Melchizedek in Eden

 

YHVH’s kingdom rule and sovereignty were already present in the beginning, with Adam and Eve.  Both the man and his wife had received the delegated authority to rule and serve all the other living creatures that YHVH had created in the fifth and sixth days.  “And Elohim blessed them, and Elohim said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion - u’rdu - over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth’” (Genesis 1:28 emphases added). The Creator did not relinquish His own sovereignty but instead entrusted a dual role to man (both male and female): “And YHVH Elohim took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden [delight] to tend [work/serve] and keep [watch over] it” (Genesis 2:15).  Man was to be an eved (servant), and a shomer (watchman).  As servants and watchmen, man and woman would ‘walk with’ the Creator; in other words, they would have an intimate relationship with Him and thus receive from Him Life and Light.  They were to transmit this Life and Light to the creation.  However, man was not to rule or have dominion over other human beings.  That position was reserved for Elohim alone, Who was King of kings (or Sovereign) and above all.  Because the Creator blew His Life into man, if the latter were to rule over his own species, it would constitute a form of dominion over Elohim.  The authority that was granted to man/woman in YHVH’s kingdom on earth was, therefore, that of a servant-king and watchman-priest, ruling and serving all other living creatures.   

 

This kingly-priestly arrangement of YHVH’s kingdom order, within which humanity was to function, may be defined after the name or title of an individual who will show up later - Melchizedek - priest of the Most High Elohim (ref. Genesis 14:18).  Described as king and priest (Hebrews 7), he epitomizes the ideal state in which the two offices may be unified, under the condition of sinlessness and oneness.  Thus, before his fall Adam (male-female) truly fit the “Melchizedek” role.

  

 As long as Adam and Eve maintained their oneness with Elohim through the obedience of faith, this state of harmony would prevail.  But if man failed to live up to the Creator’s instructions, he would experience the consequences of a broken relationship with Him.  Elohim, fully aware of the weakness inherent in natural man and what this limitation would cause, had prepared a way even before the foundation of the world for restoring humanity’s union with Himself.  YHVH’s plan for dealing with man’s rebellion, and his subordination to Satan’s kingdom authority is alluded to in His address to the latter: “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel” (Genesis 3:15).  (“Heel” is akev in Hebrew, which is the root word for Yaacov/Jacob.)

 Thus, when sin entered the heart of man and woman, a major change took place. The union between the two was broken and they were no longer able to act as one in the Melchizedek order. Although YHVH did not abolish these two offices, the condition of sin brought about a separation between the kingly and priestly position, which from now on will continue to stay divided, both in the family and in the nation (and under sin's dominion will not function in the same way as originally intended).

 

The evidence of this split is seen right away in the curse that Elohim placed upon the woman: “To the woman He said, 'I will greatly multiply your pain in childbirth, In pain you shall bring forth children; Yet your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you'" (Genesis 3:16 emphasis added).  Under this new configuration, or arrangement, which ensured the husband's kingly role over the wife, the latter would obviously hold the priestly office, until such time that the Almighty would remove sin and bring the two back together in and through redemption.  When this comes into effect, the two will have to be, of necessity, "equally yoked" for their shared oneness in the life of the Messiah, who will fully restore the union of the two offices to become as one again. As King of the kings and High Priest of the priesthood, the Messiah himself reestablishes in the marriage (and in the redeemed nation) the Melchizedek role as was intended originally.