It would be well now to read carefully these three chapters, so full of our subject, and compare them with Revelation 3:7-227And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write; These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth; 8I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name. 9Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee. 10Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth. 11Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown. 12Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name. 13He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. 14And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God; 15I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. 16So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. 17Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: 18I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see. 19As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent. 20Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. 21To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne. 22He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. (Revelation 3:7‑22). In the one case we have the closing scenes of Shiloh, in the other the closing scenes of Christendom. In both we are close on judgment. May the Holy Spirit open our eyes to see the solemn application to the very circumstances of this day.
Here then in 1 Samuel we have two families, both at Shiloh, the place where the Lord set His name at first. In one family there is nothing that God condemns; in the other, there is nothing that He approves. In the closing days of Christendom there is not one thing the Lord condemns in Philadelphia (Rev. 3:7-137And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write; These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth; 8I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name. 9Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee. 10Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth. 11Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown. 12Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name. 13He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. (Revelation 3:7‑13)). In Laodicea there is not one thing that He approves (Rev. 3:14-1914And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God; 15I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. 16So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. 17Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: 18I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see. 19As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent. (Revelation 3:14‑19)).
The very names of the two families at Shiloh are most significant; and in their meaning, and all else recorded respectively of them, we learn that it is not enough to be, as is said, on true ground, that is, professedly gathered to Christ, whose right it is, the true Shiloh, the true and only place He approves; but also, what is the real state of soul of those who outwardly are so gathered.
There is then the family of ELKANAH, and the family of ELI. Both are at Shiloh. Everything said in these chapters is about them at Shiloh. No one can deny or fail to admit there has been a most remarkable revival of this very truth, as to the only true place of worship and service of Christians, gathered to Christ, the true Shiloh, in these last fifty years.
As Elkanah is named first, we will first take his name. Elkanah is, “God has redeemed, possession of God, whom God created.” In this name all is of God. Redemption is an accomplished thing, God has redeemed us to Himself; we are His, and none shall pluck us out of His hand. We are His possession, we are not our own. “If any man be in Christ, he is a new creation” (2 Cor. 5:1717Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. (2 Corinthians 5:17)); and that new creation is wholly of God. This very name Elkanah indicates the blessed truths God has restored in these last days.
And the name HANNAH is equally characteristic. “Grace and mercy.” Oh, the freeness of His favor, and the depths of His mercy!
In contrast with all this, ELI means “a foster son, adopted of the Lord”; and it is very remarkable that in Greek the word Diotrephes (3 John 1:99I wrote unto the church: but Diotrephes, who loveth to have the preeminence among them, receiveth us not. (3 John 9)) means a similar thing! All this points out officialism, in place of the enjoyed relationship of a child born of God. Is there not a difference between God adopting the flesh, and imparting the divine nature as born of God?
The names of the sons of Eli are equally characteristic of that which is not approved of God.
HOPHNI means “Boxer, pugilist.” In Arabic, “To fill both hands full.”
PHINEHAS, “Mouth of brass.” This boldness may be for good, as in the case of another Phinehas; but what one sees and deplores in some who have taken a place at Shiloh, that is, professedly gathered to Christ, is just what answers to these names Instead of seeking to help and feed the whole church of God, wherever found, with the blessed truths of a full and eternal redemption — God’s unceasing love and care for His saints as His own possession — and that every believer is God’s new creation; instead of unfolding the riches of His grace and the depths of His mercy; instead of these things, nothing suits their nature more than to go into a village, or a town, and fight everybody and every sect like a boxing pugilist, with a mouth of brass that knows no shame. Such then are the names of the two families, both at Shiloh. And even in the family of Elkanah, PENINNAH the prosperous and faithful, was not so approved as Hannah, the feeble, yet daughter of grace and mercy. What warnings and divine teaching for us.
Let us now look at Hannah, for the Holy Spirit brings her out the most prominent. We see her at Shiloh, provoked by her adversary, because of her barrenness. She lays all before the Lord at Shiloh. There she weeps in the bitterness of her soul. It may be, my reader, you are barren and unfruitful in the things of the Lord. Have you ever wept in bitterness over this? She wept sore; have we? She asked at Shiloh for a man child, and she asked for this for Shiloh. Eli, the aged priest, knew nothing of all this; he saw, but did not understand; he thought she was drunken. Yes, there may be two parties at Shiloh, and they do not understand each other. Eli sits on a post, and Hannah weeps sore. But the request of the weeper is granted. She had poured out her soul at Shiloh before the Lord, and He had heard, and answered. Jesus says to His feeble, weeping Hannahs, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in My name, He will give it you” (John 16:2323And in that day ye shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you. (John 16:23)). He for whom she had asked was born. “She bare a son, and called His name SAMUEL [asked of God], saying, Because I have asked him of the Lord” (1 Sam. 1:2020Wherefore it came to pass, when the time was come about after Hannah had conceived, that she bare a son, and called his name Samuel, saying, Because I have asked him of the Lord. (1 Samuel 1:20)). Men delight in what is great and showy; not so the Lord. He says, “I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it” (Rev. 3:88I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name. (Revelation 3:8)). Is this because thou art become great and strong, and hast done many mighty things? No; “for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept My word, and hast not denied My name (Rev. 3:88I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name. (Revelation 3:8)). Is not this what the Lord approves in these very last days? Philadelphia (Rev. 3:88I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name. (Revelation 3:8)) is the answer.
In our lovely picture of the true Philadelphian, there are four things. Samuel is a little child. Jesus tells us there is no way of entrance but “as a little child” (Luke 18:1717Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child shall in no wise enter therein. (Luke 18:17)). The second thing is, Samuel is weaned before he is brought to Shiloh. What sorrow in the assembly caused by persons being brought in before they are weaned from the world! There was more weaning forty years ago.
The third thing was, Samuel was dedicated through death, the death of a bullock.
And the fourth mark of this true Philadelphian, was that he was a worshiper at Shiloh; “and he worshipped the Lord there” (1 Sam. 1:2828Therefore also I have lent him to the Lord; as long as he liveth he shall be lent to the Lord. And he worshipped the Lord there. (1 Samuel 1:28)). No doubt two parties, the approved and the disapproved, may both be at Shiloh; that is, both take the ground of their meeting, to be gathered to the Lord. How am I to know which is right? Here are four things to guide me: little, weaned, dedicated, and a worshiper. Do these marks answer to the state of our souls, or rather, does our state answer to these marks? Are we really little in our own eyes? If not, we are not the children of Hannah, grace and mercy. Are we weaned from the world? If not, it would be better to go to the church of the world, than bring the world to the Shiloh of God. Are we really dedicated by the death of Christ, of which the bullock was a type? Think of being crucified with Him. And lastly, Are we true worshipers in spirit and in truth? Do we delight in God, joy in God? What is the love of God to you? Is it so shed abroad in your heart by the Holy Spirit given unto you, that in return you adore Him in holy peace? Oh, that these marks did more abound wherever souls are gathered to Him, whose right alone it is, the blessed Shiloh, and in that only place of peace and tranquility of soul.
Before we go on to the further characteristics of the two families at Shiloh, showing so distinctly what is pleasing to God at this very time, and what is not, let us ask ourselves, Are we real worshipers? can we sing the song of Shiloh? Yes.