Samuel Lives By Faith In God. LIVING BY FAITH IN TRIALS AND SUFFERING study #18 (A Study in Hebrews 11) (Hebrews 11:32b)

We come now to our last formal name listed in the 32nd verse of Hebrews 11. This study will give to us the life of Samuel that exhibited a faith in God through some very difficult situations. What we need to notice is that Samuel is most often known as a prophet of God but he was much more than that. Samuel is often looked at as a judge, a military leader, a seer, a prophet, a priest and a great servant of God. Samuel’s life spreads from the ending of the time of Samson’s time as judge to just a year before David takes the throne as king in Israel. Samuel would be a part of many wars, many prophetic words towards Israel, the anointing of the first king of Israel, the destruction of Saul’s kingdom to David’s anointing and prospering.

All of what we will learn in this study will only touch the fringe of what his life entailed but what we will see is a man of God that continued to live his life for God in spite of the difficulties that came his way. For the purpose of our study let’s read Hebrews 11:32 that says And what more shall I say? For time will fail me if I recount Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, as well as David and Samuel and the prophets.

It is here that we look a little deeper into the original stories of these great men of faith listed in this verse. This brings us to now look at Samuel as we look now at our first point.

1.Samuel’s faith lived out in OBEDIENCE to God.
The story of Samuel starts before he was born in 1 Samuel 1 where we find his parents story. Here we find Samuel’s mother who was yet another woman that was barren and yet crying out to God to have a child. These are the words she spoke concerning this barrenness in 1 Samuel 1:11 And she made a vow and said, “O Yahweh of hosts, if You will indeed look on the affliction of Your maidservant and remember me and not forget Your maidservant, but will give Your maidservant a seed amongst men, then I will give him to Yahweh all the days of his life, and a razor shall never come on his head.”

As time went, her prayer would be answered not because of her faith, not because of the priest’s ability to speak to God in some certain way but because of God’s purpose and sovereignty. Eli says to Hannah in 1 Samuel 1:17 “Go in peace; and may the God of Israel grant your petition that you have asked of Him.” 

This was not a promise but rather a statement of the fact that God would grant to her this very thing she was asking about. God’s plan was to have this prayer answered for the purpose of Samuel becoming the man of God he would become. This brings us to look at just a couple of situations of Samuel’s obedience to follow God as He led Samuel.

The first situation to look at will be in Samuel’s initial call from God. We look at this call from God as an unique experience that is not repeated anywhere in Scripture or in history. This was not the foundation of how God would call a prophet, priest, follower of any sort. As time went Hannah fulfilled the promise made to God that she would give her son to God to be used in whatever way He wants. Samuel was a very young boy when he went to live in the temple with Eli, probably anywhere between 3 to 9 years old. There is speculation on his age and we definitely can’t be dogmatic about it.

So that brings us to the timing of this call. Most people and even Josephus the ancient Jewish historian, said that Samuel was around 12 years old when this took place. Let’s look at Samuel’s obedience through this call.

As the story moves along we see in 1 Samuel 3:1-9 that Samuel hears a voice but thinks that it is Eli speaking to him. Eventually Eli tells Samuel to say as you can read in 1 Samuel 3:9 ‘Speak, Yahweh, for Your slave is listening.’”

Sure enough Samuel listens to Eli and does this very thing. It is the message that Samuel hears that we will notice his complete obedience even as a young boy. When Samuel hears the voice of God this time we will see what happens as we read 1 Samuel 3:10-14 Then Yahweh came and stood and called as at other times, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel said, “Speak, for Your slave is listening.” ¹¹ And Yahweh said to Samuel, “Behold, I am about to do a thing in Israel at which both ears of everyone who hears it will tingle. ¹² In that day I will establish against Eli all that I have spoken concerning his house, from beginning to end. ¹³ And I have told him that I am about to judge his house forever for the iniquity which he knew because his sons have been bringing a curse on themselves, but he did not rebuke them. ¹⁴ Now therefore I have sworn to the house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli’s house shall not be atoned for by sacrifice or offering forever.”

This news must have been tough to hear because I’m sure he had a love for Eli and his family. In fact 1 Samuel 3:15 says So Samuel lay down until morning. Then he opened the doors of the house of Yahweh. But Samuel was afraid to tell the vision to Eli.

