C. Stanley
God had redeemed Israel from Egypt. They were delivered from the power of Pharaoh, separated from Egypt by the waters of the Red Sea. And more than that, they had seen the ark pass into the depths of Jordan; they had followed through that type of death into the land. They had been circumcised; the reproach of Egypt had been rolled away; they had kept the Passover in the land and had known some fighting, failure and victory. And now "the whole congregation of the children of Israel assembled together at Shiloh, and set up the tabernacle of the congregation there.”
Before we examine the first lesson of Shiloh, let us ask, How far have we traveled this journey? Can we remember in the days of our wretched slavery to Satan that we had no power or means of escape? Did God, in His deep compassion for us, send His Son to redeem us by His own blood? Have we eternal redemption through His blood? Have we known real deliverance from sin and Satan? Have we been separated from the world, Satan's world, by the death of Christ, as the children of Israel were separated from Egypt? Have we had wilderness experience, and there learned that in us, that is, in our flesh, there is no good? And further, have we died to it all with Christ and in Him entered the land? If dead with Him and risen with Him, that is the end of wilderness trial of the flesh, of self under law.
Have we, as dead and risen, been circumcised? Do we own that separation unto God as a sign of that righteousness we had in Him when He called us, as ungodly, Egypt's reproach being rolled away? And have we kept our Passover, entering with boldness into His presence by the blood of the Lamb? Do we know anything of fightings, failures and victories?
Yes, Israel had now traveled as far as Shiloh. It is well to ask ourselves, Have we reached that point? Can we trace the hand of our God thus far with us? If so, let us ask, What is Shiloh? And what are its lessons to us? The first lesson we have is this: "And the whole congregation of the children of Israel assembled together at Shiloh, and set up the tabernacle of the congregation there.”
Shiloh was the place where the Lord set up His name in the land at first (Jer. 7:1212But go ye now unto my place which was in Shiloh, where I set my name at the first, and see what I did to it for the wickedness of my people Israel. (Jeremiah 7:12))—the tabernacle, His dwelling place in the midst of Israel. Shiloh, the place where the Lord dwelt, was the very center of all Israel. Is not Shiloh, the gathering of the whole assembly of Israel together, then, a striking type of the Church, or assembly, of God? There was one assembly of Israel and the Lord in the midst. On the day of Pentecost the one assembly of God was formed by the Holy Spirit sent down from heaven.
There are, however, many points of contrast between the type and the antitype. Israel's redemption was temporal and earthly; the redemption of the Church is heavenly—for heaven and eternal. The Lord was in the midst of Israel, but the veil shut them out of His presence. When Jesus bowed His head in death for us, the veil was rent from top to bottom and the way into God's presence was opened forever. The calling of Israel was earthly; the calling of the Church is heavenly. How much is involved in this! A great work had been accomplished for Israel and they were now in the land; they had crossed the Jordan, and they had come to Shiloh, the place of gathering to the Lord.
What a work had been accomplished for the Church when the first great gathering together took place and the assembly was formed! In one case all Israel were together; in the other, "all that believed were together" (Acts 2:42-4742And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers. 43And fear came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles. 44And all that believed were together, and had all things common; 45And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need. 46And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart, 47Praising God, and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved. (Acts 2:42‑47)). "And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart" (Acts 4:32-3732And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul: neither said any of them that ought of the things which he possessed was his own; but they had all things common. 33And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus: and great grace was upon them all. 34Neither was there any among them that lacked: for as many as were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the prices of the things that were sold, 35And laid them down at the apostles' feet: and distribution was made unto every man according as he had need. 36And Joses, who by the apostles was surnamed Barnabas, (which is, being interpreted, The son of consolation,) a Levite, and of the country of Cyprus, 37Having land, sold it, and brought the money, and laid it at the apostles' feet. (Acts 4:32‑37)). With Israel "the land was subdued before them." And with the assembly, the Church, what mighty power there was in those first apostolic days! Converts then, by the power of the Holy Spirit, were numbered by thousands.
Now, though Israel had passed the Jordan and were in the very center of the land, yet it was a well-known fact that seven tribes had not yet received their inheritance. Is not this also the case with the assembly, the Church, to this day? The Church in the person of its Head is in possession of the glory, yet how many dear Christians there are who have not received the inheritance!
