Matt Hagee - God Spoke Again

Hello and welcome to this Sunday conversation. This week we begin the books of 1 and 2 Samuel and start to look at the portion of Israel’s history where they transition from the judges who led after Joshua to the kings. For several books, 1 and 2 Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings, and 1 and 2 Chronicles, we are going to look at how Israel transitioned from a nation that was led by God to a nation that was led by monarchy. And it was their choice. Up until this time, God utilized spiritual authority through His chosen vessel-a judge, a prophet, or a priest-to guide the nation.

This is what Moses was. This is what Joshua was. This is what you read as you came through the book of Judges. Now we see here in the story of the life of Samuel an individual who serves as a very pivotal and transitional figure. He was so impactful on the nation of Israel that actually his name shows up not just in the Old Testament but also in the New. We read about him in Hebrews, the 11th chapter, in the 32nd verse. The Bible says, «And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, who was a judge, and Barak, and Samson, and Jephthah- all judges, as well as David and Samuel, and the prophets.» Samuel had an influence not only on a nation but on an entire generation. And there’s so much that you could say that literally the writer of Hebrews says it would fail me to take time to do it. But Samuel makes the list of the heroes of the faith. Who was he? What did he do? Samuel was a kingmaker. Samuel was a child that was born out of faith. He was a naturally born child, but it was a supernatural conception. And we’ll get into that story in just a moment.

What we see in the life of Samuel is that when human desire and God’s will collide, something supernatural happens. I want you to think about that in this conversation today: human desire and God’s will. What is the desire of your heart? The Bible has a lot to say about the Lord giving you the desire of your heart. What are you willing to do to see it come to pass? The Bible tells us that faith without works is dead. Do you believe that God is able to do exactly what you ask according to the desire of your heart and the power of His word? Because the Bible says, «If you can believe,» that’s Jesus speaking, «all things are possible to those who believe.»

Many know that Samuel was the prophet who anointed not only Saul but also David. He was the individual who saw what God saw in the young man who was a shepherd in his father’s field. The Bible says that as he anointed David, he said that the Lord looks on the inside and not on the outside. The oil that ran all over David’s face, all the way down to his tunic, was a symbol that God was going to begin to fulfill the process that would bring His son, Jesus Christ-a direct descendant of King David-to the throne. Had Samuel not been there to anoint David, we would not see this pivotal figure who brings the Messiah into reality.

But how did Samuel get his start? Where did he come from? And what was his purpose? Samuel was God’s man in a day when God had no others. The high priest Eli, an individual who is pivotal in the spiritual health of the nation of Israel, was a crucial figure. Understand this: the high priest had to live a holy and righteous life, or God wouldn’t hear him. And if the high priest was disconnected from God, then the sacrifices weren’t received, the sins weren’t forgiven, and Israel wasn’t blessed. It was crucial that a high priest be a righteous man.

This is why when God told the children of Israel to send the high priest into the Holy of Holies, they said, «Tie a rope around his ankle, and if he enters in unworthily, I’ll kill him, and you can drag him out and then send another one in.» This is why whenever we speak about Jesus Christ being our high priest in the New Testament, it’s a beautiful portrait because Christ is righteous, Christ is accepted by God, and we have no concern that there is any kind of disconnection between us and the throne of our Father. This is why the Bible tells us we can go boldly into the throne room-not because of us, but because of Jesus.

So Samuel comes into Israel’s history at a time when God does not have a righteous priest. The priest at that time is Eli, and Eli is both physically and spiritually blind. His physical condition reflects his spiritual condition-and in a word, it’s ineffective. Oftentimes, you see this in the Bible. Consider Miriam, the sister of Moses. She was stricken with leprosy. Why? Because in her heart, she held bias and racism against Moses’s wife, who was black. And because she was prejudiced on the inside, God showed the corruption on the outside. Only when Moses prayed to the Lord did the leprosy go away.

The children of Israel, God sent snakes into the camp of Israel while they were in the wilderness. And everyone who complained and murmured against the Lord was bitten by a snake. If you didn’t murmur and you didn’t complain, you didn’t have a need for snake-proof boots because you were going to be okay. But what God was doing was giving a physical manifestation of a spiritual condition. Eli, the high priest, was blind physically, and he was spiritually blind. His sons, Hophni and Phinehas, because they were his sons, had the right and privilege of being in the Levitical priesthood. But they weren’t righteous. The Bible says that they were adulterers and that they went after dishonest gain. And when the people told Eli what his sons were doing, he ignored their immorality and allowed them to continue to profit. This is a problem. And sometimes when we face problems, we wonder how on earth this is going to change. But just give God time. He’ll find a way to fix it.

