Specific Instructions From The Lord Jesus! Part 2

1 Samuel 3:11, “And the LORD said to Samuel, Behold, I will do a thing in Israel, at which both the ears of every one that heareth it shall tingle. 12In that day I will perform against Eli all things which I have spoken concerning his house: when I begin, I will also make an end. 13For I have told him that I will judge his house for ever for the iniquity which he knoweth; because his sons made themselves vile, and he restrained them not.” Note: there was a time for repentance, (see 1 Sam. 2:27-36), but it was too late at this point. “14And therefore I have sworn unto the house of Eli, that the iniquity of Eli's house shall not be purged with sacrifice nor offering for ever. 15And Samuel lay until the morning, and opened the doors of the house of the LORD. And Samuel feared to shew Eli the vision. 16Then Eli called Samuel, and said, Samuel, my son. And he answered, Here am I. 17And he said, What is the thing that the LORD hath said unto thee? I pray thee hide it not from me: God do so to thee, and more also, if thou hide any thing from me of all the things that he said unto thee. 18And Samuel told him every whit, and hid nothing from him. And he said, It is the LORD: let him do what seemeth him good.”

In 1 Samuel chapter 4, we observe the fulfillment of God's judgment upon the house of Eli. Israel went into battle against the Philistines and the battle did not go well for them. The Israelites sent for the Ark of the Covenant to be brought to the battlefield presumably to elicit the intervention of God and encourage the soldiers to press on to victory. However, the Israelites were already defeated. There was nothing that could be done, “the iniquity of Eli's house shall not be purged with sacrifice nor offering forever,” v14. This was all according to God's plan to bring Hophni and Phinehas to the battlefield as they accompanied the Ark. The Ark was captured and Eli's two sons were killed in battle. Eli, having received the news of what had happened, fell backward off his seat, broke his neck and died. Phinehas' wife, being with child, went into labor when she heard of her husband's death. She named the child Ichabod which means “the glory is departed from Israel.” God's warning was that He would cut off the house of Eli. 1 Sam. 2:31, “...there shall not be an old man in thine house.”

The death, devastation, and destruction in Israel was because there was not a man who would hear the Word of the Lord. The glory was departed from Israel because they would not hear the Word of the Lord. The death, devastation, and destruction in our world is because of man's failure to hear the Word of the Lord. In 1 Samuel 7:3, we observe the beginning of Samuel's revival ministry, “And Samuel spake unto all the house of Israel, saying, If ye do return unto the LORD with all your hearts, then put away the strange gods and Ashtaroth from among you, and prepare your hearts unto the LORD, and serve him only: and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines. 4Then the children of Israel did put away Baalim and Ashtaroth, and served the LORD only... 9And Samuel took a sucking lamb, and offered it for a burnt offering wholly unto the LORD: and Samuel cried unto the LORD for Israel; and the LORD heard him.” It is imperative that the Body of Christ continually receive specific instructions from the Lord Jesus for our mission each day until He returns for us.