SRAEL HAS OFTEN FOUND ITSELF SITUATED BETWEEN a rock and a hard place. Throughout its history it seems as though it has been struggling against one foe or another. Sometimes the attacks have come upon them as the innocent party, and at other times as the action of God to bring them back from their state of rebellion. I don’t pretend to know the “cause” of the present state of affairs; I only know that I am praying for peace.
During the early days of the nation of Israel, God set up a trinity of offices to help lead the nation. He gave priests to lead the nation in their worship by offering sacrifices and prayers to God. He gave kings to lead the civil and military aspects of the kingdom. Finally, He gave prophets to call the people back from their waywardness and rebellion and to speak of salvation and restoration.
In the church today we don’t have kings, and pastors may sometimes fill the role of prophet, but the one thing we do have is a kingdom of priests. Those of us who have responded to God’s gracious gift of salvation in Jesus Christ, and been brought into His royal priesthood. Our task as priests is not unlike the task of the priest of Israel’s early days, to offer prayers and petitions and sacrifices.
Too often we understand the “role” of being priests as each one having individual access to God without the need of some religious hierarchical system, and in part this is true. But, it is so much more than that. The role of the priest is to pray for the people. That is your role, to pray for the people around you. To stand in the Holy of Holies, in the very presence of God, to plead for the needs of the nation, whether that “nation” resides within the walls of your home, the confines of your neighborhood, or the local body of Christ.
We need a church of priests now more than ever. It is time to enter in. It is time to pray. Let’s fulfill our God-given responsibility and seek His face, turn from our wicked ways, and pray for the healing of the “nation.”