When Saul, son of Kish, was and his servant were about to give up. searching for his father’s lost asses, he They had searched through the areas of Mount Ephraim and the Benjamites and the lands of Shalisha, Shalim and Zuph without success. While Saul was ready to go home, his servant noted he had heard of a man in that area who was regarded as a “man of God, and an honorable man.” Moreover, “all that he saith cometh surely to pass: now let us go thither; peradventure he can show us our way that we should go” (I Sam. 9:6).
So they inquired after Samuel and went to find him. When they did so, he told them that the asses had already been found.
The incidental consideration
We recognize that the main purpose of this experience was to bring Saul into contact with Samuel so that Samuel would have the opportunity to anoint Saul to be king over Israel (I Sam. 9:27; 10:1). It is in the incidental fact that Samuel had a reputation for having the ability to unerringly foretell the future that we find what is termed an “undesigned coincidence.” To see the point, we need to combine this incident with statements made by Moses many years earlier than Samuel and by Isaiah centuries after Samuel.
The test of a prophet
When Moses was approaching the end of his days, he realized that the children of Israel would need reliable guides to direct their ways after he was no longer with them. One such guide is in regard to how they can be sure that a person claiming to be a prophet is a true rather than a false prophet. Sad to say, there were many false prophets in the history of Israel. In Jeremiah 28:15-17, for example, we read of Hananiah who deliberately tried to misdirect the nation of Judah.
The test of a prophet is found in Deuteronomy 18. Do the predictions of the prophet always come to pass as foretold, or do they not? If they do come to pass and the prophet teaches according to the law of God, the prophet is a man who is directed by God and must be obeyed. If some of the prophet’s predictions do not come to pass, “The prophet hath spoken presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him” (Deut. 18:22).
Short-term and long-term prophecies
It is obvious that this test is applicable only to short-term predictions. In order to validate the prophet, the people must be able to hear his prophecy and within a relatively short time witness that his prediction did indeed come to pass. Clearly, this was what had happened in the case of Samuel. His unerringly accurate predictions had established his reputation as a reliable prophet.
In our day, our principal interest is in long-term prophecies. We are very interested in those prophecies which give us some information on the signs and times which indicate the nearness of the coming of Christ.
Nevertheless, the short-term, longterm principle can still be applied to Bible prophecy. The Olivet prophecy is a case in point. Jesus gave this prophecy to his disciples a few days before his crucifixion in about 30 A.D. In the prophecy, he predicts the fall of Jerusalem and describes certain events associated with it. Jerusalem fell to the Romans in 70 A.D., 40 years after the Olivet prophecy was given. This was short-term. We know this fulfillment to be an historical fact. Therefore, we can feel convinced that the long-term predictions, the signs given in that prophecy about the return of Christ, are reliable. This is a basis for our faith.
Telling the future
None but God Himself can unerringly reveal the future. Speaking through the prophet Isaiah, God challenges anyone else to tell the future. Chapters 40 to 45 provide the clearest examples. God declares that He is the Almighty Creator; He has established all things; He controls all events and will control all future developments. He challenges, very strongly, anyone to declare the future:
“And who, as I, shall call, and shall declare it, and set in order for me, since I appointed the ancient people? and the things that are coming, and shall come, let them shew them unto me…Is there a God beside me? yea, there is no God; I know not any” (Isa. 44:7,8). It follows that the only true prophets are the prophets who have been informed by God of things yet to come.
Summary
From time to time, we observe in the scriptures an account of widely-separated events where there is no opportunity for collusion between the recorders of the events. Moses had recorded God’s instruction on the method of identifying a true prophet about 350 years before Samuel. No doubt the Israelites had been influenced by God’s instruction in this matter and they respected Samuel as a man of God for a number of reasons, but particularly because all his predictions came true. Because of this, they knew he was a man of God and so informed Saul.
Isaiah recorded God’s declaration that only God could predict the future about 300 years after Samuel. The writers of these three scriptural records were separated by hundreds of years. The method of God’s authentication of his witness is an important principle to recognize, but the mention of this authentication of Samuel as a true prophet by the servant of Saul, who is not even named, is an incidental bit of evidence. It is an obviously uncalculated, undesigned occurrence and it demonstrates that the record of scripture is true and reliable and is not contrived. The combination of these recorded facts represents an undesigned coincidence.
Comment
The textbook, Undesigned Scriptural Coincidences is on the bookshelf of many Christadelphians. We recognize that it is an important support for the authenticity of the Bible. The original study on which the book was based was done in 1847. Since then, 19 editions have been printed. In the preface, we read, “The author shows how hundreds of Bible passages illustrate coincidences which were undesigned by the writers, which involve the agreement of widely separated authors to the facts which they relate, and which point to the truth of recorded miracles and prophecies.”
The foregoing is not one of the coincidences used by the author, J.J. Blunt. It is coincidental incident which this writer noticed as he was doing his Bible readings. So Mr. Blunt did not search out all of them and it is an interesting exercise to look for more. It requires a close attention to detail and a good overall knowledge of scripture. When we find another such coincidence it further strengthens our conviction that the Bible is indeed an inspired message from God and strengthens our faith in God Himself and the promises He has given concerning the culmination of His glorious plan and purpose.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One