the manner in which they were to be eaten. The only offering of which the children of Israel partook was the peace offering. It was a communion, or a fellowship offering. Part of it went to the Lord, part of it went to the priest, and part of it to the offerer. Q . Snoqualmie, Washington — “Can you tell me something of Melchisedek? I know he is a type of Christ as men tioned in Genesis 11:18.” A. In addition to Genesis, Hebrews 7 :21 gives us the typology. The writer stresses the superior priesthood of our Lord Jesus Christ, rather than that of Aaron. The first mention of Mel chisedek is in Genesis 14 when Abra ham returns from the slaughter of the kings. There was an invasion from Mesopotamia which formed a coalition or a confederacy in the land of Canaan. Lot was in the midst of this conflict and was carried away north to Syria. Abraham, hearing about the disaster, pursued the wicked leaders. On his way back from the victory he was met a t Jerusalem by Melchisedek who is called “the priest of the Most High God.” He met Abra ham with bread and wine, beautiful emblems of the redemptive work of our Lord Jesus Christ. Abraham, real izing the greater worth of Melchise dek, gave him tithes and was blessed thereby. Centuries passed and in the 110th Psalm read prophetically about the time after Christ’s resurrection in verse 4, “Thou art a priest forever after the order of Melchisedek.” This also reveals a type of Christ. The statement is then repeated in He brews. The superior priesthood of Melchisedek was not because of what he did, but rather because of who he was. The Spirit of God took a picture of this man, a king of Salem, and combined kingship a n d priesthood such as had not been known in Israel. The only One of whom that was true is our Lord Jesus Christ. The person of Melchisedek shows the never-dying, n e v e r - v a r y in g , never - diminishing, eternal character of our blessed Sav iour.
Q , Fresno, California — “In Luke 11:1, as well as other verses of the New Testament, it tells about Jesus pray ing. I t ’s difficult for me to understand why, i f Jesus was God, He actually prayed.” A. Prayer is essentially communion with God. Certainly there is perfect, unbroken communion with God the Father and God the Son. It wasn’t necessarily that Jesus was asking the Father for anything. He was simply in communion with Him. As we de velop in our prayer lives, getting be yond the place where we are con tinually asking the Lord for some thing, we find that prayer is vastly more than simply making requests. It is actually constant fellowship with the Father. There is communion among the members of the Trinity even as there is communion among human beings who have fellowship one with another. Q . La Puenfe, California — “Who wrote the 97th Psalm? Will you please ex plain I John 2:20 and 27. Does this refer to the Holy Spirit?” A. The 97th Psalm is in a series called, “The Psalms of Enthrone ment.” It has no specific authorship given. It is generally believed, how ever, to be a Psalm of David. In the verses suggested from I John we have a reference to the ministry of the Holy Spirit in one particular area, namely, teaching. Since He in dwells our hearts, annoints our minds, illuminates our study so that we may understand the truth, then we do not need ultimately any man as our final teacher. Now, this does not mean that the Spirit of God doesn’t use teach ers. The New Testament frequently refers to this gift of teaching, given of God to the church. Teachers will have their proper place. Ultimately, however, we find our final author ity from God Himself. Too often we depend upon the Sunday school, or the pastor, or the radio teacher to feed us. Sometimes we are even “spoon fed.” We need to be studying the 22
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