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For surely it is not angels he helps, but Abraham’s descendants.
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The Certainty of God’s Promise
When God made his promise to Abraham, since there was no one greater for him to swear by, he swore by himself,
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And so after waiting patiently, Abraham received what was promised.
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Melchizedek the Priest
This Melchizedek was king of Salem and priest of God Most High. He met Abraham returning from the defeat of the kings and blessed him,
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and Abraham gave him a tenth of everything. First, the name Melchizedek means “king of righteousness”; then also, “king of Salem” means “king of peace.”
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Just think how great he was: Even the patriarch Abraham gave him a tenth of the plunder!
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Now the law requires the descendants of Levi who become priests to collect a tenth from the people—that is, from their fellow Israelites—even though they also are descended from Abraham.
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This man, however, did not trace his descent from Levi, yet he collected a tenth from Abraham and blessed him who had the promises.
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One might even say that Levi, who collects the tenth, paid the tenth through Abraham,
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because when Melchizedek met Abraham, Levi was still in the body of his ancestor.
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By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going.
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By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had embraced the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son,
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Abraham reasoned that God could even raise the dead, and so in a manner of speaking he did receive Isaac back from death.
