Search
Scripture Reading: 1 Sam. 1:3-5, 7, 10-11, 20, 24; 19:20, 23; 2 Sam. 22:1-3, 47; 23:1-3; 24:25; 1 Sam. 10:1, 6-10; 11:6; 16:1-3, 13
Prayer: Lord, we thank You for Your Word. We believe that You are with us. You are the Word, and You are the Spirit. Whenever we touch Your Word, we touch Your Spirit. Lord, thank You for Your blood, which continually cleanses us. We live not by what we are but by Your blood. We take You as our sin offering and our trespass offering so that we may enter into the enjoyment of You as all the other offerings. Lord, we believe that You are one spirit with us. We desire to practice to be one spirit with You in all that we do. Lord, speak Your word and speak forth Yourself. We need You as our nourishment, our supply. Lord, as we come to the Old Testament, we still have the spirit of the New Testament. We desire to see the details of the riches in the New Testament. Thank You, Lord Jesus. Thank You, God our Father. We trust in You.
We need to see the significance of the sequence of the books of the Bible according to the crucial points in each book. Genesis shows us God’s creation and God’s purpose in creation, which is to gain an expression. God made man in His image for His expression (1:26). Genesis eventually reveals that God desires a house. This revelation came to Jacob while he was fleeing from his brother, Esau, after taking Esau’s birthright and blessing. Jacob had a dream from God, and upon waking from the dream, he prophetically named the place Bethel, which means “the house of God” (28:17-19, 22). This prophecy concerning God’s house was initially fulfilled at the end of Exodus when the tabernacle was built as God’s dwelling place among His people (40:17).
In Genesis and Exodus four basic items are revealed and applied by God: God’s sent One, the tabernacle, the offerings, and the Spirit. As the sent One, God came to His created and chosen people as an angel and as a man. The first time God came to His people as a man was in Genesis 18. Three men appeared to Abraham, and one of them was Jehovah (vv. 13-14, 22). We know that Jehovah came to Abraham as a genuine man because Abraham washed His feet and served Him a meal (vv. 4-8). Jehovah also appeared several times in Genesis as the Angel of Jehovah, the sent One of God (16:7, 13; 22:11-12). This sent One also appeared to Moses in Exodus 3, where the Angel of Jehovah is called Jehovah (vv. 2, 4), the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob (v. 6), and I AM WHO I AM (v. 14). After Exodus 3 this Angel appeared quite often. The Angel fought the battle for Israel against Pharaoh’s army (14:19-20, 24-25). He was continually with the children of Israel from the time they left Egypt and crossed the Red Sea.
The Angel of Jehovah appeared several times in Judges. When the Angel appeared to Samson’s parents, He was repeatedly called a man (13:3, 6, 11). Judges 13:20 says, “When the flame went up from the altar to heaven, the Angel of Jehovah went up in the flame of the altar, while Manoah and his wife looked on.” More than a thousand years before Christ ascended in a cloud (Acts 1:9), the Angel of Jehovah, as a man, ascended in the flame of the altar. Actually, the Angel of Jehovah was Christ as a man. The Old Testament reveals that the Angel of Jehovah was Jehovah, and the name Jesus means “Jehovah the Savior.”
The appearing of the Angel in Exodus issued in the children of Israel building the tabernacle, which is a type of Christ as the embodiment of the Triune God. Exodus also mentions the offerings, which are described in detail in Leviticus, and are all types of Christ. John 1, which is an extract of the entire Gospel of John, shows that Christ is the fulfillment of the tabernacle (v. 14), and as the Lamb of God, He is the aggregate and the fulfillment of all the offerings (v. 29).
Exodus also contains several types of the Spirit. The cloud fighting for Israel in 14:19-25 and covering the tabernacle in 40:34 typifies the Spirit (1 Cor. 10:2 cf. 12:13). The water that flowed out of the smitten rock in Exodus 17:6 also typifies the Spirit (John 7:37-39; 1 Cor. 12:13). The compounded anointing ointment in Exodus 30:23-25 typifies the all-inclusive compound Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45; John 7:39; Phil. 1:19). Thus, by the end of Exodus we have seen the four major items: the Angel of Jehovah, God’s sent One as a man; the tabernacle as the embodiment of the Triune God and His dwelling place among His people; the offerings as the means by which God’s people enter into the enjoyment of the Triune God; and the Spirit. These items are fully revealed and realized in Christ in the New Testament. Thus, we can see that the Old and New Testaments actually speak concerning one thing: God’s economy to work Himself into His chosen people through the Divine Trinity.