Even though the news of the destruction of Eli and his family was just told to him, Samuel continued to do what he always did by opening the doors of the house of Yahweh. When questioned by Eli, Samuel did not hide from him what God had told him and with that his integrity really showed as a person that would follow God and not fear what man may do to him. He didn’t know how Eli would respond but he trusted God in this difficult situation. 1 Samuel 3:19:21 says Thus Samuel grew, and Yahweh was with him and let none of his words fall to the ground. ²⁰ So all Israel from Dan even to Beersheba knew that Samuel was confirmed as a prophet of Yahweh. ²¹ And Yahweh appeared again at Shiloh, because Yahweh revealed Himself to Samuel at Shiloh by the word of Yahweh.

Everyone knew that God was working through Samuel and it was his obedience that proved the faith that he had. This brings us to look at another point for this study of Samuel.

2.Samuel’s faith lived out in his OUTRAGE against Saul’s sin.
Look with me at 1 Samuel 15:10-11 that says Then the word of Yahweh came to Samuel, saying, ¹¹ “I regret that I have made Saul king, for he has turned back from following Me and has not established My words.” And Samuel became angry and cried out to Yahweh all night.

So often we look at anger as a negative attribute and so often it is. Here in our text the anger or outrage of Samuel is seen as an act of worship for God. Psalm 69:9 says For zeal for Your house has consumed me, And the reproaches of those who reproach You have fallen on me.

We see our Lord Jesus in the New Testament cleanse the temple of those making money off of people in the house of God. We see the cleansing at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry recorded in John 2:13-16 that says And the Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. ¹⁴ And He found in the temple those who were selling oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers seated at their tables. ¹⁵ And He made a scourge of cords, and drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen; and He poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables; ¹⁶ and to those who were selling the doves He said, “Take these things away; stop making My Father’s house a place of business.”

Also to go along with that John, the writer of the Gospel of John includes this in John 2:17 His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for Your house will consume me.” 

Both Matthew and Luke record a similar act of cleansing at the end of Jesus’ life where this same attitude is seen. This is not an outburst of personal vengeance or anger to show the power that He had but rather the seriousness of worship and obedience to our Lord and Father God.

It is this same attitude that we see in Samuel here in our text. There is so much we could talk about when it comes to the life of Samuel but this act has always stuck out to me as an act of faith in God, in spite of who it was that he faced. We see in our text that Samuel’s anger is in response to God telling Samuel of Saul’s disobedience to God’s commands. Samuel was the person that anointed Saul as King even though he tried his best to persuade the people of Israel from having an earthly king. Now this very king has utterly disobeyed God to the point of God now rejecting Saul as king.

Samuel obeys God to go and confront Saul with this disobedience. The command was clear and to the point. 1 Samuel 15:2-3 says Thus says Yahweh of hosts, ‘I will punish Amalek for what he did to Israel, how he set himself against him on the way while he was coming up from Egypt. ³ Now go and strike Amalek and devote to destruction all that he has, and do not spare him; but put to death both man and woman, infant and nursing baby, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.’”

But then we see what Saul and the people actually do in 1 Samuel 15:7-9 that says So Saul struck the Amalekites, from Havilah as you go to Shur, which is east of Egypt. ⁸ And he seized Agag the king of the Amalekites alive and devoted to destruction all the people with the edge of the sword. ⁹ But Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep, the oxen, the fatlings, the lambs, and all that was good, and they were not willing to devote them to destruction; but everything despised and worthless, that they utterly destroyed.

I want to point out that nowhere do we even see that all of the Amalekites were destroyed. The indication is that this was what they set out to do but it seems like this is not what happened. In fact later on David will face the Amalekites so they were not destroyed as commanded. Saul chose to do what he wanted and with that brought on himself judgement from God. This would lead him to not have the blessing of God on his life or kingdom. This would lead him to being rejected as king and this would lead him eventually into madness as he chases David for many, many years.

The point I want to make as I draw this study to a close is that *Samuel chose to be obedient and to have anger against all that sinned against God in such a deliberate fashion. Saul did not seek repentance but only wanted to look as if he was still blessed by God. Samuel did not fear the king because he knew that God had placed him in that position for a reason. As the story continues on Samuel’s outrage against this act of sin would be seen in one of the most graphic acts of zeal for God that has ever been seen. Read with me 1 Samuel 15:32-33 Then Samuel said, “Bring Agag near to me, the king of the Amalekites.” And Agag came to him in chains. And Agag said, “Surely the bitterness of death has departed.” ³³ But Samuel said, “As your sword has made women childless, so shall your mother be childless among women.” And Samuel hacked Agag to pieces before Yahweh at Gilgal.

