Matthew 25:1-13 and 1 Samuel Chapter 25

Hello and welcome to Part 2 in this series. It’s been an eye opener for me and I hope for you as well.

Revisiting Types Again

A little more about “types” before we jump back in into the types found in 1 Samuel Chapter 25.

“Types” from Adam and Eve through the old covenant illuminate some of the stories, parables, and accounts found in the New Testament, and, many prophecies yet to be fulfilled.

For example, the book of Daniel is loaded with “types” of persons and events to be revealed at a future appointed time, e.g., the completion of the church age, beginning of the millennium, and the unprecedented events before, during, and following these events.

“Types” connect us to the plan of God – to the journey of those who prefigured Christ and those in Christ.

They make our new covenant journey more real and personal, offering perspectives and insight we need for our journey.

They show hope and promise to us today, to endure and persevere as those who faced similar challenges and choices under an earlier covenant.

Types, not only help explain some of our story as it unfolds, but point to the greater story ahead.

They provide a visual display, a picture, of important choices made at critical junctures, and the resulting consequences, to the good or not so good.

And they show the intervention of God, over and over and over again, to rescue and redeem, in mercy and grace, in the most difficult of circumstances.

Just look at the life of Jonah and see his repeated “downward” choices, and yet, God intervenes and rescues him from the belly of a whale.

If you’re an older Christian, maybe you can relate to what Israel experienced in their wilderness sojourn; initiation and testing – learning to be emptied, vulnerable, to the care and love of God.

Noah

When I think about Noah, called and chosen by God for an unprecedented work, facing the unimaginable, he, in no small measure, encourages me, giving me hope and promise for my Christian journey.

Jesus referred to Noah, and Peter did in both his letters.

Though Noah’s journey refers primarily to the individual Christian (putting to death the deeds of the body to walk in new life – the journey he undertook to prepare the Ark), it also portrays corporate transition – from one era to another.

Just as the journey of others who preceded Christ spoke to his heart, so too, they are to speak ours.

Like Noah, those who heed the call of the gospel and are made ready by the Lord, will be “readied” for the next move of God when it hits the shores of the church.

It’s All about Jesus

We have a better and more complete understanding of Christ’s journey through the journey of those God chose to prefigure him.

And we need to understand his story to understand ours.

Another example. Samuel is a type of Christ in many ways.

An interesting thing about Samuel is he “learned” to hear the Lord’s voice as a child, a type of Christ.

Luke 2:52, says, “And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.” (NIV)

Jesus “learned” to hear the voice of God, just like Samuel, and just like you and me.

If Samuel learned to hear the voice of God, and Christ, the pioneer of our faith, learned to hear the voice of the Father, how much more, do we need instruction in learning to hear the voice of the Lord.

Voice of the Lord

If you find it challenging and all but impossible to hear the voice of the Lord there are resources that can help you.

Be encouraged. It’s a process and a journey for everyone.

John Eldredge, Ransom Heart Ministries, has excellent resources you can use to break some ground in this area. There’s lots of other ministries with resources as well.

You don’t have to look far to see the battle facing those who desire deeper intimacy with the Lord.

The Lord knows how to “draw” us to him, to eagerly desire more.

From our youth, the desires of our heart, affections and passions, have been “groomed” to hear the voices of our wounds, brokenness, and sins.

Of course, not entirely, but significantly. It comes with the “fall.”

The voices of the fallen nature have well-worn paths to and from the heart and mind, and defending strongholds, hindering the voices of truth.

But thanks be to God, Jesus knows how to put to death the well-worn paths with the gentleness of his voice, his word, and his Spirit.

It’s an adventure only Christ can accomplish in your heart and mind.

We are his workmanship. He will move you into deeper intimacy as you desire, grow and mature.

We need Jesus to speak to us, as the Father did to Samuel and to Christ, to learn of him, know him, and be changed from glory to glory.

It takes the voice of the Lord to write the word of God on the tables of our heart and mind – the promise of a new heart and a new mind.

Samuel (A Type of Christ), Christ, And Those in Christ

To hear the voice of God requires, among other things, a promise, dedication, setting apart, instruction, and at times, quietness.

