1. Free As Sons
   
2. Does "Go Ye" Mean "Go Me?"
   
3. Are We Really Born Again?
   
4. The Sacrifices of Cain and Abel
   
5. Silence Says Something
   
6. Body Language
   
7. Repentance Before Faith
   
8. I Wonder
   
9. Can I Know?
   
10. Ultimate Logical Conclusions
    
11. Errors in Peter's Sermon
    
12. Did Timothy Need Admonition?
    
13. Jesus' Youth Sermon For Adults
    
14. Why Didn't Paul Reform?
    
15. Christmas
    
16. Let The Unmarried Marry
    
17. A Dialect of Division
    
18. Our Traditions
    
19. Adding Our Safeguards
    
20. According To The Pattern
    
21. A Creed In The Deed
    
22. Samuel Did Not Know The Lord!
    
23. Response From Our Readers
    
24. Cries Of A Troubled Church
    
25. Sharing Without Fellowship
    
26. I Joined A Church
    
27. Open Membership
    
28. Another Last Will And Testament
    
29. Sad Thoughts About Church Growth
    
30. My Four Retirement Homes
    
31. Hook's Points: A Potpourri
    

SAMUEL DID NOT KNOW THE LORD!

In my imagination, Bible heroes were all people of imposing stature. I tend to think of Samuel as an imposing, stalwart man with the long shaggy hair of the Nazarite. So, it is difficult for me to think that he was only fifty­two inches tall. That was his height, however. You see, he was not always of formidable stature but was once a boy only fifty­two inches tall.

When we read of Samuel's role in spiritual leadership and his honored place in Biblical history, it is difficult to think that there was ever a time when he did not know the Lord. But there was such a time. His spiritual maturity grew from a mixed soil of spirituality and corruption. Dangerous influences surrounded him while he did not know the Lord.

It was a unique blessing for Samuel to be reared in the house of the Lord in Shiloh (I Sam. 1­3). In fulfillment of her promise to God, Hannah, his mother, put him in Eli's care as soon as he was weaned. The Lord's house was his home. The priests and Levites were his associates. No doubt, they played with him, teased him, and loved him. His playmates were children of the priests and Levites. The High Priest was as a father to him. He knew the notables of Israel. The Law of Moses was daily conversation, the rituals of worship were daily routine, and the priests' portion of the sacrifices was his daily food. What more totally spiritual surrounding in which to nurture a child could we wish for?

"Samuel was ministering before the Lord, a boy girded with a linen ephod." This growing boy was supplied a new robe each year by his loving mother. How beautiful this scene was. Lent to the Lord! Working for the Lord. Totally dedicated. All who observed the boy performing his duties of service must have looked with admiration.

Samuel was brought up in the system, becoming a participant in it and a supporter of it. He was too young to know of the corruption that surrounded him in the system sponsored in the hallowed house of God. Its priests and ministers performed rituals of worship and kept up the property. They were God's people, the right way, and all who would approach God should come through them and the system. They were God's mediators in the priestly sense. But the system did not lead its prized pupil to know the Lord!

The system could not bring Samuel to know the Lord because the priests themselves did not know him. What an awesome thought! The priests were self­serving, looking with greed at the very sacrifices of the people and taking advantage of their position to satisfy their greed. In flaunting open adultery with the women who served at the tent of meeting, they used the house of God, their holy calling, and their authoritative position as a cover for their corrupt actions. The aged high priest, Eli, had grown too lenient. Generally, we have used him as an example of failure as a father, but he was condemned, not as an indulgent father, but as an inert, inadequate, lenient high priest who should have taken extreme action against the offending priests who, incidentally, were his sons. When the leadership of the system does not know the Lord, then who will know him?

Through this dark picture from history, God cries out to us, as he has to his people in all ages. Samuel's namesake today may be your or my son or grandson. We make sure that Sammy is "brought up in the church." His is a church­centered life: he attends church at all services, worships at church, gives to the church, and works in the church. He is taught to accept the system which he is inheriting, to support it, and to perpetuate it. He is carefully indoctrinated in "Why I Am A Member of The Undenominational Denomination," the reasons and argumentation being those of other people rather than his own. Even if his young mind sees discrepancies and inconsistencies, his objections must be stifled for the sake of the system. At his early age, Sammy is unaware of the divisiveness, exclusiveness, and sectarian spirit. He is taught that a militant attitude expresses loyalty to the church. He grows up learning many Bible facts and the doctrinal arguments upholding the positions advocated by leading preachers and editors, being unaware that he is being tutored for bondage.

It is so nice to see Sammy ministering in the "Lord's house" in his little linen ephod, as it were, looking so scrubbed, sweet, and innocent in his "Sunday clothes." It swells the pride of both the parent and the child, and that can be part of the problem. To gain satisfaction from serving and doing what is right can be a wholesome thing. To cater to pride, however, by filling honorary capacities of public participation does not build spirituality. If we could deflate all of the self­fulfillment, ego expression, status building, and authority posturing from all who participate in next Sunday's service, there might be some long periods of silence. The struggle for power in congregational politics by unspiritual leaders may hide itself behind the facade of service in the Lord's house. Paid personnel must ever ask themselves what part the people's sacrifices (monetary rewards) play in their motivation and in the relevancy of their messages.

Tragically, Sammy may have all this good training to his credit and still not know the Lord. He knows much about the Church of Christ, for his life has been church­centered more than centered upon a personal relationship with Jesus.

A man who came to recognize his misdirection in this area wrote to me concerning his parents: "It concerns me so that their commitment is so obviously to the church rather than to Jesus. I'm uneasy that, after forty years in the church with heavy involvement, they still may not know the Lord in a saving way."

Sammy may know much about Jesus, but that is not equivalent to knowing the Lord. Samuel knew much about God but did not know him well enough to recognize his voice that night when the lamp of God had burned low. After God had spoken to him the second time, it is stated that Samuel did not yet know the Lord; but what a difference that night made! After that experience, his life was open to the presence and direction of God.

So, Sammy must come to know Jesus as his companion, comforter, overseer, guide, healer, provider, and sin bearer. Now his life is Christ-centered and Spirit-led. He has a relationship in Christ in which he is at peace with God and can commune with him constantly. He will have strength supplied to overcome the unspiritual surroundings which he inherited.

Let it be said to the credit of Eli that he did not discourage the boy when God spoke to him, even though Eli would hear tragic news through Samuel. Eli did not put him down, saying, "Forget it; you are just dreaming. If God were speaking, he would be speaking to me as High Priest instead of a kid like you." I would that Sammy's spiritual guides would be as open and supportive when he hears the voice of God with fresh meaning, even though he brings bad news concerning their system.

Although Samuel was brought up in the corrupt system, he was not swallowed up by it. Through God's help, he overcame it and became a leader in reform-a spiritual giant. Today, Sammy is endangered by the spiritual surroundings in which he was born and reared. Many do not survive. Some become involved in the system and perpetuate it. But, thank God, many others are hearing the voice of God again, overcoming their entrapment, and leading others in spiritual revival. Thanks to our present day Samuels, better days are ahead for spiritual Israel.