In our study of 1 Samuel chapter three, we look at the fact that we have to choose to hear the call of God. We will see how many times God is speaking to us but we do not choose to listen and recognize Him.
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The child Sh'mu'el continued ministering to ADONAI under 'Eli's direction. Now, in those days ADONAI rarely spoke, and visions were few.
Samuel was probably a teenager at this point as he continued to serve in the Tent of Meeting. We see that the Lord had not been speaking to the priests through visions because of the fact that they were corrupt. They had basically chosen to ignore the word of the Lord and so He stopped talking to them for a time.
Once, during that period, 'Eli had gone to bed - his eyes had begun to grow dim, so that it was hard for him to see. The lamp of God had not yet gone out; and Sh'mu'el had lain down to sleep in the sanctuary of ADONAI, where the ark of God was.
In the early morning, Samuel was lying down by the ark of God. The lamp of God refers to the golden lampstand which stood opposite the table of the bread of Presence. The lamp was filled in the evening and would usually die down and go out at dawn. Eli was near but his vision was getting so bad that he could not see much of what was about to happen.
ADONAI called, "Sh'mu'el!" and he answered, "Here I am." Then he ran to 'Eli and said, "Here I am - you called me?" But he said, "I didn't call you; go back, and lie down." So he went and lay down.
When the Lord called to Samuel, the boy did not recognize that it was God. Instead, he ran to see what Eli needed. We also see that Eli did not immediately recognize that God was calling Samuel. In this we see that Samuel was not yet a child of God and Eli had gotten used to serving God without any input from Him. The same is true in much of Christianity today as the body has been made to be like a business and ran by managers instead of ministers.
ADONAI called a second time, "Sh'mu'el!"Sh'mu'el got up, went to 'Eli and said, "Here I am - you called me." He answered, "I didn't call, my son; lie down again." Now Sh'mu'el didn't yet know ADONAI; the word of ADONAI had not yet been revealed to him.
This is the second time that the Lord called to Samuel and he did not recognize the Lord. We see that Samuel did not yet know the Lord and so was being called unto salvation. This is a reminder to us that there can be people serving the Lord in the church and they can still be lost. We also see that leaders such as Eli can be blind to the working and call of God.
ADONAI called, "Sh'mu'el!" again, a third time. He got up, went to 'Eli and said, "Here I am - you called me." At last 'Eli realized it was ADONAI calling the child. So 'Eli said to Sh'mu'el, "Go, and lie down. If you are called again, say, 'Speak, ADONAI; your servant is listening.' Sh'mu'el went and lay down in his place.
The third time that this happened, Eli recognized the calling of the Lord. He told Samuel how to answer and this is a picture of how we are to share the gospel. We are to recognize when God is calling someone and tell them how to answer the call.
ADONAI came and stood, then spoke as at the other times: "Sh'mu'el! Sh'mu'el!"Then Sh'mu'el said, "Speak; your servant is listening." ADONAI said to Sh'mu'el, "Look! I am going to do something in Isra'el that will make both ears of everyone who hears about it tingle.
The last two calls of the Lord to Samuel were to bring him into his ministry as a prophet. We see that the Lord is about to reveal something to him that is going to happen in Israel. We also see that there is a difference between service and ministry. Samuel had been serving for years but now, only after answering the call to salvation, is he equipped for ministry.
On that day I will do against 'Eli everything I have said with regard to his family, from beginning to end. For I have told him that I will execute judgment against his family forever, because of his wickedness in not rebuking his sons, even though he knew that they had brought a curse on themselves. Therefore I have sworn to the family of 'Eli that the wickedness of 'Eli's family will never be atoned for by any sacrifice or offering."
The Lord continues to speak to Samuel and tells him what He had already told Eli. We see that Eli's sons had committed the "unpardonable sin" which is blasphemy of God. We might wonder why God was revealing this to a young man, especially one that probably loved Eli as he had grown up with him. It is probably so that he could explain what happened to the rest of the nation of Israel. God was going to make an example of the house of Eli and needed someone to explain the why and how.
Sh'mu'el lay there until morning; then he opened the doors of the house of ADONAI. But Sh'mu'el was afraid to tell 'Eli the vision. Then 'Eli called Sh'mu'el: "Sh'mu'el, my son!" He answered, "Here I am." 'Eli said, "What did he say to you? Please, don't hide it from me; may God do to you whatever he said and worse, if you hide from me anything he said to you."
We are reminded that God did not tell Samuel to share what he had said with Eli. Nevertheless, Eli demanded that Samuel tell him what the Lord had said. We see that he did not want to tell him and are reminded that that is a trait that was in most of the prophets that God used. A real prophet does not get joy or comfort out of sharing bad news with people. On the contrary, it usually produces deep sadness in them.
So Sh'mu'el told him every word and hid nothing. 'Eli replied, "It is ADONAI; let him do what seems good to him."
Eli accepted the rebuke of the Lord and realized that God was justified in doing so.
Sh'mu'el kept growing, ADONAI was with him, and he let none of his words fall to the ground. All Isra'el from Dan to Be'er-Sheva became aware that Sh'mu'el had been confirmed as a prophet of ADONAI. ADONAI continued appearing in Shiloh, for ADONAI revealed himself to Sh'mu'el in Shiloh by the word of ADONAI.
The Lord continues to talk to Samuel and he was known as a true prophet of God. There are many so-called prophets today but, as we see here, to be a real prophet the words must come to pass.
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