THE CALL OF SAMUEL AND THE FALL OF ELI.
1 Samuel 3:1-20.
I). HE IS CALLING YOU BY NAME.
1 Samuel 3:1-10.
The days of the Saviour-Judges were drawing to a close and, as in our own days, “the word of the LORD was rare” (1 Samuel 3:1). There was a dearth in the land, but not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the word of God (Amos 8:11). For the present, civil and religious power resided in a declining priesthood - but in time this would give way to a new order of prophets, then a new order of kings - culminating in the manifestation the King of kings.
1. THE CALL OF GOD (1 Samuel 3:1-8).
The name of Samuel means “the LORD hears” (1 Samuel 1:20). Eli’s name means “my God” - a name which appears again in Jesus’ cry of dereliction from the Cross (Matthew 27:46). There is a touch of irony in the fact that Samuel heard the LORD, but thought it was the old priest.
Although he was employed in the temple, Samuel did not yet know the LORD (1 Samuel 3:7). Churches sometimes do not lack workers, but working in a church is not what puts us on a right standing with God. It is necessary to have a personal encounter with the Lord.
Length of service is not what commends us to God, either. Eli, the old priest, was failing in his sight (1 Samuel 3:2). This was true physically, but also to a certain extent spiritually. Eli’s sons were turning out bad, and he chose to turn a blind eye to their sin (1 Samuel 3:13).
The call of God is what makes all the difference in our lives. We do not have to be on our death bed - or dying on a cross next to the Cross of Jesus (Luke 23:42-43) - in order to hear His word of mercy. Young people, we are exhorted to ‘remember our Creator in the days of our youth’ (Ecclesiastes 12:1). Older people, it is not too late to ‘seek the LORD while He may be found’ (Isaiah 55:6).
Mercifully, the LORD called young Samuel “before the lamp of God went out” (1 Samuel 3:3). This is not only a call to salvation, but also a call to a specific service. There is plenty of work to be done in God’s vineyard, but the labourers are few (Matthew 9:37).
2. THE RIGHT RESPONSE (1 Samuel 3:9-10).
Although he was losing his spiritual perceptiveness, Eli at last realised - after his sleep had been interrupted the third time - that it was the LORD who was calling Samuel (1 Samuel 3:8). Even in his spiritual drowsiness, the gift of discernment had not yet quite passed from him. We are reminded of another high priest who, solely on account of his office, prophesied things which were beyond his understanding (John 11:49-52). Sometimes the truth comes out of unworthy lips.
Three times Samuel had run to Eli. As far as the boy was concerned, since he did not know the LORD, he was being obedient. Every time his name had been called, he had dutifully run to his master saying, “Here I am!”
Now at last Eli gave him instructions in how, and to whom, rightly to respond: “Speak LORD; for your servant is listening” (1 Samuel 3:9). At the fourth call, Samuel responded, “Speak, for your servant is listening” (1 Samuel 3:10). Samuel did not at this point mention the name of the LORD.
We must test the voices we hear, in order to discern whether they are from God (1 John 4:1). Perhaps Samuel was still unsure of this whisper in the night. Or perhaps he feared to take the name of the LORD upon his lips in case he spoke unworthily.
The right response to the call of God is the willing response. The voice which the disciples heard in the mount of transfiguration instructed us to listen to Jesus (Mark 9:7). The mother of Jesus rightly advised the servants at the wedding feast to ‘do whatever he tells you’ (John 2:5).
The Good Shepherd is calling us by name (John 10:3). I wonder what specific service He is calling us to today, and what our response shall be? Speak Lord, for your servant is listening… ‘Here am I; send me’ (Isaiah 6:8).
II). A FAILING PRIESTHOOD.
1 Samuel 3:11-20.
What an initiation into the ministry of God’s Word! The boy Samuel was now informed of the judgment which the LORD had already given against the house of Eli (1 Samuel 3:12-14; cf. 1 Samuel 2:30-31). No wonder the LORD warned Samuel that it would cause both his ears to tingle (1 Samuel 3:11)!
This prophecy came at such a time as when ‘the Word of the LORD was rare’ (1 Samuel 3:1), there being ‘no widespread revelation.’ Days when there was a dearth in the land: but ‘not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the words of the LORD’ (cf. Amos 8:11). Days like our own.
Samuel, too, ‘did not yet know the LORD’ (1 Samuel 3:7) - but that was about to change. Mercifully, the LORD called young Samuel ‘before the lamp of God went out’ (1 Samuel 3:3). This is both a temporal reference, and a spiritual one.
The priest Eli was blind in two senses. The old man’s eyes were dim of sight (1 Samuel 3:2); and, metaphorically speaking, he was turning a blind eye to the sins of his sons (1 Samuel 2:29). Yet he had been warned that the LORD would take both his sons in one day (1 Samuel 2:34)!
Now young Samuel, through fear, chose not to reveal the vision to Eli (1 Samuel 3:15). After all, the boy was not told by the LORD to tell the old priest what he already knew. But Eli (whose name means ‘my God’) called Samuel (whose name means ‘God hears’), and he answered as before: “Here I am” (1 Samuel 3:16).
Eli asked Samuel, and threatened him: and Samuel told him everything (1 Samuel 3:17-18). And Eli recognised that it was the word of the LORD, and could only concede: “Let Him do what seems good to Him.” And so, it came to pass.
But, to his credit (perhaps), Eli was more upset at the capture of the Ark of the Covenant than at the death of his two wayward sons (1 Samuel 4:17-18). Eli died that day, too.
It is a sad situation when those who are meant to be lights in the church fall so sadly astray. But there is hope. God was going to raise up a new priesthood. One that would be according to His own heart (1 Samuel 2:35).
Now, after this experience, the child Samuel continued to ‘grow up before the LORD’ (cf. 1 Samuel 2:21); and “the LORD was with him and did not let any of his words fall to the ground” (1 Samuel 3:19).
The dearth of the word of the LORD was over. “And all Israel knew that Samuel had been established as a prophet of the LORD” (1 Samuel 3:20).
If we did not know better, we might wonder whether this new priesthood would come from the Ephraimite boy who was already serving so well in the tabernacle. But this new priesthood would not come from the family of Samuel. On any account, Samuel’s sons would be just as bad as those of Eli (1 Samuel 8:3) - which is what led the people to demand a king (1 Samuel 8:4-5).
Yet Saul failed in his kingship, and was wrong to arrogate the initiative of the priesthood to himself (1 Samuel 13:8-9; 1 Samuel 13:13-14). ‘The man after God’s own heart’ turned out to be David (cf. Acts 13:22). And the promised perfect priesthood is ultimately fulfilled in ‘great David’s greater Son’: our Lord Jesus Christ.
Jesus appeared in the Temple as a baby, without being noticed by many more than two people (Luke 2:22). Then Jesus appeared in the Temple as a boy of twelve, and astonished all who heard His wisdom (Luke 2:47). Jesus came to establish a new covenant, and to make the once for all, final, and satisfactory sacrifice for the sins of His people (cf. Hebrews 9:28).
Now the Lord creates a new worship and a new people, and establishes a priesthood of all believers.
