Behold, the days come, saith the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord: and they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord, and shall not find it. Amos 8:11–12.
We are in a day very similar to what Amos prophesied. During the course of history there have been many times when the Word of the Lord was rare and very scarce. That is also true of this present day; it is hard to find a Word from the Lord. There is a famine in the land. That does not mean that all who say they are hungry for a Word from the Lord really are. Give them a Word from the Lord and see how quickly they turn away from it. It is also the day of itching ears that Paul was talking about in II Timothy 4:3–4. Those with itching ears turned away from the truth and were turned unto fables, because they would not endure sound doctrine.
A company of prophets is coming forth in the earth as channels through whom God will once more speak to the earth. This company is fresh and vigorous, still coming out of its infancy. The best way to illustrate what God is doing today is to use the story of young Samuel. It presents a close parallel to the remnant that God is raising up in this end time.
And the child Samuel ministered unto Jehovah before Eli. And the word of Jehovah was precious in those days; there was no frequent (widespread) vision. I Samuel 3:1. There was no open vision. That is true of this day also. If you want to attract hostility from Christians, just tell them about the real vision and the true Word that God is restoring. It disturbs them deeply because they are conditioned to the fact that they are existing in a day of famine. They are receiving such a meager spiritual diet that it makes one wonder how they survive at all. They have no open vision, no real Word. There is a famine for hearing the words of the Lord. And so it was in the days of Samuel.
And the lamp of God was not yet gone out, and Samuel was laid down to sleep, in the temple of Jehovah, where the ark of God was. I Samuel 3:3. The lights have not yet gone out. When you think a day is ending in disaster, always look for something new. Magazine articles tell how the Church has lost its soul and its effectiveness; and when people read that, they exclaim, “Oh, how terrible!” Some people will go from church to church just to hear the worst about every other church. They are attracted to that.
A sermon telling how the World Council of Churches is playing into the hands of the antichrist will attract quite a crowd. Nevertheless, we are not emphasizing that, for we know that a remnant is coming forth that is looking for something new. When a minister walks through the spiritual timber, he should not spend his time studying the dead tree that still stands; he should look for the young tender growth nearby.
The Lord called Samuel: and he answered, Here am I. And he ran unto Eli, and said, Here am I; for thou callest me. And he said, I called not; lie down again. And he went and lay down. And the Lord called yet again, Samuel. And Samuel arose and went to Eli, and said, Here am I; for thou didst call me. And he answered, I called not, my son; lie down again.
Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, neither was the word of the Lord yet revealed unto him. And the Lord called Samuel again the third time. And he arose and went to Eli, and said, Here am I; for thou didst call me. And Eli perceived that the Lord had called the child. Therefore Eli said unto Samuel, Go, lie down: and it shall be, if he call thee, that thou shalt say, Speak, Lord; for thy servant heareth. So Samuel went and lay down in his place.
And the Lord came and stood, and called as at other times, Samuel, Samuel. Then Samuel answered, Speak; for thy servant heareth. I Samuel 3:4–10.
As a priest of God, Eli failed miserably. His sons made themselves vile, and he did not restrain them (I Samuel 3:13). The first Word that came to Samuel was that God was going to judge. The Lord said, “I am going to do something in Israel, and the ears of everyone who even hears about it will tingle. I am going to destroy Eli and his whole house. I am going to remove him from the picture.” Those were weighty words for a little boy to carry.
Sleepiness was upon Samuel as he heard the Word from the Lord. He lay down until morning. When the dawn came, he went out to open the door of the tabernacle for people to come and worship. Eli called the young child Samuel and asked, “What did the Lord say to you?” Samuel was afraid to tell him, but finally he did, and Eli accepted the Word of the Lord.
And Samuel grew, and the Lord was with him, and did let none of his words fall to the ground. And all Israel from Dan even to Beer-sheba knew that Samuel was established to be a prophet of the Lord. And the Lord appeared again in Shiloh; for the Lord revealed himself to Samuel in Shiloh by the word of the Lord. And the word of Samuel came to all Israel. I Samuel 3:19—4:1a.
The old order of the days of Samuel was top-heavy, corrupt, and ready to die; and so it is today. But do not look at that aspect. Do not look at the commercialism of Babylon and its highly organized business methods. Do not look at the unbelief of the men who have become true professionals in the institutionalizing of the Church of Jesus Christ. Instead, look at the walk with God that is coming forth. It is still in its infancy, like a young boy growing up. It is easy to ignore a boy, but this one is learning the voice of God. He is learning to listen. He is learning to say, “Speak, Lord, for Your servant heareth.” God is beginning to give him words, and his words are not falling to the ground. It does not seem to have anything to do with the old order of things. It is something fresh and alive and new in the earth.
How shall we describe God’s present moving in the earth and the people who are in it? Some people do not like it because it is a little uncouth and not very smooth in its organization and flow. They think that things ought to be all organized and set, with a Sunday School program and certain rituals so that the people will know just what to do. But we will listen to Samuel. We would rather hear somebody stumble along and bring a Word from the Lord than to be involved with the smoothest running machinery of a religious institution where everything is studied and carefully presented.
The first Word that Samuel received from God was concerning the judgment of the old order. One time when the Philistines came out against the children of Israel, the Israelites said, “We know what to do. We’ll get the ark of the covenant with the presence and glory of God on it and take it right into the battle. Then we are sure to win” (I Samuel 4). And they gave a great shout. Then the Philistines said, “We’re done for. Remember what their God did to the Egyptians?” (Even at that time in history, it was still fresh in people’s minds that a nation had been destroyed by the judgments of God.) In spite of their fear, the Philistines equipped themselves like men, went into the battle, and defeated the Israelites (I Samuel 4:1–10).