The Trinity is crucial for God’s economy. If God were not triune, He would not be able to reach and enter into His creature man. In order to dispense Himself into man, God had to be triune. God needed to become a man as the sent One. This sent One also needed to be the embodiment of God and the reality of the offerings in order to be the means, the sphere, and the entrance for God’s chosen ones to enter into the enjoyment of God. In order for all these accomplishments to reach and be applied to God’s people, the sent One had to be the Spirit. Because God is the Spirit, His people can drink Him, and He can anoint them as ointment. The Triune God as the Spirit is mingled with His elect by entering into them as the living water and covering them as the anointing ointment. This is the picture presented by both the Old and New Testaments.
Apparently, the Old Testament contains biographies, history, poetry, and prophecy, and the New Testament contains accounts of the Lord’s earthly ministry and the letters that the apostles wrote to the early churches. However, the Old Testament and the New Testament intrinsically reveal the same thing. While I am speaking, others see my clothing, my face, and my hair, but these things do not represent me. There is something more intrinsic, that is, what I am speaking. The Bible similarly has an intrinsic content. We need to get into this intrinsic content. God’s sent One, God’s embodiment, the offerings, and God the Spirit are the intrinsic content, the innermost essence and elements, of the Holy Scriptures. The entire Bible is constructed with these four items. Primarily through these items, we have seen the Divine Trinity in Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Judges.
In order for God’s chosen people to be His house, His expression, the Trinity was needed. The children of Israel entered into the good land, but the good land was filled with enemies. The book of Judges reveals the Trinity because the Trinity was needed to defeat the enemies. However, God’s purpose for His people was not merely to defeat the enemies and take full possession of the land but for them to set up a kingdom. Because this purpose had not been fulfilled, the conclusion of Judges says, “In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes” (21:25). The children of Israel did whatever was right in their own eyes because there was no king or kingdom. What was needed at that time was for a kingdom to be set up.
Samuel was one who brought in the kingdom. First and 2 Samuel are crucial for the bringing in of the kingdom. In order for God to fulfill His intention to have an expression, He needed to have a kingdom. The kingdom of God is a sphere in which God is expressed. When the Lord taught His disciples how to pray, He began, “Our Father who is in the heavens, Your name be sanctified; Your kingdom come” (Matt. 6:9-10). The New Testament opens with the Gospel of Matthew, which is the Gospel of the kingdom. In Matthew 3:2 John the Baptist declared, “Repent, for the kingdom of the heavens has drawn near.” Many Christians today preach the gospel of a heavenly mansion, but the New Testament preaches the gospel of the kingdom (cf. Matt. 4:23; 9:35; 24:14). The gospel leads us to repent because God’s kingdom requires our repentance.
God needs a kingdom so that He may have an expression. 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. In Judges the enemies were defeated to some extent so that the children of Israel could enjoy the good land. Nevertheless, there was no expression of God in Judges because there was no king. Everyone acted according to what was right in his own eyes. Therefore, at that time God needed a kingdom with a king.
In Judges God used Deborah. In 1 and 2 Samuel the first person God used to bring in His kingdom was another female, Samuel’s mother, Hannah. She bore Samuel, who brought in the king with the kingdom. There is no book in the Old Testament called David; instead, the record of David is included in 1 and 2 Samuel. David was trained, called, anointed, and enthroned in 1 and 2 Samuel. Without David, 1 and 2 Samuel would be empty. The reality of Samuel was David. Samuel was for David, but without Samuel, there would have been no David. David was brought in and initiated into his position and function through Samuel, who was the issue of the desperate prayer of a female seeker of God.
Because of the miserable situation in Judges, there was an urgent and desperate need for one like Samuel. The vow of the Nazarite allowed those like Samuel who were not descendants of Aaron to become priests. Samuel was a Levite (1 Chron. 6:33-38), but he was not born into the priesthood, because he was not of the house of Aaron, the family of priests ordained by God. According to Joshua 21, the Levites were not allotted a particular portion of land; instead, the descendants of Levi were given land among the other tribes. Samuel’s family lived in Ephraim (1 Sam. 1:1). Samuel was a Levite by birth and an Ephraimite by residence, but he was a Nazarite by consecration. Even before he was born, his mother consecrated him as a Nazarite to Jehovah (v. 11; cf. Num. 6:1-5). After he was born and weaned, his mother brought him to the house of God and left him in the care of Eli the priest. From his childhood Samuel wore the priests’ ephod (1 Sam. 2:18). Although he was not born a priest, he came into the priesthood by the vow of the Nazarite. Because God foresaw that the ordained priests, Eli and his sons, would not be faithful to the priesthood, God used the “back door” of the Nazarite vow to bring a faithful one into the priesthood.
