«　WEEK 3　DAY 3　»

　　1 Sam. 3:21 And Jehovah continued to appear in Shiloh, for Jehovah revealed Himself to Samuel in Shiloh by the word of Jehovah.

　　2:35 And I will raise up for Myself a faithful priest, who will do according to what is in My heart and in My mind; and I will build him a sure house; and he will go before My anointed continually.

　　Samuel was faithful to God to do according to what was in God’s heart and mind. His whole being and person, not just his doing, living, and work, were according to God. Samuel’s being and God’s heart were one. For this reason it is not too much to say that Samuel, a man according to God, was the acting God on earth. God’s mind was Samuel’s consideration. He had no other thought, consideration, or thinking. His living and working were for the carrying out of whatever was in God’s heart. As a consequence, Samuel was one who turned the age.

　　Samuel never did anything rebellious, and his turning of the age was not through a revolution. Rather, it was absolutely a matter of the divine revelation. He behaved, worked, ministered, and served altogether in a mild, moderate, and proper way of revelation…. Furthermore, he was a man according to God’s heart; that is, he was a copy, a duplicate, of God’s heart. As such a person, he would never do anything rebellious. (Life-study of 1 & 2 Samuel, pp. 28-29, 39-40)

　　As a priest Samuel replaced and terminated, in a sense, the stale Aaronic priesthood. He did not rebel against the house of Aaron, and he did not usurp anything of the house of Aaron. There was no revolution; there was only revelation. As Samuel was growing, God arranged the environment to perfect him and to build up his capacity to do everything that was needed for God to change the age. In the recovery the Lord will never allow any kind of rebellion, but He will bring in many changes, adjustments, and improvements, not through rebellion but through revelation.

　　Samuel would never have cooperated with God if he had been a self-seeking person…. The day before Saul came to Samuel, God revealed to Samuel what He wanted him to do. God said to him, “At about this time tomorrow I will send to you a man from the land of Benjamin, and you shall anoint him ruler over My people Israel” (1 Sam. 9:16). When Saul and his servant came to Samuel, Samuel did exactly as God had instructed. He did not care to gain anything for himself or for his children.

　　We can see why Samuel was so useful in the hand of God. He had no self-seeking nor any thought of self-gain. Instead, as a Nazarite, who allowed no razor to come upon his head and who did not drink any wine, he was absolutely for God. He was happy to go wherever God wanted him to go and to do whatever God wanted him to do. He was a man according to God, a man according to God’s heart. Therefore, he was a man whom God could use to carry out His economy.

　　Samuel was very human and had human concepts. Nevertheless, he was not a self-seeking person. All of his seeking was for God and for God’s elect. He cared for God and for His interest and profit, and He prayed for God’s people. Some Bible students have pointed out that Samuel was a person of high character…. Many people have a high character, but they are just for themselves, their enterprise, and their kingdom. They are not for God’s kingdom. Samuel was not only high in character; he was high in the Nazarite vow.

　　Although it was not easy for Samuel to stand for God in his particular environment, he cared for God’s interest and he turned the age. According to the Old Testament, Samuel is ranked with Moses in being for God and for God’s interest (Jer. 15:1). (Life-study of 1 & 2 Samuel, pp. 29, 45-46)

　　Further Reading: CWWN, vol. 23, “The Song of Songs,” pp. 124-126