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The Lord Appears to Samuel

1 Samuel 3.1-21

Good News Translation (GNT)

  1  In those days, when the boy Samuel was
   serving the Lord under the direction of Eli,
   there were very few messages from the Lord,
   and visions from him were quite rare.
  2  One night Eli, who was now almost blind, was
   sleeping in his own room;
  3  Samuel was sleeping in the sanctuary, where
   the sacred Covenant Box was. Before dawn,
   while the lamp was still burning,
  4  the Lord called Samuel.
   He answered, "Yes, sir!"
  5  and ran to Eli and said, "You called me, and
   here I am." But Eli answered, "I didn't call you;
   go back to bed." So Samuel went back to bed.
  6-7  The Lord called Samuel again. The boy did
   not know that it was the Lord, because the
   Lord had never spoken to him before.
   So he got up, went to Eli, and said,
   "You called me, and here I am." But Eli
   answered, "My son, I didn't call you; go back
   to bed."
  8  The Lord called Samuel a third time;
   he got up, went to Eli, and said, "You called
   me, and here I am." Then Eli realized that it
   was the Lord who was calling the boy,
  9  so he said to him, "Go back to bed; and if he
   calls you again, say, 'speak, Lord, your
   servant is listening.'"
   So Samuel went back to bed.
10  The Lord came and stood there, and called as
   he had before, "Samuel! Samuel!"
   Samuel answered, "Speak; your servant is
   listening."
11  The Lord said to him, "Some day I am going
   to do something to the people of Israel that is
   so terrible that everyone who hears about it
   will be stunned.
12  On that day I will carry out all my threats
   against Eli's family, from beginning to end.
13  I have already told him [a] that I am going to
   punish his family forever because his sons
   have spoken evil things against me.
   Eli knew they were doing this, but he did not
   stop them.
14  So I solemnly declare to the family of Eli that
   no sacrifice or offering will ever be able to
   remove the consequences of this terrible sin."
15  Samuel stayed in bed until morning; then he
   got up and opened the doors of the house
   of the Lord. He was afraid to tell Eli about
   the vision.
16  Eli called him, "Samuel, my boy!"
   "Yes, sir," answered Samuel.
17  "What did the Lord tell you?" Eli asked.
   "Don't keep anything from me. God will punish
   you severely if you don't tell me everything
   he said."
18  So Samuel told him everything; he did not
   keep anything back. Eli said, "He is the Lord;
   he will do whatever seems best to him."
19  As Samuel grew up, the Lord was with him
   and made come true everything that Samuel
   said.
20  So all the people of Israel, from one end
   of the country to the other, knew that Samuel
   was indeed a prophet of the Lord.
21  The Lord continued to reveal himself at Shiloh,
   where he had appeared to Samuel and had
   spoken to him.
   And when Samuel spoke, all Israel listened.

   Footnotes
   1 Samuel 3:13
   One ancient translation
   I have already told him;
   Hebrew I will tell him.

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Taken from 'word-on-the-web' supplied by the
Scripture Union

Chapter 3

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.

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.

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