Did Abraham Practice a Precursor to Christianity AND Islam? Discussion of the Righteous Order of Malkiy-Tsedeq [Melchizedek, Priest King of Salem {Jerusalem}]
The First Time I Heard the Name Saadiq Was from an R&B Musician.
I really liked Rafael Saadiq's music from the 1990s group Tony! Toni! Toné! and assumed him to be a Muslim because of his name [he is not]. It turns out his name Saadiq is of Hindi/Arabic origin and means True, Righteous or Faithful.
In my current biblical study, I am careful to look up the meaning of names and words I do not understand. My present day study of the King of Jerusalem or Salem [meaning Shalom or Peace], Melchizedek, led me to see that his name is actually Malkiy-Tsedeq. This means King of Righteousness or My King is Righteous. He is the first Priest King of Jerusalem that we are introduced to in the Bible, however it is prophesied that he will not be the last as there is another Prince of Peace [Isaiah 9:6].
You Must Understand the Nature of Priest Kings.
Stark separation of Church and State are practiced in America so the people there have a hard time understanding how a nation can be lead by a priest. Spirituality in the West has all, but defaulted to foolery and most people who consider themselves logical, focus on political systems and secular law. This will likely soon change as does all things.
There are many types government and these governments are ruled using many power constructs. At the risk of turning this into a Social Studies lesson, I will mention only three of the many types:
The Order of Melchizedek Paperback
Constitutional
Monarchy
Republic
The Vatican, which is a City State ruled as a Monarchy, much like ancient Rome, Sparta and Athens. It is an Absolute Monarchy where the ruler is the King and High Priest, in this case the Pope. It would be similar to if Los Angeles broke off from California to rule itself independently, though the Vatican is much smaller.
The Pope once held much of Italy (the Papal States] until the land was taken over by secular leaders in 1870 [mostly for the purpose of controlling Rome, which was the capitol of the Papal States], leaving only the current Vatican lands [.19 square miles] to the Pope.
In this City State, the constitution, congress, king, etc., are all based on a form of religion or spirituality (Christianity). Ancient Jerusalem was also lead by Priest Kings or King Priests indicating it too was an ancient spiritual center. Catholics believe that when the veil of the temple was rent at Jesus' death, it symbolized God's decision that Jerusalem would no longer be the Holy City. Since the Church was left to Peter, who died and is buried in Rome, that city is seen by some as the site of the New Jerusalem.
Ancient Egypt took it a step further where their Pharaohs ruled the country, but were also worshipped as god and not just as Priests. In ancient times, there was no separation of Church and State. Many times the king made no decisions without consulting Seers, Astrologers, Magicians, Prophets, Priests, etc.
The term City States is no longer popular, defaulting to larger nations/countries and empire building as in the case of the British Empire, the United States of America, the European Union and the African Union.
Abraham Practised Monotheism and Takes a Precursor of the Eucharist from a Priest King.
God introduced Himself to Abram in Genesis 12, whose authors name him YHVH. YHVH (shown in consonants because Hebrew had no vowels) can be interpreted per the Hebrew language as Hand Window [or to look out as of a window] Nail [to fasten or to seal] Window or YHVH is the Power Who opens or reveals or Who chooses to close or conceal, whichever He feels He wants to do at that time. He is the One who opens and closes doors of all kinds. It is the I am that I am type persona. Basically, it is good to be on His good side.
He is also referred to as El Elyon, which is the Most High God or Highest God, which makes sense with ang'els or messengers of El who are named after Him such as:
Micha'el - Who is like God
Rapha'el - Healing God or the God Who Heals
Gabri'el, etc. - God is my Strength
*Personal Note: I do think El sounds a lot like Allah especially when a foreigner is listening to the name pronounced quickly from a person of different ethnic origin. We must remember that Elah is the Aramaic term for God, and it was Gabriel that gave his message to Muhammad. Gabriel is clearly a messenger of El Elyon.
