撒上八5~7　　〔以色列的长老来见撒母耳，〕对他说，…现在求你为我们立一位王治理我们，像列国一样。…撒母耳…就祷告耶和华。耶和华对撒母耳说，百姓向你说的一切话，你只管听从；因为他们不是厌弃你，乃是厌弃我，不要我作他们的王。

　　虽然撒母耳是神的代表，但神无意作出一个他的国。反之，按照圣经，神定意要兴起一个人，名叫大卫，借着他建立国度。当神拣选亚伯拉罕时，祂的心意不是要得着单个的人，甚至不是要得着一班寻求祂的人；神的目的乃是要得着一个国度。圣经启示的终结就是一个国度。启示录十一章十五节说，“世上的国，成了我主和祂基督的国。”在新天新地同新耶路撒冷里，将有神永远的国。

　　即使撒母耳至终达到了最高的地位，神还没有达到祂的目标。撒母耳是一个合乎神心的人，他知道在神的心中有一个愿望，要得着国度。神要借着大卫，而不是借着撒母耳，带进国度。（撒母耳记生命读经，五四至五五页。）

　　1 Sam. 8:5-7 And they said to him,… Appoint now for us a king to judge us like all the nations…. Then Samuel prayed to Jehovah. And Jehovah said to Samuel, Listen to the voice of the people according to all that they have said to you; for it is not you whom they have rejected, but they have rejected Me from being King over them.

　　Although Samuel was God’s representative, God did not have any intention to make him a kingdom. Rather, according to the Bible, God determined to raise up a man named David, through whom He intended to build up a kingdom. When God chose Abraham, it was not His intention to gain a single person or even a group of people who would seek after Him. God’s intention has been to have a kingdom. The consummation of the revelation in the Bible is a kingdom. Revelation 11:15 says, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ.” In the new heaven and new earth with the New Jerusalem, there will be the eternal kingdom of God.

　　Even though Samuel eventually attained the highest position, God still had not reached His goal. As a man who was according to God’s heart, Samuel knew that within God’s heart there was a desire for a kingdom. God wanted the kingdom to be brought in not through Samuel but through David. (Life-study of 1 & 2 Samuel, pp. 43-44)

　　一个人达到高位时，肯不肯让别人与他同等或在他之上？这总是个问题。你若是撒母耳，你会容让任何人与你同等或在你之上么？撒母耳是纯净、单一的。他照着他母亲所许的愿，是个拿细耳人；他完全不为自己寻求什么。他从不想为自己得利，他的心只为着神和神的选民，此外别无所顾。神爱以色列人，神的心复制在撒母耳里面。

　　因着神的心复制在撒母耳里面，撒母耳就不顾自己的利益或得着。末了，撒母耳一无所得，只有埋葬的坟墓。因着当时的情形，撒母耳立自己的儿子作士师，但与扫罗相反，他无意为他们建立国度。撒母耳的儿子不行他的道路，贪图不义之财，收受贿赂，屈枉公理。（撒上八1~3。）当百姓要求撒母耳立王时，撒母耳被冒犯了，不是因着他儿子的缘故，而是因着百姓想要顶替神。（4~7。）因着撒母耳无意为他的子孙建立国度，所以他所关心的，不是自己的儿女，乃是神的百姓。在这样的光景中，神就很容易把国度带进来。

　　神用撒母耳首先膏扫罗，然后膏大卫。当我们看扫罗的历史时将会看见，扫罗只有自己的王国。当神的宝座在耶路撒冷建立时，神的国才在大卫之下被带进来。在马太二十一章四十三节，主耶稣告诉犹太首领说，神的国必从他们夺去；这指明神的国开始于旧约。神的国不是开始于亚伯拉罕或摩西，乃是开始于大卫。因此，我们在大卫身上所看见的，不是任何一种王国，乃是神的国。

　　撒母耳在以利的监护下时，神非常仔细地教导他，建立他，成全他，使他成为神正确的祭司。作为这样的祭司，撒母耳成为审判以色列的士师，为神说话的申言者，以及带进君王职分的人。借着这君王职分，神的国度得以在地上建立。这是一幅图画，说出今天我们的光景该如何。我们必须先是撒母耳，然后成为大卫，享受基督到一个地步，使我们对基督的享受成为国度，就是召会。

　　按照马太十六章十八至十九节，召会和国度是相同的。今天的国度就是召会，而在召会里有基督的身体作为内在的素质。（撒母耳记生命读经，五六、五九至六○、二五至二六页。）

　　参读：撒母耳记生命读经，第二至三、六至七、九篇。

　　When someone attains a high position, there is always a question as to whether he will allow someone else to come in to match him or to be above him. If you had been Samuel, would you have given any ground for someone to match you or be above you? Samuel was pure and single. He was a Nazarite according to his mother’s vow and was altogether not self-seeking. He never sought to gain anything for himself. He had no heart for anything besides God and God’s elect. God loved Israel, and His heart was duplicated in Samuel.

　　Because God’s heart was duplicated in Samuel, Samuel did not care for his own interest or gain. At the end, Samuel gained nothing but a tomb to be buried in. Due to the situation at the time, Samuel appointed his sons to be judges, but, contrary to Saul, he had no intention to build up a kingdom for them. His sons did not follow in his ways but went after unjust gain, took bribes, and perverted justice (1 Sam. 8:1-3). When the people asked Samuel to appoint a king, he was not offended by anything related to his sons; on the contrary, he was offended by their desire to replace God (vv. 4-7). Because he had no intention to build up a kingdom for his descendants, Samuel’s concern was not for his children but for God’s people. In such a situation it was easy for God to bring in the kingdom.

　　God used Samuel to anoint first Saul and then David. As we will see when we consider the history concerning Saul, Saul only had a monarchy. The kingdom of God came first under David, when God’s throne was established in Jerusalem. In Matthew 21:43 the Lord Jesus told the Jewish leaders that the kingdom of God would be taken from them. This indicates that the kingdom of God began in the Old Testament. It did not begin with Abraham or with Moses but with David. Therefore, what we see with David is not any kind of monarchy but the kingdom of God.

　　While Samuel was under Eli’s custody, God taught him in a very fine way, built him up, and established him as His proper priest. As such a priest, Samuel became a judge to judge Israel, a prophet to prophesy for God, and the one to bring forth the kingship. By this kingship the kingdom of God was established on earth. This is a picture of what our situation should be today. We need to be, first, a Samuel, and then, a David, enjoying Christ to such a degree that what we have enjoyed of Christ will become a kingdom, which is the church.

　　According to Matthew 16:18-19, the church and the kingdom are identical. The kingdom today is the church, and within the church there is the intrinsic essence—the Body of Christ. (Life-study of 1 & 2 Samuel, pp. 44-45, 47, 19)

　　Further Reading: Life-study of 1 & 2 Samuel, msgs. 2-3, 6-7, 9