Ⅶ
Samuel was one with God on earth; as the acting God on earth, the representative of the very God in heaven to rule over His people on earth, Samuel ministered in five statuses—1 Sam. 7:3:
A
Samuel ministered as a Nazarite, consecrated to God absolutely for God's fulfillment of His economy—1:11, 28a.
B
Samuel ministered as a God-honoring, God-pleasing priest to replace the stale and degraded priesthood, and he was faithful to act on behalf of God, even to appoint and establish kings for the divine government on earth—2:30, 35-36; 7:3-17; Judg. 9:9, 13.
C
Samuel ministered as a prophet established by God (1 Sam. 3:20) to speak the word of God to replace the teaching of the old priesthood at a time when the word of Jehovah was rare and visions were not widespread (vv. 1-10, 19-21).
D
Samuel ministered as a judge in the reality of the kingship to replace the judging of the people by the old and stale priesthood—7:15-17.
E
Samuel ministered as a man of prayer who prayed for God's elect so that they would be kept in the way of God, would be one with God, would not be ensnared by the idols of the nations, and would enjoy God as Ebenezer (meaning "the stone of help"—v. 12) in order that God's desire in His will regarding them might be fulfilled (vv. 3-17; 8:6; 12:19-25; 15:11b).
Morning Nourishment
1 Sam. 7:3-4 Then Samuel spoke to all the house of Israel, saying, If you are returning with all your heart to Jehovah, remove the foreign gods and the Ashtaroth from your midst, and direct your heart to Jehovah and serve only Him; and He will deliver you from the hand of the Philistines. Then the children of Israel removed the Baals and the Ashtaroth, and served only Jehovah.By the time that Saul was raised up to be the king in Israel (1 Sam. 9:3—10:27), Samuel had reached the highest position…. We may even say that, as God’s representative, Samuel was the acting God. God intended to move, to act, yet He needed a representative. Samuel thus became a prophet, a priest, and a judge. He was God’s oracle and God’s administration. As such, he was the acting God on earth.
Samuel…was one with God on earth. We may say that Samuel was the acting God on earth. At least we may say that Samuel was the representative of the very God in heaven to rule over His people on earth. (Life-study of 1 & 2 Samuel, pp. 43, 28)
Today’s Reading
Samuel ministered as a Nazarite consecrated to God absolutely for God’s fulfillment of His economy, a volunteer to replace any official and formal serving ones of God (1 Sam. 1:11, 28a). The Nazarite vow was initiated by his mother and completed by Samuel.Samuel ministered as a priest…. Samuel was a priest not by birth but by God raising him up particularly…. [First Samuel 2:35] indicates that Samuel would be a faithful priest to act on behalf of God, even to appoint and establish kings for the divine government on earth. David was appointed and anointed by him.
Samuel had a clear view of God’s economy and also of what the enemy had been doing to devastate God’s economy on earth. Samuel was thus a person full of insight concerning God’s economy and concerning the environmental situation. Eventually, God did something to match him, and there was a change among the people of Israel. The people returned to God, lamented before God, and were willing to remove all the idols.
In this replacing priesthood, Samuel anointed Saul and David to be kings (10:1; 16:1, 13) as God ordained that he should go before His anointed continually (2:35b) to supervise the king, observing what the king was doing. This indicates that Samuel, the acting God on earth, was greater than the king. Samuel could be qualified to such an extent because for many years God had been perfecting him for His economy, not for anything else.
When God’s economy is carried out among His people, they are blessed. This means that our welfare, our well-being, is altogether linked to the carrying out of God’s economy. We should not seek our well-being apart from God’s economy…. I wish to say, especially to the young saints, that we should not expect to have prosperity for ourselves. Rather, as saints in the Lord’s recovery, we should expect that through us the Lord will do as much as possible to accomplish His economy. Then we will be blessed.
Samuel ministered, or served, not only as a priest but also as a prophet. In the Old Testament the last part of the divine revelation is with the prophets, from Isaiah to Malachi. Apart from God’s speaking the universe would be empty. We thank the Lord that, by His mercy, we have His continual speaking in His recovery today.
Samuel’s first prophesying was his speaking to Eli (3:1-18). Samuel received the word of God and spoke it to the old Eli in the waning priesthood. This speaking should have gone forth through Eli, but he was waning, and God could not speak through him. Instead, God spoke through someone much younger. (Life-study of 1 & 2 Samuel, pp. 28-31)
Further Reading: Truth Lessons—Level One, vol. 1, pp. 121-124