1 Samuel 3:7 KJV
Now Samuel did not yet know the LORD, neither was the word of the LORD yet revealed unto him.
An interesting contrast is established in this chapter where Samuel is said to minister unto the Lord in verse one but here the Word declares he did not yet know the Lord. Woe to the world when its ministers do not know the Lord!
Of course Samuel was only a child. He was maturing and we who have read on in the book know that he will soon know the Lord. Gill says Samuel knew
• That Jehovah is the true God
• That he knew something of the Word of God and of the practice of worship
• That he had been instructed by Eli in the ordinances
But as yet he did not know the Lord in any personal way. He could not distinguish the difference between the voice of God and the voice of the priest.
Way too much of that kind of Christianity exists today, and I think most pastors would like to keep it so. It gives him control when the congregation only expects God to instruct them through the pastor and he never encourages them to listen for the voice of the Lord on their own.
Not that I dismiss the place of the preacher.
• God has called him to equip and to feed the saints
• God has charged him to have oversight of the house of God but
• God has not given him to block the line of vision between the Lord and His flock
We have to help people to both learn the ways and ordinances of God AND to know God in a personal way.
Now Samuel did not yet know the LORD, neither was the word of the LORD yet revealed unto him.
An interesting contrast is established in this chapter where Samuel is said to minister unto the Lord in verse one but here the Word declares he did not yet know the Lord. Woe to the world when its ministers do not know the Lord!
Of course Samuel was only a child. He was maturing and we who have read on in the book know that he will soon know the Lord. Gill says Samuel knew
• That Jehovah is the true God
• That he knew something of the Word of God and of the practice of worship
• That he had been instructed by Eli in the ordinances
But as yet he did not know the Lord in any personal way. He could not distinguish the difference between the voice of God and the voice of the priest.
Way too much of that kind of Christianity exists today, and I think most pastors would like to keep it so. It gives him control when the congregation only expects God to instruct them through the pastor and he never encourages them to listen for the voice of the Lord on their own.
Not that I dismiss the place of the preacher.
• God has called him to equip and to feed the saints
• God has charged him to have oversight of the house of God but
• God has not given him to block the line of vision between the Lord and His flock
We have to help people to both learn the ways and ordinances of God AND to know God in a personal way.
Thank you, Preacher!
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