Who was Samuel? Of what tribe of Israel was his father Elkanah? Such were the questions put to the writer, a few days ago. Yes, these questions are important, inasmuch as the history of Samuel is so full of instruction for the very time in which we live.
Samuel was not only of the tribe of Levi, but he was of the very family of Korah, whose children were spared, in sovereign distinguishing grace, from going down alive into the pit; at that very time that Korah, and all the men that appertained to him, and the families of Dathan and Abiram, went down into the pit, and the earth closed upon them. The account of this we read in Numbers 21. From what we find there, we might conclude that the children of Korah perished also in this dreadful judgment on the sin of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. In another chapter we read, “And the earth opened her mouth and swallowed them up together with Korah, when that company died, what time the fire devoured two hundred and fifty men: and they became a sign. Notwithstanding the children of Korah died not” (Numbers 26:10-1110And the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up together with Korah, when that company died, what time the fire devoured two hundred and fifty men: and they became a sign. 11Notwithstanding the children of Korah died not. (Numbers 26:10‑11)).
Let us dwell a little on the character of Samuel and his family, for present help and guidance.
He was then the child of Hannah (grace and mercy) and Elkanah (God has redeemed). How far, dear earnest inquirer, do you answer to this? Have you been born anew, through grace, the free favor of God, and the depths of His mercy? And can you say that God has redeemed you to Himself, and at such a cost? And can you say, I am of that family saved from going down into the pit? If God had dealt in righteous judgment on us, might we not have been crying for a drop of water to cool our tongues? If we really believe this, it will make us little in our own eyes.
Such was Samuel. His mother prayed for him in bitterness of soul, at the only place on earth where the Lord had set His name (1 Samuel 1; Jeremiah 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)). And when the Lord had answered her prayer, she brought him to that place which the Lord had chosen, when He had brought His people into the land, and had given them rest. To this very place Samuel was brought.
He was a little weaned child, dedicated through the death of an offering, and was a worshiper. How far is all this true of us? Are we little in our own eyes? Are we weaned from this world? Separated from it by the death of Christ? And are we worshipers in spirit and in truth? This is the only condition of soul in which we can have an ear to hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.
Thus was Samuel dedicated to the Lord, at the place which the Lord had chosen to place His name, and which had been almost forgotten. Hannah not only brought him unto the place, but also unto the Lord. Many in this day may have been brought to the place, but not to the Person of the Lord.
Hence when difficulties arise, they are perplexed, and say, All is lost, all is over. Not so the words of Samuel’s mother, in her marvelous prayer of faith. (Read 1 Samuel 2:1-10.) The Lord Himself is before her soul. “My heart rejoiceth in the Lord” (1 Samuel 2:1). He filled her soul. There was none other, “none holy as the Lord: for there is none beside thee: neither is there any rock like our God” (1 Samuel 2:2). What is the arrogant boast of that day, or of this, to a soul thus before the Lord? Blessed Lord, when Thou shinest forth in Thy glory, all must fade away; all human, or even all created lights, must disappear. The range of divine truth, now reported to us, is truly wonderful, far beyond the day in which these truths were uttered.
If we ask, How does the Lord quicken a soul and give life? Hannah replies, “The Lord killeth, and maketh alive: He bringeth down to the grave, and bringeth up” (1 Samuel 2:6). And who are they the Lord hath chosen to bring to Himself? “He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth up the beggar from the dung hill, to set them among princes, and to make them inherit the throne of glory” (1 Samuel 2:8). Think what is involved in these few words, as revealed to us now by the Holy Spirit. How utterly beyond all human thought. Do the learned of this world know that the whole fallen race of man, however religious, is but a vast dung-heap of fallen humanity? What a discovery was this to the learned Pharisee, Saul of Tarsus! Reviewing his blameless life under law, with all his learning and innumerable advantages, he says, “I do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, and be found in Him” (Philippians 3:8-98Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, 9And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith: (Philippians 3:8‑9)). Oh, you learned Universities; oh, you bishops, doctors, and divines; have you tried to improve the loathsome dung-heap! Will you never learn the secret of a Hannah, or a Paul? Will you never know the truth?
In perfect keeping with Ephesians 2, Hannah says what God does, not what the beggar of the dung-hill says or does.