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. In order for such a one to be raised up and carry out his commission, there was a crucial need of the Divine Trinity. Only the Trinity could work this out. For this reason, in 1 and 2 Samuel there is a detailed, fine revelation of the Divine Trinity. What happened in Judges is somewhat rough, but in Samuel the application of the Divine Trinity is very fine.
First Samuel begins with a man named Elkanah who had two wives, Hannah and Peninnah (1:1-2). Elkanah loved Hannah more. However, Hannah had no children, while Peninnah had sons and daughters. This was the sovereign hand of the Lord. According to the Mosaic law, Elkanah went with his family every year to the house of God, the tabernacle, which was in Shiloh at that time, to worship and make offerings to Jehovah (v. 3). Whenever Elkanah sacrificed, he would give a double portion to Hannah since he loved her (v. 5). Because Jehovah had shut up Hannah’s womb, she was forced to pray a desperate, consecrated, and consecrating prayer (vv. 10-12, 15). She prayed for a male child, whom she would not keep for herself but would give to the Lord for His need. Her prayer was for a son who would be a Nazarite from birth, one who would be absolute for the Lord. The Lord answered her prayer, and a son was born (v. 20). Hannah named her son Samuel, which means “asked for of God,” or “heard of God.” When we ask of God, He will hear our request. Samuel’s mother asked for him of the Lord, and the Lord heard and answered her request.
From his childhood Samuel was a Nazarite, serving as a priest in the house of God (v. 24; 2:11, 18). While Samuel was staying with Eli in the temple, God appeared in a vision to Samuel (3:4-14). Samuel was still a boy, just as the Lord Jesus was when He went to Jerusalem with His parents (Luke 2:42). Eventually, Samuel became a renowned prophet and the judge of Israel (1 Sam. 3:20; 7:6). However, for Samuel to be a priest, a prophet, and a judge was not God’s goal. God intended to set up a kingdom with a king. Therefore, God twice sent Samuel to anoint someone. First, he anointed Saul to be ruler over Israel (9:16; 10:1). Later, Samuel anointed David to be king (16:1, 13). David was brought in through Samuel. The crucial point in this history is that there was a need of the Divine Trinity.
Our present situation and God’s need today are the same in principle as the situation and the need at the time of Samuel. Some today need to pray according to God’s need, as Hannah did. God needs some like Samuel, who was a Nazarite, a priest, a prophet, and the last judge. Samuel was the last judge because God used him to terminate the confused situation among God’s people, who were without a king or a kingdom. God needs such ones who are qualified to terminate the negative situation and bring in the king and the kingdom. The fulfillment of the kingdom is the coming kingdom, which will be brought in by the Lord Jesus, but there is a need today for some like Samuel to cooperate by bringing in that kingdom. In a sense, Christ our King is not here yet, and we are still in a confused situation, just as in the age of the judges. We should aspire to be the last judge. The sisters especially should aspire to be like Hannah, praying to bring forth some like Samuel, who will terminate the confused age so that Christ the King may come with His kingdom.
We need to realize how greatly the Divine Trinity is needed for this to be accomplished. In order for Hannah to pray such a prevailing prayer and receive a definite reply, she needed the tabernacle and the offerings, which typify Christ the Son as the embodiment of God and the reality of all the offerings. Similarly, in order for us to pray to meet God’s need today, we need Christ as the embodiment of God and the reality of the offerings. We also need the fulfillment of the Tent of Meeting, which is the church as God’s dwelling place. Hannah did not pray her prevailing prayer in her home. We need God’s embodiment and His full salvation in the church life. Then we can pray prevailing prayers for God’s goal, to bring in the kingdom. This is the experience of the Divine Trinity.
First Samuel 1:3-7 says, “This man [Elkanah] went up from his city year by year to worship and to sacrifice to Jehovah of hosts in Shiloh...When the day came that Elkanah sacrificed,...he would give a double portion to Hannah...So it happened year after year; when she went up to the house of Jehovah.” Verses 10 through 11 say, “She was bitter in soul and prayed to Jehovah and wept much. And she made a vow and said, O Jehovah of hosts,...give to Your female servant a male child.” Verse 20 says, “In due time Hannah conceived and bore a son; and she called his name Samuel.” Verse 24 says, “As soon as she weaned him, she brought him up with her, along with three bulls and one ephah of flour and a skin of wine; and she brought him to the house of Jehovah.” In these verses the sacrifices typify Christ as all the offerings. Jehovah is the eternal great I Am, and the house of Jehovah is Christ as the embodiment of God to be God’s dwelling place among His people. Furthermore, the bulls, flour, and wine signify the Christ whom we experience and bring to the house of God to offer to Him. 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.
