LIFE LESSONS
SAMUEL
FATHER’S DAY
DR. JIM DIXON
1 SAMUEL 7:15-17, 1 SAMUEL 8:1-7
JUNE 15, 2003
We’ve been in a series of messages on “Life Lessons” from biblical people and we continue in that series. Today we come to the last of the judges. We come to Samuel. He’s not found in the Book of Judges. There are two Books which bear his name, but he has oftentimes been called “the last of the judges.” Now, Samuel has also been called the first of the prophets. He is so called in the Book of Acts, but Samuel was not only a prophet and he was not only a judge. Samuel was also a priest. When Samuel anointed the Kings of Israel, he was functioning as a priest. When he offered sacrifices for the sin of the people, he was functioning as a priest. When he interceded, when he prayed for the needs of the people, he was functioning as a priest.
So, Samuel held three offices, the office of prophet, priest and judge. This morning I want us to examine these three offices as they relate to the life of Samuel. On this Father’s Day, I want us also to examine these three offices as they relate to our role as dads. This isn’t going to be easy, but where there’s a will, there’s a way. So, our three life lessons relate to these three offices, the first of which is prophet. What does it mean to be a prophet?
I’m sure that some of you have heard of Lord Kelvin. Lord Kelvin was a brilliant British physicist, a scientist and mathematician. In 1866, it was Lord Kelvin who led the laying of the transatlantic cable. He made some kind of crazy predictions. In the year 1890, he made this statement. “Heavier than air flying machines are impossible. They violate the laws of physics. So-called aeroplanes will never come to be on this earth. In the year 1900, he made this statement. “The X-ray machine is a hoax. It does not exist and it never will.” In the year 1904, Lord Kelvin made this statement. “The radio is destined to fade from this earth. It has no future.”
I don’t know what kind of scientist Lord Kelvin was but I do know he was not a prophet. But we can have sympathy because it’s very difficult to predict the future. In fact, in the year 1859, Newsweek Magazine wrote that one of the most popular tourist sites in the world in the decades of the 60s and the 70s would be Vietnam. Just a little bit off. In that same year, 1959, Life Magazine made this statement. “By the year 1980, the family helicopter will be just as common as the family automobile.” I’m not going to ask how many of you came in a helicopter this morning. I’m sure on this Father’s Day, there’s not a dad here who can remember the last time your son or daughter said, “Dad, can I borrow the chopper tonight!”
It’s hard to predict the future, but Samuel predicted the future. Samuel predicted the future with accuracy. He predicted the fall of the house of Eli, the death of Eli’s sons. Samuel returned from the dead and predicted the demise of King Saul, and it all came true. But it would be a mistake to think that a prophet is primarily one who predicts. In fact, most of the prophets of Israel never made a prediction. Prophets sometimes predict the future but more frequently prophets convey a message to God to the present or they convey a judgement of God upon the past.
The Hebrew word for prophet is the word “navi.” It means, “to speak forth the word of God.” The word prophet comes from the New Testament Greek word “prophetes.” This word means either “to speak for” or “to speak forth.” So, a prophet is one who speaks for God. A prophet is one who speaks forth the word of God. This is what a prophet does. In a sense, preaching is a prophetic function because, in preaching, the preacher speaks forth the word of God. In a sense, the gift of the Holy Spirit in the Bible, called “word of knowledge” is a prophetic gift because, by the power of the Holy Spirit, that person discerns a fresh word from God for an individual or a group or a situation, and it must be conveyed that the word of God must be spoken forth. It is a prophetic function. Prophecy always means, “to speak forth the word.” Samuel was a prophet. Not because he predicted the future, but because he spoke for God and he spoke forth the word of God. He spoke forth the word of God to kings, and he spoke the word of God to common people. He spoke forth the word of God to the congregation of Israel.
