This biblical teaching is a production of The Walk Ministries with Pastor Jeno Shaw. You can watch the video below, and then read the teaching notes that follow.
Teaching Notes
Samuel: New Management
Remember, as the priests went so did the people of Israel. At that time, they were dying against the Philistines in battle. The Philistines were whipping their butt. In chapter 4, Israel, out of desperation, decided to bring the ark of the covenant out. The Philistines were scared at first, but they still beat up and slew many Israelites regardless of the ark of the covenant. Hophni and Phinehas died in this battle, and a messenger escaped the battle and went back and told Eli what happened. At the word about the ark of the covenant, Eli died. Words are powerful! Samuel 4:18. At the death of the transgressors, GOD BEGAN TO MOVE! Under new management, God began to move, and this is what happened:
- Samuel became the Priest
- Ark of the covenant smites the Philistines (Samuel 5:1-12,6:1-16
- Israel returned to the Lord (Samuel 7:3-4)
- Israel won their first battle against the Philistines with Samuel being the priest. Remember that before, the Philistines would win battle after battle, so why was this battle different? It was the hand of the Lord. When the hand of the Lord is upon you but against your enemies, then nothing can stop youv(Samuel 7:13). Were the men better trained? Nope.
- That which was stolen was returned! (Samuel 7:14)
- Supernatural peace with the Amorites (Samuel 7:14)
Now Samuel, being old, made his two sons judges over Israel, but that was a failure. It was just about a repeat of Eli, “Here we go again.” Did not Samuel teach his sons about Phineas and Ferb? jk.
The people of Israel were upset with this situation of Samuel’s sons taking bribes and what not, so they cried out for a king. Samuel took this personally. He didn’t like it, so he brought the matter before the Lord and what did He say?
1 Samuel 8:7
“And the LORD said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them.”
Did you hear that? They were not so much rejecting Samuel; they were rejecting the Lord!
When you are an ambassador for Jesus, boots on the ground, doing what the Lord has called you to do and you get pushback from people, they are doing it to the Lord.
WHEN SOMEONE IS WALKING IN THE WILL OF THE LORD, YOU CANNOT GET IN THE WAY. LOOK AT MIRIAM. YOU CAN HAVE ARGUMENTS WITH YOUR BROTHER AND SISTER, BUT DON’T TOUCH THE ANOINTING! IN ESSENCE, YOU ARE STANDING IN THE WAY OF GOD’S WILL, AND GUESS WHO TAKES CARE OF THAT? THE LORD! THAT’S WHY MIRIAM HAD LEPROSY. SHE WENT A LITTLE TOO FAR.
Numbers 12:1-10
1 “And Miriam and Aaron spake against Moses because of the Ethiopian woman whom he had married: for he had married an Ethiopian woman. (2) And they said, Hath the LORD indeed spoken only by Moses? hath he not spoken also by us? And the LORD heard it. (3) Now the man Moses was very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth. (4) And the LORD spake suddenly unto Moses, and unto Aaron, and unto Miriam, Come out ye three unto the tabernacle of the congregation. And they three came out.
5 “And the LORD came down in the pillar of the cloud, and stood in the door of the tabernacle, and called Aaron and Miriam: and they both came forth. (6) And he said, Hear now my words: If there be a prophet among you, I the LORD will make myself known unto him in a vision, and will speak unto him in a dream. (7) My servant Moses is not so, who is faithful in all mine house. (8) With him will I speak mouth to mouth, even apparently, and not in dark speeches; and the similitude of the LORD shall he behold: wherefore then were ye not afraid to speak against my servant Moses? (9) And the anger of the LORD was kindled against them; and he departed. (10) And the cloud departed from off the tabernacle; and, behold, Miriam became leprous, white as snow: and Aaron looked upon Miriam, and, behold, she was leprous.”
Fault one: Miriam spoke against Moses’ wife, a Cushite or black woman. As bad as this is, it was Miriam’s next step where she got in the way of the will of God.
