SAMUEL'S JUDGESHIP
SAMUEL’S JUDGESHIP
JT The proposal in reading this passage is to call attention to Samuel, the last of the judges, as setting out more fully than any of them the thought of judgeship amongst the people of God. It is a suggestion of how the end of a thing is better than the beginning, and is an encouragement to us, as coming at the end, to aim at the fulness of the divine thought in the dispensation. Much is made of Samuel’s early life in this book, of his parentage, particularly his mother, and how Jehovah saw to it that he acquired moral weight among the people; He did not allow his words to fall to the ground; God took care of that. He was known as a prophet from Dan to Beer-sheba and what he said came to pass. That is, what is stressed in Samuel is the reality of his personality according to God and of his gift and mission, so that there can be no question about him, no reasonable question raised up against him. If the people are not satisfied, if they wish for another, they have to resort to subterfuge, they can hardly complain of himself. So that he stands out, it seems, as a model for us in the last days as equalling, or more than equalling, the first judge, who, I suppose, is Othniel. I think all would remind us that there should be no haziness or doubtfulness as to things or persons, that each of us should be known, clear, transparent, that, whatever our service, we are in it rightly and suitably and efficiently — it is not a time for anything else. The ark here was not cared for properly; it had been captured and now was not in the proper surroundings, a solemn matter for anyone who, like Samuel, regards Jehovah. So that, these facts being stated, the position of the ark [p. 138] comes in and Samuel begins his ministry formally. He had ministered already, but evidently now it is in relation to the general state of the people and the position of the ark, and this passage is to give us a life picture of him, not from his infancy for that has been already given but as the judge — and how effective he was! That is, it was the kind of ministry needed for the moment, whatever preceded it, and the Spirit of God gives a full portrait of it right down to the end of his life, and how effective it was.
AJG Have you in mind that this is a ministry dealing with the moral condition of the people as preparing the ground for what was subsequently brought in under David and Solomon?
JT Exactly, there is nothing clearer than that. So he spoke to all the house of Israel saying, “If ye do return unto the Lord with all your hearts, then put away the strange gods and Ashtaroth from among you, and prepare your hearts unto the Lord, and serve him only” (that word ‘only’ is to be noted) “and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines”. “Serve him only”, that is, you might say, the first great result of the ministry needed for the moment. It is this double-mindedness that we have to judge in ourselves. He stresses “Jehovah only”.
AJG Is the epistle to the Romans, in the teaching of it, made effective so that we are secured as bondmen to God?
JT Quite so, no other master.
CHP And would Corinthians come in on the collective side in regard to idols and going on in relation to what is positive as to fellowship?
JT Quite so, that is what is stressed in that letter. The Lord is jealous: it says, “Do we provoke the Lord to jealousy?” 1 Corinthians 10:22. It is not that they were giving Him over altogether, but they were taking on something additional.
Ques, When it says, “All the house of Israel lamented after the Lord”, does it indicate some idea of returning to God?
JT Yes, it would show the Lord was moving, and Samuel’s ministry comes in to take advantage of that. “The time was long”, it says; the allusion is to the ark and feelings about the ark.
PL Is it such a strait that moves God to raise up distinctive ministry like Samuel’s? His state would make room for it subjectively, the ark standing for that. Would that be a basic state for recovering ministry?
JT The sort of soil, you would say, for ministry is symbolised by agriculture, “The earth which drinketh in the rain that cometh oft upon it”. Hebrews 6:7. This kind of soil will take in ministry such as Samuel’s and bear fruit, and that really was in mind here, so that they act against idolatry and come back to Jehovah to serve Him only; Then there is the idea of gathering, for gathering an unjudged people is useless, it is those who judge themselves — “Gather all Israel” — he has nothing less than all in mind — “to Mizpeh, and I will pray for you unto the Lord. And they gathered together to Mizpeh, and drew water, and poured it out before the Lord”. There is the full acknowledgment of the state: they “fasted on that day, and said there, We have sinned against the Lord”, that is, where they are gathered. And then we are told that “Samuel judged the children of Israel in Mizpeh”. This now is the full course where he would have them. It is a peculiar statement, “He judged them there”, because, although we may make a general admission and take up a generally right position, there are details that have to be settled. Do you not think so?