The presence of God in the ark was not able to bring victory to a people who were apostate in their spirits and under the wrong leadership. It was not able to do so then, and it will not do so now. The Parousia (the presence of the Lord) in the end time will not guarantee the Church any kind of success at all. However, His very presence will guarantee judgment.
The judgments of God came against the Israelites, and the ark was taken by the Philistines. One man ran back to give them the news that Eli’s sons, Hophni and Phinehas, had been slain. The old man was sitting by the side of the road. He was ninety-eight years old and was a very large, heavy man. He heard the commotion, though he was stoneblind, and he called, “What happened?” The messenger answered, “Your sons are dead.” This did not disturb Eli; he knew that word was going to come, for it had been prophesied. But when he heard that the ark of God had been taken, Eli swooned, fell over backwards, and broke his neck (I Samuel 4:11–18).
While that was taking place, Eli’s grandchild was being born. (The wife of one of his dead sons died while giving birth to the child.) And his daughter in law, Phinehas’ wife, was with child, near to be delivered: and when she heard the tidings that the ark of God was taken, and that her father in law and her husband were dead, she bowed herself and travailed; for her pains came upon her. And about the time of her death the women that stood by her said unto her, Fear not; for thou hast born a son. But she answered not, neither did she regard it. And she named the child Ichabod, saying, The glory is departed from Israel; because the ark of God was taken, and because of her father in law and her husband. And she said, The glory is departed from Israel: for the ark of God is taken. I Samuel 4:19–22.
Ichabod means “no glory.” That is what we could say of churches in these days. It is not enough to look back to the glorious days of John Wesley or William Booth or other great leaders. Like systems, they become old and heavy and fat, and their grandchildren are named Ichabod—“no glory.” In vain do you seek out and try to find a trace of the glory of God in any of them. It is gone. Not only is it gone; it would not even be housed by them today. I wonder how one of John Wesley’s stirring messages would be received today in a fashionable, modernistic Methodist church. I wonder if any of the early leaders would find a place in the church that they established.
When you start to lament because there is no glory left among the old traditional lines of priesthood, remember that an unorthodox type of priesthood is coming up, like that which came forth from Hannah. Each year Hannah, Samuel’s mother, made an ephod for him (I Samuel 2:19). This was very unscriptural, for no one was supposed to wear an ephod until he was thirty years of age and had been properly trained (Numbers 4:2–3). By making a little linen ephod, Hannah showed that she was believing that this little boy would be a priest of God. She had faith for him. She made it large enough so that he could grow into it. Hannah was a good Jewish mother. With faith in her heart, she was giving birth to her vision.
A true New Testament church will take young men, and by faith clothe them with a prophet’s garb, with a priestly ephod. They will ordain them even though they are probably not yet worthy of it. However, there is an awareness that they will grow into the robes because God has called them to grow into that ministry. Young men will walk as prophets and priests because a Body of believers take faith for them and pray for them. With the prophecies the people speak, they make robes to clothe these young men. Like Samuel, they will grow into them. Those ministries are going to be mighty before the face of the Lord.
Young Samuel heard God call him, “Samuel, Samuel.” Finally he answered, “Speak, Lord; Your servant hears,” and a prophet was established in the land—a prophet whose words would not fall to the ground, one who would not fail. Do not worry about Ichabod. His future was all over two generations before he was born. Many people are trying to keep systems alive that have been dead for generations. How vain and empty it is to try to keep something alive that is already dead.
God is saying to His people today, “Come on, Samuels; prophesy the Word of the Lord. Grow into your ephods. Come into that priesthood. Be those prophets of God that I have called you to be.” You may think you are neither a prophet nor the son of a prophet; but that does not make any difference. You can be the beginning of a new line raised up by faith.
There are many men who speak about apostolic succession. Even men like Luther and Wesley were concerned with apostolic succession. Martin Luther did not want to leave the Catholic church because he did not want to lose that which he believed had come down from Saint Peter in apostolic succession. John Wesley believed that the Church of England was the restored holy Catholic church of the Lord from the times of the apostles. Therefore, he did not want to leave it. He did not want to lose the unction that he claimed he had received. Occasionally an apostolic ministry today is asked where he received his authority to do and to teach these new truths. It is very simple: the Lord Jesus came to him and told him to do it. Suppose the succession goes astray. Just stamp it “Ichabod” and start a new one.
Samuel means “asked of the Lord” (I Samuel 1:20). The greatest prayer ministry in the Old Testament was that of Samuel. Can you imagine a man’s conscience looking up to God and saying, “God forbid that I should sin against the Lord in ceasing to pray for Israel” (I Samuel 12:23). Day after day his prayers were coming forth; he was interceding, crying, holding a nation steady, keeping it ready for God. Come on, little Samuels, do your stuff. Stand in the gap and intercede. Have a Word from the Lord. Be that remnant, a company of people who are ready to do the will of God in the earth. Out of Samuel came the school of prophets, companies of men who stomped through the land, casting out devils and ridding the land of witches, bringing the blessing and anointing of the Lord upon the people of God once again, until the famine for the Word of the Lord ended and there was the open vision. Come on, the world is ready for it. Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy (Joel 2:28).
The little Samuel company is ready to come forth. Eli, you are fat; you are old. Eli, you are dead. You broke your neck from your own weight. Ichabod, you grandchild of Eli, you are talking about the glory that once was, the great Jesus who once was. Samuel, you talk about the great I Am, the Lord who is now and forevermore.