We have a lot of dads in the room this morning, a lot of fathers. What I would like to do just kind of spontaneously is have you stand up, first of all so that we can all say thank you for all that you do. Would you do that? Just stand up in the middle of the message. We do thank God for you. You may be seated. We thank God for you and we want you to know that there’s a prophetic function to fatherhood. There’s also a prophetic function to motherhood. A parent must be something of a prophet. You must speak forth. You must, at times with your children, speak for God. Of course, if you’re going to do this.. If, with your children, you’re going to have this function of a prophet and you’re going to speak forth the word of God, you’re going to have to listen to God.
The Bible says, “Hear, oh Israel. The Lord your God is One God and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, with all your might. The words which I tell you today shall be upon your heart and you shall teach them diligently to your children.” The Bible says, “Bring up your children in the nurture and the instruction of the Lord.” We need to instruct our children. We need to speak forth God’s word to them. If we’re going to do this, we must listen to God. We must hear His word.
One of the things I love about Samuel is that Samuel said, “Speak, Lord, for your servant heareth.” In fact, Samuel was taught by Eli to say those words to God. Samuel said, “Speak, Lord, for your servant heareth.” When was the last time you ever said that? When was the last time you fathers ever said that to God? “Speak, Lord, for your servant heareth,” that you might speak forth God’s word to your kids.
How do we hear God as dads or as moms? First of all, through prayer. We hear God through prayer. God speaks through prayer. Of course, the problem is that most of us in prayer are so busy speaking that we don’t take time to hear God. But are you ever silent in prayer? Are you ever silent? Do you ever say, “Speak, Lord. Your servant hears?” Do you ever wait for His still small voice that He might guide you or prompt you or lead you?
Our daughter Heather has large eyes. That’s one of the things we love about Heather is the fact that her eyes are beautiful and large. When she was very young, she one day went and picked up the telephone when the phone rang. She loved to answer the telephone when she was a little girl. She picked up the telephone and those large eyes suddenly became huge as she listened. Her eyes just became like saucers. She turned and handed me the phone and said, “Dad, it’s God! God’s on the phone!” I picked up the phone and it was Bo Mitchell. Bo is one of the founders of this church and a very good friend. He used to play a lot of practical jokes. He called up Heather and he said, “Heather, this is God” and she totally bought it! Wouldn’t that be great, though? Wouldn’t that be great if God called us up and spoke to us that way? Wouldn’t it be great if you just… you know… “Here’s my business phone. Here’s my home phone. Here’s my cell phone number. Check in once in a while.” It would be great if God could speak to us in that way. But God has chosen prayer, and He wants people who listen, who have ears to hear.
I read, not that long ago, the story of a man named John Joseph who lives in California. He’s an elder at a Christian Reformed Church. One day his wife and his daughter Kyle went to New York on a mother/daughter trip just for two days to have a little fun. They were there in New York for a day or so. John’s wife called him, and they were just checking in with each other. John’s wife said, “Do you want me to put Kyle on the phone?” John said, “Sure.” Kyle got on the phone and said, “Daddy, we’re having so much fun here in New York!” John said, “I love you, Kyle, and I miss you.” She didn’t even stop for air or even acknowledge. She just went on and she said, “And Daddy, we went to the fair today and we had so much fun.” He said, “I love you, Kyle, and I miss you.” She didn’t even respond. She just went on and said, “And I won two prizes when I was at the fair. It was just so fun, Daddy.” He said, “I love you, Kyle, and I miss you.” That’s how their conversation went, and that’s how their conversation always went because Kyle is deaf. She cannot hear.
Of course, her dad knows that, but when Kyle calls him on the phone he likes to “talk” to her. He likes to say he loves her even though he knows she can’t hear. I sometimes wonder what’s it like for our Father in heaven, what’s it like for God? How does He feel about us when we’re in prayer? Does He think we’re deaf? Surely He must think we’re deaf, and He longs to hear us say, “Speak, Lord, for your servant heareth,” or at least say, “Speak, Lord, for your Spirit is seeking to hear.” Are you ever quiet in prayer and just listening for His still small voice, just some prompting.
