Faithful Priests

Extracted from Henry Blackaby's Chosen To Be God's Prophet

How, then, did God define a "faithful priest"?

First and foremost, a faithful priest is one "who shall do according to what is in My heart and in My mind" (1 sam 2:35). Oh my! Do we not need to return here again and again so that we can say beyond a shadow of a doubt, "The heartbeat of everything I am and everything I do is what is on the heart and mind of God"? It is not what is in your heart, nor what you want to accomplish for God, nor what you want to see in your church, nor even what you want to see in your group of churches. The key is not what you want to see (your vision), but what is in God's heart and what is in His mind.

Many of us have as a promise for yourself, "For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope" (Jer. 29:11). Do you know what is in the heart of God and in the mind of God? God was going to raise up Samuel. Out of all the people in the Old Testament, I have come to love Samuel, for he was a man who knew the heart and mind of God. He faithfully shared it in a most difficult time when the people chose not to follow. He stayed with them all the way through. He remained a faithful priest to God and to His people.

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Characteristic of Samuel, the man of God raised up for Himself, was his integrity before God! He was God's servant. He knew this and never forgot it all the days of his life. Whenever God had a crucial word for His people, He told Samuel and Samuel faithfully shared it with God's people. Often, it was a word they did not want to hear - but Samuel shared it anyway. This was true with his very first assignment as a mere boy. He told Eli that God was going to take Eli's life and the lives of his sons because of their sin (see 1 Sam. 3). This awful assignment from God was part of the call. God knew His people needed to know and hear what was in His mind and heart. He had to have someone who would be impeccably faithful to Him in delivering to His people what was in His mind and heart. So He raised up such a man - Samuel!

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Finally, God promised Samuel a "sure house." With Samuel, I do not believe it was his sons, but rather a "school of prophets" who carried on Samuel's prophetic role in the midst of God's people. In the Scripture, there is no clear connection between Samuel and a subsequent prophet. Perhaps, Nathan, who later confronted David about his sin, had been trained by Samuel, who confronted King Saul with his sin. God always had a timely prophet who would speak clearly a word from God to the kings of Israel and Judah in a time of spiritual crisis. It seems to have begun witth Samuel and continued throughout biblical history.

God has always raised up a faithful priest for Himself in every generation. He is not about to leave our generation without His clear voice through His chosen servants.