PRIESTHOOD IN THE BOOKS OF SAMUEL (1)
[p. 37] PRIESTHOOD IN THE BOOKS OF SAMUEL (1)
1 Samuel 1: 9 - 28; 1 Samuel 3: 10 - 21
JT What is in view in this reading is priesthood, that we may see how it develops informally and unofficially, first in Hannah, that is, a sister, and then in Samuel, corresponding with the gospel of Luke. In the Lord’s own case priesthood was there in Him while on earth, only not officially; so that in the epistle to the Romans as applied to christians it also develops unofficially. The intent at the moment is that the younger ones here may see that priesthood attaches to them as to each of us. The principle is there from the time we are born again, but specially so as we know redemption and have the Spirit. No one should assume that it belongs to the elder brethren only, it belongs to all, and it shows itself, as it showed itself here in Hannah. It arises as the need of it exists, and what is seen is that collaterally with the working out of priesthood in the genuine believer, there is the overthrow of it in those who pretend to be priests and who are not, but who have the official place of priests; the genuine thing appearing in however small a measure exposes what is unreal and merely official. That is how the work of God has proceeded during the past one hundred years or more. Of course, it was how it proceeded in the Lord’s own case, as we remarked, and how it proceeded in early christians.
Ques Is the unofficial line introduced as the official breaks down?
JT Well, that is what appears here. We first get the account of Elkanah, who he was; it says he was an Ephrathite. Although a Levite, he evidently took on a local character; although properly Levites are universal in their setting, not local. It is said he had two wives. Then we are told that the [p. 38] two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, the priests of Jehovah, were at Shiloh, that is, attention is called to these two profligate priests. Elkanah apparently had no exercise about this position. Nor had Peninnah, one of his wives, but Hannah had, and though she does not criticise what existed (which was a right and seemly attitude), yet she is concerned about a man-child, and that he should be for the house of the Lord. Often we have exercises which we are not intelligent about in regard to the whole bearing of them, but God is behind them. He had in mind here to displace Hophni and Phinehas, but He is not doing it arbitrarily, nor creating a void in doing it. He is bringing in another — Samuel — although not of the sons of Aaron, but merely a Levite, yet he was to exercise priesthood. That is what God had in mind, and as we pursue the book we shall see that it works out also in David, who took on the priesthood unofficially. It comes out first in this woman, and that is what is so helpful as showing how it now applies to brothers and sisters alike.
Ques Is it not a principle that recurs frequently in Scripture that recovery comes through a woman?
JT Well, it is a principle; “by man came death”, we are told, “by man came also the resurrection of the dead”. The evil began with the woman, but then at the beginning she is covered in the word man, and it was in her that recovery was intimated, that is, she was the mother, her seed should bruise the serpent’s head. Adam quickly discerns that, so he calls her the mother of all living; instead of the mother of all dying, Eve is the mother of all living; so you get it running through where God works. It is the underlying state that is in view where you get the feminine side introduced. The birth of a female child brought in more sense of uncleanness than the birth of a male, but that does not reflect on the sex; it is more the state of humanity that is in mind. We have to view [p. 39] humanity as in this state, the seething character of sin in it, but we have also to view it in the male, meaning the idea of supremacy in government or headship. Anything of that kind, instead of promoting sin, tends to limit it, hence the great importance of authorities now. Whatever their motives, they tend to check evil. So with the woman it is a question of state, and that is what is in mind here in Hannah.
The state was bad in Israel, but Hannah represents the opposite of that, and therefore the allusion is to the work of God. There can be nothing at all for God save as He begins to work again, and that is implied in the new birth. He begins again and affects us throughout, and the instinct attaching to that works, however unintelligently, in relation to what is needed in the world; what is needed for God.
Ques Is it not important that this desire is accompanied by a vow as to what is required for the Lord?
JT That is so, the person means what he says; he has a purpose.
Rem It was in connection with the interests of God that the vow was made.
JT It really implies that there is nothing in man to be relied upon save on that principle. “When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer not to pay it; for he hath no pleasure in fools” (Ecclesiastes 5: 4). It is to bring out sincerity, and you can only get sincerity in relation to the work of God; that begins with new birth.
Ques Would that impress our hearts with the great resources God has in Himself to effect His thoughts?