I’ve seen in the newspapers where just in a few days the latest Harry Potter book is coming out. I think it’s June 21st when it will be released. The publisher, incredibly, has spent $4 million on advertising. Unprecedented for a single book. $4 million! When the publisher was asked why they spent so much money on advertising, the publisher said, “because it’s a very noisy world and it’s hard to get people’s attention.” Isn’t that true? It’s a very noisy world and it’s hard to get people’s attention. Don’t you think God feels that way? He’s looking down and surely He’s noticed this is a very noisy world and it’s hard to get people’s attention. He wants your attention. If you would have a prophetic voice at home, if you would ever function as a prophet with your kids, if you’re ever going to speak forth His word, you need to HEAR His word. You need to hear His word in prayer. Of course, you also need to hear Him speak in scripture. You need to listen as you read This Book and you need to be in the Bible every day, for this is the Word of God, and if you’re going to speak forth His Word as a dad or as a mom, you need to be reading the Word of God.
Some of you have heard of the Tripitaka. The Tripitaka is the most sacred book for Buddhists. The word Tripitaka means, “three baskets.” The first basket is the basket of discourses. Then there’s the basket of discipline. Then there’s the basket of higher dharma. This forms the Tripitaka. One hundred and forty-two years ago in the year 1861, King Menden of Burma, a devout Buddhist, decided he was going to make the biggest copy of the Tripitaka ever made. He hired 50 stonemasons. They took 279 massive tablets of stone and they engraved the entire Tripitaka, all three baskets into the stone until those 279 giant stone tablets covered 13 acres, the largest book in the world, and of course the largest copy of the Tripitaka on earth. It exists still today.
King Menden of Burma actually thought that he had made the Tripitaka the greatest book in the world because it was the largest book. Of course, you can’t judge a book by the cover nor can you judge a book by its size. I’m not here to rag on Buddhism, and I’m not here to rag on the Tripitaka, but you see, even Buddhists do not view the Tripitaka as the word of God. In fact, many Buddhists do not even believe in God. They are philosophical Buddhists. They view Buddhism simply as a philosophy of life.
The Tripitaka itself does not claim to be the word of God. But as Christians, we do view the Bible as the Word of God. The Bible claims this for itself. The Bible speaks of itself as “Theo neustos,” “God breathed.” The Bible says, “All scripture is inspired of God and it’s profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training and righteousness, that the person of God might be complete and equipped for every good work.” You could look in the Tripitaka and there are some pithy wisdom statements, and that’s true of Buddhism in general, but if you want the Word of God, here it is. “All flesh is like grass. All of its glory like the flower of the grass. The grass withers, the flower falls. The Word of the Lord abides forever.”
So, dads, are you in the Word every day? Are you studying it every day? If you don’t, you won’t have a prophetic voice in the life of your daughters and sons. If you’re going to have a prophetic function, you need to hear God speak. He speaks through prayer, and He speaks through the Word of the Bible. He also speaks in Christian community. Have you ever wondered why we stress community here at the church so much? I mean we’re always inviting you to join a small group, and we’re always looking for more small group leaders. The reason we do this is because God’s called us to community. God’s called us to each other. We’re always inviting you to enter into some act of service or ministry. We remind you that as you minister with a team of people, you’ll experience community uniquely. We’re always inviting you to take a short-term missionary trip. We remind you that one of the greatest blessings of a short-term missionary trip is the community that you’ll experience with the people you go with.
God calls us to be a community. There’s no such thing as a lone wolf Christian. God has called us into relationship as His family. He speaks to us through brothers and sisters. God speaks to me through you. How often have I heard God’s voice through one of you? As surely as God ever speaks to you through me. God speaks to me oftentimes through a brother or a sister in Christ. God speaks to me through Barbara, my wife. He speaks through community. So, if we’re going to have this prophetic function at home in the lives of our kids, we need to hear God in prayer. We need to hear Him in the Word. We need to hear Him through our brothers and sisters in Christ.
