And before the lamps went out (AN OLIVE OIL LAMP WOULD GO OUT AFTER A FEW HOURS IF THE WICK WAS NOT ADJUSTED) Yahusha called out to Samuel. “Sam, Hey Sam wake up!”
“I’m here!” Samuel answered, jumping up and running over to Eli saying, “Here I am, what’s up my Master?”
“I didn’t call you,” Eli answered. “Go back to bed boy.”
And Samuel went back to sleep, and again Yahusha called out to him. “Sam, Oy, Samuel!”
So Samuel got up and went to Eli. “Here I am, whatcha want?”
“Son, I didn’t call you. Now go back to sleep.”
SAM LISTENS (SAM.3)
So young Samuel served Yahusha by helping Eli the priest, who was almost blind by that time. In those days, Yahusha hardly ever spoke directly to people, and He didn’t appear to them in dreams very often either. DREAMS WERE THE USUAL WAY FOR YAHUSHA TO COMMUNICATE IN ANCIENT TIMES, BUT THIS WAS A DARK TIME IN YISHARAL. THE PEOPLE HAD FALLEN FAR AWAY FROM YAHUSHA AND WEREN’T PRONE TO PAYING ATTENTION TO HIM. SO YAHUSHA WITHHELD HIS INSTRUCTIONS AND HIS RESPONSE TO THEIR REQUESTS - AND ITS NO DIFFERENT TODAY. SO BECAUSE YAHUSHA’S COMMUNICATION WITH YISHARAL WAS SO RARE, IT WOULD BE A MAJOR SURPRISE IF HE SUDDENLY BROKE HIS SILENCE AND SPOKE TO SOMEONE WOULDN’T IT !! ... AND WHO DID HE CHOOSE?
But one night, Eli was asleep in his room, and Samuel was sleeping in the sanctuary where the Ark of the Blood-Covenant Witness was kept. (PROB IN THE SET-APART PLACE, NOT NEXT TO THE ARK ITSELF!!)
THE TEXT ACTUALLY SAYS IN HEBREW THAT SAM WAS SLEEPING IN THE `HEKAL' NOT FAR FROM THE ARK. MANY THINK THIS MEANS THAT SAMUEL WAS ACTUALLY SLEEPING IN THE FRONT COMPARTMENT OF THE SANCTUARY (SET-APART PLACE) WHERE THE MENORAH, TABLE OF SHOWBREAD AND THE INCENSE ALTAR SAT. WHILE THAT SHOULD NEVER BE THE CASE, IT'S VERY POSSIBLE ESPECIALLY CONSIDERING
THE RATHER LAX PRIESTLY PROTOCOLS DURING THIS ERA. HOWEVER IT IS FAR MORE LIKELY THAT LITTLE SAMUEL WAS SLEEPING IN ONE OF THE MANY CHAMBERS THAT HAD BEEN ERECTED IN AND AROUND WHAT AMOUNTED TO THE COURTYARD AREA OF THE TABERNACLE. IN ANY CASE THE POINT OF THE NARRATOR SAYING THAT SAM WAS NEAR THE ARK SERVED AN IMPORTANT
PURPOSE IN THE STORY, AS WE’LL NOW SEE BECAUSE SOMETIME DURING THE NIGHT SAMUEL IS AWOKEN WHEN HE DISTINCTLY HEARS A VOICE CALLING OUT HIS NAME. WHEN YAHUSHA IS PRESENT IN HIS EARTHLY DWELLING PLACE HE HOVERS ABOVE THE ARK, WITH THE MERCY SEAT AS HIS FIGURATIVE “FOOTSTOOL”. AND EVEN THOUGH YAHUSHA CAN DO ANYTHING OR SPEAK ANYWHERE AT ANYTIME, IT WAS IMPORTANT FOR THE WRITER TO TELL US THAT SAMUEL WAS NEAR ENOUGH TO THE ARK WHERE YAHUSHA WAS, TO MAKE IT PLAUSIBLE THAT SAMUEL COULD HEAR HIM CALLING.
Yahusha had not spoken to Samuel before, so Samuel didn’t recognise His voice. SAMUEL WAS YOUNG AND NOT YET AT AN AGE OF ACCOUNTABILITY. ELI SEEMS TO HAVE BEEN SOMEWHAT NEGLIGENT IN TEACHING SAMUEL ANYTHING ABOUT SPIRITUAL MATTERS EXCEPT FOR TRADITIONS AND CUSTOMS AND RITUALS. SAMUEL KNEW THAT YAHUSHA EXISTED, BUT DIDN’T KNOW HIM - BUT THAT WAS ALL ABOUT TO CHANGE.