Abram worshipped El the Most High God. And after returning from a confederated campaign to recapture his nephew Lot of Sodom from the King of Elam and his allies, Melchizedek joined the rival alliance of Kings and greeted Abraham with bread and wine. This is a 'type' of Eucharist because everything that happened in the Old Testament was the fleshly precursor or shadow [typology] to spiritual happenings in the New Testament. The bread and wine represented a celebration of victory and kingdom restoration -- Abraham saved the people from their enemy. Each time the spiritual Eucharist is performed, it celebrates remembrance of Jesus' body and blood, along with the victory His sacrifice secured at the cross; it celebrates the coming of His victorious heavenly kingdom and His being the Eternal Savior.
Jesus Reclaims the Priesthood from Aaron the Levite and Restores It to the Order of Melchizedek of Which Catholic Priests are a Part.
When Moses first encountered God, he informed YHWH or Jehovah [in western pronunciation] that he could not speak clearly. This is when Moses was informed by God to have his brother Aaron speak for him, and Aaron's line was thereby designated the priestly lineage or Levites, at least for a time.
Jehovah was influenced to split kingship from priesthood according to Exodus 4:16, which was not His initial choice and was not in the order of the Priest King of Salem who performed both functions.
It is also worth noting that when Leah, the wife of Jacob, bore her third son Levi, she thought his birth would bind Jacob to her because she had born him three sons, but the birth did not make Jacob any closer to her and the Eternal Priest King came through the line of her fourth son Judah. The number four is, in many ways, sacred in Christianity as is the number three. Since God is so intentional, one could say that by restricting births within families, we starve ourselves as a world of the blessing of the fourth sons.
However, Jesus was not of the line of Levi, but of Judah and became the High Priest in the order of Melchizedek or Malkiy-Tsedeq, thereby the Catholic Pope is a Priest King in the order of Melchizedek as well, and a King must have a kingdom, i.e. the Vatican. This lends itself to the idea that from this point forward, any High Priest of the Most High God, should have an actual kingdom to rule. The Vatican is hence more than just a city and the New Jerusalem, per the Bible, is said to be approximately 1,400 by 1,400 miles; about half the size of Europe.
Does the Prayer of Jabez Protect the Palestinians in Jerusalem? Are Jabez and Jabus the Same Person?
When Joshua, Moses' predecessor, tried to take Jerusalem from the then King Adonizedek [Adoniy-Tsedeq], he could not, and according to the Bible, his descendents share the city with the other inhabitants of Jerusalem to this day [the Jebusites or desendents of Jebus who first inhabited Jerusalem] [Joshua 15:63; Judges 1:8, 21; 2 Samuel 5:6-9; 1 Chronicles 11:4-8; ]. David may have taken portions of the land, however the inhabitants were not removed. As of the writing of this article, the international community does not recognize Israel as the sovereign of neither West nor East Jerusalem.
*Personal Note: In 1 Chronicles 4: 9-10 a mysterious figure named Jabez appears and prays to the God of Israel, inferring he may not be an Israelite. Many have wondered about this man and perhaps it is his prayer that protects the descendents of Jebus.
Palestinian Arabs claim to be the descendents of the Jebusites and were known to worship El Elyon, in ancient times. Thereby the Muslim Arabs are close cousins to Christians, likely closer than they think.
This also explains why the veil to the Holy of Holies, where the Levite priests prayed, was rent or torn upon Jesus' death [Matthew 27:51]. Moses had consulted with God face to face, however Aaron and his lineage had to tie bells around their waste so they could be heard by those outside in case they stopped moving in the Holy of Holies, which could happen if they were unclean and God killed them while serving their priestly duties.
Jesus symbolized a change in the priestly order and an eternal return to the order of Melchizedek. He also symbolized the extreme importance of righteousness and peace in the role of the Priest King of the Most High God and the importance to God of combining the Priest and Kingly duties into one. He may also have symbolized, via Peter, the change of the site of the New Jerusalem.
It is worth noting that the New Jerusalem/Heaven was seen in a vision coming down. The old Heaven and bioship Earth passes away. However, there is no indication here of a New Earth coming down from Heaven, but an inference that Heaven on Earth makes Earth new. The Bible says the gates of the City will be open and that kings of other righteous nations bring their glory into it, indicating there will be others living on Earth outside of the City but who come into it [Revelations 21:24-26] as it is now with other nations living outside Jerusalem and The Vatican City.