T
TimothyH
Guest
I think so. Or at a minimum, there is a connection with - possibly a prefigurement - of the common priesthood of Christ in which we all share. Here is what I think. I would welcome any comments.
Although both he and David were anointed by Samuel, I don’t think Saul was a priest. Of David however, the Bible says…
So the priest gave him holy bread, for no other bread was on hand except the showbread which had been removed from the LORD’S presence and replaced by fresh bread when it was taken away. (1 Samuel 21:7)
David and his men ate the Holy Bread, the Bread of the Presence from the temple, which only priests were allowed to eat. He ate this even though he was not yet anointed by Samuel. Jesus references event in Matthew 12.
At that time Jesus was going through a field of grain on the sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick the heads of grain and eat them. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, “See, your disciples are doing what is unlawful to do on the sabbath.” He said to them, “Have you not read what David did when he and his companions were hungry, how he went into the house of God and ate the bread of offering, which neither he nor his companions but only the priests could lawfully eat? Or have you not read in the law that on the sabbath the priests serving in the temple violate the sabbath and are innocent? I say to you, something greater than the temple is here. If you knew what this meant, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned these innocent men. For the Son of Man is Lord of the sabbath.” (Matthew 12:1-8)
Jesus equates his own disciples violation of the sabbath with David’s eating of the Holy Bread, and even points out that the priests violate the sabbath by working “and are innocent.” In doing this, he is placing both himself and King David on the same level as the priests in the temple, saying that as the priests are innocent by virtue of their preisthood, so too is David and himself and his disciples. He then takes it a step further, stating that he is in fact greater than, and master of the sabbath.
The point is that Jesus says that the priests are innocent, and if King David and Jesus and his disciples are also innocent, they must be priests as well. It is, I think, a revelation to us of the common priesthood in which we all share.
When it was reported to King David that the LORD had blessed the family of Obed-edom and all that belonged to him, David went to bring up the ark of God from the house of Obed-edom into the City of David amid festivities. As soon as the bearers of the ark of the LORD had advanced six steps, he sacrificed an ox and a fatling. Then David, girt with a linen apron, came dancing before the LORD with abandon, (2 Samuel 6:12-14)
After David was annointed and made king, he brought back the Ark of the Covenant and it is clear that he sacrificed, something which subsequent to Mt. Sinai, only a priest would have done. He was also wearning an “Apron”, which is probably the ephod worn by the priests. A picture of the ephod (in yellow) is below. It look like an apron to me.
Eating the holy bread. Sacrificing. Wearing the ephod. So yes, I think David was a priest.
-Tim-
Although both he and David were anointed by Samuel, I don’t think Saul was a priest. Of David however, the Bible says…
So the priest gave him holy bread, for no other bread was on hand except the showbread which had been removed from the LORD’S presence and replaced by fresh bread when it was taken away. (1 Samuel 21:7)
David and his men ate the Holy Bread, the Bread of the Presence from the temple, which only priests were allowed to eat. He ate this even though he was not yet anointed by Samuel. Jesus references event in Matthew 12.
At that time Jesus was going through a field of grain on the sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick the heads of grain and eat them. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, “See, your disciples are doing what is unlawful to do on the sabbath.” He said to them, “Have you not read what David did when he and his companions were hungry, how he went into the house of God and ate the bread of offering, which neither he nor his companions but only the priests could lawfully eat? Or have you not read in the law that on the sabbath the priests serving in the temple violate the sabbath and are innocent? I say to you, something greater than the temple is here. If you knew what this meant, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned these innocent men. For the Son of Man is Lord of the sabbath.” (Matthew 12:1-8)
Jesus equates his own disciples violation of the sabbath with David’s eating of the Holy Bread, and even points out that the priests violate the sabbath by working “and are innocent.” In doing this, he is placing both himself and King David on the same level as the priests in the temple, saying that as the priests are innocent by virtue of their preisthood, so too is David and himself and his disciples. He then takes it a step further, stating that he is in fact greater than, and master of the sabbath.
The point is that Jesus says that the priests are innocent, and if King David and Jesus and his disciples are also innocent, they must be priests as well. It is, I think, a revelation to us of the common priesthood in which we all share.
When it was reported to King David that the LORD had blessed the family of Obed-edom and all that belonged to him, David went to bring up the ark of God from the house of Obed-edom into the City of David amid festivities. As soon as the bearers of the ark of the LORD had advanced six steps, he sacrificed an ox and a fatling. Then David, girt with a linen apron, came dancing before the LORD with abandon, (2 Samuel 6:12-14)
After David was annointed and made king, he brought back the Ark of the Covenant and it is clear that he sacrificed, something which subsequent to Mt. Sinai, only a priest would have done. He was also wearning an “Apron”, which is probably the ephod worn by the priests. A picture of the ephod (in yellow) is below. It look like an apron to me.
Eating the holy bread. Sacrificing. Wearing the ephod. So yes, I think David was a priest.
-Tim-