National (In)security - 2 of 6

Today we are ready to jump into the text of 1 Samuel again, and who better to begin with than the one whom the scroll is named after: Samuel himself. If you missed our first review and context session, please click this link and start there.

Otherwise, I hope you have found some quiet space with between an hour to 90 minutes to go through today's session.

Sit Down and Take a few deep breaths. Relax. Ready? Let's begin.


Section one. Seeing and Believing: Samuel and "the System".


Let's start by reading this passage of scripture. Click on the link and read 1 Samuel 2:11-36, then click back here.

I want to highlight a phrase that clusters here in verses 11, 18 and 21; it also appears in 1 Samuel 3:1. The sacred scripture tells us that Samuel entered into "service unto YHWH" as an "attendant", girded with a linen ephod. Very important imagery here. In fact, you might say "the clothes make the man", at least biblically-speaking. As we take a closer look at two pieces of clothing that speak to us about our friend Samuel, let's add clothing details to what we are looking for in our characters in 1 Samuel, especially as Saul and David come to the fore a little later. So, back to Samuel and his clothing: the linen ephod is first mentioned as the priestly garment in Exodus 28:1-8. There is an interesting aspect to the ephod that we find in 1 Samuel; we will see later that the "ephod" is sought after by Saul and David as a divination device that priests use to ask yes-no questions of God and deliver answers. Another garment that is highlighted in this passage, which is connected to the emergence of special activity among the people of God. In verse 19, we witness Hannah making Samuel a cloak or robe, in Hebrew me'il. As biblical commentator Robert Alter says: "The garment, fashioned as a gift of maternal love, stands in contrast to the ephod, the acolyte's official garb for his cultic office. Moreover, the robe (me'il) will continue to figure importantly in Samuel's life, and even in his afterlife, and we will have occasion to see."

This me'il seems more associated with the office and function of a prophet, as we eventually witness another word for cloak, adderret which is the word referring to the famous prophet Elijah's mantle that passes to his servant Elisha along with a double portion of the Spirit. Keith Bodner comments regarding clothing: "In two seccussive sentences there is a reference to Samuel's garment...Does this juxtaposition of garments (priestly ephod, prophetic mantle) symbolize his multiple offices?"

Thus, over and over here in these verses, Samuel from his youth is serving and ministering in a priestly function at Shiloh. This is an interesting wording: "serving God" or "service unto YHWH". The Hebrew is sharat - 'to wait upon'; 'to serve'; 'to attend to'; 'to minister unto'.

This word sharat is used to speak of Moses service unto YHWH and Joshua's service unto YHWH, as well as the word used to describe the priestly and magistrate duties in Deutronomy 17 (note the focus of both the roles of people involved in worship and in justice are the focus there). The word is also used to speak of Joseph's service to Pharoah (Genesis 39:4) and Abishag's service unto the elderly King David (1 Kings 1:15).

Is there a nuance of sharat (waiting upon, serving, attending to, ministering to) that resonates with you when you think of your serving in any context you can think of, but particularly when helping/serving someone with superior status, like your boss or a military commander, or a governor or even the Lord?


OK, let's move on and read 1 Samuel 3:1-10, then return here.

Samuel grows up "in the system" so-to-speak. Samuel was brought up within the structure, rhythm and institution of serving the Lord, without ever knowing the Lord (yet). We see that he lives for years "in the system" but not experiencing nor hearing from the Person to whom the System supposedly points: the One he is serving. Perhaps, in being raised within this system, Samuel was too young to realize or question the corruption that surrounded him with the likes of Eli's sons, but also the lack of a lot of prophetic activity, as the text emphasizes several times. But here he is working with the priests and ministers performing rituals of worship and keeping up the property. It seems rather ironic, but the System did not lead its prized pupil to know and connect with the Lord.

The Hebrew word for "to know" in verse 7 is yadah - 'to know'; 'to perceive'; 'to know by experience'. Thus the text let's us know several times that prophecy was not widespread and the word of YHWH had not yet been revealed to Samuel either. And yet, Samuel is opening the doors to the shrine at Shiloh, sleeping before the the lampstand and in the place where the ark of the covenant was and serving in a priestly function.

Susan Johnson, from the Hyde Park Union Union Church in Chicago, notes an interesting echo parallel with something we read about Jesus in the new testament:

"In the first chapter of the Gospel of John, we read the story of Nathaniel's call as a disciple. Nathaniel is credited with articulating everyone's private suspicion: that nothing good could come from the undistinguished town of Nazareth. He is recognized by Jesus as "one in whom there is no guile, no deceit;" but Nathaniel is more impressed that Jesus somehow espied him under the fig tree before Philip had spoken to him. "Rabbi, you are the Son of God!" Nathaniel unwittingly proclaims. In Jesus' reply, one is given the impression that for a moment the Lord is stunned and amused by his newest disciple's capacity to know him and yet not know him at all, to see and hear, yet not quite perceive."

