Does Hebrews 7:10 refer to Christ in the form of Melchizedek speaking to pre-human souls?
In the final verse of Hebrews chapter 6, the Apostle Paul describes Jesus as having been made a “high priest after the order of Melchisedec.” Melchisedec, or as spelled in the Old Testament scriptures, Melchizedek, is described in Genesis 14:18 as both a king and “a priest of the most high God.” The surrounding verses of Genesis 14 describe interactions between Melchizedek and Abraham, which is significant, because Melchizedek is described as being a priest of God many years before the Jewish priesthood, also sometimes referred to as “the Levitical priesthood” was established, as described in the book of Leviticus.
Especially in the Old Testament, recording the genealogy of families, as in Genesis chapter 5 for example, was considered important. Family histories were traced according to the fathers. Note that Genesis 5 is structured to record that “father begat son.” Children are recorded as being “of their fathers” and being borne “by their mothers.” This structure is also often worded as the future descendants of a particular family being “in the loins” of a specific man or father.
Genesis 45:26-27, for example, speaks of “the souls” that “came out of Jacob’s loins.” Jacob, later renamed by God to be Israel, was the father of Levi. When the Jewish priesthood was later established, God decreed that the priesthood must be descendants of Levi (Numbers 18:1-2).
This turn of phrase does not imply that the father, in this case Levi, held pre-human, immortal souls of his future descendants within him; simply that, as a father, he would “beget” his children (they would be “of” him), and thus could be seen as the origin for the “begetting” of his children’s descendants as well.
For generations, the priests had offered sacrifices to God to offer atonement for the people’s sins (Leviticus 4, for example). After Jesus’ sacrifice and death, a great change happened regarding mankind and salvation. By providing his own perfect life as a sacrifice for mankind’s sin, Jesus acted in the role of a perfect “high priest” in a way that the priests descended from Levi could not (John 1:29, 1 Timothy 2:5-6, Hebrews 4:14-15, as examples).
Paul stressed throughout his writings that salvation must come from a belief in Jesus’ sacrifice as the means to salvation, and not through the sacrifices performed by the priests any longer. Because Jesus’ sacrifice provides a means to permanent salvation for all mankind (as opposed to the sacrifices made by the Levitical priesthood, which not only needed to be repeated on a regular basis, but further only provided atonement for the Jewish people), Paul emphasizes that the “priesthood” of Jesus is separate and greater than the Levitical priesthood.
To emphasize this point of two separate “priesthoods,” one greater than the other, Paul applies Psalms 110:4 to Jesus which labels Jesus as “a priest…after the order of Melchizedek.” Paul’s point wasn’t that Jesus would take on the form of Melchizedek and deal with pre-human souls, but to highlight the difference between Jesus’ role as high priest between God and mankind.
Hebrews 7:9-10 explain the higher nature of Jesus’ priesthood by referring back to Abraham’s payment of tithes to Melchizedek. The tribe of Levi originated in Abraham, and because Abraham paid tithes to Melchizedek, in a sense, his descendants (who by turn of phrase were “in Abraham’s loins” at the time) could be seen as having done so as well. Tithes are owed by one party to another, thus the party receiving the tithes can be considered greater than the party offering the tithes. In a similar sense, the Levitical priesthood, who, for generations, had received tithes from the Jewish people, now, like the rest of mankind, relied on Jesus for salvation.
This response peripherally touched on the standpoint that people do not possess immortal souls, and thus have no “pre-human” existence.
To learn more about what a soul is listen to:
Where Do the Human Soul and Spirit Go When We Die? (Part I & Part II)
