CRYSTALLIZATION-STUDY OF 1&2 SAMUEL
Message One
The Central Thought of and the Divine Trinity as Revealed in 1 and 2 Samuel
Scripture Reading: 1 Sam. 1:3, 7, 10-11, 19-24; 2:11, 35; 3:9-11, 21; 7:3-6; 8:4-22; 16:1-3, 13; 2 Sam. 23:1-3; 24:25
I. The central thought of 1 and 2 Samuel is that the fulfillment of God's economy needs man's cooperation—the principle of incarnation:
A. The principle of incarnation is that God enters into man and mingles Himself with man to make man one with Himself; thus, God is in man and man is in God, having one life and one living—John 15:4-5; Gal. 2:20.
B. We need to be deeply impressed with the fact that the fulfillment of God's economy requires our cooperation; to cooperate with God means to be bound together with God—1 Cor. 6:17; John 15:4-5; 2 Cor. 6:1; 1 Cor. 3:9; 16:10, 16.
C. In 1 and 2 Samuel cooperation with God is illustrated by the history of Samuel's mother, Hannah, of Samuel, and of David, in the positive sense, and by the history of Eli and Saul, in the negative sense.
D. Cooperation with God through the principle of incarnation is related to the personal enjoyment of the good land, which typifies the all-inclusive and all-extensive Christ—Deut. 8:7-10:
1. First and 2 Samuel, as a continuation of Joshua, Judges, and Ruth, give the details concerning the enjoyment of the God-given good land.
2. The types in 1 and 2 Samuel show us how the New Testament believers can and should enjoy Christ as their God-allotted portion for the establishing of God's kingdom, which is the church—Col. 1:12; Matt. 16:18-19; Rom. 14:17:
a. In 1 and 2 Samuel the good land enjoyed by those who cooperated with God became the kingdom of God.
b. In our cooperation with God we need to enjoy Christ to such an extent that our enjoyment of Christ becomes the kingdom of God, in which we reign in life with Christ—Rom. 5:17; 14:17.
II. We need to see the Divine Trinity as it is revealed in 1 and 2 Samuel:
A. God's purpose for His chosen people was not merely to defeat the enemies and take full possession of the good land but for them to set up a kingdom in the land:
1. In order for God to fulfill His intention to have an expression, He needs to have a kingdom, a sphere in which He is expressed—1 Sam. 10:25; Matt. 6:10; Luke 1:33.
2. The children of Israel were brought out of Egypt and through the wilderness, where they built the tabernacle for God; then they entered into the good land, and every tribe was allotted a portion of the land so that God might have a kingdom on earth—Josh. 13:1—22:34.
3. First and 2 Samuel are crucial for the bringing in of the kingdom—1 Sam. 8:4-22; 10:25; 13:14; 15:28; 16:1-3, 13.
B. Because of the miserable situation in the book of Judges, there was an urgent and desperate need for one like Samuel—1 Sam. 2:35; 3:21:
1. Samuel was a Nazarite, a priest, a prophet, and a judge; this fourfold status qualified Samuel to be the one who could bring in the king and set up the kingdom.
2. For Samuel to be a priest, a prophet, and a judge was not God's goal; God's intention was to set up a kingdom with a king—8:7; 13:14.
C. First and 2 Samuel reveal that the bringing in of the king and the setting up of the kingdom depended on the involvement of the Divine Trinity with His people:
1. In order for such a one as Samuel to be raised up and carry out his commission, there was a need of the Divine Trinity—1 Sam. 1:10-11, 20; 10:1, 6; 16:1-3.
2. For this reason, in 1 and 2 Samuel there is a detailed, fine revelation of the Divine Trinity; the crucial point in the history recorded in 1 and 2 Samuel is that there was the need of the Divine Trinity—2 Sam. 22:1-3; 23:1-3; 24:25.
D. The Divine Trinity and the sovereign hand of the Lord are revealed in 1 Samuel 1:
1. In the midst of the chaos of degraded Israel, Elkanah and Hannah remained on the way of life ordained by God for His eternal purpose—vv. 1-5, 10-11, 20, 24.