So back to Samuel, who is waiting upon YHWH, without yet knowing Him. This should really cause us to pause and say: "Say What!?!" Does that strike you as odd? That someone might find themselves being with and hanging around other "believers" and not yet know/experience/perceive the Lord? Inclusion before profession of belief?

I want to highlight two issues here: discipleship and the radical inclusion of centered-set thinking.

First, let's look at what I like to call the radical inclusion of Jesus and His centered-set thinking. Check out Dave Schmelzer, who is not the religious type, talk about two types of thinking, which have come to be called bounded-set and centered-set:





I like the way the centered-set paradigm envisions people coming to know God. It "gives permission" so-to-speak for inquisitive Jesus seekers and those who wrestle with doubts (don't we all?) to be a part of the faith community before even "knowing God". It takes the burden of "conversion" off my shoulders and puts it on God's shoulders (a much easier yoke). It makes the relationship with God and experiencing Him not a sales pitch and "sign-on-the-dotted-line", but makes it relational, like becoming friends with someone, then introducing them to your other friend: Jesus - The One who still lives.

The other very real issue here is the discipleship issue.

Nowadays, most local churches try to "disciple" people. I was chatting recently with my friend Nazim Bouadjemi concerning discipleship, and Nazim has something important to share with us:
"I was reading in another church's Vision and Values packet (well done I might add--and I don't mean that sarcastically) and what was interesting is that I really liked it until I got to one point in it. So first it had a paragraph of its vision. Then four values to support it: Encountering God, Nurturing Community, Transforming Lives, and Living the Adventure. It then gave things under each value. So for Nurturing Community it talked about joining a Kinship, fellowshipping at meals, and then membership. Under Transforming Lives it said the following:
"Here is a list of areas where God may work in your life as you grow spiritually.
Spiritual Growth
Healing:
Inner healing and counseling for past wounds.
Deliverance
Freedom from past sins and bondages
Discipleship:
Learning the foundational truths of what Christians believe
Personal Walk with God:
Reading scriptures, worship, prayer, fasting, and other ways of relating to God.
Spiritual Gifts Basic Training:
Begin to learn about your spiritual gifts"

OK where am I going with this? I have a problem with discipleship being defined as "Learning the foundational truths of what Christians believe." That's it? Go through some curriculum? That is so Western/Greek. That is only a piece of discipleship. IN fact the other things listed are just as much of discipleship including the Nurturing Community where I think discipleship is most created; in the community on MISSION and Honest Fellowship. The last couple of days I've realized why it is so hard for me to define in a neat sentence what discipleship is. It is like trying to define culture. Anthropologists (which is what I'm studying) can't define it, agree on one definition. They have some definitions that grunt and grasp it but it isn't neat. Not black and white. And I believe that the culture of the church of Jesus is the major source for creating disciples, for better or for worse. That's why the discussion and discovery of Who we are what we value both in theory and in ACTION, and where we put our resources, is one of the most important things to be talking about and praying about as we talk about discipleship."


Section two. Experiencing God and Hearing God.


Let's read 1 Samuel 3:10-21, then return.

"...and YHWH came and stood in that place." Can our imaginations even conjure such a scene? What are you picturing in your mind right now? Exquisite joy? Sheer terror?

I think an insight from the great Abraham Joshua Heschel might be helpful at this point. He is speaking of the difference of what we might call prophetic experience and the mystical experience:

"...Despite all vagueness one feature clearly stands out. To the mind of the prophet revelation was not merely an event that happened to him only. The prophetic act is an experience of an act of God which was both beyond and for the sake of man. Unlike the mystic act, revelation is not the result of a quest for esoteric experience. What characterizes the prophet is, on the contrary, an effort to escape such experience. Never does he relish his vision as one relishes the attainment of a goal longed for. Revelation is not an act of his seeking, but of his being sought after, an act in God's search for man...Israel's religion originated in the initiative of God rather than the efforts of man...the God of the philosopher is a concept derived from abstract ideas; the God of the prophets is derived from acts and events...the lack of realism, the insistence upon generalizations at the price of a total disregard of the particular and concrete is something which would be alien to prophetic thinking. Prophetic words are never detached from the concrete, historic situation...the mystic experience is man's turning toward God; the prophetic act is God's turning toward man...the mystic experience is an ecstasy of man; revelation is an ecstasy of God."


