Wednesday, January 20, 2010
The Precious Word
(I Samuel 3:1-3)
The days of the judges were days of limited spiritual understanding in Israel. Samuel was a young teenager by this time, faithfully serving in the Tabernacle. Prophetic revelations were infrequent, making the limited words from God especially precious. Though God had occasionally communicated His word to man (the curse of Eli being an example), this time period saw little prophetic activity and visions. All of that, however, was about to change.
Eli’s spiritual leadership had reached an all-time low. In fact, his discouragement over the recently pronounced curse, combined with his fear for his son’s lives had put him in a kind of spiritual stupor. In addition, advancing age and dimming eyesight had conspired to make life itself a burden. Both physically and spiritually, Eli “could not see” (2).
Every evening—just at twilight—the golden lamp-stand was lit in the Holy Place of the Tabernacle. It held just enough olive oil to maintain its flame throughout the night. Just before dawn, the lamp exhausted its supply of oil, and the light went out. It was in the darkness of night, just before the lamp-stand burned low, that God spoke softly to the teenager Samuel. Israel’s long night of limited prophetic voice was almost over. The spiritual light of the Tabernacle that had grown dim under Eli’s slovenly watch-care would soon be replaced by the brightness of the dawn—the rising of a great prophet in Israel.
God never leaves His people completely in the dark. When spiritual leadership is not what it ought to be, God raises up others to bear the torch. Don’t be discouraged about the darkness of our age. Remember, it’s always darkest just before the dawn!
