“David answered Mikhal, ‘In the presence of Adonai —who chose me over your father and over everyone in his family to make me chief over Adonai’s people, over Israel — I will celebrate in the presence of Adonai! I will make myself still more contemptible than that, and I will be humiliated in my own eyes, but those slave-girls you mentioned will honor me!’”-2 Samuel 6:21-22
Why did David wear an ephod while dancing in front of the Ark?
To properly answer that question, let’s review what an ephod is.
An ephod was the undergarment of a Priest.
And what is a Priest?
A priest is one who humbly serves the Lord.
David’s intention wasn’t to flaunt his authority or show off when he wore the ephod.
Quite the opposite.
He was demonstrating humility before God.
The Lord God is the ultimate King over heaven and earth.
So for a man to stand before Him as if he were an earthly king wouldn’t have been appropriate, especially in this situation.
It didn’t matter that his wife, Mikhal, viewed him with contempt.
It didn’t matter if he felt disgraced by his actions.
David compared his lowly place before God to how a servant’s slave girl would stand before a king.
Those humble slave girls, who possessed zero status, would honor him as the King of Israel.
That was enough.
So, what’s the takeaway for today?
The takeaway is to notice the incredible messianic pattern presented here.
Notice that David foreshadowed the Messiah by taking on a priest’s role (if even for a moment) while being king—just like Yeshua would later do.
And don’t overlook how this situation echoes Melchizedek, the mysterious king and priest of Shalem who appeared at the same place where David put on the ephod and now ruled!
I just love it when these amazing Scriptural patterns emerge!
CONNECTING THIS TEACHING TO THE NEW TESTAMENT
“Among you, it must not be like that.
On the contrary, whoever among you
wants to be a leader must become your servant,
and whoever wants to be first must be your slave!
For the Son of Man did not come to be served,
but to serve — and to give his life
as a ransom for many.”
-Matthew 20:26-28
Exodus 20:26 says don’t go up the steps to the altar with private parts exposed so we better be careful about too much exuberance.
Good point.