The whereabouts of Samuel as a child in the house of God in the region of Shiloh (Note: means ‘tranquil, rest in the form of safety’) and his calling, as mentioned in 1 Samuel 3:1-10, holds a significant revelation for us as people of God.

 

1 The boy Samuel ministered before the Lord under Eli. In those days the word of the Lord was rare; there were not many visions.

2 One night Eli, whose eyes were becoming so weak that he could barely see, was lying down in his usual place.

3 The lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the house of the Lord, where the ark of God was.

4 Then the Lord called Samuel. Samuel answered, ‘Here I am.’

5 And he ran to Eli and said, ‘Here I am; you called me.’ But Eli said, ‘I did not call; go back and lie down.’ So he went and lay down.

6 Again the Lord called, ‘Samuel!’ And Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, ‘Here I am; you called me.’ ‘My son,’ Eli said, ‘I did not call; go back and lie down.’

7 Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord: the word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him.

8 A third time the Lord called, ‘Samuel!’ And Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, ‘Here I am; you called me.’ Then Eli realised that the Lord was calling the boy.

9 So Eli told Samuel, ‘Go and lie down, and if he calls you, say, “Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.” ’ So Samuel went and lay down in his place.

10 The Lord came and stood there, calling as at the other times, ‘Samuel! Samuel!’ Then Samuel said, ‘Speak, for your servant is listening.’

 

This incident should help us to understand more deeply and also better the visitation of God to Samuel, which took place during a time of spiritual corruption by the sons of Eli (cf. 1 Samuel 2:12.14b.18).

 

12 Eli’s sons were scoundrels; they had no regard for the Lord. …

…14b This is how they treated all the Israelites who came to Shiloh. …

18 But Samuel was ministering before the Lord – a boy wearing a linen ephod.

 

 

In the blessing of Judah, as it is no coincidence, which he received through his father Jacob, the name ‘Shiloh’ is mentioned in connection with the royal government, whom the people follow in obedience (cf. Genesis 49:10).

 

10 The sceptre will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until he to whom it belongs [Note: Shiloh] shall come and the obedience of the nations shall be his.

 

The name ‘Shiloh’ already contains the secret of Christ as the Prince of Peace who originates from the structure of the new wineskin in the form of a child and bears spiritual authority in sonship, as Isaiah 9:6-7 reveals to us.

 

6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

7 Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and for ever. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this.

 

This shows that without having received sonship in Christ Jesus, which completely changes our identity, we remain mere outsiders in the form of people who see the manifestation but are not part of the manifestation or executors of the manifestation of God Himself.

 

It is not enough just to be called, but it requires consent to the One who has called us to be obedient and to stand in testing (cf. Matthew 22:14).

 

14 ‘For many are invited [Note: called], but few are chosen.’

 

It is obedience to Jesus Christ, the expression of which implies love for him (cf. Genesis 49:10 i.c.w. John 14:23-24).

 

10 The sceptre will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until he to whom it belongs [Note: Shiloh] shall come and the obedience of the nations shall be his.

 

23 Jesus replied, ‘Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.

24 Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me. …’

 

 

A reference can thus be made to Samuel as a child in the house of God in Shiloh, which is equivalent to being one in Christ, in whom we live, weave and have our being (cf. John 17:11b.21 i.c.w. Acts 17:28; 2 Corinthians 5:17).

 

…11b Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one.

… 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.

 

28 “For in him we live and move and have our being.” As some of your own poets have said, “We are his offspring.”

 

17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: the old has gone, the new is here!

 

This results in spiritual governance in the measure allotted to us by God, just as the blessing of Jacob to his son Judah reveals, which includes a lion structure that points to kingship.

