seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
1 Samuel 3:1 The boy Samuel ministered before the Lord under Eli. In those days the word of the Lord was rare; there were not many visions.
2 One night Eli, whose eyes were becoming so weak that he could barely see, was lying down in his usual place. 3 The lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the house of the Lord, where the ark of God was. 4 Then the Lord called Samuel.
Samuel answered, “Here I am.” 5 And he ran to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.”
But Eli said, “I did not call; go back and lie down.” So he went and lay down.
6 Again the Lord called, “Samuel!” And Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.”
“My son,” Eli said, “I did not call; go back and lie down.”
7 Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord: The word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him.
8 A third time the Lord called, “Samuel!” And Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.”
Then Eli realized that the Lord was calling the boy. 9 So Eli told Samuel, “Go and lie down, and if he calls you, say, ‘Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.’” So Samuel went and lay down in his place.
10 The Lord came and stood there, calling as at the other times, “Samuel! Samuel!”
Then Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant is listening.”
11 And the Lord said to Samuel: “See, I am about to do something in Israel that will make the ears of everyone who hears about it tingle. 12 At that time I will carry out against Eli everything I spoke against his family—from beginning to end. 13 For I told him that I would judge his family forever because of the sin he knew about; his sons blasphemed God, and he failed to restrain them. 14 Therefore I swore to the house of Eli, ‘The guilt of Eli’s house will never be atoned for by sacrifice or offering.’”
15 Samuel lay down until morning and then opened the doors of the house of the Lord. He was afraid to tell Eli the vision, 16 but Eli called him and said, “Samuel, my son.”
Samuel answered, “Here I am.”
17 “What was it he said to you?” Eli asked. “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.” 18 So Samuel told him everything, hiding nothing from him. Then Eli said, “He is the Lord; let him do what is good in his eyes.”
19 The Lord was with Samuel as he grew up, and he let none of Samuel’s words fall to the ground. 20 And all Israel from Dan to Beersheba recognized that Samuel was attested as a prophet of the Lord. 21 The Lord continued to appear at Shiloh, and there he revealed himself to Samuel through his word.
Here's the link to the commentary I read.The word of the LORD rare in those days because of the hardness of heart among the people of Israel and the corruption of the priesthood. God will speak, and guide, when His people seek Him, and when His ministers seek to serve Him diligently.
Before the lamp of God went out in the tabernacle of the LORD: As a figure of speech, this simply means “before dawn.” But it is also suggestive of the dark spiritual times of Israel — it is dark and will probably get darker.
Exodus 27:21 refers to the responsibility of the priests to tend the lamps until sunrise, or just before dawn.
Samuel did not yet know the LORD: Samuel was a godly and obedient boy, serving God wonderfully. Yet, he had not yet given his heart to the LORD. Even children raised in a godly home must be converted by the Spirit of God.
And he did not restrain them: Eli’s responsibility to restrain his sons was not only or even mainly because he was their father. These were adult sons, no longer under Eli’s authority as they were when they were younger. Eli’s main responsibility to restrain his sons was as their “boss” because he was the high priest and his sons were priests under his supervision. However, Eli’s indulgence towards his sons as a boss was no doubt connected to his prior indulgence of them as a parent.
This is a pretty cool story. Samuel was quite the helper. He would run to Eli's call even in the middle of the night. Of course, Eli was old and going blind, so Samuel must have been aware to listen all night.
Check out verse 3. "The Lamp of God" had not yet gone out. Boy I know some preachers who could ride a pulpit for hours on just that one verse! I can just hear them now... "don't let your Lamp of God go out!". "God is your light, don't let him go out". I looked it up and it's not as "spiritual" as it sounds.
The Lamp of God was the lamp in the Temple. It had to be trimmed regularly. It also had to be filled with olive oil. I bet those priests could tell the time by the length of the wick, right?
God wanted to "leave a light on". So, it was up to the priests to watch the lamp. That's why the Lamp of God is used to "tell time". It wasn't quite dawn when God called Samuel and Samuel started waking Eli up.
God told Samuel what was about to happen to Eli and his sons.
I find it comforting that before God does away with one voice [Eli], he calls up another voice [Samuel].
God spoke to Samuel... directly...
Just before dawn.