As we read, we see Samuel is mostly passive and humble in this interaction. Also take note of the humility found in someone who has heard from the Lord. Samuel lays back down, with his mind and heart probably racing from experiencing God present with him and speaking to him, revealing hidden and future things to him. How his heart must have remained strangely warm throughout the wee, early hours, but equally he was likely disturbed. Revelation and prophetic insight are hardly always an act of enjoyment. It may be wonderful and awe-inspiring, but it's almost always disturbing as well. But Samuel then in the morning just gets up and goes about his normal activities. Eli encourages Samuel to be courageous after his initial encounter with YHWH. Certainly, there is the frightening issue that what the Lord has revealed to Samuel is the downfall of the man who is like a father to him. yet the wily Eli intuits the young Samuel's shy and possibly solemn silence and does not beat-around-the-bush, but gets right to helping Samuel speak forth what has been revealed from God, whether good news or ill. It is noteworthy that God's initial message to Samuel is an oracle of doom. Further, Robert Alter comments on this passage: "It's content not only indicates the overthrow of the priestly authority of the house of Eli and the implicit move to a different sort of authority to be embodied by the prophet Samuel." It also foreshadows the role Samuel is to have among Israel as a people, but also in his relationship with Saul and David.

Let's stay on this topic of experiencing God and hearing from God for a little longer, because it really is the most imporatnt issue. Again, let's read this quote from Heschel: "Is there a way of developing sensitivity to God and attachment to His presence?...Two sources of religious thinking are given us: memory (tradition) and personal insight. We must rely on our memory and we must strive for fresh insight...There is in the Bible God's word to man, but there is also man's word to Him and about Him; not only God's disclosure but man's insight...The Bible has several words for the act of seeking God (darash, bakkesh, shahar). In some passages these words are used in the sense of inquiring after His will and precepts...Yet,...it means addressing oneself directly to God with the aim of getting close to Him; it involves a desire for experience rather than a search for information. Many things occur between God and man which escape the attention even of those to whom they happen."

Sometimes we merely seek information about something rather than seeking to experience "the thing itself". What we are emphasizing here, "the thing Itself" is God, experiencing and hearing God is connection to God, is experiencing God Himself. It's "the one thing" that David seeks, the "one thing" that will not be taken from Mary of Bethany: being with God...connecting with God.

Let's listen again to Dave Schmelzer, senior pastor of the Greater Boston Vineyard, talk about connecting with and experiencing God and how he and his wife actually do it differently...and that it's OK to connect and experience God in various and different ways!:




While we are o the subject of interacting with God, I want to mention, as we mentioned in the first session, we begin to see roles shifting and emerging in the transition from the theocracy of Israel to monarchy as their form of governance. In chapters 2 and 3, we get identifiers for certain characters: "prophet" and "man of God". These are similar terms along the 'prophetic' continuum. The editorial note in 1 Samuel 9:9 explains that at one point what the audience knew as a prophet was then called a seer. It also explains that when a man wanted to enquire of God, he sought out a seer. There is some distinctiveness with each one, so let's review the basic continuum that we see and that develops throughout the sacred scriptures:

• nav'i - prophet; from the Akkadian verb nabu, "call by name or duty', one summoned for a special assignment, usually by God; someone speaking who is actuated by a divine spirit; one whose words are inspired by God.
• ro'eh - seer; one who sees; a person who has visions; someone who perceives or is caused to see something;
• cho-zeh - fore-seer; one who perceives; many times referring to someone who sees that future;
• 'ish elohim - man of God; usually an anonymous person with a message from God (although several are named, among them: Moses, Samuel, David, Elijah and Elisha); someone given a message from God to deliver; a messenger of God;

Thus, Samuel is called "a trustworthy prophet of YHWH" in 1 Samuel 3:21. In 1 Samuel 9:6 Samuel is referred to as a "man of God". He is called "Samuel the seer" in 1 Chronicles 26:28. Notice, as Ben Witherington III notes in his book Jesus the Seer: "The prophet is not an initiator of this particular relationship with God, nor of the particular tasks that he will undertake, nor of the word he will speak. He is a person under authority who can only speak and act at the behest of his Master; this is the normal bondservant-master relationship. Note also that being a prophet is not so much a vocation pursued in this context, but as something that happens to a person, quite apart from his or her plans or will."

In the case of Samuel, who is being prepared and trained as a priest, his prophetic role is new and unexpected.

Witherington notes another interesting and important aspect of this prophetic role, and we would do well to note it also: Although Samuel had heard God's word, still he had some choice about whether he would speak it. God had not simply turned Samuel into a megaphone; there was some human will involved in responding properly. This "narrative of Samuel's call" serves as a paradigm for a prophet, and later in 1st century Judea and Galilee, Jesus is marked by these same characteristics of seer and fore-seer and prophet and man of God that we have noted above. Some would say, they find their fulfillment in Jesus Christ.

