If there's one word that describes the children of Israel we encounter in scripture, it's "hypocrites." Isaiah isn't "whistling 'Dixie,'" when he writes of them, "Therefore the Lord shall have no joy in their young men, neither shall have mercy on their widows: for every one is an hypocrite and an evildoer, and every mouth speaketh folly [Isaiah 9:17a - d]." The always- venerated judge of Israel, Samuel, is no exception.
1 Samuel 1:1 informs us that Samuel's father was a man named Elkanah. 1 Samuel 1:1 says of Elkanah that he "was a certain man of Ramathaim-zophim, of mount Ephraim... an Ephrathite." As per normal, this is muddy water, and one more reason it's exceeding difficult to find any authoritative sources of information about any element of Jewry besides the liars themselves. 'Dictionary of the Bible' by John L. McKenzie, S.J. says Ramathaim-zophim is a 'shibboleth' for Ramah (#2 at "Ramah" entry).
Ramah was apparently contiguous with Gibeah, and was therefore sometimes called Gibeah, perhaps indicating Gibeah was the principal city of the two. Scottsbluff and Gering, Nebraska present such a dilemma, as an example. Of the two, Scottsbluff is the county seat, and is therefore often cited when Gering is more precisely correct. Only local Nebraskans are aware Terrytown rests between the two. 1 Samuel 22:6 says parenthetically of the relationship between Gibeah and Ramah, "Saul abode in Gibeah under a tree in Ramah." Therefore Ramathaim-zophim is also a shibboleth for the sodomite city of the Benjamites: Gibeah.
A quick comparison of Elkanah's lineage in 1 Samuel 1:1 and that of 1 Chronicles 6:33 - 35 (watch out for the shibboleths) makes it clear that Elkanah-- and therefore Samuel ("Shemuel," in 1 Chronicles 6:33) by extrapolation-- is a Levite of the sons of Kohath. If you believe Moses' pedigree, this makes Samuel a 'cousin' of Moses', of the line of Izhar, Amram's (Moses' alleged father's) younger brother. This means Samuel was not an Aaronite-- not a priest. It also means Hannah's 'lending' of the boy Samuel to the LORD is a canard. He belonged to the LORD by virtue of his birthright.
Given his lineage, the reference to Elkanah being an Ephrathite, at the end of 1 Samuel 1:1, indicates place, as opposed to maternity. Ephrath is a shibboleth of Bethlehem, which is the nearest city to Gibeah/ Ramah. This could indicate that Bethlehem was the principal city of the three, and Ramah-- like Terrytown in the Nebraska analog, above -- is only mentioned, or even known perhaps, by the locals.
One of my mother's favorite scriptural quotations was spoken by Samuel in addressing king Saul, and she used it the same way he did. When Audrey said, "rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft [1 Samuel 15:23a]," she spoke of defying her will; not God's. Whether she-- also like Samuel-- indicted herself as a witch in so speaking is perhaps beside the point. Maybe she was simply confessing to being a poor, unsuspecting Gentile, confused by the things Jews claim to know of a God they never could know.
Either way, Samuel certainly blew his own head off, speaking in this manner to the king he ordained and annointed. The evidence of this is copious throughout 1 Samuel. Samuel was nothing, really, if he wasn't-- like Eli before him-- rebellious. Jesus of Nazareth said of Samuel and David and Solomon and many others (Jehoshaphat, Hezekiah, Moses, etc.) "Woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you! for so did their fathers to the false prophets [Luke 6:26]." This really is the best evidence of a given 'prophet's worthlessness. Many who call him "Lord, Lord," like the apostles before them, simply don't believe Jesus, however.
Where Samuel is concerned, it doesn't matter if you believe Jesus, or not. Samuel told on himself too many times to miss it. Because there's so much evidence against Samuel, the scope of this article will be necessarily limited.
Early in his reign, Saul ran into a dilemma concerning a sacrifice to be made preparatory to war. Saul and the Israelites he could muster were in Gilgal, where the children of Israel were ever wont to gather. This desire to gather in Gilgal is a 'strange' obsession of that people. The LORD said of this, "All their wickedness is in Gilgal: for there I hated them: for the wickedness of their doings I will drive them out of mine house, I will love them no more: all their princes are revolters [Hosea 9:15]." They just kept going back to Gilgal, even when this meant actually going backwards.
At any rate, Saul was there in Gilgal with ten or fifteen of the most valiant of Israel: all others having left their king for the presumed safety of anywhere else. Samuel had, according to 1 Samuel 13:8, instructed Saul to wait for him in Gilgal seven days. Samuel was a bit jealous of chef duty at the barbecue pit. It seems no one else was allowed to offer sacrifices while he was alive.
Seven days had passed, and no Sammy. So Saul offered the sacrifice. As soon as Saul had offered, Samuel-- like Count Dracula, as a bat-- suddenly materializes to rebuke Saul for so trespassing on his 'turf'. "And Samuel said to Saul, Thou hast done foolishly: thou hast not kept the commandment of the LORD thy God, which he commanded thee [1 Samuel 13:13a - c]." Samuel then proceeds to 'forecast devices' against Saul's kingdom, proving himself a foolish and incontrovertible hypocrite.
Notice how Sammy did not say, "thou hast not kept the commandment of the LORD thy God, which he commanded me." This makes Sammy the LORD Saul's God, in his own esteem of himself. This is indicative of his own rebellious attitude, though I only mention this in passing.
The rub is that Samuel was never legally allowed to offer any of the sacrifices he daily offered. As already stated, Sammy was not a priest. Only the priests were authorized by Moses' law to offer sacrifices. In chastising Saul for this presumption, he likewise indicts his own honor as a judge of the nation. Every word he thus spits in Saul's face is therefore his own shame foaming- out like waves in a raging sea. In Sammy's own words, "Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams [1 Samuel 15:22d - f]."
"Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest doest the same things [Romans 2:1]." It's no wonder the witch of Endor could find Sammy after he was dead, considering his piss- poor attitude towards his king and the way he scoffed the law by which he judged others.
No comments:
Post a Comment