Yes, God raiseth them up. He lifteth them up out of one place into another — from the dung-hill to inherit the throne of glory. God has no lift short of this, from the lowest to the highest. Oh, my soul, rejoice in the riches of His grace!
God separated Israel from the nations. God sent His Son to that separated nation, His own nation; but they rejected that beloved Son, and killed Him. God knew the enmity of that act of Jew and Gentile; and God looked down on that seething dung-hill of humanity, and right down from that glorified Man on the throne of glory: He sent the Holy Spirit, and he said, as it were, I will take out of that dung-heap, out of that loathsome place, the poor, vile, ragged, guilty beggars of that dung-heap, a company, to inherit with My Son, His throne of glory. What a place! What a state of immutable purity and glory! Yes, unblameable in holiness, lifted up to be with God Himself.
Well may the Apostle say, “According to the riches of His grace” (Ephesians 1:77In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace; (Ephesians 1:7)). All this can only have its fulfillment in the church, the bride. And, note, the purpose of God will be fulfilled. There is just one anxious question some of my readers might like to ask Hannah. It is this, “May my feet not slip so far, that I may so fail, as, after all, to be lost; and, instead of the throne of glory, like and with my Lord, may I not be lost at last, and sink to the lowest hell?” What says the inspired Hannah? Listen, “He will keep the feet of His saints.” Not “I,” but “He,” “will keep the feet of His saints” (1 Samuel 2:9).
But many say, “We may be lost, and He may fail to keep the feet of His saints.” Ah, they do not know Him, or they would not doubt Him. He has given too much for His sheep, to let one of them be lost. He says, “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me: and I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of My hand. My Father, which gave them Me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of My Father’s hand” (John 10:27-2927My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: 28And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. 29My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand. (John 10:27‑29)).
Some may say, Oh, that is a very dangerous doctrine. What! is there danger in the word and unchanging love of Jesus? Suppose a person is a professor, and yet practicing sin, is such an one safe and sure to be saved at last and inherit the throne of glory? Jesus says “And they follow Me” (John 10:2727My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: (John 10:27)). Is practicing sin following Him, the holy and the true? But what says the mother of Samuel? “The wicked shall be silent in darkness” (1 Samuel 2:9). And how terrible that silent darkness of never ending despair. Is it that some have more strength to endure than others? No, “For by strength shall no man prevail” (1 Samuel 2:9). No, the deeply important question is this, Are you one of His saints, one of His holy ones? If so, He has strength to keep your feet. And His love is as great as His power.
It is remarkable how these chapters (1 Samuel 1; 2; 3) answer to the restored truth of saints gathered to Christ, like the restoration of Shiloh. So these words of Hannah as wonderfully illustrate the order of the truth restored. The beggars of the dung-hill lifted up to the throne of glory, come in 1 Samuel 2:88He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill, to set them among princes, and to make them inherit the throne of glory: for the pillars of the earth are the Lord's, and he hath set the world upon them. (1 Samuel 2:8), before the time of tribulation on the adversaries in 1 Samuel 2:1010The adversaries of the Lord shall be broken to pieces; out of heaven shall he thunder upon them: the Lord shall judge the ends of the earth; and he shall give strength unto his king, and exalt the horn of his anointed. (1 Samuel 2:10). And then, in the same verse, the judgment of the ends of the earth, and then the reign of the King.
This, as the reader will see, answers to the order of the New Testament revelations:
The grace of God taking out the vilest sinners, to take them, the church, to the throne of glory.
The absolute security of all who are the Lord’s saints on earth.
The time of tribulations after the church is taken to glory.
The coming of Christ to judge the quick, and set up His kingdom on earth.
How far Hannah may have entered into these things, or understood them, is not for us to say. This is what the Spirit saith by Peter, “Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy [Spirit]sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into” (1 Peter 1:1212Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into. (1 Peter 1:12)). All this flowing through Hannah (grace and mercy) has much to do with forming the character of the pattern of man, who desires to answer to the heart of Christ now, as set forth in His address to Philadelphia.
We will next turn to the deeply instructive principles set forth in the history of our Samuel; and then to the proofs that he was of the family of Korah, and its cheering lessons.
