forgiveness and willingness to return again provided they repented (i.e. changed their

minds concerning Him), and were converted (i.e. turned again to Him) in Acts 3:, refers

to the testimony of the prophets and says "Yea, and all the prophets from Samuel, and

those that follow after, as many as have spoken, have likewise foretold of these days"

(Acts 3: 24).

So these Books in the O.T. Scriptures are not put into God's Word for their historical

interest. They are vital to an understanding of the N.T. They foretell (and those that have

eyes to see, and hearts to understand) the coming of Israel's mighty Deliverer, their

Messiah, God's Anointed One. Guided by the Spirit of God they wrote down, to their

utter dismay, that this Coming One would be afflicted and slain. That He would offer

Himself as the one sin-offering for all mankind, that all might be saved from the penalty

of sin and death. That in the end He would come in power and majesty and set up His

Kingdom on the earth in the city of Zion.

The message that Peter and the other disciples proclaimed in Jerusalem in Acts 2:, 3:

and 4: was that this Deliverer had come. That Jesus Christ of Nazareth, the man they

had crucified, whom God has raised from the dead, would return if they repented of their

wickedness and believed in Him as their risen and glorious Saviour.

As we now know, the Jewish people rejected the message of the disciples, even as

they rejected Jesus of Nazareth Himself as their Deliverer when He came among them

fulfilling all the signs and wonders foretold by the prophets. Every sabbath day the O.T.

prophets were read to the Jewish people in their synagogues. The doctors of the law who

were the religious leaders of the day were steeped in these books. Yet they failed to heed

the words of both Christ Himself and Peter and the other apostles. Their eyes were blind

and their hearts were hard: they refused even the second opportunity God offered them

to accept the One Who came and fulfilled all the O.T. prophecies that they were supposed

to know so well.

So temporarily they became set aside at the close of the Book of Acts, and will be

until they do acknowledge the Lord Jesus Christ as their Messiah. We, today, are living

in this dispensation of Grace, this interim period, and have the opportunity of accepting

by faith, not an inheritance on the earth, but one "far above all", as members of that

church which is the Body of Christ.

In several ways Samuel stands to David as John the Baptist does to the Lord. Both the

mothers of Samuel and John were naturally barren and waited a long time before their

sons were born. Samuel was dedicated as a Nazarite all his days (I Sam. 1: 11), while of

John it was said "He shall drink neither wine nor strong drink" (Luke 1: 15). Samuel

anointed David as king, while the special office of John the Baptist was to testify at the

baptism of the Lord at Jordan that the Messiah, Israel's King, had come. Samuel was

rejected by the people, while John similarly "decreased" until his final death in prison.

Hannah's song at the birth of Samuel is strikingly similar to the song of Zacharias at

the birth of John (I Sam. 2: 1-10; Luke 1: 67). Of Samuel it is written: "And the child