1 Samuel 3:1-21
1 And the child Samuel ministered unto the LORD before Eli. And the word of the LORD was precious in those days; there was no open vision.
2 And it came to pass at that time, when Eli was laid down in his place, and his eyes began to wax dim, that he could not see;
3 And ere the lamp of God went out in the temple of the LORD, where the ark of God was, and Samuel was laid down to sleep;
4 That the LORD called Samuel: and he answered, Here am I.
5 And he ran unto Eli, and said, Here am I; for thou calledst me. And he said, I called not; lie down again. And he went and lay down.
6 And the LORD called yet again, Samuel. And Samuel arose and went to Eli, and said, Here am I; for thou didst call me. And he answered, I called not, my son; lie down again.
7 Now Samuel did not yet know the LORD, neither was the word of the LORD yet revealed unto him.
8 And the LORD called Samuel again the third time. And he arose and went to Eli, and said, Here am I; for thou didst call me. And Eli perceived that the LORD had called the child.
9 Therefore Eli said unto Samuel, Go, lie down: and it shall be, if he call thee, that thou shalt say, Speak, LORD; for thy servant heareth. So Samuel went and lay down in his place.
10 And the LORD came, and stood, and called as at other times, Samuel, Samuel. Then Samuel answered, Speak; for thy servant heareth.
11 And the LORD said to Samuel, Behold, I will do a thing in Israel, at which both the ears of every one that heareth it shall tingle.
12 In that day I will perform against Eli all things which I have spoken concerning his house: when I begin, I will also make an end.
13 For I have told him that I will judge his house for ever for the iniquity which he knoweth; because his sons made themselves vile, and he restrained them not.
14 And therefore I have sworn unto the house of Eli, that the iniquity of Eli's house shall not be purged with sacrifice nor offering for ever.
15 And Samuel lay until the morning, and opened the doors of the house of the LORD. And Samuel feared to shew Eli the vision.
16 Then Eli called Samuel, and said, Samuel, my son. And he answered, Here am I.
17 And he said, What is the thing that the LORD hath said unto thee? I pray thee hide it not from me: God do so to thee, and more also,a if thou hide any thing from me of all the things that he said unto thee.
18 And Samuel told him every whit, and hid nothing from him. And he said, It is the LORD: let him do what seemeth him good.
19 And Samuel grew, and the LORD was with him, and did let none of his words fall to the ground.
20 And all Israel from Dan even to Beersheba knew that Samuel was establishedb to be a prophet of the LORD.
21 And the LORD appeared again in Shiloh: for the LORD revealed himself to Samuel in Shiloh by the word of the LORD.
Israel’s First King
1 Samuel
Helen Pocock
Chapter 3
The *Lord calls Samuel
v1 The boy Samuel served the *Lord. Eli the priest led him. In those days, it was rare for the *Lord to speak directly to people. Also, he did not give many *visions.
v2 Eli now had bad eye-sight and he was nearly blind. One night, he was asleep in his usual place. v3 Samuel was asleep in bed in the house of the *Lord. The *ark was there too. It was not yet dawn and the lamp was still burning. v4 Then the *Lord called Samuel. Samuel said, ‘Here I am’. v5 He ran to Eli and said, ‘You called me. Here I am’. But Eli said, ‘I did not call you. Go back to bed’. So Samuel went back to bed. v6 Again the *Lord said, ‘Samuel’. Samuel went to Eli and said, ‘You called me. Here I am’. Eli answered, ‘My son, I did not call you. Go back to bed’.
v7 Samuel did not know the *Lord yet. The *Lord had not spoken directly to him. v8 Then the *Lord called Samuel for the third time. Samuel got up, went to Eli and said, ‘You called me. Here I am’. Then Eli realised that the *Lord was calling the boy. v9 So Eli said to Samuel, ‘Go back to bed. If he calls you again, you must say, “Speak, *Lord. I am your servant and I am listening”.’ So Samuel went and lay down in his bed.
This chapter describes the first time that God spoke to Samuel. This is the start of his work as a *prophet of God. In the days of Moses and Joshua, the *Lord often spoke to the leaders of the *Israelites. But after the days of Joshua, the people did not always *worship the *Lord with their spirit. Instead, they often *worshipped foreign *gods. Even the priests were wicked, so God did not speak to them. A vision is like a dream but the person is awake. It is one way that God speaks to people.
Samuel had grown. He was a young boy now, not a little child. Samuel probably did more work in the house of the *Lord because Eli could not see very well. The ‘ark’ was a wooden box that had gold all over the outside and inside of it. It contained the ten commandments (laws) that the *Lord gave to Moses on Mount Sinai (Exodus 20 and 25:10-22). Another name for the ark is ‘the ark of the covenant’. The ‘covenant’ is the agreement that God made with Abraham. God said that he would bless Abraham and his family for ever (Genesis 12:1-3 and 15:1-21). The ark was holy. It was in the house of the *Lord on behalf of God. God separated the ark from the people. The people could not go near the ark because of their *sin (Leviticus 16).
The lamp was also in the house of the *Lord (Exodus 25:31-40). It needed oil to burn. The priest had to light it every evening. Samuel slept in the house of the *Lord. He had to make sure that the lamp did not go out until the morning (Leviticus 24:1-4).
