I've been studying First Samuel a lot lately. It all started with First Samuel 16, where Samuel anoints David as king of Israel and then David goes back to the farm, and then spends years trying not to be killed by Saul. It struck me as odd that God would reveal that to him when He did.
However, I want to start in First Samuel 3, because there's something in this that caught me by surprise. In this, three times the Lord calls to Samuel, "Samuel, Samuel!" That's all. Just his name, twice. All three times, he goes to Eli, the priest of the temple who is essentially Samuel's father, and says, "here I am; you called me."
Side note: I'd like to know what Eli's face looked like to warrant Samuel saying, "you called me." We don't have any record of Eli responding, yet Samuel feels obliged to state what he considers the obvious, three times, "uh, you called me. That's why I'm here."
On the fourth time, Eli had told Samuel to say, "Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening." When Samuel did this the next time the Lord called out, "Samuel, Samuel!" God proceeded to tell Samuel His message.
This is astounding to me. There are a few things that jump out. First, verse one talks about the voice of the Lord being rare, with few visions taking place in those days. Yet, somehow Eli knew what was going on. It took him a little while to put it together, but he was able to do so. The Hebrew word used seems to indicate it was of his own understanding, but I don't know Hebrew, so I could be totally off (it's Strong's number 0995, biyn transliterated).
So Samuel's father, mentor, and priest, though not a prophet himself, was able to guide Samuel in the ways of the prophetic. Very interesting! I often assume the people to teach regarding something are those experienced in it, but this is not necessarily true.
What's more, it wasn't until Samuel responded to God, uttering a prayer (what is prayer, but conversation with God?), petitioning Him to speak and stating that he (Samuel) was listening that God chose to speak more. It is more reinforcement regarding the passage in Revelation 3:20, where Christ stands at the door and knocks. He waits for us to open it. One must wonder, what would have happened had Samuel not responded? Would God have continued to knock, or would He have called someone else?
Probably the most convicting part of the passage for me, though, comes after this exchange with the Lord, in verse 19. "The Lord was with Samuel as he grew up, and he let none of his words fall to the ground." It's not completely clear to me who the "he" is in the second part of the verse, but I suspect it is Samuel. He let none of his words fall to the ground. As I'm reading that, it's that Samuel let none of the Lord's words fall to the ground, as in nothing God communicated to Samuel was forgotten or unused.
And here am I, realizing there is a lot God has communicated with me, in my spirit, through experiences, and especially through His Word that I have let fall to the ground. How could we, or at least I, be so flippant with what God provides us? I pray that He would make His revelation far more sacred to me, that I not just think, "hey, thanks, God! That was sweet!" but instead cherish it as manna from Heaven, but unlike manna, preserve it! Last time I wrote something down God showed me, worms didn't get all over in it the next day...
Comments (4)
So here's a question - when it says (v.19) "The LORD was with Samuel as he grew up, and he let none of his words fall to the ground" - which "he" is the word "he" referring to? Is it: ""The LORD was with Samuel as he grew up, and he let none of His words fall to the ground"? oris it: "The LORD was with Samuel as he grew up, and He let none of his words fall to the ground"? Not knowing the Hebrew, I would argue that it might be the latter, based on Isaiah 44:26. And that's not to say that we're not to treasure the things God tells us (as Mary did - Luke 2:19) - the word is precious, and I think there's a reason it tells us in 1 Samuel 3:1 that the Word of the Lord was rare in those days - that mattered, and it mattered that God chose Samuel as the one to whom He would speak - but I wonder if this passage is less about prophecy than it is about character...?
I find it interesting that what got you into 1 Samuel was David going back to the fields after a major revelation....when exactly the same sort of thing happened with Samuel. He has this major experience with God - one that Eli hadn't even had - and then Samuel gets up and goes back to work the next morning. I think that says something. I think it also says something that Samuel grew up with Eli's sons and didn't turn out to be like them... and that that is in part why God called him in the first place. I think it also says something that Samuel was faithful to God's word and told Eli the whole truth... which is why I'm not disagreeing with your take-away from the passage...I think we do need to treasure up God's words to us...but I think ultimately prophecy takes a back-seat to character... or maybe, rather, the word of the Lord will be more or less rare in our own lives depending on our character...? Case in point (mini-illustration) - I had a lousy day today - was pretty much the worst version of myself that I've been in ages - and oddly enough had a very hard time hearing God at all in the midst of the day. New covenant, grace, and all that - it's a new day now, and God did speak, but how would the day have been different if...?
Dunno - thoughts?
p.s. just to be honest and fair - i've been reading Matthew Henry. :)
and do you know your blog is in EST?
The commentators all seem pretty clear that it means "The LORD let none of Samuel's words fall to the ground," based on my quick search yesterday.
p.p.s. Tag - you're it. :)