The coming of Melchizedek
"Zion. Your divine being
Reigns!"
We are near to ending "the age of the gentiles" initiated by Jesus and elaborated by Christians over the last 2000 years. Before the "age of the gentiles (Christians)" we had the "age of the Hebrews" which also had lasted for approximately 2000 years. After the War of Rome in 70 AD, the Jewish peoples and nation went back stage, and on hold, for 2000 years as the Christians had their turn in the leading role as "God’s people." According to prophecy, we are now entering the consummation of these two ages of man. We are about to begin the trial period that comes before the arrival of the Messiah of Old Testament description. Therefore this upcoming period is referred to as the messianic period. During this upcoming messianic period both the ages of Christian and Jew are unified and brought to a single, joint consummation. Prophetic scripture of the Old Testament era has much to say about how and why this messianic consummation will proceed.
The majority of "the people" are passive; blind, deaf, and dumb. They follow their mis-leaders into chaos and catastrophe. God sends his prophets/messengers to warn and correct, but to no avail, except for the few whose hearts and minds are set right and who are able to be led to safety. These remaining few become the remnant, the survivors and progenitors of the next cycle. However, this time the cycle is different. This time nuclear weapons enter the scene. If there had been nuclear weapons when Rome fell, we wouldn’t be here today to discuss the matter. The presence of nuclear weapons changes God’s evolutionary, remnant plan into no-plan. It changes the remnant into no-remnant. Man has never before been able to achieve stability and avoid the abuse of power and the downfall of empire. Are we more mature now? Are our leaders different than prior leaders? Are we wiser? Have we stopped straying from God’s laws and ways? The presence of thousands of nuclear weapons changes mans next fall into his last fall. The tower of Babel now has a bomb on the top of it. However, God will not allow the many good and decent people of our world to be annihilated. This is why the Messiah comes; this is why God will choose to enter human history directly. Since the death of Adam and Eve, our world has been without direct divine leadership. The age of strictly human sovereignty will be terminated shortly and the World Messiah so long awaited by faithful Jews, will enter the scene to stay. Our world will never again be without direct divine leadership. Today’s upside down world becomes tomorrow’s right side up world.
The
Dead Sea Scrolls tells us:1.
Melchizedek is one and the same as ‘the Lord’ in the Old Testament (when not referring to God Himself.) (DSC 11Q13)Notice carefully that Melchizedek’s plans involve
global welfare, are "far reaching" into the future, and are comprehensive. Comprehensive includes all three aspects of reality: material, intellectual, and spiritual. A comprehensive plan would then address the genetic-biologic level, the concept-comprehension level, as well as the spiritual level which was addressed by Michael’s (Christ’s) bestowal (incarnation). As we look around the world today, can we really say that the need for "uplift and spiritual rehabilitation" has been fully satisfied? Did the bestowal of Michael (Christ) complete and end Melchizedek’s "far reaching, comprehensive plan"? Or is there more to come?
Melchizedek
made a formal covenant with Abraham at Salem.
Said he to Abraham: ‘Look now up to the
heavens and number
Human ages end because the weeds eventually overgrow the good seed. This happens because there is no one to pluck up the weeds along the way.
Only a divine leadership can have the authority and wisdom to do this consistently and effectively over long periods of time. Not only man, but even most lower orders of divine beings are incapable of self-governance.Without help from superhuman sources the strain of society
Melchizedek surely understands this and just as surely would have provided a solution for it in his "comprehensive plan" for rehabilitation of the planet. I wonder if he is challenged by any impatience as he waits for harvest time and the beginning of a new dispensation for his estranged children, to whom he has devoted so much, for so long.
