Here I am
First Samuel - Give Us a King • Sermon • Submitted
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Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
Main Point: God raises up faithful messengers to proclaim the Word of God.
Put yourself in the shoes of an Israelite in the ancient days before King David, about 1050 BC. You are a people saved by God and delivered into the Promised Land of Israel, but you have had a bad go of it. Every generation seems to loose it’s way and turn away from serving God faithfully. God has to keep raising up Judges to save the people and get them on track.
You’re an average Israelite. You know the history of your people: that God saved you and he gave you the land, but that he will not put up with divided loyalties and unfaithfulness. You have to follow God faithfully. How are you going to do that? Well, God put in place a Book of History & Law - the Torah, that he had written down and recorded for the people to be able to learn how to follow God faithfully. To learn how God has acted in the past, what he expects of His people, and what he will do for them in the future.
But you can’t read, and there’s only a handful of copies of the Torah in the whole country, so how are you going to hear what God says? Well, God put in place a special family of people who’s job it was to teach people how to follow God faithfully and to act as the guides for people to Worship God. They were the priests. It was their job to look after the temple and help people come and worship and perform special sacrifices on their behalf. They were meant to be the spiritual guides - the touch point between God and the other people. They ones who faithfully helped God’s people worship and serve God well.
Last week, we saw that there was a problem with the system God had put in place. There were priests, but they were not doing their job well. Especially the Sons of Eli, who were stealing the people’s sacrifices before they could offer them to God. They were taking the best stuff, meant for God, and keeping it for themselves. They were disrupting faithful service to God. They were sleeping with the women who came to serve God’s people at the temple.
The very men who were meant to be the example of faithful service to God, were the exact opposite. Dishonorable, promiscuous, greedy, arrogant and stubborn. And their father, who should have sacked them from their positions of power, only gave them a slap on the wrist, leaving them to continue in their flagrant rebellion.
So, God said, “I’m gonna get rid of this group of priests.”
As God always does, he rejects those who are unrepentant and raises up faithful servants in their place.
Today, we get to see how God raised up a faithful prophet, one who would proclaim God’s messages to his people.
He would raise up a servant that did’t just know about God, but actually knew God personally.
God would raise up a faithful messenger who would listen to God instead of trying to make up his own way of serving.
He would share the message of God faithfully, even when it was bad news.
He would be a messenger who would be the mouthpiece of God, once again opening the lines of communication with God that had been stifled by people who were unwilling to listen.
SO, would you please join me? Let’s have a look at the story of 1 Samuel 3 to see how God raises up a faithful messenger to proclaim the Word of God.
We will look at it in 5 parts.
1. Serving God without Knowing God (3:1-7)
1. Serving God without Knowing God (3:1-7)
Part 1 is serving God without knowing God.
This is the situation the the young boy Samuel was in. He was a faithful servant, but he didn’t know God, not personally.
It’s not surprising that Samuel Doesn’t know God personally. There is corruption in the priesthood, and it tell us in verse 1 that the people weren’t hearing from God very often, have a look:
Now the boy Samuel was ministering to the Lord in the presence of Eli. And the word of the Lord was rare in those days; there was no frequent vision.
This means that God was not appearing often, he was not speaking though his prophets very often, and we have every reason to believe that the priests weren’t teaching the Torah properly.
God’s people were starved of God’s Word.
But the boy Samuel was still serving before God, even if they weren’t hearing from Him.
And the God that Samuel did not know called out to him, while he served. Let’s walk through that story:
At that time Eli, whose eyesight had begun to grow dim so that he could not see, was lying down in his own place. The lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the temple of the Lord, where the ark of God was.
So Eli, the priest is lying in his own room near the tabernacle, that's the mobile tent temple that the people of Israel had before the built the permananet worship facility in Jerusalem.
So Eli, has His own spot to sleep but Samuel had to sleep in the temple, where’ God’s ark was. This was the spot where God’s earthly presence would live when he was with his people. And Samuel was sleeping right there!
The Law in Leviticus specifically says that people were not supposed to be in the Most Holy place where the ark was behind the veil except once a year on the Day of Atonement. If someone went in there before the presence of God without an atoning sacrifice, they would die.
So Samuel is probably sleeping outside the veil, near the ark, where in all likely hood it was his job to keep the lamp burning at night. This lamp was lit each night and was supposed to burn until morning. He’s a young fella, and he seems to be the roust-a-bout who would do stuff like this, along with opening the doors to the temple in the morning and helping the old man Eli when he needed something.
