«　WEEK 3　DAY 6　»

　　1 Sam. 7:15 And Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life.

　　12:23 …As for me, far be it from me that I would sin against Jehovah by ceasing to pray for you, but I will instruct you in the good and right way.

　　Samuel’s prophesying…was at the time when the word of Jehovah was rare and visions were not widespread [1 Sam. 3:1b]…. Samuel’s first prophesying was also at a time when the waning Eli’s eyesight was so dim that he could not see [v. 2]. Furthermore, Samuel began to prophesy at a time when the lamp of God had not yet gone out in the temple (v. 3). God’s speaking had stopped, but there was still some light.

　　Samuel ministered as a judge. A priest served God, a prophet spoke for God, and a judge carried out God’s governmental administration. Samuel stood on the earth to be the acting God— the one representing God and acting for Him—in his priesthood, prophethood, and judgeship. In the church life in the Lord’s recovery today, we have the priesthood, the prophethood, and the kingship. As a result, things are not upside-down but right-side-up. (Life-study of 1 & 2 Samuel, pp. 31-32)

　　Samuel was established as a judge to replace the judging of the people by the old priesthood. The judgeship actually belonged to the priesthood, for the priesthood included the two matters of speaking for God and administrating for God. But because the old Aaronic priesthood was waning, God raised up Samuel to be a new priest, a new prophet, and a new judge.

　　Through Samuel and his threefold responsibility in the priesthood, prophethood, and judgeship, a good order was brought in, and the Philistines were defeated and subdued. In this situation, God commanded Samuel to anoint David to be God’s chosen king. Samuel brought in David, a crucial ancestor of Christ. Christ’s coming to earth was the greatest event in the universe, and credit for this should be given to Samuel.

　　Today Christ is our good land, and now we are developing Him and laboring on Him. We are the members of Christ and the constituents of His Body, the church. This is God’s accomplishment of His eternal economy, which will consummate in the New Jerusalem. In order to accomplish His eternal economy, God needed a Samuel.

　　Samuel ministered as a man of prayer…. Samuel prayed for God’s elect, the children of Israel (1 Sam. 7:3-14; 8:6; 15:11b). Samuel prayed for the children of Israel to be kept in the way of God, to be one with God, not to be ensnared by the idols of the nations, and to enjoy God as Ebenezer, which means “the stone of help.” “Samuel took a stone and set it between Mizpah and Shen; and he called its name Ebenezer and said, Thus far Jehovah has helped us” (7:12).

　　Samuel prayed for God’s elect that God’s desire of His will in His elect might be fulfilled. Up to this day God has helped us, but why has He helped us? God has helped us that His desire might be fulfilled. We need to realize that God’s helping us is for His fulfillment of His economy and that we are enjoying the blessing in this fulfillment. Today God is blessing us in every way for the fulfillment of His economy to build up the Body of Christ. In Samuel’s consideration, ceasing to pray for God’s elect was to sin against Jehovah (12:23). We also need to pray for God’s people. In particular, the co-workers and elders need to pray for the churches every day.

　　God admitted to Jeremiah that Samuel, like Moses, was a man standing before Him for His people (Jer. 15:1). Moses was a priest, a prophet (Deut. 18:15, 18), and a judge, and he always prayed for God’s people. In these matters Samuel was the same. He was a priest, a prophet, and a judge who prayed for God’s people. In the Old Testament, only Moses and Samuel were qualified to participate fully in the priesthood, the prophethood, and the judgeship. (Life-study of 1 & 2 Samuel, pp. 32-34)

　　Further Reading: CWWL, 1954, vol. 1, pp. 418-421