© 2021 Richard E. Warren
© 2021 The Urantia Book Fellowship
by Richard E. Warren
Imagine it’s 1,973 BC and you are Amdon, a Chaldean shepherd living in Palestine. You’re sitting alone in your tent enjoying an afternoon rest on a sunny day. Suddenly, an unusual and remarkable man appears at the tent’s entrance and boldly announces: “I am Melchizedek, priest of El Elyon, the Most High, the one and only God.” [UB 93:2.1] When you recover from astonishment, you begin asking questions, many questions.
The man tells you his name is Machiventa Melchizedek and he is on a mission to salvage truth. You listen closely to his answers and hear the ring of truth. You invite the stranger to dinner. He meets your family and then, after supping, you and your wife sit under the stars with him asking more questions and hearing ever more amazing and arresting answers. Mostly Machiventa talks about the truth of the one God. Looking up, and with a sweep of his arm, he says this about the Universal Father, “El Elyon, the Most High, is the divine creator of the stars of the firmament and even of this very earth on which we live, and he is also the supreme God of heaven.” [UB 93:2.3]
He then declares he will build a school to teach truth and asks for your help. You agree and offer him a vacant tent where he can begin teaching the very next day. He is an immediate success and an instant celebrity. Nearly everyone who meets him is attracted by his magnificent bearing and sublime teachings.
Very soon, word about this odd priest spreads far and wide, as one who has no mother or father, and is without pedigree. Soon pupils, disciples, and donors appear, wanting to learn, teach, and help build a school. Before long the one-time stranger becomes a friendly and treasured master teacher who is given the title “Sage of Salem,” Salem being the little colony where he incarnated, and the site of the future city of Jerusalem.
A young man, an exceptional student, one named Nordan attends the school. A long relationship begins and Nordan is personally trained by Melchizedek as a missionary. Soon Nordan becomes the leader of a band of gifted disciples who take the Salem teachings to the far corners of Eurasia and Africa. And before Machiventa disincarnates, he attracts and trains one of the most influential humans in our history, Abraham.
This little-known story encapsulates the fascinating life of Urantia’s second most important teacher, after Jesus. It was a genuine joy fleshing out the details of Machiventa’s 94 year self-bestowal in my novel The Melchizedek Mission - Salvaging Truth. I imagined his dinner with the Amdon’s family, a meeting with donors, the building of the school, living with the Katro family, training the missionaries, meeting Abraham, A braham’s sojourn to Egypt, the making of the covenant, M achiventa’s disappearance, A braham’s loss and restoration of confidence, Isaac’s birth and marriage, and the aftereffects of the Sage’s teachings as they were disseminated by the Salem missionaries, east, west, north, and south of Palestine. The novel is 155 pages and prefaced with a map of the region where Machiventa taught and Abraham ruled. There are vignettes with Sarah, A bimelech, the Pharaoh of Egypt, and Abraham’s turmoil when M el chizedek disappeared. I wrote the book for two reasons, first to make this pivotal historical event available and accessible to all, and second, to attract truthseekers to the Urantia Book. It is available in ebook and print format, and soon to be published in Spanish and French.
A Kindle Book “Look inside” sample from The Melchizedek M ission: Salvaging Truth may be accessed on Amazon at: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08MY7Y68P