God began a new age by raising up Samuel, a young Nazarite, as a faithful priest to replace the degraded priesthood in that age; we need to speak the word of God so that we may speak for God as a priest, and we need to exercise God’s authority as the kings reigning with Christ. Amen!
Samuel is a good pattern to us all, for he was a man according to God’s heart. He grew up not in a very positive environment, for everyone and everything around him was full of degradation, but he was consecrated to God by his mother even before he was born, and he was dedicated to God from a young age.
And God called him to minister to God and be a prophet, a judge, a priest, and a man of prayer; he was a Nazarite from his youth, and his heart matched God’s heart.
It’s almost as if this one had no self-interest or self-seeking – he only wanted God’s interest, God’s desire, and God’s purpose.
God had a full way to use Samuel for His purpose, which was to end the age of judges and bring in the age of the kingdom with the king.
Today God is looking for some Samuels, the ones who are one with God and whose heart is a duplication of God’s heart.
We may have many things other than God in our heart that we seek, but we can turn our heart to the Lord and ask Him to purify our heart so that we may seek Him in purity and singleness of heart.
May we allow the Lord to perfect us uniquely for His economy’s sake so that we may be useful to Him to end this age.
Today the Lord is looking for age-turners, those who see God’s need to end this age and join themselves to Him in His desire.
They don’t initiate things to do this or that; they simply join themselves to God through His word, and they agree with Him, allowing Him to do whatever He wants to do to end this age and bring in the kingdom. May we be such ones, the ones whose heart is a reflection of God’s heart.
May we be saved from caring for our interests and desires and care for God’s desire, His intention, and His interest.
When we are fully one with God and His heart is duplicated in our heart, we become the acting God on earth, for God can do whatever He wants to do in us and through us, while we cooperate with Him.
We are now in the process of being perfected to be the Nazarites of today; we may not be for God a hundred per cent, but through His salvation in life, He is equipping and perfecting us to be the Nazarites He needs today.
We may not like the process we are going through, and we may not agree with some of God’s methods, but we need to trust Him that He knows what He is doing, we should not rebel against Him and His sovereign hand, and we should simply keep our being open to Him so that His heart would become our heart, His mind would be our mind, and He would live and be expressed through us.
How Samuel turned the age from the Age of the Priesthood to the age of Prophethood with the Kingship
![Then Samuel told the people the practice of the kingdom, and he wrote [it] in a book and laid [it] before Jehovah. And Samuel sent all the people away, every man to his house. 1 Sam. 10:25 And Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life. And he went year by year in circuit to Bethel and Gilgal and Mizpah, and he judged Israel in all those places. Then he would return to Ramah, for his house was there. And he judged Israel there and built an altar to Jehovah there. 1 Sam. 7:15-17](https://i0.wp.com/www.agodman.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Then-Samuel-told-the-people-the-practice-of-the-kingdom-and-he-wrote-it-in-a-book--683x1024.jpg?resize=450%2C675&ssl=1 "Then Samuel told the people the practice of the kingdom, and he wrote [it] in a book and laid [it] before Jehovah. And Samuel sent all the people away, every man to his house. 1 Sam. 10:25 And Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life. And he went year by year in circuit to Bethel and Gilgal and Mizpah, and he judged Israel in all those places. Then he would return to Ramah, for his house was there. And he judged Israel there and built an altar to Jehovah there. 1 Sam. 7:15-17")
According to 1 Sam. 1-3 we see that God established Samuel to speak the word of God to replace the teaching of the word of God by the old priesthood.
He was used by God to turn the age from the age of the priesthood to the age of the prophethood with the kingship. He was one who had God’s speaking, and the word of God was with him; he was a proper priest not by birth but by his function as a Nazarite.
Because the priesthood in those days was degraded and waning, God’s speaking was almost lost, but Samuel had God’s speaking, and he was raised to be a living person with the speaking of God.
Abraham was a prophet who spoke for God, but Samuel was actually the first prophet to set up a prophethood.
He turned the age in God’s administration from the age of the priesthood (he himself functioning as a priest) to the age of the prophethood with the kingship.
