SELF-WILL SHOULD NOT RESIST THE PROPHETIC WORD
B. Taylor
Our brother prayed that self will may not interfere with the flow of the prophetic word. That challenged me, as I am sure it would challenge all of us—whether there might be any self-will with us that would interfere at this time. In the verses read, self-will interfered with the progress of the kingdom, but the word of God met it. Saul had turned away from following, from paying attention and hearkening to the word of Jehovah. We should be challenged whether there is with us any turning away from God’s word—what He is saying through His prophets.
I suppose Saul did not realise the seriousness of what he did. He was king, and I suppose he assumed that he need not obey anyone, but he was told that “rebellion is as the sin of divination”; that is, it is equally serious to that; it is equivalent. We should have a judgment of divination. It would suggest a forceful way of seeking to find out, through devious means, what the mind of God is. Balaam sought enchantments rather than enquiring of God and paying attention to His word. That might be seen in the way the religious mind forces itself against what has come to us through God’s word, in the power of the Spirit; as Mr. Darby said, the notion of a clergyman is, dispensationally, the sin against the Holy Spirit. On that line of things the Spirit is shut out through the forcing of
the flesh. Saul forced himself and offered (1 Samuel 13: 12); he did not wait as he was told to do. Then he saved the best of the flesh.
These things are challenging to us, because they were written for our admonition—they happened as types of us. We want to get the gain of these scriptures and see that God is not having any self-will or rebellion; He will take issue with it, as He did here.
Although Samuel is speaking in power here, the chapter finishes with him unduly mourning for Saul. And we might say what is right and not really be up to what we say. God would challenge us, because He said to Samuel, “How long wilt thou mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him?”, 1 Samuel 16: 1. Once God acts, “the Hope of Israel will not lie nor repent; for he is not a man, that he should repent”, 1 Samuel 15: 29. There is no change with God once He decides something. In certain instances we are told that God repented, but that was in relation to a change with persons. God remains the Same; He does not change (Psalm 102: 27). Therefore we should be exercised that we have the same view of things as God. If His view is different from ours, we should get adjusted at once.
God would awaken us; He would stir up His prophets; He would have them active. He used Samuel here, and He continues to use the prophets to stir us up. We should be concerned to have the prophetic word made surer, for God is not giving up His great thoughts, but is rising up early and sending His prophets, as it says in Jeremiah 7: 2. He told Samuel to go and anoint a king among the sons of Jesse. God had His king! Samuel has to say, concerning Jesse’s sons that were present, “Jehovah has not chosen these”, 1 Samuel 16: 10. He
had needed adjustment to discern that none of them was the man of God’s choice. It took time; when he saw Eliab, the first, he said, “Surely Jehovah’s anointed is before him”. But he got adjusted, and, said as to all those present that Jehovah had not chosen them. It is truly wonderful to get adjusted, not only outwardly, but inwardly, as to the line of things with which God is proceeding. We want to be in accord with the way God sees things. He would tell us, through the prophetic word, that “obedience is better than sacrifice, Attention than the fat of rams”.
How much there is in the way of outward worship and religiousness in christendom, but with little attention given to what is coming out prophetically. God would have us to be in the current of the prophetic line of things today. The word of God is living and operative; not a dead order of things. We have come here this evening to get what is prophetic, and to be stirred up by it; to be challenged, and to be conscious that God is amongst us. We are, so to speak, brought to attention as to where we are and who God is, and where He would have us. Saul wanted Samuel to turn again after him and honour him, but we must see that God has set aside the flesh completely. He is not having that; He is not going to change His mind about that, and He would have us in accord with His thoughts about it.
As I said, I was challenged by our brother’s prayer that self-will might not interfere with the word. It may do so, in the sense that we might elect not to speak, for example, or it might interfere in the sense that we push ourselves forward, not having a word from God. Thus we would be challenged as having to do with the living God. There is what He has prescribed, even as to a meeting such as this, and He wants us to pay attention to
His word; to be obedient and not on the line of divination, which would be using the natural mind to conjecture how it might be this way or that way. So let us be on the line of inquiry and attention to what God would say to us prophetically.
Word in meeting for ministry, Brooklyn, N.Y.
11 March 1975