III. SAMUEL BEING A MAN
WHO TURNED THE AGE IN GOD’S ADMINISTRATION
FROM THE AGE OF THE PRIESTHOOD
TO THE AGE OF THE PROPHETHOOD
WITH THE KINGSHIP
Samuel was a man who turned the age in God’s administration from the age of the priesthood to the age of the prophethood with the kingship. This was a great thing not only in the history of Israel but even in the history of humankind.
The proper prophethood is always an assistant to the kingship. This should be a lesson to us. In the church life today, the elders hold the kingship. If you are not one of the elders and you see something in the church that is not so right, you should never criticize, oppose, or gossip. You need to be a prophet by praying to the Lord to receive a word from Him. If you do not receive a word from the Lord, you should not say anything. But if, in His mercy to His church, the Lord gives you a word, a prophecy, then you should go to the elders and prophesy to them. The elders, realizing that they hold the kingship, should learn that they are not all-capable, that they may be deficient. Therefore, they should listen to this brother’s prophecy. This is the proper situation in the church life.
A. After Moses, God’s Administration
Being Centered on the Priesthood
Moses was a priest, and after him God’s administration was centered on the priesthood.
B. The Priesthood Being to Minister
the Word of God to His People
and to Exercise the Authority of God
over His People
The priesthood was to minister the word of God to His people and to exercise the authority of God over His people. We all need to learn to do these two things. However, one may be a prophet, having a vision of the riches of Christ, but he may not know how to exercise God’s authority to take the proper way to deal with the lack of vision concerning Christ’s riches. Troubles in the church life are often caused by those who do not know how to exercise God’s authority.
Once again I wish to emphasize the fact that 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. He was a man of revelation, and he did everything according to what he saw. 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, Chapter 6, by Witness Lee)