In 1 Sam. 10:25 we see how Samuel told the people the practice of the kingdom, and he wrote it in a book and laid it before Jehovah.
Moses gave the law to the children of Israel, but before Samuel came, they didn’t have a set of bylaws, like a constitution of a country.
Samuel taught the people the bylaws, the constitution, the practice, the customs, the manners, the ordinances, and the rules of how to practice the kingdom of God on earth.
He was used by God to turn the age from the judges to the kingdom, and from the age of priesthood to the age of prophethood with the kingship.
God began a new age in raising up Samuel, a young Nazarite, as a faithful priest to replace the degraded priesthood (1 Sam. 2:35).
In the priesthood, the first thing that a priest should do is speak for God; this is what Samuel did – he spoke for God, for he had the word of God, and God appeared to him and spoke to him. Samuel replaced the old priesthood and taught the word of God.
The breastplate and the Urim and the Thummim worn by the high priest were the means used by God to speak to His people (Exo. 28:30); in the degradation of the priesthood, God’s speaking was almost lost (1 Sam. 3:1, 3).
God was speaking to His people by means of the breastplate together with the Urim (the illuminator) and the Thummim (the perfector); together, these became the means for God to speak to His people to indicate to them about His leading.
This should be a normal situation, but in those days the speaking of God was almost lost, for the priesthood was degraded and waning.
But praise the Lord, God ministered His word to His elect by establishing Samuel as a prophet in the uplifted prophethood (vv. 20-21) and He exercised His authority over His elect by raising up Samuel as a judge (1 Sam. 7:15-17).
We may say that this was the real beginning of the prophethood in Israel, in the kingdom of Israel, in an uplifted prophethood.
Samuel, as the last judge, terminated the judgeship, and as the new priest, brought in the kingship, which was strengthened by the uplifted prophethood.
God needed to raise up a living person, a prophet, to speak for Him; in God’s ordination Samuel is considered as the first prophet because he brought in the prophethood for God’s speaking (Acts 3:24; 13:20; Heb. 11:32).
May the Lord make us the prophets, priests, and kings of today, the Nazarites He needs to end this age and change it to the age of the kingdom with Christ the King!
Lord Jesus, we open to You to receive Your speaking and have Your fresh, instant, living word. We need Your speaking today. We want to be the priests who spend time in Your presence to be infused with Your word and have something of Christ to minister to others also. Amen, Lord, may our being be open to You and our ear be attuned to You to hear what is in Your heart concerning us and concerning the church today. Grant us to be the Nazarites that You need today. We are here not for our need but to meet Your need. Lord Jesus, make us those who end this age and bring in the age of the kingdom with Christ the King!
We are Priests contacting God, Prophets Speaking for God, and Kings exercising His Authority
![And also all the prophets, from Samuel and those in succession after [him,] as many as spoke, also announced these days. Acts 3:24 And after these things, for about four hundred and fifty years, He gave [them] judges until Samuel the prophet. Acts 13:20 And what more shall I say? For time will fail me if I tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets. Heb. 11:32](https://i0.wp.com/www.agodman.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/And-also-all-the-prophets-from-Samuel-and-those-in-succession-after-him-as-many-as-spoke-also-announced-these-days-683x1024.jpg?resize=450%2C675&ssl=1 "And also all the prophets, from Samuel and those in succession after [him,] as many as spoke, also announced these days. Acts 3:24 And after these things, for about four hundred and fifty years, He gave [them] judges until Samuel the prophet. Acts 13:20 And what more shall I say? For time will fail me if I tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets. Heb. 11:32")
How can we experience or enter into the matters of the priesthood, prophethood, and kingship today?
In the church life today, the elders hold the kingship; they are appointed by the Holy Spirit with the confirmation of the Body in the local churches to represent God’s authority.
However, if we are not one of the elders (and most of us are not), we need to be the prophets, those who speak for God, and the priests, those who contact God and bring God to man and man to God.
We may see something in the church that is not so right, or we may find out about a certain situation in the church life that is not so proper.
