Moses, Samuel, and David: A Higher Order of Priesthood

As I was reading through the books of 1 and 2 Samuel, and then 1 and 2 Chronicles I began to notice something odd about David’s relationship to the priesthood of Israel. Even Jesus makes mention (Mark 2:23-28) of one of the incidents that I found odd in 1 Samuel 21:1-6. David is fleeing from Saul and stops to visit the priest at Nob. He asks for food for his troops and is given the holy bread that was only allowed to be eaten by priests. Jesus uses this as an example to show that the law is under Jesus, not the other way around.

What, then, does this imply about David? Was the priesthood under David?

Let’s look at some other incidents and activities. David:

• Acted like a priest. According to Ex 28:4, the high priest was supposed to bless the people. David does exactly that in 1 Chronicles 16:1-2, after sacrificing burnt offerings (yet another priestly duty).
• In 1 Samuel 23:1-12 David seems to be inquiring of the LORD with the Ephod, an exclusively priestly garment. He does it again in 1 Samuel 30:6-8.
• 1 Samuel 0:1-8 (Ephod)
• In 2 Samuel 6:12-18 and 1 Chronicles 15 David organizes the priesthood to move the Ark of the Covenant to a tent David set up for it. The last person who set up a tent for the Ark was Moses.
• David organized the ministry and worship at the Tabernacle (1 Chronicles 23-26).
• David also prepared everything for building the Temple. (1 Chronicles 23:1-7, 1 Chronicles 25:1-6) And in 1 Chronicles 28 he hands over detailed instructions for building the Temple to his son Solomon.

I had to ask myself where David acquired the authority to do all of these priestly things, including what only Moses had done, when he was merely a king and a prophet. He seemed to be functioning as a higher-order priest than the Levites and Aaronites.

Hold on there a moment! If David is doing things that only Moses had done, what does that make Moses?

While Moses is also a Levite, he is not a descendant of Aaron. Not only that, but God has Aaron acting as Moses’ spokesman to Pharaoh. God even tells them, “He [Aaron] will speak to the people for you, and it will be as if he were your mouth and as if you were God to him.”

In fact, in Deuteronomy 18:15 Moses speaks of a time when a prophet like himself would rise up from among the people of Israel. Peter takes that prophecy of Moses and points to Jesus as the ultimate fulfilment. While that is certainly the case, one has to wonder whether there was a partial fulfilment in David, too.

In Psalm 110 David speaks of his “lord,” whom the LORD would “rule in the midst of your enemies!” Even so, this ruler would be “a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.”

Here again is a higher order of priest-king, who blessed Abraham upon his defeat of the army that had captured his nephew’s family (Genesis 14:18-20). He was the king of Salem and “a priest of God most high” long before Abraham’s great grandson Levi was born.

This naturally brings me to Samuel, a miracle baby from the tribe of Ephraim (not Levi!), who was adopted into the priesthood be Eli the high priest. Samuel the priest becomes a prophet, military commander, circuit judge and an educator who sets up schools of prophets in different cities on his circuit. He is also a mentor for the first two of Israel’s kings, so we can add king-maker to his resume. He also seems to be part of a higher order of priests.

Getting back to Moses, was he not also mentored by a priest of God? His father-in-law as the priest of Midian, who hired Moses to tend to his sheep. Reuel/Jethro even offers Moses some godly advice about administering justice (don’t do it alone!). Nowhere does the Bible say anything negative about Moses’ father-in-law.

Could it be that Moses, Jethro, Samuel, David and Melchizedek were all part of the same order of priesthood that finds it ultimate fulfillment in Jesus Christ?

I leave it to you to decide.