SO Samuel is right there, before the presence of God, literally resting in the house of God, and he hears a voice in the night… v4
Then the Lord called Samuel, and he said, “Here I am!” and ran to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But he said, “I did not call; lie down again.” So he went and lay down. And the Lord called again, “Samuel!” and Samuel arose and went to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But he said, “I did not call, my son; lie down again.” Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, and the word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him.
The young boy who ministered before God, serving in the house of God, sleeping next to God’s footstool, didn’t recognize God’s voice.
This was because, as the text said - he did not yet Know the Lord. The Word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him.
God’s calls were foreign to him because he didn’t know what he was hearing.
Have you ever had a moment when you get a phone call from a number you don’t recognise, then you answer. The the person says “Hi! ....” and just starts talking without giving their name, talking as if they’ve known you forever, and never actually saying who they are? The person doesn’t sound familiar, so your brains starts tracking back and trying to figure out, “Who is this person?”
Then, you either have that moment of clarity when you realise who it is by putting the pieces together, or… you have to ask them “Sorry, who is this?”
When you don’t recognize the number, or when you don’t recognize the voice of the one speaking to you, the message means little to you. It is foreign. It is confusing.
But, we see here a pattern that continues in life - God calling people who have not yet come to know him, even people who are regular church-goers!
We ourselves lead worship, or sing on the music team, or serve morning tea after the service may be serving with god intentions, without actually knowing the God whom we serve. Not yet hearing that call from God to know him personally.
What a privilege, that regular people like Samuel, and like you and I would be called into a personal connection with God!
But, can you hear the call?
Have you been hearing the call of God though the Bible and through your friends and through the sermons in church and yet you are not yet listening?
Even worse, do you know that God is calling you and you are refusing to listen because you know you will have to give up the sinful things you love?
I exhort you! I encourage you! I command you! If you hear the call of God to come to him, then listen! IF God is calling you then he has a plan for you! He is calling you to life! He has destined you for glory!
And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.
If God has called you, then he will put His Holy Spirit in your heart so that you can hear the call and know the Lord. You may come to personally know the Lord.
Thankfully God worked through Samuel’s mentor Eli to help him see that it was the LORD calling, which we see in Part 2...
2. God Calls, His Servants Listen (3:8-14)
2. God Calls, His Servants Listen (3:8-14)
Eli has been a mixed bag. He has helped and blessed Hannah, but he has also let his sons run rampant. Here we see next that he will help Samuel to recognise God’s voice:
And the Lord called Samuel again the third time. And he arose and went to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” Then Eli perceived that the Lord was calling the boy. Therefore Eli said to Samuel, “Go, lie down, and if he calls you, you shall say, ‘Speak, Lord, for your servant hears.’ ” So Samuel went and lay down in his place.
This is Eli’s good side again, that he recognize that God is at work, and encourages the boy Samuel to respond to God - to listen when God speaks. If there’s anything to copy from Eli, it is that: recognizing God’s work and encouraging people to listen to Him.
SO Samuel is back in bed for a fourth time, but this time things will be different. v10...
And the Lord came and stood, calling as at other times, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant hears.”
This time, Samuel answers the LORD. He responds to God’s call. He says “I’m listening to what you have to Say”
How beautiful! How beautiful that the boy who lives in God’s house would be able to speak with the Lord face to face.
The LORD came and stood. God in physical form comes to bless this boy and make him a faithful messenger of God.
God comes, calling Samuel by name, like Moses before him, and Jacob before him, and like Abraham before him. Let’s here the call of those other men now:
But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.”
And God spoke to Israel in visions of the night and said, “Jacob, Jacob.” And he said, “Here I am.”
When the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.”
Do you see that pattern? God comes, calling people by name and when they listen, when they respond, He does mighty acts through them. God will do the same through Samuel who will proclaim God’s message faithfully, and he will anoint a King for Israel who will be God’s chosen deliverer.
Did you know that God calls us by name? Jesus is our Shepherd, and those who belong to him are his sheep, his flock. Jesus says: “The sheep hear [the Shepherd’s] voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice."
We hare called by name, by our God, our Shepherd who will lead us. Will you answer his call? Will you say “Here I am”?
