of his three confederates swept over the intervening district, carrying desolation with them, till they

encountered the five allied monarchs of the "round of Jordan," in the vale of Siddim, the district around

what afterwards became the Dead Sea. Once more victory attended the invaders - two of the Canaanitish

kings were killed, the rest fled in wild confusion; Sodom and Gomorrah were plundered, and their inhabitants

- Lot among them - carried away captives by the retreating host. This was the first time -at least in Scripture

history - that the world -kingdom, as founded by Nimrod, was brought into contact with the people of God,

and that on the soil of Palestine. For Chedorlaomer and his confederates occupied the very land and place

where afterwards the Babylonian and Assyrian empires were.34 It became necessary, therefore, that Abram

should interfere. God had given him the land, and here was its hereditary enemy; and God now called and

fitted him, though but a stranger and a pilgrim on its soil, to become its deliverer; while alike the mode and

the circumstances of this deliverance were to point forward to those realities of which it was the type.

One who had escaped from the rout brought Abram tidings of the disaster. He immediately armed his own

trained servants, three hundred and eighteen in number; and being joined by Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre, the

chieftains to whom the district around Hebron belonged, followed in pursuit of Chedorlaomer and his allies.

Probably, as is common in such warfare, victory had made them careless. They may have feasted, or their

bands, laden with captives and spoil, may have been straggling, and without order. Certainly they were

ignorant of any coming danger, when Abram, having div ided his force, fell upon them, in the dead of night,

from several sides at the same time, inflicted a great slaughter, and pursued them to close by Damascus. All

the spoil and all the captives, among them Lot also, were rescued and brought back. As the returning host

of Abram entered the valley of Shaveh, close under the walls of what afterwards became Jerusalem, they

were met by two persons bearing very different characters, and coming from opposite directions. From the

banks of Jordan the new king of Sodom, whose predecessor had fallen in battle against Chedorlaomer, came

up to thank Abram, and to offer him the spoils he had won; while from the heights of Salem - the ancient

Jerusalem - the priest-king Melchizedek descended to bless Abram, and to refresh him with "bread and

wine." This memorable meeting seems to have given the valley its name, "the king's dale;" and here, in later

times, Absalom erected for himself a monumental pillar.(2 Samuel 18:18) But now a far different scene

ensued, and one so significant in its typical meaning as to have left its impress alike on the prophecies of

the Old and in the fulfillment of the New Testament. Melchizedek appears like a meteor in the sky - suddenly,

unexpectedly, mysteriously, - and then as suddenly disappears. Amid the abundance of genealogical details

of that period we know absolutely nothing of his descent; in the roll of kings and their achievements, his

name and reign, his birth and death remain unmentioned. Considering the position which he occupies

toward s Abram, that silence must have been intentional, and its intention typical; that is, designed to point

forward to corresponding realities in Christ. Still more clearly than its silence does the information which

Scripture furnishes about Melchizedek show the deep significance of his personality. His name is "King of

Righteousness," his government that of the "Prince of Peace;" he is a priest," neither in the sense in which

Abram was, nor yet "after the order of Aaron," his priesthood being distinct and unique; he blesses Abram,

and his blessing sounds like a ratification of the bestowal of the land upon the patriarch; while Abram gives

"him tithes of all." There is in this latter tribute an acknowledgment of Melchizedek both as king and priest -

as priest in giving him "tithes," and as king in giving him these tithes of all the spoil, as if he had royal claim

upon it; while Abram himself refuses to touch any of it, and his allies are only allowed to "take their

This is not the place to discuss the typical meaning of this story; yet the event and the person are too

important to pass them unnoticed. Twice again we meet Melchizedek in Scripture: once in the prophecy of

Psalm 110:4: "Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek;" the other time in the application of it

all to our blessed Savior, in Hebrews 7:3. That Melchizedek was not Christ Himself is evident from the

statement that he was "made like unto the Son of God" (or "likened unto" Him, Hebrews 7:3); while it equally

appears from these words, and from the whole tenor of Scripture, that he was a type of Christ. In fact, we

stand here at the threshold of two dispensations. The covenant with Noah had, so to speak, run its course,

or rather was merging into that with Abram. As at the commencement of the New Testament, John gave

testimony to Jesus, and yet Jesus was baptized by John; so here Melchizedek gave testimony to Abram,

and yet received tithes from Abram. If we add, that in our view Melchizedek was probably the last