“The Word of the Lord Had Not Yet Been Revealed.”

Samuel began serving in the Lord’s temple as a small child after his mother Hannah gave him to the Lord. Being raised by priests sounds lonely, but there must have been advantages for the future prophet, or God would not have put Samuel there. There was training and education and so many kinds of servants and priests and rabbis and teachers and the sacrifices and the people worshipping—there was a rich pageant of constant activity for Samuel to take in.  Surely it was a special, amazing childhood.  But he did not yet know God’s voice:

“Now Samuel had not yet experienced the Lord, because the word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him” 1 Samuel 3:7.

Samuel was doing well, “growing in stature and in favor with the Lord and with men” 2:26.  But though he was growing, experiencing all the flavors of the Lord’s work at the temple, he did not yet know the voice of God.  And that’s TOTALLY NORMAL: None of us know God’s voice until He chooses to reveal Himself. 

One night Samuel heard his name, “Samuel, Samuel.”  Three times he heard his name and three times he left his bed and went to Eli the priest saying, “Here I am; you called me.” After the third time, Eli realized what was going on and told Samuel to answer, “Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening” 3:9. 

Samuel lay down a third time and when God called his name he answered as instructed and the Lord gave him a powerful message of judgment against Eli and Eli’s family.  (Interesting that God revealed Himself to Samuel first as One who punishes corrupt priests.  Samuel’s life would include hard words for Eli, Saul, and others, and he was never afraid to speak those words.)

God, REVEAL yourself to us.  May we “experience the Lord” as Samuel did—and help us know when our thoughts are ours alone and are NOT from you.

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Speak, Lord. 1 Samuel 3:10.

When God spoke to the little boy Samuel, Samuel ran to Eli the priest (his guardian) and said, “Here I am. You called me?”

Eli said no.

God spoke again, and again Samuel left his bed and ran to Eli.

Eli said “it was not me.”

“Now Samuel had not yet experienced the Lord, because the Word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him. God spoke a third time, and a third time Samuel ran to Eli. ‘Here I am. You called me.’ And Eli understood that the Lord was calling the boy.” 1 Samuel 3:4-8.

So Eli told Samuel to go back to bed, and what to say if the voice spoke again.

“The Lord came, and stood there, and called out to Samuel as before, ‘Samuel, Samuel!’

Samuel responded, ‘Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening’” 1 Samuel 3:10.

When Samuel gave that answer, God spoke, warning Samuel of judgment to come that would bring death to Eli’s two sons, the wicked priests who were bringing shame to God’s temple. After that, “Samuel grew and the Lord was with him.” Another verse says, “Samuel grew in stature and in favor with the Lord and with men,” a verse that should remind you of the way Jesus was described as a young man.

Have you ever “experienced the Lord,” as described in verse 4, above? If not, pray the prayer of Samuel: “Speak, Lord, your servant is listening.” Spend time with Him. Spend time in prayer. Spend time listening to Him. If you don’t believe God will speak to you, He probably will not. But pray about it. Invite Him to speak. Come to Him with your needs and your questions, and even your doubts. Tell Him all about it. Then invite Him to answer.


Pray: “Speak, Lord, your servant is listening.”

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Here I Raise Mine Ebenezer.

Chris Tomlin, David Crowder, and Shane & Shane have each released new versions of “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing.”  While these hit-makers have breathed life into an old classic, the real story is the greatness of the original: few songs still command respect 300 years after they were written!

This hymn is the work of British hymnwriter, Robert Robinson.  He speaks of God’s goodness in spite of his own failures, and though he is sure to fail again in the future, He trusts God with that too:

“Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it!  Prone to leave the God I love.

Here’s my heart, O take and seal it.  Seal it for Thy courts above.”

(Is that not a perfect picture of salvation?  We know we will fail, but we give God our heart—and future failures—so that He can securely hold it, preserving it for heaven.)

 I love the line that reads:

“Here I raise mine Ebenezer, hither by Thy help I’m come …”

Do you know ‘Ebenezer’?  Not from Dickens but from 1 Samuel 7:12:  “Samuel took a stone and set it upright ….  He named it Ebenezer, explaining, ‘The Lord has helped us to this point.’”  “Ebenezer” means “stone of help.”  Samuel set up a marker to remind the nation of all that God had done for them.  We need such markers.  What markers could you erect along the highway of your life?  When did you first see the Lord’s glory, or a miracle? When did you first hear His voice? When did you give Him your life? When did He do something amazing for you, in you, or through you? 

