1 Samuel 3:1-10
What I notice first in this passage of Scripture is
Samuel resting in the temple after he helped Eli to bed. Why was Samuel in the
temple? Maybe he was there to make sure the candles on the altar did not go out.
Maybe Samuel was in the temple because there was no room elsewhere for him to lay.
Maybe God designed it that
way so he could be even closer to Eli. I am not sure any one of these is correct
nor if all of them are incorrect. God’s ways are
mysterious. We do know Samuel was close enough to Eli to be able to hear him
should Eli call out for him.
If he was close enough to hear Eli, was he close enough to hear God? We are soon
to find out.
We see three times Samuel ran to Eli, assuming Eli called
him. We see Samuel as a dutiful boy. He took care of the elder priest, even to being willing to wait upon him instead of
sleep. Who was Eli that Samuel would live with him and obey him? Eli was
not his father. Eli was the priest who prayed over
Samuel’s mother, Hannah, when she cried to God regarding
not having a child. He prayed for her and told her within the next year, when
others came to the temple, she would have a child from her own body. This
raised the spirit of Hannah. Hannah did have a child and Samuel was that child.
When Hannah weaned Samuel, she did what is very difficult for mothers; she gave
her son back to the Lord, in prayer and in
action. She took Samuel to the temple one day and gave him into Eli’s care to
use for the service of Yahweh in the temple. Hannah experienced the blessing of God and
wanted to give the blessing back to Him for His use. What a great thank you to
God. She gave back to Him 100% of what He blessed her with, a child, so Samuel
began his service to Eli. Samuel helped Eli as he aged with things an old man
finds difficult to do. Eli taught Samuel the ways and rituals of the Lord’s
temple. He taught him how to read the Torah and to write. Eli was raising
Samuel to be a priest.
At the time of this chapter, Samuel was perhaps
aware of how God spoke to
prophets of old based on his learning from the writings in the Torah and from
stories handed down by Eli. Samuel was aware of God’s love and mercy through the
stories of His love leading the
Israelites out of Egypt. God shows He is a covenant God through
the stories of Adam, Abraham, and Noah. I am sure Samuel was told, as well, of
Yahweh’s personal interest in the lives of His people by the example of his own
conception in Hannah. Samuel was acquainted with God through what he learned
and read. Do we share the stories of God’s care, love, and mercy to our
children or to the children of God with whom we
have contact?
Eli continued to teach Samuel; he was not finished
with his job on earth yet. On this night in chapter 3, we find a voice calling
out to Samuel three times and, each time, Samuel ran to his master, Eli. Eli did not scold him for waking him, but
sent Samuel back to his bed. On the third time Samuel heard someone calling out
to him, Eli discerned Samuel must have heard the voice of the Lord. When was
the first time you heard the voice of the Lord and understood it to be God? Samuel
was acquainted with Eli’s voice but never before heard Yahweh’s voice. Eli knew
God’s voice and discerned God was calling for Samuel,
the child given back to God by his mother. Eli instructed Samuel to answer God
that he was listening and for Him to speak. Did Samuel follow Eli’s instruction
without question or did he query Eli? Scripture does not say Samuel questioned Eli
and he had no reason to doubt Eli’s instruction; Eli had been faithful to him
these few years of Samuel’s time with him. Samuel trusted Eli. That is why
Samuel responded the fourth time to God by saying he was listening. Samuel
learned for himself the sound of God’s voice because Eli,
his master, taught him. Samuel trusted Eli; long before he knew the sound of
God’s voice, he trusted Yahweh because of Eli’s teaching. He trusted His heart.
Do we teach others to trust God’s heart?
Do we go beyond even that and teach them to take notice of God’s voice?
Eli may well have been afraid and refused to teach
Samuel to discern God’s voice; yet, he was still faithful to Yahweh and
to his charge, Samuel. He doubtless understood, though, if Samuel was hearing a
voice and he, the priest, was not, the message doubtless had something to do
with him and his family. Remember, Eli’s sons were corrupt in their service to
the Lord in the temple. Eli ignored this issue and did not reprimand his sons. God
took issue with Eli for not disciplining them and
with the sons for being unfaithful to Him and corrupting the temple worship. God
spoke to Eli in the past and said he, his sons, and his bloodline would no longer
be priests in the temple of God. To this date, God’s punishment had not
occurred. Eli sensed, by God speaking to Samuel and bypassing him, God would be
talking to Samuel regarding him and his sons. Eli was curious the next day and
requested Samuel to tell him what God said to Samuel. The message from God was
as Eli expected; God had told Samuel of the evil in the house of Eli and His
punishment of them.
There had been prophetic silence in the land of
Israel for many years. The Israelite’s hearts were hardened and their ears were
deaf to God. God spoke to them
in the past, but they did not heed Him and listen. By being closed to the
Israelites, God was possibly disciplining them. We do
not know for sure, but we do know through Samuel, God began speaking to the
Israelites again. Samuel would become a prophet for almighty Yahweh in the
midst of a hardened nation. God wanted to speak with Israel. He wanted to be in
a relationship with them. The Israelites would not hear Him; they could not hear
Him. God had to remove from the Israelites the evil that led them, the priests,
and raise up a prophet who would give voice to His words. God determined Israel
would hear from Him.
With this story come questions. Are we training our youth to
recognize God, to know His heart and to be still and know and heed
His voice? If we do not teach them to discern His voice, we are failing them
and the Lord who tells us to teach our children to know Him and to love and serve
Him. Are we as the Israelites, unable to perceive God anymore, or do we strive each
day to keep in tune with Him so we can take notice of and be acquainted with
His voice amongst the many others that clamor for our attention? With your
consideration of this last question, you may have realized your heart has
become hardened. Are you ready to turn around and open yourself for Yahweh God
to remold you to be His child, to hear His voice? I challenge you today to ask
yourself when the last time was you heard God’s voice. It is not too late today to turn around and look
to God, to reacquaint yourself with His ways and His word. He wants to be
familiar with you and you to Him.