This act of disobedience led to Saul’s rejection as king but it places Samuel as a prophet that followed God by the faith that he had even as he faced the very king that he anointed. God’s righteousness was more important than his friendship or his own personal agenda. Samuel is an example of a man of faith that lived that out in every circumstance that he faced.*

The Greatness Of John The Baptist. EXPOSITION ON THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE study #60 (Luke 7:24-28)

In our last study we learned that John the Baptist had sent messengers to Jesus to ask if He was the One who is to come. Jesus put on a display of healings and miracles that really answers that question for itself. Jesus does send the message back with the messengers to tell John of all that Jesus has been doing which will point to the fact that Jesus is indeed fulfilling messianic prophecy and possesses a power like no one has ever seen. You would think that this display of power continually would convince everyone that is present that He is the Messiah but unfortunately this is not the case.

We will see Jesus speak about the greatness of who John is and what his ministry really meant in this study. This study will lead us to the next section that shows us that not only did the religious leaders reject John and his message but they also have been and will ultimately reject Jesus for good. This rejection has already began towards Jesus but it becomes more and more obvious throughout His ministry. But for now we will look at what Jesus has to say about John the Baptist. Let’s look at our first point.

1.What attracted the people to John?
Look with me at Luke 7:24-25 And when the messengers of John had left, He began to speak to the crowds about John, “What did you go out into the wilderness to behold? A reed shaken by the wind? ²⁵ But what did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft garments? Behold, those who are splendidly clothed and live in luxury are found in royal palaces! Jesus begins to connect the dots in John’s ministry and who He is by speaking here about John to the crowds. The first thing he asks is “What did you go out into the wilderness to behold? A reed shaken by the wind?

This question sets up really the point the Jesus wants to make concerning the greatness of John. Before He does that He asks these questions to bring back to the mind of those that were there at why they went into the wilderness to listen to John. A reed is a thin flexible stalk that will blow around with any small wind. Jesus uses this metaphor here to basically ask if they expected to go to the wilderness to hear a man that was like any other Rabbi of their time or most popular preachers of our time that will give to the crowd what they want. For the amount of people that went to the wilderness to hear John speak, there must have been a buzz about his style of preaching. So Jesus is basically recalling to the crowd that people did not go into the wilderness to hear someone that was just going to give to the crowd some show or something they wanted.

He continues by asking in Luke 7:25 But what did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft garments? Behold, those who are splendidly clothed and live in luxury are found in royal palaces!

This reference to soft clothing is to say that a man would dress effeminate in a sense. Unfortunately this has become some type of great accomplishment in our corrupt society. This Greek word for soft is malakos (mal-ak-os’) which is the word used to describe a male prostitute or the passive partner in a homosexual relationship. The idea of this terminology is that this was in fact not what they had heard about John. They did not hear of him being passive or a pushover in a sense but that he was rugged and stern in his message. Jesus tells the people that they did not expect that John would be some dignitary or look as if he just walked out of a palace. Matthew 3:4 says of John that John himself had a garment of camel’s hair and a leather belt around his waist; and his food was locusts and wild honey.

His very presence would have triggered in the minds of the people, especially the religious leaders, that this sounded much like a prophet of old. Look with me at the explanation of Elijah’s appearance in 2 Kings 1:8 And they said to him, “He was a hairy man with a leather girdle girded about his loins.” And he said, “It is Elijah the Tishbite.

John’s appearance and message seemed to be like something the people had not heard for over 400 years and yet John comes on the scene with the message of repentance. It was this that brought the people to go out to see what John was all about. It is no different today, when there is a whisper about some revival or something that attracts people, the crowds will gather. We know even the Pharisees and Scribes went there to see what was going on. This brings Jesus to speak of the truth of who John truly is as we look at our next point.

2.Jesus speaks of John’s greatness.
Look with me at Luke 7:26-28 But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I say to you, and even more than a prophet. ²⁷ This is the one about whom it is written, ‘Behold, I send My messenger ahead of You, Who will prepare Your way before You.’ ²⁸ I say to you, among those born of women there is no one greater than John; yet he who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.” Jesus goes on into His questioning by leading them to the real reason people went to the wilderness to hear John. The word had got around about John’s appearance and his message. There was no doubt that the things he was speaking was not like the Rabbi’s teaching and his appearance was not normal Rabbi attire. He seemed to be a nomad in a sense with no permanent place and speaking about things they would have been familiar with but not in the way he was speaking of it.

Jesus says again in Luke 7:26a But what did you go out to see? Then He follows this question with A prophet? Yes, I say to you, and even more than a prophet.