JT Yes, it is the work of God taking form in any one in this wicked world. The point in this chapter to begin with is the state of things in the house of God, and even in Eli himself. More is said later on, but the actual state of things is here in these two men, Hophni and Phinehas; then there is Elkanah’s [p. 40] other wife, so persecuting in her spirit. If the work of God is taking form in a soul amid those conditions, that soul is sure to suffer. Yet the work of God is true to itself, for instead of Hannah being overwhelmed in the suffering and in all the circumstances, she has recourse to God. She acknowledges her own weakness. Indeed God Himself limited this woman, but only to bring out what was of Himself in her. Limitations may seem to be against us, but in truth they are to bring out what God has effected in us. So that the limitations causing the grief, the constant grief of soul in Hannah, led to this remarkable priestly movement in her heart. She prayed in her heart; she speaks in her heart, only her lips moved; she made no pretension. It was the outcome of what God had effected in her soul and she was true to that; however unintelligently. It worked out in relation to itself, for the work of God is the work of God and it gives an account of itself however bad the circumstances. We can see this principle illustrated more fully in the gospel of John where the man who was blind from his birth had his eyes opened. It was that the works of God should be manifested — not man’s works, but “the works of God”.
Ques Would you say that God answers the breakdown publicly by an inward work which is according to Himself, bringing it out in His time?
JT That is right. It is unseen to begin with, but He creates the circumstances around it that are calculated to enhance it; first what apparently are limitations, but which result only in bringing out what the work is.
Ques Do you think that should encourage us in prayer and general exercise?
JT Well, young people are prone to put things on others, instead of taking on responsibility. But the work of God is begun in them, and it is true to [p. 41] itself and should be given scope. It is the same character as the work of God in Paul and in the most spiritual brother today. It is only a question of measure. So the Lord’s word as to this man in John 9 is that neither did his parents sin nor he, but that the works of God should be manifested in him. You may say, Well, I can understand that in Paul, a man so much used of God; but it is not God’s thought to limit it, for it applies to any christian, any believer, God having taken him up sovereignly. He has in mind that His works should be manifested in him, and the sequel in this instance showed how true the man was to the work of God in him. It led him outside; he was cast out; the procedure brought him side by side with Christ; he was owned of Christ and to him Christ revealed Himself as the Son of God. So Hannah is limited by God, but the limitation is to bring out what He had in mind for her — this principle of priesthood. Hence we are told in the first paragraph we read, that she rose up after they had eaten in Shiloh, and after they had drunk; and then immediately it says, Eli the priest sat upon the seat by the doorpost of the temple of Jehovah.
Thus the position is made clear both as regards Hannah’s husband and as regards her rival Peninnah, and as regards Hophni and Phinehas, and now Eli is brought into view and what is said is that he “sat upon the seat by the doorpost of the temple of Jehovah”. You do not get anything about a seat in the temple earlier in this sense, and certainly not in the wilderness, there was nothing of it in the pattern given to Moses on the mount. It was an innovation, and an innovation to meet the laziness of the priest, for the priest was to stand in the house of the Lord, to stand even “by night”. So that this is another feature brought into this picture in order that we might see the necessity of priesthood. The youngest christian here as looking round in christendom [p. 42] should see that the bearing of the work of God in him is not only to overcome what is in himself that is contrary to God, but as he proceeds (this is a salient point in the book), he is to see also how the positive thing, what is of God in itself, working out, overthrows what is merely spurious.
The Scripture goes on to say that Hannah “was in bitterness of soul, and prayed to Jehovah, and wept much. And she vowed a vow, and said, O Jehovah of hosts, if thou wilt indeed look on the affliction of thy handmaid, and remember me, and not forget thy handmaid, but wilt give unto thy handmaid a man child, then I will give him to Jehovah all the days of his life, and there shall no razor come upon his head”. Now that is a most intelligent prayer, the first one we get from her, it is uttered with the utmost seemliness, uttered in her heart. God searches the heart, and we have the Holy Spirit recording what she said in her heart, only her lips moved. I think that a consideration of this should afford light to every young person here, brother and sister alike, as to this great matter of priesthood showing itself in the expression of need which we surely have if we are subjects of the work of God.
Rem What does this great thought of priesthood mean, when it is reached?