There’s a second office, and that’s the office of priest. We’ll look at this more briefly. What does it mean to be a priest? I want you to see a little film clip from a movie called “David.” In this clip, Samuel is anointing King Saul. The part of Samuel is played by Leonard Nimoy.
Of course, because of the length of Leonard Nimoy’s hair, you couldn’t see the pointed ears. In that scene Samuel anoints Saul King over Israel. We’re going to come to King Saul in a few weeks when we come to the period of the Kingship and look at the united and divided monarchies. But in that clip, you notice that Samuel called himself a prophet. He called himself a prophet and yet you notice he was performing a priestly function as he was anointing this king for service. That is the function of a priest. To fully understand what it means to be a priest, we need to look at the Levitical priesthood as it is found in the Book of Leviticus in the Bible. When we do that, we see that the priesthood of Israel was focused on the sacrificial system. The priests of Israel offered sacrifices for the sins of the people. Of course, we see this supremely in the High Priest who, on that very special day as most of you know, on that day called the Day of Atonement, the day called Yom Kippur, the High Priest went into the Holy of Holies. There in the presence of God, he sprinkled the blood of animals on the Mercy Seat of the Ark of the Covenant, seeking to atone for the sins of the people. That very same day he would take the scapegoat and he would vest the sin of the people onto the scapegoat and then he would send the scapegoat out into the wilderness, symbolically removing the sin of the people from them.
To understand the priesthood, we need to understand that above all else, the priest sought to represent the needs of the people before the throne of God. Virtually every function of a priest had to do with this, representing the needs of the people before the throne of God. People needed forgiveness so the priest sacrificed. Time and again, in the Book of Leviticus and really throughout scripture, we see that one of the primary functions of priests was to pray. Priests were always involved in intercession for the needs of the people whether those needs were physical or spiritual or relational or emotional. The priests were involved in crying out to God for the needs of the people.
So, you think of the prophet primarily as bringing the word of God to the people and the priests as taking the needs of the people to God. Of course, Samuel had both of these functions. We see Samuel functioning as a prophet, bringing God’s word to the people and we see him functioning as a priest, bringing the needs of the people to God. So, in 1 Samuel 7, we see Samuel sacrificing animals on the altar for the sin of the nation, functioning as a priest. In 1 Samuel 7:8, 12 and 15, in all four of those chapters, we see significant passages of intercession where Samuel is praying for the needs of the people. Samuel makes an amazing statement. He said, “If I don’t pray for my people, I sin against God.” That’s true of any priest. If you don’t pray for your people, you sin against God. If I don’t pray for you as your pastor, I sin against God because I have a priestly function. And so, I seek to be faithful, and I pray daily for you. I pray for many of you by name. If any of you are seriously ill, I have your name. I know what’s wrong, and I pray. I try to be faithful to pray every day by name and by specific circumstance because first of all, I care, and secondly, I don’t want to sin against God.
You understand as parents and as dads, you have a priestly function. You’re not simply called to take the word of God to your children. That’s the prophetic function. You’re called to a priestly function and you need to bring the needs of your children before the throne of God. If you don’t intercede for them in prayer, you sin. You’re called to this daily. It’s, in my view, the most critical component of parenthood. Nothing you ever will do as a parent is more important than prayer.
My father died 7-1/2 years ago. I believe he was a faithful priest. I believe he was faithful to pray for me and for my brothers. I believe he performed that function well. He is in heaven today. He is with the Lord. I don’t believe he is interceding for me now because I don’t think, by the way God has structured things, that my Dad is aware of my needs. Jesus is interceding for me now. He is our great High Priest and He is at the right hand of the Father. He knows everything and He intercedes.