Can we shut our eyes to the fact that we find Christendom, now at this very time, answering, in the most striking way, to the history and state of Israel in these days of Samuel? And more, just as the only true place chosen of Jehovah for Israel to gather to Him, so remarkably revived, or became again after centuries so prominent in 1 Samuel 1; 2; 3 so now, after centuries, the true and only place which God has chosen for His saints to be gathered to, has been revived, or become the only place of safety and real communion with Himself in this very century. We have not the least doubt these chapters were written for our instruction.
Yes, in the midst of all the unrest and ever increasing wickedness, there is still the calm unspeakable peace of His presence wherever two or three are gathered (together) to His blessed name. But note, this cannot be known, or even understood, where the officialism has its sway. This is most strikingly illustrated in 1 Samuel 2. The weaned child is in perfect peace. “The child did minister unto the Lord” (1 Samuel 2:11). How blessed is such employ. What a holy privilege to know His will, and have nothing in this world to do, yea, nothing in His presence, gathered to Himself, to do, but to do His will, to minister unto Him.
Not so the official family. “Now the sons of Eli were sons of Belial; they knew not the Lord” (1 Samuel 2:1212Now the sons of Eli were sons of Belial; they knew not the Lord. (1 Samuel 2:12)). It is just so now. The greater the official dignity, the less may the Lord be known. We may seek the interest of sect or party; or, as in the case of the sons of Eli, seek how much we can get up by the flesh hook of three teeth, from the pan, the kettle, the caldron, or the pot: to equal the sins of these sons of the priest, self, self, self. Was there any wickedness in Israel at the very place where Jehovah had placed His holy name? And who are bringing in this downgrade, as it is called, this flood of blasphemies? Who are the “False teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction” (2 Peter 2:1). Who are undermining and seeking to destroy the Word of God? Who are seeking to set aside God by the horrible and insane doctrine of evolution? Who are setting aside the divinity, the deity, and the atoning work of the Son of God? Is it not the official family, the sons of Eli? Is it not the family of the humanly ordained ministry? — each man with the “hook of three teeth in his hand”? (1 Samuel 2:13).
Is it not awful to contemplate, that the very men who are seeking to destroy Christianity, are deriving their rich supplies from its profession? All this is most strikingly foreshadowed in the life of Samuel, by the priests, the sons of Eli. We are deeply convinced, also, that those who will retain their official position and self importance will fail to prove, or provide a remedy for, this state which marks the last days of this period of unbounded grace. If we would see the remedy we must turn to God, and see what He did with the weaned child. For then, as now, judgment and destruction was at the door, and the sons of Eli knew it not.
The contrast to all this wickedness was very great in the weaned child. “But Samuel ministered before the Lord, being a child, girded with a linen ephod. Moreover, his mother made him a little coat, and brought it to him from year to year” (1 Samuel 2:18-19). Oh, where is the little weaned child of this day, clothed with divine righteousness, and constantly renewed by grace and mercy with the little coat of practical righteousness? Happy contrast to the boasting official sons of Eli. Such as Samuel are they alone whom God will use.
Yes, the contrast is very sharp. These two families illustrate two principles. We may say the principle of the weak and weaned Philadelphian, in Revelation 3, and the boasting Laodicean. These two principles are so opposite that they will not mingle. The first is well pleasing to the Lord; the other is professing Christendom, become so loathsome to Christ that He will utterly refuse it (Revelation 3).
Thus we get in Samuel the forecast of the days or century in which we live. But some will say, if a man keeps himself free from practicing wickedness, it is no matter what he allows in others, with whom he may be associated. Does not the case of the aged Eli speak out here? He was very old, but his age was no proof that the Lord approved his ways. And note, he knew of the evil of his sons and all they did. It was the practice of sin. Again, the Spirit points to the little weaned child. It is not to any dignitary of Israel. No, “And the child Samuel grew before the Lord” (1 Samuel 2:2121And the Lord visited Hannah, so that she conceived, and bare three sons and two daughters. And the child Samuel grew before the Lord. (1 Samuel 2:21)). And again, “And the child Samuel grew on, and was in favor both with the Lord, and also with men” (1 Samuel 2:2626And the child Samuel grew on, and was in favor both with the Lord, and also with men. (1 Samuel 2:26)). This always marks the “little child” growth, in that hidden wisdom before the Lord. And still to grow on in the knowledge of infinite wisdom and love. Many have found unspeakable blessedness in this growth, of which the officials must remain in complete ignorance, and through ignorance will treat it with contempt.