Moments with God are the BIGGEST MOMENTS OF YOUR LIFE.  Write them down!  Set up a marker.  Memorize them and rehearse them in your mind over and over.  When life gets hard, you need Ebenezers—spiritual markers—to remind you of God’s goodness.

Take the time to write down your spiritual milestones.  What have been the biggest steps in your journey?

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A Biblical Romance.

The story of Ruth may be the most romantic in the Bible. Ruth was a widow and moved to Israel with her mother-in-law Naomi, also a widow. Ruth did all she could to take care of Naomi. She was selfless.

Soon Ruth meets Boaz, a wealthy farmer, and he takes care of her and Naomi. The writer points out that Boaz was a man of great integrity: “He was a prominent man of noble character.” Ruth 2:1.

When Boaz realizes that Ruth has been taking care of Naomi, he knows that by custom he is a kinsman-redeemer. That is, he is one of the men in line to marry Ruth and thus redeem the family.

Naomi knows that too, and advises Ruth about how to approach Boaz. Boaz understands what is being suggested, and is flattered. He also realizes what high character Ruth must possess:

“May the Lord bless you, because you have not pursued younger men, whether rich or poor. I will do whatever you say, since everyone in town knows that you are a woman of noble character.” Ruth 3:11.

Noble character? Where have we seen that phrase before? Oh yeah—that was the way Boaz was described.

But there was one man in line ahead of Boaz. Suddenly we are in suspense—what if the other man wants to marry Ruth? But the other man says no, and Boaz agrees to marry Ruth. Now a man of noble character has found a wife of noble character. They marry and have a son—and God has something great planned for these two selfless people. They become the great-grandparents of King David, and ancestors of the Messiah.

Romance is never about FINDING the right person, but BEING the right person.

Don’t pursue romance—pursue noble character. If you want to be a half-way Christian, never quite unselfish or mature, don’t be surprised if God brings you an equally mediocre spouse. But if you learn to be a selfless servant, a hard-worker, and devoted Christ-follower, God will provide someone equally great to marry you.

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Romance and Noble Character.

The book of Ruth—a powerful story of the Messiah who is our Kinsman-Redeemer—can also be read as the simple story of the romance between Ruth and Boaz.  The love between the two provides a good example of some of the keys to a good relationship. 

To begin, Ruth was LOYAL to her mother-in-law Naomi.  After her husband died, she followed Naomi back to Israel, a land she had never seen:

“Where you go, I will go, and where you live, I will live.  Your people will be my people and your God will be my God. Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried” Ruth 1:16-17.

Ruth also had INTEGRITY.  Boaz noticed: “Everything you have done for your mother-in-law since your husband’s death has been fully reported to me…. All the people in my town know that you are a woman of NOBLE CHARACTER” Ruth 2:11; 3:11.

And Boaz also had INTEGRITY: “He was a prominent man of NOBLE CHARACTER” 2:1.  Naomi knew Boaz to be a MAN OF ACTION.  “My daughter, … HE WON’T REST UNLESS HE RESOLVES THIS TODAY” 3:18.

Ruth and Boaz were people of integrity, loyalty, hard-work, and kindness. Traits such as these support good marriages and strong families. 

Watch and pray for a spouse of NOBLE CHARACTER.

And work and pray to BE a person of NOBLE CHARACTER.

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Kinsman-Redeemer.

You sometimes hear it said that Jesus is our kinsman-redeemer.  But what is that?

The phrase comes from the book of Ruth.  Naomi and her husband and sons left Israel during a famine and moved to Moab.  In Moab Naomi lost her husband and both sons.  She eventually returned to Israel accompanied only by her loyal daughter-in-law, Ruth.  Old and bitter, Naomi considers her life all but over.  But Ruth is young and Naomi encourages her to present herself to Boaz, a “prominent man of noble character” from her husband’s family.  At this point, Ruth has spent many weeks around Boaz during the barley and wheat harvests.  Perhaps Boaz will “redeem” Ruth. 

