SAMUEL, THE WARRIOR OF PRYAER

Pastor Carolyn Sissom \ July 7th, 2014 (6419 views)

SAMUEL, THE WARRIOR OF PRAYER

Sunday, July 6, 2014, the Year of Our Lord

Pastor Carolyn Sissom

 

As we are preparing for our annual conference, The Call of the Warrior, by the leading of the Holy Spirit, I have been doing a series of sermons on Sunday evening of the mighty men and women of faith in the Hebrew 11, Hall of Faith-Fame. 

 

Hebrews 11: 32-34: “What shall I say? For the time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthae, David and Samuel, and of the prophets; who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of aliens.”

 

It is to be noted that through faith they “obtained promises”.  That means that we, too, must obtain the promises of God by faith.

 

By the unction of the Holy Spirit, I have systematically preached on Gideon, Barak and Samson.   Jephthah, the Gilead is next.  The Word of God describes him as “a mighty man of valor”.  There are only six men given the honor of “a mighty man of valor” in the Holy Scripture.

 

1.  Gideon

2.  Jepthah

3.  Jeroboam

4.  Eliadu

5.  Naaman

6.  Zadok

 

 I have diligently studied Jephthah’s life and ministry.  I am not one to “pull back” even when it is a message I don’t want to deliver.  By the grace of the Lord, I will preach a redemptive message on Jephthah at the evening service.  I pray I have not disobeyed the Lord by choosing to preach on Samuel.  I pray his Grace will cover me.

 

I believe the Lord is again calling for the warriors that through faith we are to subdue kingdoms, work righteousness, and obtain promises.  Each one of the heroes of faith were called, commissioned, endued with power from the Holy Spirit and equipped with unique weapons of warfare.

 

Israel, the Lord’s chosen nation to reveal Himself to the world repeatedly departed from the Lord into sin.

 

The United States of America has followed the same pattern of sin and apostasy.

 

Then the people would cry out in supplication unto the Lord.

 

The Lord again and again chooses a new species of war and Himself subverts the gates of the enemy.  “That man may not vaunt himself before man and God.”

 

Samuel was a Warrior of prayer – 1 Sam. 3:19: “Samuel grew, and the Lord was with him, and did not let any of his words fall to the ground.”

 

Samuel was a priest and the last of the judges. He was a man of Divine Authority.  As a prophet, he anointed the first king.  Thus Israel’s form of government moved from theocracy, into periods of anarchy (time of the Judges), and now in 1 Samuel moves into monarchy.  The Monarchy was not God’s perfect will. 

 

The history of Israel, viewed as the theocracy, or Kingdom of God, and consists of 3 periods:

 

1. Under the guidance of prophets (from Moses to Samuel);
2. Under the rule of Kings (from Saul to Zedekiah)
3. Under the reign of the High Priests (from Ezra to Jesus).

 

Samuel is known as “the prophet of prayer”.   He is the founder of the School of the prophets, a priest unto God, and a representative of the Godly remnant in Israel.  Samuel alone fully realized the mission of the Judges, and was divinely appointed to inaugurate the new instititution of royalty in Israel.

 

The word “prophet” occurs occasionally before the time of Samuel (Gen. 20:7; Ex. 7:1; Num. 12:6; Deut. 13; 18; Num. 11:29; Ex. 15:29).  But Samuel was the founder of a regular order of prophets with schools.  These prophets functioned through a period of 300 years before the literary prophets (who wrote the closing 17 books of the O.T.).  These leading oral prophets were Samuel, organizer of the Kingdom; Nathan, advisor to King David; Ahijah, adviser to Jeroboam; Elijah and Elisha, who led in the grand fight against Baalism.  Samuel was the chosen vessel to initiate the oral prophetic era.

 

1 Sam 12:23: “…God forbid that I should sin against the Lord in ceasing to pray for you; but I will teach you the good and the right way.  Only fear the Lord and serve Him in truth with all your heart; for consider what great things He has done for you.”

 

Jer. 15:1: “Then said the Lord to me, though Moses and Samuel stood before Me, yet My mind could not be toward this people; cast them out of My sight and let them go forth.”

 

A man of God will be a man of prayer, constantly interceding for the needs of the people, as exampled by Samuel and David.  The life and ministry of Samuel is full of prayer beginning with Hannah’s prayer for a child.  Samuel was born in Ramah (“high or heavenly place”).   At Shiloh, Samuel is presented to Eli, a judge and high priest. 

 

Eli is a type of the religious systems, the old order.  He speaks of man-rule and carnal leadership.  There is an existing Eli and a growing Samuel. 