JT Well, it began here with prayer. When one prays, he is a priest: it works out further, of course, in the service of God, that is in worship. Even Eli is brought into the worship of God here, evidently through the influence of Hannah, showing what influence a real priest has. That is what I was thinking of, and in the next chapter it says she prayed, but there is not a word really of prayer in this wonderful production of chapter 2. It is a question of worship such as in the case of the apostle Paul and Silas in prison; in prayer they praised; it is a development, we progress in it.
[p. 43] Rem Although we are sons, we should approach God in a priestly manner.
JT Well, that is the ground upon which it is worked out doctrinally. In the New Testament we are all sons and priests. We are priests as subjects of the work of God; it is a question of spiritual instincts.
Rem That is helpful, as a son I am born, as a priest I am made.
JT In Scripture, birth is never connected with us as sons, as far as I see. Birth applies to Christ as a Son (Psalm 2: 7); but we are brought into sonship on the principle of adoption; as children we are born. At the same time the idea of new birth necessarily underlies the whole position.
Rem So the principle of priesthood is there at the inception of the work of God in our souls.
JT Yes, that is the thought, the thing shows itself. God loves to see His own work show itself. The Lord in Matthew’s gospel stresses the thought of prayer and points out the habits of the merely official priest who loves to stand up and make long prayers. He says, “when thou prayest, enter into thy chamber, and having shut thy door, pray to thy Father who is in secret; and thy Father who sees in secret will render it to thee” (Matthew 6: 6). That is an excellent word for all young christians — to go in for secret prayer; pray in secret, and He will reward you openly; you come out dignified, your face will shine.
Rem So it starts with the thought that everyone can take up — prayer in secret.
JT Yes; you can see how this woman took it up.
Ques Had she discovered what was lacking Godward?
JT I think so. She would not be critical; in the ordinary sense persons who are born of God characteristically are not given to mere criticism; the [p. 44] flesh is given to criticism. The work of God shows itself in a positive way, not first pulling down, but building up. It is of God, you cannot dispute it. In due course godly criticism or judgment will come in, and there can be no doubt Hannah had an instinctive sense that things were not right. You can read that between the lines, but it is not so stated; because seemliness is a great point, especially in sisters, but the first thing is that you have something positive. Hannah was genuinely affected, but Eli thought it was drunkenness; he was like the onlookers at Pentecost. They thought that the blessed fruit of the Spirit was just drunkenness, which Peter exposes, and ridicules; so here, Eli is misjudging Hannah, but she is a true priest.
Ques You referred to the Holy Spirit in reference to priesthood: would there necessarily be some appreciation of the work of the Spirit in a soul?
JT The epistle to the Romans helps, as I was remarking, as to how it develops in a christian, working out in chapter 12, where he is to present his body a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is his intelligent service. That is, the full thought of priesthood is intelligent service. The thought begins in chapter 1: 4 in the Lord raising the dead. It speaks of His being marked out Son of God in power by the Spirit of holiness. The Spirit of holiness is one thread running through the epistle, and intelligence goes with it. All is the outcome of this; the Spirit is introduced in chapter 5 as shedding abroad in our hearts the love of God, so that one is a priest feelingly. I think Hannah must have shown deep emotion, that the priest should think she was drunk. He may have alluded to the movement of her lips, but there must have been deep feeling there. I think the Lord loves that, that you are in earnest.
Rem “Be not drunk with wine, in which is debauchery; but be filled with the Spirit” (Ephesians 5: 18). Wine seems [p. 45] to be constantly brought forward in contrast to the Spirit, does it not?
JT Yes, it is sometimes symbolical of the Spirit, but Hannah does not use the wine herself. She brought a bottle of wine into the house of God. That is a spiritual thought, it is that which stimulates spiritually, and of course that is the Holy Spirit, the new wine in the new bottles.
Rem It is the work of God in souls, and is God’s way to give an answer to Satan’s imitation.
JT Yes, it works out in the overthrow of all that is spurious. It specially enters into the whole work of God during the last hundred years. Of course it was always present from Pentecost, but it has worked out remarkably in our own times, the unofficial priesthood manifesting itself and overthrowing, by showing its superiority, what is spurious, so that it is not merely a question of bringing things down doctrinally, but showing the real thing.
Ques Does chapter 2: 35 help, “And I will raise up for myself a faithful priest, who shall do according to what is in my heart and in my mind; and I will build him a sure house; and he shall walk before mine anointed continually”? Is that the full development?