The third paragraph of the
Dead Sea Scroll text 5Q541 under consideration, again describes Jesus’ situation accurately and specifically, this time crucifixion is alluded to, i.e. "do not afflict the weak by wasting or hanging […] [let] not the nail approach him." The "nail" and "hanging" are specific to ancient descriptions of crucifixion. No one knows for sure, but my intuition tells me that the Qumran leader, the Teacher of Righteousness, is addressing his community in this paragraph and is warning them not to have any part in the upcoming, near future crucifixion of the Son of Man, so that they and their families will stay on the side of righteousness. Very likely then, Melchizedek has already "collaborated" with the Teacher of Righteousness in a revelatory process that has included revelation of Jesus and his crucifixion. The Teacher of Righteousness is God’s servant and prophet for that time period, 100 years before the birth of Jesus. The Qumran community is then a faithful Jewish remnant of that time who have elected to follow God's will, and who have chosen self-exile (isolation) from the corruption and lawlessness of their times. By the evidence of this accurate and important prophecy about Jesus, we can postulate that other prophetic material in the Dead Sea Scrolls may also be highly accurate and important. Since the Teacher’s prophecies clearly focused on a future Messianic time period, when all is set right in the world, this body of prophecy is likely to be very important to our situation today at the close of The Age, just before the arrival of the Messiah, Melchizedek. What a "coincidence" that these Scrolls have just been recently found and brought to our attention today, the very day of its relevance.The growing families from Joseph’s two sons and Jacob’s eleven sons remain in Egypt for several hundred years until they become progressively enslaved by the Egyptian kings. They suffer deprivation and debasement until Moses arises and is called by the Lord to be His servant. Moses, with a supposed series of miracles, leads Jacob (all the Israelites) out of Egypt in a 40-year trek back to Canaan, the land promised to Abraham by Melchizedek. Once established in the Holy Land, the House of Israel unifies for a period and then divides into northern (Israel) and southern (Judah) factions. The Northern Tribes (Israel/Ephraim) turn away from God first and become progressively depraved, sinful, and foolish, even sacrificing their own children to pagan gods. Those in high positions, the power elite, become the most depraved of all, absolute power corrupting absolutely. Having turned their backs on God, the Northern Tribes drift farther and farther away from God and truth. Foolishly, the leaders of Israel try to silence the prophets sent by God and succeed in leading the people into destruction and captivity at the hands of the Assyrians. The surviving remnant of Israel (the Northern Ten Tribes) first go into exile in Assyria and then later migrate northward, never to return, losing their identify and becoming the "Lost Ten Tribes" of Israel. Meanwhile, Judah is undergoing the same corrupting process, also ignores her prophets, and is also destroyed except for a remnant. The remnant of Judah is taken into captivity to (one city) Babylon for the next seventy years. Cyrus of Persia-Media then conquers Babylon and frees the Judah (Jews) remnant to return to Canaan and build the second temple. Then the whole process starts over again. The people (Judah remnant) turn away from God again; the elite leadership of "vipers" (as John the Baptist called them) grow more and more arrogant and less and less wise. They conspire to bring about Jesus’ death and fail to recognize their spiritual savior as portrayed by their prophets. Then the leaders plunge their nation once again headlong into war and inevitable destruction, this time at the hands of the Roman army in 70 A.D. Most die, but a remnant of Judah is scattered among many nations for the next two thousand years while the Christians have their turn to carry the torch of God during the presently ending "Age of the Gentiles". This is Israel’s history to the present time.
The Biblical Prophets, the Dead Sea Scrolls, and 1Enoch all predict a final end of the age when the "Messiah" comes to put an end to war and to reunite the Judah and Lost Israel remnants into one nation again and forevermore. The Messiah also judges the nations, the peoples, and establishes justice. He enters right after the onset of the messianic war where "all the nations" come against Israel. As it stands now, the remnant of Judah (the Jews) has been and is being re-gathered into modern Israel, with nationhood declared in 1948. The Lost Israel (northern tribes) remnant is still unidentified and un-gathered, seemingly lost to history. Also, for the first time in the history of Israel, the world situation is entering a scenario that could, for the first time, conceivably see "all the nations", (the United Nations), as prophesied, come against modern Israel (remnant of Judah) through the newly formed "global police force," NATO. If and when this "police force" comes against modern Israel the Messiah is prophesied to intervene. Our upcoming study of prophecy will fill in many details of what is about to occur. Nevertheless, every individual is free to choose their own part in what is about to unfold.
Psalm 35 Blessed be the Lord out of Zion, who dwells at Jerusalem. Praise the Lord.
Zion is also called the City of David and literally means "the dwelling place of the Lord". Since we know that God himself has never "dwelled in Zion", therefore "the Lord" must be either Melchizedek or an error of some type. The likelihood of this being an error would seem remote, as this same "dwelling in Jerusalem" context in association with "Lord" is used in many places and by many different authors in the Bible.