HOW LONG DID WE ALL KNOW ABOUT YAHUSHA WITHOUT REALLY KNOWING HIM... THIS IS THE PROCESS!
But when Yahusha called out his name for the third time, Samuel went to Eli again and said, “Here I am. What do you want?”
And Eli finally realised that it must have been Yahusha who was speaking to Samuel. So he said, “Go back and lie down! And if someone speaks to you again, answer, ‘I’m listening Yahuah. What do you want me to do?’”
So once again Samuel went back and lay down. Yahusha then stood beside Samuel and called out as He’d done before, “Sam! Hey Sam wake up!”
“I’m listening,” Samuel answered, “What do you want me to do?”
“I’m going to do something in Yisharal that will blow everyone’s brains out Sam. It’ll shock everyone who hears about it! I’m gunna punish Eli and his family, just as I promised, because Eli knew that his sons refused to respect Me and were insulting and hurting everyone, AND HE LET THEM GET AWAY WITH IT, even though I said I would punish his family forever. I warned Eli that sacrifices or offerings could never make things right again! His family has behaved way too disgusting for that now”. THERE IS NO SACRIFICE ABLE TO ATONE FOR INTENTIONAL CRIMES AGAINST YAHUSHA OR `BLASPHEMING' (ASSAULTING) THE RUACH OF YAHUSHA' AS WE SEE MENTIONED IN THE LATTER TEXTS.
PREPARATION WAS UNDERWAY TO MAKE SAM YAHUSHA’S OFFICIAL EARTHLY MESSENGER, MOUTHPIECE AND A JUDGE OVER YISHARAL. HE WOULD HAVE TO GROW UP FAST NOW. HE HAD LEARNED OF YAHUSHA’S INTENT TO SEVERELY HARM ELI AND HIS FAMILY AND IT MUST HAVE FRIGHTENED LITTLE SAMUEL TERRIBLY ESPECIALLY SINCE IT WAS ALL SO OPEN-ENDED. HOW THE PUNISHMENT WOULD HAPPEN, AND WHEN IT WOULD OCCUR, AND HOW SAM MIGHT BE AFFECTED BY IT WAS ALL LEFT UNANSWERED.
IT SEEMS THAT THE FIRST THING THAT THE BOY WHO DIDN‘T KNOW YAHUSHA LEARNED WAS THAT YAHUSHA WILL PUNISH WICKEDNESS AMONG HIS OWN PEOPLE AND ESPECIALLY AMONG THOSE SET-APART TO SERVE HIM. I WOULD IMAGINE THAT THIS EVENT HAD MUCH TO DO WITH SHAPING SAMUEL’S LIFE AND HIS DETERMINATION TO BE OBEDIENT TO YAHUSHA AT ALL COSTS.
So the next morning, Sam got up and opened the doors to the Tabernacle, afraid to tell Eli what Yahusha had told him, but Eli said, “Samuel my boy, come here!”
“Here I am,” Sam answered.
“What did Alahim say to you? Tell me everything. Remember Alahim will punish you terribly if you don’t tell me the truth!”
So Samuel told Eli everything (the whole speel from Yahusha) and afterwards Eli said, “Well He is Yahuah, and He will do what’s right.”
VERY PASSIVE LANGUAGE (QUE SERA SERA - WHATEVER WILL BE WILL BE !!)
DID ELI FALL ON HIS KNEES AND REPENT OR JUST FOB IT OFF?
DOES IT LOOK LIKE HE EVEN FEELS ANYTHING OR CARES?
PAY ATTENTION TO THIS PASSIVE BEHAVIOUR - YAHUSHA HATES IT !
And as Sam grew up, Yahusha helped him and made everything he said come true. THIS EXPERIENCE IS AVAILABLE FOR EVERYONE !
And from the town of Dan in the North to the town of Beersheba in the South, everyone in the country knew that Samuel was truly Yahusha’s Prophet, because He often appeared to Samuel at Shiloh and told him what to say, and then Samuel would speak to the whole nation of Yisharal.
SAMUEL KEPT GROWING; NOT JUST PHYSICALLY MATURING, HIS EAR FOR YAHUSHA'S VOICE WAS DEVELOPING AND THE BOY WHO DIDN'T KNOW YAHUSHA BEGAN TO KNOW HIM INTIMATELY AND EVERY WORD THAT YAHUSHA GAVE TO SAMUEL HE PASSED ALONG OBEDIENTLY,
AND SO IN TIME ALL YISHARAL FROM DAN TO BEERSHEBA KNEW ABOUT SAMUEL'S REPUTATION (WHAT HE SAID WOULD ACTUALLY HAPPEN) AND THEY GREW TO TRUST HIM.
