Letter to the Hebrews Volume 150

 Overcoming Faith Part 8 (Samuel)

Hebrews 11:32-34 And what shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell of Gideon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthae; of David also, and Samuel, and of the Prophets: Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, Quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. KJV Note: CEV=Contemporary English Version

The writer of Hebrews next list six (6) men and also the Prophets whom the Lord God/Elohim/Jehovah/Adonai/Jesus Christ used in very miraculous ways to accomplish His will on the earth for the profit, protection, and preservation of children of Israel on the earth as per His promise to Abraham (then Abram) way back when He first called Him to leave his home country and sojourn to a land that He (God) would shew unto him (Genesis 12:1-3). Each of these men were born many years after Abraham's earthly life was over, however, each one of them were descendants of Abraham. Just as the writer of Hebrews declares, as it is written, "And what shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell of Gideon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthae; of David also, and Samuel, and of the Prophets: Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, Quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens." (Hebrews 11:32-34) (KJV), it would take up very much time to document all that the Scriptures have so documented for us concerning the exercising of extremely great overcoming faith by all of them. However, I will shine some light on each of these six (6) men as well as some of the Prophets that the writer of Hebrews highlights for us here in this part of his list of the heroes of the faith.

The sixth (6) man listed for us here by the writer of Hebrews was a man named Samuel. The Lord God had given Judges to the Hebrew people such as Gideon, Barak, and Samson for around the space of time being 450 years, however, now He (Christ Jesus our Lord) began to send to the Hebrew people Prophets that were raised up by Him to speak to the people for Him the words that He would place upon their hearts, and Samuel would be His first of many, as it is written, "And after that He gave unto them Judges about the space of four hundred and fifty years, until Samuel the Prophet." (Acts 13:20) (KJV). Samuel was not only the first (1) Prophet of Elohim that He would send to speak to the Hebrew people, but he was chosen by Him long before his birth. You see Samuel's Mother (Hannah) was barren, that is, she was unable to get pregnant or she was unable to carry a baby full term until birth. Jehovah looked upon this woman with kindness and with love and granted to her the petition of her prayer to Him, as it is written, "Then Eli answered and said, Go in peace: and the God of Israel grant thee thy petition that thou hast asked of Him. And she said, Let thine handmaid find grace in thy sight. So the woman went her way, and did eat, and her countenance was no more sad. And they rose up in the morning early, and worshipped before the LORD, and returned, and came to their house to Ramah: and Elkanah knew Hannah his wife; and the LORD remembered her. Wherefore it came to pass, when the time was come about after Hannah had conceived, that she bare a son, and called his name Samuel, saying, Because I have asked him of the LORD." (1 Samuel 1:17-20) (KJV). The child Samuel was given back to the Lord God by his Mother Hannah to be a servant of the Lord's forever, as she had vowed to the Lord of Host in her prayer to Him before her womb was opened by Him, as it is written, "And she vowed a vow, and said, O LORD of hosts, if thou wilt indeed look on the affliction of thine handmaid, and remember me, and not forget thine handmaid, but wilt give unto thine handmaid a man child, then I will give him unto the LORD all the days of his life, and there shall no razor come upon his head." (1 Samuel 1:11) (KJV). Samuel grew and when the time was right for the Lord God, Samuel was called by Him to be His mouthpiece to the children of Israel, as it is written, "And Samuel grew, and the LORD was with him, and did let none of his words fall to the ground. And all Israel from Dan even to Beersheba knew that Samuel was established to be a Prophet of the LORD. And the LORD appeared again in Shiloh: for the LORD revealed Himself to Samuel in Shiloh by the Word of the LORD." (1 Samuel 3:19-21) (KJV).

Samuel was sent by Adonai to the Hebrew people when they would turn from Him and begin to worship other false gods, for Samuel "wrought righteousness" (Hebrews 11:33). Samuel would warn the people of Israel as the Word of the Lord would come to him, as it is written here when they were being defeated by the Philistines because of their worshipping Baal and Astarte. Baal which is any of numerous local fertility and nature deities worshipped by ancient Semitic peoples; the Hebrews considered Baal a false god. Astarte which is an ancient Phoenician goddess of love and fertility; the Phoenician counterpart to Ishtar. Both of these so-called deities are actually merely demonic messengers of the devil sent to people to get them into worship of him. When Samuel went to the Hebrew people to get them to turn from their worship of these demons from the devil, he said these words, "One day, Samuel told all the people of Israel, 'If you really want to turn back to the LORD, then prove it. Get rid of your foreign idols, including the ones of the goddess Astarte. Turn to the LORD with all your heart and worship only Him. Then He will rescue you from the Philistines.' The people got rid of their idols of Baal and Astarte and began worshiping only the LORD. Then Samuel said, 'Tell everyone in Israel to meet together at Mizpah, and I will pray to the LORD for you.'" (1 Samuel 7:3-5) (CEV). Of course when the devil saw the Hebrew people turning away from their false worship and back to the Lord of Host, he was furious and then stirred up his people (the Philistines) to attack the children of Israel, however, the Lord Jesus Christ heard the prayer of Samuel the Prophet and this was the result for the devil worshipping Philistines, "Samuel begged the LORD to rescue Israel, then he sacrificed a young lamb to the LORD. Samuel had not even finished offering the sacrifice when the Philistines started to attack. But the LORD answered his prayer and made thunder crash all around them. The Philistines panicked and ran away. The men of Israel left Mizpah and went after them as far as the hillside below Beth-Car, killing every enemy soldier they caught. The Philistines were so badly beaten that it was quite a while before they attacked Israel again. After the battle, Samuel set up a monument between Mizpah and the rocky cliffs. He named it 'Help Monument' to remind Israel how much the LORD had helped them. For as long as Samuel lived, the LORD helped Israel fight the Philistines." (1 Samuel 7:9-12) (CEV). Here is what Matthew Henry had to say of the Prophet Samuel, "Samuel, raised up to be a most eminent Prophet of the Lord to Israel, as well as a ruler over them. God revealed Himself to Samuel when he was but a child, and continued to do so till his death. In his story observe, (1.) Those are likely to grow up to some eminency in faith who begin betimes in the exercise of it. (2.) Those whose business it is to reveal the mind and will of God to others had need to be well established in the belief of it themselves."

If you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ and His amazing healing power, pray this from your heart to the Lord Jesus Christ (you speaking directly to Him), Dear Lord Jesus, I confess to You that I am a sinner and I need Your forgiveness. I believe You shed Your Blood and died for my sins. I believe that You rose from the dead proving that You alone are God. I repent of my sins. I want to turn from my sins. I ask You Dear Lord Jesus to come into my heart and take control of my life. I want You to be my Lord, Savior, and my God. Amen...


Sincerely in Christ,


Clifford D. Tate, Sr.


Author of “Silent Assassins of the Soul - Are you Broken by Pornography and Masturbation? You can be Restored by the Lord Jesus Christ and brought into Deliverance, Freedom, and Victory! A Guide for Men and Women in the Enemy’s Crosshairs” e-book available now @ Amazon Kindle, @ Apple I Bookstore for IPod, Barnes and Noble for Nook, Reader Store for Sony Reade, Kobo, Copia, Gardners, Baker and Taylor, and eBookPie…