18 ¶So
David fled, and escaped, and came to Samuel to Ramah, and told him all that
Saul had done to him. And he and Samuel went and dwelt in Naioth.
19 And it
was told Saul, saying, Behold, David is at Naioth in Ramah.
20 And
Saul sent messengers to take David: and when they saw the company of the
prophets prophesying, and Samuel standing as appointed over them, the Spirit of
God was upon the messengers of Saul, and they also prophesied.
21 And
when it was told Saul, he sent other messengers, and they prophesied likewise.
And Saul sent messengers again the third time, and they prophesied also. (1
Sam. 19:18-21)
The company of the
prophets is something you don’t hear anything of in the Old Testament until the
time of Samuel. This makes me
think it was an institution that Samuel established to help keep the Israelites
in the right way so that Samuel wasn’t the only one teaching and preaching and
testifying of the coming Messiah.
We first see the company of the prophets in 1 Samuel 10 when Samuel
instructs the newly anointed Saul that he will meet a company of the prophets
coming back from worship and that He would prophesy with them.
The advantage of
having a company of prophets was that it wasn’t an office (as far as we can
tell here), but a spiritual state that required spiritual maturity, testimony,
and knowledge of God.
We know from John’s writings in
Revelation that the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. I don’t think that was any different in
the Old Testament.
When I read the events in these verses,
it was cool to me that the messengers of Saul were so moved by the testimonies
they heard from the prophets. I
started asking myself what thoughts and feelings they might have felt as they
were worked upon by the Spirit.
Here’s what I surmise they might felt:
The text says they saw the company of
the prophets prophesying and Samuel standing as appointed over them. It must have struck them with great
force how great the contrast was between these men led by a great prophet
sharing great spiritual messages and their own mission as messengers of a
murderous king, sent to take and execute David, a great hero. No honest-hearted man could
realize this without yearning to be one of the prophets with a message of
salvation rather than a messenger of undeserved destruction.
What might the messengers have
prophesied of?
I imagine they anticipated the day when
the Messiah (the anointed one) would come and save them so that they would no
longer be in bondange to sin and forced to serve Satan. They could easily draw parallels
between their situation – being servants of a murderous king – and being in
bondage to Satan.
I think one thing we can get from this
story is how powerful testimony can be in blunting evil purposes. The messengers of Saul had a mission—take
David so he could be killed. But
testimony and the Spirit of the Lord stopped them in their tracks.
How do you think can we use testimony
today to fight evil?
2 comments:
That's an interesting question. I think that in these verses we see that it isn't about direct confrontation, but about inclusion and conversion. :) Instead of fighting them, God just inspired them. ... Maybe we can do the same, though perhaps on a smaller scale. As we stand up for Good and set an example of being obedient, and we show that God brings joy, comfort, and meaning to our lives, perhaps people who are yearning for some of that will ask us about it and we can share with them the reasons that we hope. :)
Good point, Suzanne; I like what you say about how in this story it isn't about direct confrontation, but about inclusion and conversion.
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