THE ORDER OF MELCHIZEDEK
Sir Godfrey Gregg ROMC, OHPM
The Dual Offices of the Coming Messiah as Priest and King
During the days of Abraham, approximately four thousand years ago there was a ruler named Melchizedek presiding over a city called Salem, (later called Jerusalem). He was King of Salem and Priest of God Most High. It is most important that we understand that he held both these offices. Because in the Order of Melchizedek we see the two offices and authorities of Messiah. The two offices are a pattern for our concept of “Church and state” or “politics and religion”. The dual offices of the Order of Melchizedek also explain the fracture line which spits Israel into two kingdoms after the death of Solomon. The Breach of Jeroboam in 922 B.C. was the great divorce of Israel which divided the nation into two kingdoms. This sorry state of affairs continues to this day. The two authorities also explain the current Church-Israel schism which shines a light on the hidden unconfessed jealousy and resentment which forms the true origin of anti-Semitism. Out of these two offices of Messiah will come the eventual healing of the breach of Jeroboam. And in the fullness of time, the feuding that has gone on between the two houses of Israel will cease forever. Out of this dual anointing of Melchizedek in Messiah will come the promised Holy Spirit outpouring that will bring the grand finale to the holy history of this present evil era. The prophet Joel saw revival come to its peak at the very end of this age. This will be the End Time Revival. The prophet Joel saw this revival coming to its epic climax in the days of a darkened sun and a bloody moon. Joel said that in that day “Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord will be saved.” (Joel 2:28-32) Our Apostle Paul tells us that “all Israel” will be saved. (Romans 11)
The righteous rule of our Lord Jesus (as King of kings) and His priestly ministry (as High Priest and Sacrifice Lamb), is showcased in the dual offices of Melchizedek. (Psalm 110:4) Jesus Christ/Yeshua Hamashiach presides over His creation as Christ, the Anointed One, and our coming Messiah. Through these two offices of Melchizedek He currently ministers and rules in the hearts of His covenant people as both priest and king. Two thousand years ago He came in His priestly role as the Suffering Servant. But in the fullness of time Messiah will return as King of kings. On that Day, the Day of the Lord, He will judge the wicked. He will deliver His people, Resurrect and Rapture His saints, restore Israel, and establish the long-awaited Millennium of Messiah. The consummation of this age will see Him come to rule and to minister from Jerusalem all across and around this world.
The Millennial global rule and ministry of Messiah will see these two authorities of Melchizedek unite seamlessly. The Remnant Church and the remnant Jewish nation will become one, a city of 12 gates under one King/Priest even our Messiah. Israel and the Congregation/Church of the God of Israel were never divided in the eyes of their God. There are and always will be just one single Elect and Chosen People. Moses and the Apostle Peter both prophesied that God’s covenant people from both houses of Israel will be reunited and restored. They will be cross-linked to become that promised ‘royal priesthood’ and a ‘holy nation’. (Exodus 19:6 and 1 Peter 2:9)
Here is how this will happen. The kingdom authority of the Throne of David and YHVH-God’s righteous rule which is in the royal Jewish tribe of Judah is the spiritual heritage and burden of the Jewish nation. The priestly authority of the Gospel of Grace in the New Covenant, (which was given early on in Jeremiah 31:31-33 and set forth by Messiah in the Great Commission), is the burden of the Church. Both of these anointing and authorities belong to the Order of Melchizedek. And here on earth, they complement one another in Christ.
This unity will establish the long-awaited and much prayed for “Peace of Jerusalem”.
And out of this union in Messiah will come true the genuine ‘Peace on Earth and good will among men’.
The priestly anointing of Messiah presents Him as our High Priest and Saviour. (Hebrews 4:14). And in His royal kingdom anointing, we see Christ as the coming “Lion of the Tribe of Judah”. (Revelation 5:5) The coming Messiah of Israel is destined to become King of Kings over all this earth. (1 Timothy 6:15) “And the government shall be upon His shoulders”. (Isaiah 9:6) The Anointed One, (Greek ‘Christ’ or Hebrew ‘Messiah’) will re-enter world history. He will triumph over the forces of darkness at His second coming. Then He will minister as a priest and king, overseeing both these offices in the coming Millennium of Messiah.
Right now this dual authority is being shared across the world via the Gospel. Quietly and individually human hearts are being changed as soul by soul and silently they enter into the depths of the New Covenant. (Jeremiah 31:31) Messiah is being established on both the throne and the altar of human hearts. The indwelling Christ or Messiah is the divine empowerment and the anointed agency doing the work here. As High Priest of the Order of Melchizedek, He establishes His altar in the lives of His covenant people thus bringing His ministry of grace. And as the indwelling King of kings, He establishes His Throne, the Throne of David, and the righteousness of God in the lives of His covenant people. And “unto Him is the gathering and the obedience of the people”. It is in the gentle bonds of Agape love that His righteous rule is established within human souls.
But the Order of Melchizedek is destined to go out beyond the lives of individuals. The Ministry and Rule of Messiah are prophesied to become an international reality in future World history. His Kingdom Rule and the Ministry of His High Priesthood are the dual offices that will be at work in the world during that glorious future time. Both of these authorities of Melchizedek in Messiah, the political and ministerial, will emerge under the auspices of our coming Messiah.