JT That is the development of it. The third chapter is God coming in and drawing attention to the thing from His point of view. First in chapter 2:27 by an unnamed man of God, as you will observe, meaning that it is someone of that character. Then the man in whom the idea of priesthood is to be set out — Samuel — gets his first direct word from God; it is in relation to Eli’s priesthood, and the overthrow of it. The true priesthood is thus becoming intelligent as to what is there; so that the way it works out, as I said, is that it exposes what is merely imitative. Then you get the doctrine covering that. As a result you have the wonderful teaching [p. 46] that we have had. We have the record now in writing and indeed it is going on. Here, chapter 3 brings that out, but before that you get the positive side seen in such a beautiful way in this woman, first in the expression of deep need, and then in the answer to it. The result of it is seen in worship to God, and it brings out worship even in the priest Eli; and then in the prayer here. The spirit of prayer develops into praise; for Hannah’s prayer in chapter 2 is really a celebration. It says:”Hannah prayed, and said, My heart exulteth in Jehovah, my horn is lifted up in Jehovah; my mouth is opened wide over mine enemies; for I rejoice in thy salvation. There is none holy as Jehovah, for there is none beside thee, neither is there any rock like our God”.
Ques Malachi 2: 7 says, “the priest’s lips should keep knowledge”. Is that expressed in Hannah in the work of God in her soul?
JT Quite so. You see how much is said of that very thing here. She goes on to say in verse 3: “For Jehovah is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed. The bow of the mighty is broken, and they that stumbled are girded with strength”. Then, in verse 8: “He raiseth up the poor out of the dust; from the dung-hill he lifteth up the needy, to set him among nobles; and he maketh them inherit a throne of glory; For the pillars of the earth are Jehovah’s, and he hath set the world upon them. He keepeth the feet of his saints, but the wicked are silenced in darkness; for by strength shall no man prevail. They that strive with Jehovah shall be broken to pieces; in the heavens will he thunder upon them. Jehovah will judge the ends of the earth; and he will give strength unto his king, and exalt the horn of his anointed”.
[p. 47] It is a wonderful expression at that time of spiritual intelligence, working out to the position of the universe; as we may say: “the pillars of the earth are Jehovah’s, and he hath set the world upon them”. Hebrews 11: 3 says, “By faith we apprehend that the worlds were framed by the word of God”. I think it is an immense encouragement that the young may begin in this way. How quickly you develop not only into priesthood, but into praise; not only in prayer, but in praise and in intelligence. Scripture speaks of our “intelligent service”. You know what you are saying and doing.
Rem This could not be reached by occupation with what is spurious, the intensity of the exercise is passed through in relation to what is positive.
JT That is what I was thinking, He brings in the positive, and then in the most effective way breaks down what is spurious. I think that is what is going on now. The whole of the hierarchy has been undermined; they do not admit it, of course, but it is true; the undermining is going on.
Rem Did not the testimony of the blind man in John 9 leave it in that condition?
JT The whole position was morally exposed by what happened and hence the Lord is now free to bring Himself forward as the Son of God, to bring in another order of things. From that point in John you get a new system of things developed. In John 9 the Lord introduces Himself as the Son of God, to a man in whom the works of God are manifested, that is, the full thought of the work of God was there. It was when Jesus heard they had cast him out that He sought the man. He did not say a word to him when He opened his eyes, He waited till they had cast him out. This would bring out how the work of God is true to itself. The Lord watched the whole procedure, and when He heard that they had cast him out, He found him, as if to say, You are fit [p. 48] for another world. So He says to him, “dost thou believe on the Son of God?” And the man replies, “And who is he, Lord, that I may believe on him?” As much as to say, If only I knew I would believe. He is ready for the divine proposal. As you are ready for things, you get them. So the Lord says, “Thou hast both seen him, and he that speaks with thee is he. And he said, I believe, Lord; and he did him homage”.
Rem Hannah passed through exercises that would prepare her for a certain course, and it awakened in her heart yearnings in correspondence with the heart of God, enabling God to come in in that way.
JT Yes; the Spirit of God presents things as they were. Although Hannah might not have said to another, I would like to provide a priest for the house: yet instinctively that is what she had in mind, because she asked for a man-child, and she makes a vow that he was to be for the house of God. It is God causing things to fit through our exercises. One has often thought that if one did not know why one was asking for certain things, God knows. He knows and He is using what is happening in His own way.