AJG Yes. I was wondering whether the being there means that details as they arose would be dealt with by the light that that position stands [p. 140] for.
JT That is, I think, what is meant, judging in detail. They have already taken up a right place provisionally and collectively, but that is not the whole matter, the ministry must proceed and for dealing with details, judgment like this is needed.
PL John fell at His feet as one dead; is that the general position, at the Lord’s feet, but then travelling round the churches with Him, would that be the details coming up?
JT Very good.
AJG What is the particular significance of Mizpeh in this connection?
JT It would be the sense of watching, the idea of remembering entering into it. Ministry takes up its own attitude under God; it takes up its own position and moves from its own point of view. You may marvel at the difference of one ministry from another, but it has its own way and the result proves its efficiency, that it is of God. That is, we have to recognise the position taken up in any ministry.
Ques Will you say a little as to the character of the judgment, does it refer to matters belonging to Jehovah?
JT Whatever needed judgment. Moses in Exodus 18 may be taken to represent the idea; he sat all day and listened to people coming to him with this and that. Jethro, his father-in-law, gave him advice about it, which he took: but it is onerous work, a detailed matter, and the saints need it. It is not enough that we take up a generally right position. They poured out water before Jehovah and turned from idols outwardly, but there are a lot of secret things. If we are in the presence of God, where the ministry will have us, things may come out that are not of God and they have to be settled. We have to ask, What is the bearing of this thing that has happened? We are constantly faced with matters [p. 141] and it is a great thing to have them settled in a moral way, and I think that is what is in mind in judgeship. The principle is that whenever God raised up a judge God was with the judge. It is wisdom to recognise that each judge has his own distinctiveness and his own circuits, and Samuel, it seems to me, is the outstanding one who represents the idea more than any; and this position at Mizpeh would mean that brethren are faced now with the presence of God in a suitable person. He may rise to be a type of Christ even, but he judged Israel there in his own selected place.
HL Does something lie behind that in Samuel himself? His ministry was very effective almost immediately. Had he faced things in his own soul?
JT I doubt if anyone could be a judge save as he judges things in himself.
AJG And is the particular exercise of judgeship necessary to clear the way for the ministry of the prophets?
JT That is how it stands. “Samuel judged the children of Israel in Mizpeh”. That is all a question of the rights of God, I think, in each of us individually. We are challenged in such a ministry as to detail. Each one has his own difficulties in his soul and Samuel is there and he judges; it is not the infliction of penalties, but in the sense in which God is going to judge the world presently by this Man whom He has ordained, entering into detail because everything must be settled. Then the enemy comes up — that is the next thing — so we do well to deal with secret moral issues.
Ques What is the point of the Philistines hearing of this matter? They heard Israel was gathered together.
JT The point is God is moving. If a christian goes to the theatres or cinemas or stays at home and plays cards, the enemy will not trouble him; but [p. 142] when we gather under these circumstances the enemy does not like that, for God is there; and Samuel knows what to do in that matter too. There is no difficulty, no unsolvable matter at all; the enemy is coming up in force and Samuel knows what to do. But the people are to go through all this; it says, “They were afraid of the Philistines. And the children of Israel said to Samuel, Cease not to cry unto the Lord our God for us”; that is, he had been doing it; they know the kind of man he is.
PL Would it be that a warrior leading in a universal conflict has acquired the confidence of the saints in patience connected with moral issues in a locality?
JT Illustrate what you mean.
PL Well, the one who was promoted in the battle in the valley Elah is a David who went into details in moral questions: in shepherd care the lion and the bear were met in what you might call a more local setting. Samuel, before giving a lead in general battle, qualified by way of moral issues, do you think? And he had the mind of God in them.