We should not criticize, oppose, or gossip about it to others; rather, we need to be a prophet by praying to the Lord to receive a word from Him.
We need to be a priest who contacts God and receives His word, and if the Lord instructs us to say something, we can fellowship about it with the elders.
But if the Lord doesn’t give us a word, we should not speak; we shouldn’t speak our own opinions and feelings but speak the word of God.
As prophets, we should speak for God and, as kings, we should take the lead to exercise God’s authority today.
The elders, realizing that they hold the kingship, should learn that they are not all-capable – they are not all-knowing or capable to deal with every situation; rather, they may be quite deficient.
Therefore, they should listen to the prophecy from the saints, and bring it to the Lord in fellowship with much prayer, allowing the Lord to release His feeling and decision concerning this situation.
In this way, we practice a proper church life with the saints speaking for God and taking the lead to exercise God’s authority.
However, this may not be the real situation among us today; rather, we may rather talk about things, give our own feeling and opinion, and spread rumours – all of this with a good intention and out of a good heart.
May we learn to be the priests of God who contact God, first of all, the prophets of God who speak the word God spoke to them, and the kings of God who exercise God’s authority.
All around us we see the waning of the real priesthood, for we don’t see the ministering of the word of God and the exercise of God’s authority.
This is why the New Testament charges the elders to learn to do two things: to teach the saints (1 Tim. 3:2; 5:17), that is, to speak the word of God, and also to take the lead among the saints (Heb. 13:7; 1 Pet. 5:1-3), that is, to exercise God’s authority.
The elders need to take the lead to practice what they teach; they exercise God’s authority by taking the lead to submit to God’s authority and practice what they speak.
May we be the real priests, those who contact God and receive the word of God, speak the word of God, and bring God to man and man to God.
May we be the prophets of God today, those who speak only what God speaks to them, being one with God to speak the word of God and speak for God.
May we be the kings of God today, those who take the lead to be under God’s authority and exercise God’s authority by being one with Him.
Just as the priests took the lead to step into the waters of the river Jordan when God told them, and to circle the city of Jericho, so we need to take the lead, as priests of God, to teach to speak for God and take the lead to exercise God’s authority.
May the Lord gain the priests, prophets, and kings He needs today, those who cooperate with Him to end this age and bring in the age of the kingdom with the King.
Lord Jesus, we come to You to contact You and receive Your speaking; speak to us today and infuse us with Your heart’s desire. We want to be the priests who are filled and saturated with God to bring God to man and man to God. Amen, Lord, speak to us so that we may have Your fresh message to speak to others. We want to exercise to speak for God and speak God to those around us. Save us from speaking our own opinions and feelings concerning the situations we see in the church life; keep us one spirit with You to speak one with You. May we be under Your rule as the King so that we may have Your speaking and Your authority. Amen, Lord, gain the prophets, priests, and kings that You need today, the Nazarites who willingly give themselves to You for Your purpose! Have Your way to gain the corporate group of Nazarites who cooperate with You to end this age and bring in the age of the kingdom with the King!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Sources of inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, a sharing by brother Minoru Chen, and portions from, Life-study of 1&2 Samuel, pp. 39-41 (by Witness Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization Study of 1 and 2 Samuel (2021 winter training), week 3, entitled, Spiritual Principles, Life Lessons, and Holy Warnings Seen in the History of Samuel.
- Hymns on this topic:
– Now the church is but the priesthood; / Thus the priesthood formed we need; / When the priests are knit together, / Then the church is built indeed. / Through the church’s degradation, / Saints this office desolate; / Through the weakness of their spirits / Preaching doth predominate. (Hymns #848)
– All the saints must serve as priests, / That the living stones they be; / Each must priestly work perform, / Then their functions we will see. / Tent and priests of olden times / Always did together go; / When the priests served in the tent, / Into one the two did flow. (Hymns #849)
– Raise up some to meet Your need, some Nazarites, / Prophets, priests, and judges, and men of prayer, / Speaking forth Your word, with Your authority, / A photo of Your heart for Your move. (Song on, In this godless age Lord, You need some Samuels)
