The History of the Office of Believer in the Bible
There is no specific Scriptural mention of an anointing of Adam and Eve, but we may conclude from other Biblical data that they held the office of prophet, priest and king under God. In Genesis 1:26-28 God gave them dominion over earth and its creatures. Adam demonstrated his prophetic capacity in naming the animals (Genesis 2:19,20) and in receiving his wife (Genesis 2:23). Abel exercised the priestly office when he offered his lamb according to the prescribed order.
When Adam and Eve fell they lost the right to hold the office and man has become, insofar as he exercises any authority, a king in rebellion. He continues to use his power over the creation but not now in the service of God. Instead, he wants to be like God and tries to build a kingdom of man (Genesis 11:1-9). He is a usurper and a tyrant, unwise, unjust and cruel in the use of kingly power. He is a false prophet who refuses to receive the revelation of God and instead speaks against God and according to what he judges by himself to be right and true. He is no longer consecrated to God, but wholly corrupt and defiled with sin. He is a priest in service to other gods, offering his sacrifices to idols rather than to his creator. Cain demonstrated a priestly rebellion in offering the fruit of the ground instead of a lamb.
God’s work of grace began the work of restoration of the office, and this restoration may be traced through various stages in the Old Testament.
Beginning already with Adam and Abel, we see a new kind of priestly service. Bloody sacrifices as signs of atonement became a necessary part of man’s service to God (Genesis 4:1-5). From this time until the giving of the law on Mt. Sinai the priestly function was performed by the heads of households. Noah (Genesis 8:20-22), Abraham (Genesis 12:7,8, 13:4,18, chapter 22), Isaac (Genesis 26:25), and Jacob (Genesis 28:18, 31:54, 33:20, 35:1-7,14) all offered sacrifices on behalf of their families and servants. Abraham seems to have built an altar to the Lord wherever he settled down for a time.
Yet Abraham recognized the greater priesthood of Melchizedek (Genesis 14:18-20 and Hebrews 7:4-10). Melchizedek was unique, as Hebrews 7 points out, because he was without father or mother, without beginning and end of days and greater than Abraham. He was king and priest, not just of a household but of Salem (Hebrews 7:2).
The patriarchs were also prophets. Abraham (Genesis 20:7) is called a prophet and Isaac (Genesis 27:27-29, 39-40) and Jacob (Genesis 48:1-16, 49) prophesied in the blessing of their sons. Psalm 105:15 speaks of them and the twelve sons of Jacob as anointed.
Moses was a prophet and a priest. We need only refer to the inspiration of the five books of the law for proof of his prophetic office. He was also a priest and performed the priestly rites for the people of Israel up to the time that God appointed Aaron and his sons (Exodus 17:15). Moses was the one who ordained Aaron and his sons and performed the initial rite of cleansing for the tabernacle and all that was in it. He was also an intercessor for Israel in the matter of the golden calf (Exodus 32:30-32). For his service to the people of God, God called and appointed him at the burning bush (Exodus 3:10f).
At Mt. Sinai the Lord gave the priestly functions to Aaron and his sons and forbade the people to offer their own sacrifices (Exodus 20:24). They had to bring their sacrificial animals to the tabernacle and temple, and the priests there offered for them on the altar of burnt offering. The priests also were the only ones who had access to the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place. The worship of God revolved around the priestly office and was possible only by means of that office.
Furthermore, the office of prophet was no longer common. Heads of households no longer functioned in this capacity but God gave the gift of prophecy instead to a select few whom he appointed directly: Moses, Deborah (Judges 4:4), Samuel, Ahijah, Nathan and Gad (the prophets who served David), Elijah and Elisha, and the prophets whose writings are part of the inspired Scriptures. There were sons of the prophets and schools of the prophets at least at the time of Elijah and Elisha. Obadiah hid 100 prophets from Jezebel (1 Kings 18:13).
Towards the end of Israel’s history in the land, as the nation declined and the kings and priests became increasingly unfaithful, the role of the prophetic office seems to have expanded significantly. It did not replace the ceremonies of the law but became the primary vehicle through which the Lord communicated both his judgments on an apostate people and the nations, and also his promises about the near future as well as the new covenant.
Though the patriarchs exercised authority within their own households and there were rulers of various kinds in Israel throughout the period from Egypt to Saul, the office of king did not come into being until the people demanded a king from Samuel and received Saul by God’s choice and anointing. Saul was, in a sense, an anomaly because he was not the kind of king God wanted to give them, but the kind of king they had asked for. David was the man after God’s own heart. With the anointing of David, the kings of Israel became ancestors of Christ himself according to the promise of God to David in 2 Samuel 7.
These offices of prophet, priest and king were all types and shadows of the office of Christ: the kings of his rule of power over the nations and of grace over his people, the priests of his sacrificial and intercessory work, and the prophets of his revelation of God and his will in his person (John 1:1), work (Hebrews 1:2) and word.
We should take note of some limitations of these special offices in the Old Testament.
First and most importantly, the offices of prophet, priest and king were not general. It seems likely from the Scriptural data that only heads of households held them in the age of the patriarchs. After God constituted Israel as his people at Mt. Sinai, only a very few of God’s people held them. All the rest were dependent on these special offices for access to the Word of God, entry into the presence of God, and participation in the universal reign of God.
Secondly, the offices of king and priest were never, with the exception of Melchizedek, united in one person. Though David acted in some respects like a priest (2 Samuel 6:14, 1 Chronicles 15:27), he might not carry the ark himself or perform service in the tabernacle or the tent which he set up for the ark in Jerusalem. Uzziah’s attempt to offer incense ended disastrously for him. He illustrates the proper Old Testament separation of the offices of king and priest.
Nevertheless, there were harbingers of better things to come. God calls the patriarchs his anointed (Psalm 105:15). God called his people a kingdom of priests (Exodus 19:6). Though this priesthood of the nation revealed itself particularly in the Levitical priests during the Old Testament, it still bespoke a time when such a special class of priests would no longer be necessary (1 Peter 2:9). The Nazirites made priestly sorts of vows, and, through their special consecration to the Lord, called Israel to return from apostasy. There were prophecies that directed the hope of the people to their great king, prophet and priest whom God would send and promised them participation in his office. Moses wanted all the Lord’s people to be prophets (Numbers 11:26). Joel prophesied that all would be (2:28,29). The prophets spoke of a priesthood to come (Isaiah 61:6, Hosea 14:2) and other prophecies spoke of reigning (Psalm 45:16, Psalm 49:14).
There is a final phase of the blessing of anointing. In glory, and especially in the consummation of all things, we will have the fulness of the Spirit and the perfection of the office of believers. Then we will see face to face and know as we are known (1 Corinthians 13:12), we will be wholly consecrated to God (Hebrews 10:14), and we will live and reign with Christ forever (Revelation 3:21).
Next time, what it means that Christians are prophets, priests and kings in Christ.