That Zion is a literal dwelling place for a divine being is supported by many other contexts as well. For example, "the Lord" is said to leave Zion before the Babylonian captivity because of the continued rebelliousness and obstinance of the people. The Lord can't leave Zion unless he previously lived in Zion. Also, Melchizedek was at the right place, at the right time, and is known to have ministered in "semi-material" form. Moses speaks to "the Lord" in conversational dialogue and is described in scripture as being observed by the people while directly speaking to "the Lord". There are dozens of lines of scripture in a variety of different books that speak of "the Lord" leading the Israelites and Moses from a "pillar of cloud" overhead. The cloud leads them during the day and radiates light "like a fire" overhead during the night. Who else but Melchizedek, in semi-material form, could conceivably fit these Biblical descriptions? We will also see later on that one of Melchizedek’s attributes in scripture is that he is able to emit large amounts of visible light. Most importantly though, this same "Lord" returns in the future to "dwell in Zion" again, to "judge the nations," and to establish peace and righteousness in the "latter days". The Dead Sea Scrolls identifies this "Lord" as the Messiah figure of the future and as being none other than Melchizedek himself. 11Q13 is a striking and tremendously important document written in the first century BCE. It centers on the mysterious figure of Melchizedek and is titled ‘the coming of Melchizedek’. There are only a few references (Genesis 14,and Psalms 110) in the Old Testament regarding Melchizedek by name. The following excerpt is a quote from Michael Wise, The Dead Sea Scrolls about the 11Q13, Melchizedek scroll. This excerpt is addressing "the agent of salvation," the Messiah who comes at the end of the age and is referred to in the Bible as Lord and even ‘God’. Michael Wise The author (of 11Q13) declares that the agent of this Dead Sea Scrolls salvation is none other than Melchizedek, a mysterious figure referenced only twice in the Bible (Old Testament), in Psalms 110 and Genesis 14. For our author (of 11Q13, probably the Teacher of Righteousness) Melchizedek is an enormously exalted divine being, to whom are applied names that are generally reserved for God alone, the Hebrew names el and elohim. In the author’s citation of Isaiah 61:2, which speaks of "the year of The Lord’s favor," Melchizedek is substituted even for the most holy name of Israel’s God, Yahweh.This remarkable document (11Q13) tells us several things. First, that the Qumran sect interpreted scripture as we are doing right now. They substituted Melchizedek’s name for "the Lord" designation used in the original scripture. This sect must have still retained at least some of the truth about Melchizedek and his role in the history of Israel. The Dead Sea Scrolls reverse the process and puts Melchizedek back in place of the ‘Lord’ designation in scripture. Lastly, the document, by its truth, indicates that the Qumran group is an heir to the "river of truth running down through the ages" in the form of sacred scripture. Elsewhere in the Scrolls the Teacher of Righteousness is said to have had revelatory experiences that enabled him to accurately interpret scripture. Now, watch what happens to these writings which were previously regarding the conditions in Israel around 720 B.C. :
Amos 9 :9 I (the Lord) will give the order
And shake the House of Israel—
Through all the nations—
As one shakes sand in a sieve,
And not a pebble falls to the ground…
Amos 9 :13 A time is coming
-declares the Lord
When the plowman shall meet the reaper,
And the treader of grapes (will meet)
Him who holds the seed ;
When the mountains
will drip wine
And all the hills shall wave [with grain].
I will restore My people Israel.
They shall rebuild ruined cities and inhabit them ;
They shall plan vineyards and drink
their wine ;
They shall till the gardens and eat their fruits.