Boaz understands what is being asked of him, but says there is a redeemer who is closer in the family line than Boaz.  In order for Boaz to redeem Ruth, the other man must first decline the opportunity.  So Boaz gathers ten elders as witnesses and presents the situation. 

It’s about LAND. 

The land of Israel was divided among the tribes.  Tribal lands were then divided among clans, then families, and so on.  The land that once belonged to Naomi’s deceased husband must stay in the family.  But in order to stay in the family, the land must be REDEEMED by a close relative, a kinsman, who will pay the widow Naomi for the land.  But these lands also come with Ruth—the redeemer must marry Ruth and provide her with sons who will officially be considered the sons of Ruth’s deceased husband.  The closer family member declines, and Boaz then agrees to spend his money to purchase or “redeem” both the lands and Ruth.  Boaz becomes Ruth’s KINSMAN-REDEEMER, her family member who buys her back and keeps her in the family. (Boaz also becomes the great-grandfather of King David.)

And so it is with Jesus.  He is our kinsman-Redeemer, our family member who buys us back and restores our position in the family.  (Isn’t it amazing to know you are part of Jesus’s family—that He gives you a seat at His table?)

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The Bible is Filled With Unsavory Characters–Just Like Life.

Serving as a juror for a murder trial proved to me the soft or “delicate” nature of some members of our first-world culture.  Then at work I discussed one aspect of last week’s trial and a female engineer covered her ears and hurried away—it was too much for her.

The Bible does NOT avoid hard content.  The realities of life on earth have always included wars, massacres, murders, rapes, genocide, and violent crimes.  Biblical writers address it, gazing at humanity’s evils with an unflinching eye.  Consider Judges 19-21: 

A man on a journey is taken in for the night by a host, when “all of a sudden, perverted men of the city surrounded the house and beat on the door. They said to the old man, bring out the man who came to your house so we can have sex with him!” Judges 19:22.

At first, this sounds like Sodom & Gomorrah—but this is a DIFFERENT time when perverted men beat on a door demanding to rape the guests. 

The traveler gave the men his concubine and they raped her until she died.  Then the husband took her home, sliced her remains into a dozen pieces, and mailed her twelve parts to cities all over Israel.  It was a shock, the nation raised an uproar (the desecration of the corpse went viral), and soon Israel rallied its troops and destroyed the city of perverted rapists.

Is that story hard to take? Perhaps. But you have to at least give the Bible credit for NOT being some Pollyanna, pie-in-the-sky fantasy. 

The message is NOT: FOLLOW GOD AND LIFE WILL BE A BOWL OF PEACHES AND CREAM.

The message is NOT: FOLLOW GOD AND ALL YOUR PROBLEMS WILL BE OVER.

God does not take us out of this sometimes cruel world. Instead, he leaves us in it, giving us the message, the love, and the POWER to reach people struggling against the chains of evil and addiction.

God, give us courage, love, and hope to share with others. Use us to bring great light to a world of great darkness.

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The Monarchy.

The book of Judges might be re-named “the Book of Committees.” Protestant churches love committees, right? Ours even has a Committee on Committees, a committee whose members nominate people to serve on other committees. But without an executive–without a chief at the top–committees can devolve into a league of partisan teams battling over authority (“vision”) and money (“budgets”). Israel during the time of the judges seems to have suffered from a lack of clear, decisive leadership.

“In those days there was no king in Israel. Every man did that which was right in his own eyes” Judges 21:25.

These words are repeated over and over in the book of Judges, a refrain lamenting the nation’s lack of leadership. Is the Bible monarchist? Having seen the coronation of King Charles over the weekend, I must ask: should America have a king?

The famous words above are used as bookends around a terrible story:  A woman is brutally gang-raped by the men of Gibeah and she dies—then her husband cuts up her body and mails it all over Israel.  His publicity stunt works, the matter goes “viral,” and the nation rallies to prosecute the crime.  Unfortunately, the locals are in no mood to surrender and civil war breaks out killing 65,000 men.  The conclusion?

“In those days there was no king in Israel. Every man did that which was right in his own eyes” Judges 21:25.

The point appears to be that a king might have prevented this horrible evil.  Or the evil could have been prosecuted without the death of 65,000 men, most of whom had no part in the crime. 

So does America need a king? Was the Revolutionary War a big mistake? 