Hannah, Samuel’s mother, received the promise of a son from priest Eli; she dedicated Samuel to God; priest Eli initiated and trained Samuel, setting him apart – instructing him in like manner to hear and receive the voice of God. (1 Samuel Chapter 3)

Jesus Christ, promised offspring of Eve; dedicated by God to the redemptive plan of salvation (Mary consenting to the dedication (Luke 1:38)); Christ initiated, trained, and set apart in the plan and purposes of his Father (Luke 2:46 – 47, 52; John 10:36; Hebrews 7:26); and instructed in all things pertaining to God (Hebrews 5:7 – 10).

We have the same promises and opportunities in Christ as Christ did.

He’s made everything available to him, available to us.

Let’s say yes to his promises, his personal commitment and dedication to you and me, and be set apart for the plans and purposes of God.

That the kingdom of God would advance through you and me.

It’s a journey and a process only he can accomplish in us.

Types and Parables

Types and parables illustrate the redemptive story over and over again.

Because we need to see the certainty of God’s plan, the promise in operation in the lives of those foretelling Christ, and Christ’s fulfillment, that we might possess assurance and confidence in God’s unique plans and purposes for us.

Jesus is building confidence and trust in his sons and daughters.

We will see, and come to know, that he, and his plans and purposes, are certain and unequivocal, and will be completed in full, though they tarry.

Unfulfilled Promises

When we don’t see the promises of God in our life, we may ask ourselves, and the Lord, “What and how can I begin to move toward you and receive what you promised me?”

He might respond, “What did I say in my Word about hunger and thirst?”

Final Lap

We generally hide from hunger and thirst. We try to take care of our hunger and thirst ourselves – it’s our natural inclination.

But in the new birth, hunger and thirst serve as tutors to lead us to Christ. Spiritual hunger and spiritual thirst are good things.

Maybe, sometimes, we need to feel the hunger and thirst of the absence of Christ.

Maybe the ground of our heart needs some plowing, to expose our desperate need for Jesus, and the need for him to do a new work.

The plowing of the heart is not a fun thing or natural.

There are desert times, desert experiences, and quiet and restful adventures in God that are necessary to plow up the old to make way for the new.

We cannot force God or us to be in a place we are not. But we can see the lives of those who’ve gone before us in the types and shadows of the Old and New Testaments.

We can see the fruitfulness of the promises of God in their lives.

Day-to-day Christianity, service, worship, prayer, and study, only goes so far. There comes a time in life, nothing will do, except Jesus. This is part of growing and maturing.

There needs to be a breaking within, a plowing up, and only God knows how to righteously judge and break the things that need to be broken, and not break the vessel.

Be encouraged, if the promise of God, hearing the voice of the Lord, seems distant and far removed from being fulfilled in your life.

Jesus knows how to get you to where he wants you to be.

Hearing the voice of the Lord will come in time.

It is necessary – he has instructions for you and me in those unique things we are commissioned to do to advance his kingdom.

And because it is necessary, Jesus will do whatever it takes in you to establish communication, connection and intimate union.

I hesitate to mention this, but to those it may apply to, I pray the Lord would speak to your heart.

Sometimes breakthrough comes through weeping.

Hannah wept bitterly before the Lord (1 Samuel 1:10).

Hezekiah wept bitterly for his life (2 Kings 20:3).

Jesus cried before the Lord, for his life (this is not about Calvary), (Hebrews 5:7).

So have multitudes, including me.

In John 16:21, a woman, spiritually speaking the church, you and me, will feel the anguish and pain of birthing Christ in us.

And in Revelation 12:2, a woman, again, spiritually speaking the church, you and me, will cry out in pain to birth Christ in us.

Jesus may want to lead you into some places requiring some tears. This is holy and sacred ground for you and Jesus, and those he brings your way.

I apologize for not writing about David, Nabal, and Abigail. I will next time.

Blessings, Drake

(NIV) Scripture quotations marked (NIV) are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright© 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.Zondervan.com The “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblical, Inc.™