JT The people understand their leader, they understand what his characteristic is, he is a praying man, his prayers are perhaps more valuable than anything.
Ques Is it the word of God and intercession going together?
JT Exactly, he spoke the word of God to them; now he is interceding for them. They know he can do it; evidently he had acquired that reputation.
Ques Does he support them as priest in praying for them, and as a prophet in connection with their recovery?
JT Yes, his real ministry is prophecy, but he is a priest too, but under the general title of a judge.
[p. 143] He is a man of great parts, great endowment from God, qualifications for the office; and it is a great matter if in any locality or generally there are those who can serve, that the brethren should know just what they can do. To every man his work, and, if the saints are at all alert, they will see what a man can do and ask him to help on those lines. The great general principle in service is Christ, Christ here available for anyone, “I am among you as he that serveth”. Luke 22:27. Whatever I can I will do, that is the principle for a servant, and Samuel has a wide range of ability here and evidently the people understood.
Rem We would be particularly thankful for such elements as that to be found among us in view of the fact that any desire or exercise to move collectively in matters draws the attention of the enemy. “When the Philistines heard that the children of Israel were gathered together to Mizpeh, the lords of the Philistines went up against Israel”. They did not regard as a small matter the saints moving together on collective lines.
JT This movement of God we have part in now is apparently outwardly small, but the lords of the Philistines heard of it a hundred years ago and have been active ever since. The great comfort about Samuel is that his ministry was effective all the days of his life, it did not break down. It is a very effective ministry, rising up, you might say, to the ministry of Christ, and what is to be noticed is, I think, that the saints understand; they understand what is available to them in the ministry. They do not ask him to gird on his sword; David would do that, but Samuel’s service is prayer, so they knew what he could do.
Ques What does the Philistine represent to us?
JT Well, the big man, the religious man in the land, in the same position as ourselves outwardly, but he is secretly against us. It is that kind of thing.
[p. 144] Rem It is a great thing to recognise the man whom God is with.
JT Quite so, and the saints here understood what Samuel could do; they did not ask him to gird on his sword. They asked him to do what they knew he could do: they asked him to pray for them, which he did. That was the thing he did when they rejected him. He said, “God forbid that I should sin against the Lord in ceasing to pray for you”. 1 Samuel 12:23.
Rem That suggests a man of prayer.
JT Quite so.
Rem Do you mean the spirit of judgeship would know what was required at any given juncture? He could take the sword when required and slay Agag.
JT That is good. I believe that with any ministry that God raises up, He gives discernment as to what is needed, the battleground on which it can be carried on. Mizpeh is a selected spot, the saints are there, and he is judging there. Now the saints understand what is in this man, and they use it — why not? After all, “Ourselves your servants for Jesus’ sake”, 2 Corinthians 4:5 whether it was Paul or Apollos or Cephas, all was for the service of the saints. Why not use them? Of course you have to remember they are men, but still, that is the position — use them aright.
Ques Do you think, “prepared unto every good work” 2 Timothy 2:21 would be the way all-round efficiency is arrived at?
JT Exactly. Let no one say, I am a specialist; there is nothing of that kind in Scripture. Not that a man may not be that in effect, but he does not take that ground; he is an all-round man. The Lord said, “I am among you as he that serveth”. Luke 22:27. He was known among the brethren as One who served. It is wonderful to think what the Lord would do.
If He will wash the disciples’ feet what will He not do? Think of the Lord Jesus ready to do that!
Ques How would the opposition of the Philistines show itself today?
JT One thing about them is they are big men, another is they pride themselves: if they have ancestry, they will tell you about it; if they have money, they will tell you about it. Anything that gives man a place, they will make a show of it; they do not hide it — that is another thing. You will find that in yourself; I find it in myself, how ready I am to bring out any little thing that adds to me as a man here.
