Prophets versus priests; - Getting God's help

One of the differences between prophets and priests is that they offer help from God in different ways.

The prophets’ version is “You get stuck into that job, and God will help you while you are doing it.”
The classic example is the fight against the Amalekites. “Moses said to Joshua, Choose for us men and go out, fight with Amalek, and tomorrow I will stand at the top of the hill with the rod of God in my hand”. Then Joshua prevailed as Moses prayed. (Exodus ch17 vv8-13).

The priests’ version is “You sit back and wait, because God will do the whole thing without any intervention from your side.”
The classic example is the invasion of the Ammonites and Moabites and their allies in the time of Jehoshaphat. Jehaziel son of Benaiah, a Levite, said to the people “You will not need to fight in this battle. Take your position, stand still, and see the victory of God on your behalf” (2 Chronicles ch20 v17). Then the various enemies fought each other to death and Judah went out and collected the benefits.

So one is “Both God AND man together” and the other is “Either God OR man, separately”. If this was applied to salvation, the prophets would be Arminians and the priests would be Calvinists.

“Watching God do it all” worked well enough when he scattered the Syrian besiegers of Samaria (2 Kings ch6) and the Assyrian besiegers of Jerusalem (2 Kings ch19). But it was a complete failure when the Philistines invaded in 1 Samuel ch4. The people put their trust in letting the priests bring the ark onto the battlefield, but God had not promised to come with the ark himself.

My impression is that the prophets’ version is the more usual, both in the Bible and in daily life. Yet I keep meeting the assumption that it’s more pious to expect the priestly version. There are modern Jews who believe that the state of Israel is objectionable because it was established by men instead of being provided by God. Yet I would question that “instead of”, because the same people are happy to believe that Cyrus was acting as God’s agent when he destroyed Babylon and released the Jews from exile. God was providing for his people, through human action. Why should God not have been working through the U.N. diplomats and militia leaders of 1948 in just the same way?

But I also find this popping up in the unconscious background of Christian statements “You’ve got to let God do it for you”; “If it comes from men, that proves it can’t have come from God.” It was implied in the attitude of a fellow-preacher who got puzzled when I made some remark about God being able to express himself "through" men's minds, and wanted to pray for me on the spot because i did not understand how the Holy Spirit worked. It's an interesting aspect of the psychology of belief.

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a reply to: DISRAELI2

One of the differences between prophets and priests is that they offer help from God in different ways.

If God is Almighty, why should They need to rely on intermediaries to help you? And if God is omniscient, why do you need intermediaries to pass on your petition to Them? Don't you find them all a wee bit suspicious, these middlemen? They seem to do pretty well out of it, I notice...

Also, can't you find any more recent examples to illustrate your case? Has God been on vacation since the Bronze Age?

a reply to: DISRAELI2

Not all prophets believe in any "God". Other cultures, not Christian, have theirs.

Prophets propose.
Priests expound.

Look it up. Vastly different. 1 prophetizes,the other explains.

Both these roads..lead to a "God". But not the same way at all.

a reply to: DISRAELI2

So that's prophets and priests covered, but how does it pertain to kings?

Take Jesus as an example.

a reply to: 19Bones79
The message from the OT examples would be that the kings are the ones who need the help.

But on the subject of Jesus, my off-the-cuff answer would be that Jesus IS the help.

a reply to: DISRAELI2

Good evening!

What I dont understand is why the comparison between prophets and priests

originally posted by: mysterioustranger
a reply to: DISRAELI2

Not all prophets believe in any "God". Other cultures, not Christian, have theirs.

Prophets propose.
Priests expound.

Look it up. Vastly different. 1 prophetizes,the other explains.

Both these roads..lead to a "God". But not the same way at all.

.

Can you name on prophet who doesn't believe in God?

originally posted by: Astyanax
a reply to: DISRAELI2

One of the differences between prophets and priests is that they offer help from God in different ways.

If God is Almighty, why should They need to rely on intermediaries to help you? And if God is omniscient, why do you need intermediaries to pass on your petition to Them? Don't you find them all a wee bit suspicious, these middlemen? They seem to do pretty well out of it, I notice...

Also, can't you find any more recent examples to illustrate your case? Has God been on vacation since the Bronze Age?

It's a true mystery why God needs intermediaries to help people and to pass the message. Things could have been much simpler imo

originally posted by: Astyanax
a reply to: DISRAELI2

One of the differences between prophets and priests is that they offer help from God in different ways.

If God is Almighty, why should They need to rely on intermediaries to help you? And if God is omniscient, why do you need intermediaries to pass on your petition to Them? Don't you find them all a wee bit suspicious, these middlemen? They seem to do pretty well out of it, I notice...

Also, can't you find any more recent examples to illustrate your case? Has God been on vacation since the Bronze Age?

It's strange there are no many prophets since from the Bronze age until now but there are too many priests in Christianity.

Sorry I'd an aweful problem finding parking for my underwater submersible.

a reply to: Tresky

It's a true mystery why God needs intermediaries to help people and to pass the message.

But how do we know They do need intermediaries? Because the intermediaries tell us so, correct? Any idea why we should believe them? Some of them were obviously dodgy, even viperous characters; the Prophet Samuel for instance.

a reply to: Tresky

Absolutely. I can hook you up. Look this up: Apostate Prophet.

See? Education is a good thing✌️