Gideon,
who was not a Levite but an Abi-ezrite, lived in the territory of Manasseh. He
was not a priest but a warrior—“a mighty man of valour” (Judges 6:11-15). Yet,
he was commanded by the Lord to offer a sacrifice upon an altar (Judges 6:26)
just as a Levitical priest would do.
An
angel of God instructed Manoah, who was of the tribe of Dan to sacrifice
burnt offerings to the Lord (Judges 13:2, 15-21).
David,
another non-Levite (of the tribe of Judah) offered sacrifices and blessed the people
(2 Samuel 6:18; 1 Chronicles 16:2-3) as if he were a Levitical priest. (See
also Mark 2:25-28, where Jesus recognized and accepted David’s priestly acts.)
The
Bible also mentions that King David’s sons, were Priests (2
Samuel 8:17). In fact, the Bible specifically differentiates between priests
and Levites (1 Kings 8:4; Ezra 2:70; John 1:19).
Isaiah
records the word of the Lord saying that He would make gentiles priests
(Isaiah 66:19-21). (Allen H. Richardson and David E. Richardson, 1000
Evidences For The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 2 vols. [2d
ed.; South Jordan, Utah: Artisan Enterprises, 2003], 2:131, emphasis in original)
