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Good Monday morning my “Walking with Jesus” friends,
When you think of “listening to God” or an “encounter with God”, what comes to your mind?
We are in 1 Samuel 3 today, and this is without doubt THE ‘defining moment’ of Samuel’s life. We don’t exactly know how long he’s been at Shiloh by this time, perhaps 2 or 3 years. We presume he is still quite young, perhaps 7 or 8 yrs old.
1 Samuel 3:1 is significant: “The boy Samuel ministered before the LORD under Eli. In those days the word of the LORD was rare; there were not many visions.” That phrase ‘ministered before the LORD’, or similar phrases describing Samuel’s focus on God, appear also in 1:28 / 2:11 / 2:18 / 2:21 / 2:26. Does it show Samuel’s focus during those years, those early years there at Shiloh?
While Samuel was undoubtedly given some daily practical “chores” to do, such as opening the doors of the Tabernacle in the morning as we see in 3:15, it seems in both Samuel and Eli’s hearts, Samuel was serving the LORD first and foremost. That’s important my friends.
Do you remember this glimpse into Joshua’s life from Exodus 33:7-11? Before this Shiloh Tabernacle had been fabricated by the people under Moses direction, Moses had erected a small “tent of meeting” placed outside the camp, to which he and Joshua went often, to meet with God and gain direction regarding issues related to leading the people. Verse 11 of Exodus 33 is very insightful and says: “The LORD would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks with his friend. Then Moses would return to the camp, but his young aide Joshua, son of Nun, did not leave the tent.”
Now obviously this does not mean Joshua remained in this ‘tent of meeting’ permanently, but rather he lingered there after Moses left, with a longing to spend more time with God. That in my opinion, became Joshua’s primary qualifier for being chosen by God to succeed Moses and lead the people across the Jordan, into the new land. The best leaders of people spend extended time with God and then lead the people in following God. Have you found that to be true?
So it seems to me young Samuel had the same appetite for lingering in God’s presence in the Tabernacle, that Joshua had. In fact do you notice 1 Samuel 3:3 says “The lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the Tabernacle of the LORD, where the ark of God was.” Now we know Samuel would not be permitted behind the veil near the ark, so I conclude this means he lays his sleeping mat down right next to the veil, as close as he could get to ark, with the golden lamp-stand, the altar of incense and the table of shewbread all around him in the Holy Place. Now that my friends would be quite a bedroom, do you agree! While I don’t think Samuel understood it, I see he was positioning himself for God encounters!
Let’s go back to verse one for just a moment. Notice it says ‘In those days the word of the LORD was rare; there were not many visions.” It means heaven was silent most of the time, for Eli and his wicked sons. Since they had chosen such a path of hard-hearted rebellion against God and had become bored with God, God was not speaking to them or appearing in visions to them. My friends, that describes a very dangerous situation for God’s people.
Spiritual leaders need to be in frequent communication with God, with their hearts pure and open before God, so they can communicate to God’s people what God is saying about how He wants to work through His people to accomplish His purposes through them in their world. Then spiritual leaders can lead God’s people in following God’s leading. Do you see how this applies to any local church and the role of the Pastors and Elders leading that church in BEING and DOING all God wants them to BE & DO in their world?
But it’s also our individual and family privilege as followers of Jesus. Each of us should be spending quality time with God everyday so our relationship with Him is fresh and vibrant, and we are living our lives walking each day in alignment, in lock step with Jesus.
Eli and his sons were not doing that. They were going through the motions of their priestly jobs without communication with God… and that’s a very dangerous situation. Do you see in verse 2-6, everything seems normal, except Samuel is hearing a voice in the night! Evidently Eli often called Samuel in the night, but this was different and verse 7 tells us why: “Now Samuel did not yet know the LORD; The word of the LORD had not yet been revealed to him.”
Notice it does not say Samuel did not know ABOUT the LORD. Hannah had undoubtedly spend many hours telling Samuel about the LORD of the Hebrews, the God of Abraham, Issac and Jacob. And here Samuel was in the Tabernacle of Moses, surrounded by all the history and traditions of the worship of God. Samuel knew a great deal ABOUT God, but had not yet had an encounter with God. No personal relationship had yet been established between them.
You already know the question brewing in my heart right? Does this describe you my friend? You have heard much about God but you’ve never yet had an encounter or established a relationship with God? Oh how God longs for you to have a dynamic, alive, vibrant, relationship with Him! And that’s what “Walking with Jesus” is all about… hopefully helping all of us develop that special relationship with Almighty God! Why not reach to God today, and ask Him for a fresh, authentic, alive, vibrant relationship with Him?
I’m grateful that old Eli, despite his spiritual apathy and his near blindness, still was aware of what was happening here, and gives Samuel life-changing advice, if the voice speaks to him again. “Go and lie down and if HE calls you, say, ‘speak LORD for your servant is listening.” (verse 9) Oh parents and grandparents, be ready to help your children and grandchildren learn how to discern and respond to the voice of God! Few things are more important in our parenting!
1 Samuel 3:10 is a historic, defining moment for Samuel and all Israel: “The LORD came and stood there, calling as at the other times, “Samuel, Samuel”. Then Samuel said, “Speak, for you servant is listening.” Do you notice a difference between what Eli told him to say and what Samuel actually said? Do you notice the word “LORD” is missing from Samuel’s words? I think it’s because Samuel had learned to hold the name of God in such high regard, he couldn’t even speak it, and was perhaps fearful about what might happen in an encounter with Almighty, Holy God!
Do you also notice it says “The LORD came and stood there, calling as at other times…” That brings to mind Exodus 34, Moses’ final time up Mount Sinai to meet with God, and in verse 5 it says “Then the LORD came down in the cloud and stood there with Moses and proclaimed His name ‘The LORD’. Oh my friends, don’t rush past the significance of this. God came down to meet both with Moses and Samuel, and both their lives were changed in those defining moments. For Moses, even though he’d had many previous encounters with God, this time as Moses came down the mountain after those 40 days, his face was radiant, so much that the people asked him to put a veil over his face! (Ex. 34:29-35)
While there is no mention of Samuel’s face being radiant the next morning, clearly this encounter with God changed Samuel’s life and his relationship with God! The message God gave Samuel was staggering. Notice God says “See, I am about to do something in Israel that will make the ears of everyone who hears of it tingle.” (3:11) We don’t know if Samuel had heard what the ‘man of God’ had said to Eli in 2:27-36, but I can imagine this shook Samuel.
I think let’s stop right here and ponder. What would make your ears and my ears and the ears of anyone TINGLE with news of God at work in our world? Let’s make it personal. What could God say to you or do in your life or your family which would be so amazing your ears would tingle? When is the last time you had a ‘defining moment’ encounter with God? Do you suppose God would like to engage with you in an amazing way? Why not invite God to touch your life like He did Samuel… and then be on the look out for God’s response! It may be life changing for you as it was for Samuel.
Have a comment or question about today’s chapter? I’m ready to hear from you, contact me here.
Pastor Doug Anderson 262.441.8785
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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