Biblical commentator Robert Polzin catches an important aspect of the narrative to take note of: "...not only does the account of God's revelation to Samuel end with a reference to the LORD's eyes (v.18), it also begins with a reference to Eli's eyes, which had begun to grow dim. In what way does this description of Eli's weakening sight stand for Israel's diminishing insight...What had Eli/Israel lost sight of?"

One final thought on this section of scripture. There is an interesting phrase used in verse 20 that we should take note of, because it will recur throughout our text. The phrase is: "From Dan to Beersheva". Take a look at this map. Did you notice where Dan and Beersheva are on the map? They represent the furthest points in the "Promised Land". We have similar phrases, especially in America. Like: "from sea to shining sea" or "from New York to LA". This turn-of-a-phrase is saying essentially the very same thing. It means in all of the land of the Israelites Samuel is known for his connection and relationship with God.


Section three. Rejection and Finding True Security.


Read 1 Samuel 8:1-22, then return here. (We are skipping the "Ark of the Covenant" narrative and it's capture by the Philistines to focus on Samuel now. This "Ark Narrative" will be the focus in our next session.)

I think there is something special to how the relationship between God and Samuel begins. It forms Samuel. I think we can learn something about security and insecurity from Samuel. Even though Samuel grows old and has kids and leads the people of Israel and lives life, the primary focus in scripture, the primary relationship for Samuel is with YHWH. What I continue to find refreshing and encouraging in the sacred scriptures is the simple "real-ness", the reality of people and events that are portrayed. You're probably thinking: "waiting-a-minute, I don't think the extraordinary parting of the Red sea or creation of the universe can be cast as simple and real." What I am talking about is people like Samuel. They are tremendous people of faith, and we see them as people to admire and be like. And yet, scripture portrays even Samuel as a real person, with real issues. As we just read in 1 Samuel 8, Samuel is a mixed character, very human. He has this great and special relationship with YHWH, yet his own kids turn out to be greedy and corrupt sods. God speaks to him intimately and reveals things to him, and yet he is threatened and hurt by the people of Israel rejecting him and his sons and Samuel's effort to develop a prophetic dynasty. Sure, God clarifies things for poor, insecure Samuel that in fact the people are actually rejecting God as King, but Samuel feels the rejection too. Somehow this makes Samuel more real to me, more human...more like me, a mixed character. This also teaches me something: It is only with God that we find security. Samuel is insecure thinking the people have rejected him after all he has done; his only real security comes with the faithfulness of YHWH to their relationship and to the prophetic and liberation ministry of Samuel. My security lies with our Father through Jesus Christ. Not in my family. Not in my job or money. Not even in my ministry. In God alone. In that way, Samuel encourages me, that as greatly as God moved through him, he is as frail and broken a jar of clay as I am.


Let's finish today by reading 1 Samuel 12:1-11, then return here for the big finish.

In this passage, Samuel is at the end of his dominance and rule in israel, and is reviewing his life and work before handing off to the one God chose: Saul.

Do you sense an underlying tension in the text? Many readers get the feeling Samuel is voicing some of his own anger here. They may or may not be right or wrong. Note the similar language used by Moses in Numbers 16:15, which tells us directly that Moses was angry. Also note the somewhat similar context, in Numbers 16, the rebellion against Moses' leadership lead by Korah is the context. Here, Samuel's leadership has been rebelled against, and the people asked for and received a king in place of YHWH and Samuel.

As P. Kyle McCarter explains concerning the last few verses, Samuel outlines the good and gracious work of YHWH among the people, even though they keep turning away from Him and his appointed leaders, who rescue and restore the people in security. This long retrospect of israel's history of apostasy is one of a series of reflective speeches by major figures, including Joshua (Joshua 23-24), Samuel here and then also Solomon (1 Kings 8:12-61). Although the focus of Samuel's reflection is more on what many call the 'period of the judges', it implies that things are changing with the development of kingship in Israel. But before we get to all of that, next week we will go through the narrative regarding the "Ark of the Covenant" and it's capture by the Philistines.


Section four. Assignments.

• If you have some time to listen to some other teachers on hearing God and experiencing God: Check out Jay Pathak (pastor of the Arvada Vineyard in Colorado) and his teaching on "Hearing God's Voice" and/or Ellie Mumford from VineyardUK and her speaking on "Experiencing God".
• Seek to spend some "quality time" connecting with God throughout this next week. Whether it is getting into a quiet space (in an actual closet or just yur bedroom) or taking a walk outdoors, or going for a run or climbing a mountain, just seek the "one thing" to connect with God. Just do it!
• Examine your life and ask God to reveal to you or cause you to remember those insecurities that populate your own heart. Work on giving them over to Jesus, to His gentle touch, to His beautiful reign in your life, and whenever you feel threatened in your security - whatever the circumstance - remember to give it to Jesus, who is faithful and true and walks with you through all your dashed hopes and insecure feelings. Trust Him and put your hope in Jesus.