Roles of Prophet, Priest, and King are Not Always Distinct
In our last post, we stated that the roles of prophet, priest, and king can be linked to how God’s trinity works since how earthly government works is reflective of how heavenly government works. These roles were not always distinct, and at times this was within God’s will, but often it was not.
Sometimes, serving in more than one capacity leads to consequences. For example, Saul offered sacrifices at Gilgal and Samuel reprimanded him which ultimately led to Saul’s kingdom being taken from him (1Sa 13:10-14). This was not the only time Saul had disobeyed God as Samuel instructed, for Saul had been disobedient to God several times (1Sa 15:9-10). Another example is King Uzziah offering incense in the temple and Azariah, the priest, reprimanding him for this because it was a duty only for priests, and Uzziah developed leprosy as a consequence for his actions, and he remained leprous until his death (2Ch 26:19-21).
In these instances, both Saul and Uzziah were not trying to draw attention toward God but to usurp him and his wishes for them due to their own selfish egos.
Yet, sometimes God blessed the actions of some who served in more than one capacity. In one example, king David built an altar and offered burnt offering and fellowship offerings to stay a plague sent due to his sin. He did this at the bequest of God through a prophet, however. It was a way for David to accept the responsibility for his actions going against God’s wishes (2Sa 24:16-25). In another example, king David wore a linen ephod and danced before the LORD when he brought the Ark of the Covenant into Jerusalem (2Sa 6:14). In these instances, while some saw David, like his wife, Michal, drawing negative attention to himself, he was actually drawing the people’s attention toward God.
At times, some typified a type of Christ and served in all three roles. Samuel (judge, priest, prophet) was the last of the judges but the judges before him did not serve as a priest. Judges did serve as a type of prophet at times. Samuel became not only a prophet but a priest from that time going forward. He was a Levite, being a descendant of Kohath, a son of Levi.
David (king, priest, prophet) we know was a king. He sometimes acted as a prophet because many passages in Psalms are prophetic in nature. And he sometimes acted as if a priest, as just noted, to draw everyone’s attention toward God. These examples helped the people better understand the character their coming Messiah would possess.
Christ would also fulfill each of these roles, just not in the way the Jewish leaders thought he would. He came physically to Israel as a prophet (Mt 21:46; Jn 4:44), he now serves as a high priest for us (Hb 4:14), and will one day return to reign as king (1Ti 6:13-16).
Throughout biblical history, we see how God adapts his methodology at the same time his character remains unchanged. As God revealed more and more of his character, he also introduced other ways of communication to those who listened to him.
The Bible speaks of God talking to many of the patriarchs from Adam all the way through Moses personally. God walked and talked with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden (Gn 3:8-9), he spoke directly with Noah (Gn 7:1), he spoke to many of the patriarchs personally (e.g., Jacob; Gn 32:24-30), in visions (e.g., Abram; Gn 15:1), dreams (e.g., Joseph; Gn 37:5), and through angels (Abraham; Gn 18:3), and he spoke to Moses face-to-face through his Shekinah glory as a friend would talk with a friend (Ex 33:11).
God originally fulfilled all three roles of King, Priest, and Prophet as he led and taught Adam and Even in the Garden of Eden, he later had patriarchs function as priests for their families, and as prophets to the people. After the Flood, he had Melchizedek (Gn 14:18) function as king and priest to better portray how God expected these roles to function when they would be held by humans. Under Moses, God brought these functions under human leadership so they could better understand God and his role in their lives.
God appeared on Mt. Sinai in an awesome way: in clouds, smoke, and lightning (Ex 19:16), revealing his ultimate authority. Moses became the spoke piece for God to the people (Ex 20:18), and God spoke to him face-to-face through his Shekinah glory (Ex 33:11). This revealed Moses’ authority to the people and made them more inclined to listen to him as they looked to him as they would look to God as their leader—a type of kingly authority, if you will.
God appears to Moses, Aaron and his sons, and the seventy elders of Israel and eats and drinks with them (Ex 24:9-11); likely a type of communion as we would recognize it today – it would be symbolic of his future death for their reconciliation as his priestly role. God gives instructions to Moses as to exactly how the Tabernacle was to be constructed and ceremonies conducted. All aspects of the Tabernacle pointed to Christ, their coming Messiah and what he would do for them – a fulfillment of the promise God has given to Adam and Eve.
The Holy Spirit fills the seventy elders who are to lead the people. The elders assist the people to help them align God’s words into their daily living. Although the filling of the Holy Spirit was temporary during this time, it was prophetic of how he would one day indwell his followers permanently so they, too, can align with his words in their daily living.
Next, we will see how God now expected those individuals with these duties to now act and live so they can represent him to the people. I hope you join me for that.
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Visit Books & Words to Inspire by Randy C. Dockens