1 Samuel 3:15 – 21 “Samuel lay down until the morning; then he opened the doors of the LORD’s house. He was afraid to tell Eli the vision, but Eli called to him and said, “Samuel, my son.”
“Here I am,” answered Samuel.
“What was the message He gave you?” Eli asked. “Do not hide it from me. May God punish you, and ever so severely, if you hide from me anything He said to you.”
So Samuel told him everything and did not hide a thing from him.
“He is the LORD,” replied Eli. “Let Him do what is good in His eyes.”
And Samuel grew, and the LORD was with him, and He let none of Samuel’s words fall to the ground. So all Israel from Dan to Beersheba knew that Samuel was confirmed as a prophet of the LORD. And the LORD continued to appear at Shiloh, because there He revealed Himself to Samuel by His word.”
Once more, Eli is given a chance to repent. With a heavy heart, Samuel gives Eli the message the Lord has given him. Once more, Eli has a weak and ineffectual response. God has given Eli one last chance to turn to Him, and Eli is still flipping his hands helplessly instead of falling on his face before the Lord. Even now, Eli might still repudiate his sins and beg God for mercy, hoping that God will relent; however, he fails to do so.
How can Eli possibly react this way? Eli has been the high priest for many years and has entered the Holy of Holies regularly on many occasions. What has led Eli to demonstrate so little respect to the Lord? It’s very sad but quite possible that Eli never really knew the Lord in the first place, that he has spent a lifetime going through the motions without ever experiencing the holiness of God or His righteousness. But if Eli never really knew God in the first place, how was it that he knew enough to advise Samuel to answer, “Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening,” when God was calling Samuel? No, the tragedy of Eli goes even deeper. The only way Eli would have known the proper response to God’s call would be if Eli himself had once answered that call and had then pulled away from God because he felt that God was asking too much of him. It might even be possible that Eli himself was called to be a prophet as a child, only to fall away from that calling.
Eli is one of the tragic figures in the Bible. Eli accuses Hannah of drunkenness; is Eli an alcoholic or are his sons alcoholics? Eli prays a priestly prayer over Hannah and blesses her, allowing God to work through him. Eli knows enough to advise Samuel; however, he fails to repent when God warns him. No, as Eli has aged, his love for the Lord has grown cold and his own comfort has become his main goal. Eli has probably lied to himself, telling himself that he “deserves” to rest, instead of serving the One True Living God.
Meanwhile, Samuel is growing up and God is speaking through him. When Moses was giving the Israelites the Law, God promised to send them prophets. Deuteronomy 18:18 – 22 “I will raise up for them a prophet like you (Moses) from among their brothers. I will put My words in his mouth, and he will tell them everything I command him. And I will hold accountable anyone who does not listen to My words that that prophet speaks in My name. But if any prophet dares to speak a message in My name that I have not commanded him to speak, or to speak in the name of other gods, that prophet must be put to death.”
You may ask in your heart, “How can we recognize a message that the LORD has not spoken?” When a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD and the message does not come to pass or come true, that is a message the LORD has not spoken. The prophet has spoken presumptuously. Do not be afraid of him.”
Now God is confirming Samuel as His prophet. “And Samuel grew, and the LORD was with him, and He let none of Samuel’s words fall to the ground. So all Israel from Dan to Beersheba knew that Samuel was confirmed as a prophet of the LORD. And the LORD continued to appear at Shiloh, because there He revealed Himself to Samuel by His word.” This passage raises yet another point: The Lord is continuing to appear at Shiloh because Samuel, His prophet, is at Shiloh. God will appear wherever there is someone who will truly speak on His behalf. As long as Samuel is at Shiloh, God will appear there. Sadly, once Samuel dies, Shiloh will be destroyed, possibly by Philistines, during the latter part of King Saul’s reign. This destruction will be so complete that the prophet Jeremiah will refer to Shiloh as an example of what can happen when the glory of the Lord departs from a place.
Jeremiah 7:12 says, “But go now to My place which was in Shiloh, where I set My Name at the first, and
see what I did to it for the wickedness of My people Israel.”
APPLICATION: There is a hymn whose first line is “Once to ev’ry man and nation comes the moment to decide…” The 3rd chapter of 1 Samuel presents us with two pictures: the child Samuel, whose childish faith is honored by the Lord, and the aging priest Eli, whose life – long search for comfort has resulted in his loss of faith, his complete failure as a father, and impending doom for his family and for himself. God gives Eli three warnings, three opportunities to repent and to beg for mercy; yet, Eli appears to be spiritually numb and resigned to a horrible fate. Samuel chooses to follow God and will spend his entire life as God’s mouthpiece. Eli has already settled for mediocrity and feels no need to change.
Francis Schaeffer wrote a book entitled How Shall We Then Live? Each of us faces that question daily. Will we choose to listen to God? Will we dedicate ourselves to His service? Will we be so obedient that we will do whatever God says? Or will we refuse to listen to God, serving only our own interests?
We live in a world of information overload where distractions abound. While Samuel lived in a simpler time, that does not mean that there were no distractions for Samuel; after all, look at Eli. As a Levitical priest, Eli should have been wholly devoted to God, following the precepts laid down in Deuteronomy 6. Eli should have been teaching his sons the Word of God, speaking to them at all times from the time they were old enough to understand…..and yet, he failed to do so. Eli chose to enjoy the benefits of the priesthood without making the heart commitment necessary to truly serve the Lord. The results were disastrous.
James Russell Lowell wrote his poem at a time when America was convulsed over the slavery issue. Today there are different issues, but the same choices.
ONCE TO EVERY MAN AND NATION – JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL
1 Once to ev’ry man and nation
Comes the moment to decide,
In the strife of truth and falsehood,
For the good or evil side;
Some great cause, some great decision,
Off’ring each the bloom or blight,
And the choice goes by forever
‘Twixt that darkness and that light.
2 Then to side with truth is noble,
When we share her wretched crust,
Ere her cause bring fame and profit,
And ’tis prosperous to be just;
Then it is the brave man chooses
While the coward stands aside,
Till the multitude make virtue
Of the faith they had denied.
3 By the light of burning martyrs,
Christ, Thy bleeding feet we track,
Toiling up new Calv’ries ever
With the cross that turns not back;
New occasions teach new duties,
Ancient values test our youth;
They must upward still and onward,
Who would keep abreast of truth.
4 Tho’ the cause of evil prosper,
Yet the truth alone is strong;
Tho’ her portion be the scaffold,
And upon the throne be wrong:
Yet that scaffold sways the future,
And, behind the dim unknown,
Standeth God within the shadow,
Keeping watch above His own.
PRAYER: Father God, help us to be like Samuel! Let us truly listen, truly hear, and truly obey! As we age, let us walk ever closer to You and serve You even more thoroughly! Let us love You more each day than we did the day before! In the matchless Name of King Jesus. Amen.
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