There are some quotations of scripture regarding which there cannot be the slightest shadow of doubt. They are introduced with the emphatic “The scripture saith” or “As it is written.” There are, however, other examples of the use of scripture by scripture that are far more subtle, and, if we are to discern them, we need to be particularly alert in our reading of the narrative to observe not the direct quotation, but the gentle nuance; the echo, the allusion to some former scripture which gives us the key that opens for us a vista, a background of thought to the events recorded that perhaps we would not otherwise have suspected.
It is, perhaps, such examples as these that give the greatest joy to the ardent Bible student and fill our hearts with all the thrill and excitement that comes to those who find “great spoil” in the treasure-house of the Word.
We want to think particularly about the opening chapters of the 1st. Book of Samuel. Of course, historically these chapters belong to the conclusion of the times of the Judges, and it is significant that the last words of the Book of Judges should tell us that “there was no King in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes.” A terrible indictments For, of course, God was their King, and in failing to recognize His sovereignty Israel had degenerated into spiritual anarchy; and darkness, like the darkness of Egypt, had descended upon the land.
In this abysmal state of spiritual decline we can, perhaps, find a powerful and necessary word of exhortation for ourselves. We are separated from these times by thousands of years of human history, and by completely different social and ‘cultural backgrounds; but the basic crookedness of human nature, the deep seated perversion of the human heart, never changes, and there is so much that our generation, living in a similar age of darkness and disregard for God’s law, can find in common with those bleak days. As a community there are, perhaps, some ominous warnings in those early chapters of Samuel to which we do well to pay heed, for it is not difficult to discern one of the main causes of the spiritual chaos that had blighted the life of the nation. There we have the picture of a corrupt priesthood represented by Hophni and Phinehas, the sons of Eli – worthless men who, we are told, knew not the Lord and behaved themselves in such an unseemly fashion that they caused men to abhor the sacrifices of the Lord. It would be wrong, perhaps, to draw too close a parallel between these evil men and trends in the brotherhood. Nevertheless, this much surely can be said – it was the failure of those who had assumed the responsibility to minister the Word of God to discharge their duty faithfully that led to this terrible condition of moral and spiritual decline. In an age of similar neglect of the Truth perhaps the example serves to emphasize the awesome responsibility of those who minister the Word – who watch for the souls of their brethren and sisters as those that must give account.
Of course, Eli was not of the same disposition as his worthless sons, but we cannot overlook his complicity with them in disregarding their wickedness, and, indeed, in profiting by it (1 Sam.2:29).
The problem posed for us is a very serious one. How far can we go in disregarding unwholesome trends, both in conduct and teaching, in our own community? To what extent do we do dishonour to God by turning “a blind eye” and “sweeping under the carpet” those things that might disturb the peace and harmony that, in a spirit of love, we should all strive to maintain?
There is also, however, a great word of encouragement for us in these early chapters of Samuel, for in their structure they illustrate how, even in the most dismal spiritual conditions, a faithful man can still grow, by the grace of God, to spiritual maturity. Notice for instance the very pointed contrast between the sons of Eli and Samuel.
Sons of Samuel
- Elkanah goes up to worship at Shiloh (ch.1:3)
- The birth of Samuel and Hannah’s song (ch.1:3 to ch.2:11)
- “but Samuel ministered before the Lord” etc. (ch.2:18-21)
- “And the child Samuel grew on” (ch.2:26)
- “And I will raise me up a faithful priest” etc. (ch.2:35-36). The call of Samuel (ch.3)
Sons of Eli
- Hophni and Phineas are there (ch.1:3)
- Description of the heinous conduct of these priests (ch.2:12 -17)
- “Now Eli heard all that his sons did” and remonstrated with them (ch.2:22 -25)
- he doom of the House of Eli pronounced (ch.2:27-33)
- The death of Eli’s sons (ch.4)
But what of the allusions and subtle hints to which we referred? Well, these, we suggest take us right to the heart of the matter, and show the reaction of the godly few in Israel to that situation in which they found themselves. We look a little closer at the language of 1 Samuel 1. “There was a certain man of Ramathaim-zophim …. and his name was Elkanah” (verse 1). The name ‘Elkanah’ means “God has obtained” in the sense of purchased or redeemed. See Exodus 15-16 and Psalm 73:2, for instance, where the stem of the name is rendered “purchased” in the A.V. in connection with God’s redemption of His people from bondage in Egypt.
It implies that he was owned by God, and the mind is carried back by this idea to the night of the passover and God’s deliverance of His people; and the thought is sustained, for Elkanah, this man whom God had obtained or purchased, the representative of the faithful in Israel, was of Ramathaim-zophim. Again the names appear significant. They mean “the heights of the watchers.” The word Zophim is derived from a root meaning “to watch” or “to observe”, “to wait for”; in other words, this man was numbered amongst those who watched and waited, through the long might of darkness that had descended upon Israel, for the coming of the dawn that should herald the salvation of God. Once again our thoughts are carried back to that passover night which was to be unto them “a night to be much observed” (Ex.12:32). The margin of the A.V. says “a night of observations”, and literally the idea is of “a night of watching’s” as they waited for the salvation of God.
