The Most Mysterious Character of the Bible

Heb 7:1 For this Melchisedec, king of Salem, priest of the most high God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings, and blessed him;
Heb 7:2 To whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all; first being by interpretation King of righteousness, and after that also King of Salem, which is, King of peace;
Heb 7:3 Without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days, nor end of life; but made like unto the Son of God; abideth a priest continually.
Heb 7:4 Now consider how great this man was, unto whom even the patriarch Abraham gave the tenth of the spoils.

The Set up: Abraham had been busy out slaughtering the area feudal lords. We can read about this in Gen 14, vss 15 and following. These kings were Arioch, Chedorlaomer, Amraphel and Tidal. That's what they got for messing with this desert nomad and his highly trained underlings. They had kidnapped Abraham's nephew, Lot and didn't get to live to regret their transgression.

So now Abraham is heading back home and he meets up with a very unique person, Melchisedec. A little we know about him;
1. He is King of Salem, probably Jerusalem. He is also called the king of peace and the king of righteousness.
2. He is priest, not "a" priest, but priest of the most high God.
3. He was sanctioned to pronounce blessings upon others.
4. He was ordained to receive tithes, which he did of Abraham, the great patriarch.
Now, here is where it really gets interesting.
5. He has no earthly pedigree; no father, no mother, no ancestry, no birth date, no date of decease.
6. He is said to be "made like unto the Son of God."
7. He possessed a priesthood without interruption and without end.

And finally, the Word says he was a great man!

Now, I have always wondered what to do with this man. 'Who,' maybe 'what' is he? Perhaps I read too much into the text. Maybe the case is that Mel simply comes without mention of his geneology and that it is a stretch to say that he has no birth or death.

However, I am inclined to think that the Rev. Melchisedec is a Christophanes, an appearance of Jesus in the Old Testament. The description sure fits. And if this is truly the Lord, cannot I also expect to be met by Him, blessed by Him and do I not need to pay up?