During the time of the judges, it is recorded that “every man did that which was right in his own eyes” (Judges 21:25). Even though God had given the Israelites detailed instructions about how they were to live, they were not following God’s laws and commandments. The priesthood had become totally corrupted. The sons of the chief priest were the worst of all. They took portions of the meat offerings for themselves and had sexual relations with women that gathered at the door of the Tabernacle.

Although many judges had turned the Israelites to God for decades at a time, there was no consistency and the Israelites always went back to their evil ways. Even the judges themselves were flawed and made moral mistakes as Samson with Delilah. The problem was that the people had been influenced by the nations that occupied the Promised Land. Even the sons of Eli, the chief priest “were sons of Belial; they knew not God” (1 Samuel 2:12).

God’s plan to save his people began with the separation of Abraham and his family from the land of Haran. Then, Aaron and his family were separated from the rest of the Israelites to be priests, holy and consecrated to God. The final separation would be the Messiah who would be set apart from all mankind as the anointed Christ, the Savior of the world.

“And I will raise up a faithful priest, that shall do according to that which is in my heart and in my mind: and I will build him a sore house and he shall walk before mine anointed for ever” (1 Samuel 2:35). The words faithful and sore are both translated from the same Hebrew word, ’âman (aw – man´) which means to endure and also to have belief or to believe (539). The priests of God were intended to be Believers. They more than anyone else had reason to believe because they had access to the Holy of Holies where God was present in the Tabernacle.

An essential part of believing is a personal relationship with the person one believes in. In order for someone to do that which is in the heart and mind of God, he would first have to know what is in the heart and mind of God. That kind of knowing can only come through a personal relationship. God made himself available to the Israelites, but the Israelites did not want to fellowship with God; they did not want to learn his ways and discover what was in his heart and mind.

The missing link between God and his people was the Holy Spirit. Prior to Jesus’ death, Believers did not receive the Holy Spirit. The priests were anointed which mean they were consecrated or set apart for God, but they were not sealed as we are with the Holy Spirit. To be sealed means to stamp with a signet or private mark. Just as God dwelt in the Tabernacle, the Holy Spirit dwells in us and makes God available for a personal relationship.

“But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you; but as the same anointing teacheth you all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him (1 John 2:27).

The only way that God would be able to raise up a faithful priest that would do what was in his heart and mind was with the help of the Holy Spirit. No longer would people have to go to the Tabernacle to pray or commune with God, because the Holy Spirit is present everywhere. Believers could access God through the Holy Spirit and have constant fellowship with him anywhere.