I have several questions here, and I am sure that you do. To begin with, where in the world did this man Melchizedek come from? He just walks out on the page of Scripture with bread and wine, he blesses Abram, and then he walks off the page of Scripture—that’s it. I wonder where he came from. I wonder where he is going, and I wonder what his business is.

I find out that he is king of Salem, but he is also priest of the most high God. But now I have another question: How did he find out about "the most high God"? He found out somewhere. El Elohim is the most high God, the Creator of heaven and earth; in other words, the living God, the God of Genesis 1, the God of Noah, and the God of Enoch. This is the One—He is not a local deity. H. C. Leupold in his book on Genesis says that this is "strictly a monotheistic conception." Dr. Samuel M. Zwemer, in his Origin of Religion, says that this reveals that there was monotheism before polytheism. In other words, all men had a knowledge of the living and true God. "Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened" (Rom. 1:21). Paul goes on to say that men continued to go down to the point where they began to worship the creature more than the Creator.

Yet back in Abram’s day here is a man who is high priest for the world of that day. He has a knowledge of the living and true God. He is a priest of the living and true God. He comes out, bringing bread and wine to Abram—those are the elements of the Lord’s Supper! I wonder what he had in mind? How much did Melchizedek know?

Melchizedek is mentioned three times in Scripture. In addition to this passage in Genesis, he is also mentioned in Psalm 110:4, which is prophetic of Christ: "… Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek." Finally, he is mentioned several times in Hebrews. After reading Hebrews, I know why nothing is said about his origin in Genesis. Nothing is said about his parents, and that is strange because the Book of Genesis is the book of families. It tells about the beginnings of these families. Every time we see mentioned a man who is important in the genealogical line (as this man Melchizedek is), his parents are mentioned. "He is the son of So–and–So," or "these are the generations of So–and–So." But we do not have the generations of Melchizedek. The writer to the Hebrews makes it very clear that the reason there is no record of Melchizedek’s father or mother or beginning or ending of days is because the priesthood of Christ, in its inception, is after the order of Melchizedek. In service—in what our Lord did in the sacrifice of Himself and in His entering the Holy of Holies, which is heaven today—Christ’s priesthood follows the order of Aaron. But in His person, our Lord had no beginning or ending of days, and His priesthood follows the order of Melchizedek. As King, Christ is son of Abraham, He is son of David—the Gospel of Matthew tells us that. But in the Gospel of John we read: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God…. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we behold his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth" (John 1:1, 14). He had no beginning or ending of days as far as creation is concerned—He is the eternal God. He came out of heaven’s glory, the Word was made flesh, and we beheld His glory. We have in Melchizedek a marvelous picture of the Lord Jesus Christ.

"Brought forth bread and wine." I know now why Melchizedek does this. It is because the Scriptures say, "For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord’s death till he come" (1 Cor. 11:26). Melchizedek is anticipating the death of Christ here!

On that basis he blessed Abram: "Blessed be Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth"—El Elohim, the Creator. This man was the high priest of the world in that day. The Lord Jesus is the great High Priest for the world today. The Lord Jesus is after the order of Melchizedek—not Aaron—as set forth here. Aaron was just for Israel and just for a tabernacle. In His person, Christ is after the order of Melchizedek. McGee, J. V. (1991). Thru the Bible commentary: The Law (Genesis 1-15) (electronic ed., Vol. 1, pp. 188–190). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

14:18 Melchizedek king of Salem. The lack of biographical and genealogical particulars for this ruler, whose name meant "righteous king" and who was a king-priest over ancient Jerusalem, allowed for later revelation to use him as a type of Christ (cf. Ps. 110:4; Heb. 7:17, 21). His superior status in Abram’s day is witnessed 1) by the king of Sodom, the first to meet Abram returning in victory, deferring to Melchizedek before continuing with his request (vv. 17, 21) and 2) by Abram, without demur, both accepting a blessing from and also giving a tithe to this priest-king (vv. 19, 20). Cf. Heb. 7:1, 2. priest of God Most High. The use of El Elyon (Sovereign Lord) for God’s name indicated that Melchizedek, who used this title two times (vv. 18, 19), worshiped, served, and represented no Canaanite deity, but the same one whom Abram also called Yahweh El Elyon (v. 22). That this was so is confirmed by the added description, "Possessor of heaven and earth," being used by both Abram and Melchizedek (vv. 19, 22).

MacArthur, J., Jr. (Ed.). (1997). The MacArthur Study Bible (electronic ed., p. 35). Nashville, TN: Word Pub.