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A prophet
1 Samuel 3:1–21God’s audible call to Samuel marked the beginning
of a new era in Israel. Up to this point, the primary revelation to the people had been through the priesthood.
But with Samuel’s call, God began a new day of revealing His word through prophets.
One of the greatest achievements of Samuel’s long ministry was the spiritual renewal he led that brought Israel back to the exclusive worship of God.
The people had been engaged in idolatry for many years—and the nation reached a low point when the Ark of the Covenant was captured by Israel’s archenemies, the Philistines.
A prophetHis role as a prophet was so all embracing
that being a judge was required by his status. He received a call just like the prophets.He was commissioned by YHWH.He had to function as a prophet in all that he
did.development of the role of seer/nabi: 1 Sam.9
– relationship to prophetic bands, etc
Samuel
But with Samuel’s call, God began a new day of revealing His word through prophets.
The nation’s weak spiritual condition, and the decadent nature of Eli’s high priesthood, are indicated by the fact that a word from God was “rare” in those days. So rare, in fact, that Samuel thought he was hearing Eli’s voice
Although the nature of the prophecy Samuel received meant devastating judgment for Eli, he accepted it as the Lord’s will.
Meanwhile, Samuel continued to receive God’s message and spread it throughout all Israel, which recognized Samuel as a man of God.
As a judgeThe term, “Judge,” refers to those God
given, Holy Spirit raised leaders that were all divinely anointed for the benefit of the nation of Israel
The word translated as “Judge” could also legitimately be translated as Deliverer, Leader, or even Saviour.
Samuel was judge in Israel during the transition between those dark and rough days that the book of Judges portrays so starkly, and the introduction of the first king that Israel had pleaded for, begging Samuel to, “negotiate with the Almighty,”
Samuel was the very first prophet to address the entire nation of Israel in the land of Israel.
‘Samuel was the founder of Old Testament prophecy.’
Those who support this view generally do so because they believe that the need for prophets would arise only at a time when Israel had a monarchy, because prophecy is a political institution tied to the court (e.g. Gad and Nathan).
The role of Samuel as a seer; and the editorial note in 1 Samuel 9, which traces the development of prophecy in the person of Samuel, through seers.
Explain how Samuel shows the characteristics of a prophet of the time.
Credit call (though not in required passages) Roeh - seer Man of God Respected Found at the shrines; Shiloh, Ramah, Gilgal,
MizpahAble to deal with trivial matters such as lost
donkeys [Expected payment] Also involved in anointing of king, Involvement
with national/political issues.
Characteristics of Sam as a prophetMay also refer to Sauls meeting with the nebiim
which is part of this narrative Nabi Groups Travelling around the shrines Use of music and other stimuli Prophetic rapture / ecstasy. Speaking the word of the Lord Standing up against the authorities of the time Involvement with symbolic actions Communication with God
A prophetSamuel as war leader / historical details about
the Philistines Samuel as adviser to Saul, and rejecting Saul’s
disobedience: developmental role in instigation of court prophecy. It was Samuel’s painful duty to rebuke Saul for his rashness in acting as a priest, and in his disobedience to God in the matter of the Amalekites.
The multiplicity of Samuel’s roles as seer-in- transition-to-prophet, cultic functionary (found at cultic centres), judge, intercessor, king-maker, king-breaker (enthroner/dethroner), and so forth.
Victory Over the Philistines 1 Samuel 7:1–17
One of the greatest achievements of Samuel’s long ministry was the spiritual renewal he led that brought Israel back to the exclusive worship of God.
The people had been engaged in idolatry for many years—and the nation reached a low point when the Ark of the Covenant was captured by Israel’s archenemies, the Philistines.
Victory-war leaderSamuel told the Israelites that the Lord would deliver
them if they discarded their many idols and turned to Him.
The people responded, and God answered with blessing as Samuel interceded for Israel. The change was immediate, as God caused the Philistine army to be confused and easily routed by the Israelites.
Israel took back many of their cities and drove the Philistines out of their region. Samuel raised an “Ebenezer,” or “stone of help,” in honour of God’s blessing.
Samuel also continued to judge Israel as a true “circuit rider” who went from city to city to carry out his ministry.
Enthroned/dethronerSamuel was distressed by the people’s
request, for he knew that it represented a lack of faith in God’s kingship. But God told Samuel to fill the request and anoint Saul as Israel’s first king.
God’s choice of Saul did not necessarily mean that Saul was the perfect man for the throne—as it became clear when Saul failed the Lord. But Israel insisted on having a king, and there was jubilation at Saul’s coronation.
Samuel’s Final Message 1 Sam 12:1–25
Samuel recounted events from the past in which Israel had failed to listen to God’s appointed leaders and suffered for it.
He declared that God would remove His hand from the people if they turned back to idolatry, or if their king was evil.
The best thing the nation could do at this point was to stay faithful to God and refuse to worship idols.
A question to answerAssess which was the most important of the
many roles played by Samuel in ancient Israel.
‘Without Samuel, prophecy would never have begun; without Elijah, prophecy would have died.’ How far do you agree?