Ques Would the antidote to that be drawing the water, as the people did here, speaking of the Spirit and the ministry?
JT Alluding to verse 6? Of course it is a type of themselves, they poured it out before Jehovah. I suppose it would mean that, as far as we are concerned, the water would be lost entirely in oblivion. It says in 2 Samuel 14, it cannot be gathered up again; it does not say that here. I think there is a thought of resurrection in it, that it can be gathered up again, what seems to disappear in the earth can be gathered up again. God will see to that. I think there is some little light in what they do here. A man goes down and is buried; as the infidels would say, he just returns to dust. Scripture says that too. What about his identity? I think there is a reference here to the fact that it can be gathered up, though there is not much said about it.
PL Would it be gathered up in the savour of the burnt offering, the sucking lamb?
JT That brings out what we are saying: it is the whole idea, and that runs through. The passover is the great sacrificial thought and what is stressed in it is, “A bone of him shall not be broken”. John 19:36. Taken up in John’s gospel, we see that the whole thought [p. 146] goes through; God will give it a body, God will cover it. So it is parallel with Joseph’s bones mentioned in the next chapter in Exodus, the identity of the person going right through; in Christ all is gathered up, believers are all in Christ, “In Christ shall all be made alive”. 1 Corinthians 15:22.
Ques It says they poured it out before Jehovah, would that show they had faith in Jehovah?
JT I think there is that element there, though not stressed. After all, what is conversion or anything, aside from being gathered up, taken up in Christ?
Ques Do you think we should be likely to appreciate the sucking lamb as a whole burnt offering if we had not come to the realisation of our powerlessness as suggested in the water poured out? Is not one, so to speak, a corollary of the other?
JT It seems so. It seems that the light comes in in the work of God in the people discerning what is in Samuel, that he would pray for them; that would bring in the power of God. Then the whole idea in such an attractive way, a sucking lamb, what is dependent, so beautifully typical of Christ who was cast on God from the very outset of His being here below; the whole thought carried through, all delightful from the outset and now in heaven, all is gathered up in Him.
PL So that, as you say, self-judgment would be valueless if it were not gathered up. In the great penitential psalm, the 51st, David pours out his soul and finishes up with the whole burnt-offering.
JT Yes, and Zion comes in at the end too.
Rem So that Samuel’s judging would be for the preservation of what is of God as much as the discerning of what is not.
JT Quite so, the judging would mean that God is to have us apart from all that naughtiness of will.
[p. 147] P L. So that the keeping of the feast of unleavened bread of sincerity and truth in Corinthians is to enable us to merge in the vessel which is one entity and which is going through, the assembly.
JT “Purge out the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump” — there is the one idea — “according as ye are unleavened”. 1 Corinthians 5:7. There is the abstract idea — a remarkable thing that in the mind of God we are unleavened. But the judging would mean that all that is contrary to what we are abstractly before God is dealt with; it is all extraneous, and if it appear in our ways, it is a service to us if one calls attention to it, and let us have done with it.
Ques Is there not a suggestion in the first thought of being saved out of the hands of the Philistines? Samuel prayed for that, but later the people asked for it. Was his judgeship and ministry to bring the people round to what was hindering them?
JT I think so. The whole position became clear to them after Jehovah thunders. “The men of Israel”, it says: now they are men, they have developed into that. “The men of Israel went out of Mizpeh, and pursued the Philistines, and smote them, until they came under Beth-car”. That is the idea of making a finished matter of it. God has done wonderfully, but then He will bring us into what He is doing; that is really the essence of the whole position that God brings us into what He is doing, and anything we can do, let us do it. He could have done all this Himself, but He did not, the men of Israel must be brought into it.
Ques Is Samuel’s movement an answer to the movement of the people? The people poured out the water and Samuel offered the burnt-offering.
