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"But the priests, who are Levites and descendants of Zadok and who faithfully carried out the duties of my sanctuary when the Israelites went astray from me, are to come near to minister before me; they are to stand before me to offer sacrifices of fat and blood, declares the Sovereign Lord. They alone are to enter my sanctuary; they alone are to come near my table to minister before me and perform my service" Ezekiel 44: 15-16.
In Ezekiel's vision of the glory of the Lord returning to the Temple, the Lord separates the descendants of Zadok the priest as the ones who would minister in His presence. The Lord gives the reason for His choice - they faithfully carried out the duties of the sanctuary when all the other Israelites went astray from Him. Their ancestor, Zadok, had his loyalty and commitment in the right place also, at the time when it faced its greatest tests. When all Israel had been led astray, Zadok remained faithful.
Three times the priest Zadok was tested in his loyalty. Each test he faced is applicable to our lives also. As we study his situation and the choices he made, we must decide where the spiritual roots of our loyalty are to be found.
"These are the numbers of the men armed for battle who came to David at Hebron to hand over Saul's kingdom to him, as the Lord had said...and Zadok, a brave young warrior, with 22 officers from his family..." 1 Chronicles 12:23-28.
The first great test of Zadok's loyalty came when he had to choose between Saul or David as king. Saul had been king over Israel for nearly forty years, but young David was claiming rights to the throne. Afraid that he would lose his position, Saul had tried to kill David and had forced him into hiding (1 Samuel 19:11-18). A large band had followed David (1 Samuel 22:2). The nation was divided and Israel was in civil war (1 Samuel 26:2; 30:9). On the surface it looked as though David was the usurper and Saul the one who deserved Zadok's loyalty. But Zadok was a man with spiritual insight.
Zadok had to choose where to place his loyalty. We, too, face the same choice today. Like Zadok, the roots of our loyalty are either in Saul, who represented tradition (the organisation and outward observances of men), or in David, who represented the anointing (God's word evidenced by the presence of His Spirit).
The second choice that Zadok had to face was between King David and his son, Absalom.
Absalom had won the hearts of nearly all Israel (2 Samuel 15:6). He was a man with tremendous "charisma." Everyone was praising his handsome appearance (2 Samuel 14:25), and he had shown such a love and concern for the people (2 Samuel 15:1-5). But his winning ways with the people had a devious motive behind them. He had deliberately set out to win them over from David to himself. He wanted to be king (2 Samuel 15:10-18).
When the majority of Israel had been swayed by the strong personality and natural gifts of Absalom, Zadok stood for principle. David was God's choice for king so he kept his loyalty with David (2 Samuel 15:24-29). Like Zadok, we make the choice as to where the roots of our loyalty will be - in Absalom (personalities) or in David (principles).
Zadok's third choice was between two of David's sons - Solomon and Adonijah.
David was now old. Adonijah knew that Solomon would succeed the throne at the king's death. So he didn't wait until David was dead. He proclaimed himself king (1 Kings 1:5), and gathered Israel's leaders, all his brothers with the exception of Solomon, and all the people to follow after him (1 Kings 1:7-9,25).
When the majority of Israel were rejoicing and hailing Adonijah as king, Zadok was waiting to hear from David himself (1 Kings 1:8,20,26). The Lord had told David, even before Solomon was born, that Solomon would reign after him (1 Chronicles 22:9-10). David then sent Zadok, and the others loyal to him, to proclaim to all Israel that Solomon was king (1 Kings 1:32-40). Adonijah and his followers were disbanded (1 Kings 1:41-53).
Like Zadok, the roots of our loyalty are in one of these two men. Adonijah represents human accomplishment. He was a self-made king with apparent success. But Solomon speaks of our total commitment to God's word, and our desire to follow and obey only Him. Apparent human success can disappear overnight, but when our King gives His word to us, it has lasting results. We must be loyal to what God has told us.
Our roots of loyalty must be in the anointing, in the principle, and in the word of the King.
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Unless otherwise stated, all scriptures quoted in these studies are from the New International Version of the Bible, © New York International Bible Society, used by permission. Other versions referred to are: KJV (King James Version), NKJB (New King James Bible), TLB (The Living Bible), Amp (The Amplified Bible) and The Message. All versions used by permission.
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