One of the claims of the Mormon church is that they have the Melchizedek priesthood. But do they really have such a priesthood? Who was Melchizedek and what was his priesthood?
Melchizedek was King of Salem, which means "King of Peace." His name means "King of Righteousness." He was the first priest mentioned in the Bible, and he is first mentioned in Gen. 14 after Abram rescued Lot and his people from King Kedorlaomer.
Abram just returns from the victory when vv.18-20 tell us, "Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. He was priest of God Most High, and he blessed Abram, saying, 'Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth. And blessed be God Most High, who delivered your enemies into your hand.' Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything."
The interesting thing here is that the victory laurels were Abram's and he could have taken the spoils. God sent Melchizedek to Abram to remind him of his place - that it was God who delivered the enemy to him. (Was the bread and wine brought for ceremonial purposes, followed by the blessing?) It was after the blessing that Abram tithed him, then Abram refused the spoils, partially quoting Melchizedek, "God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth." In Gen. 15:1 God tells Abram that He is his reward.
The question is, how did Abram recognize him as a priest in a pagan Canaanite land? Melchizedek obviously recognized the true God by calling Him "God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth." We don't hear of Melchizedek again until Ps. 110, where we are told that the Messiah is a "priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek." It's not until the letter to the Hebrews where we again hear of him.
Hebrew tradition says he was Shem. The name Melchizedek would be a title, the eternal order being the line of the promised seed; from Adam through Shem through Judah through Jesus. This is the assumption I take for the remainder of this article (much of the following information was gleaned from Bridges for Peace, Israel Teaching Letter, #99-9)
In Hebrew "malchi" means "My King" and "tzedek" means "is righteousness". Jewish sages say that he was the king over Tzedek, a nickname frequently given to Jerusalem because it was known for its righteousness in the pagan Canaanite lands that would one day be inhabited by Israel.
In Gen. 22:14 Abram calls the place where he was to sacrifice Isaac, Yireh, "The Lord Will Provide", and tradition says this is the same place where the temple was built centuries later. Yireh and Salem became Yerusalem. Just a side note I thought was interesting.
"The Jewish sages and commentaries are unanimous in their identification of Melchizedek as Shem...son of Noah.... Shem is also not a name, but a title.... Shem, in Hebrew, means ‘name’. In Hebrew word usage, a name is synonymous with character. In other words, we don't know Shem's real name. But, we do know that his title, Shem, shows he was chosen by God to be the ‘name carrier’ who was taught by God about the character and nature of God and also about everything that occurred before the flood all the way back to Adam. So, Shem (name carrier) was chosen by God to bring all this knowledge through the flood."
This also squares with the tradition that Moses merely edited Genesis from records passed down from Adam through Lamech, Noah, Shem, Terah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, to the "sons of Israel."
Since Shem lived 600 years, he lived 35 years after Abraham died. "God not only made him the king and high priest of the Most High God in Jerusalem, but he was also chosen to be the spiritual instructor of the patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, right up to the Twelve Tribes of Israel. [He] taught the patriarchs about the knowledge of God Most High and how to have direct communication with God. He also tutored them about the things that occurred from before the flood."
Okay, so now that we see who Melchizedek was, what do we find about the Melchizedek priesthood - what is the “order of Melchizedek"?
"It is a perpetual priestly order that is higher than the order of the Levitical priesthood ...[It] brings the knowledge of God directly from God to man and allows man to directly communicate with God. This... order can only be filled by the promised Messiah, who then makes its benefits available to us."
"Melchizedek (Shem), who existed both before and after the Flood, was appointed by God as the high priest and king of Jerusalem.... At no time in Israel's history was the king and high priest of Israel of the same office...." Yet that is exactly the office Jesus now holds.
In Hebrews 7:3, "the term, 'without father, without mother,' ...is a description of his spiritual station whereby [Melchizedek] was chosen of God to start a new thing and represent God in a new way in 'the order of Melchizedek.'... When we accept God's salvation and are born into God's kingdom and family, our earthly genealogy is no longer relevant.... (1 Tim. 1:4). We are of a new family of faith in God, a new spiritual family, 'without father and without mother,' because our new identity is in God, our Father. As far as Melchizedek being 'without descent,' this is not saying Shem did not have children. Again, this is in reference to his spiritual office, which was not passed on to his earthly offspring by right of descent. It was only available to the promised Messiah...Who truly has no beginning of days nor end of life, but is the Son of God who remains a priest for us perpetually."
The law of Moses and the priesthood went together. All the people without exception were sinners, subject to the law's condemnation, and were thus in need of a priestly system to mediate between them and God. The Aaronic/Levitical priesthood was imperfect, but the Melchizedek priesthood was perfect (as implied in Hebrews 7). The announcement of the coming one who would be a priest forever (Ps.110:4) was written midway in the history of the Levitical priesthood, which could only mean that the existing system was to give way to something better. Jesus came from the non-priestly tribe of Judah, but became a priest forever in the Melchizedek order. There is no indication in the scripture that any other person held this high priesthood.