Paul wrote in the New Testament, «You who are righteous hate the evil thing.» He said, «You have loved righteousness and hated iniquity; therefore, the Lord hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness.» Here’s the question: do you want to be anointed with the oil of gladness in your life? Do you want God’s healing power and restoration upon you? That’s what the anointing does. Then anywhere and everywhere that you see wickedness, you need to stand against it. And anywhere that you see God’s kingdom being established and righteousness being done, you need to stand for it. You can’t be an innocent bystander in the middle. You have to do something about it. Because if you’re passionate about the things of God and you put off the things of this world, God’s promise to you is that He’ll anoint you with the oil of gladness. He will give you the joy of the Lord, which the Bible says is our strength.

So quickly, let’s get into 1 Samuel chapter 1 and consider why Samuel is born and how God used him in his generation. Samuel was God’s man from the beginning. From the day he was born, he was dedicated and given to God. But he would have never come to be if he didn’t have a passionate mother who was willing to give to God what God needed.

Let’s look back on his life. Here we read in 1 Samuel chapter 1 that there was a certain man who had two wives. The name of one was Hannah, and the name of the other was Peninnah. Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children. Whenever we meet Hannah, Samuel’s mother, she is married but barren. In the Bible, barrenness was the mark of a curse because God gave the command to be fruitful and multiply. That command hasn’t changed, by the way. God still expects His people to be fruitful and multiply, to have children, and to raise children and teach them the statutes of righteousness.

So in the Old Testament, barrenness was considered a curse because you couldn’t accomplish God’s plan and purpose. And this, as we read in 1 Samuel chapter 1, made Hannah miserable. She is a woman that’s described as being provoked and tormented. And those are powerful words, but what was she provoked and tormented by? She was provoked and tormented because, in her house, the other woman Peninnah- at a time when it was common to have multiple wives-Peninnah has children. Peninnah is blessed. The things that Hannah wants to do, Peninnah is able to do. Hannah wants to rock a baby to sleep; Peninnah can do that. Hannah wants to know what it’s like to prepare dinner for the family; Peninnah can do that. Hannah wants to know how it feels to be a mother; Peninnah can do that.

The thing that provoked and tormented Hannah was the fact that she was in an environment where she could see what she wanted but she couldn’t possess it. Sometimes in your life, you need to understand that the frustration isn’t necessarily caused by others; it’s caused by what you lack that you see in others. Don’t take it out on them. Take it to a place where you can find an answer. When you have a problem that no man can solve, then where you need to go is to God. This is what Hannah did. Her husband Elkanah comes to her in verse 8 and he says, «Hannah, why do you weep? Why don’t you eat? Why is your heart grieved? Am I not better to you than ten sons?» It’s at this moment that Hannah realizes he can’t do anything to help her.

And it says, «So Hannah arose after they had finished, and she went to the tabernacle.» She goes to the place where she can be in the presence of the Lord. And there, in the bitterness of her soul, in verse 10, it says she prayed to the Lord and she wept in anguish. And here’s the powerful point. Verse 11 says she made a vow and she said, «Oh Lord of hosts, if You will indeed look on the affliction of Your maidservant and remember me and not forget your maidservant but will give Your maidservant a male child…» Listen to this. She’s told the Lord what she wants. «I want a boy,» she said. «Then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, and no razor shall come to his head.» What she wants, she’s willing to give. She says, «Lord, if You will allow me this privilege, when I receive it, I’ll give it back to You.»

And it’s at this moment that the miracle-working power of God enabled her to do what she could not do before. It’s in this moment that her desire and God’s supernatural power collide. And history is changed because the child that God blessed her with was Samuel-the prophet, the kingmaker-the one who went and anointed David, David, who was Israel’s greatest king. David, who is the great-great-great-grandfather of Jesus Christ. David, with whom God made the covenant that his descendants would sit on the throne of Israel forever, speaking about Jesus, who will return and set up His throne on the temple mount. And the Bible says of His kingdom there will be no end.

Hannah took her misery, and she took her torment, and she prayed a passionate prayer born out of the burning desire in her heart for a child. Do you know what it’s like to have a burning desire in your heart? Do you know what it’s like to ask God with all of your heart, soul, and strength, «Will You do this for me?» Sometimes the thing that God’s waiting to hear is not what you want Him to do for you but what you are willing to do for Him. Yes, Hannah told Him, «I want a child. I want a male child.» But it’s not until she said, «And when you bless me with him, I’ll give him back to You,» that God needed a man. And the second that Hannah was willing to give Him the man that He needed, God was willing to give Hannah the desire of her heart.

The way that you receive the desire of your heart is that you have to be willing to give to God what God is looking for. Because when your desire and God’s desire align, I assure you nothing can keep that blessing from coming to you. In the next few chapters of the book of Samuel, we read not only of his birth and how Hannah rejoiced whenever Samuel was born; she sings an entire psalm in the second chapter that is one of the foundational psalms of worship in the Hebrew faith today. But we also read how Samuel is called of the Lord as a child in the temple.

