The Madison journal. (Tallulah, Madison Parish, La.) 1888-current, 1915-02-13
LESSON FOR FEBRUARY ID
SAMUEL CALLED TO BE A
PROPHET.

LESSON TENT Samuel 3:l-l3. 10. ~. /
GOLDEN TEXT-Sprak. Jehovah. for ,
thy servant heareth.-I Samuel 80, r. V. .
Samuel was the last judge and the .
first of the order of prophets. His
name means asked of God and he
was dedicated to God Q:lD as a NaZ-
arite. In fulfillment of his mothers
vow he was brought to the temple
when he was a young child 0:2i), JO-
sephus says, at twelve years of age.
Hannahs song of rejoicing t2.l-l0 Is
! the expression of great soul and
choice piece OF literature. Samuel
had the advantage of b''ng well born,
but after studying ELS household we
are not so confident as to the environ
ment amid which he was placed.
!. SamueIs Vision, w. 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. 1T was rare" (margln)
and the result was that there was no
| frequent vision" Or. W. The word
| is also precious" ". 1; Ps. 1879, 100,
! 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 S:4-6, II, 12). A VISOR
is a knowledge of a need and OF the
resources at our command. Eli aud
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. 11:25.
l Tim. Alp, 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 Eli. for the great
temple was not yet built. AS such he
is a type for the Christian FPS. 27:4.
II was there that the Lord revealed
himself to him John TIA r. V. mar
gin). One of Samuel's duties as the
special attendant of Eli was to open
the house of God every morning. also
to tend the sacred lamp which burned
from evening to morning (Ex. 27:2O.
2D. 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
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 ovel
for further sleep or to have risen hest
tatingly would, in all probability, have
prevented any further calls prov
q 1:24, %. 2S). God wants. for specia
y services, those who make glad re
:. Spouse to his first call lisa. SIS; LUX,
!. 9:59-62; Acts $3.50. Three times tn,
n call comes and three times Samue
d makes reply. There are three period
;. in the unfolding life that are most sus
J. ceptible to the leading of the Hol
s Spirit Nine to twelve, fourteen an,
q fifteen, seventeen and eighteen ar
@ particularly open to Impressions, espe
Is cially if the child has had a religion
9. atmosphere and training.
ls The teacher needs to be ever aler
1t to take advantage of these -opportr
B. mites to unfold and enforce the claim
q of Christ and to challenge an imme
e. date decision of the soul. Happy ar
le they who like Samuel hear and recol
revelation, the voice of Jehovah, al.
L hearing, obey it. There Is little nee
e. at present for the audible voice, 70
~ we have the word and the still sma
" voice of the Holy Spirit. The voic
l1 Samuel heard became a vision ". 10
N NE DlUlc doouUlcS tud
God speaks to men. We do not fin
). him so much by searching for him.. fo
~ he is made known ("manifested")
!. the person of his Son q John IL,
o. John 1870. Gods calls to servic
may come at any period, but frequen
10 ly they come very early. Hudson Ia,
n. lor, founder of the wonderful Chin
Inland mission, received his call ;
seventeen. Eli in times past mu'
have heard Jehovah speak, else
would not have recognized who It Wa
" that was speaking to Samuel tchapt'
10 2:2O. Samuefs call was to servic
-, to be prophet. Our commission is
witness and to serve Mark 1918
Samuel received Jehovahs word n
'et at ELS side but in his own restir
"e place; so God would speak to us wht
in our own place where he has put U
It is we'll for us to be sure we a
'n' truly hearing the voice Of God (Jol
a.
n. Jehovah's Verdict, w. 1918,
20. The chapter following tells Of Il
defeat Of Israel, the capture Of &