 

And it is no coincidence that the Hebrew word for ‘child, boy’ is the word ‘na’ar’ and comes from a root word meaning ‘to shake loose, shake off” or also ‘to growl’, which refers to ‘the idea of the shaking/rustling of a lion’s mane that usually accompanies the lion’s roar’. (Note: Word explanation of the word ‘boy, child – na’ar’ taken from the Elberfelder Study Bible with the word key numbers: 5371, 5372, 5373 i.c.w. Strong’s Concordance H5287, H5288)

 

In a spiritual context, it is the roaring of the lion that goes hand in hand with the fear of the LORD and sets out God’s way of communication that He chooses through His prophets (cf. Amos 3:7-8 i.c.w. Psalm 111:10).

 

7 Surely the Sovereign Lord does nothing without revealing his plan to his servants the prophets.

8 The lion has roared – who will not fear? The Sovereign Lord has spoken – who can but prophesy?

 

10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow his precepts have good understanding. To him belongs eternal praise.

 

It is said that Samuel ministered under the spiritual covering of Eli as a child, during a time when the prophetic word of God and the power of vision or prophetic visions were precious and rare. These manifested only rarely due to the spiritual corruption of Eli’s sons and his failure to correct them.

 

 

It was Samuel who, through his devotion and obedience to the LORD, chose to rest in the shining presence of the LORD OF HOSTS (Note: YAHWEH ZEBAOTH), who is enthroned above the cherubim which means ‘glancing appearance, flashing of lightnings’ (cf. 1 Samuel 3:3 i.c.w. 1 Samuel 4:4a).

 

3 The lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the house of the Lord, where the ark of God was.

 

4a So the people sent men to Shiloh, and they brought back the ark of the covenant of the Lord Almighty, who is enthroned between the cherubim. …

 

In a prophetic context, it can be stated that Samuel in the center of rest became an outgoing lightning bolt from the throne room of God that went to Eli (Note: means ‘lofty, elevation’) and thus ‘ascended’ to a higher spiritual level through obedience (cf. Ezekiel 1:13-14; Ezekiel 10:20 i.c.w. Revelation 4:5).

 

13 The appearance of the living creatures was like burning coals of fire or like torches. Fire moved back and forth among the creatures; it was bright, and lightning flashed out of it.

14 The creatures sped back and forth like flashes of lightning.

 

20 These were the living creatures I had seen beneath the God of Israel by the River Kebar, and I realised that they were cherubim.

 

5 From the throne came flashes of lightning, rumblings and peals of thunder. In front of the throne, seven lamps were blazing. These are the seven spirits of God.

 

Here the young Samuel listened to the instruction of his spiritual father and followed his advice until God Himself changed from the auditory realm of revelation to the visual realm of revelation and thereby approached Samuel because he had previously approached God through his obedience (cf. 1 Samuel 3:4-10 i.c.w. James 4:8a).

 

4 Then the Lord called Samuel. Samuel answered, ‘Here I am.’

5 And he ran to Eli and said, ‘Here I am; you called me.’ But Eli said, ‘I did not call; go back and lie down.’ So he went and lay down.

6 Again the Lord called, ‘Samuel!’ And Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, ‘Here I am; you called me.’ ‘My son,’ Eli said, ‘I did not call; go back and lie down.’

7 Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord: the word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him.

8 A third time the Lord called, ‘Samuel!’ And Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, ‘Here I am; you called me.’ Then Eli realised that the Lord was calling the boy.

9 So Eli told Samuel, ‘Go and lie down, and if he calls you, say, “Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.” ’ So Samuel went and lay down in his place.

10 The Lord came and stood there, calling as at the other times, ‘Samuel! Samuel!’ Then Samuel said, ‘Speak, for your servant is listening.’

 

8a Come near to God and he will come near to you. …

 

From this we can see that Samuel walked a total of six sections of obedience in revelation from his starting point to the resting place of Eli and rested at his last arrival at the starting point. There the voice of the LORD sounded a fourth time, and he appeared to Samuel personally.

 

As a result, from this point on, Samuel became active as a prophet and judge in Israel on the new path of the seventh section and flooded the house of God with light and new freshness (cf. 1 Samuel 3:15a).

