Samuel’s Birth and Childhood (Ch. 1)
We often wonder about the childhoods of great people. We have very little information about the early years of most of the people mentioned in the Bible. One delightful exception is Samuel; he came as a result of Hannah’s fervent prayer for a child. In fact, the name “Samuel” comes from the Hebrew expression that means “heard of God.” Samuel was born as a result of God hearing and answering Hannah’s prayer for a son.
Hannah nursed and cared of Samuel for the first three years of his life, and then she fulfilled the vow that she made to God by dedicating him into the Lord’s service. So, she took the boy to the temple in Shiloh and did the difficult deed of leaving him to be raised by Eli the priest. From that moment on, she only saw Samuel once a year when she went up to the temple to worship God and offer sacrifices. Each year she made him a little robe and took it to him.
Eli loved the boy like his own son, and even though Samuel could not officially become a priest because he did not descend from the tribe of Levi, he studied the Scriptures and learned all of the ministries of a priest. God gave him this ministerial training when he was young because he was preparing him for the ministry of a judge, prophet, and leader of the whole nation of Israel. I Samuel 2:26 tells us that during his childhood and adolescent years, the boy Samuel “grew in stature and in favor with the Lord and men.” This verse is remarkably similar to the statement made about our Lord Jesus Christ after he was dedicated at the temple. Luke 2:52 says—“And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.”
This scene in Samuel’s early life set the precedent for dedicating our children to the Lord today. Now the Bible doesn’t tell parents that they must have a special dedication ceremony their children, nor does it imply that parents are bad if they don’t. But I can’t think of any good reasons not to come before the church community and promise to raise the child to fear and love God and ask God to use the child for his glory. What Christian parent doesn’t want their child to grow in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and men? If you are a parent of a young child, I urge you to consider following in Samuel and Jesus’ footsteps!
This scene also shows us the importance of children serving the Lord. From the time that Samuel was three years old, he was learning how to serve God by ministering to people. So often, we think “ministry” is something just for adults, but that is not true. You can study the Scriptures and serve the Lord regardless of age. Like Samuel, you never know how God will use your early experience in ministry to shape your future!
The Collapse of the Priesthood (Ch. 2 & 4)
During the years that Samuel was growing up, there was some shady business going on in the temple. Eli had two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, who were preparing to take over the priesthood for their elderly father after he died. They both wore the robes of a priest, but they were corrupt to the core. They were using their position for personal gain by stealing from the temple sacrifices and offerings. Whenever someone would sacrifice an animal to the Lord, instead of burning it like they were supposed to, they would stick their fork in the pot, and whatever came out, they ate for themselves. It would be the equivalent of a pastor or priest today taking the offering plates, and when no one is looking, playing a little game called, “One for God, one for me!” Even though they were priests, they treated God’s offerings with contempt and showed that they had no heart for the Lord.
Hophni and Phinehas were not only stealing from God, but they were also sleeping with the women who served at the entrance of the temple. It was bad enough that these priests, who were supposed to live holy lives before the Lord, were engaging in sexual immorality, but it was even worse because they were taking advantage of women who were working for God. They were phonies, fakes, and frauds! They were hypocrites of the highest degree. They were wicked and despicable in the eyes of God and the people of Israel.
Now when the old man found out about his boy’s deplorable deeds, he confronted and rebuked them, but the boys refused to listen to their father’s rebuke and they continued in their wicked ways. Then Eli made the same mistake that many parents make today—he put his kids before the Lord. He turned a blind eye to his boy’s sins and did not discipline them. He continued to allow them to practice as priests and pretended like he didn’t know what they were doing. He honored them more than he honored the Lord!
I don’t know if you have ever noticed this in the Bible, but God doesn’t have much tolerance for hypocrisy. God told Eli that he was going to destroy him and his sons for their wickedness. Their lives would be cut short because of their grievous sin, and he pronounced a curse upon Eli’s family that no one would live long. Everyone in his family would die in the prime of their life.
I don’t think we can read this story about Eli and his sons today without thinking about the priest scandals that have rocked the Roman Catholic Church in recent years. It is bad enough that priests and ministers have stolen from the church and have committed unmentionable sins against children, but it is even worse that bishops knew about it and did nothing. Nothing has changed in 3000 years. Wickedness and hypocrisy are still rampant in the church today.
There is something else that hasn’t changed in 3000 years—God’s intolerance for hypocrisy! A day of judgment is coming for everyone who steals from God, commits sexual immorality, takes advantage of children, defrauds his servants, and tries to cover up their own sin or someone else’s! Even when we think our sin is covered up, God always sees it! Don’t fall into the whole of hypocrisy!