Have we really laid hold of this truth—that all believers are reckoned as having crossed the Jordan, dead with Christ, risen in Him, partakers with Him of the eternal inheritance, and joint-heirs with Christ? No doubt we cannot understand this or enjoy it, though in the heavenly position, and we cannot possess it unless we have reached our Shiloh—what God began to do at Pentecost.
It is important to know what point we have reached in our own souls. How many have passed through deep distress of soul as to sin and its bondage like Israel in Egypt! They have reached the blood of the Lamb, having found there is no other shelter from judgment. And, through the mercy of God, they have taken shelter, though in the dark, beneath the blood-sprinkled dwelling in Egypt.
There they remain in that house; truly they are safe, but have never known in power what deliverance from Egypt is. Redemption in full, eternal deliverance they have never yet known. Such souls can have no light in that state, as to what Shiloh or Pentecost means.
Others may have traveled a step further. They may see distinctly that they were slaves of sin and Satan, and, as such, may have learned how they found shelter by the blood of the Lamb, and more, deliverance. They have been separated from Satan's kingdom and power through the death of Christ. But they have not yet learned the surpassing grace of Ephesians 2 and Colossians 2; 3:1-41If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. 2Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. 3For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. 4When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory. (Colossians 3:1‑4). Have you passed through Jordan with the true Ark, which is Christ?
This will introduce you to God's thoughts of His assembly now on earth, and what He expects from it. "And Joshua said unto the children of Israel, How long are ye slack to go to possess the land, which the Lord God of your fathers hath given you?" God had given them that goodly land, but they had not taken possession. He has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in the heaven lies in Christ. How long have we been slack to go to possess our heavenly inheritance?
Shiloh, then, was not only the true ground of worship—there Jehovah dwelt amidst the people—but it was also the center of all operations and conquests. From thence three men from each tribe were to go forth and mark out the land that remained. "And they shall divide it into seven parts." "Ye shall therefore describe the land into seven parts, and bring the description hither to me, that I may cast lots for you here before the Lord our God." They were solemnly charged to bring the description there to Shiloh before the Lord. And they did so, "and described it by cities into seven parts in a book, and came again to Joshua to the host at Shiloh." Thus they went forth from Shiloh, and they "divided for an inheritance by lot in Shiloh before the Lord, at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation" (Josh. 18:1, 8-10; 19:511And the whole congregation of the children of Israel assembled together at Shiloh, and set up the tabernacle of the congregation there. And the land was subdued before them. (Joshua 18:1)
8And the men arose, and went away: and Joshua charged them that went to describe the land, saying, Go and walk through the land, and describe it, and come again to me, that I may here cast lots for you before the Lord in Shiloh. 9And the men went and passed through the land, and described it by cities into seven parts in a book, and came again to Joshua to the host at Shiloh. 10And Joshua cast lots for them in Shiloh before the Lord: and there Joshua divided the land unto the children of Israel according to their divisions. (Joshua 18:8‑10)
51These are the inheritances, which Eleazar the priest, and Joshua the son of Nun, and the heads of the fathers of the tribes of the children of Israel, divided for an inheritance by lot in Shiloh before the Lord, at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. So they made an end of dividing the country. (Joshua 19:51)).
Here, then, we have two important principles: the tabernacle being set up at Shiloh as the dwelling place of God, it becomes the center of gathering for worship, and also the center from which all operations have their source. It was so with the assembly once set up at Pentecost; it became the dwelling place of God. "In whom ye also are builded together for a habitation of God through the Spirit" (Eph. 2:19-2219Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God; 20And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; 21In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: 22In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit. (Ephesians 2:19‑22)). All believers were gathered together and builded together, and from this center, even from the Lord by the Spirit, all service had its spring and power (Acts 13:1-41Now there were in the church that was at Antioch certain prophets and teachers; as Barnabas, and Simeon that was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen, which had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. 2As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them. 3And when they had fasted and prayed, and laid their hands on them, they sent them away. 4So they, being sent forth by the Holy Ghost, departed unto Seleucia; and from thence they sailed to Cyprus. (Acts 13:1‑4)).
