1 Samuel 3-4

Greetings!  Parents can relate to being woken up by kids in the middle of the night, but this is no ordinary occurrence.  God spoke audibly to some people in the Bible. 

Some people claim that God “speaks” to them, though we need to be careful with that.  I like to say that if you want to hear from God, read the Bible.  If you want to hear from him out loud, then read the Bible out loud.  He might speak to you audibly, but it is not the norm.

It is notable in this passage is that Samuel listened to God and obeyed. 

The Lord Calls Samuel

3     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 temple 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 The Lord called Samuel a third time, 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 of 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 made themselves contemptible, 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 his 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.

4     And Samuel’s word came to all Israel.

The Philistines Capture the Ark

The ark of the covenant contained the Ten Commandments that God gave to Moses at Mount Sinai (yes, this is the ark referred to in the movie Raiders of the Lost Ark).   It was typically left in the Most Holy Place, a sacred part of the Israelite tabernacle.  But they took it into battle as a good luck charm.

Now the Israelites went out to fight against the Philistines. The Israelites camped at Ebenezer, and the Philistines at Aphek. ^2 The Philistines deployed their forces to meet Israel, and as the battle spread, Israel was defeated by the Philistines, who killed about four thousand of them on the battlefield. ^3 When the soldiers returned to camp, the elders of Israel asked, “Why did the Lord bring defeat upon us today before the Philistines? Let us bring the ark of the Lord’s covenant from Shiloh, so that it may go with us and save us from the hand of our enemies.”

^4 So the people sent men to Shiloh, and they brought back the ark of the covenant of the LordAlmighty, who is enthroned between the cherubim. And Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God.

^5 When the ark of the Lord’s covenant came into the camp, all Israel raised such a great shout that the ground shook. ^6 Hearing the uproar, the Philistines asked, “What’s all this shouting in the Hebrew camp?”

When they learned that the ark of the Lord had come into the camp, ^7 the Philistines were afraid. “A god has come into the camp,” they said. “We’re in trouble! Nothing like this has happened before. ^8 Woe to us! Who will deliver us from the hand of these mighty gods? They are the gods who struck the Egyptians with all kinds of plagues in the desert. ^9 Be strong, Philistines! Be men, or you will be subject to the Hebrews, as they have been to you. Be men, and fight!”

^10 So the Philistines fought, and the Israelites were defeated and every man fled to his tent. The slaughter was very great; Israel lost thirty thousand foot soldiers. ^11 The ark of God was captured, and Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, died.

It is interesting that the Philistines knew of the deliverance from Egypt and rightly feared the Israelites.  But the Israelites had the wrong attitude about God and the ark.

Death of Eli

^12 That same day a Benjamite ran from the battle line and went to Shiloh, his clothes torn and dust on his head. ^13 When he arrived, there was Eli sitting on his chair by the side of the road, watching, because his heart feared for the ark of God. When the man entered the town and told what had happened, the whole town sent up a cry.

^14 Eli heard the outcry and asked, “What is the meaning of this uproar?”

The man hurried over to Eli, ^15 who was ninety-eight years old and whose eyes were set so that he could not see. ^16 He told Eli, “I have just come from the battle line; I fled from it this very day.”

Eli asked, “What happened, my son?”

^17 The man who brought the news replied, “Israel fled before the Philistines, and the army has suffered heavy losses. Also your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead, and the ark of God has been captured.”

^18 When he mentioned the ark of God, Eli fell backward off his chair by the side of the gate. His neck was broken and he died, for he was an old man and heavy. He had led Israel forty years.

^19 His daughter-in-law, the wife of Phinehas, was pregnant and near the time of delivery. When she heard the news that the ark of God had been captured and that her father-in-law and her husband were dead, she went into labor and gave birth, but was overcome by her labor pains. ^20 As she was dying, the women attending her said, “Don’t despair; you have given birth to a son.” But she did not respond or pay any attention.

^21 She named the boy Ichabod, saying, “The glory has departed from Israel”—because of the capture of the ark of God and the deaths of her father-in-law and her husband. ^22 She said, “The glory has departed from Israel, for the ark of God has been captured.”

The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 (1 Sa 3:1-4:1). Grand Rapids: Zondervan.

The Israelites should have known better than to think their God could be “captured” by enemies.  They were committing idolatry by worshipping created things rather than the creator. 

What passages stood out to you?  What would you apply to your life?