Melchizedek, Abraham, and the CovenantBy William Cooper, Arlington, Texas |
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Some HistoryAbout two thousand years before the birth of Jesus, Abraham, the patriarch of Islam and Judaism, was living at Ur, an ancient city located near the north end of the Persian Gulf. For hundreds of years before, the twelve Melchizedek celestial receivers of Earth had observed the decline of the one God concept. They were concerned that monotheistic personal religion would decline so far and so thoroughly that it would be nonexistent when the expected celestial bestowal son (our Jesus) to humanity arrived in the future and would therefore not be available as a foundational belief for the coming revelation of truth to humanity. As an emergency effort to prevent the disappearance of previously revealed truth, Machiventa Melchizedek, one of the twelve celestial receivers, volunteered to assume human form. He did this near a place called Salem, now part of the Old City of Jerusalem, and began teaching his revelation of God to man and sending missionaries out from Salem. Ur was about 650 miles across the Arabian desert from Salem but Abraham and his family heard a missionary in Ur and were attracted to Melchizedek’s message of relationship with God. They set out on the thousand-mile journey around the desert to Salem. When they were about half-way, they reached a city where Abraham’s brother, Nahor, urged them to stop for a while because their father’s health was failing. They stayed there until their father, Terah, died. Through super-mortal channels, Machiventa knew of Abraham and Nahor’s leadership gifts and had followed their progress in their journey to meet him and hear his message firsthand. Upon Terah’s death, Machiventa dispatched a messenger to Abraham and Nahor. Imagine their surprise upon receiving the message from the priest of Salem, whom they had never met. And the message may have been something like this: “Greetings to Abraham and Nahor from Melchizedek, priest of the Most High God. Come to Salem to hear the truth of the Most High God for yourselves and to help build this kingdom of the Most High God among humanity. The offspring of you two thus enlightened and motivated brothers will be a blessing to the whole world.” Material Versus Spiritual Goals
Both Abraham and Nahor were motivated to be powerful leaders. Now they were faced with significant life decisions. Would they pursue personal, material goals or would they seek spiritual enlightenment. The brothers pondered this invitation and its promise. Nahor elected to stay behind to build up a strong city-state which bore his name. Abraham chose to go to Salem to hear what Melchizedek had to say on behalf of God. Abraham and his nephew, Lot, journeyed on to Salem. Not long after they arrived, the need arose for them to journey to Egypt for food supplies. In Egypt, Abraham and Lot found a distant relative on the throne. With this connection, Abraham became a commander of two successful military expeditions. He and his wife Sarah lived as royalty. | Life of War and Rulership or Service? Abraham had wealth and power but he continued to be drawn to Salem and to spreading Melchizedek’s revelation of God, and yes, he was also attracted by the prospect of being God’s general. Once again, Abraham was faced with a significant life decision, and again he chose to give up his life of ease and to go to Salem to serve Melchizedek and God. Abraham returned to Salem with a plan to wage war on the neighboring tribes to convert them to the Salem religion. Melchizedek was able to restrain Abraham from his militarism for a while, but eventually Abraham parted from Melchizedek and moved to nearby Hebron where he set up his military capital. Abraham made war on his neighbors and was victorious. He forced them to accept and financially support the Salem religion. Melchizedek continued to counsel Abraham that force was not God’s way. But success colored Abraham’s judgment and he persisted in his plans. He hoped to conquer all of Canaan. But then he began to seriously ponder his lack of an heir. He had no heir to carry his achievements forward. No doubt he remembered his original invitation from Melchizedek to come to Salem. Melchizedek had spoken then of the offspring of Abraham. Follow God's Leadings; Adopt a Way of Peace
Abraham went over to Salem to seek Melchizedek’s advice about his lack of an heir. These now old friends talked for a long time. Eventually, Melchizedek led Abraham out into the utterly clear blue-black of the moonless night. Gesturing to the heavens, Melchizedek stated an offer to Abraham: Abraham, count the stars, all of them if you are able. So numerous as these will be your descendants if you will only believe God’s promises and follow his leading. God will do the rest. Trust and follow as you are led is all you need to do. Abraham was faced with another significant life decision: to follow his own plan and ambition or to follow God’s will. Abraham came to believe Melchizedek’s promise and chose God’s way. And this decision to trust God’s promise completed the agreement offered by Melchizedek. Covenant to Dedicate Abraham's Will to the Doing of God's Will Abraham adopted the way of peace which Melchizedek had always taught. Sarah conceived and delivered Isaac. Abraham now became very solemn about this agreement, this covenant with God. And so he returned to Salem to have it put in writing. When the written covenant was complete, he held a formal ceremony of acceptance in which he symbolically put aside personal pride and ambition and dedicated his will to the doing of God’s will. Where Does This Information Come From? This new information comes from The Urantia Book in “Paper 93. Machiventa Melchizedek” where you will find in-depth information about Melchizedek. The Urantia Book is a twentieth-century restoration by celestial persons of extensive information on many subjects previously known but lost to human knowledge over hundreds of thousands of years. Click here to read about the Melchizedek Sons in The Urantia Book. |
Who is Machiventa Melchizedek?A brief summary of the story of Melchizedek created by some Urantia Book readers. |
Read About Other TopicsMelchizedek - Celestial Teacher
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A Covenant for Modern TimesAn interesting thing about the Abraham-Melchizedek covenant (described in the story above) was that God, through Melchizedek, made a very attractive offer and treated it as a binding contract with Abraham. But this was not a unique arrangement for Abraham only. God, after all, favors no one above others. Abraham is one of the few to accept the offer from God and certainly one of the very few who put it in writing. He accepted and took the promise of God seriously. The offer was open to everyone. It still is. And still there are few takers. It is available today as an offer to you and to me and to everyone. I thought it would be interesting to see what the covenant might look like restated for our times. So, I drafted one. In the short run this may seem like only a whimsical novelty. But I hope you will reconsider what it says from time-to-time. Eventually, you may choose to sign this contract with God and place it with your most precious documents. God’s offer is open and available. It will never be withdrawn. All we need to do is accept it and observe our simple obligations to trust and to follow God’s leading. Look the covenant over and consider it.
| Covenant
Be it known to all, That I, God, the creator and sustainer of all that is, do hereby make this offer to each of my offspring. This offer shall become a contract between me and my child upon their willing assent to its terms. My beloved child, if you will only believe my promises and follow my leading, I will do the rest to bring you eventually to Paradise to serve beside me. Among my many promises are the following:
In all this and more, I stand eternally ready to bind myself personally to you. In dedicated, loving and patient service to you and with you, Signed: I AM I am your spiritual parent, your friend, your partner in infinity and in eternity. Accepted by ___________________________________ Date _________________________________________ |