The land was divided at Shiloh, and all cases for judgment were brought there before the Lord. It was there the fathers of the Levites came to Joshua and unto the heads of the tribes, and there they spake unto them (Joshua 21:1-31Then came near the heads of the fathers of the Levites unto Eleazar the priest, and unto Joshua the son of Nun, and unto the heads of the fathers of the tribes of the children of Israel; 2And they spake unto them at Shiloh in the land of Canaan, saying, The Lord commanded by the hand of Moses to give us cities to dwell in, with the suburbs thereof for our cattle. 3And the children of Israel gave unto the Levites out of their inheritance, at the commandment of the Lord, these cities and their suburbs. (Joshua 21:1‑3)). Was not this also in like manner in the beginning of the Church? (See Acts 4:32-3732And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul: neither said any of them that ought of the things which he possessed was his own; but they had all things common. 33And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus: and great grace was upon them all. 34Neither was there any among them that lacked: for as many as were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the prices of the things that were sold, 35And laid them down at the apostles' feet: and distribution was made unto every man according as he had need. 36And Joses, who by the apostles was surnamed Barnabas, (which is, being interpreted, The son of consolation,) a Levite, and of the country of Cyprus, 37Having land, sold it, and brought the money, and laid it at the apostles' feet. (Acts 4:32‑37).) The Holy Spirit had come down from heaven, had formed the assembly, and united it to Christ in heaven; it had come to dwell and abide in the midst of the one Church. The new Shiloh was set up in the wilderness of this world—the Church, the dwelling place of God the Holy Spirit. Oh, if our hearts realized this, would it not be enough to settle any and every question brought before Him?
We shall now find that Shiloh was not only a striking picture of the assembly, as Shiloh was first set up in the land, after the full accomplishment of redemption, but also of its subsequent history. The words at the end of the book of Joshua are very significant: "And Israel served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that outlived Joshua, and which had known all the works of the Lord, that He had done for Israel" (Josh. 24:3131And Israel served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that overlived Joshua, and which had known all the works of the Lord, that he had done for Israel. (Joshua 24:31)). This closes the history of the Acts of the Apostles. While the apostles and the elders who had seen the works of the Holy Spirit lived, and those elders who outlived the apostles, the assembly served the Lord and waited with joyful expectation for His return.
We now turn the page to the book of Judges, and what a picture of the failures of the Church! Can those who know anything of history question the rapid increase of evil in the professing church? Let us not forget that all through the book of Judges, the tabernacle remained at Shiloh. And in like manner, all through the dark history of Christendom, the Holy Spirit has remained in it, however grieved.
When Joshua and all that generation were gathered of unto their fathers, "there arose another generation after them, which knew not the Lord, nor yet the works which He had done for Israel. And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and served Baalim: and they forsook the Lord God of their fathers, which brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods, of the gods of the people that were round about" (Judges 2:10-1210And also all that generation were gathered unto their fathers: and there arose another generation after them, which knew not the Lord, nor yet the works which he had done for Israel. 11And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and served Baalim: 12And they forsook the Lord God of their fathers, which brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods, of the gods of the people that were round about them, and bowed themselves unto them, and provoked the Lord to anger. (Judges 2:10‑12)). Is not this a sad picture of the Church as seen in its responsibility on earth? How soon it linked itself with the idolatry of the nations of the earth. The presence of the Holy Spirit was soon practically set aside; yes, complete redemption almost forgotten. Where is it to be found in the so-called fathers of the church?
How little is said about the tabernacle at Shiloh during the days of the Judges! Yet it was surely there. It is not until chapter 18 that it is even named. "And they set them up Micah's graven image, which he made, all the time that the house of God was in Shiloh" (Judges 18:3131And they set them up Micah's graven image, which he made, all the time that the house of God was in Shiloh. (Judges 18:31)). Have there been no graven images set up in the so-called Church? Yet the Holy Spirit is still here.
