Sermon Tone Analysis
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Introduction
So far in our study of the book of 1 Samuel we have seen four conflicts.
In each conflict the weak becomes the strong, while the strong becomes the weak.
In chapter 1 there was the conflict between Peninnah and Hannah.
Then in the first part of chapter 2, there was the conflict between the arrogant and the innocent.
In the second part of chapter 2 there was the difference between Eli’s sons and Samuel.
Now today we come to the concluding difference.
The difference between Eli’s priestly line and Samuel’s line of prophets.
If you have your Bibles, and I hope that you do, turn with me to 1 Samuel 3.
If you were with us last week, you may remember that a “Man of God” came to Eli and told him that God was about to judge his entire house because of Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, and because of Eli’s lack of action.
Today we come to the calling of Samuel.
Let’s begin with verse 1 of chapter 3.
The Lord Calls Samuel
We need to notice four things:
The author highlights Samuel’s faithfulness—he ministered before the Lord.
Samuel fulfilled his levitical duties of serving the Yahweh.
There is a phrase “In those days. .
.”
We are studying the end of the time period of Israel known as the Time of the Judges.
The word of the Lord was rare.
There were not people declaring messages from God.
To the people it seemed as though God was silent.
There were not many visions.
God giving people visions from Him did not happen very often, in fact they almost never happened.
So no one really expected to hear from God.
They were busy doing what they thought they should do.
Several times in the book of Judges we read a phrase like: “In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as he saw fit.” (Judg 17:6; 21:25).
We’ve already seen that the priests were doing whatever they wanted.
They were not preparing the sacrifices as prescribed by God—doing their own thing.
But God is about to change all of this.
The Call
Again there are several things that we want to notice:
Eli does not see well.
This suggests several things as the story develops.
First is suggest that he is aging.
Secondly, it suggests that others had to help him—especially when it was dark.
He was sleeping in his usual place—but we don’t know where that was exactly—but it was probably somewhere in the tabernacle.
The lamp of God had not gone out—so it is in the early morning hours—but before the lamp of God ran out of fuel for the night.
Samuel was also there sleeping in the tabernacle—probably he was sleeping in the outer sanctuary.
Finally, the ark of God (ark of the covenant) was there.
Let’s continue the story.
First Call
Samuel hears someone calling his name.
Assuming it is Eli (perhaps this was a common event).
He jumps up and goes to Eli.
But Eli tells Samuel that he didn’t call him, so go back to sleep.
Second Call
It happens again.
Samuel just gets back to sleep and he hears someone calling him.
So again he jumps up and runs to Eli—but Eli hasn’t called him.
Again he is told to go back and lie down and go back to sleep.
I wonder of both Eli and Samuel were a bit ticked with each other.
It is here that we are given a little bit of information about Samuel and his relationship with the Lord—Samuel had never heard from the Lord like this.
He didn’t know God’s voice.
Third Call
Once again, Samuel is sleeping and he hears someone calling him, again assuming it is Eli, he jumps up and runs to the priest, only to find out that it wasn’t Eli.
But this time, Eli’s response is different.
This time Eli realizes that Yahweh is calling to Samuel.
So he tells Samuel to go back and lie down, and when he hears the voice of the Lord, Samuel is to say, “Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.”
So Samuel returned to his “bed” prepared to do what Eli told him to do.
Fourth Call—a Conversation with Yahweh
Yahweh came to Samuel and stood there calling.
This is actually what Yahweh did the three previous times as well.
He called “Samuel!
Samuel!”
This time Samuel responds “Speak, for your servant is listening.”
God Talks to Samuel
This is an amazing story.
God reveals to Samuel the same basic message that the “Man of God” gave to Eli in chapter 2, but there’s more!
God is about to do something great in Israel!
In fact, it is going to shock the people (“will make the ears of everyone. .
.tingle”).
God is going to carry out ALL of the judgment on Eli that He has already spoken of.
God told Eli He would judge him, and God will do what He said He was going to do.
The judgment is against Eli because he failed to restrain his sons.
There is no sacrifice to atone for the sins that that have done.
Samuel’s Response
So Samuel lays down (again), this time he is there until morning, when he gets up and begins his normal activities—he goes and opens the doors to the house of the Lord.
But there’s a change—he is afraid to tell Eli about his conversation with Yahweh.
Eli’s Response
Eli knows that Samuel had some kind of conversation with Yahweh, and he wants to know what God said to the boy.
So he asks him—now remember Samuel had been avoiding telling Eli the bad news of God’s message.
Eli goes on to warn Samuel against hiding anything from him.
Good or bad, Eli wants to know what God had to say!
So Samuel tells Eli everything that God said.
He tells Eli all the things that God said He would do to Eli and his family line.
Eli’s response is amazing!
“He is the Lord; let him do what is good in his eyes.”
This is an amazing view of God!
This is a view of God that we need.
It is a view that is often missed in our egocentric world—God is God!
And because He is God He can do whatever He thinks is good!
The Rest of the Story
At this point we are given a summery statement about Samuel, his development and how the people saw him.
The Lord was with Samuel.
Samuel grew up—he matured!
None of his prophecies failed!
All of Israel—from the farthest part north to the farthest part south—recognized that Samuel was a prophet of the Lord.
And the Lord, Himself, attested that Samuel was a prophet.
Finally, God’s presence continued to appear in Shiloh, because that is where He revealed Himself to Samuel
Finally, Samuel continued to speak for God, giving His words to Israel.
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