When Samuel Answered the call, when he opened his ears to hear from God, The LORD delivered to him a message. Now, it wasn’t a fun message, or an easy thing to hear, especially against his own mentor, but Samuel needed to hear it.
Lets look at v11...
Then the Lord said to Samuel, “Behold, I am about to do a thing in Israel at which the two ears of everyone who hears it will tingle. On that day I will fulfill against Eli all that I have spoken concerning his house, from beginning to end. And I declare to him that I am about to punish his house forever, for the iniquity that he knew, because his sons were blaspheming God, and he did not restrain them. Therefore I swear to the house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli’s house shall not be atoned for by sacrifice or offering forever.”
Wow. Harsh message.
But God calls, and his servants listen.
This is not new to us, the readers, because we saw in the last chapter that God had already communicated a similar message to Eli by another messenger.
But, in the boy Samuel God was raising up a faithful messenger to proclaim the word of the LORD. And the faithful messenger must pay careful attention to hear what God is saying so that they can be a faithful messenger.
God calls, His servants Listen.
3. Share the Message: Good & Bad (3:15-18)
3. Share the Message: Good & Bad (3:15-18)
But what is to be done with a message received from God? It’s shared! (unless God tells them not to, which happens on occasion. It’s the exception rather than the rule.).
Part 3! Share the message, good and bad!
Samuel had received bad news about Eli and his Family. Samuel, understandably, was a bit reluctant to share. So he went about his daily business, opening up the temple as if nothing had happened!
But although Eli may be old and going blind, he still knows something is up:
Samuel lay until morning; then he opened the doors of the house of the Lord. And Samuel was afraid to tell the vision to Eli. But Eli called Samuel and said, “Samuel, my son.” And he said, “Here I am.” And Eli said, “What was it that he told you? Do not hide it from me. May God do so to you and more also if you hide anything from me of all that he told you.”
SO Eli is keen to hear the Word of God. Although he doesn’t appear keen to act on it, he has the good desire to hear it. Now we get to see that Samuel will be a faithful prophet, he won’t hide the message, even though it is unpalatable:
So Samuel told him everything and hid nothing from him. And he said, “It is the Lord. Let him do what seems good to him.”
Samuel Shared the message faithfully - he told him everything and hid nothing. That’s what a faithful messenger does.
In a world where the priests were horrible thieves, and where God’s people had a track record of turning aside from God, we would not have be surprised to read if Samuel had glossed over the bad news, or if he instead made up a blessing to hide the bad news.
But we are relieved to hear that this fellow, even in his young age will be a faithful vehicle of God’s Word to his people, even when it means prophesying the destruction of his mentor’s family.
How does Eli respond? In a mixed way. As has been the habit with Eli, he’s lukewarm. Halfway their but neither hot not cold.
He does a good thing in acknowledging that the LORD is God. He dwells in the Heavens and does whatever he pleases. God has the right to destroy and build up. But what we ould hope to see, accompanying that recognition of God’s power and rights, would be humility and repentance!
Eli should have sought the Lord with tears at this news. He should have acted to rectify the sin that had lead to this point. He should have mourned the end of God’s patience with his family. Instead he seems apathetic.
Remember when God promised to destroy the Israelites at Mount Sinai? God said to Moses, I’ll start again through you. What did Moses do? He sought God’s mercy and stayed the wrath of God?
When Hezekiah was told by the Prophet Isaiah that he was about to die, Hezekiah sought the Lord and received healing and extension of life.
When David sinned against God in the way he counted his forces, God brought consequences against Israel, and David sought God’s mercy, and he relented.
What does Eli do? Nothing.
A sad story for a Priest of God. It leaves us hungering for a High Priest who will always pursue holiness and intercede for others!
Nevertheless - Samuel proved that he would be a faithful messenger. He was not responsible for the outcome, that was God’s work, he just had to share the news.
All God’s faithful servants will do the same. Whether they are prphets, kings, OT priests, NT Apostles, pastors, evangelists or 2020 Christians sitting in their lounge room for Church. We are all to be faithful messengers of God. God sent his church out into the world to make disciples of all nations! Doing what? “teaching them to observe all that [Jesus] ha[s] commanded [us].” Mt 28:20.
Jesus said “As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” Jn 20:21. We are sent out into the world as messengers of Light. Bearing the Gospel, go to the nations! Now is the time for our tribute to bring!
The Gospel is Good news, take it out! But, there’s a downside to the Gospel, that is, that if there is good news, there has to be some bad news that makes the geood news good. We must not shy away from taking a full message out!