Again we find a man going up to the house of the Lord (Judges 19:1818And he said unto him, We are passing from Bethlehem-judah toward the side of mount Ephraim; from thence am I: and I went to Bethlehem-judah, but I am now going to the house of the Lord; and there is no man that receiveth me to house. (Judges 19:18)). And what scenes of cruelty and fearful wickedness he witnessed! This aroused all Israel, and they gathered together and came unto the house of the Lord and wept, and sat there before the Lord, and fasted (Judges 20:2626Then all the children of Israel, and all the people, went up, and came unto the house of God, and wept, and sat there before the Lord, and fasted that day until even, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the Lord. (Judges 20:26)). What terrible destruction fell on Benjamin that day! This ended in leaving Benjamin without wives. And again Shiloh comes before us—yes, its locality needed to be accurately described. "Then they said, Behold, there is a feast of the Lord in Shiloh yearly, in a place which is on the north side of Bethel, on the east side of the highway that goeth up from Bethel to Shechem, and on the south of Lebonah" (Judges 21:1919Then they said, Behold, there is a feast of the Lord in Shiloh yearly in a place which is on the north side of Beth-el, on the east side of the highway that goeth up from Beth-el to Shechem, and on the south of Lebonah. (Judges 21:19)). And it was as the daughters of Shiloh came out of the city to dance, every man caught his wife, to go to the land of Benjamin.
Thus, in the book of Judges we see the sad downward failure of Israel with times of revival and deliverance from time to time as God raised up deliverers, but the very locality of the tabernacle at Shiloh had to be pointed out. Very, very little is said or known, apparently, about the presence of Jehovah, and the place where He recorded His name.
Is it not equally so in what is called church history after the first century? Failure, departure and worldliness creep in. But the true Church of God, as seen in the Acts and the epistles, is scarcely named and scarcely known; yes, the heavenly calling and principles of the Church were so effaced from men's minds that, even in this day, not a few lie in wait and steal them as the sons of Benjamin stole the daughters of Shiloh. Yes, how many steal precious truths, not to remain at Shiloh, the gathering together unto Him, but to take and trade with them in the land of Benjamin! The books of Joshua and Judges read like a prophetic sketch of the Church as seen in its history on earth.
Before we proceed to that deeply interesting and solemn warning of our subject—Shiloh—as found in 1 Samuel, let us ask, Are we not slack in every sense in possessing the land? The whole period of the history of Christendom, before its final apostasy and perhaps into it, is also divided into seven divisions of its history (Rev. 2-3). But even at this time, how many towns and villages are there where the Lord's people have not got possession of the heavenly inheritance! Are we not slack to go up to help them? Yes, souls need help all along the way from the darkness of Egypt to Shiloh. Do we not all need to arise and take possession? If we are at Shiloh, God's center, still let us remember we are in the midst of enemies far more subtle than the children of Canaan. "For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places" (Eph. 6:1212For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. (Ephesians 6:12)).
Lessons of Shiloh: Still the Center in Declension?
1 Samuel 1-31SA 11SA 21SA 3
In Elkanah we have an Israelite who fully recognized the place of Jehovah in Shiloh, as He says, "Go ye now unto My place which was in Shiloh, where I set My name at the first" (Jer. 7:1212But go ye now unto my place which was in Shiloh, where I set my name at the first, and see what I did to it for the wickedness of my people Israel. (Jeremiah 7:12)). This is the more cheering after all the failure and forgetfulness of their history during the period of the fudges. Was it not sad that they should so soon turn aside from the center that God had set up—His dwelling place among them—and set up their own idolatry in their high places? Is it not still more strangely sad that the Church should have so soon, and for so long, turned aside from God's center—God's gathering place—the Person of Christ, and set up churches of men's own in every land?
After all the forgetfulness and departure, Shiloh was still the only place where the name of the Lord was recorded. It was still the same. The mercy seat, cherubim, golden altar, candlestick, laver and altar of burnt offering were all there as at the first. Thither did Elkanah bring his whole house, all his sons and daughters. There they came to worship.
Is not this a refreshing sight? They came to that place where all Israel had been gathered together in the days of Joshua, as we have seen. Has there not been a little reviving in our day after the true Shiloh had been almost forgotten? Have not a few believers been gathered together to worship, even to the name of the Lord Jesus, in His presence, owning the presence of the Holy Spirit, as in the days of the apostles?
After centuries of forgetfulness, as in the days of the judges, have not souls been awakened to inquire what is and where is Shiloh, that is, the quiet, true place of the assembly of God? Shiloh means "quiet," or "peaceful"—and oh, the blessed peace of being in His presence as worshippers! Yes, the true Shiloh is wherever two or three are gathered to His name. For a time the scepter has departed from Judah, and the period of gathering together to Him has come, even as it will be in another way, and in a future day.
