And Samuel said, Gather all Israel to Mizpeh, and I will pray for you unto the LORD.
The call to Mizpeh belongs to a time when the word of the Lord was precious and there was no open vision, when the sins of Eli and his sons lay like a thick cloud that shut out the presence of the Holy Spirit and brought condemnation upon Eli's house. In the midst of that evil the child Samuel remained true to Heaven, and the Lord passed by Eli, whose eyes were dim, to commune with a child and give Samuel his commission as a prophet of the Most High. The summons to gather and pray came at the start of Samuel's work as judge, even in his youth. It came after Israel had spent twenty years in and under the power of the Philistines.
Samuel called all Israel together to Mizpeh and promised to pray to the Lord for them. That gathering was marked by fasting and prayer, deep humiliation and humility, confession of sin, and repentance, with the Hebrews greatly humbled. Samuel bore solemn testimony from the mouth of God, through which the people began to learn where their strength was, and they made him judge as a sign of their determination to obey the instructions they had heard.
The people entreated Samuel not to stop crying to God for them, and through his intercession God was again merciful to them. When the Philistines were aroused and made war against Israel, God heard prayer in their behalf and worked in a miraculous manner for them. So victory turned to the side of Israel and they overcame their enemies.
The call to Mizpeh belongs to a time when the word of the Lord was precious and there was no open vision, when the sins of Eli and his sons lay like a thick cloud that shut out the presence of the Holy Spirit and brought condemnation upon Eli's house. In the midst of that evil the child Samuel remained true to Heaven, and the Lord passed by Eli, whose eyes were dim, to commune with a child and give Samuel his commission as a prophet of the Most High. The summons to gather and pray came at the start of Samuel's work as judge, even in his youth. It came after Israel had spent twenty years in and under the power of the Philistines.
Samuel called all Israel together to Mizpeh and promised to pray to the Lord for them. That gathering was marked by fasting and prayer, deep humiliation and humility, confession of sin, and repentance, with the Hebrews greatly humbled. Samuel bore solemn testimony from the mouth of God, through which the people began to learn where their strength was, and they made him judge as a sign of their determination to obey the instructions they had heard.
The people entreated Samuel not to stop crying to God for them, and through his intercession God was again merciful to them. When the Philistines were aroused and made war against Israel, God heard prayer in their behalf and worked in a miraculous manner for them. So victory turned to the side of Israel and they overcame their enemies.