Good Monday to you my ‘Walking with Jesus’ friends,
Have your ears ever heard something spoken that nearly sucked the air right out of your lungs? For many people the first news they heard of the October 7th massacres in various Israel Kibbutz communities near the Gaza Strip was that type of shocking news! Come with me, back to Israel, to the town of Shiloh, about 70 miles northeast from Gaza City, about 3000 years ago. We’ve been walking the journey with young Samuel, and we left Samuel yesterday in the Tabernacle having his first encounter with God!
Three times Samuel heard a voice call his name in the night. All three times he ran to Eli, but Eli denied having called Samuel. Finally, that third time it occurred to Eli that perhaps God was calling Samuel, and Eli instructed Samuel to respond, if he again heard the voice, with these words: “Speak LORD, your servant is listening.” (1 Samuel 3:9) Samuel had returned to his sleeping place in the Tabernacle, very near the Altar of Incense and the veil separating the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place where the Ark of the Covenant was kept.
Unable to sleep, Samuel waited, and the record says: “The LORD came and stood there, calling as at the other times, ‘Samuel, Samuel!’ Then Samuel said, ‘Speak, your servant is listening.” (1 Samuel 3:10) I pointed out to us yesterday that Samuel had not used the word “LORD” as Eli had instructed him, perhaps because he did not yet know the LORD, and this was presumably his first actual encounter with God.
The record of this ‘defining moment’ for Samuel continues with this description: “The LORD said to Samuel, ‘See, I am about to do something in Israel that will make the ears of everyone who hears of it tingle.” (1 Samuel 3:11) I suppose the voice of God paused to let Samuel catch his breath and prepare his young mind for what he was about to hear! The record does not tell us, but I presume the Voice was speaking Hebrew, the language of the Jews at that time. The language in which the Torah had been written by Moses and thus the language Eli would have used to instruct Samuel in the Torah, as well as the language used in Tabernacle worship.
This first sentence the Voice spoke must have shocked Samuel, maybe even caused him to turn away in fear wondering what the Voice would say next and WHY the Voice was giving this shocking news to a young boy?
The Voice continued: “At that time I will carry out against Eli everything I spoke against his family – from beginning to end. For I told him that I would judge his family forever because of the sins he knew about; his sons made themselves contemptible, and Eli failed to restrain them. Therefore, I swore to the house of Eli, ‘the guilt of Eli’s house will never be atoned for by sacrifice or offering.” (1 Samuel 3:12-14) And then the Voice was silent, Samuel heard nothing more. God had promised ears would tingle when they heard this staggering proclamation and I wonder if Samuel’s ears tingled? In fact, I wondered if Samuel trembled as he tried to lay down and continue his night’s rest in the Tabernacle Holy Place.
If this was Samuel’s first encounter with God, he was beginning to understand God’s Holiness, God’s Justice and God’s high standards for those in spiritual leadership. Can you imagine young Samuel feeling overwhelmed, perhaps even frightened or maybe even terrified at the thought of being a Nazarite young man, consecrated by his mother to God, for the entirety of his life, to be lived in service of and relationship with Almighty, Holy God?
The record gives us no further insight into what Samuel experienced or thought that night: “Samuel lay down until morning and then opened the doors of the Tabernacle of the LORD. He was afraid to tell Eli the vision, but Eli called him and said, ‘Samuel, my son, what was it He said to you? Do not hide it from me. May God deal with you, be it ever so severely if you hide from me anything He told you!” (1 Samuel 3:15-17)
Oh my, it should not be hard for us to feel the anxiety which overwhelmed Samuel in that moment. Eli was his mentor and his guardian since Samuel’s parents had entrusted young Samuel to Eli some years before. Samuel had nowhere to hide, no one to turn to. How many different answers rushed through Samuel’s young mind? What could he say, what should he say? How might Eli respond if Samuel told him everything? But what might God do to Samuel if Samuel lied or distorted the message God had given him? Oh my what a terrible position for Samuel to be in!? I wonder if young Samuel trembled, maybe even cried in fear?
But the record says: “So Samuel told Eli everything, hiding nothing from him. Then Eli said, ‘He is the LORD; let Him do what is good in His eyes.” Look at them, old Eli the High Priest of Israel, and young boy Samuel. Eli must have felt like a dagger was thrust through his heart. God had proclaimed His judgment on Eli for his failed parenting and failed spiritual leadership. As bad as it was, how much worse to hear it through a little boy who fearfully is passing on the message of his encounter with God the night before?
Did Eli put his hand on Samuel’s shoulder while he spoke, did he assure Samuel that he would treat him no differently after hearing this terrifying message from God? I imagine Eli turned away and slowly walked around the Holy Place of the Tabernacle where Samuel had been sleeping when awakened by God with this message. What would this terrible message mean for the rest of Eli’s life and his remaining time of work as the High Priest of Israel? Evidently Eli finally walked outside leaving Samuel alone in the Tabernacle Holy Place.
The record of this life changing moment concludes with this summary: “The LORD was with Samuel as he grew up, and God let none of Samuel’s words fall to the ground. And all Israel, from Dan to Beersheba, recognized that Samuel was attested as a prophet of the LORD. The LORD continued to appear at Shiloh and there, God revealed Himself to Samuel through His Word. And Samuel’s word came to all Israel.” (1 Samuel 3:19-21)
By these carefully selected words, I believe God is describing to us that His relationship with Samuel, at that time in history, was second only to His remarkable relationship with Moses. Clearly the Holy Spirit of God Himself was teaching Samuel to understand the Word of God and Samuel was teaching all Israel about God and God’s Word like no one had done since the days of Moses!
The phrase “from Dan to Beersheba” means all the Israelites, for Dan was the furthest north city near the border of Lebanon, and Beersheba was a city far to the south near the Negev Desert! Oh, my dear friends, can you imagine what this was like during these few years as Eli, Hophni and Phinehas absolutely knew God had removed His hand of blessing from them and His judgment was forthcoming, while at the same time they could easily see God’s outpouring of His spiritual anointing upon young Samuel.
Let’s pause here friends. Look around your part of the world. Who are the failed leaders who like Eli, Hophni and Phinehas will soon experience God’s judgment? Who are those men and women experiencing the anointing of the Holy Spirit of God upon them and how is God using them to impact your world? And what about you and me?
Here’s a song of reflection to help us consider the powerful things we’ve read in God’s Word today…
Today’s Scripture is 1 Samuel 3:10-17.
Choose below to read or listen.
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Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
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Pastor Doug Anderson
“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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