Melchizedek

Hebrews 7:1-10

This Melchizedek character is a bit mysterious. He shows up in only two other places: once in Genesis 14 where we learn that he is both a priest and king, that he blesses Abraham and that Abraham gives him a thithe. In all, the incident takes up three verses. The other place his name is mentioned is in Psalm 110 which is a Messianic psalm, acknowledging the dual role of priest and king that the Messiah will play. Melchizedek is found in one line: "You are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek." It is to that line that the author alludes to at the very end of chapter six - it is not quite a direct quote but so close that in a college paper, the prof would definitely require an aknowledgement of source.
From the amount of time that the author spends on Melchizedek here, more than in any other place in Scripture, it seems that Melchizedek is a revered figure in Hebrew legend. The author points out that he was greater than Abraham because he blessed Abraham (the greater blesses the lesser) and because Abraham paid him a tithe. The author argues that as the father of all Jews, Abraham is the father of the Levites and therefore the Levites share in the tithe that Abraham paid to Melchizedek and concludes that the order of Melchizedek is greater than the order of the Levites. He is setting the argument that Jesus fulfills the role of both priest and king (and is therefore the Messiah) because whether or not he is a Levite, he is a priest in the order of Melchizedek.
The author is returning to his main argument that Jesus is the pre-eminent high priest. He has argued so far that is ultimate because he empathizes with our temptations, he is in heaven and became the source of eternal salvation for all who believe. The author reminds me that it is all about Jesus. That in Jesus I have something infinitely greater than any religious system and that my life has been reorganized with Jesus at the center and everything else revolving around him.