So we can safely conclude that in spite of the best-laid plans of men, Israel and the Church are destined to give birth to epic and climactic histories as this age comes to a climactic end. And in the crucible of the end time, a remnant Church and remnant Israel are both slated to come back into union once again. The breach of Jeroboam will be healed. And both houses of Israel, the two olive trees, the two witnesses, and the two sticks of Ezekiel 37, will become one, even a ‘royal priesthood and a holy nation’. (1 Peter 2:9)
This dramatic turn of events will surely happen. The transformation will begin to occur in the future 70th Week of Daniel. The end of the story will see both parts of the Order of Melchizedek come into confluence and unity as a single remnant Elect. And then Messiah will return for a pure and spotless Bride. The Second Coming of Messiah will see the Order of Melchizedek established to restore truth and beauty to this sin-sick world. The future Church-State world system will be established in righteousness and peace. This will not be achieved by human effort or by an ecumenical or a Kingdom Now unified triumphant church system taking over the world. These fondly held notions espoused by Dominion Theology are so much ecclesiastic vanity. The Western powers and Israel will enter into a seven-year covenant with a false messiah. And John saw a harlot church system and a False Prophet. But none of these end-time champions of religious humanism will prevail. They will all be destroyed. (Revelation 17 and Revelation 18)
Jesus/Yeshua said that He would build His Church and that the gates of Hell will not prevail against it. (Mat.16:18) The Church is, in fact, a continuing stream of the Congregation of Israel. Messiah will also restore His Kingdom. Both houses of Israel, the Jewish House of Judah of the Southern Kingdom and the lost ten tribes of Israel of the northern kingdom will come together. Both will be restored and reunited under Messiah. The northern kingdom, (with its burden to find grace), (1 Kings 12:16) and the southern kingdom, the Jewish tribe of Judah, (with its burden to see the establishment of God’s righteous rule, or Law, will be restored and reunited. This will happen through the agency of the New Covenant as Jesus Christ/Yeshua Hamashiach comes into the hearts of Jew and Gentile alike. It is by Grace through faith that God saves His covenant people. He draws them in the gentle bonds of His agape love. He writes His Law upon their hearts and their inward parts. (Jeremiah 31:31-33)
By the time this age comes to a close some dramatic changes will have occurred. The Jewish nation will be saved. (Zechariah 12:7-13:1) But that is not all. The lost ten tribes will be found. Even now through the ministry of the Gospel, they are being brought into the Commonwealth of Israel. (Ephesians 2:12-13)
The end-time ministry of the House of Joseph will be a key to all this. The true Church, as a wild olive branch, will be cleansed of her antinomianism and lawlessness. They will see, at last, that they are the wild olive branch and that they are being grafted back into Israel. (Romans 11:13-27) The scattered lost sheep of the House of Israel will be regathered. (Romans 11:25) And the Light of Israel will go out to the nations. Under Joseph and Benjamin, the Cup of Messiah in the true Church will bring in the fullness of the Gentiles. The end-time harvest will be gathered in as a great multitude from the ends of the earth.
Meanwhile, back home at Jerusalem, and even as the Battle of Armageddon rages, the Jewish nation will repent. They will recognize “the One whom they have pierced”. And they will be saved. (Zechariah 12:7-14). Both houses of Israel will have been restored. “And so all Israel shall be saved”. (Romans 11:26)
These decisive and final events in the holy history of this age will come in the midst of the climactic latter-day outpouring of the Holy Spirit. This was seen by the prophet Joel climaxing in the 6th seal cosmic disturbances of a darkened sun and a bloody moon. (Joel 2:28-32).
Zechariah saw two olive trees. Both were supplying the oil of anointing to both priest and king by the agency of God’s Holy Spirit. (Zechariah 4) God released these two anointings as two flows of oil. The message which came with this proclaimed the victory of God, and just how it came. It was,
“Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit says the Lord”. (Zechariah 4:6)
After that epic final Day of Atonement Jesus Christ, (Yeshua Hamashiach), will return to this earth. At the last day, He will wrap things up. Our Messiah will judge the wicked and deliver all His covenant people. He will save the House of Judah and defend His Holy City Jerusalem from the armies of the heathen. But that is not all. He will also deliver His covenant people in exile out at the ends of the earth at the magnificent Bozrah Deliverance. All of His Elect will be gathered as we come into the Day of the Lord at the climax of the age. The saints will be glorified at the Resurrection-Rapture. Then Messiah will judge the nations at the Sheep-Goat Judgement. (Mathew 25:31-46) He will then establish His Millennial Kingdom upon this earth. As Messiah, He will minister and rule to save the peoples and to restore this earth to the beauty and order it once had before the fall. He will rule in both offices of Melchizedek as Priest and as King after the Order of Melchizedek. (Psalm 110:4, Hebrews 7:17) Within the flows of this double anointing the breach of Jeroboam, (1 Kings 12:16), will be healed. The jealousy and the harassment which has gone on between the Church and the Jewish nation will cease. (Isaiah 11:13b) The two sticks of God’s authority in the government, (Isaiah 9:6), and in religion, (Hebrews 4:14), will come into a single unity under Messiah. Ezekiel saw the two sticks of God’s authority become one. (Ezekiel 37:19). And so the glorious Millennium of Messiah will be established, bringing that longed for “peace on earth and good will toward men. (Luke 2:14)
THE MYSTICAL COURT 