The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1915-02-10
LESSON FOR FEBRUARY "a
SAMUEL CALLED TO BE A
PROPHET.

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LESSON TEXT-I Samuel 3:1-B, 19, 20.
| GOLDEN TEXT-Speak, jehovah; for
| thy servant lleareth.-I Samuel 39, 4. V.
Samuel was the last Judge and the
irst of the order Of prophets. His
anne means asked of God" and ne
vas dedicated to God GELD as Naz-
rite. In fulflllment Of his mothers
VOW he was brought to the temple
when he was young child (1:24), Jo-
sephus says, at twelve years OF age.
Hannah's song of rejoicing (2:1-10) is
the expression of a great, soul and q
choice piece of literature. Samuel
had the advantage of being well born,
but after studying ELS household we
are not 30 confident as to the environ
ment amid which he was placed.
1. samuei's Vision, wv. ITO. The
young child entered heartily into the
temple worship and duties as directed
by the aged priest, Eli. This man was
not faithful in giving the people the
word of God. ut was rare" Cmargtn)
and the result was that there was no
frequent vision" (R. w. The word
h also precious" ". i; Ps. 1879, 10)i.
though when it Is as common as 1t Is
in this land men frequently set but
little store by it. God will Judge men
for such laxity even as he judged
Israel (Amos 8:4-6, II, 12). A vision
Is knowledge of a need and OF the
resources at our command. Eli and
his sons had no vision and a people
lacking In this direction perish (Prov.
29:1S). Jehovah Is about to make
known to Israel his will and in SO do
Ing he passes over this indulgent father
and chooses the child Samuel. Teach
ableness and obedience are the chief
characteristics of childhood and these
traits count for more with God than
does age or experience (Matt. 1925.
/ Tim. 4:12, Matt. 21:6). Samuel had
not acquired the conceit Of youth, he
was faithful to his duties, respectful to
his elders and did not boast Of his
accomplishments nor, of the special
revelation which came to him. Sam
uel slept in the holy place OF the "sa.
cred tent" near Ell, for the great
temple was not yet built. AS such he
is type for the Christian Cps. 27:4).
It was there that the Lord revealed
himself to- him John 1:14 R. v. mar.
gin). One of Samuel's duties as the
special attendant of Ell was to open
the house Of God every morning, also
! to tend the sacred lamp which burned
from evening to morning (Ex. 27:20,
21). As he attended to these duties
God made himself known to Samuel
| ". A.. God frequently, calls men and
they are not at home but have gone
into the far country. Samuel knew
God as every devout worshiper knew
him, but had not yet received a direct
revelation, hence he "did not yet know
Jehovah" Thinking, at once of the
priest, Samuel ran to receive orders
or to render service. Had he disre-
garded the voice he would not in the
end have received his clear revelation.
To have closed his ears, turned over
for further sleep or to have risen hesi-
tatingly would, in all probability, have
prevented any further calls (Prov.
1:24, rs, 2S). God wants, for special
services, those who make glad re-
sponse to his first call Elsa. 6:S; Luke
9:59-82; Acts 9:6).: Three times the
call comes and three times Samuel
makes reply. There are three periods
in the unfolding life that are most sus-
ceptible to the leading Of the Holy
Spirit. Nine to twelve, fourteen and
fifteen, seventeen and eighteen are
particularly open to impressions, espe-
cially If the child has had a religious
atmosphere and training.
The teacher needs to be ever alert
to take advantage of these opportu-
mites to unfold and enforce the claims
Of Christ and to challenge an imme-
diate decision of the soul. Happy are
they who like Samuel hear and recog-
nize, even though it be a progressive
revelation, the voice Of Jehovah, and
hearing, obey it. There Is little need
at present for the audible voice, for
we have the word and the still small
voice of the Holy Spirit. The voice
Samuel heard became vision ". 15).
The Bible everywhere assumes that
God speaks to men. We do not find
him SO much by searching for him, for
he Is made known ("manifested") in
the person of his Son Il John IL, Q;
John 1870. Gods calls to service
may come at any period, but frequent
ly they come very early. Hudson Tay-
lor. founder OF the wonderful China
Inland mission, received his call at
seventeen. Eli in times past must
have heard Jehovah speak, else he
would not have recognized who it was
that was speaking to Samuel (chapter
2:2D. Samuel's call was to service,
to be prophet. Our commission is to
witness and to serve mark 16:15).
| Samuel received Jehovah's word not
at Ellis side but in his own resting
| place; so God would speak to us when
in our own place where he has put us.
It is we'll for us to be sure we are
truly hearing the voice of God John
~.
u. Jehovah's Verdict, w. 11-13, 10,
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