Sons of Samuel

 

“Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices,

    as in obeying the voice of the Lord?

Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice,

    and to hearken than the fat of rams.

For rebellion is as the sin of divination,

    and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry.

Because you have rejected the word of the Lord,

    he has also rejected you from being king.”

- 1 Samuel 15:22-23

Didache 11, 13: The Archetypical Prophet?

• Samuel
• 1 Samuel 1, 9: Samuel as Head Seer, Priest, & Judge
• 1 Samuel 1: Samuel called by the Lord as prophet in the priesthood
• 1 Samuel 9:9. "Let us go to the seer...for a prophet was formerly called a seer"
• Seer leads liturgy / sacrificial feast: calls feast, blesses sacrifice, appoints feasters (v. 12-13)
• 1 Sam. 9:19-24 "I am the seer; go up before me to the high place, for today you shall eat with me, and in the morning I will let you go and will tell you all that is on your mind...Samuel said, “See, what was kept is set before you. Eat; because it was kept for you until the hour appointed, that you might eat with the guests. I have invited the people."
• 1 Samuel 19:20-24. Samuel stood at the head of the company of the prophets
• 1 Samuel 8: Samuel appoints successors
• Judicial succession is not purely a charismatic event
• Judges can act corruptly (cf. Judges' descent into apostasy)
• People demand their own ruler like their neighbors: a warlord
• "they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them."
• 1 Samuel 15: Samuel Judges Kings
• Samuel renders divine justice on Saul, on Agag, & on Israel
• Rebellion equal with witchcraft & idolatry
• Sirach on Samuel
• Sirach 46:13-20
• "Samuel, beloved by His Lord, a prophet of the Lord."
• "By the Law of the Lord He judged the congregation."
• "By his faithfulness he was proved to be a prophet, and by his words he became known as a trustworthy seer."
• "He called upon the Lord...and offered in sacrifice a sucking lamb." (priesthood)
• "Before the time of his eternal sleep, Samuel called men to witness before the Lord and his anointed: 'I have not taken any one's property, not so much as a pair of shoes.' And no man accused him."
• "Even after he had fallen asleep he prophesied and revealed to the king his death, and lifted up his voice out of the earth in prophecy, to blot out the wickedness of the people."
• Jeremiah on Samuel
• Jeremiah 15:1 "Then the Lord said to me, “Though Moses and Samuel stood before me, yet my heart would not turn toward this people. Send them out of my sight, and let them go!"
• God equals Samuel with Moses (both served as Prophet, Judge, and Priest)
• David on Samuel
• Psalm 99:6 "Moses and Aaron were among his priests, Samuel also was among those who called on his name. They cried to the Lord, and he answered them."
• Apostles on Samuel
• St Peter preached, "And all the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel and those who came afterwards, also proclaimed these days." (Acts 3:24)
• St Paul preached, "And after that he gave them judges until Samuel the prophet." (Acts 13:20)
• Hebrews 11:32 "And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets..."
• Didache's Prophet
• Prophet as liturgist:
• 10 "But permit the prophets to offer thanksgiving as much as they desire."
• 15: "For bishops and deacons also perform the service [liturgy] of the prophets and teachers."
• 15: "Bishops and Deacons are honorable men along with the prophets and teachers."
• Prophet as Calendarist:
• Fasts 
• 8: "Do not let not your fasts fall on the same days as the hypocrites, for they fast on Mondays and Thursdays. Keep your fast on Wednesdays and Fridays."
• Feasts
• 11: "Any prophet who orders a meal in Spirit will not eat from it, but if he does eat of it, he is a false prophet."
• 14: "Gather together each Sunday, break bread and give thanks, first confessing your sins, that your sacrifice may be pure."
• Prophet as Samuel's Son:
• 11: "But if he asks for money, he is a false prophet."
• 11: "not everyone who speaks in the Spirit is a prophet, but only he who follows the ways of the Lord. From his behavior, then, you will know a false prophet from a true prophet." (cf. Sirach 46:15, 19)
• 11: "Any prophet who orders a meal in Spirit will not eat from it, but if he does eat of it, he is a false prophet."
• 11: "Any prophet who teaches the truth, but does not do the things he teaches, is a false prophet."
• 11: "He has his judgment in the presence of God, as with the prophets of old."
• 11: "If anyone says in the Spirit, “Give me money,” do not listen to him. But if he tells you to give to others who are in need, let no one judge him."
• 13: "Every true prophet who desires to settle among you is worthy of his food. Likewise, a true teacher, like the worker, deserves his food."
• 13: "give as the first-fruit to the prophets, for they are your high priests. But if you do not have a prophet, give your first-fruits to the poor."

*Rightly succeeded shepherds guarantee the Lord's favor, while rebellion (even against corrupt shepherds) has not His acceptance.

• Sons of the Apostles
• 1 Corinthians 15: "Then he appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles."
• Apostles were unsurprised by the need for successors
• Apostles provided successors in their own lifetime, shepherding locations/regions
• St James as bishop of Jerusalem with council of presbyters (Acts 15; 21; 24)
• Gospel tied up with the testimony of the apostles and the community of the faithful
• Hegesippus: Second generation Jewish Christian (170s)
• "They came, then, and took the presidency of every church, as witnesses for Christ, and as being of the kindred of the Lord. And, after profound peace had been established in every church, they remained down to the reign of Trojan Caesar."
• "And the church of the Corinthians continued in the orthodox faith up to the time when Primus was bishop in Corinth."
• "On my arrival at Rome, I drew up a list of the succession of bishops down to Anicetus, whose deacon was Eleutherus. To Anicetus succeeded Soter, and after him came Eleutherus. But in the case of every succession, and in every city, the state of affairs is in accordance with the teaching of the Law and of the Prophets and of the Lord."
• "And after James the Just had suffered martyrdom, as had the Lord also and on the same account, again Symeon the son of Clopas, descended from the Lord's uncle, is made bishop, his election being promoted by all as being a kinsman of the Lord."
• "Therefore was the Church called a virgin, for she was not as yet corrupted by worthless teaching. Thebulis it was who, displeased because he was not made bishop, first began to corrupt her by stealth..."
• Rt. Rev. John Henry Hobart's A Companion for the Altar
  
• Saturday Evening meditation: Christ's shepherds sacrifice as means of salvation
• "To this statement, which makes the blessings of the gospel to depend on communion with the church by the participation of its ordinances administered by duly authorized ministers, the formidable objection may be opposed, that it is narrowing the path of salvation. But if a solicitude be commendable to prevent the path of salvation from being unduly narrowed and confined ; the solicitude to prevent it from being made more wide and easy than God has made it, is surely also commendable. To undervalue or remove those institutions which God hath rendered necessary to salvation, is to contemn his authority and power, and in the highest degree to endanger the souls of men. It is an unauthorized, a criminal, a cruel charity, which would present salvation to men, stripped of those conditions on which alone it is attainable. Real charity, the charity which most effectually promotes the welfare of men, would lead us faithfully to point out the conditions on which God will restore fallen man to his favour ; and then earnestly and affectionately to enforce these conditions..."