And I will plant them on their soil,
The first stanza describes the dispersion (shaking of sand) of the Northern Tribes (Israel) throughout the nations. The last two stanzas of Amos slip into a future description of a time of restoration of Israel to their native lands, after which Israel shall nevermore be uprooted again. Nothing except divine intervention could establish Israel "nevermore" to be uprooted. Therefore this last stanza is about the Messianic end of The Age time period when the Lord/Messiah /Melchizedek comes. "Mountains dripping with wine" are also Messianic references. Future, past, and present are often described within a single unit of text, almost as if the events are fused together with the element of time removed. Indeed, God sees history from outside time, where ultimate causes yield ultimate effects, despite their "apparent" unrelatedness to the human eye of sequential time. Similar references such as forever, nevermore, and everlasting occur in conjunction with a consistently repeated list of End of The Age events, such as restoration of Israel in the example before us. These events and references are densely distributed throughout all of the Old Testament prophets. If these End of the Age events are erroneous, then a large percentage of Old Testament prophecy is worthless and completely unreliable. Judging though from the prior high accuracy of Old Testament prophecy, we must by force of logic, consider these yet
unfulfilled prophecies to be highly probable future events. Melchizedek already knew the future history of Israel when he "collaborated" with the prophets. He obtained this foreknowledge from God Himself, in whose presence, he formulated his plans for the rehabilitation of this earth. This partnership with God is part of Melchizedek’s private journey with the Father, just as we all have our private journeys with Him. And, for those who know the Father, it is easy to believe that he would provide instruction for his children during dangerous periods of time, and this is precisely what He has done through the medium of sacred scripture.Isaiah 1:2 Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth,
For the Lord has spoken:
I (the Lord) reared the children and brought them up—
And
they have rebelled against Me!
Isaiah 1:4 My people takes no thought
Ah, sinful nation!
People laden with iniquity!
Brook of evildoers!
Depraved children!
They have forsaken the Lord, …
Turned their backs on Him.
Isaiah 1:23 Your rulers are rogues
And cronies of thieves,
Every one avid for presents
And greedy for gifts.
The majority of ‘people’ ‘take no thought’ and
the leaders are rogues; the typical realities at the end of an age. The Lord here is probably Melchizedek, who through Moses and the patriarchs "reared and brought the children" of Israel up. Now we slip into what is still the future to us :Messiah
Isaiah 2 :2
In the days to come,War will cease
forever when Melchizedek takes sovereignty. The "mount of the Lord’s house" is the present temple mount of modern Israel on which the 3rd Temple will be built and in which "the presence of the Lord" (Melchizedek’s semi-material form) will dwell once again. The nations will be judged and the world’s corrupt leadership will be deposed and replaced by those of true merit. Melchizedek will personally instruct, judge, arbitrate and do away with war on this world. If not for divine intervention, the world as we know it would have perished.He (the Lord Melchizedek) will hold up a signal to the nations
And assemble the banished of Israel
(northern ten lost tribes)
And gather the dispersed of Judah (the
Jewish remnant)
From the four corners of the earth. (my parentheses)
God’s people will be gathered from all corners of the earth at age’s end, wherever a soul exists that loves and respects his Creator, no matter what religion, race, or creed.
Isaiah 12:5 Hymn the Lord,
For He has done gloriously;
Let this be known
In all the world!
Oh, shout for joy,
You who dwell in Zion!
For great in your midst
Is the Holy One of Israel.
The semi-material Melchizedek (Holy One of Israel) will literally dwell "in our midst," once again in Zion as before.
Isaiah Surely, in a little while,
29:17-20 Lebanon will be transformed into farmland,
And farmland accounted as mere brush.
The disappearance of ‘the scoffer, the tyrant, and those diligent for evil,’ who still are all too prevalent among us, tells us that these prophecies lie still in our, hopefully, not too distant future. This truly will be a transformed world when Melchizedek takes sovereignty. The Psalms writer discloses this happy ending, an ending that was disclosed to him by their one time instructor and collaborator, Melchizedek.
Again, important events are mentioned throughout the Psalms, prophets, as well as other Old Testament scripture. These statements are all consistent with each other despite their diverse locations in the body of scripture. Next we have:Isaiah 40:3 A voice rings out:
‘Clear in
the desert
A road for the Lord!
John the Baptist took the first stanza above for his own and used it to announce Jesus. The Final Prophet to come will also use these lines to announce another Lord who comes, Lord Melchizedek. The Final Prophet is specifically identified here as ‘the herald of joy to Zion’ who proclaims to Zion ‘Behold your God!’ ‘Behold your God’ is the same as ‘Your divine being reigns’ cited in 11Q13 of the Dead Sea Scrolls which identifies this messenger as the interpreter of the law (Final Prophet) and the divine being as Melchizedek. ‘The Presence’ recalls the ‘Lord in the bush’ and the ‘Presence of the Lord’ dwelling in Zion and within the cloud during exodus. All of these presences are the semi-material presence of Lord Melchizedek as described in the Urantia Book. The statement ‘that all flesh will behold’ also conjures up the Lord Messiah who is described in scripture to come in a very visible display, in contrast to no display with regard to Jesus. And so we have one scripture passage, which pertains to two different ending ages with two different Lords and prophets. The Messiah is Melchizedek a divine being, another messiah is God’s servant, the Final Prophet whom God has ‘put His spirit upon’ (anointed).
