The prophet's handbook

Although Joshua was considered a prophet, his service was mainly militaristic, as the kingdom had yet to be established in Israel’s control. Until that time, however, the priests, using the Urim and Thummim, answered prophetic revelation on spontaneous issues and questions requiring God’s answers. Of course, this excludes the supernatural manipulation by the occult prophets such as Balaam, who dominated the ancient world during Moses’ and Joshua’s time. Accepted and respected as a social order, the demonic ministrations of the supernatural that preceded Israel’s prophetic institution held largely uncontested sway throughout the world, civilized or uncivilized. The first stunning challenge it received came from Moses in his deliverance of the nation of God from Egyptian bondage. By Samuel’s time, the Lord Almighty had carved Himself a place and an enduring reputation in the world, even if His people had lost sight of it. (See 1 Samuel 3:1, which talks about how rare widespread revelation was in those days.) By the time Samuel was old enough to serve the Lord, Eli’s sons’ perversion of the priesthood and rank abuse of God’s people paved the way for a division of the two functions, the priest and the prophet. Furthermore, their defilement of God’s offerings in the process forever settled the separate operations of the two offices, according to 1 Samuel 1–3. Their repugnant behavior caused the people to fear Eli’s death and resist his sons’ dynastic inheritance of the priesthood. The combined resentment of the people from the sometimes violent abuse they suffered at the hands of Eli’s sons set the stage for God’s final division of His two spiritual powers. The wisdom of the principle may be better appreciated by looking at Ecclesiastes 5:8. The priesthood, being deformed, had no higher official to oversee it. God’s disillusioned people had no human recourse to appeal to aside from Eli, who had already refused to discipline his offspring. Later, Samuel proved to be no better at parenting his progeny than Eli had been. When Samuel’s service was nearing an end and it was time to pass the torch, his unruly sons revived Israel’s earlier fears and moved the nation to ask for a king to counterbalance priest and prophet abuse. The people again questioned the character of leadership they would get from Samuel’s sons. By the time he passed the institution of the nabiim on, the two functions had permanently split, with Samuel inaugurating Israel’s first king. The Lord Balances His Spiritual Powers To create and maintain a godly balance of power, the Lord always groups His hierarchical officials in varying levels of ministers that oversee each other. That