Will God never interfere with this state of things? Yes, He did then. “And there came a man of God unto Eli, and said unto him, Thus saith the Lord” (1 Samuel 2:2). Read what the Lord says to Eli (1 Samuel 2:27-3627And there came a man of God unto Eli, and said unto him, Thus saith the Lord, Did I plainly appear unto the house of thy father, when they were in Egypt in Pharaoh's house? 28And did I choose him out of all the tribes of Israel to be my priest, to offer upon mine altar, to burn incense, to wear an ephod before me? and did I give unto the house of thy father all the offerings made by fire of the children of Israel? 29Wherefore kick ye at my sacrifice and at mine offering, which I have commanded in my habitation; and honorest thy sons above me, to make yourselves fat with the chiefest of all the offerings of Israel my people? 30Wherefore the Lord God of Israel saith, I said indeed that thy house, and the house of thy father, should walk before me for ever: but now the Lord saith, Be it far from me; for them that honor me I will honor, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed. 31Behold, the days come, that I will cut off thine arm, and the arm of thy father's house, that there shall not be an old man in thine house. 32And thou shalt see an enemy in my habitation, in all the wealth which God shall give Israel: and there shall not be an old man in thine house for ever. 33And the man of thine, whom I shall not cut off from mine altar, shall be to consume thine eyes, and to grieve thine heart: and all the increase of thine house shall die in the flower of their age. 34And this shall be a sign unto thee, that shall come upon thy two sons, on Hophni and Phinehas; in one day they shall die both of them. 35And I will raise me up a faithful priest, that shall do according to that which is in mine heart and in my mind: and I will build him a sure house; and he shall walk before mine anointed for ever. 36And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left in thine house shall come and crouch to him for a piece of silver and a morsel of bread, and shall say, Put me, I pray thee, into one of the priests' offices, that I may eat a piece of bread. (1 Samuel 2:27‑36)). What was the chief thing God had against the official Eli? Was it not just this one thing, association with, and allowance of, the evil he condemned?
And has not God raised up very specially, in this century (1800s), a testimony to this very principle? And it is very remarkable that every official in Christendom that has received that testimony has had to give up his position, and become a weaned little child. The substance of this testimony is in 1 Samuel 2:3030Wherefore the Lord God of Israel saith, I said indeed that thy house, and the house of thy father, should walk before me for ever: but now the Lord saith, Be it far from me; for them that honor me I will honor, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed. (1 Samuel 2:30), “For them that honor me I will honor, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed.” Oh, weighty words! Do we understand them? He says, “Where two or three are gathered together in (unto) My name, there am I in the midst of them” (Matthew 18:2020For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them. (Matthew 18:20)). Do we honor Him? Do we honor Him as if we saw Him? or do we despise Him, and send for a man to help us to decide a difficult case? Or do we propose a man to preside over such a meeting, and the Lord present? Did John propose that Peter should preside at the last paschal feast? Is Christ not despised? The reader will here observe that official appointment of a man must dishonor and despise the Lord, in many cases most ignorantly, no doubt.
This is the question of today that must be faced by all the children of God. We would press the question, Do we honor the Lord as if we saw Him in our midst? It is the most grave question for those who profess to be gathered to His name, because He says, “There am I.” Let us not forget such scriptures as 1 Corinthians 12:4-8; 14:29-334Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. 5And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord. 6And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all. 7But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal. 8For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit; (1 Corinthians 12:4‑8)
29Let the prophets speak two or three, and let the other judge. 30If any thing be revealed to another that sitteth by, let the first hold his peace. 31For ye may all prophesy one by one, that all may learn, and all may be comforted. 32And the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets. 33For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints. (1 Corinthians 14:29‑33).
Of others we would also ask, is it possible to honor the Lord, and set aside these inspired words for our guidance? And we must acknowledge that an ordained minister to preside over an assembly, must, of necessity, set aside these scriptures; and instead of honoring the Lord, sets Him aside. It is necessary to speak plain. The end of the age is upon us, just as the end of that which God had chosen to illustrate these days of the church was close upon them, in our history of Samuel. We shall, therefore, find much to help, both those professedly gathered to Christ, the true Shiloh, and also as to the camp of Christendom. Unsparing judgment was pronounced against the house of Eli, judgment that should sweep them from the earth.
