received with favor by the matter-of-fact Israelites. Joshua would have suppressed an outbreak of prophecy in the camp in the wilderness; but Moses, from his deeper spiritual insight, was more tolerant (Num. xi, 26–30). That they were not highly accounted of in Samuel's time, or received without doubts of their genuine relation to the mind of God, would seem to be indicated by the question asked of these dervish-prophets by a certain sceptic who noted their performance, "And who is their father?" (1 Sam. x, 12). It was in fact instinctively felt from the beginning that prophecy must authenticate itself not only by mysterious tokens but by sanity and reason; and its development was in that direction, with the crude and uncouth gradually disappearing and the thoughtful and self-controlled more evident, until it reached its culmination in the work of the great literary prophets. Grades of The prophetic order was a development from an earlier and more primitive institution. In connection with Samuel, who gave it distinctive function and character, the remark was made: "Beforetime in Israel, when a man went to inquire of God, thus he said, 'Come, and let us go to the seer'; for he that is now called a prophet was beforetime called a seer" (1 Sam. ix, 9). A seer (ro'ch) seems in early times to have been a man who by some means of divination would get signs for future ventures in war, or for the recovery of lost property; receiving for his services a fee. That was the idea that Saul and his servant had of Samuel, when Saul's asses were lost (1 Sam. ix, 6-8). He was regarded as a kind of fortune teller; and such men were numerous in all nations. A somewhat higher class of such interrogators of the future or of the occult went by the name of Gazer (hozeh). Such were attached to kings' courts as counselors, who by employing some clairvoyant method gave advice for undertakings in war or affairs of state. (See 2 Sam. xxiv, 11.) Both of these orders, however, seem to have become obsolete, and their methods discredited, with the coming of the true prophet; who was called by a name signifying a "spokesman" (nabi'); that is, of Jehovah. In the nabi', or spokesman, the order of prophets first reached the dignity, wisdom, and authority worthy of the high name of prophet. Samuel, whom his contemporaries called the seer, had a personality too great to be measured by divination and fortune telling; and this was so felt by the people that a more honorable name must be given him. "Jehovah was with him," the historian relates, "and did let none of his words fall to the ground. And all Israel from Dan even to Beersheba knew that Samuel was established to be a prophet of Jehovah" (1 Sam. iii, 19, 20). These different ranks were not sharply discriminated; and more than one kind of prophetic gift might be united in one person. Gad, King David's gazer, also ranked as a prophet or spokesman for Jehovah (2 Sam. xxiv, 11). It is worthy of note that to all the men called prophets in David's time is attributed both statesman and literary activity. Samuel wrote "the manner of the kingdom" in a book (1 Sam. x, 25); and a later historian attributes written annals to Samuel, Nathan, and Gad (1 Chron. xxix, 29). From the time when the name nabi' was first given, it would thus seem, the prophetic order was associated with literature. We speak of the prophetic order, as if there were something official or established about it. And indeed we find accounts of companies of prophets, who were ready for professional employment, and whose words reflected the general level of public opinion or desire, or perhaps the endeavor to please their employers. A remarkable example of this is reported in the prophecies uttered before the kings Ahab and Jehoshaphat before the campaign against Ramoth-Gilead (1 Kings xxii, 5-23). This, however, was not favorable to spokesmanship for One whose "thoughts are not as men's thoughts" (cf. Isa. lv, 8). Accordingly we find that prophets of the highest type, those who have suffered for their message, have not allowed themselves such partnership. They have refused to prophesy for hire or reward, and sometimes have disclaimed professionalism (cf. Amos vii, 12-14; Zech. xiii, 4, 5). This they have done in the conviction that the word of Jehovah through them must be free, and they be beholden to no man. A fee or reward seemed to them like a bribe, and so far forth a restraint upon their conscience. Hence they held themselves independent of kings' courts, or money, or perfunctory duties, that they might be accountable to no one but Jehovah. And many times their reward was martyrdom or imprisonment. Among the various lines of social and cultural activity in Israel we need to distinguish the specific