1 Samuel 3

1 Samuel 3:1

D. Samuel’s Call (Chap. 3)3:1-3 At the time that Samuel was serving the LORD in the tabernacle at Shiloh, the word of the LORD was rare; that is, the Lord very seldom spoke in visions to men. Williams sees in the first three verses a picture of Israel’s moral condition. Night reigned; the lamp of God was going out in the Temple; the High Priest’s eyes were grown dim so that he could not clearly see; and both he and Samuel were asleep. The lamp of God refers to the lampstand, whose light was extinguished at sunrise. 3:4-9 One night, shortly before morning, Samuel heard a voice calling him. He thought it was Eli, but the priest had not called. Samuel did not yet know the LORD in the sense that he had never previously received a direct, personal revelation from Him (v. 7). After Samuel heard the voice two more times, Eli realized that the LORD was calling Samuel. The old priest told the boy to say, “Speak, LORD, for Your servant hears,” if he heard the voice again. 3:10-14 When the LORD . . . called the fourth time, Samuel replied, “Speak, for Your servant hears,” apparently leaving out the word “Lord.” The Lord’s message confirmed the judgment spoken earlier against Eli and his house, and the judgment may have included the defeat of Israel and the capture of the ark. The father was as much to blame as the sons, because he did not restrain them or turn them from their sins. They should have been put to death for their sacrilege instead of just being scolded. Sacrifice could not atone for their iniquity; their doom was sealed and was confirmed to Eli in the mouth of two witnesses: The man of God (chap. 2) and the boy prophet, Samuel (v. 14). 3:15-18 At first Samuel was afraid to tell Eli what the Lord had said, but under a solemn oath he revealed to the priest the impending judgment. Eli took the news submissively. Surely he realized God’s justice in the sentence. Could God have struck down the sons of Aaron for their impiety (Lev. 10) but leave Hophni and Phinehas unjudged? 3:19-21 It soon became known in all Israel from Dan to Beersheba that the LORD was with . . . Samuel, and all Israel recognized in the young lad a true prophet of the LORD.