Reading in Jeremiah 32 today, I noticed again that it lists various leaders among the people of God in a particular order. A BibleWorks search revealed that in every verse in which the words king, prince, priest, and prophet all occur, they are always found in this same order:
Neh 9:32 ¶ Now therefore, our God, the great, the mighty, and the terrible God, who keepest covenant and mercy, let not all the trouble seem little before thee, that hath come upon us, on our kings, on our princes, and on our priests, and on our prophets, and on our fathers, and on all thy people, since the time of the kings of Assyria unto this day.
Jer 2:26 As the thief is ashamed when he is found, so is the house of Israel ashamed; they, their kings, their princes, and their priests, and their prophets,
Jer 4:9 ¶ And it shall come to pass at that day, saith the LORD, that the heart of the king shall perish, and the heart of the princes; and the priests shall be astonished, and the prophets shall wonder.
Jer 8:1 ¶ At that time, saith the LORD, they shall bring out the bones of the kings of Judah, and the bones of his princes, and the bones of the priests, and the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, out of their graves:
Jer 32:32 Because of all the evil of the children of Israel and of the children of Judah, which they have done to provoke me to anger, they, their kings, their princes, their priests, and their prophets, and the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
This fact seems to suggest that this order reflects the importance with which God viewed the roles of these various leaders among His people. If this interpretation is valid, it would support the understanding that the most important role of Jesus from divine viewpoint is that of His being God’s chosen King.
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