Gal. iii:6-8, 19. Book of Abraham (P. G. P.) chs. i-v. Note 7. "The Gospel," (3rd Ed.) ch. xxiii. NOTES. _1. Melchizedek (king of Righteousness):_ "Melchisedek, king of Salem and priest of the Most High God, who met Abram in the Valley of Shaveh (or, the level valley), which is the king's valley, brought out bread and wine, blessed Abram, and received tithes from him (Gen. xiv. 18-20). The other places in which Melchizedek is mentioned are Ps. cx. 4, where Messiah is described as a priest forever, "after the order of Melchizedek," and Heb. v., vi., vii., where these two passages of the O. T. are quoted, and the typical relation of Melchizedek to our Lord is stated at great length." _2. Melchizedek in History:_ "There is something surprising and mysterious in the first appearance of Melchizedek, and in the subsequent references to him. Bearing a title which Jews in after ages would recognize as designating their own sovereign, bearing gifts which recall to Christians the Lord's Supper, this Canaanite crosses for a moment the path of Abram, and is unhesitatingly recognized as a person of higher spiritual rank than the friend of God. Disappearing as suddenly as he came in, he is lost to the sacred writings for a thousand years; and then a few emphatic words for another moment bring him into sight as a type of the joining Lord of David. (Psalms cx). Once more, after another thousand years, the Hebrew Christians are taught to see in him a proof that it was the consistent purpose of God to abolish the Levitical priesthood.[A] (Heb. vii.) His person, his office, his relation to Christ, and the seat of his sovereignty, have given rise to innumerable discussions, which even now can scarcely be considered as settled. [Footnote A: No; not "abolish" the Levitical priesthood, but supercede it as the dominating power by restoring the Melchizedek Priesthood which holds precedence of it in power and authority; but both may exist together as in the Mosaic dispensation before Moses and the Melchizedek Priesthood was taken from Israel, (cf. Doc. & Cov. Sec. lxxxiv:19-23 and Heb. vii. whole chapter but especially verse 12.)]