 

15a Samuel lay down until morning and then opened the doors of the house of the Lord. …

 

 

This event teaches us the importance of walking in the rest of Jesus Christ, who is the head of the Sabbath (Note: the seventh day; cf. Genesis 2:2-3).

 

The opening of the seventh journey, which Samuel walked from this point on after the visitation of God had taken place, can be described in a spiritual context as the distance of a Sabbath journey, which was also covered out of the disciples’ obedience to Jesus’ instructions, in order to later receive the ‘wind and fire of God’ in the upper room at Shavuot or Pentecost (cf. Matthew 12:8 i.c.w. Luke 24:49; Acts 1:12).

 

‘… 8 For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.’

 

‘… 49 I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.’

 

12 Then the apostles returned to Jerusalem from the hill called the Mount of Olives, a Sabbath day’s walk from the city.

 

This shows that Shiloh is about the entrance into the dominion rest of God in Christ Jesus, the Prince of Peace, since Samuel laid in the house of God and Eli was sleeping in another place to which Samuel came because of the voice of God.

 

It was the place of Shiloh, where the presence of God also took up residence or stayed for a certain time in a fixed location (cf. 1 Samuel 3:2-3 i.c.w. Hebrews 4:1.9-11a).

 

2 One night Eli, whose eyes were becoming so weak that he could barely see, was lying down in his usual place.

3 The lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the house of the Lord, where the ark of God was.

 

1 Therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it. …

9 There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; 10 for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works, just as God did from his.

11a Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, …

 

It is the dominion rest that involves for us living in a state of a higher level of faith and the triumph of Christ.

 

Continually ‘abiding’ in this place of rest requires that you have previously gone through various levels of personal breakthroughs (Note: from the soulish to the spiritual realm) and let go of your own ideas. This enables us as believers to reign in Christ in challenging circumstances.

 

Furthermore, the dominion rest is a level of resting in the Father in the sonship of Christ with the understanding that He is the ruler who reigns over all and grants or has given us the freedom to reign together with Him, so that we live in the dimension of deep trust and peace – Shalom in the Holy Spirit.

 

Through his obedience to the voice of the LORD, Samuel learned to move back and forth in the movement of the seven eyes of God, which are in the Lamb of God, who is Jesus Christ (cf. 2 Chronicles 16:9a; Psalm 33:18 i.c.w. Revelation 5:6).

 

9a For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him. …

 

18 But the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear him, on those whose hope is in his unfailing love, …

 

6 Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing at the centre of the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and the elders. The Lamb had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth.

 

Samuel thus increased in revelatory knowledge and was recognized by the people as a prophet from Dan which means ‘Judge’ – in the north, to Beersheba which means ‘Oath/seven wells’ – in the south (cf. 1 Samuel 3:19-21).

 

19 The Lord was with Samuel as he grew up, and he let none of Samuel’s words fall to the ground.

20 And all Israel from Dan to Beersheba recognised that Samuel was attested as a prophet of the Lord.

21 The Lord continued to appear at Shiloh, and there he revealed himself to Samuel through his word.

 

According to the truth of God’s Word, is the eye, the light of the body (cf. Luke 11:34a-b).

 

34a-b Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eyes are healthy, your whole body also is full of light. …

 

It is also linked to the realm of the prophetic seers (cf. 1 Samuel 9:9.18-19a).

 

9 (Formerly in Israel, if someone went to enquire of God, they would say, ‘Come, let us go to the seer,’ because the prophet of today used to be called a seer.) …

18 Saul approached Samuel in the gateway and asked, ‘Would you please tell me where the seer’s house is?’

19a ‘I am the seer,’ Samuel replied. …

 

So let us cultivate intimacy with God and increase in the revelatory knowledge through the power of the testimony of Jesus, which is the spirit of prophecy (cf. Revelation 19:10e).

 

… 19e for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.

 

Amen and Amen.

 

In His Wisdom,

 

Daniel Glimm