I don’t think so.  The American system DOES employ kings, in a manner of speaking: we call them “executives”—mayors, governors, and the president.  Though these executives are elected, their term in office is long enough that they can provide some real leadership against crime.  Presidents appoint an Attorney General to lead the Department of Justice.  Governors and mayors have similar opportunities to fight crime.  In that sense, our system does have a king.  In other words, in America’s highly complex system of government, the voters elect executives who ensure that every man does not simply do “that which is right in his own eyes.”

God, thank you for a system that allows us enough freedom to have a say in the way we are governed, while also protecting us from many types of crime. Thank you for the Bible’s wisdom about the practical problems of governance.

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Talk About Being Scalped!

Have you ever had a bad haircut? One so bad, you wanted to wear a hat?  In first grade, everyone laughed when someone got a haircut.  It could be the tiniest, most imperceptible trim, but the class would point and laugh, chanting in their sing-song way: “Brian got a hair-cut! Brian got a hair-cut!” That continued till we were teenagers.

Yet, a truly bad haircut remains embarrassing, I don’t care how old you are.  But I wonder what it was like for Samson.  He had never had a haircut.  His hair had always been longer and heavier than everyone else’s. He kept it braided and bound behind him, but it was always there like another limb. (In fact, researchers say long hair actually has a use, providing a sixth sense about danger—every long hair is an antenna picking up vibrations and transmitting them to the nerves near the roots.  American Indians joining the US military have wept when losing a full head of hair, aware they had lost the “radar” they had relied on all their lives like an extra set of ears.) 

Samson lost even more.  He lost his “antenna” for danger, his super-human strength, and his vision (because the Philistines took a grapefruit spoon to his eye balls). He had led Israel for twenty years. Now he was a slave, turning a miller’s wheel like a mule.

“But his hair began to grow back after it had been shaved” Judges 16:22.

When you read that line in context, the whole story changes.  There’s hope!  God is not finished with Samson! 

No matter what you have done, no matter how you fail—your hair will grow back.  God’s grace will return.  Be faithful, follow God, and He will bless you again! Don’t give up!

God, thank you for your grace! Restore us and use us like Samson to do more than we have ever done before!

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Samson!

When I was a little boy I had a book about Samson. It had great pictures and told the stories—he captured 300 foxes, tied their tails together in pairs with a torch between them, and set them loose to burn the Philistines’ grain. He killed a thousand men with a donkey’s jawbone, and more.

I loved those stories. I thought Samson was a great hero. And what an amazing story of heroes we have in the Bible: Adam, the first man; Noah, the great ark builder; Moses the law giver; Joshua the warrior; David the giant-slayer and king. But Samson—wow. You have to admit—the Bible has an amazing cast of characters!

When I got older, I learned Samson was not such a perfect hero. He was selfish and had a weakness for beautiful women. He had no self-denial or self-discipline. And for a while he protected the secret of his God-given power (he had never broken his Nazirite vow). But when Delilah kept begging and whining, he gave in. Three times he made up lies—and she DID exactly the thing he told her would weaken him. Then the fourth time, he told her the true secret and, predictably, she cut off his hair. Suddenly he found himself captured and his eyes gouged out. Now he was humiliated, and all was lost. He broke God’s rule, and God’s power left him. Worse than that, it was his own fault.

“The Philistines seized him and gouged out his eyes. They brought him down to Gaza and bound him with bronze shackles and he was forced to grind grain in the prison [he was harnessed like a donkey, pulling a grinding wheel around in a circle]. But his hair began to grow back.” Judges 16:21-22.

HIS HAIR BEGAN TO GROW BACK.

That is grace. That sentence is one of my favorite sentences about God’s grace: His hair began to grow back. More importantly, God’s strength returned to Samson. God used him to destroy the pagan temple and “the dead he killed in his death were more than those he killed in his life” v.30.

When you fail God, repent, confess, and focus on God’s grace. Your hair will grow back. God’s blessings will return. God’s grace is still with you. He still loves you, He still has a plan for you. He will still use you. He will bless you again. All may seem lost—but all is not lost when you love Jesus. God’s grace remains—and God’s power will return. He is not finished with you. Embrace Him and embrace His amazing grace, no matter what you may have done. God is for you and God will bless you again!

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