 13-15, there is an account of a prophetic dream that Noah had which was God’s way of revealing that Shem would be his successor. In the same book, Column 14, With one branch separating from it and becoming an olive tree means the first son [Shem] will not separate from you all his days, and among his seed your name will be called. Shem would guard against an upcoming apostacy, but he would only be able to slow it down. This apostacy would come under the leadership of Nimrod (see Genesis 11) and Canaan. They were trying to establish a one-world government. 

The answer to this apostacy came in the form of one of Shem’s ancestors, Abram, later known as Abraham. God used Abraham to establish the Hebrew nation and through that nation, Messiah would come. In Column 15, Then I, Noah, awoke. It was morning and I blessed the everlasting God. I quickly went to Shem, my son, and told him everything, that through him the Righteous One would come, and that he had to preserve the knowledge and become the next priest of the Most High God. 

Abraham, the Seventh Melchizedek 

Nimrod made Terah, Abram’s father to be a general in his army and a prophesy was given at Abram’s birth (1948 AM) that he and his descendants would destroy Nimrod’s kingdom. Nimrod ordered the boy’s death, but his father hid him until he could get him out from underneath Nimrod’s reach to the house of Noah. 

And Abram was in Noah’s house thirty-nine years, and Abram knew the Lord from three years old, and he went in the ways of the Lord until the days of his death, as Noah and his son Shem had taught him; and all the sons of the earth in those days greatly transgressed against the Lord, and they rebelled against him and they served other gods, and they forgot the Lord who had created them in the earth; and the inhabitants of the earth made unto themselves, at that time, every man his god; gods of wood and stone which could neither speak, hear, nor deliver, and the sons of men served them and they became their gods.  Ancient Book of Jasher 9:6

When Abram was forty-nine years old, he went back to his father’s house to convince his father to follow the Lord and leave the idols. When Nimrod found out, he was furious and ordered Abram’s death. Terah responded by gathering his family and fleeing to Haran (see Genesis 11:31). At the time (1997 AM), Nimrod was preoccupied with other political matters and never pursued Abram’s family. He did, however, get a vision from God in 2000 AM according to the Ancient Book of Jasher that unless he repented, his kingdom would fall, and a descendant of Abraham would kill Nimrod. This warfare prompted Shem to anoint Abram as the seventh King of Righteousness. 

The opposition against Nimrod from other kingdoms ended up in a war involving five different kings in a rebellion against Chedorlaomer king of Elam in which Abram was ultimately victorious. In Genesis 14:18-20, And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; now he was a priest of God Most High. He blessed him and said, “Blessed be Abram of God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth; and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand.” We find out from the Ancient Book of Jasher, that it was Shem who was the Melchizedek referred to in this passage and Abram would have been 73 years old at the time. 

And Bera king of Sodom, and the rest of his men that were with him, went out from the lime pits into which they had fallen, to meet Abram and his men. And Adonizedek [Melchizedek] king of Jerusalem, the same was Shem, went out with his men to meet Abram and his people, with bread and wine, and they remained together in the valley of Melech. And Adonizedek blessed Abram, and Abram gave a tenth from all that he had brought from the spoil of his enemies, for Adonizedek was a priest before God.    Ancient Book of Jasher 16:10-12 

Isaac, the Eight Melchizedek

Isaac, Abraham’s promised child would become the eighth Melchizedekian priest. In Genesis 26:1-5, God promises the blessings of Abraham onto Isaac, and I will perform the oath which I swore to Abraham thy father; and I will make thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven, and will give unto thy seed all these countries; and in thy seed shall all nations of the earth be blessed; Because that Abraham obeyed my voice… After Sarah’s death, Abraham buried her at the interment of the kings, with many kings attending the funeral, including Shem, Eber his son, and Abimelech. Abraham recognized Isaac was ordained by God, so he sent him to learn the ways of God and how to be a priest of the Most High God. 