Rem The thought of a man-child has in view the development of a man.
JT You have the idea stressed, emphasised, almost doubled as you might say in Revelation 12: 5; it says, a “male son” — a remarkable expression. God wants us to understand that He has something particular in His mind, so He doubles the idea, like Deborah, who is called a “woman prophetess”. He wishes to impress the idea upon us.
Ques Is God bringing in Christ characteristically?
JT That is in mind. He is the Priest whose house is to be built and we are the priesthood, the sure priesthood that is to stand; and it has therefore [p. 49] a great bearing as regards christendom, in the way God has undermined it, so that it is exposed. It does not admit it, but it has been exposed.
Rem So that this exercise is a necessary one, if God is to be served rightly.
JT Every young christian here ought to see that God has taken him up in this way, and that such circumstances as we have here indicate a divine procedure with him, they are part of his curriculum. One begins in this way with limitation, and his soul may cry out, Why is it so? Others have not these circumstances. Of course, one cannot be sure as to what others have, but this is the way God works. The evidence of the work of God is that there is a cry, and that is what is here.
Rem In that way what is spurious will be cast off, will it not?
JT Well, it is exposed. The most effective way to set a thing aside is to expose it, and you can only expose it by bringing in the real thing.
Rem The tendency is to bring the negative in first instead of the positive.
JT That is just what we ought to see; that there may be something of an official nature that is proved wanting and is to be set aside. But there is not to be a void; the idea is replacement, and that is what stands out so prominently in this dispensation, the superiority of christianity. Before judaism was formally set aside it was displaced morally.
Rem Would God take us up, old and young, with the desire that the same yearnings that are in His own heart might be found in some measure in ours?
JT Well, just so, the outcome of the work of God in you or in me is to meet the exigencies of the testimony; we are left down here in relation to the testimony and the work of God shows itself in that way, it is true to itself.
[p. 50] Rem I think that is most encouraging. I take it that the presentation of the truth of the position pulls down in oneself the power of what is around, and as the work of God becomes effective in the soul, one is able to stand by the testimony.
JT That is what comes out, and you see how this saint of God progresses in her own soul. Her husband says to her (verse 23), “Do what is good in thy sight”. She is set free from that side, being assured (verse 18) that her petitions have been heard. It says, “And the woman went her way, and did eat, and her countenance was no more as before”. That is, she has relief inwardly, she has assurance from God, and now her husband says to her, “Do what is good in thy sight: abide until thou hast weaned him; only, may Jehovah fulfil his word. And the woman abode, and gave her son suck until she weaned him. And she took him up with her when she had weaned him, with three bullocks, and one ephah of flour, and a flask of wine, and brought him to the house of Jehovah to Shiloh; and the boy was young. And they slaughtered the bullock, and brought the boy to Eli. And she said, Oh my lord, as thy soul liveth, my lord, I am the woman that stood by thee here to pray to Jehovah. For this boy I prayed; and Jehovah has granted me my petition which I asked of him. And also I have lent him to Jehovah: all the days that he lives, he is lent to Jehovah. And he worshipped Jehovah there”.
You can see what a powerful influence she had in this contribution in the house of God, there perhaps had not been a priest like her there; even Eli is affected. That is the way the work of God takes in us. We move on into priesthood in such a way that we influence the saints, we have power with them in the meetings; a young brother gets up and gives thanks or prays and the whole meeting is affected. One has often seen it, there is a freshness about it.
[p. 51] It is the development of freshness like the growth of a tree or flower, it is a beautiful thing, the working of life in that way.
Ques Why did she lend him and not give him?
JT At first (verse 11), she says, “I will give him”. In using the word “lent” in verse 28, I suppose she had in mind that she would not lose him. I mean that we do not lose each other, we are all bound up together. She prescribes that he is to be there, “all the days of his life”. He was to be lent to Jehovah, but the door is open for her to go up there. Lending a thing carries with it a claim on it, and God would know that; it was a link of love that God would delight in.
Rem So that one stands identified always with the work of God in us.
JT Quite so, there is a special link between Hannah and Samuel in the house of God, and God would recognise it. You may be sure that she was welcomed every time she went to Shiloh with the coat. There is nothing said of her taking her son back with her at any time.
Rem As you say, she does say in her prayer, “I will give him”.
