1 Samuel 3

CHAPTER 3THEME: Call of SamuelThe story of God’s calling of Samuel is ordinarily reserved for children. Let’s bring it out of the nursery into the adult department. Not only is it a beautiful story, but it marks one of the great transitional periods in Scripture: the change from theocracy to monarchy, from priest to king. There is a total of four calls to Samuel: the first and second calls were to salvation (v. 1Sa_1:7); the last two calls were to service (v. 1Sa_1:10). As Alice in Wonderland, ostensibly written by Carroll for Alice Liddell (a friend’s child), was a philosophical indictment against the social order of his day, so the story of Samuel’s call is much more than a delightful story for children. It initiates a drastic change in the form of government.

The period of the judges is over, and no longer will God move through the priest. He is now raising up a priest-prophet. Samuel will minister for the Lord, but his office will be that of a prophet. It is he who will pour the anointing oil on both kings, Saul and David. God will never speak directly to a king but will speak only through a prophet.

1 Samuel 3:1

I want to note the word child. Samuel was not a wee child. The historian Josephus says he was twelve years old. He probably was a teen-ager. Samuel was a young man, and he ministered unto the Lord before Eli. A four-year-old child would not be serving the Lord in the tabernacle. This verse tells us that “the word of the Lord was precious.” That means it was scarce. God was not revealing Himself at this particular time. He is just beginning to move when He calls Samuel to be a prophet. God is moving from the use of the judge and priest to the use of the prophet. The prophet becomes the spokesman to and for the king.

1 Samuel 3:2

It was the duty of the priests to take care of the lamp in the tabernacle. They were to put oil in it and see that it was kept burning. Eli was old, his eyesight dim, and the lamp was about to go out.

1 Samuel 3:4

Eli thought that Samuel was dreaming and told him to go back to bed.

1 Samuel 3:6

We need to note here that God’s first two calls to Samuel were calls to salvation.

1 Samuel 3:7

Samuel did not know the Lord. God was calling him to salvation. What is the age of accountability? Whatever it is, Samuel had reached it, and God is now going to hold him responsible. In the Book of Numbers a man was not able to go to war until he was twenty. The Levites did not begin their service until they were twenty-five years old, and the priests began to serve at age thirty. When Israel turned back to wander in the wilderness because of unbelief, only those who were under twenty years of age were allowed to live and go into the Promised Land. I do not know exactly how old Samuel was, but we can be certain he was not a toddler. Is twenty the age of accountability? I do not know. I am merely suggesting that it is much older than many people think. The question has always been, “Would God have called Samuel a fifth, sixth, seventh, or fiftieth time?” I do believe with all my heart that there is a time to be saved. It has been expressed like this: There is a time, I know not when; A place, I know not where; Which marks the destiny of men To heaven or despair. How long may men go on in sin? How long will God forbear? Where does hope end, and where begins The confines of despair? One answer from those skies is sent: “Ye who from God depart, While it is called today, repent, And harden not your heart.” Author unknown Apparently there will come a day when one is not able to turn to God. When Hermann Goering was placed in prison at the time of his trial, and later when he was to be executed, the prison chaplain had a long interview with him. The chaplain emphasized the necessity of preparing himself to meet God. In the course of the conversation, Goering ridiculed certain Bible truths and refused to accept the fact that Christ died for sinners. His was a conscious denial of the power of the blood. “Death is death,” was the substance of his last words. As the chaplain reminded him of the hope of his little daughter meeting him in heaven, he replied, “She believes in her manner, I in mine.” The chaplain was very discouraged when he left. Less than an hour later he heard that Hermann Goering had committed suicide. God called this man, and he refused the call. God may call many times, but there apparently comes a day when man’s heart is hardened. Pro_29:1 says, “He, that being often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy.” Now I do not believe you can commit an unpardonable sinthat is, that you can do something today which cannot be forgiven by God tomorrow. But, does God withdraw His grace? No, he will never do that. But men can resist and rebel and reject until their conscience becomes seared as with a hot iron. Men like Cain, Balaam, Samson, Korah, and Ahab all reached a day when they turned their backs against God.

Act_24:25 says of Felix, the Roman procurator before whom Paul was arraigned, “And as he reasoned of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come, Felix trembled, and answered, Go thy way for this time; when I have a convenient season, I will call for thee.” King Agrippa said to Paul, “Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian” (Act_26:28). Christ saved one thief that men need not despair, but He saved only one that men would not presume (Luk_23:39-43).

1 Samuel 3:8

These verses contain the third and fourth calls to Samuel, the calls to service.

1 Samuel 3:11

When God says something, it is the same as done. In the Old Testament we have what has been called “prophetic tense.” It is a past tense, but it speaks of the future. God speaks of things that have not yet happened as if they had already taken place. When God says something is going to happen, it is going to happen. God speaks to Samuel in these verses and tells him that He is about to move against the house of Eli. Now this boy Samuel is loyal to Eli to the very end. He did not attempt to undermine him. He went to Eli and told him everything God had said to him. I want to say that if you are in God’s service today and serving under some other man, be loyal to him. Don’t tell me that you can be loyal to Christ and be disloyal to God’s man who is above you. Oh, how loyalty is needed today!

1 Samuel 3:21

How did God reveal Himself? By the Word. God today is also revealing Himself through His Word. He is illuminating by His Spirit the pages of Scripture. That is how you and I come to know Him, and to know Him is life eternal.