Faithful messengers share the good and the bad. The good, that those who repent and put their faith and trust in Jesus will receive eternal blessed life in the world to come.
The bad news? The ones that refuse to repent and seek Jesus will get what they want - an eternity without God, and eternal punishment as those who have set themselves as His enemies.
God is Kind, he is patient, and he is willing to pour out mercy. But God’s patience will not always last. The day will come when it ends.
For Eli, God gave him and his family the opportunity to repent. Eli’s atempt to restrain His sons was pitiful. And so God said enough’s enough - I will not provide any avenue of escape for your family anymore. “I swear to the house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli’s house shall not be atoned for by sacrifice or offering forever.” For Eli’s family there was earthly punishment, with the death of his son’s and his linage will be diminished. But this is an example of the greater, and worse things that are in store for those who stand against God.
The bad news is that there is no atonement for the unrepentant. The good is that there is a way of atonement for those who are repentant.
We take this bad and good news to the world, to make disciples of Jesus. We don’t water down the message. We don’t undermine the message. We don’t hide the parts about hell because they’re not very pleasant to think about. We take the message out, and we leave it to the Spirit of God to do His work in the heart of people to hear and respond. Sometimes we will see it meet with apathy or stubborn arrogance, even anger - and they will refuse to hear and repent, putting their faith is Jesus. There is no atonement for them.
4. God speaks through Faithful Messengers (v3:19-4:1a)
4. God speaks through Faithful Messengers (v3:19-4:1a)
Lastly, part 4 - God speaks through faithful messengers.
We have been talking about this idea the whole way through this passage, but the passage ends with a summary of the same. It makes it official - that Samuel is a faithful messenger, called by God to reopen the lines of communication with God.
Lets look at v19
And Samuel grew, and the Lord was with him and let none of his words fall to the ground. And all Israel from Dan to Beersheba knew that Samuel was established as a prophet of the Lord. And the Lord appeared again at Shiloh, for the Lord revealed himself to Samuel at Shiloh by the word of the Lord. And the word of Samuel came to all Israel. Now Israel went out to battle against the Philistines. They encamped at Ebenezer, and the Philistines encamped at Aphek.
God was once again speaking to his people. He was meeting with his chosen messenger at the tabernacle - like Moses used to do back in the day. God had Samuel’s back, so that none of his words failed - they didn’t “fall to the ground” - instead they were true and effective, the prophecies always came true.
Gods Word is always true and effective - As God said through Isaiah:
“For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.
If we know that God’s words is always effective, then why should we ever be afraid to take it out?
For Israel, they now had a trustworthy source to hear from God, so that they could be guided as the people of God and know his will! This would come in handy a few years down the track when it came time to anoint a king, but that’s a story for another day!
For us however, do we have a prophet we can go to to hear the word of God?
YES!
We have all the prophets we need proclaiming God’s Word to us in Scripture. God’s word to us has been recorded and passed down to us, in our own language so that we can hear from his mouth!
We have ...
Moses, and Samuel,
Elijah and Isaiah,
Ezekiel and Daniel
Zechariah and Zephaniah,
Malachi and Micah,
John the Baptist,
and...
Jesus the Christ, the prophet to top all the prophets.
Here is a man who was faithful from his youth to proclaim the things of God, even in the temple like Samuel before him. One time his parents lost him on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, and they found the boy Jesus in his fathers house teaching people about God.
Samuel the prophet was a prequel to an even greater prophet, one who would listen to the LORD and faithfully share the message.
Jesus said: “all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.” Jn 15:15.
Jesus was a Faithful prophet. He was always willing to tell it how it is -
that there is a heaven and a hell...
That there were people who thought they were serving God when they weren’t...
That there was only one way to God...
Jesus is a great prophet who served faithfully. But he didn’t only prophetically share the Words of God, he also went and made atonement with his own body.
For Eli’s household, there was no atonement, but for you and me, there is atonement in Jesus.
You and I are not worthy to stand in the presence of our God, but God sent Jesus to make atonement, to pay the price of our sin and rebellion so that we might come and join him in God’s presence - in the most holy place where God’s presence dwells.
Conclusion
Conclusion
Serving God without Knowing God
God Calls, His servants Listen
Share the Message: Good & Bad
God Speaks through Faithful Messengers
God raises up faithful messengers to proclaim the Word of God.