Let us now turn to the child Samuel. Are we of that family, saved from going down into the pit — the very contrast to the house of Eli? “And the child Samuel ministered unto the Lord before Eli. And the word of the Lord was precious [rare] in those days; there was no open vision” (1 Samuel 3:11And the child Samuel ministered unto the Lord before Eli. And the word of the Lord was precious in those days; there was no open vision. (1 Samuel 3:1)). Now, if the precious words of Jesus to the assembly at Philadelphia be our copy, then this is our path; and may this be our spirit, as a child dependent on the Holy Spirit ministering unto the Lord; seeking to please Him, to serve acceptably in His sight. Blessed occupation; even before Eli. That is, before the official ministry of this day, that allows the evil which it, in word, condemns. Our path is to go on: all true service is unto the Lord. Yes, whether before those who say they are outside the camp, and allow links with false doctrine, or before those in the camp, with all its last-days evil. The path of the little child is very simple; but its responsibilities are very great in these days, as we shall soon see.
Another blessed mark of the child Samuel in this day also, to such as walk with God, is this “The word of the Lord was precious [rare] in those days” (1 Samuel 3:1). If this is not the case with you and me, we are not walking with God. You may say, I belong to a society that numbers its thousands and thousands. We do not read that there were thousands of Enochs, before the flood, that walked with God. Is the word of the Lord precious to you? The more that blessed word is attacked, is it still the more precious to you?
Night came on, and now darkness, gross darkness is settling on the earth. The darkness of infidelity is preferred to the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ. And those who pretend to be the great lights of the church are themselves darkness itself. What a picture of them was aged Eli. He lay down in his place, and his eyes are dim, they cannot see. The Lord is speaking in His word now, but they cannot hear.
Note what a solemn moment this was. It was “ere the lamp of God went out in the temple of the Lord, where the ark of God was, and Samuel was laid down” (1 Samuel 3:33And ere the lamp of God went out in the temple of the Lord, where the ark of God was, and Samuel was laid down to sleep; (1 Samuel 3:3)). Is it not so at this moment? Christendom is refusing the truth in the love of it. And will the Holy Spirit remain and shine forever? No. Oh, what will be the end of the hosts of infidel ministers, denying the Lord that bought them, and Christendom that loves to have it so? Paul says, “And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: that they all might be damned [or judged] who believe not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness” (2 Thessalonians 2:11-1211And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: 12That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. (2 Thessalonians 2:11‑12)). Read also the testimony of the Holy Spirit in 2 Peter 2:1-31But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. 2And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of. 3And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not. (2 Peter 2:1‑3). But who hath an ear to hear what the Spirit saith unto the assembly? Eli had no ear to hear then. The Elis now have no ear to hear. Indeed, the Lord did not speak to Eli. He called the child. He spake to the child. It is remarkable: “Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, neither was the word of the Lord yet revealed unto him” (1 Samuel 3:77Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, neither was the word of the Lord yet revealed unto him. (1 Samuel 3:7)). We might easily understand that the sons of Eli knew not the Lord. But what does this mean, that Samuel the weaned child, did not yet know the Lord?
Is it not that we may know Him as Saviour, long before we know Him as Lord; and as the Lord, speaking to us individually? In our own case it was so; and we believe there are many who have never known Him in that intimacy, so as to have actual communications from Him, and with Him. Where human arrangement has excluded the guidance of the Spirit, this is not to be expected. But even where there is the professed position of being gathered to Christ, this lesson of Samuel the child, and Eli, the aged, demands our prayerful consideration. Did the Lord ever thus speak to you? He did speak to the child. Let us carefully consider the message.
