(Some Melchizedek Era Music for your listening pleasure)
In Abraham 1 we read regarding the priesthood:
3 It was conferred upon me from the fathers; it came down from the fathers, from the beginning of time, yea, even from the beginning, or before the foundation of the earth, down to the present time, even the right of the firstborn, or the first man, who is Adam, or first father, through the fathers unto me.
4 I sought for mine appointment unto the Priesthood according to the appointment of God unto the fathers concerning the seed.
6 For their hearts were set to do evil, and were wholly turned to the god of Elkenah, and the god of Libnah, and the god of Mahmackrah, and the god of Korash, and the god of Pharaoh, king of Egypt;
7 Therefore they turned their hearts to the sacrifice of the heathen in offering up their children unto these dumb idols, and hearkened not unto my voice, but endeavored to take away my life by the hand of the priest of Elkenah. The priest of Elkenah was also the priest of Pharaoh.
(Contrast this with: 1 I, Nephi, having been born of goodly parents, therefore I was taught somewhat in all the learning of my father; and having seen many afflictions in the course of my days, nevertheless, having been highly favored of the Lord in all my days; yea, having had a great knowledge of the goodness and the mysteries of God, therefore I make a record of my proceedings in my days.)
In D&C 84 we read:
14 Which Abraham received the priesthood from Melchizedek, who received it through the lineage of his fathers, even till Noah;
15 And from Noah till Enoch, through the lineage of their fathers;
16 And from Enoch to Abel, who was slain by the conspiracy of his brother, who received the priesthood by the commandments of God, by the hand of his father Adam, who was the first man.
We have a connection from fathers to fathers, but we also have the priesthood coming through Abel in this.
Then also in D&C 138 we have a recounting of so much, but out of everyone seen, there's Shem but no Melchizedek:
38 Among the great and mighty ones who were assembled in this vast congregation of the righteous were Father Adam, the Ancient of Days and father of all,
39 And our glorious Mother Eve, with many of her faithful daughters who had lived through the ages and worshiped the true and living God.
40 Abel, the first martyr, was there, and his brother Seth, one of the mighty ones, who was in the express image of his father, Adam.
41 Noah, who gave warning of the flood; Shem, the great high priest; Abraham, the father of the faithful; Isaac, Jacob, and Moses, the great law-giver of Israel;
42 And Isaiah, who declared by prophecy that the Redeemer was anointed to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that were bound, were also there.
43 Moreover, Ezekiel, who was shown in vision the great valley of dry bones, which were to be clothed upon with flesh, to come forth again in the resurrection of the dead, living souls;
44 Daniel, who foresaw and foretold the establishment of the kingdom of God in the latter days, never again to be destroyed nor given to other people;
45 Elias, who was with Moses on the Mount of Transfiguration;
46 And Malachi, the prophet who testified of the coming of Elijah—of whom also Moroni spake to the Prophet Joseph Smith, declaring that he should come before the ushering in of the great and dreadful day of the Lord—were also there.
47 The Prophet Elijah was to plant in the hearts of the children the promises made to their fathers,
48 Foreshadowing the great work to be done in the temples of the Lord in the dispensation of the fulness of times, for the redemption of the dead, and the sealing of the children to their parents, lest the whole earth be smitten with a curse and utterly wasted at his coming.
49 All these and many more, even the prophets who dwelt among the Nephites and testified of the coming of the Son of God, mingled in the vast assembly and waited for their deliverance
Obviously he may have been there just not mentioned, but its seems notable to me that he wasn't included in this.
And then in the Bible Dictionary for Shem it finishes off: In latter-day revelation Shem is referred to as “the great high priest” (D&C 138:41). See also Melchizedek.
Heading off to all things official, and all else apocryphal....
Targum Neofiti (and Fragment Targum) on Genesis 14:18: “And the king of Righteousness (Melka-sedek), the king of Jerusalem—he is Shem, the great one—brought out bread and wine, for he was the priest who served in the High Priesthood before the Most High God.”
It means there were two priesthood lines running through Egypt in the days of Abraham. One from Noah through Shem - the great High Priest - and a pretended priesthood that was sought to be earnestly imitated by Pharoah, the son of Egyptus, the daughter of Egyptus and Ham, and great-grandson of Noah.
The Egyptians had a pretend, and apostate priesthood that never was - an imitation at best, and while it might be considered flattery, on things sacred, it is rather blasphemy.
Now Noah's family had been drifted from the gospel, corrupted by the fake priesthood which kills children, men and women, and even tried to kill Abraham and here he sought his appointment through the lineage of the fathers, and it wasn't to be found.
Here we have the next patriarch who gets his priesthood from the man who survived the flood, and who heard those who were there after the fall, or lived through the events of Cain's Murder....he was ordained by his 10th great grandfather, someone who still lived as long as they did in the ancient days and then lived to pass it to his children, and his grandson and great grandsons (Ephraim, Manasseh) made the greatest branch of the last days - and we're here....because of them.
That's all.