Happy is the Elkanah of our day who with his whole household is gathered to the true Shiloh, even unto the Lord to worship. There is one remarkable member of this household—we might say a true Philadelphian in her day. Shall we now observe closely Hannah before the Lord at Shiloh? She was a despised woman of little strength, and, to look at, of little worth, for she had no child "and her adversary also provoked her sore." She was of a grieved spirit, but she held fast the word. What earnestness of prayer! She asked for what she wished to devote to the Lord in Shiloh. She "prayed unto the Lord, and wept sore." And "she continued praying before the Lord.”
“Now Hannah, she spake in her heart; only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard." She was greatly misunderstood, even by Eli the priest. There were others at Shiloh—we will notice them soon— but how far do we answer to Hannah at Shiloh? She could say, "I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but have poured out my soul before the Lord:" The Lord heard her cry, and Samuel was the gift in answer to her prayer at Shiloh.
The Lord's presence was very dear to Hannah at Shiloh, and to all Elkanah's household. And what was the inmost desire of Hannah for her precious child? Let her tell us. She says, "I will bring him, that he may appear before the Lord, and there abide forever;" and she "brought him unto the house of the Lord in Shiloh: and the child was young." She does not say, He is only a child; I will leave him at home in Ramah. No, she brings him to the house of the Lord in Shiloh.
Is there no voice in this to us? Have we fewer privileges as to our children now than Hannah had then? Then, as now, the reward was to the overcomer. Who would have thought that sorrowful Hannah was the overcomer? Read her triumphant song of faith. What a keynote: "My heart rejoiceth in the Lord." Faith soars beyond all difficulties, evils and judgments, and looks right on to Israel's—even Messiah's—glory. Here, then, is one not only on true ground at the place where the Lord had placed His name—the true gathering place and center of all Israel, but she is in the state of heart suitable to that place.
It is sometimes said we do not see that those gathered to the Lord, as at the beginning, are any better than others—evil shows itself there as elsewhere. In plain words this means, It is no matter whether we do the will of the Lord, or not. After all the evil recorded in the Book of Judges, was not Shiloh still the only place Jehovah owned as His dwelling place?
The ark was still there, and those who sought the Lord, like Elkanah, came there. There Hannah prayed and worshipped. There she brought her young child. There she rejoiced in the Lord. The more we study the case of Hannah at Shiloh, the more we must own it to be of the Lord.
Now let us look at the warning this scripture presents. There was terrible evil at Shiloh, evil that must be, and was, judged. Could we have a more striking contrast than Hannah and the sons of Eli? In one case, a worshipper filled with joy in the Lord; in the other, the most daring wickedness—yes, wickedness that refused to be restrained, and carelessness that neglected to restrain wickedness.
All this is a picture of the house of God, now become the great house of Christendom, but to the faith of Hannah or her child it was still Shiloh, the quiet place of communion with God-Jehovah. Did not the Lord speak there to Samuel? "And the Lord appeared again in Shiloh: for the Lord revealed Himself to Samuel in Shiloh by the word of the Lord" (1 Sam. 3:2121And the Lord appeared again in Shiloh: for the Lord revealed himself to Samuel in Shiloh by the word of the Lord. (1 Samuel 3:21)).
Shiloh was the gathering place of Israel, and however few were gathered to Him—yes, even to one— He thus reveals Himself. It is so where two or three are gathered to Him now. It is in Shiloh, so to speak, He appears again. He reveals Himself to those really gathered to Himself in a way unknown elsewhere, and this by the word of the Lord.
No one will question that there may be, in our closing day, two persons, both as to position gathered on true ground, both professedly in the dwelling place of God. The one hears the distinct voice of the Lord by the Word; the other does not hear, has no real communication of God's thoughts. How is this? Have we not the answer here at Shiloh?
There is the stout and aged Eli, the very priest of Jehovah. Age, antiquity, office and authority—all these he has, and he is in the dwelling place of God, but he does not hear a word. He had grieved the Lord by the allowance of evil. Is it so with any of us? Can we hear and understand the voice of the Lord if allowing evil? Impossible!
There was another person in the same house of the Lord. But what a contrast! It was the little child Samuel. Are we like this little child, or like the ancient, aged Eli? There were two things very striking in the case of Samuel. He had been first weaned before he was presented to the Lord in Shiloh. You see that man of importance, who fails to hear the voice of the Lord in the assembly, gathered to Him in Shiloh. He never was weaned.