JT She had no other thought. The word lend is for a particular purpose, to imply that we have a claim, and surely we have a claim on each other, viewing it spiritually we never lose each other. Her prayer in chapter 2 is a remarkable triumph, showing that she had no sense of loss. She is really linked up with the house of God herself in the fact that someone there is lent by her; she is linked with him, and this composition is a great permanent contribution to the treasury of God. The bullocks and the wine were for immediate use, but this celebration is abiding as a contribution to the house, it is here for us today. There were Levites appointed [p. 52] to look after such, and this is one of the things in the treasury of the house of God.
Rem As we pass through these exercises, we also come into the joy of the result that God has His portion.
JT Yes, I believe that is the idea of lending, you get a link there. Even Samuel himself did not contribute this. We have a list of contributors in the book of Chronicles; even Joab’s contributions and Saul’s contributions are mentioned. Hannah’s is one of the choicest productions in the treasury of God.
Rem Priesthood belongs to the house of God.
JT That is its place. The priest’s residence spiritually is the house of God, because, as we learn in Leviticus 8: 35, the priests were for seven days in the sanctuary to keep the charge of Jehovah, and that is typically our whole dispensation.
Rem It is very noticeable that the Spirit delights to record what springs from the women that God used — Deborah, Hannah, Mary, etc.
JT The Scriptures are full of it. “Holy women who have hoped in God heretofore”. Such women shine in the New Testament also.
Rem Indicative of the great value of our sisters in the assembly.
JT Well, it works out that way. But what is before us works out in a wider way; that is, to subjective conditions among the people of God; it certainly ought to be seen in the sisters, because they are, as it were, the static part of the assembly. They are to be silent, but then that does not mean that they are not reservoirs of spirituality, which is the idea in them.
Rem Is the subjective side more valuable to the testimony than the responsible element?
JT Well, what one always thinks of in visiting localities is what may be already there of God, and [p. 53] this enhances what may be given. In service we are to link on with what is in the place.
Rem I suppose in fact the two would be joined.
JT Yes, the male, in Scripture, is usually the responsible element, and it is supported by the volume of spirituality in the assembly, because the assembly is the residence of God — a wonderful thought, the dwelling-place of God. The Spirit, being there in the saints, must have an outlet, and 1 Corinthians regulates that, and the brothers only take audible part.
Rem I was thinking of Elkanah dwelling in a good place — at Ramah.
JT Yes, but was he equal to it? He is called an Ephrathite, he is too local, I think. A levite is universal in his service. The Levites were placed round about the tabernacle in the wilderness.
Rem Like Samuel being resident in the house, which is an important fact.
JT Quite so, that is what we get in chapters 2 and 3. First you get the boy in verse 11: “And the boy ministered to Jehovah in the presence of Eli the priest”. Then in verse 18: “And Samuel ministered before Jehovah, a boy girded with a linen ephod”. He is girded now with a linen ephod, which would mean that he has become sober; linen, tending to coolness, implies sobriety and balance. Although he did not yet know the Lord, these things are introduced as marks of development, and then it says in verse 26: “And the boy Samuel grew on”. There is nothing interfering, he is moving on and is in favour both with Jehovah and also with men.
Now that being so, a man comes to Eli and exposes from the mouth of God the terrible condition of his house, and then we are told in the beginning of chapter 3, “the boy Samuel ministered to Jehovah before Eli. And the word of Jehovah was rare in those days; a vision was not frequent”. That is [p. 54] to bring out the conditions, and then we are told in verse 10: “And Jehovah came, and stood, and called as at the other times, Samuel, Samuel!” Wonderful evidence of God’s interest in this boy! And of course it is not a mere historical matter, it speaks to every young person here tonight, for Scripture always speaks to us as we read it. It is for the person who reads it, and therefore it is a question of boys, of youth developing and how in due course God comes in and gives them enlightenment and understanding in all things. So the first thing here is that Samuel gets understanding about the false priesthood. It is exposed.
Rem Is there not a parallel in the account we have of the Lord when He was sitting before the doctors and answering questions? There was development of another order of man which would set aside what was there present, and then He grew in favour with God and man.
JT A very beautiful and exalted parallel. He was not yet criticising what was in the temple; he was sitting in the midst of the doctors, hearing and asking questions, and they were astonished at His understanding and answers. That is the positive thing — understanding and answers.
Rem In the first chapter we get the weaning mentioned four times; that is a development also, I suppose.
