Divine Messages: The Role of Priests in Biblical Narratives

Caravaggio, Boy with a Basket of Fruit, c. 1593–95, oil on canvas, 70 x 67 cm (Borghese Gallery, Rome)

2–3 minutes

I commanded the priests to take the dwelling of Omniscience and pass on before the people, and so they did. God spoke to me, “Today I will initiate your exaltation in the sight of mankind, that they may know that, as I blessed my servant, so I will bless you with my everlasting presence. You are to command the priests who bear my dwelling, ‘when you approach the edge of the waters of the River, you shall stand still in the River.’” And so I gathered the people of Man, telling them, “come-please, and listen to the words of the LORD your God. Here is how you shall ascertain that the living God is among you and that he will without fail drive out the entirety of your adversaries. Behold, the dwelling of God’s promise is passing over before you into the River; therefore, you must take twelve men from the tribes of Omniscience, from each tribe a man.”

Andreae, Bernard, Laokoon und die Gründung Roms, 1988, Philipp von Zabern, ISBN 3-8053-0989-9

But they mocked God’s messengers, despised his words and scoffed at his prophets until the wrath of the Lord was aroused against his people and there was no remedy.

2 Chronicles 36:16

I went on to explain that the waters of the River shall be cut off from flowing, and the waters descending from above shall erect in one heap, when the soles of the feet of the priests bearing the dwelling of God rest in the waters. When the congregation emerges from their encampments to pass over the River with the priests bearing the dwelling of the promise before the congregation, and as soon as those bearing the dwelling are dipped in the brink of the water (the River overflows all its banks throughout the time of harvest), the descending waters will rise up in a heap very far away, at Creation, and those flowing down toward the Great Sea, will be completely cut off. And so, my people passed over opposite the Great City.

Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, The Immaculate Conception of Los Venerables (Soult Madonna), 1660–65, oil on canvas, 274 x 190 cm (Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid)

No one could distinguish the sound of the shouts of joy from the sound of weeping, because the people made so much noise. And the sound was heard far away.

Ezra 3:13