As Samuel grew under the custody of Eli, he learned the lessons and took heed of the warnings, and he was taught the way to minister to God; in particular, he learned to listen to God’s word and receive God’s speaking, for His speaking is everything to us.
Eli did at least one thing good, one thing right; he taught Samuel to listen to the Lord’s speaking.
Before he died, he trained Samuel how to minister because he was just a child. Hannah prayed to have a man-child and consecrated him to God even before he was born, and when Samuel was just a few years old, Hannah brought him to Eli and entrusted Samuel to him.
Her attitude was that she lent Samuel to God all the days of his life for His service.
She saw that God was poor in the matter of people who would cooperate with Him, so she lent Samuel to Him for His service. This is so precious and inspiring.
Samuel ministered before the Lord and, even though Eli and his house did not follow the Lord fully and were even drastically judged by God by dying on the same day, Samuel was produced as one who turned the age.
Samuel was just a little child, learning under Eli, and he learned to minister before Jehovah as a boy with a linen ephod, dressed like a little priest.
As he grew up, he grew in stature and favor both before Jehovah and before men, and he learned a lot under Eli.
When Jehovah came to speak to him and called to him in the middle of the night, Samuel, Samuel, was sleeping in the temple, that is, right where the Ark is.
This is very interesting; he was not only serving with things around the tabernacle, in practical matters, but he was right there where God’s presence is, by the ark.
We should be such ones; though we may be in the realm of the church life, we should not be content with only being with the saints but learn to be in the center of the church life where God’s presence is.
We should remain not only in the Holy Place, where we have the light of God and Him as our food, but we should be at the golden incense altar, if not even in the Holiest place.
Here we should speak, make our home, and remain; we should abide in the Lord, in His presence, and stay here with Him, and we will have His speaking.
It is important to be where the Lord is, in the Holiest of All, making our home there and even sleeping there, so that He may speak to us.
May we learn like Samuel, how to hear God’s word and receive the Lord’s speaking. May we be the genuine priests of today, those who are close to the Lord and who receive the Lord’s speaking.
The Lord’s speaking is what keeps us fresh and living, and His speaking causes us to advance with the Lord, enjoy Him, and cooperate with Him for the fulfillment of His purpose.
Learning to Hear God’s Word, listen to Him, so that we Maintain our Fellowship with Him
In 1 Sam. 3:1-10 we have the record of God coming to speak to Samuel; He called Samuel three times, and Eli perceived that it was Jehovah calling the boy, so he told him to say, Speak, o Jehovah, for Your servant is listening.
The Jehovah came and stood by and called as the other times, and Samuel responded by saying, Speak, for Your servant is listening.
We need to learn to pray in this way; we should not merely go to the Lord and babble, speak this and that but rather, simply tell Him that we are here, we are listening.
The important thing when we go to the Lord is not to speak but to hear, to listen to Him; we need to learn to hear God’s word so that we maintain our fellowship with Him.
In Exodus, we see that the servant who decided to serve his master forever was brought to the doorpost and had his ear pierced through.
This signifies that, as slaves of God, we need to have an open ear so that we may be in the position to receive His speaking. We need to have an ear to hear what the Lord is speaking to us.
As Mary did, we need to choose the better part, which is to sit at the Lord’s feet and hear God’s word.
This matter of learning to hear God’s word is something completely positive that Samuel learned from Eli; as the Lord’s servants today, we need to maintain our fellowship with the Lord by always listening to Him (Luke 1:34-38; 10:38-42).
A real servant of the Lord is not one who does many things for God but one who maintains his fellowship with the Lord and listens to Him, receiving His speaking and doing according to what He speaks.
May we always listen to the Lord’s word, having our ears inclined to the Lord’s mouth. As believers in Christ, our life depends on the Lord’s words, and our work depends on His commands (Rev. 2:7; 1 Sam. 3:9-10; cf. Isa. 50:4-5; Exo. 21:6).
Our life as believers in Christ hinges totally upon the Lord’s speaking (Eph. 5:26-27).
Our lives should daily be dependent on the Lord’s words, not just the words in black and white in the Bible but the rhema words, the living words spoken by the Lord to us personally.
We need the living word of God, the Spirit-word that the Lord will speak in a timely, instant way to us. Our work for the Lord, our serving the Lord, depends on His commands.
It is entirely presumptuous for us to do anything without the Lord’s command, without His speaking.
So we need to ask the Lord to open our ears and give us a word that feeds us and supplies us, and we need to listen to God’s word so that we have something to supply others with also.
In the days of Samuel, the word of God was rare because of the decrepit priesthood, but God spoke to Samuel; in these days the Lord’s word is not rare, and He speaks to us.