2. Every year Elkanah went with his family to the house of God, the tabernacle, which was in Shiloh at that time, to worship and make offerings to Jehovah—vv. 3, 21-24:
a. In verses 3-7, 10-11, 20, and 24 the sacrifices typify Christ as all the offerings; the bulls, flour, and wine signify the Christ whom we experience and bring to the house of God to offer to Him.
b. Jehovah is the great I Am, and the house of Jehovah is Christ as the embodiment of God to be God's dwelling place among His people—vv. 10-11.
c. This section mainly shows us the house of God as the embodiment of the Triune God and the offerings as the means for us to enter into the embodiment of God, that is, redemption; therefore, in these verses we see God's embodiment and God's full redemption—cf. John 1:14, 29; Luke 1:68; 2:38; Eph. 1:7.
3. Because Jehovah had shut up Hannah's womb, she was forced to pray a desperate, consecrated, and consecrating prayer; motivated by God sovereignly and secretly, she prayed for a male child who would be absolute for the Lord—1 Sam. 1:5, 10-12, 15.
E. In 1 and 2 Samuel we can see that the Triune God with His embodiment and redemption was fully involved with bringing forth Samuel and David so that the kingdom of God might be brought in:
1. The Divine Trinity is revealed in the anointing of David to be king—1 Sam. 16:1-3, 13:
a. In these verses we see the Triune God as Jehovah and the Spirit of the Triune God as the Spirit of Jehovah—v. 13.
b. The oil typifies the Spirit of God, and the sacrificed heifer typifies Christ as the offering; thus, the Divine Trinity was involved in the anointing of David, making him the king over Israel—Psa. 89:20.
2. The words of David's song to Jehovah in 2 Samuel 22:1-3 mention Jehovah as his crag, fortress, Deliverer, rock, and shield and horn of salvation; in verse 47 David declares, "Jehovah lives; and blessed be my rock, / And exalted be God, the rock of my salvation."
3. In 2 Samuel 23:1-3—David's last words—the Spirit of Jehovah spoke through him, and the Rock of Israel spoke to him—vv. 2-3:
a. In these verses the Rock is Christ as the ground for God to grace His people.
b. The Spirit of Jehovah is the Spirit of the Triune God—1 Sam. 10:6; 16:13.
c. In these verses God in Hebrew is Elohim, indicating the Triune God.
4. In 2 Samuel 24:25 the burnt offerings typify Christ for God's satisfaction, and the peace offerings typify Christ for the peace between God and His people.
III. Our present situation and God's need today are the same in principle as the situation and the need in the time of Samuel—1 Sam. 8:4-22:
A. There is an urgent need for some to pray prevailing prayers for God's goal, as Hannah did, and for qualified ones to be like Samuel—a Nazarite, a priest, a prophet, and the last judge—who was used by God to terminate the confused situation among God's people and bring in the king and the kingdom—2:35:
1. In order for us to pray to meet God's need today, we need Christ as the embodiment of the Triune God and the reality of all the offerings, and we need the fulfillment of the Tent of Meeting, which is the church as God's dwelling place—Col. 2:9-10; Eph. 2:21-22; Heb. 8:1-2; 10:8-10.
2. In a sense, Christ our King is not here yet, and we are still in a confused situation, as in the age of the judges—Judg. 21:25.
3. The fulfillment of God's kingdom is the coming of the kingdom, which will be brought in by the Lord Jesus, but there is a need for some like Samuel to cooperate with the Divine Trinity by bringing in the kingdom—Matt. 6:33; 1 Cor. 6:17; 16:10; 2 Cor. 6:1.
4. We need to realize how greatly the Divine Trinity is needed to pray prevailing prayers and to bring in the kingdom—Matt. 6:10, 13; Rev. 1:4-7; 8:3-5.
B. The Triune God, with His embodiment, His redemption, and His Spirit, is constituting us into useful persons for His coming and His kingdom—2 Cor. 13:14.
C. It is crucial for us to see that the Triune God is involved with us today, operating in us to accomplish His will, fulfill His purpose, and satisfy the desire of His heart—Phil. 2:13; Heb. 13:21; Eph. 1:5, 9, 11; 5:17; Col. 1:9; Rom. 12:2; Rev. 4:11:
1. If we see this vision, it will revolutionize our concept about what it means to be a Christian—Acts 26:19; Rom. 12:7-8; 2 Cor. 5:14-15; Eph. 3:16-17.
2. Our natural, religious, cultural, moral, and ethical concepts concerning the Christian life need to be replaced with a vision of the fully involved Triune God—Matt. 28:19; 2 Cor. 13:14; Eph. 4:4-6; Rev. 1:4-7.