Fault two: Miriam was like, “Don’t we hear from God as well?” God had to correct this and tell them, “I speak to you in a vision or a dream, but, to Moses, I speak MOUTH TO MOUTH! WOW!
So God was telling Samuel, “Don’t take it personally; the people of Israel turned their backs on me too.” It’s like God was trying to tell Samuel, “This is a tough job, and you need thick skin.” (Samuel 8:8)
In Samuel 9:7, Saul was young. He and his servant had spent all day looking for their lost donkeys, and they heard there was a man of God nearby that could help them. Saul was worried because he had nothing to give. Saul didn’t want to approach the man of God empty handed! See, before Saul was corrupted, he was smart and knew you should never approach a man of God empty handed!
But this is about Samuel. His two sons failed. Then he’s anointed Saul, and we know how that turned out. King Saul disobeyed God and died in battle on his own sword, along with his son.
We can imagine how frustrated Samuel was. I mean, when you vouch for someone, when you anoint someone, you want them to be great. You want them to go on and do great things, but we have to do our job and know when our job ends and their job begins.
We can pray for our families, but we must not take on the guilt or shame of their failures or perceived failures. Sometimes, it’s a matter of them out there getting their testimony. I mean, whoever prayed for me when I was younger, it looked like a failure, but the thing is, I was out there getting my testimony. What looks like a failure, is a testimony in due time.
Same thing goes for healing. When we lay hands on people and they get healed, yea, it’s great. But if they don’t get healed, we have to remove ourselves from the equation. Healing can be instantaneous or it can happen over the course of two days, two weeks, two months, or two years. Same thing goes for when you ask people if they want prayer, they might say no, and you can’t take that personally. You did your job. They are not rejecting you; they are rejecting God. It could be that you’re the one to plant that seed.
1 Corinthians 3:6-11
6 “I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase.”
Note: So you see, you could plant the seed in someone and not be done, but that’s all they received at the time. Later on, someone else can water that seed, and you’ll never know it. It can seem like the mission failed, but it didn’t. It’s just that you didnt see it play out. Besides, look at the next verse:
7 “So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase.”
Note: Who are we to consider ourselves anything but a piece of the puzzle? It’s about God, and we must remove our ego from the equation.
8 “Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour.”
Note: Everything we do is being recorded, and we will receive a reward for being doers of the Word and not just hearers of the Word.
9 “For we are labourers together with God: ye are God’s husbandry, ye are God’s building.”
Note: Since the beginning, God wants to colabor with us, we are family.
10 “According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon. (11) For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
Note: The foundation is Jesus Christ. Always has been and always will be.
Jesus is the only foundation we can build on. It can’t be my opinion, someone else, another name, no. Scripture makes it plain that Jesus is the foundation.
So don’t get discouraged. In fact if you get discouraged because nothing happened in front of your face, then would you take credit if something did happen? If you’re willing to take the blame, then you might be willing to take the credit as well. Think about it; we are just a piece of the puzzle. Don’t look at it as rejection or failure but look at it as, “Hey, you planted a seed.”
I mean, look at my situation. Someone planted seeds in me but nothing happened. Then Annamarie came along and watered, and boom, the conditions were right for me to bloom. Glory to God! All those people that planted seeds in me didn’t necessarily see the fruit for years, but those that planted those seeds in me will get a reward, along with Annamarie.
So don’t give up praying for your sons, daughters, and husbands. You just might be the seed and another will come along and water. Amen? Don’t lose hope, but gain understanding. It’s through understanding that we don’t lose hope. But if you don’t know that you’re just planting seeds, you might get frustrated and quit because you don’t have understanding.
Father God, I pray for wisdom and understanding to those who are watching this video. Help them to continue to plant seeds, continue to water, and to trust in the Lord to do the increase, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Trust is big. How many times have people let us down? So we are conditioned not to trust, but the Lord is not that way. TRUST HIM! AMEN!
I truly love you all,
Pastor/Coach Jeno