In 1 Samuel 19 we see the Spirit: “Saul sent messengers to seize David; and when they saw the company of prophets prophesying and Samuel standing and presiding over them, the Spirit of God came upon Saul’s messengers, and they also prophesied” (v. 20). Verse 23 says, “The Spirit of God came upon [Saul] as well, and he went on and prophesied.” Saul intended to arrest and kill David. It was not physical force but prophesying that stopped Saul’s activity. Samuel was not commanding an army but was directing the prophesying. This was all the doing of the Spirit of God, who is the third of the Trinity reaching God’s people.
Second Samuel 22:1-3 says, “David spoke the words of this song to Jehovah...Jehovah is...my rock.” Verse 47 says, “Exalted be God, the rock of my salvation.” Second Samuel 23:1-3 says, “These are the last words of David...The Spirit of Jehovah spoke through me, / And His word was on my tongue. / The God of Israel spoke, / The Rock of Israel spoke to me.” In these verses the rock is Christ as the ground for God to grace His people. The Spirit of Jehovah is the Spirit of the Triune God. God in these verses in Hebrew is Elohim, indicating the Triune God. Second Samuel 24:25 says, “There David built an altar to Jehovah, and he offered burnt offerings and peace offerings.” The burnt offerings typify Christ for God’s satisfaction, and the peace offerings typify Christ for the peace between God and His people.
In this portion of the Word we can see that the Triune God with His embodiment and redemption was fully involved in bringing forth Samuel and David so that the kingdom of God might be brought in. To bring in the kingdom of God is a great thing. Many Christians today speak of the Lord’s coming, but most do not realize that there is the need for some like Samuel to bring in Christ the King with His kingdom. Samuel brought in David so that the heavenly kingdom could be set up on the earth for God’s expression. The Lord’s prophecy of His return can be fulfilled only through some like Hannah and Samuel. Hannah brought in Samuel, and Samuel brought in David.
First Samuel 10:1 says, “Samuel took the vial of oil and poured it upon his [Saul’s] head...and said, Jehovah anoints you ruler over His inheritance.” Oil here typifies the Spirit of God, and Jehovah is the eternal One. Verses 6 through 10 say, “The Spirit of Jehovah will rush upon you; and you will prophesy with them and be turned into another man...For God is with you...I will come down to you to offer up burnt offerings and to sacrifice sacrifices of peace offerings...God gave him [Saul] another heart...And when they came there to the hill, there was the group of prophets, coming to meet him. And the Spirit of God rushed upon him, and he prophesied among them.” First Samuel 11:6 says, “The Spirit of God rushed upon Saul.” As in the previous verses, the Spirit of Jehovah is the third of the Trinity reaching man, and God in Hebrew is Elohim, the Triune God. Similarly, the burnt offerings typify Christ for God’s satisfaction, and the peace offerings typify Christ for the peace between God and His people. Christ as the offerings is for redemption. The Spirit of God is the Spirit of the Triune God. In order for Saul to be anointed as a ruler over God’s people, there was the need of Christ’s redemption and the Spirit. The Divine Trinity was involved in the anointing of Saul.
First Samuel 16:1-3 says, “Jehovah said to Samuel,...Fill your horn with oil, and go; I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite; for I have selected for Myself a king among his sons...Take a heifer with you...Then call Jesse to the sacrifice.” Verse 13 says, “Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him [David] in the midst of his brothers, and the Spirit of Jehovah rushed upon David from that day forward.” This case is more positive, more subjective, and deeper than the record of Saul’s anointing. In these verses we see the Triune God as Jehovah and the Spirit of the Triune God as the Spirit of Jehovah. The oil again typifies the Spirit of God. 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.
First and 2 Samuel reveal that the bringing in of the king and the setting up of the kingdom depend on the involvement of the Divine Trinity with His people. The Triune God is still involved with us today. The Triune God, with His embodiment, His redemption, and His Spirit, is constituting us into useful persons for His coming and His kingdom. We must trust in the involvement, the work, of the Divine Trinity. If we see this, it will revolutionize our concept about what it means to be a Christian. 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.
When we see the involvement of the Divine Trinity with His people in the Old Testament, we will realize that the intrinsic structure of the Old Testament is exactly the same as that of the New Testament. The Divine Trinity as the intrinsic structure of the Word is especially evident in the Epistles of Paul. In 2 Corinthians 13:14 Paul writes, “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.” The book of Ephesians mentions the Trinity in every chapter and is thus constructed with the Divine Trinity as its basic structure (1:3-14; 2:18; 3:16-17a; 4:4-6; 5:18-20; 6:10-11, 17). As we read the Word, we need to see the Divine Trinity as the intrinsic structure.
