There are two main aspects in the creation of man: image and authority, dominion (Gen. 1:26). Image refers to the expression of God, and dominion is for the representation of God to deal with His enemy. These two aspects were in God’s original intention. From the very beginning God intended to have His expression and His representation. He created man with His image that man may be His expression, and He committed His authority to man that man may be His representative. From the beginning to the end of the Bible there are these two lines, the line of image and expression and the line of dominion and representation.
The priesthood is for the expression of God. The priests enjoy the Lord, and they become His expression, manifestation, habitation, and dwelling place. Through the priesthood God fully gains His image and expression. The kingship, on the other hand, is for authority and dominion. The kings represent God to deal with His enemy. These are the two items of the original intention of God.
We have seen that Revelation 1:6 speaks of the kingdom and priests. Verse 6 of chapter twenty also says, “Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection; over these the second death has no authority, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with Him for a thousand years.” This verse speaks of priests and reigning kings but not of prophets. Of course, this verse is related to the millennium, the thousand years, but chapter twenty-two speaks of the situation in eternity. Verses 3 through 5 say, “And there will no longer be a curse. And the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and His slaves will serve Him; and they will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads. And night will be no more; and they have no need of the light of a lamp and of the light of the sun, for the Lord God will shine upon them; and they will reign forever and ever.” The redeemed in eternity will serve the Lord before His face; this refers to the priesthood. Moreover, they will reign forever and ever; this is the kingship.
Please keep in mind that the priesthood is for expression, and the kingship is for representation. Both of these are matters of life, not of gift. Prophecy, however, is a matter of a gift, not of life. Even the Gentile prophet Balaam had the gift to prophesy, but he did not have the divine life.
As we have said, the prophets were raised up entirely due to the failure of the kings. The kingship, however, was raised up mostly due to the failure of the priesthood, but not entirely due to this failure. If the priesthood had not failed, there would still have been the need of the kingship. Zechariah 6:12 and 13 tell us that the Lord Jesus as the Builder of the temple is both the Priest and the King. God needs the kingship as well as the priesthood. However, we do not need prophecy if the priesthood and kingship are normal. We only need the prophets to recover the priesthood and the kingship when they are abnormal.
All the chosen people of God are intended to be priests and kings, but the kingship depends on the priesthood. This is why the Bible first speaks of the priesthood. This does not mean that we do not need the kingship, however. Rather, if the priesthood is strong, as it was at the time of Moses and Aaron, the kingship does not need to be manifested. It is when the priesthood weakens that the kingship is manifested. God’s intention is not firstly the authority of the kingship. The first item of God’s intention is to have His image. Eventually, though, we need both of these aspects.
The priesthood is the main item of God’s intention, while the kingship is to match the priesthood. The first proper king was David. After David came to the throne, when he brought the Ark of Jehovah into his city, he girded himself with a linen ephod, which is the garment of the priests (2 Sam. 6:14). This indicates that although David was a king and the kingship at that time was strong, he realized that he still needed the priesthood. When in a church all the saints are strong in life, enjoying the Lord, feasting on Him, and functioning as priests, there is not much need for the kingship to be manifested. The purpose of the kingship is to rule, reign, maintain order, and deal with the enemy. When the children of God are strong in life and functioning as priests, everything is already in order. There is no special need for authority to maintain the order.
The eldership in the church is not a matter merely of the image of God but of the authority of God. In this sense, the elders are not mainly of the priesthood but of the kingship. We should not have too much eldership in the church. Rather, we must have the priesthood, and the more we have the priesthood, the better. However, when the priesthood becomes weak, we need the eldership, that is, the kingship. In the early days of the Brethren, for example, they had the priesthood without much need for authority. Later, however, when they lost the function of the priesthood, they emphasized the need for authority in the church.
We all are born again as priests. Therefore, we have to learn how to enjoy our birthright. We must learn how to live as priests enjoying Christ, contacting Him, feeding on Him, living by Him, putting Him on as our clothing, and taking Him as our dwelling place. When we enjoy Christ in such a way, we will have the priestly function of always ministering Christ both to God and to man. Then our church life will be very healthy and normal, and spontaneously out of this situation the authority of God will be realized. It is by the priesthood that we have the kingship.
In the proper church life, God is expressed and His authority is exercised. This is the priesthood plus the kingship. In such a situation, there is not much need for the office of the prophets. By the Lord’s mercy we can testify that in some of our meetings for the Lord’s table we have the priesthood with the kingship. There is no teaching, no exercise of the gifts, and no prophecy. There is simply the ministering of the priests with the kingship. When we come into such a meeting, we can sense the image, the expression, of God with His authority and representation; that is, we sense the priesthood and the kingship. That is the right and normal condition of the church. When we are weak, however, the priesthood is gone and the kingship disappears. Then the prophets rise up. To have the expression of Christ and the representation of God, and to not require prophecy, is the normal condition. This is what the Lord will recover. In the thousand year age and in eternity there will be no prophets. Even today in the Lord’s recovery we can have a foretaste of the things to come.