Distinguishing Marks of False Prophecy and False ProphetsJer 6:13 ; Jeremiah 26:7-8 Jeremiah 26:11
Jeremiah 26:16 ; 27:9 ; 28:1 ; Jeremiah 29:1 Jeremiah 29:8 ; Zech 13:2 )
False prophets prophesied lies ( Jer 6:13 ; 27:14 ; Zech 13:3 ),
deceived the people with their dreams ( Jer 29:8 ), prophesied by the alleged authority of Baal ( Jer
2:8 ; 23:13 ), threatened the lives of the true prophets ( Jer 26:7
), and dared to speak when they had not stood in the
council of Yahweh and received a word directly from the Lord ( Jer 23:18 ).
Marks of false prophetsTypically, their prophecies promised peace when
there was no peace to be had ( Jer 6:14 ; 8:11 ; 14:3 ; 23:17 ; Jer 28:2 Jer 28:11 ; Ezek 13:10 ; Micah 3:5 ),
Their visions were drawn out of their own hearts ( Jer 14:14 ; 23:16 ; Ezek 13:2-3 ; 22:28 ).
Some false prophets used magic ( Eze 13:17-23 ), others appeared to use divination, soothsaying, witchcraft, necromancy, and sorcery, which were all forbidden arts and practices in the classical passage that set forth divine revelation in contrast to such practices ( Deut 18:9-13 ).
The false prophets gave the people what they wanted to hear and thereby placed "whitewash”
Jeremiah and false prophetsJeremiah condemns the pseudoprophets on four grounds: (1) they are men of immoral character (v.
14"they commit adultery and live a lie"); (2) they seek popular acclaim with their
unconditional pledge of immunity from all imminent disasters (vv. 17-22);
(3) they fail to distinguish their own dreams from a word from God (vv. 25-29); and
(4) they are plagiarists who steal from one another words allegedly from the Lord (vv. 30-39). Rather than having a "burden" from the Lord, they themselves were another burden both to the Lord and to the misled people!
False prophets’ theology
The theology of the false prophets was characterized by the following: (1) a selective appeal to the Davidic/Zion and
Sinaitic covenants as a type of fire insurance against any threatened calamity;
(2) (2) an exclusive teaching of hope/salvation with no attention given to any potential adversities for lack of obedience to God's Word;
(3) (3) a constant appeal to what the masses wanted to hear as a basis for promoting their own power and the status quo. This list is very similar to the four charges that Jeremiah brought in 23:9-39.
The Criteria for Testing False Prophecy.
The loci classici for determining true from false prophecy are Deuteronomy 13:1-5 and 18:15-22. (1) he must be Jewish ( Deut 18:18 ); (2) he must speak in the name of the Lord ( Deut
18:19-20 ); (3) what he says must come to pass, the most
proximate fulfillments being the validators of the more distant predictions ( Deut 18:21-22 );
(4) he must perform signs, wonders, or miracles that accompany his words ( Deut 13:1-2a ); and
(5) his message must conform to what God had revealed previously ( Deut 13:2b-5 ).
MosesMoses’ status as a prophet from: his call and commissionmiraculous power in delivering the slaves intercessory functionsuse of prophetic formulaefearlessness in executing Yahweh’s commands mediation of the Sinai covenant as binding on
future prophetsthe Deuteronomic assessment of Moses as a
prophet / the incident with the 70 elders, etc.
Moses also exercised a variety of other functions a political role through his negotiations with
the Egyptian pharaoh legal function in connection with the (Mosaic)
Law [law-giver])a cultic rolea leadership role in connection with most of
his activitiesfrom war-leader
Moses was more …Moses was more than a prophet because of
his multiple roles. Some might argue that these roles arose
naturally through the nature of his call and the circumstances under which he exercised his prophetic responsibilities.
because there is so much evidence of intense editorial activity in connection with the OT portrait of Moses, which is idealized (unrealistic) and anachronistic (out-dated) (e.g. Numbers 11), Moses’ real role can no longer be described accurately.
the importance of Elijah in the development of Old Testament prophecy.
treat this in terms of the story of Elijah, showing his connections with Sinai/Horeb, and with the themes of election, covenant, salvation, law, revelation of God, and so on.
Elijah reviving contact with God and vision;Carmel (etc.) for the importance of theophany/restoration of
Yahweh-worship against foreign gods;Naboth’s vineyard for the dealings with the king and the
drive to restore Yahwism;his ability to work miracles;the nature of his translation to heaven; transfer of his prophetic ability to Elisha; messianic associations in later Judaism; relationships with the authorities of his day;sense of failure and isolation resurfaces in later prophets,
although some will argue that this is seen in
ElijahOperated when Jezebel was in charge (Ahab’s wife)Brought her own Baal prophets and no more allow
the worship of YHWH,She introduced child sacrificeKilled the prophets of YHWH and His followersElijah came in to challenge her and pronounced the
drought that was going to come in the land. There was drama at Mt Carmel to determine the
true God. (He overtook Ahab’s chariot)Was threatened by Jezebel and he fled to Horeb (Mt
of the Lord where Israel had a covenant with God.
