A Call To The Remnant

So the people sent to Shiloh, that they might bring from thence the ark of the covenant of the LORD of hosts, which dwelleth between the cherubims: and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God. And when the ark of the covenant of the LORD came into the camp, all Israel shouted with a great shout, so that the earth rang again.(1Sa 4:4-5)

This is a truly horrifying scene. The ark of the covenant was in the hands of Hophni and Phinehas, two very evil men. In the beginning of Chapter three of 1 Samuel we see that “the word of the Lord was rare in those days, there was no widespread revelation.” So, when the people were facing a great calamity they could not turn to the Lord, they did not even know why they had been defeated that day because the Lord was silent to them. They had to rely on their leaders who could not or would not see their present state. We can be sure that when men have turned from God they are left to their own devices and their own solutions.

Perhaps today we see that in the form of dimmed lighting in the sanctuary which is very ironic when we consider that it is the light of glory they are seeking. Or perhaps a smoke machine that would conjure up an “atmosphere,” of holiness? What about a worship team that could create a great noise, much like the noise that was heard in the camp of the Lord that day in the scripture above? So, when is a noise, just a noise? When the presence of the Lord has departed. Even if it is a beautiful noise, we know that the world creates beautiful noises as well. That very day the Irsaelites were slaughtered in a great slaughter and “every man fled to his tent.”

We live in an age where the word of the Lord is very rare and there is no widespread revelation. Do not be mistaken, we are not talking about the Scriptures here. This is not the word Logos nor the rhema word, this is the word debar. This word means to answer, to appoint, to bid, to command, to commune, to declare to promise or pronounce. Can you see what is missing in times of God’s presence being withheld? Men seek answers to specific problems and they get no reply. In the absence of God’s presence they appoint men like Hophni and Phinehas.

They lose their ability to commune with God, to be able to make any declarations or pronouncements. Into this vacuum comes the false prophets. Yet in the midst of all of that, God speaks a “word,” to Samuel. It is a hard word, a very hard word indeed, especially when you consider its his first word from God. The word is judgement upon the leaders of a corrupt system. Samuel was compelled to give it to Eli. God is raising up a generation of Samuels who speak a hard word of judgment to those of our own household so to speak just as Samuel was compelled to do. Time and again we see God raise up His anointed to replace the established.