We are meant to read this story of Eli’s sons in contrast to Samuel. All three of these boys were raised in the same house by the same parents, but they could not have turned out more differently. While Hophni and Phinehas abused the position and power that God gave them, Samuel continued to grow closer to the Lord and served people with his whole heart. The contrast is clear. Samuel was sincere; Eli’s sons were sinister! Samuel lived a holy life; Eli’s sons lived a hypocritical life! Samuel had a heart for God; Eli’s sons had a heart for themselves.
This story forces us to make a decision today? Who are we going to model our lives after? Eli’s sons, who served themselves and had no regard for the Lord? Or Samuel, who served the people and grew in stature and in favor with the Lord and men?
Also, parents, take note of Eli’s mistakes. God punished him for not taking his son’s sin seriously. When we refuse to discipline our children and overlook their sins, God holds us responsible! When we ignore or try to cover up our kids’ mistakes, I fear that we are following in Eli’s footsteps. As parents, we have to ask ourselves the question all the time: Who am I going to honor more, God or my kids?
The Calling of Samuel (Ch. 3)
Well, by the time that Samuel had become a teenager he had learned quite a bit about ministry, and God was about to officially call him to a life of ministry. He served in a spiritually dry time in Israel; in fact, the word of the Lord was rare in those days. There weren’t very many people having revelations or visions from the Lord. That is why Samuel was so surprised when God spoke to him.
One night when Samuel was fast asleep, he awoke to someone calling his name “Samuel! Samuel!” He thought it was Eli, so he went to him and said, “Here I am; you called me.” Eli said, “I didn’t call you. Go back to sleep.” This happened three times. Now how many of you have ever been woken up in the middle of the night by a caller with the wrong number? How would you feel if it happened three times? Well, now you know how Eli felt!
Eventually, Eli realized that God was calling the boy, so he told him to say “Speak, for your servant is listening” the next time this happened. So, God called Samuel to be a preacher and gave him the content for his first sermon. If you are going to be a preacher, sometimes you have to peach some things that people don’t want to hear. God told Samuel to tell Eli that he was going to judge him and his family for their sins and hypocrisy. Wow! What a message to preach for your first sermon!
When Samuel woke up the next morning, he was scared to death to preach this message to Eli. Eli had been like a father to him for over ten years and now he had to tell him that God was going to judge him. As it turned out, Eli asked Samuel what the Lord had said to him. So, Samuel told him everything, hiding nothing from him.
This scene shows us that Samuel had the ears to hear God’s call and had the courage to follow God’s plan for his life. Although it took three times for Samuel to figure out that it was God who was speaking to him because God’s word was so rare in those days, he eventually got the message.
This sort of makes me wonder: How we would respond if God spoke to us in a similar way today? Would we think that we are just hearing things or would we recognize his voice? The truth is that God is calling us all the time. Sometimes he speaks to us in an audible voice, sometimes he speaks to us through dreams and visions, sometimes he speaks to us through the Bible, sometimes he speaks to us through prayer, and sometimes he speaks to us through other people or the events of our lives. The question isn’t, “Is God speaking?” The question is, “Are we listening?”
There is a certain fear that comes with hearing God’s call. Sometimes we don’t like what he has to say or we don’t want to do what he tells us to do. Sometimes God wants us to do things that are hard. Do you think it was easy for Samuel to tell Eli that God was going to judge him? I don’t think so!
Likewise, sometimes God wants us to preach an unpopular message or to tell someone something they don’t want to hear. Sometimes God wants us to give up something that we don’t want to give up. Sometimes God wants us to change something we don’t want to change. When you hear God’s call, will you have the courage to obey?
Samuel’s Ministry (Ch. 7-16)
God used Samuel’s miraculous birth, ministerial training under Levi, and this dramatic calling experience to prepare him for his ultimate destiny of becoming one of Israel’s greatest leaders, preachers, and judges. I Samuel 7-16 tells the story of how God used Samuel to lead the Israelites into repentance for their sins, a return to worshipping the one true God, a deliverance from Philistine oppression, and a transition from a loosely governed federation tribes to a unified monarchy under one king.
God used Samuel to select and anoint Saul, Israel’s first king, and he used him to select and anoint David, Israel’s second king, after Saul didn’t work out. Even after the monarchy was established, Samuel continued to preach God’s word and be the moral conscience of Israel. Against the backdrop of a myriad of scoundrels and screwballs, Samuel stands out as one of the Bible’s few bright spots.
Most of the characters in the Old Testament show us how God uses people in spite of their sin, but in Samuel we find a rare model in which we should pattern our own lives. Samuel was dedicated to God from an early age. He took God seriously as a young man. He had ears to hear God’s voice and the courage to obey his call. He served the Lord with the best years of his life. And he remained dedicated to the Lord until his death.
Samuel is a good model to follow! How are you doing?