The terrible judgment on the house of Eli is announced to the child. “And the Lord said to Samuel, Behold, I will do a thing in Israel, at which both the ears of everyone that heareth it shall tingle ... For I have told him that I will judge his house forever for the iniquity which he knoweth; because his sons made themselves vile, and he restrained them not” (1 Samuel 3:11-1311And the Lord said to Samuel, Behold, I will do a thing in Israel, at which both the ears of every one that heareth it shall tingle. 12In that day I will perform against Eli all things which I have spoken concerning his house: when I begin, I will also make an end. 13For I have told him that I will judge his house for ever for the iniquity which he knoweth; because his sons made themselves vile, and he restrained them not. (1 Samuel 3:11‑13)). And still further, note these most solemn words: “And therefore I have sworn unto the house of Eli, that the iniquity of Eli’s house shall not be purged with sacrifices nor offering forever” (1 Samuel 3:1414And therefore I have sworn unto the house of Eli, that the iniquity of Eli's house shall not be purged with sacrifice nor offering for ever. (1 Samuel 3:14)). Can anything be more striking than the judgment of God on this principle, made so light of by men? The allowance of evil, even though you may be personally free from that evil; yet, if you are associated with those that practice sin, or hold false doctrine, you are clearly held as guilty of the very evil yourself. “Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.” “If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honor, sanctified (or separated), and meet for the master’s use, and prepared unto every good work” (Read Revelation 18:4; 24And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. (Revelation 18:4) Timothy 2:21; See also 2 Timothy 3:5).
These scriptures cannot be ignored with impunity. The iniquity of Eli’s house should not be purged with sacrifice or offering forever. Yet this is the very principle defended by so many, who even profess to be gathered to Christ. Just as the house of Eli was, at the only place where the Lord had set His name. Nothing so hateful to them as holy separation from every link with false doctrine as to Christ. We cannot but dwell on this as a truth of the utmost importance. The judgment fell upon Shiloh for this very thing.
And the little child must tell Eli every whit. “And Samuel told him every whit, and hid nothing from him” (1 Samuel 3:18). However painful, the full truth must be told out. Note, this was the only fault of Eli. “And he said, it is the Lord: let Him do what seemeth Him good” (1 Samuel 3:1818And Samuel told him every whit, and hid nothing from him. And he said, It is the Lord: let him do what seemeth him good. (1 Samuel 3:18)). This is false “piety.” He should have dealt with the evil. Now note, if we are gathered to Christ, and in the little child spirit, there will be growth.
“And Samuel grew.” How oft this is repeated. And more, “And the Lord was with him” (1 Samuel 3:19).
Another mark of the Lord’s approval was this: “And did let none of his words fall to the ground” (1 Samuel 3:19). All knew the Lord was speaking by Samuel. It will be so now, just as they are little, and weakness itself, God will use His servants, and their words shall now be heard, far beyond Dan to Beer-Sheba.
If we compare this with Revelation 3, the address to Philadelphia, nothing could be more striking. There it is the blessed Lord Himself; what He is to those who have a little strength. It is just the same here in our Samuel. It is the Lord, the true Shiloh, at Shiloh, “For the Lord revealed Himself to Samuel in Shiloh by the word of the Lord. And the word of Samuel came to all Israel” (1 Samuel 3:21-4:1). And this is the case now. Yes, and it will be until we see His face, who whispers, “I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown” (Revelation 3:1111Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown. (Revelation 3:11)). Yes, blessed Lord, in the midst of all the tossings of these last of the last days, this is the holy peaceful retreat of safety, and the only one. Thou still revealest Thyself in the midst of the two or three gathered (together) to Thy name. Yes, it is what Thou art to them.
There is one subject we would look at a little before we close. We noticed that Samuel was of the family of Korah, which was spared, in pure sovereign grace, from going down into the pit. A short genealogy of Samuel is given, as the son of “Elkanah, the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph” (1 Samuel 1:1). If we compare this with 1 Chronicles 6:22-2822The sons of Kohath; Amminadab his son, Korah his son, Assir his son, 23Elkanah his son, and Ebiasaph his son, and Assir his son, 24Tahath his son, Uriel his son, Uzziah his son, and Shaul his son. 25And the sons of Elkanah; Amasai, and Ahimoth. 26As for Elkanah: the sons of Elkanah; Zophai his son, and Nahath his son, 27Eliab his son, Jeroham his son, Elkanah his son. 28And the sons of Samuel; the firstborn Vashni, and Abiah. (1 Chronicles 6:22‑28), there we have the genealogy traced down from Korah to Elkanah, the son of Jeroham, and to Samuel and his sons Vashni (called also Joel) and Abiah. Grace shines out in the history of Samuel from first to last. In 1 Samuel 8:1-3, we read, “When Samuel was old, that he made his sons judges over Israel. Now the name of his first-born was Joel (or Vashni); and the name of his second, Abiah ... And his sons walked not in his ways, but turned aside after lucre, and took bribes, and perverted judgment.” Such is man.
