Called to Speak Hard Truth

1 Samuel 3

Welcome, and a very happy Mother’s Day to all the mothers here.  I really enjoy Mother’s Day.  Moms spend so much time trying to make all of our lives better.  We children may not like what they are trying to do at times, but as I get older, I see and appreciate more of what my mom did for me. 

Before we get started with today’s passage, I want to take a minute to publicly thank Joseph, Bobby, and Jonathan for their help running the soundboard and power point each week and allowing me to be involved in other ministries like the worship team, and even teaching occasionally. 

First Samuel 3 is a very familiar passage.  One that we all know the story of, at least the first 10 verses; but the last 11 are the real kickers.  God didn’t just call Samuel to be his prophet in a dark time in Israel’s history in this passage.  God gave him a very hard message to speak to a man who had practically reared him.  Eli was about as close to a father figure as Samuel would have had since he had lived at the tabernacle for all the life he could probably remember.  We will start with God calling Samuel, and then we’ll look at what God told Samuel, and finally we will see how Samuel responded.

But first, let’s take a moment to pray that God will speak to each of our hearts.  Lord, thank You for Your Word.  Reveal Yourself to each of us, and help us to learn from You as we study more of Samuel’s story today.

Last week, John showed us the “Contrast of Sons” explaining how Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phineas, were “worthless (good for nothing, unprofitable, wicked) men” (I Sam 2:12 ESV); but Samuel “continued to grow in stature and in favor with the Lord and with men” (2:26).  Chapter 2 ended with the unnamed man of God telling Eli that his family would be rejected by God and that both of his foolish sons would die on the same day.  Chapter 3 starts by reminding of the contrast we saw last week: 

The boy Samuel ministered before the Lord under Eli… –I Samuel 3:1a

This is the 3^rd time this has been mentioned already since Samuel was taken to the Tabernacle in chapter 2 (I Samuel 2:11, 18).  Samuel was ministering before the Lord.  Not before men.  Not for Eli, but under Eli.  Take note that the translators used under.  He wasn’t beside Eli on the hierarchy scale.  He was beneath Eli. 

Samuel was probably a teenager when this happened.  The Hebrew word translated “boy,” or “young man” depending on the translation you are reading, can refer to a man up to about 20 years of age.  This is the same word often used of David in Chapter 17 when David slew Goliath.  He isn’t the small child we all think of from our Sunday school days.

In those days the word of the Lord was rare; there were not many visions. –I Samuel 3:1b

Remember, this was right after the time of the judges.  Everyone was still doing “what was right in their own eyes.”  God had given them the law, but they didn’t have a central form of human government.  Israel was a theocracy.  Had they followed the law as God commanded, they would have been a blaring contrast to the rest of the nations as God wanted them to be.  But they didn’t.  God hadn’t spoken directly to man in several hundred years.  But God starts here speaking directly to Samuel, and then using him from this point on as his spokesperson and allowing Samuel to anoint the first two kings of Israel.

One night Eli, whose eyes were becoming so weak that he could barely see, was lying down in his usual place.  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. –I Samuel 3:2-3

We aren’t told where Eli’s “usual place” was.  Exodus 27:20-21 gives us a clue about where Samuel might have been lying that night.

"Command the Israelites to bring you clear oil of pressed olives for the light so that the lamps may be kept burning.  In the Tent of Meeting, outside the curtain that is in front of the Testimony, Aaron and his sons are to keep the lamps burning before the LORD from evening till morning. This is to be a lasting ordinance among the Israelites for the generations to come.”—Exodus 27:20-21

The Ark of the Covenant was often referred to as the Ark of the Testimony, or simply the Testimony.  Samuel was most likely tending the lamp of God that was lit at twilight and burned until the next morning.  Since this is mentioned, I tend to believe that the events of this chapter probably happened in the early morning hours before first light.  I Chronicles 6 twice names Samuel as a descendent of Levi, and mentions that Samuel and his father Elkanah both served in the Tabernacle, possibly in some priestly fashion.  Later, we will see Samuel offering sacrifices, something only a priest was allowed to do.  So, it was very likely that he was lying near the lamp relatively close to the Ark of the Covenant.  (By the way, it may be beneficial to go back and listen to or read Carl’s transcript of the opening to the series as he gave a history of Israel from the Ark’s perspective, as it’s about to become very prominent in the book of Samuel.)

