milling crowd soon caught sight of the prophet, known to some by sight and to others only by reputation, and moved to the rocky grotto in expectation of the main event of the day’s activities, a speech from the now famous Samuel. Many of the people were not sure what to expect. Those who had heard him speak before, those from his home in Ramah and the nearby villages of Beth-aven and Michmash especially, imagined that it would be something of what they had already heard. He was, they knew and he never tired of saying, YHWH’s prophet, so he always recounted the great history of that God’s works for the people of Israel, the creation of the world, the parting of the sea, the gift of the law and the land. He would surely speak of that. And he deeply detested the foreign gods, Baal, Astarte, Milcom, Dagon and all of their little godletts, often so beloved of the people of the hills and of the foreigners still living among them. They could safely bet that there would be a verbal annihilation of the lot of them, and a companion demand for exclusive devotion to YHWH who was God without peer or rival. But the prophet was also unpredictable, and would spice his oratory with unexpected stories and harsh words against any who dared disagree with him. For, above all, Samuel believed completely that he was speaking the word of YHWH directly; thus, any contradiction of his words was a rejection of YHWH, worthy only of scorn and abuse. Such a belief made for verbal fire at times, and the people were often anxious for some courageous, but ultimately foolish, listener to challenge Samuel’s claims and demands. That made for a lively time, and in the middle of the afternoon, and after a rich period of snacking on bread, dates, and flavorful beer, and anticipating the flavorful meat to follow, a sparring match was just what was needed to enliven a sleepy day.
The sun finally set, and the elders of the city of Mizpah lit the huge torches to illuminate the grotto and to light the path toward the sanctuary for those who wanted to pray before the evening meeting with Samuel.
The prophet made his way toward the stone grotto, led and followed by two blazing torches that outlined his face and hair in fire and gave his person an almost spectral look, unearthly somehow. As he climbed up on the platform, the shadow of his body shown enormously on the face of the cliff, dancing hugely with every one of his movements. He had hoped that his shadow would match the thunder of his voice as it boomed out of his bearded face and out of the dimly lighted darkness. All seemed to have worked perfectly, and Samuel waited for the crowd to hush. He called them all to prayer.
“YHWH of battles, full of mercy and forgiveness, but always demanding
righteousness and truth, we, your people, come this night in fear and in hope. We fear your power, but we hope in that same power. You have acted for our ancestors in the past in Egypt, at the Sea, at the holy mountain, at the city of Jericho. Act for us now, for we are great sinners in your sight, and our enemies are nearby. Our enemies are your enemies, so defeat them, O YHWH, and defend your name in their sight. Speak your truth this night through the mouth of your servant. Let your people know that my words are yours, and that your people can trust in me. For as you love your people so do I love them and give my life for them. Speak, YHWH, speak. Call us all to serve and love you! Bind us together here at this place of shame into a people of unity and power, supported and led by you, our help and our God.”
The final word “God” resounded throughout the grotto and into the ears of everyone there, and a great shout of “Amen” rent the night air. Then other shouts were heard.
“You are YHWH”s prophet, great Samuel!”
“We will follow you to victory over those hated Philistines!”
“Our lives are in your hands and in the hands of our God, YHWH!”
And many other affirmations were expressed until Samuel held up his hands for quiet. Finally a hush returned. And Samuel spoke again.
“You are not the only ones listening to the sound of my voice, my brothers and sisters! Yes, the Philistines have heard of our meeting and even now they are lurking just outside these shadows, waiting for the time to strike us and to kill us.”
Immediately, the people were in an uproar of terror. They began to shout to be saved from the warriors of the iron weapons and flying chariots. They felt helpless against them here at Mizpah, so close to the Philistine lands, a mere one-day walk to one of their largest cities, Ekron. How could they have been so foolish as to expose themselves and their families here at Mizpah? How could they have allowed this upstart prophet to lure them so far west, and to increase their vulnerability to their enemies? The crowd, so supportive of the prophet, began to turn against him and to demand that he protect them. If the Philistines were now so close as to hear Samuel, as they were hearing him, how could they hope to escape? Again, Samuel raised his hands for quiet. He lifted that great voice and spoke into the murmuring crowd.
“Have you no faith in the power of YHWH? Even as I speak YHWH is beginning to deal with these pagans. Just as YHWH tossed the wretched Egyptians and their vaunted chariots into the Sea of Reeds, so YHWH will again attend to the chariots of these Philistines. We have only to wait and watch and see the power of YHWH!”
And with those words, Samuel produced on the platform a snowy lamb, a pure sacrifice to YHWH. At his command two men built a fire on the platform, just to the left of the prophet, who proceeded to raise the lamb high over his head and to slit its throat so that the blood flowed down Samuel’s thick beard and onto the flaming altar. With a small squeal the lamb died, and with a mighty shout Samuel dropped the carcass onto the roaring fire. As the smell of the lamb rose up, and as the grease popped and crackled in the fire, Samuel shouted again to YHWH.
“YHWH, we give our best to you, so now do your best for us. We give you this lamb so now return to us the power of a lion so that our enemies may see and all your people may see and all the world may see that you are God alone and that we are your people!”
Suddenly, there was a scream from the crowd! Several Philistine soldiers had appeared on the top of the cliff behind the enormous shadow of Samuel. Then several more appeared at the sides of the grotto, and the crowd began to panic, rushing here and there in a vain attempt to get out of the space that now was about to become their slaughterhouse. Then there was another sound, much larger than the screams of the people, even larger than the voice of Samuel. It sounded to some like thunder, but of course there were no clouds in the night sky. But at the sound, all the Philistines who had appeared on the top of the cliff suddenly fell off to their bloody deaths on the rocks below. And those other warriors who had appeared to have the Israelites surrounded found themselves attacking one another instead and falling on top of one another in ghastly piles of death. The confusion of the Philistines was complete, as they rushed at one another instead of at Israel. At another command of Samuel, unseen by most of the crowd, several hundred Israelite warriors, who were well-armed and obviously well-prepared for battle, ran after the confused remnant of the Philistine force and pursued them for several days, all the way back to their coastal cities. All who were there that day were astonished and so confused by what they thought they saw that many different tales were told in Israel ever after.
But all agreed on one thing; Samuel was without doubt God’s special prophet. It was his prayer, his sacrifice, his call to YHWH that had saved the people from a massive slaughter at the hands of the Philistines. To be sure, he had prepared some soldiers before the gathering to engage the enemy, but more happened that day than a battle between Israelite soldiers and Philistine soldiers. No, God was there, too, somehow, and Samuel it was who had called YHWH forth.
7
Suddenly, he was back on the dusty street of Ramah in the shade of a building. He shook his aged head to clear it of that astonishing night at Mizpah before he moved again into the square of the city to face the incredulous boy and his servant, both of whom were still waiting for Samuel to say something to them. As he had aged, the prophet noticed how much harder it had become for him to stop his restless mind from sliding back and forth in time, from the present to the past. He spent much more
