Kings and Priests

By Rev. Lonnie C. Crowe

In the Bible, kings and priests serve distinct yet complementary roles with kings governing and protecting God's people, and priests mediating between God and humanity, a pattern pictured in Melchizedek and ultimately fulfilled in Jesus Christ and extended to believers.

Genesis 14:17-20: And the king of Sodom went out to meet him after his return from the slaughter of Chedorlaomer and of the kings with him, at the valley of Shaveh, which is the king's valley. And Melchizedek the king of Salem brought forth bread and wine. And he was the priest of the most high God. And he blessed him, and said, Blessed be Abram of the most high God, possessor of Heaven and earth.  And blessed be the most high God, who has delivered your enemies into your hand. And he gave him tithes of all. 

Melchizedek means King of Righteousness.  He was the king of Salem.  Salem mean peace.  Melchizedek was the King of Righteousness and Peace.  He was both a king and a priest. This event was a preincarnation appearance of the second person of the Trinity, Jesus Christ.

Hebrews 7:15 -17: And it is still far more evident, since there arises another priest after the likeness of Melchizedek, who is made, not according to the law of a fleshly commandment, but according to the power of an endless life. For He testifies, "You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek." 

Jesus is the only one who is both King and High Priest.  Yet He has called His followers “a royal priesthood.

1Peter 2:9:  But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for possession, so that you might speak of the praises of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.

We will reign with Him during the Millennial Kingdom.

Rev 5:10  And You made us kings and priests to our God, and we will reign over the earth.  

We are both kings and priests.  Those positions have specific, but different, functions

We rule and reign with Jesus during the Millennial Kingdom. In the meantime, we have a dominion only over what God has entrusted to us.  We need to know the boundaries of that dominion.  A relative said that I was the matriarch of my clan.  A matriarch is a ruling woman, often the oldest woman in the clan.  I am the oldest, but I am not the ruler.  I am the Grandma, and I function as a priest in my clan.  I love them and I pray for them, but I don’t rule over them.  I am busy enough, just keeping myself in line.  This currently is the extent of my dominion.

We must understand the equivalent, yet different, functions of the king and the priest.

I received a phone call that the Holy Spirit used to lead me into the path way of the Kingdom and the functions of the king and the priest.

I have an associate who has reached out to me for advice and prayer for several years.  He is a Christian journalist. He has an understanding of the need for spiritual warfare, but has no idea how to go about it because he doesn’t understand the roles of kings and priests.  He feels that world leaders need to call their citizens into spiritual warfare against the Prince of Persia.

The "prince of Persia" appears in Daniel 10:13-21, where an angelic messenger explains that he was delayed for twenty-one days by the prince of Persia before Michael, one of the chief princes, came to assist him: “But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days: but, lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me” (Daniel 10:13 KJV).

As believers, we have been given authority to engage in spiritual warfare. That is a priestly function, not a governmental function.

 Luke 10:19: “Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you.” This verse reassures believers of the authority granted to us over spiritual enemies.   

The need for spiritual warfare against the Prince of Persia is vital. However, it is not the job of political leadership to engage in spiritual warfare as part of their office. Perhaps in their personal lives, but not in their office.  It is the job of the Church to engage in spiritual warfare. God is a spirit and they that worship Him must worship in spirit and in truth. (John 4:24)

Progressive Christianity preaches another God, one without the power to save, heal and deliver.

Isaiah 29:13 “And Jehovah said, Because this people draw near Me with their mouth, and with their lips honor Me, but have removed their heart far from Me, and their fear toward Me is taught by the command of men.”

The hearts of many, who name the name of Jesus, have moved away from Who God says He is and have received the fatalistic viewpoint of man, of ancient Greece, where everything that happened was thought to be fate and that fate was inescapable. If fate is inescapable, it must, therefore, be acceptable. Paul wrote described the resulting consequences.

2 Timothy 3:1-5: “Know this also, that in the last days grievous times will be at hand. For men will be self-lovers, money-lovers, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, unyielding, false accusers, without self-control, savage, despisers of good, traitors, reckless, puffed up, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, HAVING A FORM OF GODLINESS BUT DENYING THE POWER OF IT; even turn away from these.”

The Word says that the God of the Bible is still the God of today. He is still our deliverer from the works of Satan. One of His names in Hebrew is Jehovah Maphalti (deliverer). “Yeshua” also means to save, to rescue, to deliver.

It is the ministry of believers to bring the word of God into world. Not the job of the federal government.

Deliverance is in the hand of God and is available to those who truly desire to be delivered.

Psalm 18:2 “Jehovah is my strength, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my rock; I will trust in Him; He is my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower.”

Deliverance comes from a relationship with Jesus. I encouraged my associate to seek out leaders in the Church about the importance of spiritual warfare against the forces of evil including the Prince of Persia.

Our God is an awesome God. Our God can and will save, heal and deliver.