Genesis 14:17 After Abraham’s return from the
defeat of Chedorlaomer…
Genesis 14:18 Melchizedek King of Salem (later
Jerusalem) brought out bread and
wine; he was the priest of God Most High.
Genesis 14:19 And he (Melchizedek) blessed him
and said, Blessed be Abraham
by
God Most High, Maker of
heaven and earth.
Genesis 14:20 And blessed, praised and glorified
be God Most High. Who has
given
your foes into your
hand!…
It is important to remember that Jesus knew and stated that he was not the Messiah of Jewish expectation. ‘My Kingdom is
not of this world.’Isaiah 60:17 Arise, and shine, for your light has dawned.
The
presence of the Lord has shone upon you.
Behold! Darkness shall cover the earth,
And thick clouds the peoples
But upon you the Lord will shine,
And
His Presence be seen over you.
And
nations will walk by your light.
Raise
your eyes and look about:
They
have all gathered and come to you (the Lord)
Your
sons shall be brought from afar,
Your
daughters like babes on shoulders.
As
you behold, you will glow:
This "Presence of the Lord" is some sort of visible manifestation of The Lord/Messiah/Melchizedek. There are repeated references to the light that he radiates in contrast to the "dark clouds" that are present upon the "Lord’s" Messianic arrival. Such dark clouds could possibly be from nuclear detonations or perhaps some natural phenomena, i.e. multiple volcanic eruptions associated with the large scale tectonic event or events that occur in concert with "the Lord’s" arrival, described elsewhere. Now, let’s look at a very important passage that also refers to "clouds."
Daniel 7:13 One like a human being (one like a son of man/ RSV.)
Came with the clouds of heaven;
He reached the
Ancient of Days
And was presented
to Him;
Daniel 7:14 And to him
(one like a son of man) wasThis is not a spiritual Messiah, he comes in power and glory to judge the earth and take dominion (sovereignty) of the nations and peoples of the world. Why does he come and take sovereignty? Melchizedek is our Planetary Prince in waiting. All normal planets have a Planetary Prince and we are about to be restored to normalcy. Also, the present world leaders are misleaders; they spend no time truly addressing our global problems such as overpopulation, pollution, environmental degradation, rapid loss of biologic species, ongoing ozone depletion, global social and political unrest, and increasing nuclear weapons proliferation. They talk a lot but actually do very little, after all it may ruffle the feathers of some powerful corporation. This planet is being and has been, raped by the wealthy and powerful. Nary a thought is given to putting back what we take out. The sole motivation is to get as much wealth and power as fast as possible. Because of this, when Melchizedek steps in, we will be in the middle of many major problems. But God is not going to let the many good people of the world be destroyed by the strong and powerful. Sovereignty will be taken away from the present leadership elite and given to
those who live according to God’s ways:Revelations 11: 15 Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet…
Saying, "the power
to rule over the
World belongs now to
our Lord and His
Messiah, and he will
rule forever and ever.