The real reason the people went to the wilderness was to see if in fact John was a prophet of God. He dressed like a prophet, he spoke like a prophet and he was not an established teacher in a synagogue so this was what they were wondering concerning John. In fact you can read an account of this in John 1:19-23 And this is the witness of John, when the Jews sent to him priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” ²⁰ And he confessed and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.” ²¹ And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” And he *said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.” ²² Therefore, they said to him, “Who are you, so that we may give an answer to those who sent us? What do you say about yourself?” ²³ He said, “I am a voice of one crying in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as Isaiah the prophet said.”

Again he says in John 3:28 You yourselves are my witnesses that I said, ‘I am not the Christ,’ but, ‘I have been sent ahead of Him.’

We see that John does not try to bring the attention to himself but only points the people to the Christ who was in their midst. John knew what his ministry was even though John did not understand in full that he was the prophet that was prophesied to be the metaphoric Elijah. Jesus explains this in the Matthew 17 concerning John’s role in redemptive history. Look with me at Matthew 17:10-13 And His disciples asked Him, saying, “Why then do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?” ¹¹ And He answered and said, “Elijah is coming and will restore all things; ¹² but I say to you that Elijah already came, and they did not recognize him, but did to him whatever they wished. So also the Son of Man is going to suffer at their hands.” ¹³ Then the disciples understood that He had spoken to them about John the Baptist.

Just as we did earlier in our study in Luke we will see the truth about who John the Baptist is. Understand that he is not a Southern Baptist or a Baptist of any type. The word Baptist in association with John represents his ministry. He proclaimed a baptism of repentance. Baptism is not just a Christian act. Jews would even baptize Gentiles that wanted to turn from their pagan faith to Judaism. But John’s baptism was of a different sort, it would require even the Jew to be baptized in connection to their confession to turn from their way of living to live for God or as we know it they would repent from their way of living. This repentance showed that they understood that they needed to live differently than they had been.

Much of Judaism theology was ritualistic and work based. The rich were considered to be the elite while the diseased were considered cursed by God therefore they were left to their own demise to die in their poor state. This religious and ritualistic attitude only looked good on the surface and when people heard the truth of what following God was really about they would repent of their sins.

In relation to the fact that we see in Luke 7:26b-27 that Jesus says of John A prophet? Yes, I say to you, and even more than a prophet. ²⁷ This is the one about whom it is written, ‘Behold, I send My messenger ahead of You, Who will prepare Your way before You, shows us that he had a role in the redemption story that had been prophesied so many years before.

In fact if we look back at Luke 3:3-6 we see this so clear, it says there: And he came into all the district around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins; as it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness, ‘Make ready the way of the Lord, Make His paths straight. ⁵ Every ravine will be filled, And every mountain and hill will be brought low; The crooked will be straight, And the rough roads smooth. ⁶ And all flesh will see the salvation of God.’”

This quote from Isaiah 40:3-5 shows us the ministry of the forerunner to the Messiah which we know is John the Baptist. Along with that we see the words of Malachi 3:1 that says Behold, I am going to send My messenger, and he will prepare the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple; and the messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight, behold, He is coming,” says Yahweh of hosts.

There is no doubt that John fulfilled this ministry and leads Jesus to say that indeed he is a prophet. If this was the reason the people went into the wilderness, then they got exactly what they were looking for. But then we see in our last verse that Jesus takes John’s ministry a step further by saying in Luke 7:28 I say to you, among those born of women there is no one greater than John; yet he who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.

Now understand that Jesus was not elevating John to some status to place him on a pedestal. Instead what we see is Jesus showing that John’s ministry was one of extreme greatness not because of John being some super religious person but because he was the forerunner of the Messiah. John was a great person only in the aspect of his position that God had placed him in. He was a sinner like any other person and yet Jesus says that among those born of women there is no one greater than John. Jesus is not elevating John above Himself because even though Jesus was born from a woman, He is also God making Him the God man that had a unique birth.

So none has been greater in this world than John but then lastly Jesus says yet he who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.

This simply shows us that we will receive the fulfillment of salvation and blessing in Heaven, therefore even the least among the people in Heaven will be greater than John. Here we are all sinful, we live in sin, we die in sin but there we will be without sin, without the pain and torment of this flesh that pulls us away to sin.

Is that your future? I didn’t ask if that is what you want because no person in their right mind will walk in to Hell if they have a view of Heaven. The question is, are you following Jesus in your everyday life? Have you recognized your sinfulness? Do you know you are in need of a Savior and Lord? Today could be that day as you think about the cross, the resurrection and ascension of our Lord Jesus. He died for you so that you can have eternal life. That life starts as you repent, have faith and follow Jesus daily.