JT I think that is right; it is the positive side; all is gathered up in Christ, one whole thought, and God, taking that on, thunders on what is contrary; He is against what is contrary, the big man, but then [p. 148] He leaves some of it to us. I have to gird on my armour and get my sword and finish the matter — which they did. You find later, in Saul’s case, in the great battle with the Philistines, Jonathan was used and the matter was not finished. The reason was, as Jonathan pointed out, they did not get food; Saul in his folly forbade them to take anything, and Jonathan points out that if they took the honey the matter would be finished.
Ques Will you say a little more as to the distinction between “the children of Israel” in verse 8, and “the men of Israel” in verse 11?
JT I thought it is a very remarkable way of putting it — “the men of Israel”. The Lord speaks of “the men whom thou gavest me” John 17:6 and we read of David’s men and the men of Hezekiah, and so on. It alludes to the progress that has been made; the men of Israel went out; they are not sent out. Manhood means you are coming into the thing.
Rem Do you think there is a tendency, if the enemy recedes a little, to give up and not pursue? Pursuing suggests energy in following up the matter to a conclusion.
JT Quite so, “Faint yet pursuing” Judges 8:4, you will finish the matter; and that works out in many ways amongst us. You may say, There is nobody in this meeting who can preach or teach; we are in a poor way. But then we are all called into the matter. God is working, and if a thing has to be done I will do it, and if I take up that line God will help me, things will be done.
PL “I have not found thy works perfect”. Revelation 3:2.
JT Quite so.
Ques In following things up like that should we look to secure something positive as well? The cities were restored to Israel.
JT That is the next thing. The next paragraph begins with verse 12, but it is well to notice what [p. 149] these men did without being told. People say, It is not my business. If there is something to be done and you cannot do it, the thing is to ask God to help you to do it, and it will be done. That word ‘Beth- car’ has some meaning in relation to knowledge, I think, so the full idea of intelligence is brought into it.
Ques Would you say that the fact that they went out of Mizpeh without being told is the result of Samuel’s judging there, so that the brethren know what to do without specific instructions?
JT Exactly, they are set up as men. After the Lord’s supper they sang a hymn. It does not say the Lord told them what to do, they knew what to do. If there be a heart for things the Lord loves to allow us to do things.
AJG Does this exercise promote manhood?
JT I think that is the idea, to promote manhood in the brethren, as it is said of the early christians, “They persevered in the teaching and fellowship of the apostles”. Acts 2:42. And they went beyond Beth-car — they smote them as far as below Beth-car.
Ques What are we to understand by this direct action of Jehovah as preceding the men smiting?
JT I think it is His delight in the whole burnt-offering. The meaning is that the lamb is defenceless; it is what God would delight in, and what God delights in He defends; the people come in under that. And it goes on to say, “Samuel cried to Jehovah for Israel, and Jehovah answered him ... . And Jehovah thundered with a great thunder on that day upon the Philistines, and discomfited them; and they were routed before Israel”. And then this verse 11 shows that the people are now men, they are working with God. We are all called into it, to be workers with God, and that is the idea, I think.
PL Have you something as to this in regard to the beginning of the Acts? The Lord’s going up to [p. 150] heaven in the savour of the burnt-offering, His precious death, and then the Spirit’s coming down in power, and the ministry of the twelve; is that a routing before Israel? Would Stephen, and finally Paul, be amongst the men of Israel who followed up?
JT Yes, and the scattered saints are a very remarkable illustration; they had no commission at all, they were scattered at the time of Stephen’s death, but they went and preached; they forced God an entrance into the enemy’s territory as far as Antioch. But it says, “Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord”: Acts 9:1 that is a terrible state of things, and yet they are out at Antioch preaching the gospel, and Philip was in the wilderness and comes as far as Caesarea, a great result in those who had no commission at all, but they are acting in spite of persecution. Then the Lord takes the matter up and straightens the whole line, He brings down Saul of Tarsus; then, we are told, the assemblies in all these positions had peace; there was a forward movement.