Have you been weaned? Or did you take a place at Shiloh with your heart still linked with the world and like it in your ways? It was after Hannah had weaned him that she "brought him unto the house of the Lord in Shiloh: and the child was young. And they slew a bullock, and brought the child to Eli" (1 Sam. 1:24-2524And when she had weaned him, she took him up with her, with three bullocks, and one ephah of flour, and a bottle of wine, and brought him unto the house of the Lord in Shiloh: and the child was young. 25And they slew a bullock, and brought the child to Eli. (1 Samuel 1:24‑25)).
Samuel was not only weaned, but presented to the Lord through death. Have we been separated from the world, and from all human, religious efforts to improve the flesh, by the cross of Christ? Weaned, dead with Christ, and as a little child we listen to the voice of the Lord in His Word; it is not enough to be in the right place or position at Shiloh. But oh, to be a little child, to be nothing and with the ear open to hear what the Spirit speaks. Lord, search us by Thy Word! If we are walking in the steps of Eli, we cannot have communion with the Lord.
Oh, to be as a little child, weaned and presented to our God through death! And notice that it is only as such that we can be used, in communicating the Word of the Lord to others. Read again 1 Samuel 3:16-2116Then Eli called Samuel, and said, Samuel, my son. And he answered, Here am I. 17And he said, What is the thing that the Lord hath said unto thee? I pray thee hide it not from me: God do so to thee, and more also, if thou hide any thing from me of all the things that he said unto thee. 18And Samuel told him every whit, and hid nothing from him. And he said, It is the Lord: let him do what seemeth him good. 19And Samuel grew, and the Lord was with him, and did let none of his words fall to the ground. 20And all Israel from Dan even to Beer-sheba knew that Samuel was established to be a prophet of the Lord. 21And the Lord appeared again in Shiloh: for the Lord revealed himself to Samuel in Shiloh by the word of the Lord. (1 Samuel 3:16‑21). Whatever the Lord reveals to us in His Word we must faithfully declare to others, even to the Elis of this day. Judgment was at the very doors of Shiloh. And is not judgment at the very doors of Christendom? Surely holiness was becoming to the house of the Lord at Shiloh! And as surely holiness is becoming to the house of God. But what has it become? And what will it yet become? Soon will Ichabod (glory is departed) be written upon it. And how terrible its destruction will be may be seen in Revelation 17 and 18.
But, beloved children of God, very great are our privileges during the brief moments that remain. If we are little, we shall grow. "And Samuel grew, and the Lord was with him." Oh, to thus grow in grace, and in the blessed consciousness of the Lord's presence with us, where two or three are gathered to His name. There is no doubt that men are more determined than ever to reject the testimony of the Lord Jesus. But the Lord "let none of his words fall to the ground." May we be fully persuaded of this, that the Lord will let none of His words, at this time of rejection, fall to the ground.
Judgment must begin at the house of the Lord. In one sense it has begun—the whole Church is no longer gathered as one to the Lord. The ark has been in the hand of the Philistines, and the little Samuels have to go to Ramah. Ramah was his home. And while the ark has outwardly been a long time now with the Philistines—the world, those in Canaan, but not of it—yet the Lord has never failed to find a Ramah, a blessed home, for His twos and threes in His presence, and to them that home is their Shiloh.
How blessed, even at this day, is the home of His dear presence! Though Christendom be like ancient Shiloh, though there be not a stone in Shiloh that bears the slightest resemblance to its original form or purpose, or though there be not one thing left in Christendom that bears the slightest likeness of its original design, how blessed to any who are truly weaned and presented, through death with Christ, to God, to find Him with them in Ramah.
In conclusion, we would desire to consider carefully those words, "And the Lord appeared again in Shiloh: for the Lord revealed Himself to Samuel in Shiloh by the word of the Lord." Let us be careful, on the one hand, not to disconnect the Word from the Person of the Lord, and so become mere intellectual students of Scripture, which gives no spiritual power to the soul. On the other hand, be equally careful lest we separate the Lord from His Word and thus become fanatical, and trust in feelings or visions or sp-called inward light. May we see and hear the Lord Himself in every scripture. Thus may the Lord reveal Himself to us by the Word of the Lord!
It will be seen in Hannah's song that the Lord is before her soul in every thought; His salvation and His Person fill her soul with joy at a time when there was everything to discourage in Israel. May it be so with us.
C. Stanley