function tacitly if not officially accorded to the prophets. Theirs The Prophet's Specific was a function independent of the temporary Function expediencies or vicissitudes of state; unmindful of social conventions or public opinion; claiming justification only by its single-minded fidelity to a larger and more spiritual vision. They were indeed the nation's men of insight and foresight. Their authorizing formula was, Thus saith Jehovah"; and they must abide the issue of their message, whether one of weal or woe. This function of the prophets sets them apart from the everyday affairs of the people; which indeed were well cared for. For the ordinary educative work of life, and for the affairs of industry and society, the people had the counsels of their sages, which developed into the Wisdom literature; they had the stories of their popular historians, which we have noted in the Jehovistic and Elohistic strata of the early history; they had the legal decisions of magistrates and priests, which we shall see later codified in a fund of sacred and statute law; they had the poetry and liturgical services of the Temple and local sanctuaries. With these domestic matters the prophets did not concern themselves, except to keep the people's conscience true to the principles underlying them, as a means to the integrity of their national character and mission. They were rather the men for the care of the large movements, crises, emergencies of the nation; for meeting the crucial points of history and policy, when the issue was between man's way and God's way, and when national faith, honor, and integrity were at stake. In brief, the prophets were the divinely called men by whom Israel's large national movements were interpreted and determined. Accordingly, we find the earlier prophets appearing when a monarchy was to be set up (1 Sam. x, 17-27); when the royal succession was to be determined (1 Sam. xvi, 1-13; 1 Kings i, 22–30); when a division of the kingdom was decreed (1 Kings xi, 29–39); when the nation's supreme religious allegiance was at stake (1 Kings xviii, 21–39); when dynasties were to be changed (2 Kings viii, 7-15). Thus, it would seem, the specific function of the great prophets was to make known Jehovah's mind concerning Israel's mission and destiny; to correct the tendencies that unfitted the people to meet their future strongly and victoriously; and to enlighten them in the principles that guarantee a noble destiny. All this we may sum up in a word, by saying, the prophets were the enlightened conscience of the nation. They made mistakes, as all men do; and sometimes their policies must bring disaster in immediate results in order to secure a larger and more permanent good. Though at the forefront of affairs, yet after all they were only the next step ahead, themselves undergoing education in Jehovah's word and will, with their spiritual horizon broadening as they went along. On the whole their vision was clear for the portion of the field in which they worked; they could be sure of the consistent direction of affairs if not of their ultimate goal; and their allegiance to the God whose spokesmen they were sincere and unbought. III Era of Prophetic Masters and Guilds. What is here said of the prophet's specific function applies preeminently to the greater prophets, who represent prophecy in its more momentous import for the future, and of whom only one or two would be active in a generation. By the weight of their message and personality they were natural leaders, powers behind the throne," with whom both king and people must reckon. Intimately associated with the affairs and policies of the state, they were to a decisive extent determinators of its destiny. Such was Samuel, who, as we have seen, was the father of the prophetic order and the founder of the united kingdom (1 Sam. viii, xii). Such was Nathan, the confirmer of the dynasty to King David (2 Sam. vii), the fearless denouncer of the king in the latter's sad lapse into adultery and treachery (2 Sam. xii, 1-15), and the means of perpetuating the dynasty in the line of Solomon (1 Kings i, 11-31). To these original leaders may be added, on a somewhat lower plane, Ahijah the Shilonite, who encouraged the revolutionary ambition of Jeroboam I (1 Kings xi, 29–39), and later cut off the succession (1 Kings xiv, 1-18); Jehu the son of Hanani, who prophesied similarly to the wicked King Baasha (1 Kings xvi, 1-4); and Micaiah the son of Imlah, who incurred imprisonment for prophesying truly but unfavorably, in opposition to a company of false prophets (1 Kings xxii, 5-28). These, and more that might be mentioned (e.g. I Kings xiii; xx, 35-43), were prophets not for national leadership but for special crises and occasions. |