Psalm 110:4 - Priest

 

RECAP

As I have already mentioned in the blog post concerning Psalm 110:1, Psalm 110, in general, is about a messianic character, with God crushing the enemies of the Jews, and telling the protagonist to dominate them, establishing a Jewish theocracy that will become the center of the world. Note that the text has YHVH saying that HE will “make your enemies a footstool for your feet”. So, when He says to the protagonist “your enemies will be crushed”, it means the enemies of his people.

Since God promised to crush the protagonist's enemies, and this never happened with Jesus, and since Jesus never became king and sat upon his throne in Jerusalem, but was instead CRUSHED by the very enemies that God was supposed to crush, Jesus certainly didn't fulfill that perceived prophecy.  

Of course, one could say, “Jesus will do that when he gets back”.

Fine. So don't say that Jesus fulfilled it until after he does so.

VERSE 4 REFERENCE

"If you haven't realized by now, many of the 'fulfilled prophecies' are simply events in the NT about Jesus that are then searched for a similar reference in the Tanach. If the text said that Jesus fulfilled the prophecy of dancing almost naked in the middle of the street and was cheered on by spectators, they would likely use the reference of King David doing just that as a “prophecy”.

So, let’s look at the Christian verse that they used to retrofit into a prophecy, which is Hebrews 3:11 (KJV being cited here):

“Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus.”

Now, the clincher here is “High Priest”, in that only someone descended from the tribe of Aaron, paternally, can ever become a HIGH priest (conditions can prevent that as well, but we’ll simplify things here). However, the word kohen or “priest” can have more than one meaning while HIGH priest does not. Granted, the author of Hebrews 3:1 was treating Jesus as an intercessor, reminiscent of what the High priest would do on Yom Kippur (there are differences, which I will leave to the reader). In any case, the anonymous author of Hebrews 3:1 was likely using the expression as simile and metaphor.

So where does the Christian apologist look for a prophecy to have this verse about a “high priest” be a fulfillment?

Psalm 110:4, of course:

“YHVH has sworn;
and will not regret (go back on)
You are a kohen forever
[comparator] Malki-Tzadek”

In any case, the anonymous author of Hebrews 3:1 was likely using the expression as a simile and metaphor. Rather than getting too deep into meanings, let’s simply accept that it was calling the Canaanite king who was referred to as a kohen (not a HIGH priest, since that wasn’t a consideration), and not just a kohen, but a king.

As we read in 2 Samuel 8:18, members of the Davidic monarchy, his sons, were also referred to as “priests”, as in “important officials who can intercede on one’s behalf in a non-Temple priestly way”.

WHO WAS MALKI-TZADEK?

In the land of Canaan, there dwelled a pagan people. It said that he served the Highest God, El, not that he was a High Priest to El, and that would have been an expression that was yet to find its way into the Tanach. He is only mentioned in Genesis 14:18-20, and then disappears. But beside being an important person who does not offer a sacrifice to YHVH, but simply gave bread and wine to Abram and the kings of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Bela. After the king of Shalem blesses Abram and praises the Highest God El, Abram gives presents to the king of Shale who leaves.

Shalem is traditionally held to be the future city of Jeru-Shalem, and Shalem is referenced as a dwelling place of Elohim, where His sukkah (a sort of tabernacle) is located, and Elohim's dwelling place is there, in Zion.

So Malki-Tzadek, “My king is righteous”, who was addressing kings who fought a righteous battle, kings who required Abram to assist in order to actually win, this was the very king of what would be Jerusalem, and was forever known as a kohen.

WHAT IS THE CONNECTION TO BEING LIKE MALKI-TZADEK?

Putting aside the possible historical implications here (a fight between the two different priestly factions, for one), we have a king who served his God and ruled in an early Jerusalem. The important thing to note is that Malki-Tzadek did not fight in any war, but appeared after the war was over. A king of peace. He blessed Abram, gave food that one could consider as a holy libation, and returned home to rule in peace.

THAT is the likely connection between Malki-Tzadek and the protagonist of this verse: it’s about a kind, blessed by God, and who will sit on his throne as a peaceful king, whose wars will be won by God, and will be set there to serve him.

It doesn’t say that he will be a high priest, nor anything more than one who can declare that “My King is righteous” and will dominate without having to lift a sword.

Jesus was never king, nor were his enemies defeated, nor does this verse talk about an intercessor nor a high priest.

Style: “eisegesis, forced narrative, Jesus didn’t fulfill”.

Here’s the meme used: