In the Book of Genesis 14: 1 we see where there was a battle between 4 & 5 Kings. And in this battle, Abraham's nephew, along with the women, children and goods were taken into captivity by the enemy. Abraham gathers his army of 318 armed men and went after those that had taken his people and goods. He rescued Lot, his nephew, and returned to the camp. The Bible stated that the king of Sodom sort out to meet him after his return from the slaughter of the kings. And Abraham answered and said he was not going to take any of the loot. The only thing he wanted was the return of his people, which included his nephew Lot and others and what the young men had eaten. He was also met by another person this is where we pick up our story in verse 18, “And Melchizedek King of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the Most High God. And he blessed him, and said, Blessed be Abram of the Most High God, possessor of heaven and earth: And blessed be the Most High God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And he gave him tithes of all." Now, who was Melchizedek? Personally, I have heard 2 options throughout the years and one of them is that this was a theophany of Jesus Christ, that this was Jesus Christ in physical form, visible form that came out to meet Abram. Well, I used to believe that but after studying the Word of God and studying the phrase “after the order of,” then we find out and I'm convinced that it was Shem, one of the sons of Noah. Now at this time in Bible history in the chronology of events of the Old Testament, was Shem alive? Shem was alive at the time when Melchizedek met Abraham. He was 390 years old when Abraham was born and lived another 210 which totaled 600 years. Abraham only lived to see 175 years. Them, Shem was 390 years old and lived to another 210 years. Abraham was born when Shem was 390 but he only lived 175 years. So therefore Shem outlived Abraham by 35 years. That proves that Shem was alive when Abram met Melchizedek. In fact, Shem was still living during the life of Isaac and Jacob because Isaac was 110 years old when Shem died. Jacob was 50 years old when Shem died. So therefore there was a possibility that Shem, was born before the flood. In other words, when Adam was living he was talking to his descendants as late as Methuselah and Lamech who was the father of Noah. So, the third generation from Adam by way of mouth, Shem was still alive. So Shem knew a lot of things in family history and world history and civilization. The stories that existed were passed down from generation to generation by word of mouth. So here we have this man Shem that’s still alive during the days of Abraham who outlived him.