The word Messiah is Christos in Greek. Christ means Messiah. Unfortunately,
Jesus was surnamed for just what he was not. Also notice that "our Lord" and "his Messiah" are two different personages in this verse. "Our Lord" is God and "his Messiah" is God’s chosen representative for our world, Melchizedek. The fact that this is a Messiah of this physical world and that he rules forever – indicates a divine being. This divine being is on a cloud just as before in Daniel:Revelations 14:14 Then I looked, and there was a white cloud, and sitting on
The cloud was
what looked like a human being (one
like a
Again, "one like a son of man" is the reaper. Why is there a sickle in his hand? The prophets have asked God for thousands of years over and over; "How long Lord? How long?" meaning how long will the strong trample the weak? How long will the arrogant govern the meek? God’s answer is that everything has a season to grow and yield its full fruit; we then reap what we sow. The sun is made to shine on the good
and the evil. Remember the parable when the good man sows good seed, but while he is sleeping, an evil one sows weeds in the same field. And, when the weeds grow up with the good crop, the parable tells us that both good and bad will be allowed to reach harvest together. Then the field will be harvested and the good crop stored away and the weeds bound up and thrown into the fire. This is done because pulling the weeds up early would damage the good as well as the bad. The end of an age is a harvest time when everything is harvested and accounted for. The one on the cloud has a "sickle in his hand" to harvest the crop at the end of the age. This "one like a son of man" is Melchizedek who comes to save the world from itself, give restitution to "God’s people," and begin a new and glorious age of promise. The prophecy, "The meek shall inherit the earth" will finally become reality. Also, remember Jesus’ parable about the good landowner of the vineyard. The landowner leaves his beautiful vineyard in the hands of workmen who ransack his property and ruin his vineyard. The landowner sends his best servants, and then even his very own son to check on its progress. The son they kill, so as to deprive him of his inheritance, and Jesus then looks to the listening audience and asks, "What do you think the landowner will do?" In unison they answer, "he will destroy those men…" This story is not only a parable. It is also a prophecy of Jesus’ (the son in the parable) subsequent death at the hands of the leaders of Jerusalem who are playing the role of the workmen left in charge. Israel is the vineyard and God is the landowner who sends his son Jesus to set right the spiritual affairs of Israel. But Jesus is killed by the very ones causing the trouble in the first place, the workmen left in charge, i.e. the leaders of Israel. But wait! The parable prophecy hasn’t ended yet because God has not yet sent anyone to bring justice to the vineyard workers, i.e. the leaders. The parable will end, when God’s Agent of Justice arrives and sets the affairs of His "vineyard" aright, just as at the ending of the parable. This is exactly the function of the "Messiah" described in Old Testament prophecy. Not only was Jesus aware of his upcoming death, but he also was aware that the complete story would someday end like his parable ended.The word messiah is used only twice in the Bible, both times in Daniel (chp.9) embedded in some passages regarding the seventy weeks prophecy. The word messiah is also used several times in 1Enoch in association with a divine being who brings peace and victory to those who "elect" God’s will during the end of the Age. This Messiah figure in 1Enoch is called the Elect One, the Concealed One, the Mighty One, and God of the World. Notice that the God of the World designation well describes the function of a Planetary Prince/Sovereign. The word messiah means anointed in spirit, and when capitalized, Messiah means
the Anointed One over all other anointed ones. Prophets and servants are also anointed ones, lower case. The word "Christ" simply is the Greek translation of the word "Messiah." Essentially, we have named Jesus "Christ" for precisely what he is not, i.e. "Messiah." When Jesus came, people were looking for the World Messiah and mostly missed recognizing the Spiritual Savior. This time around Christians are looking for the Spiritual Savior and alas – the World Messiah comes. Humanity gets it wrong both times. No one can say that we’re not consistent.Could it be just an accident that all the world’s peoples are looking simultaneously for their version of the Messiah? Would God only prepare Jews and Christians? Has Melchizedek’s involvement been solely with the Judaic tradition? We learn from John Hogue in his book,
Millennium Prophecy, of a very long list of expected Messiah figures all of which are expected to set things aright. Here he states: "Prophecy shares a collective vision of a Second Coming of a Christ figure. All of our soothsayers say his ‘cloud’ is due to land from heaven during our time." (Millennium Prophecy pg. 333). This is what the Kabala (a text of Jewish mysticism) says about the number 21, that is, the 21st Century:The Kabala information is right on the mark in this quote. We are the backward people who have struggled in darkness, retarded in progress by the absence of benevolent and wise leadership. The "Planetary Ruler" or Sovereign, Melchizedek will establish "peace" and initiate an era of spiritual and material "prosperity."
"The coming spiritual rebellion in human consciousness is one of the largest collective forecasts in the
minority prophetic vote for human survival" (Millennium Prophecy pg. 294.)The future always comes in through the minority.
