⬇ EPUB

“OUR YOUNG”

N. J. Henry

Although this scripture does not say that Samuel had closed these doors, I think it would be a word to us that right instincts were marking this young lad. Evidently Eli had poor regard for the house of Jehovah, but Samuel no doubt was growing in his instincts for shutting out what was not suitable to the house of God, and to opening the doors to let what God desired to function come in. I think it is a fine thing when you see that in young people, that feature appearing, instincts that have a regard for the house of God. Samuel was the product of a praying woman. Hannah did not give him to Eli exactly, but he was given to Jehovah for all the days of his life (1 Samuel l: l1). You can be assured that she continued praying; she was that type of woman. Although most of what attaches to us lies in what is sovereign, I think that more and more we can affect what develops in the young people, rightly or otherwise. It may be that an uncommitted moment or period in one’s life might damage young people; that can happen. Hannah had God’s view of what was required for the situation and she prayed for a son. She received a man child, and you can be assured that she kept praying; she never left her knees; and that comes out in right instincts in Samuel. We are looking for these instincts and I know they appear; thank God they do appear. That rejoices our hearts, when right instincts come out in our young people.

Eli is there in contrast; he is a very sad case. Eli is viewed as lazy and slothful—he is either sitting at the doorpost (1 Samuel l: 9), or lying

down (1 Samuel 3: 2), or he is sitting at the gate (1 Samuel 4: 13). He is lethargic. If he had been more active he would have actually witnessed what his sons were doing, instead of the report being given to him. He did not know what was happening, otherwise he would have seen the way his sons were acting with the sacrifices that were for Jehovah. Evidently his eyes failed later (1 Samuel 3: 2) as the prophet intimated in chapter 2. In fact there is very little positive said about Eli, which is sad, and what comes out as to his sons is that they are called sons of Belial (1 Samuel 2: 12). They represent a certain personification, I think, of evil. That is the suggestion in sons of Belial, that a certain character of evil becomes fixed. The sentence on Eli’s family is grave.

When it comes down to our own locality, every young one belongs to us. That is the feeling we should have. God loved the outlook of the heart of Moses when the god of this world, Pharaoh, made his claim. Moses puts the priority on the young, he says, “We will go with our young and with our old”, Exodus 10: 9. You see, they could take the people to be active in the service. That is what Pharaoh says, Take the men and go. Moses says, No, “with our young and with our old, with our sons and with our daughters”. That should be the spirit in our heart, the longings in our hearts; the young belong to us, all of them. You look at each one and you view him (or her) as your own child. That is what God means us to do. God looked at Israel and said, “I ... brought up children”, Isaiah 1: 2. He made them His own.

These are the feelings of God. He made Moses and other servants of God to show these feelings, as if it were their own sons they were dealing with. It is a matter of taking the thing to heart, so that we provide prayerful conditions. As I said, it could be a lack of committal at a point, or maybe a period, that stumbles a young person.

We have not always influenced them as they should be in the instincts that God would be looking for. He would love to see Samuel, I think, opening these doors. There was something set out in Samuel that He loved and that should continue. In Acts it says, “And indeed all the prophets from Samuel and those in succession after him” (Acts 3: 24). It was not going to disappear. Something was going to appear in Samuel that was going to continue in succession after him. I think that is beautiful. God loved these instinctive features that would open the doors of the house of Jehovah—that would shut out what should not come in, but have regard for the presence of God, and keep it available for every heart that wants it. Those are the instincts that we have got to pray for, that we have got to nurture in the young. We have a lot of young, thank God. We want to have His estimation of them in our hearts and prayers. May we be helped in our influence with them, that they may be all preserved in the testimony, for His name’s sake.

Word in meeting for ministry, Glasgow
11 December 1990

← Previous 5 of 6 Next →