FURTHER WE SEE ANOTHER VERY IMPORTANT DEVELOPMENT; FOR THE PAST 3 CENTURIES OR SO YISHARAL HAD NO COMMON NATIONAL LEADER THAT ALL 12 TRIBES LOOKED TO.
IN THE ERA OF THE JUDGES THEY LOOKED TO THEIR OWN TRIBAL LEADERS AND THE OCCASIONAL SHOPHET WHO YAHUSHA RAISED UP TO DELIVER A TRIBE OR TWO FROM TROUBLE OR OPPRESSION. THE FACT THAT YISHARAL WOULD BEGIN TO ACCEPT A NATIONWIDE LEADER IN SAMUEL WAS PAVING THE WAY FOR THEM TO ALSO ACCEPT A NATIONAL KING.
SOME TIME HAD PASSED SINCE YAHUSHA’S CURSE WAS PRONOUNCED UPON ELI AND HIS FAMILY; HOW MUCH TIME WE DON’T KNOW BUT PROBABLY ONLY A YEAR OR TWO SINCE SAMUEL WAS STILL A CHILD. WE MUST BE CAREFUL NOT TO MISCHARACTERISE ELI AS A THOROUGHLY WICKED MAN (LIKE HIS SONS) AND COMPLETELY WORTHY OF DESTRUCTION, BECAUSE HE WAS NOT AND THAT’S WHY YAHUSHA DID NOT DESTROY HIM. RATHER ELI WAS A DECENT MAN WHO LOVED YAHUSHA, BUT HE WAS A WEAK MAN, NOT STRONG ENOUGH FOR THE CHALLENGING AND CRITICAL ROLE AS YISHARAL’S HIGH PRIEST (A ROLE WHICH HE SOMEHOW ACQUIRED BUT PROBABLY SHOULD NOT HAVE, BECAUSE (AS WE SAW LAST VIDEO) HE WAS NOT OF THE YAHUSHA-AUTHORISED FAMILY LINE OF HIGH PRIESTS).
YOU CAN'T BEHAVE HOW YOU WANT IN YAHUSHA'S PRESENCE
ELI’S LACK OF LEADERSHIP ALLOWED HIS SONS TO RUN RAMPANT OVER YAHUSHA’S PEOPLE AND EVEN DEFILE THE SANCTUARY, AND FURTHER, HIS WEAKNESS AND LACK OF BACKBONE STOPPED HIM FROM DOING WHAT WAS RIGHT ACCORDING TO YAHUSHA’S INSTRUCTIONS, ESPECIALLY IN THE FACE OF STIFF OPPOSITION AND A LUKE-WARM YISHARALITE POPULATION. UNDOUBTEDLY ELI HAD INHERITED (NOT CREATED) A DYSFUNCTIONAL PRIESTHOOD ALONG WITH 12 DYSFUNCTIONAL TRIBES TO OVERSEE, BUT THERE IS ALSO NO EVIDENCE THAT HE DID ANY MORE THAN TO PASSIVELY `MAN HIS POST’, ENJOY THE HONORS AND PRIVILEGES OF HIS LOFTY OFFICE, AND ABIDE BY THE MANY QUESTIONABLE MAN-MADE TRADITIONS THAT DEVELOPED AND NOW EXISTED AND OPERATED IN PLACE OF YAHUSHA’S AUTHORISED SACRIFICIAL RITUALS AND WORSHIP PROTOCOLS.
In a nutshell: The Priesthood got lukewarm, lazy and abandoned what they'd been instructed, to run things their own way !!
PASSIVE ENGLISH DICTIONARY: "Accepting or allowing what happens or what others do, without active response or resistance".
ARE WE JUST `SHOWING UP' AND`MANNING OUR POST' LIKE ELI DID, CONTINUALLY DOING EVERYTHING THE SAME, DAY IN DAY OUT WITH NO INSPO - HAVING OUR OWN WAY? IS JUST LINGERING IN THE REIGN, NOT MAKING UP OUR MINDS ABOUT THINGS, TRYING TO SAY THE RIGHT THINGS... (THINKING WE'RE SO CLEVER AND THAT NO ONE CAN REALLY SEE WHAT WE'RE DOING OR THINKING) ...IS THIS REALLY BEING AT OUR POST, WATCHING AND WAITING?
