Featured Was Samuel High Priest?

I'm not sure that he was even a priest, let alone high priest. Wouldn't he have to be of the tribe of Levi to be either?

 

???

1 Now there was a certain man of Ramathaim-zophim, of the hill-country of Ephraim, and his name was Elkanah, the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephraimite:
2 and he had two wives; the name of the one was Hannah, and the name of other Peninnah: and Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children. 1 Sam 1

 

Samuel is described in Scripture as a "Seer" and a "Prophet".

 

No.

He was a prophet.

1 Samuel 3:20 NLT
[20] And all Israel, from Dan in the north to Beersheba in the south, knew that Samuel was confirmed as a prophet of the LORD.

He was a judge.

1 Samuel 7:15 NLT
[15] Samuel continued as Israel's judge for the rest of his life.

Samuel’s contemporaries did not call him the high priest.

1 Samuel 9:6 NLT
[6] But the servant said, "I've just thought of something! There is a man of God who lives here in this town. He is held in high honor by all the people because everything he says comes true. Let's go find him. Perhaps he can tell us which way to go."

He isn’t in the line of Aaron although he was in the line of Levi.

1 Chronicles 6

The high priesthood descends from Aaron.

Exodus 29:29-30 NLT
[29] "Aaron's sacred garments must be preserved for his descendants who succeed him, and they will wear them when they are anointed and ordained. [30] The descendant who succeeds him as high priest will wear these clothes for seven days as he ministers in the Tabernacle and the Holy Place.

1 Chronicles 6:10 NLT
[10] Johanan was the father of Azariah, the high priest at the Temple built by Solomon in Jerusalem.

 

1 Now there was a certain man of Ramathaim-zophim, of the hill-country of Ephraim, and his name was Elkanah, the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephraimite:

Agree.

 

Here is a copy of an email I sent to John MacAuthur's organization challenging his position that Samuel was a high priest.

Mar 22, 2015, 12:29 PM



"Reference: Prophets, Priests, and Kings by John MacArthur.

On page 17 of the above booklet, under the subheading "Samuel judged the children of Israel:", the last sentence states: "As we shall see, his role as both high priest and prophet included acting as a counselor and advisor to the future king."

Please supply scriptural references to support your statement that Samuel was a high priest.

I have been unable to find any reference to Samuel as high priest.

Thank you for your attention to this request.

Wesley Briggman"

Needless to say, all I got back from his staff was a number of references to sermons that did not address the issue.

 

There is another consideration here, I think. It seems as if Samuel was, in a sense, adopted by and succeeds Eli as, probably, the high priest. Of course his lineage isn't worthy of being high priest, but it seems he does fill that role.

Eli's sons are "worthless" and it is said that God is going to do a new work in Israel. Clearly Samuel is part of that new work. 1 Samuel 2:18 tells us he is ministering before the Lord. We know that he was the one supposed to make the sacrifice in 1 Samuel 13.

Also, when Eli is rebuked in 1 Samuel 2, the one rebuking him says, "And I will raise up for myself a faithful priest, who shall do according to what is in my heart and in my mind. And I will build him a sure house, and he shall go in and out before my anointed forever." (1 Samuel 2:35 ESV) It might be said that this is a Christological prophecy, but it can't just be that (since Jesus is not a Levitical priest). So, Samuel is certainly a priest, and even if he isn't technically the high priest, he sure is functioning as if he were.

The Archangel

 

I spent considerable time listening to Dr. John MacArthur's sermons and reading other of his documents and found no corroborating statements. I have my doubts that he ever read the booklet containing this statement. Ghost writer?

It would be interesting to know what he believes on this subject

 

No one's consulted the precious Commentaries of John Calvin? He notes that:

I Samuel 2:34-35 ESV The Lord Rejects Eli's Household
And this that shall come upon your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, shall be the sign to you: both of them shall die on the same day. And I will raise up for myself a faithful priest, who shall do according to what is in my heart and in my mind. And I will build him a sure house, and he shall go in and out before my anointed forever.

 

My mother's favorite Bible history.

 

Not to derail the thread, but how was Eli sitting and perhaps leaning against what was not yet built?

9After they had eaten and drunk in Shiloh, Hannah rose. Now Eli the priest was sitting on the seat beside the doorpost of the temple of the LORD.

 

Reminds me of "God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham", or, "ye also, as living stones, are built up a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood". OK, I get it. God is able to raise up Samuel to be not only a priest but high priest.

Learned something. Thanks.

[add]

Though by the letter of the law priests were to be Aaron's descendants, the bottom line is "the Son of man is lord of the sabbath":

2 But the Pharisees, when they saw it, said unto him, Behold, thy disciples do that which it is not lawful to do upon the sabbath.
3 But he said unto them, Have ye not read what David did, when he was hungry, and they that were with him;
4 how he entered into the house of God, and ate the showbread, which it was not lawful for him to eat, neither for them that were with him, but only for the priests?
5 Or have ye not read in the law, that on the sabbath day the priests in the temple profane the sabbath, and are guiltless?
6 But I say unto you, that one greater than the temple is here.
7 But if ye had known what this meaneth, I desire mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless.
8 For the Son of man is lord of the sabbath. Mt 12

 

Was Samuel High Priest?

He probably wasn't a high anything else.