 

The changing of the priesthood from Eli to Samuel is a picture of the transition from the old order to the new order.  This change is from the Aaronic Order (in-part) to the Melchisedec Order (in the fullness).

Failures of Eli kind of ministry:

 

1. 1:12-16 – He lost his perception of intercessory prayer.
2. 2:29 –      He honored his sons above God.
3. 3:2 –        He neglected the Candlestick (the fruit and the gifts of the Holy Spirit).
4. 3:4-8 –     He lost the ability to recognize God’s voice.
5. 3:13 –      He failed to discipline or correct his sons.
6. 3:17 –      He lost the revelation of God’s judgments. (Gal. 6:7).

 

 

Eli’s sons were sons of “Belial” (“worthlessness”).  These sons of Satan did not know the Lord.  They were selfish.  They took what they wanted by force.  The disdained the offerings of Jehovah, and caused others to despise the things of God, thus bringing a reproach to Israel.  They made themselves vile by lying with the harlots in open.

 

The harlot systems of religion are typified by Eli’s priesthood.  These are energized by the mystery of iniquity.  The Spirit of Anti-Christ (a substitute for the anointing) permeates it.

 

Samuel is a type of the Lord Jesus in His office of priest and prophet.  He also speaks of the man-child company born of the woman (Rev. 12), which is after the same order of Melchisedec.  He reveals the principle of God-rule and true spiritual leadership.  The child Samuel ministered unto Jehovah in linen (righteousness).

 

Samuel is a type of the man-child.  Through time, there have been vessels of the carrier of the anointing until Christ be formed in us (Hannah, Mary, the Sun Clothed Woman, etc.).  The man-child is a type of the birth of the anointing coming forth to usher the Kingdom of God  into the fullness of the revelation of Jesus Christ.

 

We are all to travail as did Hannah until Christ be formed in us and revealed to the people of the earth.

 

 

General Characteristics of this Samuel kind of ministry:

 

1. He was an answer to Hannah’s (type of Church or one carrying the anointing) travailing in prayer until Christ be formed in a people.
2. He was kept until he was weaned. (Gen. 21:8- Abraham made a great feast the same day that Isaac was weaned.)
3. He was dedicated unto the Lord as a worshipper.
4. He ministered unto the Lord in righteousness.
5. He brought visitation and fruitful blessing.
6. He had a personal call and a ready response.  He learned to distinguish between the voice of God and the voice of man. 
7. As the instrument of the Lord’s sovereign divine appointment for transition of the kingdom, he was chosen to hear God voice in revelation. 3:1:  “The child Samuel ministered to the Lord before Eli.  The word of the Lord was precious in those, days; there was no open vision.  3: 11-14: “The Lord said to Samuel, behold, I will do a thing in Israel, at which both the ears of every one that hears it shall tingle.  In that day I will perform against Eli all things which I have spoken concerning his house; when I begin, I will also make an end. I have told him that I will judge his house for ever for the iniquity which he knows; because his sons made themselves vile, and he restrained them not.  Therefore I have sworn to the house of Eli, that the iniquity of Eli’s house shall not be purged with sacrifice nor offering forever.”
8. He had a revelatory understanding of Eli’s judgment, yet he did not make a judgment himself.
9. He ministered for a clear, honest word.
10. He was anointed by the Lord who honored all his words.
11. He freely ministered and influenced the whole nature.
12. He headed up the School of the Prophets which cleansed the land of witchcraft (rebellion, stubbornness, and idolatry).
13. His ministry turned Israel from idols.
14. It brought deliverance through prayer and fasting.
15. It was marked by a complete dedication.
16. It was mobile.
17. He had a home base (Ramah).
18. His ministry was betrayed and rejected by the people.
19. His giftings gave direction.
20. He taught the life of the Kingdom.
21. He had a revelation of the appointment of the new order.

 

 

Samuel’s call, followed by the message from the Lord (3: 10-18), manifested the divine grace in supplying the need for a human instrument through whom the Word of God might come.  From Dan on the northern boundary of Israel to Beersheba on the southern border, all Israel became aware of God’s anointed human instrument of revelation.

 

1 Sam 3: 20-21: “All Israel from Dan even to Beersheba knew that Samuel was established to be a prophet of the Lord.  The Lord appeared again in Shiloh; for the Lord revealed Himself to Samuel in Shiloh by the word of the Lord.”

 

The Philistines were the human agents to fulfill the predicted judgment upon Eli and his sons.  The Lord revealed Himself and His great power through His manifest Presence in the Ark of the Covenant.  Israel trusted in the Ark as a symbol rather than the Parousia of the Lord.

