pgs. 242 and 243...Melchizedek did establish peace in the land in his days; therefore he was called the prince of peace.

9 Thus they become ^ahigh priests forever, after the order of the Son, the Only Begotten of the Father, who is without beginning of days or end of years, who is full of ^bgrace, equity, and truth. And thus it is. Amen.

10 Now, as I said concerning the holy order, or this ^ahigh priesthood, there were many who were ordained and became high priests of God; and it was on account of their exceeding ^bfaith and ^crepentance, and their righteousness before God, they choosing to repent and work righteousness rather than to perish;

11 Therefore they were called after this holy order, and were ^asanctified, and their ^bgarments were washed white through the blood of the Lamb.

12 Now they, after being ^asanctified by the ^bHoly Ghost, having their garments made white, being ^cpure and spotless before God, could not look upon ^dsin save it were with ^eabhorrence; and there were many, exceedingly great many, who were made pure and entered into the rest of the Lord their God.

13 And now, my brethren, I would that ye should humble yourselves before God, and bring forth ^afruit meet for repentance, that ye may also enter into that rest.

14 Yea, humble yourselves even as the people in the days of ^aMelchizedek, who was also a high priest after this same order which I have spoken, who also took upon him the high priesthood forever.

15 And it was this same Melchizedek to whom Abraham paid ^atithes; yea, even our father Abraham paid tithes of one-tenth part of all he possessed.

16 Now these ^aordinances were given after this ^bmanner, that thereby the people might look forward on the Son of God, it being a ^ctype of his order, or it being his order, and this that they might look forward to him for a remission of their sins, that they might enter into the rest of the Lord.

17 Now this Melchizedek was a king over the land of Salem; and his people had waxed strong in iniquity and abomination; yea, they had all gone astray; they were full of all manner of wickedness;

18 But Melchizedek having exercised mighty faith, and received the office of the high priesthood according to the ^aholy order of God, did preach repentance unto his people. And behold, they did repent; and Melchizedek did establish peace in the land in his days; therefore he was called the prince of peace, for he was the king of Salem; and he did reign under his father.

19 Now, there were ^amany before him, and also there were many afterwards, but ^bnone were greater; therefore, of him they have more particularly made mention.

20 Now I need not rehearse the matter; what I have said may suffice. Behold, the ^ascriptures are before you; if ye will ^bwrest them it shall be to your own destruction.

21 And now it came to pass that when Alma had said these words unto them, he stretched forth his hand unto them and cried with a mighty voice, saying: ^aNow is the time to repent, for the day of salvation draweth nigh;

22 Yea, and the voice of the Lord, by the ^amouth of angels, doth declare it unto all nations; yea, doth declare it, that they may have glad tidings of great joy; yea, and he doth sound these glad tidings among all his people, yea, even to them that are scattered abroad upon the face of the earth; wherefore they have come unto us.

23 And they are made known unto us in ^aplain terms, that we may understand, that we cannot err; and this because of our being ^bwanderers in a strange land; therefore, we are thus highly favored, for we have these glad tidings declared unto us in all parts of our vineyard.

24 For behold, ^aangels are declaring it unto many at this time in our land; and this is for the purpose of preparing the hearts of the children of men to receive his word at the time of his coming in his glory.

25 And now we only wait to hear the joyful news declared unto us by the mouth of angels, of his coming; for the time cometh, we ^aknow not how soon. Would to God that it might be in my day; but let it be sooner or later, in it I will rejoice.

26 And it shall be made known unto ^ajust and holy men, by the mouth of angels, at the time of his coming, that the words of our fathers may be fulfilled, according to that which they have spoken concerning him, which was according to the spirit of prophecy which was in them.

27 And now, my brethren, I ^awish from the inmost part of my heart, yea, with great ^banxiety even unto pain, that ye would hearken unto my words, and cast off your sins, and not ^cprocrastinate the day of your repentance;

28 But that ye would humble yourselves before the Lord, and call on his holy name, and ^awatch and pray continually, that ye may not be ^btempted above that which ye can bear, and thus be ^cled by the Holy Spirit, becoming humble, ^dmeek, submissive, patient, full of love and all long-suffering;

29 ^aHaving faith on the Lord; having a hope that ye shall receive eternal life; having the ^blove of God always in your hearts, that ye may be lifted up at the last day and enter into his ^crest.

30 And may the Lord grant unto you repentance, that ye may not bring down his wrath upon you, that ye may not be ^abound down by the chains of ^bhell, that ye may not suffer the second ^cdeath.

31 And Alma spake many more words unto the people, which are not written in ^athis book.


This chapter teaches us a lot about Melchizedek. Here's a list of things from the Institute Manual that I had never seen or heard before.

1. Melchizedek lived about 2000 B.C. (see Melchizedek in the Bible Dictionary).
2. He was righteous even from his youth and received divine protection (see JST, Genesis 14:26–40).
3. The Church in ancient days called the holy priesthood after his name (see D&C 107:2–4).
4. Abraham received the priesthood from Melchizedek (see D&C 84:14).

I'm sure this information about Melchizedek is discussed more in Priesthood than in Relief Society but I feel that it is important information for all of us. It's nice to have a context to put to with the name Melchizedek and the power that the name represents. I have received many powerful priesthood blessings in my life. I hold dear to my heart one that was given to me the day I left for college and another the morning I was married. I have enjoyed listening to my husband bless our children the night before school starts each fall. I know some people feel that The Lord's church is biased toward men because women have not been asked by The Lord to hold the priesthood. I do not feel that way at all. I know that men and women are equally blessed by the power of the priesthood and I understand why the work associated with being a priesthood bearer falls on the shoulders of men.