It says in chapter 3 that the boy Samuel ministered to the Lord before Eli, and the word of the Lord was rare in those days, and there was no widespread revelation. Remember earlier I told you of the importance of the relationship of the high priest to the Lord. If the relationship of the high priest is a righteous one, then the word of the Lord is not rare. And if the relationship of the high priest is an unrighteous one, then there is no revelation. So because you have an unrighteous high priest in Eli, it says here in chapter 3, verse 1, the word of the Lord was rare because the high priest was not connected to God. And because the high priest is not connected to God, there is no revelation.

Whenever you read the rest of this chapter, you come to a familiar story where Samuel’s lying on his bed and the voice of the Lord starts to call to him, and he hears the Lord say, «Samuel, Samuel.» And immediately, he thinks it’s Eli. So, he runs to Eli the high priest, and he says, «Did you call me?» because he did not know the Lord, nor was the word of the Lord yet revealed to him. Eli says, «I didn’t call you.» He goes back and lies down on his bed. Verse 8 says, «And the Lord called to Samuel again a second and a third time.» And he arose and went to Eli and said, «Eli, I’m here. Did you call me?»

Finally, only after the third time did Eli perceive that maybe the boy was hearing the voice of the Lord. Remember, he’s in the tabernacle. The tabernacle is where God spoke to His children. The tabernacle is where they received revelation. The tabernacle is where the connection between heaven and earth was made. And I believe that it’s very telling that although Eli didn’t hear the voice, Eli remembered that this is where God speaks to people, and he encouraged Samuel. «The next time you hear that voice, I want you to say, 'Lord, here am I, and speak to me.'»

So Samuel goes and lies on his bed, and eventually, the Lord comes and speaks to Samuel, and Samuel answers, «Speak, for your servant hears.» And what the Lord shared with Samuel through the rest of that chapter is how He was going to remove Eli and install Samuel. At the end of this passage in verse 18, it says, «Then Samuel told him everything, hid nothing from him, and he said, 'It is the Lord. Let Him do as He seems good.'»

The next morning, after Samuel receives the revelation that God is going to remove Eli, Eli calls Samuel-the child. Remember, he’s not yet the prophet; he’s just a baby boy dropped off by his mother to work in the tabernacle for the rest of his life. Eli, the priest, the man who’s been instilled with authority and power, with corrupt sons, calls the boy to breakfast and asks the child, «What did the Lord say to you?» And Samuel had the courage to tell him everything. The child looked at the adult; the child looked at the priest; the child looked at the person who was in the position of power, and the child said, «God’s done with you. Not only is He done with you; He’s done with your sons. He’s going to remove you and erase your name.» And he said it with such boldness and conviction that Eli’s response is, «It is the Lord. Let Him do what seems good to Him.»

The rest of the chapter says, «So Samuel grew, and the Lord was with him, and let none of his words fall to the ground.» He never said anything idly. What he said, he meant because what he said he heard from God. This is the responsibility of a prophet-not to say what you feel, but to say what the Lord tells you. And then in verse 20 it says, «And all Israel from Dan to Beersheba knew that Samuel had been established as a prophet of the Lord.»

And then verse 21 is what I want you to consider as we close this conversation: «And the Lord appeared again in Shiloh, for the Lord revealed Himself to Samuel in Shiloh by the word of the Lord.» This is a comforting word when we read that God reappears. But here’s the question that you should ask: if He reappeared, why did He disappear? What made Him go away? Where had He been? We know from the scriptures that He’s an ever-present God, that He’s consistent, He’s unchanging; there’s no shadow or variation of turning in Him. In several places in the Bible, these are the words that we read and understand.

So what should we understand when we find a phrase like «and the Lord appeared again?» I believe He was always there. I don’t believe He went anywhere. I just think people turned away from Him. They stopped looking for Him. They stopped seeking Him. They stopped asking for His word to be revealed. And it was only when Samuel the prophet came into the equation and he began to seek the Lord and inquire of God, that the people translated God’s reappearing as nothing more than a reconnection between God and man.

I believe that there are some of you who are watching and know that you need to reconnect to the Lord. If that’s the case, I want you to go back to doing what you were doing before you lost connection: praying, reading the Bible, attending church regularly, serving. Wherever you can, mark that moment of disconnection; make sure that you go back to the place where you lost it, and give God the chance to show you that He’s the same. His word endures; His promises are from generation to generation, and He’ll bless you if you give Him the opportunity to.

I pray that you’ve been encouraged as we’ve discussed just a few chapters in 1 Samuel. I want you to continue in your daily reading plan. I know that many of you might not be all the way through the current reading of the week, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t watch these Sunday conversations, going back and forth between the chapters that you are reading, and the lessons that you might not have caught up on. We’ll leave them available to you online. The most important thing is that you consistently stay connected to God’s word because that’s how you see, hear, and know His plan is moving and working in your life. God bless you! I look forward to seeing you again very soon.