Samuel served in the house of the *Lord. But this was the first time that the *Lord spoke to him. Samuel heard the *Lord’s voice but he thought it was Eli. It was rare for the *Lord to speak directly to people in those days. We do not know whether Eli had ever heard the *Lord’s voice. But he taught Samuel the proper way to reply to the *Lord.
v10 The *Lord came and stood there. He called Samuel as he had done before. He said, ‘Samuel, Samuel’. Samuel said, ‘I am your servant and I am listening’.
v11 This is what the *Lord said to Samuel. ‘I am going to do something among the *Israelite people. It will shock everyone who hears about it. v12 I will do everything to Eli and his family that I have said. I will start at the beginning and go on to the end. v13 I told Eli that I would punish his family for ever. Eli knew that his sons were wicked. He knew that they did wicked things against me. But he did not stop them. v14 So I made a very serious decision. I said to Eli’s family, “I will never forgive you even if you give *sacrifices and *offerings. You will always be guilty”.’
v15 Samuel lay down until the morning. Then he opened the doors of the house of the *Lord. He was afraid to tell Eli about the *vision. v16 But Eli called Samuel and said, ‘Samuel, my son’. Samuel answered, ‘Here I am’. v17 Eli asked, ‘What did the *Lord say to you? You must tell me. Do not keep it a secret or God will punish you. You must tell me everything that he said to you’. v18 So Samuel told Eli everything. He did not keep any of it a secret. Then Eli said, ‘He is the *Lord. He will do what is right’.
v19 As Samuel grew up, the *Lord was with him. The *Lord made sure that all of Samuel’s messages from him came true. v20 All the people who lived in *Israel knew that Samuel was a true *prophet from the *Lord. They knew this from the north of the country to the south. v21 The *Lord continued to appear at Shiloh. He showed himself to Samuel and spoke to him.
Samuel obeyed Eli. Samuel heard the *Lord and saw him too. The *Lord spoke to the boy Samuel who gave the message to the priest. It was a very serious message for a young boy to give to an old priest. In chapter 2, God had warned Eli about what he was going to do. But Eli did not act on God’s warning. Eli did not confess his *sin and obey God. So God could not forgive him. Verse 14 is a very serious verse. ‘I will never forgive you’. All through the Bible, God forgives people. In the *New Testament, Jesus died on the cross. Now he forgives everyone who confesses his or her wicked ways. But God said that he would never forgive Eli and his family. They would always be guilty, even when they died. God punished them.
Samuel was afraid to tell Eli but he did not hide from him. Eli gave a strong warning to Samuel so that he told the truth. The *Lord is a judge. He decides what is right and wrong. He is holy and fair. Eli had *sinned. He accepted the *Lord’s judgement without complaining.
Everyone in the country of *Israel knew about Samuel. People recognised him as a true *prophet from the *Lord. Everything that Samuel said came true. In Deuteronomy 18:21-22, this is the test for a true *prophet. Verse 1 said that it was rare for the *Lord to speak directly to people. Now the *Lord knew that Samuel would obey him. So the *Lord ‘showed himself’ to Samuel. He showed Samuel what he was like. So, Samuel knew God more and understood him better.
Lord ~ the name of God in the Bible. The special name of God that he announced only to the Israelites (Genesis 3:13-15). It links God with his covenant (promise) to them.Israelites ~ the people of Israel; the people who speak the Hebrew language.
Israel ~ the group of people that God chose. Israel is the name of all the people from the family of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Israel is also the name of the land that God gave to the people of Israel.
Hebrew ~ the language of the Israelite people. A Hebrew is an Israelite person.
vision ~ a vision is like a dream but the person is awake. It is one way that God speaks to people.
prophet ~ a person who speaks for God. He can sometimes say what will happen in the future.
Israelites ~ the people of Israel; the people who speak the Hebrew language.
Israel ~ the group of people that God chose. Israel is the name of all the people from the family of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Israel is also the name of the land that God gave to the people of Israel.
Hebrew ~ the language of the Israelite people. A Hebrew is an Israelite person.
worship ~ to thank God and to give him honour, usually with other people. Often, people pray and sing as they worship God. To bend down to God or to a false god to show him honour.
gods ~ gods with a small ‘g’ are all the false gods.
sin ~ when people do things against God or other people; when people do not obey the commands of God; the things that people do that are wrong or evil.
sacrifice ~ to give something to God, usually an animal, grain or wine; to ask God to forgive sins as the priest killed an animal. This sacrifice was a special animal. The priests killed and burned it on the altar.
sin ~ when people do things against God or other people; when people do not obey the commands of God; the things that people do that are wrong or evil.
altar ~ a table, where the priests burned animals and gave other gifts as a sacrifice to God or false gods.
offering ~ a gift for God (or false gods) from the priest and people; an Israelite’s gift to God.
gods ~ gods with a small ‘g’ are all the false gods.
Israelites ~ the people of Israel; the people who speak the Hebrew language.
Israel ~ the group of people that God chose. Israel is the name of all the people from the family of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Israel is also the name of the land that God gave to the people of Israel.
Hebrew ~ the language of the Israelite people. A Hebrew is an Israelite person.
Israel ~ the group of people that God chose. Israel is the name of all the people from the family of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Israel is also the name of the land that God gave to the people of Israel.'New Testament ~ the last part of the Bible. Writers wrote it after the life of Jesus.