It is the Lord’s speaking that supplies us and enables us to fulfill the goal of God’s eternal economy to have a bride as His counterpart; it is by the washing of the water in the word that we are sanctified and beautified to be the Lord’s wife, His bride.
May we learn even as Samuel learned to listen to God’s word and have His speaking, realizing that our life depends on His speaking.
Lord Jesus, open our ear to hear God’s word. Give us a word we can feed on and which supplies our need. Amen, Lord Jesus, our life and our service is wholly dependent on Your Word. Our life hinges entirely on Your speaking. Incline our ear to hear Your word. We want to sit at Your feet, dear Lord, and receive Your speaking. Save us from merely doing things for You without having Your command. May our ear be at the doorpost, listening attentively to You and having Your speaking day by day. Amen, Lord, cleanse us by the washing of the water in the word to produce us as Your bride, the church, that matches You in every way!
Learning the Lessons and Heeding the Warnings to be Equipped to Serve God as Samuel did
As Samuel learned to serve God by listening to God’s word and receiving God’s speaking, he also observed the deterioration of the degraded Aaronic priesthood.
Samuel was there watching all these terrible things taking place, and this was necessary; by going through these things, he was actually learning.
We may think that all our learning must be positive, but look at Samuel, such a negative background was used to perfect him and equip him to be a man who turned the age.
In the church life, we had some turmoils, and it was not pleasant; however, these turmoils are necessary, for many are perfected through these times.
Many saints are observing what is wrong and what’s going on, and they see the rebellion, the ambition, and the impurity.
In every situation, we are in, even though there may be something negative taking place or some people take the lead to rebel or make division, we all can learn and be perfected to be equipped.
On one hand, we need to listen to God’s word and receive God’s speaking, on the other hand, we need to learn the lessons and heed the warning to be equipped to serve God even as Samuel did.
Samuel saw the Ark of God being usurped by the elders of the people and captured by the Philistines with the glory of God departing from Israel (1 Sam. 2:12-36).
Also, he realized God’s severe judgment on the house of Eli, which included the deaths of Eli and his two evil sons, Hophni and Phineas (4:11-22).
God’s severe judgment on the house of Eli was prophesied by a man of God (1 Sam. 2:27-36), and then this severe judgment was confirmed by the word of Jehovah spoken through Samuel (3:11-18).
At that time Samuel was just a boy, not the prophet that he would become; he was learning, and he was becoming a prophet.
A man of God spoke to Eli about the fate of his whole family, yet Eli did not repent, nor did his sons; then Samuel, who heard the word directly from God and then related to Eli, confirmed this word.
God’s purpose in telling Eli through Samuel of the coming judgment might have been to make an unforgettable impression on this young priestly boy; this was God’s wisdom (vv. 17-18).
God knew the training that Samuel needed in order to raise him up.
This didn’t weaken Samuel in his future Nazarite priesthood; rather, what he learned and saw became a constant warning to him throughout his priestly service.
Samuel learned the lessons and heeded the warnings given by God to Eli and to the people of Israel, and he was helped in his priestly service.
Because he learned the life lessons and heeded the holy warnings, Samuel, remained pure in his service to God for his entire life.
We may go through a turmoil or there may be a rebellion, or some situations may happen that offend others; in such situations, we need to learn the life lessons and heed the holy warnings so that we may be perfected and equipped to be those who minister to God.
May we heed the holy warnings and learn the life lessons, and may we open to the Lord to hear God’s word and receive God’s speaking.
Lord Jesus, keep us open to You as we go through things and situations so that we may learn the life lessons and heed the holy warnings. Amen, Lord, may we learn the life lessons You want us to learn and may we heed the holy warnings in the environment and the situations in the church and church history. We give ourselves to You to have an ear to hear what You are speaking to the churches and to be perfected and equipped to be those who serve God in His way and according to His desire. May we be helped by all the things happening around us to remain pure in our service to God for our entire life.
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Sources of inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, a sharing by brother Minoru Chen, and portions from, Life-study of 1&2 Samuel, msgs. 2-7 (by Witness Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization Study of 1 and 2 Samuel (2021 winter training), week 3, entitled, Spiritual Principles, Life Lessons, and Holy Warnings Seen in the History of Samuel.
- Hymns on this topic:
– Now the church is but the priesthood; / Thus, the priesthood formed we need. / When the priests are knit together, / Then the church is built indeed. (Hymns #848)
– I come to His presence afresh / Ere the night has passed into morning; / And His face I see as it shines on me- / The Lord within is dawning. / And He speaks to me and reveals to me / All His riches for me today; / And with sweet delight I partake of Him, / My hunger has passed away. (Hymns #554)
– Dear Lord Jesus, precious Jesus, / Gladly will I hear Thy call; / Since Thy voice my heart hath entered, / I from all things could but sever; / Void are all my other seekings, / Every pride hath disappeared. (Hymns #1158)
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