The last battle won, "conventional wisdom" is one step from the scrap heap. We fear and resist change, no matter what its content. Nearly all-conventional wisdom today is wrong! Wrong about science, wrong about politics, wrong about people, wrong about philosophy, wrong about religion and wrong about most anything else we can think of. Our leaders, our intellectuals and our so-called elite will have the same constant refrain right up to the hour when they are removed from their power and prestige. The refrain is "everything is fine, going just as we expected." This is why they are so "confounded" in Micah 7:16 (above) when the World Messiah steps into the fray. It’s time we started thinking for ourselves and stop buying the illusions, which are cast up in front of us by the "leadership class" and the media; one working hand in hand with the other. There is a Sufi metaphor about identification. Misery doesn’t come to us; we unconsciously seek it out and hold on to it, like flinging our arms around a pillar. We squeeze tighter and yell, "Oh if I could only be rid of this misery and pain!"…We "do" misery we "do" expectation. Hell is not a place, we "do" it, as American mystic Adi DaSantoshia once remarked…We make prophecy work because we are so damned predictable… We have repeated again and again the behaviors that make it easy for the seers to prophesy us unto doomsday. (John Hogue, Millennium Prophecy, Pg. 305).Isaiah 63:1 Who is coming from Edom,
In crimsoned garments from Bozrah –
Who is this, majestic in attire,
Pressing forward in His great might?
"It is I, who contend victoriously,
Powerful to give triumph."
Isaiah 42:13 The Lord goes forth like a warrior,
Like a fighter He whips up His rage.
He yells, He roars aloud,
He charges upon His enemies.
I have kept silent for too long,
Kept still and restrained Myself;
This is the large-scale equivalent of Jesus’ righteous anger that he exhibited when he turned over the tables of the moneylenders in the temple. Melchizedek and Jesus are
angry for the sake of God’s abrogated laws and the oppression of His children. However, Jesus and probably Melchizedek "revile no man," for personal judgment rests safely with God alone.Melchizedek enters as a warrior. Warriors enter a city on
horseback, not riding an ass as Jesus did. Melchizedek comes in power and glory to put out the fires of evil ravaging the world – perhaps the red (crimsoned garments) symbolizes bloodshed. The Hopi Indian Messiah is expected to wear a red cap and cloak. Jesus entered Jerusalem on the foal of an ass; warriors enter a city on horseback, a symbol of power:Revelations 19:11 And I saw heaven opened,
And behold a white horse;
And he that sat on him
Was called Faithful and True;
And in righteousness he
doth judge and make war
Revelations 19:19 And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth,
And their armies,
gathered together to make
War on him that sat on the
horse and
Against his army.
Revelations 6:2 And I saw, and behold a white horse;
And he
that sat on him had a bow;
And a crown was given unto him;
And he
went forth conquering and to conquer.
White symbolizes cleanliness, righteousness, and holiness. A horse is symbolic of a warrior. The crown symbolizes sovereignty. The one on horseback is Melchizedek, the Faithful and True, Son of God, who rapidly subdues the world’s leaders (kings) that are bringing war to the peoples. Also, remember that Joseph, the chosen (elect) son of Jacob, wore a
crown and was a strong archer with a bow. Melchizedek is God’s chosen Son, and just as Joseph, he is given a crown and a bow, as well as sovereignty of our world. This is why 1Enoch calls Melchizedek the Elect One. The crown follows the elect; those who stand up and elect God’s will.Revelations 11:15 Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet,…
And loud voices in heaven,
were saying "The
Notice carefully that this kingdom is
of the world and is not the inner spiritual kingdom of heaven spoken of by Jesus, for he said on many occasions, "my kingdom is not of this world."This double declarative,
in those days and at that time, reliably indicates the Messianic period at the end of The Age. Notice that the people must inquire where Zion is because they don’t know where it is! They are "maiden" Israel, (Jeremiah 31:22); untried, inexperienced, unused, new and fresh. They are not familiar with Zion because they have just newly discovered themselves as "lost Israel." They are Christians returning home to unite with the Jews who have been already gathered to modern Israel! The remnant of the Christians and the remnant of the Jews become one people living in an expanded Canaan under the personal stewardship of Messiah Melchizedek.Jeremiah 50:20 In those days and at that time –
-declares the Lord
The iniquity of Israel shall be
sought,
And there shall be none;
The sins of Judah, (shall be
sought)
And none shall be found;
Zechariah 9:9 Rejoice greatly, Fair Zion:
Raise a shout, Fair Jerusalem!
Lo, your King is coming to you.
He is victorious, triumphant,
Yet humble, riding on an ass,
On a donkey foaled by a she-ass.
He shall banish chariots from Ephraim
And horses from Jerusalem;
The warrior’s bow shall be banished.
He shall call on the nations to
surrender,
And his rule will extend from sea to sea
And from ocean to land’s end.
