In this podcast, I treat the treatment of Melchizedek according to the Epistle to the Hebrews.  In that letter, he has an outsized role.  He is not just any high priest.  He is a high priest that is not related to any other Israelite priest.  Because he has no genealogy, he is taken to be an eternal priest.  Christ is the high priest who embodies Melchizedek’s role.

This is an odd story in the Abraham cycle.  It involves a huge coalition of rival kings who go to war against each other.  In the process, Lot, Abraham’s nephew, gets captured, along with the rest of his family and considerable property.  Abraham feels compelled to rescue his nephew.  This he does.  On his way home, though, he is met by the king of Sodom and the king of Salem, who is named Melchizedek.  Melchizedek blesses Abraham using the name of his Canaanite deity.  Abraham combines the name of this deity with the name of the Israelite God (YHWH).  The only other place where Melchizedek appears in the Old Testament is Psalm 110.

In this final episode, Jesus continues his debate with Jews who were considering was Jesus was saying.  The more outrageous (from a Jewish perspective) Jesus was in the claims he made about himself, the more heated the debate became.  Jesus demonized the Jews.  The Jews returned the favor.  The episode concluded when the Jews thought Jesus had been heretical and blasphemous, and therefore picked up stones to throw at him.  Somehow, Jesus hid and got out of the temple unscathed.

This material is based on John 7-9.  In this episode, right after Jesus deals with the woman caught in the act of adultery he begins teaching in the temple.  A handful of Jews start believing in Jesus.  But that did not mean that they understood him.  They are confused about Jesus says about who sent him, where he soon will be going, why no one will be able to find him, etc.  Typical of this Gospel, much of what Jesus says is cryptic.

In this episode, Jesus has been teaching in the temple, impressing those listening.  Many of them think either that Jesus is “the prophet” or even the Messiah/Christ.  This hubbub leads the Pharisees to send officers to arrest Jesus.  But no one bothers him.  When the officers explain why they did not arrest Jesus, Nicodemus enters the fray.  He wants to know why Jesus is not being given a fair hearing.  But Nicodemus is simply criticized by being asked whether he came from Galilee.  The story is then interrupted by a story seemingly out of context: the incident with the woman caught in the act of adultery.

This story is narrated in John 7.  In this episode, Jesus’ own biological brothers urge him to attend the Feast of Tabernacles which will be held in Jerusalem.  At the time, Jesus was in the Galilee area in the north.  He had been facing hostility in the south.  Jesus tells his brothers, “No.”  Later, Jesus goes to the Feast.  At first, he does not nothing openly.  Later, he shows up in the temple and teaches.  This prompts the people to express their opinions of Jesus, which ranged from those who thought he was a good man and those who thought he was leading the people astray.  Though the people in the temple were surprised that Jesus seemed so educated, he argued that had nothing to do with formal education.  Instead, he seemed literate, so to speak, because of the One who had sent him.

In this last installment, the Ark of God comes back to Israel.  This allows an opportunity for repentance and amendment of life.  Prior to this, a number of Israelites were struck down for looking in the Ark!  When Israel is repenting, the Philistines try a sneak attack.  But God prevents them.  When Israel’s army went up against the Philistine army, the results were disastrous.  When they confronted the Philistines while Samuel was praying for them, they won easily.

In this episode Eli’s daughter-in-law goes into premature labor due to the Ark of God’s being captured.  She dies in childbirth, but is able to name the baby.  The name, Ichabod, means “The Glory is Gone.”  As the episode continues, the Philistines gloat about the ark.  But it wreaks havoc in Philistia for six months, at which time the Philistines send the ark back to Israel.  They do it in such a way that it eliminates any chance that the damage done by the ark was coincidental.

It is based on 1 Samuel 4:1-18.  In this episode, Samuel is poised to speak, but says nothing.  In fact, he does not even appear in what follows.  Instead, Israel and Philistia square off in battle.  Inexplicably, Israel loses.  Figuring that God had not shown up, the Israelites make sure that God appears by bringing the Ark of God into the next battle.  Israel nevertheless loses again.  Worse, Eli’s two sons are killed and Philistia captures the Ark.

It is based on 1 Samuel 3.  In this episode, Samuel begins as an apprentice priest and ends up as a prophet recognized by all Israel.  In the story itself, God calls out to Samuel four times.  The first two times, neither Samuel nor Eli have a clue about who is speaking.  The third time, though, Eli perceives that the voice belongs to God.  When God calls to Samuel for a fourth time, the deity announces judgment on Eli’s priestly house, primarily due to the egregious behavior of his two sons.  Samuel has to deliver this bad news to Eli.  The episode concludes by letting us know that God has replace a dominant priestly ministry with a dominant prophetic ministry.