So he said, “Bring me the burnt offering and the fellowship offerings.” And Saul offered up the burnt offering. – 1 Samuel 13:9

Today’s Scripture Reading (December 5, 2012): 1 Samuel 13

In Western culture, we make a lot of the division that exists in the various aspects of the law. Effectively, we have three different bodies, all with jobs to do in respect to the law. In our culture, it is the elected officials that design the laws we follow. The different houses that form our governments suggest and pass a law into existence. But at that point their responsibility ends and the law passes to another group. It is a group that we call law enforcement (police) that begins to deal with the law. And the job of law enforcement is to deal with people that appear to be breaking the law. And so they make arrests and then pass the responsibility off to another group. The third group is the judicial system. Judges take those that have been accused of breaking the law by law enforcement and do their best to ascertain the truth. Judges do not make arrests and they do not make new laws. But their job is that they take the law that has been passed and interpret it in such a way that guilt or innocence can be determined - three groups with three very different jobs.

In theory, this is the way it works, but in practice it can be very different. Sometimes the police do not search out certain crimes, and sometimes the judicial system refuses to prosecutes, or a judge may even reach beyond the law and, by doing so, they actually change the law at hand. These acts are frowned on, but they do happen.

In ancient Israel, there was a similar division of responsibility when it came to the law. Essentially, Israel was intended to be a theocracy. That meant that it was ruled by God – and God alone. And all law emanated from God. But the law of God was translated and interpreted by the prophets of the nation. The prophets reminded the nation of the desires of the God that created them and governed over them. The priests, on the other hand, fulfilled the duties of the judicial system. They discovered guilt and announced penalties. It was their job to punish and to accept the sacrifices of the people for the sins that had been committed. And the king and the military were responsible for the security of the nation. The three groups performed three very different roles in the life of the nation.

Saul was the king. He was also known as a prophet, but he was not a priest. And that was the problem. When Saul accepted the sacrifice on behalf of the people, he assumed the role of the priest – a role that did not belong to him. And it was a role that was forbidden to him. And that brought him into conflict with the law of God. In Saul’s day, the role of the priest belonged to Samuel.

The three roles would not be combined into one person until Jesus. Only he would or could  be the Prophet, Priest and King.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: 1 Samuel 14