The first six lines of this verse pertain to Jesus who entered Jerusalem on an ass. The second six line s describe the activities of Melchizedek, the World Messiah, who puts an end to war and who reigns over all. Also, Melchizedek comes riding the "white horse" of Revelation to conquer and not an ass which is the symbol of peaceful entry chosen by Jesus. Otherwise, Jesus and Melchizedek are similar and easy to confuse from the standpoint of the prophet. They are both Sons of God, both divine beings and both "Kings." One is the King of the spiritual Kingdom of Heaven and the other is King of the external, material Kingdom of God on earth.
And His arrows shall fall like lightning;
My Lord God shall sound the ram’s horn
And advance in a stormy tempest.
The Lord of Hosts will protect them.
Modern Israel (Judah) is under siege in 9:14, and Melchizedek enters to protect the people, who will therefore survive and become part of the Judah remnant. A loud "horn" or trumpet is sounded on Melchizedek’s arrival and is used to proclaim liberty to these captives at the end of the age, which is the beginning of Melchizedek’s sovereignty. This proclamation of liberty is part of the general restoration of freedom and property that occurs during a Jubilee year of Jewish tradition. The Jubilee year occurs after every seven weeks of years (49), on the 50th year. It is proclaimed by the sounding of the trumpet on the 10th day, of the 7th month, (10 days after their New Year’s Day). This day is the most solemn and holy of all Jewish holidays and is called, Yom Kippur. Yom Kippur occurred this year on September 20th , 1999. This day is also referred to as the Day of Atonement, when through prayer and fasting all are delivered of their sins and made right with God. The Jubilee was God’s way of stopping the rich from getting richer and the poor from getting poorer. It levels the playing field so to speak. When Melchizedek comes it will be a day of salvation, restitution, and liberty for an entire world. And so, we prepare the way of the Lord Melchizedek because the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.
"The Dead Sea Scrolls have revolutionized the study of the Bible, early Judaism, and early Christianity." (Dead Sea Scrolls, Michael Wise, 1996)
Let’s start by examining the most important Dead Sea Scroll,
11Q13, first. This scroll establishes Melchizedek as a "Lord" in the Old Testament. The other "Lord" in the Old Testament is God of course. With one sentence this document establishes: Melchizedek as Lord of the Old Testament and coming Messiah.In the following discussion of
11Q13, The Coming of Melchizedek, verses of scripture are quoted and then commented on by the Teacher of Righteousness, the Leader of the Qumran we can also deduce that Melchizedek is identified by the Teacher as the Messiah who comes at ages end in the Old Testament. More evidence that Melchizedek is the Messiah is presented just below, in the remaining analysis of 11Q13. The Teacher tells us that these verses apply to the future, final end of the age when Melchizedek comes and literally releases the faithful (Christians and Jews) who are "being held captive" by the hostile leaders and nations of that time.Teacher of And the Day of Atonement is the
end of the tenth Jubilee, when Righteousness all the Sons of Light and the men of the lot of Melchizedek will 11Q13 be atoned for. And a statue concerning them to provide them (Captives/Sons of Light) with their rewards. For this is the moment of the Year of Grace for Melchizedek. And he will by his strength judge the holy ones of God, executing judgment as it is written concerning him in the Songs of David (Psalms) who said:Elohim
has taken his place in the divine council; in the midst of the Gods he holds judgment. (Psalms 82:1)Elohim
is translated as God in our present Bible translations and this line becomes "God stands in the divine assembly; among the divine beings He pronounces judgment!" The Teacher of Righteousness translates Elohim, not as God, but as Melchizedek, giving us ‘Melchizedek has taken his place in the divine council; in the midst of the diving beings he holds judgment.’ We now return to 11Q13, The Coming of Melchizedek regarding the identity of Elohim. The psalmist appeals to "the Lord’s" sense of injustice:11Q13
Rise, O Lord, in Your anger,It was concerning him (Melchizedek) that the above Psalm referred to. (interpretation by TR)
Again, we see Melchizedek identified as the Lord and Messiah in Psalm 7 by the Teacher of Righteousnes
s. Melchizedek is the one who comes to rule the nations, the Messiah of Jewish expectation.Two thousand years ago John the Baptist proclaimed: "Prepare the way of the Lord, the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand." Today the proclamation is the same, except that this time the Lord is Melchizedek.
The above quotes are from the book, "The Kingdom of Heaven is at Hand" by Ed Roache.