It is the will of Christ that we who belong to Him have this ministry, this priestly ministry of intercession, and that we pray for each other and that we pray for our kids. My mom, by the grace of God, is still alive today and doing well, and she’s here! She’s here in this service today. One of the wonderful things about my mom is the way she has always been a priest. She continues to be a priest as she intercedes for me and for my brothers and for others that she knows and loves. She is an intercessor. She prays for people, and we pray for her as we have a priestly ministry to her. Take this ministry seriously. You’re called to be a prophet, called to be a priest in the context of the home.
Finally, one more office to look at and that’s the office of a judge. Samuel was the last of the judges. Throughout history, there have been many judges, and they seek to administer justice. If you American history, United States history, you know that it is fascinating. One of the most colorful times in American history was the westward movement and the era of the Old West. One of the most colorful characters in the Old West was a judge whose name was Judge Roy Bean. Judge Roy Bean administered his brand of justice in the 19th century in the State of Texas in the town of Langtry, which was near the Pecos River, near the place where the Pecos empties into the Rio Grande.
Judge Roy Bean was a saloonkeeper, a Justice of the Peace, and the coroner of the town. The town was booming. Because of the Southern Pacific Railroad, eight thousand people had just come into Langtry. Some of them workers, some of them thieves. Judge Roy Bean administered his brand of justice from the saloon at one corner of the bar. That’s what historians tell us. He called the saloon the Jersey Lily. He named it after Lily Langtry who, at that time, was perhaps the most famous actress in the world. She was a British actress. Her father was the Dean of Jersey and a high official in the Church of England. She was a talented artist coming from the upper classes. Allegedly she had an affair with the Prince of Wales who became King Edward VII.
But, you see, Judge Roy Bean was enamored with her, and he named the saloon after her, the Jersey Lily. He claimed that the town of Langtry itself was named after her although most historians view that claim as bogus. He administered justice there from a bar. The justice was bizarre. It was sometimes fair. He called himself the “only law west of the Pecos.” He would levy a fine against a dead person if they had something on their person he wanted. That was the way he administered justice.
If you read about some of his renderings and verdicts, you will laugh out loud or cry because some of them were pretty sad, but that’s how it was in the Old West. That’s how it was during the time of westward expansion. Justice was hard to find in U.S. history in this part of the country. At that time, justice was hard to find. That’s how it was in Israel during the period of the judges. The Bible said everyone did what was right in their own eyes. It was chaos. And so, God raised up these men and women called Judges. Most of them, as we have seen, were deliverers to deliver the people of Israel from oppression, but many of them were also kind of Justices of the Peace. Some of them were very good like Deborah, and some were very bad. The best of all of the Judges surely was Samuel.
Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life. He went on a circuit from Bethel to Gilgal to Mizpah and then back to Ramah where his home was. In all these places he administered justice. From all these places he judged Israel. Then when Samuel was very old, he made his sons Judges over Israel. The name of his first-born son was Joel which means “Jehovah or Yahweh is God.” The name he chose for his second son was Abiah which means, “Child of God” or more literally, “Jehovah is my father.” But tragically, Joel and Abiah did not live like children of God. They did not even live like children of Samuel. They turned aside for gain. They did not walk in the ways of their father. They took bribes. They perverted justice, and God hates injustice.
An incredible thing happened in the life of Israel. You see the people crying out for a king. In a sense it was all caused by the sons of Samuel who did not walk in the ways of their father. People began to cry out for a king. How must Samuel have felt? We do not know why Samuel struggled or failed as a dad. It may not have been his fault or perhaps that circuit where he went from Ramah to Bethel to Gilgal to Mizpah—maybe he was gone too much. We just don’t know. We DO know he was a great man of God. We know he was a prophet and he was a priest and he was a judge.
