1 Samuel 3 English Standard Version The LORD Calls Samuel 3 Now the boy Samuel was ministering to the LORD in the presence of Eli. And the word of the LORD was rare in those days; there was no frequent vision. 2 At that time Eli, whose eyesight had begun to grow dim so that he could not see, was lying down in his own place. 3 The lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the temple of the LORD, where the ark of God was. 4 Then the LORD called Samuel, and he said, “Here I am!” 5 and ran to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But he said, “I did not call; lie down again.” So he went and lay down. 6 And the LORD called again, “Samuel!” and Samuel arose and went to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But he said, “I did not call, my son; lie down again.” 7 Now Samuel did not yet know the LORD, and the word of the LORD had not yet been revealed to him. 8 And the LORD called Samuel again the third time. And he arose and went to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” Then Eli perceived that the LORD was calling the boy. 9 Therefore Eli said to Samuel, “Go, lie down, and if he calls you, you shall say, ‘Speak, LORD, for your servant hears.’” So Samuel went and lay down in his place. 10 And the LORD came and stood, calling as at other times, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant hears.” 11 Then the LORD said to Samuel, “Behold, I am about to do a thing in Israel at which the two ears of everyone who hears it will tingle. 12 On that day I will fulfill against Eli all that I have spoken concerning his house, from beginning to end. 13 And I declare to him that I am about to punish his house forever, for the iniquity that he knew, because his sons were blaspheming God, and he did not restrain them. 14 Therefore I swear to the house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli's house shall not be atoned for by sacrifice or offering forever.” 15 Samuel lay until morning; then he opened the doors of the house of the LORD. And Samuel was afraid to tell the vision to Eli. 16 But Eli called Samuel and said, “Samuel, my son.” And he said, “Here I am.” 17 And Eli said, “What was it that he told you? Do not hide it from me. May God do so to you and more also if you hide anything from me of all that he told you.” 18 So Samuel told him everything and hid nothing from him. And he said, “It is the LORD. Let him do what seems good to him.” 19 And Samuel grew, and the LORD was with him and let none of his words fall to the ground. 20 And all Israel from Dan to Beersheba knew that Samuel was established as a prophet of the LORD. 21 And the LORD appeared again at Shiloh, for the LORD revealed himself to Samuel at Shiloh by the word of the LORD. The stage has been set for us and we already anticipate that Samuel will be the one called to replace Eli's sons as priests and that the LORD has provided not only his miraculous birth, but put it in the heart of his mother Hannah to give him over to the LORD's service so that he would live among the priests and learn how to be a priest. The LORD is now officially going to call Samuel, though to Samuel the voice of the high priest, Eli, and the voice of the LORD sound the same to him--isn't that interesting since the high priest was one of those that was supposed to mediate and speak to the people for the LORD?
When we start this narrative today, God wants us to know that the Word of the LORD had not visited His people frequently at that time, so that they did not know His voice. We also see Eli being too old to serve anymore (I have a hard time believing that Eli was going blind and needing to sit down all the time if he was within the age range that the LORD provided in Numbers 8:24-26). Numbers 8:24-26 English Standard Version 24 “This applies to the Levites: from twenty-five years old and upward they shall come to do duty in the service of the tent of meeting. 25 And from the age of fifty years they shall withdraw from the duty of the service and serve no more. 26 They minister to their brothers in the tent of meeting by keeping guard, but they shall do no service. Thus shall you do to the Levites in assigning their duties.” Since the priests were also Levites, this would apply to them too. Eli should have no longer been serving, but as we mentioned before, his sons were too wicked for him to let them take his place. So the LORD is likely waiting for Samuel to reach the age of 25 before he enters the LORD's service, but we do not know exactly how old he was at this point when the LORD called him and Samuel would tell everything to Eli (which would be shameful to Eli that the LORD would not speak directly to him, since he was the high priest). The LORD called out to Samuel and Samuel ran to Eli asking if Eli had called him, and Eli said “I did not call; lie down again.” This happened a second time before Eli realized that the LORD was speaking to Samuel and he told Samuel that the next time that he heard the Word of the LORD call to him, he should say, "Speak, LORD, for your servant is listening." The LORD informs Samuel of the judgment that is about to come on Eli and his entire house forever because Eli's sons blasphemed the LORD and Eli did nothing to stop them. God said this thing that He was about to do would get the attention of all of Israel so that they would start to listen to what the LORD had to say to them (and it is implied that Samuel would be the LORD's prophet to speak to them). I think there is some parallel here to what we read in 1 Peter 4:17 1 Peter 4:17 English Standard Version 17 For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God? Certainly the LORD is going to use this to get the attention of all the Levites and all the Jews, but in the more immediate timetable, the LORD now has the attention of Eli, because He had revealed this same message and warning to Eli through another prophet already, and Eli did not seem to have acted on it. Now the message is coming once again to him from Samuel, who is like an adopted son to Eli, and the LORD has apparently chosen Samuel to be His prophet and possibly to be the one to replace Eli as high priest. Eli wants Samuel to tell him everything that the LORD said and not to hide anything because he knows that the LORD is speaking through Samuel. It is now Eli's turn to say "Speak LORD, for your servant is [finally] listening." Eli says this pretty plainly when he tells Samuel, "It is the LORD. Let him do what seems good to him." So was the pattern of Samuel's life that Samuel spoke every word that the LORD told him. He did not hide or waste any word that was spoken to him. So it was that every in Israel from the northernmost part of Israel (Dan), where the tribe of Dan went when they left their ancestral land, to the southernmost part of Israel (Beersheba). Everyone in the whole Land knew that the LORD was God and that Samuel was His prophet. At this time, the Word of the LORD again visited at Shiloh (where the Tabernacle was, and where Samuel was ministering), and the Word of the LORD spoke directly to Samuel so that he could speak the LORD's words to the people in every part of the Land. I would imagine that many years have passed in chapter 3 and by the end that Samuel is likely in his teens or early twenties (just a suspicion). In the next chapter, we'll see the LORD bring about the promised judgment upon the house of Eli and the judgment will be even worse than we imagined for the LORD will use the Philistines not only to kill Eli's sons, but He will allow them to take the Ark of the Covenant. This will be news that will make everyone far and wide see the judgment that the LORD has brought and make everyone listen to what is going on (yet, the Philistines will also be judged for taking the Ark of the Covenant). This part of the story will be covered in the next several chapters. Comments are closed.
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Daniel WestfallI will mostly use this space for recording my "journal" from my daily devotions as I hope to encourage others to read the Bible along with me and to leave a legacy for others. Archives
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