By exercising our imagination a little we can picture them, having eaten their meal in haste, standing with their loins girded, their feet shod and with their staffs in their hands. They were to be ready to leave at a moment’s notice, as soon as the call was heard – “come out of her, my people” – for they had no affinity with Egypt, no place in that godless society, and in this manner they demonstrated their faith. They showed their conviction that, sometime during the darkness of that night, the call would come that would see them delivered from Egypt, and thus they watched and waited during that “night of observations”.
The record tells us (verse 3) that Elkanah went up out of his city yearly to worship and to sacrifice unto the Lord of Hosts. The margin of the A.V. again gives us the clue that links us with the book of Exodus and the passover. It says “he went up from year to year” – the very phrase that is used in Exodus regarding the passover. “Thou shalt therefore keep this ordinance in his season from year to year” (Ex.13:10).
So it is that in these hints, these echoes from the Book of Exodus, we grow to appreciate the spirit of the faithful ones of whom Elkanah was typical, for while everyone did that which was right in his own eyes, and darkness like the darkness of Egypt enveloped the land, they were maintaining their vigil; watching and waiting for God to act. The point is reinforced by the words of 1 Sam.9, when God instructed Samuel to anoint Saul. “I have looked upon my people, because their cry is come unto me” (verse 16) – a direct allusion to the words that prefigured God’s work at the time of the Exodus (Ex.2:23-25); and to this we might add the words of Hannah’s prayer, “She was in bitterness of soul, and prayed unto the Lord … if thou wilt indeed look on the affliction of thine handmaid, and remember me” (1 Sam.1:10-11; see Ex.1:14 and 3:7).
We have then a picture before us of a faithful few in an age of darkness and spiritual anarchy watching and waiting for God to manifest Himself on their behalf and He had acted at the time of the Exodus. How then did this godly remnant comfort and sustain themselves in their vigil? As God’s servants have done in every age, they strengthened themselves in the Word of God. “And the Word of the Lord was precious in those days” (ch.3:l). There was a famine in the land, not of bread, but of hearing the Word of God. The word was scarce, and consequently it was precious, dear to the hearts of those who longed and waited for the dawn.
As the Psalmist writes “How precious are thy thoughts unto me, 0 God! How great is the sum of them!”
This dependence of the faithful remnant upon the Word of God is illustrated by Hannah in the wonderful song that she sang after the Lord had answered her prayer. It was the fruit of her meditations upon the Word of God! It was the expression of everything that she held dear. All her hopes and desires were built upon the solid bedrock of scripture, for its language is drawn from the writings of Moses, and is particularly rich in its allusions to the Song of Witness that God gave Moses to sing (Deut.32). A brief comparison of the passages is interesting. The list can be enlarged and comparisons can also be made with Exodus 15.
Deut 32:
Ascribe ye greatness unto our God. He is the Rock. (v.3&4 See also v.15,18 , & 31). I kill, and I make alive (v.39).
He will … render vengeance to his adversaries (v.43)
1 Samuel 2:
“Neither is there any rock like our God (v.2) The Lord killeth, and maketh alive (v.6).
The adversaries of the Lord will be broken to pieces (v.10).
So the exhortation is there for us in the darkness of our age, when all restraint has been cut aside, when men flagrantly. disregard the most elementary laws of decency and chastity, when the world is obsessed with material possessions. Where do our hearts lie? Is ours the spirit of Elkanah and Hannah, holding fast the precious Word of God, waiting and praying for deliverance from the Egyptian type bondage of this present evil world?
The thought of the Exodus remains with us and carries us forward into the New Testament to the words of the Lord himself, recorded in Luke 12.
“Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning” (v.35)
“Ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their lord … that when he cometh and knocketh, they may open unto him immediately”(v.36)
“Blessed are those servants, whom the lord when he cometh shall find watching” (v.37)
“Be ye therefore ready also: for the Son of man cometh at an our when ye think not” (v.40)
Ours, then, must be the spirit of Elkanah of Ramathaim-Zophim, Ramathaim of the Watchers – and we feel that there is a particularly thrilling and remarkable connection with the New Testament just here, for the Septuagint says, not ‘Ramathaim’ but ‘Armathaimt’, and it has been suggested that this is, in fact the Aramathea of the Gospels – a suggestion that gains weight, and is perhaps put beyond all reasonable doubt for Bible students when we recall the words of Luke:
“And, behold, there was a man named Joseph, a counsellor … he was of Arimathea, a city of the Jews: who also himself waited for the kingdom of God” (ch.23:50 & 51).
He, too, was of Ramathaim of the Watchers.
The question that each one of us needs to ask ourselves is – Are we?
The Solution