We know that dads need to function in all of these areas as do moms. It’s not easy being a judge, yet as a parent you must establish boundaries for your children. You must say “this is permitted,” but “this is forbidden.” When they go beyond the lines that you have drawn, you must render a verdict. You must make a decision. You must decide what discipline to administer and how, taking into consideration the nature of each of your children and the transgression that they’ve committed. It is so hard, and it takes mercy and grace from above. It’s hard to be a prophet, hard to be a priest, hard to be a judge.
My dad really sought to be fair. My dad certainly drew lines. My brothers and I certainly crossed them. There were times when Dad disciplined us, and Mom too. But my dad always tried to be fair. I can remember times when my brothers and I would fight and Dad would come in and he would try to get to the bottom of it because he wanted to be fair. Who was mostly at fault? Did somebody really cause this? He would really try to be fair. Oftentimes he couldn’t figure the whole deal out and he just disciplined us all the same and we probably deserved that.
I remember times when Dad would give me a spanking. He didn’t do that often, but on occasion he would use a little corporal punishment. I think there were times when he would have preferred capital punishment. I remember he would take me to the bedroom and he was going to give me a spanking but every once in a while he would just smile and say, “Son, I’m not going to spank you today. Just try to be better.” A little mercy, a little grace. If you’re going to be a judge and you’re going to administer justice, you’re going to need to temper it with a little mercy and a little grace so the full nature of God can somehow be modeled in you and so, that God’s love can also be seen in you. It’s not easy.
As we close, I want to tell you a little story. I know our time is up. In the year 1970, I was 24 years old. I had graduated from college, and I was in graduate school at theological seminary. My dad invited me to go with him to a father/son deal in Glendale, California. I wanted to go because I rarely got chances to do things like that with Dad. I also wanted to go because there were two great speakers. This was pretty special. One was Mike Garrett who had been the Heisman Trophy winner at USC in football. The other speaker was Paul Anderson who had been the Super Heavyweight Champion of the World. He won the Gold Medal at the Olympic Games, and he billed himself as “the strongest man in the world.” With regard to certain types of weightlifting, he was indeed the strongest man on earth.
Here we were, dads and sons. Mike Garrett got up to speak. I don’t remember the details of either message, but I do remember that Mike Garrett said, “Be a buddy.” That was his message. “Be a friend. Your son needs a friend. It’s not easy growing up in this world. Dads need to be a buddy.” Then he sat down. Then Paul Anderson, the world’s strongest man, came up and he looked really angry. He grabbed the microphone and he said, “Buddy? Your son doesn’t need a buddy. Your son needs a leader.” He slammed his fist on the podium and he said, “He needs a leader, he needs a leader, he needs a leader!” We all just backed up. We looked over at Mike Garrett and he just had his head down. Nobody was going to challenge the strongest man in the world! But weren’t they both right? Don’t parents need to be both a friend and a leader to their children? How hard that is. Hard, I think, to the extent that some people go too far on one side or the other. Then we get into trouble.
I remember Ann Landers once said how grateful she is for those parents who are willing to be not liked by their kids. Sometimes that’s necessary, isn’t it if you’re going to be a leader as well as a friend? But remember this: You can’t go wrong if these three offices are functioning in your life and home. If you’re functioning well as a prophet and you are listening to the Lord, “Speak, Lord, for your servant hears.” And if you’re listening through prayer and in the Word and through your brothers and sisters in Christ and you are speaking forth God’s Word to your kids… If you’re functioning like a prophet and you’re functioning like a priest and you’re representing the needs of your children before the throne of God and you do it every day… You see, there comes a point when your kids grow up and the prophetic function is less receivable… I mean your kids just… When you say, “Thus sayeth the Lord,” they don’t necessarily want to hear it anymore. The priestly function never ceases. As long as you draw breath, you need to pray for your kids and they’ll appreciate it. The priestly function. Then that function as judge where, as parents, you draw some lines and you enforce them humbly, seeking to serve justice and tempering it with mercy and grace. Let’s look to the Lord with a word of prayer.