"For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the most high God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings, and blessed him;
"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;
"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.
"Now consider how great this man was, unto whom even the patriarch Abraham gave the tenth of the spoils."—(Heb. 7:1-4.)
The Priesthood Renamed.—So great was he that the Priesthood was renamed for him. Before his time, it was called The Priesthood after the Order of the Son of God. Its present name, the Melchizedek Priesthood, was bestowed, as we are informed, for reverential reasons, to avoid a too frequent repetition of the name of Deity.—(D. and C. 107:1-4.)
Abraham's Test.—The offering of Isaac, Abraham's son of promise, symbolized the offering, by the Eternal Father, of his Only Begotten Son, for the redemption and salvation of mankind. This crucial trial of Abraham's faith is thus related by the sacred historian:
"And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham; and he said, Behold, here I am.
"And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.
"And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went into the place of which God had told him.
"Then on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar off.