JR Does the enemy appear to move in a wrong moment here as to his advantage? “As Samuel was offering up the burnt-offering, the Philistines drew near to battle against Israel”.
JT Quite so. Saul is yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter, but the Lord waited till he got near Damascus where the work was going on, and brought him down; he is brought back to Jerusalem and introduced to the apostles.
AJG All this follows on the exercise arrived at previously to serve Jehovah only; it is God now operating as a result of what is arrived at by His people.
JT I am sure that is the leading thought, to serve Jehovah only. “A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways” James 1:8; you really never reach christianity spiritually if you are double-minded.
HL [p. 151] And they did not take the credit to themselves. “Hitherto hath the Lord helped us”. Is that a good conclusion?
JT Quite so, it is a landmark really. “Samuel took a stone, and set it between Mizpeh and Shen, and called the name of it Eben-ezer, saying, Hitherto hath the Lord helped us”. And then it says, “So the Philistines were subdued, and they came no more into the coast of Israel”, so that the position is very clear, there is a complete victory; the territory is secured.
AJG Does this word ‘hitherto’ involve that Samuel had in mind they would go yet further? God had helped them to that point, but they were to move still further.
JT Quite so, not settling down on their lees; so real judgeship is seen there. He does not sit down as after a great victory, he is moving every year. He “judged Israel all the days of his life. And he went from year to year in circuit to Beth-el, and Gilgal, and Mizpeh, and judged Israel in all those places. And his return was to Ramah; for there was his house; and there he judged Israel; and there he built an altar unto the Lord”. It is a life-size picture of Samuel.
PL And does “year by year” suggest that God is, so to speak, continually unfolding fresh phases of the truth to us, so that the sieve gets smaller and the standard more searching? What He allowed one year He would not the next, would He?
JT That is what has happened amongst us; the Lord seems to be making things clear; customs and practices which were accepted as right years back we do not accept now, because the judgment is there, I hope.
AJG And would this going round in circuits to Beth-el and Gilgal and Mizpeh mean that standards [p. 152] of truth have to be continually reasserted and the judgments relating to them?
JT Very good. Elijah and Elisha carried on this thought of going from one point to another.
AAG Do these years answer to the early years of Samuel’s life when year by year his mother brought him a little coat, indicating growth and the need of adjustment continually?
JT Yes, she would recognise that Samuel was growing.
AAG I thought he was conscious of having learnt that principle in himself and he sees the need of it in the people.
JT I believe that is the secret of so much weakness with us that the young amongst us have not had these early experiences. We need to look back and ask ourselves, How have I got on? Do I look at things as I did last year?
PL Stock-taking in that way. Would the circuit be completed exercise, no loophole left?
JT It may be a sort of allusion to love’s sphere. The Lord looked round in a circuit on those who sat around Him, as if He were pleased with them.
PL Yes, and the judicial service here is to encircle the saints with light and help and not to scatter them.
JT I suppose, as he came round to Beth-el, which is mentioned first, he would raise the whole question as to what was suitable to the house of God, as Paul does to Timothy. “That thou mayest know how one ought to conduct oneself in God’s house”. 1 Timothy 3:15. How are matters in that relation? Is there any joy for the young people to hold them, to attract them? If our conditions are kept right, there will be something to make the meetings attractive for young people, music and dancing, and other things too. Samuel would raise questions every time he came as to anything that might be out of the way.
PL Would he start at the top: “A habitation of God in the Spirit”, Ephesians 2:22 as in Ephesians; and then the Colossian aspect, in Gilgal and in Mizpeh coming down to Corinthians?
JT Yes.
Ques. What about Ramah?
JT Well, that is Samuel’s own abode, alluding to moral elevation, I think. The two who followed the Lord said, “Rabbi ... where abidest thou?”. He said, “Come and see”. John 1:38,39. I suppose Samuel would be ready for any Israelite to come and see him.
Ques Is that suggestive of the ministry being maintained at its height?
JT You ought to see ministry at its height in Ramah.