And when the days of their mourning passed by, Abraham sent away his son, Isaac, and he went to the house of Shem and Eber, to learn the ways of the Lord and His instructions, and Abraham remained there three years.    Ancient Book of Jasher 24:17

And it was after the death of Abraham that God blessed his son, Isaac and his children, and the Lord was with Isaac as he had been with his father Abraham, for Isaac kept all the commandments of the Lord as Abraham his father had commanded him; he did not turn to the right or to the left from the right path which his father had commanded him.   Ancient Book of Jasher 26:39

Jacob, the Ninth Melchizedek

There was some controversy surrounding who would be the ninth King of Righteousness. Isaac and Rebecca had twins, Esau and Jacob, with Esau being the first. It is clear from Genesis 27:26-30 that Isaac wanted the blessing to pass to the oldest while Rebecca favored the younger. It turned out that God intended Jacob would be the one to carry on the Melchizedekian priesthood. In Genesis 28:12-16, Jacob has a dream of a ladders connecting heaven and earth when God recommitted His promises made to Abraham and Isaac were now made to Jacob. “Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you” (Verse 15). 

At that time Isaac sent his younger son Jacob to the house of Shem and Eber, and he learned the instructions of the Lord, and Jacob remained in the house of Shem and Eber for thirty-two years, and Esau his brother did not go, for he was not willing to go, and he remained in his father’s house in the land of Canaan.   Ancient Book of Jasher 28:18 

The Levitical Priesthood

The transition from Jacob, the ninth priest of Melchizedek to the tenth, the Messiah, here takes a turn. We know Jacob had twelve sons and the oldest, Reuben had been disqualified because of fornication. Jacob received the testimony that his son, Levi began receiving prophetic dreams and recognized a need for salvation. 

I, Levi, was born in Haran. When I was young, my father moved us to Shechem. When I was about twenty, Simeon and I took vengeance on Hamor for our sister Dinah [see Genesis 34]. One day we were feeding our flocks in Abel-Maul, and the spirit of understanding of the Lord came upon me, and I understood that all men corrupt their way, and that righteousness had retreated behind walls and iniquity ruled. I grieved for mankind, and I prayed to the Lord that I might be saved.   Testament of Levi 2

Levi understood that salvation was necessary not just for him, but for every man. His words are consistent with what Jesus told Nicodemus in John 3. In Testament of Levi 4,

The Most High has heard his prayer. Your sins are forgiven, and you will become a son to Him, a servant and minister of His presence. You will shine the light of knowledge to Jacob, a sun to the seed of Israel. You and all your seed will be blessed until the Lord visits all the heathen in the tender mercies of His son, even forever.

When these dreams were revealed to Jacob, he understood that Levi was chosen of God. Further explanation came from God as how to respond. He would send Levi to learn the priesthood from Isaac.

After two days Judah and I went up to Isaac after our father, and my grandfather blessed me according to all the words of the visions which I had seen. He would not come with us to Bethel. When we came to Bethel, my father, Jacob had a vision concerning me, that I should become a priest unto the Lord; and he rose up early in the morning, and paid tithes of all to the Lord through me. We came to Hebron to dwell there, and Isaac continually taught me the law of the Lord, even as the angel of God showed to me. He taught me the law of the priesthood, of sacrifices, whole burnt offerings, first-fruits, free will offerings, and thank offerings. Every day he instructed me and prayed for me before the Lord. Testament of Levi 9

Jesus Christ, the Tenth Melchizedek 

Because of the failure of Reuben, Jacob would also give the birthright to Joseph, as the Ancient Book of Jasher 36:15 testifies, At that time the portion of birthright, together with the kingly and priestly offices, was removed from the sons of Reuben, for he had profaned his father’s bed, and the birthright was given unto Joseph, the kingly office to Judah, and the priesthood unto Levi, because Reuben had defiled his father’s bed. This means that the Messiah would come through Judah as king, then ordained into the priesthood (at His baptism) and the prophet by the Holy Spirit. Baptism was not necessary to forgive Jesus’s sin, but to ordain Him as a priest. The Holy Spirit coming upon Jesus at the baptism was the culmination of the three offices of the order of Melchizedek coming together again in one man, Jesus Christ the Messiah, the tenth and final one in the order of Melchizedek.