 

God allowed the defeat of Israel because of their continued idolatry and immorality.  The Ark of the Covenant was fetched from Shiloh in superstitious presumption.  The sons of Eli brought it to their own funeral.  Israel was “smitten” before the Philistines.  The Lord smote Eli, his sons, his daughter in law and the child to be delivered.

 

The Ark of the Covenant is a study unto itself:

1. It represents the Throne of God in the earth (Matt. 28: 18-20).
2.  The presence of God in Christ, by the Holy Spirit, in the midst of the redeemed.
3.  The Glory of God in Divine order, worship, and ministry.
4.  The government of God in the earth. (Matt. 6:10).
5. The fullness of the Godhead bodily revealed in Jesus. (Col. 1:19; 2:9)
6. The enthroned, Jesus as the King of Kings, Lord of Lords, and God of Gods.
7. The total and complete victory of Jesus Christ over all enemies.
8. The glorious church in perfection.
9. The Melchisedec priesthood Ministry of Christ, the Head and Body.
10. The Kingdom of God in power and manifestation.

 

The Lord vindicated Himself in the House of Dagon.  The idol’s fall before the Ark was a vindication of the power and supremacy of Jehovah, and was an exposure of the vanity and impotence of an idol.  The effect of the presence of the Ark implies that the same Presence of God which brings blessing and victory to some will bring curse and defeat to others, depending upon their relationship to God. 

 

The ark was with the Philistines for seven months, to the shame of Israel, who made no attempt to recover it.

 

In 1 Samuel 7:3, Samuel, the Judge-prophet issued a general call to the nation for genuine repentance and reform in turning away from Canaanite idolatry.  Jehovah confirmed this dedication by His victory at Ebenezer.

 

1 Samuel 7:9-13: “Samuel took a sucking lamb, and offered it for a burned offering wholly to the Lord; and Samuel cried to the Lord for Israel; and the Lord heard him.  As Samuel was offering up the burned offering, the Philistines drew near to battle against Israel; but the Lord thundered with a great thunder on that day upon the Philistines, and discomfited them; and they were smitten before Israel.  The men of Israel went out of Mizpeh, and pursued the Philistines, and smote them, until they came under Beth-car.  Then Samuel took a stone, and set it between Mizpeh and Shen, and called the name of it Ebenezer, saying, thus far has the Lord helped us.  So the Philistines were subdued, and they came no more into the coast of Israel; and the hand of the Lord was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel…Samuel judged Israel all the days of life.  He went from year to year in circuit to Bethel, and Gilgal, and Mizpeh, and judged Israel in all those places.  His return was to Ramah; for there was his house; and there he judged Israel; and there he built an altar to the Lord.

 

The Sucking Lamb represented the “newborn” nation, young, tender and unified, awakened to New Life by its restoration to Jehovah.

 

On July 2, 2014, I had a dream which I am still pondering before the Lord.

 

“la nas tierno” was written out in a dream.  It means “tender”, “affectionate”, “baby”.

 

Dream:

I heard “la nas tierno” is a sign of the second coming of Christ.  You have written of this in your book.”  I saw a book. (End of Dream).

I have several interpretations that this could possibly refer to and do not yet know what message the Lord is giving me.  Throughout the Bible a baby is referred to as a “suckling” or “sucking”.  This is a mystery.

 (Before preaching this message on Sunday morning, I believe the Holy Spirit gave me a revelation that "las nas tierno" is referring to the man-child.  If this is the case, then I have written a booklet on a vision I had in 1989 of the birth of the man-child.)

Other considerations, but not revelations: 

1. “La nas tierno” is Spanish and perhaps is referring to the Latin American immigrant children.
2.  Matthew 24:19: “Woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days.”
3. Here in 1 Sam. 7:9 Samuel took a sucking lamb (7 days old – Lev. 22:27) and offered it as a burnt offering wholly.   

 

I do not speak Spanish.  I have not written a book or at least one which has been published. I do have an unpublished booklet on the Sun-Clothed Woman - see Bible Study notes on the Book of Revelation. 

  The Lord will reveal the mystery of the message.

 

Carolyn Sissom, Pastor

Eastgate Ministries, Inc.

www.eastgateministries.com

Scripture from K.J.V.

I entered into the labors of Principles of Present Truth of 1 Samuel by: Kelley Varner.  Comments and conclusions are my own and not meant to reflect the views of Brother Varner.  Dream was given to Carolyn Sissom 7/2/14, the Year of Our Lord.