PL Paul spoke of “my ways as they are in Christ”. 1 Corinthians 4:17. When Samuel went to Bethlehem they trembled.
JT It is a good thing to fear if things are not right.
Ques Are we not made to feel that the nearer we get to the light the more we must be prepared for discipline?
JT I think so. We have sidelights on Samuel’s visits. People are invited as if they are to have a happy time; the maidens know all about it, they are not occupied with social affairs, but with spiritual affairs. They know all about the man of God in the town, what he does: he blesses the sacrifice, and then they have thirty people invited.
Rem Samuel honoured Jehovah and then he was able to build an altar unto Jehovah.
JT Yes, that is another thing. But it is nice to see how he comes in and how a happy state of things is promoted; for our meetings are not much marked by spiritual happiness. But he goes to Bethlehem and things are different: they feared [p. 154] him.
PL The fact that he had to bring the heifer with him suggests the feminine side, as seen with the young women in Scripture.
JT Very good. That gives character to David’s anointing too; so if Christ has not His place, as was the case in Jesse’s house, we have good reason to fear.
Ques Would Ramah suggest that his house was in keeping with the house of God?
JT I think that is the way the thing would work out. I suppose the place where he resides is abstractly the assembly; that is where you would go for right thoughts and principles; you would see them concretely there. It is better to go and see them than to be taught them. So that there was not only that, but there was worship; there he built an altar to Jehovah, he judged Israel there too; that means you can go there, and if you go to Samuel’s abode, you must be judged on those principles that marked his place.
Rem Something like Deborah — they came to her for judgment.
JT Quite so. We learn as to Samuel’s place, Naioth and Ramah, as mentioned later (1 Samuel 19), what powerful influence there was: even Saul is brought down by the prophetic ministry.
Rem Does it suggest that Samuel had living conditions outside his service? While he was available in his own place to judge Israel, his actual living conditions were in relation to God and his approach there.
JT I think that is good. Every servant’s house ought to be available to the brethren in so far as possible. He should entertain, for his house should be a testimony where what is right may be learnt.
PL Like Paul receiving every one, and the altar [p. 155] there.
JT Exactly, in his own hired house; he had full rights there.
Rem You would expect the people who came to Paul at the end of the Acts would not only receive ministry from him, but they would hear him pray.
JT Quite.
Rem A little like the Lord Himself retiring to the mount of Olives at night time and coming back from that standpoint to minister in the temple.
JT And that word in Mark 2:1 “He entered again into Capernaum after several days, and it was reported that he was at the house”; the expression “at the house” may be rendered ‘at home’. There is no doubt He had a dwelling-place in Capernaum. According to Matthew, He left Nazareth and came to Capernaum; and Mark says He was at home; but there was abundant liberty for anybody. They broke through the roof to get to Him. So no servant is to be a recluse. What a man is in his house ought to be a testimony.
Rem In that connection another scripture says He had not where to lay His head.
JT That is to be taken in its own setting. We know He had a place in Bethany where He was loved.
Ques Would you distinguish between the judgment in a circuit in these localities and then the judgment in his house?
JT I should. I should look for something special in Samuel’s house where was his home, where he has full rights.
Ques Would the first have more reference to us in our own particular localities?
JT I think so.
PL Would not this, “in his own house” bear also on the recent measuring line the Lord is supplying in ministry in view of the service of God; the building of the altar following this judging of Israel [p. 156] in Ramah? Would it not be the upward trend in view and the raising, as you were pointing out, of moral questions pre-eminently with the saints?
JT Surely God must be the ultimate end of everything. God is supreme with Samuel, and Samuel is on sacrificial lines; not only that, in a general way, he served God only, but he was sacrificial in it; the altar means that.
PL “Jesus ... lifted up his eyes to heaven and said, Father”. John 17:1. Is that like the altar in his own house?
JT Yes.
Rem He is not living in his own service; there is something greater than that.