Jesus "fulfilled the Levitical priesthood in that He became the ultimate sacrifice for us as the Lamb of God, Who takes away the sin of the world.... His shed blood not only covered sin, but did more in that it erased the sin from our lives. This is what is meant in Hebrews 7:12 when it says, 'For when the priesthood is changed (from Levitical to the order of Melchizedek in Jesus), there takes place a change of the law also.' No more would the Levitical priests have to make offerings for the people, as it was done once and for all in Jesus."
The Melchizedek priesthood was a priesthood of ONE. It existed before the law was given (Gen.14:18) and after the law ended (Heb.7:11-17). Jesus became that one high priest that presented the final sacrifice, negating the need for further temple priests.
So the only conclusion that can be drawn from this study is that the Mormons do NOT have any Melchizedek priesthood no matter how much they want to claim otherwise.
3 comments:
Your original analysis is already strong, but it becomes even more compelling when the biblical and historical material is allowed to speak plainly without relying on lists or formulaic talking points. The central issue is that the biblical portrayal of Melchizedek is intentionally singular, mysterious, and non‑genealogical, and this stands in direct tension with the LDS claim that thousands of modern men can hold the same priesthood. The Bible’s treatment of Melchizedek is sparse but deliberate: he appears suddenly in Genesis 14 with no ancestry, no narrative introduction, and no successors. This abrupt appearance is not an accident but a literary device that Hebrews later interprets as symbolizing a priesthood that does not depend on lineage, succession, or institutional continuity. When Hebrews says that Melchizedek is “without father, without mother, without genealogy,” it is not denying his humanity but emphasizing that his priesthood is not transmitted through earthly descent. This is the exact opposite of the LDS system, which requires a chain of ordination, a lineage of authority, and a continual passing down of priesthood keys. The biblical text uses Melchizedek to break the idea of priestly succession; LDS doctrine uses Melchizedek to justify it.
A deeper problem for LDS claims is that Psalm 110:4 identifies only one figure—the Messiah—as the priest “forever” after the order of Melchizedek. The psalm does not describe a group, a quorum, or a line of priests. It speaks of a single royal priest whose authority is eternal. Hebrews builds its entire argument on this point, contrasting the many priests of the Levitical order with the one priest of the Melchizedek order. The contrast collapses if there are multiple Melchizedek priests. Hebrews explicitly states that Christ’s priesthood is permanent because He continues forever, and the Greek term used there means non‑transferable and incapable of passing to another. This is not a theological nuance; it is the core of the argument. If Christ’s priesthood could be passed on, the entire logic of Hebrews 7 would unravel. Yet LDS doctrine requires that the Melchizedek priesthood be passed on continually, which means the LDS system contradicts the very chapter it claims to restore.
Another difficulty for LDS claims is that the functions of the Melchizedek priesthood in Scripture do not resemble the functions of the LDS priesthood at all. Melchizedek blesses Abraham, receives tithes, and serves as a priest‑king. Christ, as the fulfillment of this order, offers the final sacrifice, intercedes eternally, and mediates between God and humanity. None of these functions are performed by LDS Melchizedek priesthood holders. Their duties are administrative—confirmations, blessings, ordinations, and leadership roles—not priestly in the biblical sense. The LDS system uses the word “priesthood,” but the substance is entirely different. This mismatch is not a small detail; it shows that the LDS priesthood is not a continuation of the biblical one but a redefinition of the term.
There is also an internal contradiction within LDS scripture that becomes apparent when compared with the New Testament. Doctrine & Covenants teaches that the Melchizedek priesthood was on earth, then removed, then restored by Joseph Smith. But Hebrews insists that Christ holds this priesthood forever and that it cannot be lost or transferred. If Christ is alive and His priesthood is eternal, then it cannot disappear from the earth. The LDS narrative requires a gap in Christ’s priesthood; the New Testament allows no such gap. This is a theological impossibility within the LDS framework, and it is one of the most difficult issues for LDS apologists to address because it pits their own scripture against the Bible’s clearest teaching on the subject.
A further tension arises from the LDS emphasis on genealogical priesthood authority. LDS priesthood lines of authority are traced through ordination lineage, and the validity of one’s priesthood depends on that chain being unbroken. Yet Hebrews uses Melchizedek precisely to break the idea that priesthood depends on genealogy. The entire point of invoking Melchizedek is to show that Christ’s priesthood does not depend on ancestry, lineage, or succession. The LDS system reinserts the very genealogical structure that Hebrews dismantles. This is not merely a difference in interpretation; it is a reversal of the biblical argument.
Even the LDS attempt to identify Melchizedek with Shem, while interesting from a traditional Jewish perspective, ultimately undermines their position. If Melchizedek were Shem, then his priesthood would be genealogical, inherited, and part of a human lineage, exactly what Hebrews denies. The LDS use of this tradition ends up contradicting the New Testament’s theological use of Melchizedek. In other words, the LDS appeal to Shem solves nothing and creates new problems.
The most decisive point, however, is that the New Testament presents the Melchizedek priesthood as a priesthood of one. It begins with Melchizedek, is fulfilled in Christ, and ends with Christ. There is no biblical hint that anyone else ever held it or ever would. The Levitical priesthood had many priests because they died; the Melchizedek priesthood has one priest because He lives forever. This is the heart of the matter. If the LDS church claims that thousands of men hold the Melchizedek priesthood, then it is claiming something the Bible explicitly denies.
I believe he was Shem, as explained above.
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