In Chronicles we look forward beyond this scene, to the kingdom and the glory. “And these are they whom David set over the service of song in the house of the Lord, after that the ark had rest And these are they that waited with their children. Of the sons of the Kohathites: Heman a singer, the son of Joel (or Vashni), the son of Shemuel (Samuel), the son of Elkanah, the son of Jeroham” (1 Chronicles 6:31-34). And the genealogy is now traced downwards to Korah. Yes, the highly privileged Heman, the leader of the songs of the Lord, was grandson to Samuel. And we may read further of Heman and his brethren in 1 Chronicles 25, how David separated them to this happy service of praise, Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthan. Here we read how they prophesied with a harp, to give thanks and to praise the Lord (1 Chronicles 25:2-32Of the sons of Asaph; Zaccur, and Joseph, and Nethaniah, and Asarelah, the sons of Asaph under the hands of Asaph, which prophesied according to the order of the king. 3Of Jeduthun: the sons of Jeduthun; Gedaliah, and Zeri, and Jeshaiah, Hashabiah, and Mattithiah, six, under the hands of their father Jeduthun, who prophesied with a harp, to give thanks and to praise the Lord. (1 Chronicles 25:2‑3)). And now are recounted the names of the great-grandsons of Samuel: “And God gave to Heman fourteen sons and three daughters” (1 Chronicles 25:55All these were the sons of Heman the king's seer in the words of God, to lift up the horn. And God gave to Heman fourteen sons and three daughters. (1 Chronicles 25:5)). “All these were under the hands of their father for song ... of the house of God, according to the King’s order to Asaph, Jeduthan, and Heman” (1 Chronicles 25:6). The number of them is given in — twice 144 or 288 — that were instructed in the songs of the Lord (1 Chronicles 25:77So the number of them, with their brethren that were instructed in the songs of the Lord, even all that were cunning, was two hundred fourscore and eight. (1 Chronicles 25:7)). Now of the sons of Heman, the grandson of Samuel, you will count sixteen, and each of their families counted twelve — or, in all, of this highest honored family of praise, out of 288, there are 192 of the family of Samuel, of the family of Korah, saved from going down into the pit (Numbers 16; 26:9-11).
Such is the history of Samuel, the child, the son of Hannah (“grace and mercy”) and Elkanah (“God hath redeemed”). From first to last, all is free grace, depths of mercy. Blessed figure, too, of that redemption which is wholly of God. This is but a feeble outline, but how full of instruction to us at this very moment.
Who has not felt the peculiar sweetness of the songs, in book of Psalms of the sons of Korah, the family of the little weaned child Samuel, saved from going down to the pit? We might dwell with rapture on Psalm 44; 45; 46; 47, and, indeed, all the songs of the sons of the family of Samuel. And we feel sure if we read them, expressing the joy of those saved from going down to the pit, they will speak to our hearts of the ineffable delight that awaits those now saved from going down alive into the pit. Yes, though the bodies of the rich man, and the very poor beggar, were dead and buried, yet they lived in all the realities of paradise, or unending torment. Yes, he was alive in the pit. Fellow believer, let us never forget we are like the sons of Korah. We have actually been saved from going down to the pit. You and I, but for grace, might have been there.
When the ark had entered its rest, then sang the sons of Samuel, chief singers in the service of holy song. Soon the church will have entered into its rest, and be seated around the throne, in the high kingdom of God. As surely as the days of Saul came to an end, so surely shall the days of the wicked one, the man of sin, come to an end. And as surely as the failing kingdom of David and Solomon was set up, so surely shall the kingdom of the unfailing Holy, Holy, Holy One be set up. “And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth. And he came and took the book out of the right hand of him that sat upon the throne. And when he had taken the book, the four beasts, and four-and-twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odors which are the prayers of saints. And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God” (Revelation 5:6-96And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth. 7And he came and took the book out of the right hand of him that sat upon the throne. 8And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odors, which are the prayers of saints. 9And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; (Revelation 5:6‑9)).
A greater than David, a greater than Solomon, shall sit on the throne. The only worthy One. The very Lamb of God, blasphemed now here below, and kissed by those who pretend to be His ministers. There was but one Judas in the upper room, but now their name is legion.
“But there the whole triumphant throng
Of blood bought saints on high,
Shall sing the new eternal song,
With Jesus ever nigh.”