IS LIVING A PASSIVE EXISTENCE IN YAHUSHA EVEN `IN YAHUSHA,'? DO WE REALLY GET AWAY WITH ANYTHING WE'VE DONE? LOOK AT MOSES, AARON, JOSHUA, AND COMPARE WITH ELI ... WHICH BEHAVIOUR ARE WE? HOT, COLD OR LUKE-WARM?
WE SAW SAMUEL LISTENING INTENTLY TO YAHUSHA'S VOICE, AND AS WE DISCOVERED IN DEUTERONOMY, TO SHEMA ""LISTEN"" DOESN'T JUST MEAN TO PASSIVELY HEAR BUT ALSO TO ACTIVELY FOLLOW-THROUGH BY DOING WHAT'S INSTRUCTED. `MY SHEEP HEAR MY VOICE' ... THERE IS NO MAYBE OR DOUBT OR SOMETIMES ABOUT YAHUSHA'S STATEMENT ... IF WE ARE HIS, WE HEAR HIM ... AND HE TELLS US WHAT TO DO MOMENT BY MOMENT ... ALWAYS MAKING A WAY OF ESCAPE ... A SOLUTION ... A RELIEF ... IF WE WILL BUT LISTEN TO HIM AND RECEIVE HIS LIVING WORDS INTO US, THE LIGHT WILL ALWAYS WIN OVER THE DARKNESS THAT SEEKS TO SWALLOW US UP ALL DAY, EVERYDAY ... SO WHICH DO WE WANT? ... LISTEN OR IGNORE? ... LISTENING MAKES US ACTIVE AND HOT, AND IGNORING MAKES US LUKEWARM AND PASSIVE ABOUT OUR LIVES - QUE SERA SERA !! AND IF WE CONTINUE THIS WICKED BEHAVIOUR OUR LOVE WILL BE EXTINGUISHED COMPLETELY, LEAVING US STONE COLD!
SAMUEL LISTENED AND BECAME ONE OF YAHUSHA'S GREATEST MOUTHPIECES ON EARTH ...
Yahusha is Transforming us for Battle
The Bride often mistakes an end of strife, or arguing, or making things happen of the self, with a lack of actively doing something, as though we just get pushed around, suffering, aimlessly, while everyone around us has their own way with our emotions, resources and time. Is this really the case? Does shutting up and waiting on Yahusha mean giving up and not doing anything?
In the same place that Yahusha speaks of His hatred for luke-warm behaviour He states that He comes knocking on the door of our hearts (which He can easily do since there's an open portal there), to awaken us, get our attention, discipline, chastise, flog, goad .... bring about a change so you are no longer the person you once were !!
Does Yahusha need SWAT to open your Door? (stubborn hard heart)
It's actually the opposite because it's getting THE FLESH out of the way - our thoughts, opinions, desires, wants .... becoming ACTIVELY AWARE of what Yahusha is doing around us and through us, making sure the only words we speak are carefully chosen and inline with what Yahusha wants.
DO YOU ACTIVELY BEHAVE LIKE THIS?
What if you've been the one who's been the user, the abuser? Where do you start when you know you've blown it, wrecked everything and feel down, lost and broken, finally seeing your behaviour the way Yahusha does? Do you make excuses? Blame others? Try and lift yourself back up again? How's that gone in the past? Did it work?
This experience you're going through is called DEATH and YAHUSHA IS VERY HAPPY TO SEE YOU GO THROUGH IT (and so is everyone else around you) so that you die to who you are and STOP THAT BEHAVIOUR. So stay down, let all the realisation of the guilt and shame and wickedness really sink in, face it, explore it, dissect it, discover all the sneaky avenues, cracks and crevices it seeps into you through and block them all off. Don't even entertain such thoughts or imaginations anymore. Ignore them completely - THEY'RE NOT COMING IN EVER AGAIN!
You wake up when you wake up and you start when you start, and anyone that doesn't let you have it can well and truly GET STUFFED!! Make it right with everyone you need to, but if they don't receive your apology then let them have it and move on, Yahusha will deal with them!
You start by listening, one thought at a time, one task at a time, proving your reputation with Yahusha. This is between you and Him and He wants your undivided attention ... and this is how you stay HOT and never allow your love to go COLD through wickedness and lies ever again. Listening to the accusing filth of Satan makes our whole feeling drop, our mood changes until our genuine love and kindness and compassion is extinguished.
ARE YOU ACTIVELY WINNING KNOWING THIS IS THE WAY OF HIS REIGN AND YOU ARE BEING TRAINED INTO HIS ROYALTY, OR HAVE YOU GIVEN UP, BECOME LUKE-WARM, INDECISIVE AND A PASSIVE BITCH OF THE ENEMY?