JT Yes, we should not pass over that, it means that the natural is being surrendered. Hannah surrendered all natural claim. Weaning means that the natural influence is given up; weaning is a great matter in Scripture; it is stressed in this chapter.
Ques Is there any thought in Samuel lying in the temple of Jehovah, where the ark of God was?
JT Well, the ark was there, but it was a peculiar posture for him to be in. Sleeping and sitting did not belong to the temple, but then they were there [p. 55] before he came into it. Like many of us; many christians are going on with the old system of things and its ways.
Rem I suppose it was because of what he saw in Eli that he was lying there.
JT You can understand that. It shows how young people follow the example set to them.
Ques Would not weaning time be when the spiritual becomes prominent with us?
JT When the natural is given up. Those that might have influenced you naturally have relinquished their rights, and set you on your own feet as a spiritual person. It is an important word for parents in view of their children. In due time you put them on their own feet in the assembly, giving them an understanding that the natural claim is gone. Sometimes brothers are hindered in the assembly, because their natural relatives are present. That shows that we have not been weaned; in the assembly we are just brothers and sisters spiritually. The spiritual thought supersedes the natural there.
Rem A man that is going on with God encourages the young to stand up, not to lie down.
JT Yes, in relation to the ark. You are not to lie there, you will be supported standing, the ark is the power of God and the glory of God, that is what comes out in this book.
Ques Would you suggest then that natural relationships should not be a hindrance to setting up the testimony in a locality?
JT No, they should not be. If weaning has had its place the natural would not hinder. It is because weaning has not had its place that the natural has been too much allowed.
Rem Yes, if it becomes a hindrance the natural is governing the spiritual.
JT It should never be allowed as a hindrance in principle. The word principle is expressive in these [p. 56] matters. You take up a principle and stand by it even if your feelings contradict it.
Rem God supports the principle.
JT Well, one of the great principles of God is weaning, it is a fixed one. If there are many persons in a place, whether naturally related or not, the thing is to go by the principle. The principle is that we are brothers and sisters in Christ, whatever we may be naturally, that is the principle and God will support it, and by prayer we move in relation to it, so that the natural does not hinder, and this is what is gained by weaning. The psalmist compares himself to a weaned child.
Ques When the Lord said, “What have I to do with thee, woman?” (John 2: 4), would that principle be there?
JT Yes, very much so. When His mother claimed the right to direct Him at the marriage feast, He called her “woman”. You might say it is quite unsuitable to say that, but that is the point, it is the enforcement of a principle. He is now in the exercise of His service, and He asserts a great levitical thought (Deuteronomy 33: 9). Nature was asserting itself, but the Lord rebuked it, even in His mother. And Mary was very adjustable. She immediately says to the servant, “Whatever he may say to you, do”. Beautiful submission there!
Rem That would come out in the house when they said, “thy mother and thy brethren seek thee without”.
JT Quite so, they were outside calling for Him as if He had to go out to them. The Lord pours contempt on all that sort of thing. We are all members of the assembly. If I have ten brothers after the flesh alongside me, if all have the Spirit, why not take that ground?
Ques Is that what formed a personal link with Samuel in the house? Hannah surrendered him naturally and retained him [p. 57] spiritually.
JT That is the idea; she retained her link, but on spiritual lines, she never afterwards asserted the natural claim. Why should we not, in this sense, retain links with one another? We never give one another up as on spiritual lines. Philemon was to possess Onesimus “fully for ever”.
Rem We all ought to learn to identify ourselves with the work of God.
JT Whatever our relationships with one another, that does not alter the fact that we being many are one body in Christ.
Rem If there is a hindrance in exercising the power and principle of weaning, would it be a matter for concern that flesh is to be refused? I was thinking of Isaac and Ishmael when it came to weaning.
JT Ishmael mocked; the flesh is always there to persecute. So that if we give place to the principle of natural relationship of this kind existing, the enemy will work through the flesh.
Rem You mean the enemy would seek to make that a hindrance.
JT He would certainly, if he can hinder he will. Sarah is the true mother there, who refuses the one born after the flesh. That thought is amplified in the New Testament, and the assembly in the power of the Spirit would say, “Cast out the maid servant and her son” (Galatians 4: 30). Ishmael could not be heir with Sarah’s son. But the point now for us is that even if we are naturally related we can come in on spiritual lines.