Samuel And The Prophets

“And what shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell of…Samuel, and of the prophets." Hebrews 11:32

Samuel

We have a brief summary of his life in 1 Samuel 1:24-28. This remarkable man was typical of our Lord Jesus Christ in many ways. He grew in wisdom and stature, finding favor with God and with men. He was bold and courageous. He was a man of prayer, ever interceding for a rebellious, sinful people. He was a prophet. And he was faithful all his life. That last thing is, I am sure, what the Holy Spirit intends for us to grasp. Samuel was faithful from his youth, faithful to God’s glory, faithful to his will, faithful to his Word, and faithful to his people. Samuel is one of very few men mentioned in the Scriptures against whom no evil, no weakness, no flaw of character is recorded. – That is the remarkable thing! God took an ordinary man, used him all his life, used him in the most ordinary way, and used him for the establishing of his kingdom. Indeed, it is God’s habit (if I may use such a word in reference to our God) to do so (1 Cor. 1:26-29).

The Prophets

Those men who were God’s prophets were ordinary men like us, sinners who were saved by the grace of God. They were men who believed God. And, believing God, they served him and his people well. They preached nothing but what God told them to preach. – "Thus saith the Lord." They concealed nothing they received: though it was a "burden" to them (Mal. 1:1). They were undaunted by opposition. Setting their faces as a flint, they delivered God’s message (Ezek. 3:8, 9). Samuel’s first task as God’s spokesman was to expose Eli’s failure. Nathan had to confront the king of Israel (David) with his sin. Elijah had to stand against Ahab, Jezebel, and all the prophets of Baal in a day when all Israel readily worshipped at the altars of Baal. Jeremiah had to warn Israel, the people he loved and served faithfully, of God’s impending judgment and the righteousness of it. These faithful men, God’s prophets, defied the entire religious world and the gods of men.

Prophets Today?

Someone wrote the following many years ago. I do not know who the author was, or when he wrote it. But that which he wrote concerning prophets is too important for me not to insert it here.

“Along with the evangelist, pastor and teacher, the New Testament lists, the ministry of the prophet. It is difficult to find anything said or written about the prophet’s ministry. Like the prophet himself, his work is difficult to define. We know the old definition, ‘A forth teller rather than a foreteller.’ We apply the term generally to preachers as spokesmen for God. Yet, there appears to be a distinct calling somewhat different from that of evangelist, pastor, or teacher. There never have been many prophets; and certainly there are few today. Never was the need greater and the supply smaller than today.

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The prophet is a voice in the wilderness. It is his business to sound the trumpet, proclaim the ideal, not work on details or set up programs. He doesn’t devise ways and means. He doesn’t fit on boards and committees. The prophet is a solitary soul and does his best work alone. He is no parrot, puppet or promoter. He is nothing but a prophet, and if he tries to be anything else he is an embarrassment to himself and to everybody else.

He is never popular with politicians either in state or church. He is not cowed by dignitaries. He will call Herod a fox to his face if occasion demands. He is an unreconstructed rebel, an odd number in a day of regimentation. He has no more patience with mere religion than Isaiah had when he thundered or Amos when he called on Israel to come to Bethel.

It is the prophet’s business to say what others cannot, will not, or at least do not say. The politician has his eye on the next election instead of the nation’s welfare. It is possible for a preacher to get his mind on promotion, the next rung of the ladder, a high seat in the synagogue, and being called a rabbi. The prophet has no axe to grind. For him the grass is no greener in the next pasture. He does not want, nor does he seek any man's office.

The church today looks for scholars, specialists, socializers, and showmen. We need some prophets who, like Isaiah, have seen God in His holiness, themselves in their sinfulness, and the land in its uncleanness. The prophet does not pack the house, nor produce impressive statistics. He may get but poor response. Yet, whether they hear or refuse to hear, those who hear him know that a prophet has been among them. People do not crowd churches to hear prophets. People with itching ears look for smooth talking men-pleasers who will scratch their ears with what they want to hear. They do not want a prophet.

The prophet is never popular with the Pharisees. ‘Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted?’ ‘Ye are the children of them that killed the prophets.’ So declared the Son of God to the Pharisees of his day. Religious people have always stoned living prophets and enshrined dead ones. The monuments of this generation are designed to cover the crimes of our fathers. Prophets are never popular at home. Our Lord told us that plainly. Even his family accused him of being a mad man, saying, ‘he is beside himself.’

The prophet’s path is not easy. John the Baptist's head is not served up on a charger these days; but such a prophet is not less despised today than John was in his. Like John the Baptist, the prophet is out to pull down the high places, build up low places and make a way for the Lord. His business is not intellectual explanation but pointed declaration! He does not lecture about mustard, he makes a mustard poultice and lays it next to the wound. Others comfort the afflicted, but he afflicts the comfortable. Today the whole religious world is trying to accomplish by pep, publicity, propaganda, and promotion what once was done by preaching. The woods are full of trained pulpit puppets. Oh, may God give us some prophets!

Any young Elisha in line for Elijah's mantle will need the mind of a scholar, the heart of a child, and the hide of a rhinoceros. He is sure to irk those who want to preserve the status quo. He is sure to be a disturber of Israel. But no one else can take his place. We must have a prophet—A man who will dare to scorn the hatred of Ahab, Jezebel, and the prophets of Baal, a man who will dare to mock the mock gods of the Baal worshipers of our day, seeking nothing but the glory of God, preaching nothing but the gospel of God, serving nothing but the cause of God!”