Then the LORD called Samuel.  Samuel answered, “Here I am.” 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. 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.”  Now Samuel did not yet now the LORD: The word of the LORD had not yet been revealed to him.  –I Samuel 3:4-7

Samuel had never heard God’s voice before, so he ran to the only one he thought might have called him.  Obediently, Samuel ran to Eli, thinking that Eli may have called Samuel to come and help.  But, Eli sent him back to bed and saying “I didn’t call you.”  Again, God called, and Samuel ran to Eli.  Probably frustrated by being awoken again, Eli told him to go back to bed.  We’ve already seen by the way the Eli treated Samuel’s mother, Hannah, in chapter 1, that Eli wasn’t the most intuitive person.  Perhaps his spiritual perception had been dulled because he was allowing his sons’ sins to continue unchecked beyond a verbal rebuke.

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. 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. –I Samuel 3:8-9

After almost 8 years in the law enforcement world and as someone who already had a skeptical personality, I’m going to do something I don’t normally do.  I’m going to choose to think the best about Eli.  Finally, Eli figured it out.  Despite his shortcomings elsewhere, Eli gave Samuel some sound advice that even we should heed today: “When he calls you again, tell him to ‘Speak, LORD, for your servant is listening.’”  That word for listening means to listen with the intent of obeying.  It comes from the same word in Hebrew that refers to Deuteronomy 6:4: Shema.  Don’t just hear.  Focus on the words being communicated with the intent to understand and obey.

The LORD came and stood there, calling as at the other times, “Samuel! Samuel!” Then Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant is listening.” –I Samuel 3:10

Finally, God got Samuel’s attention.  Samuel responds to him that he is listening, ready to obey.  But little did Samuel know that he was about to get handed a very hard message to bear.

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. At that time I will carry out against Eli everything I spoke against his family-from beginning to end. 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. Therefore, I swore to the house of Eli, ‘The guilt of Eli’s house will never be atoned for by sacrifice or offering.’” –I Samuel 3:11-14

This is the not so familiar part that all the Sunday school books leave out.  What was it that was so important that God personally came early one morning and patiently called Samuel four times to tell him?  Basically, that the only father figure he had ever known was going to be severely punished.  Verse 11 has a very interesting word that is only used four times in the entire Old Testament.   That word is translated here as “tingle.” Every occurrence of this word refers to God about to punish sin.  Three times it is translated as “the ears … will tingle,” as in this passage.  In Habakkuk 3:16, Habakkuk used it to refer to his lips quivering in fear when he thought of the day of judgement that the Lord was going to bring upon Israel.  Next week, we’ll learn about what was going to happen that would cause the nation to tremble in fear and for one woman to name her newborn son “No Glory.”

Samuel lay down until morning and then opened the doors of the house of the LORD. He was afraid to tell Eli the vision, but Eli called him and said, “Samuel, my son.” Samuel answered, “Here I am.” “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.” –I Samuel 3:15-17

Called to speak the hard truth.  I’m certain that Samuel’s countenance showed a troubled spirit that next morning as he opened the Tabernacle for worship.  I doubt he got any more sleep that night.  God told Samuel that he had already spoken these things to Eli, but I’m sure that didn’t help Samuel feel much better.  Remember that in verse 1 it said Samuel ministered under Eli?  Being the bearer of difficult news is never fun, especially when it is someone you are close to, or someone in authority over you. The old priest, however, seems to have known that God’s message to Samuel pertained to Eli himself.  He persuaded Samuel to tell him by invoking a curse on Samuel if he didn’t share what God had said.  Personally, as an oldest child, I don’t like confrontation.  If I have to go to someone and deal with an issue, my palms get sweaty, my blood pressure rises, my breathing speeds up.  It’s almost like a fight or flight syndrome kicking in.  I wouldn’t be surprised if poor little Samuel had these same feelings, but he knew he had to speak the truth.

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.” –I Samuel 3:18

Samuel held nothing back. Surprisingly, Eli took it honorably.  He even makes another profound statement: “He is the LORD; let him do what is good in his eyes.”  Maybe Eli missed the point, and fatalistically thought there was nothing he could do to stop the Lord’s punishment on his family.  But again, I’m choosing to believe the best about Eli.  He realized there were consequences to sin, and said “He is Yahweh.  He is Creator.  He is Sovereign.  If it is right in his eyes, it is the best way.”

Chapter 3 ends reminding us again of Samuel’s devotion to God and this time, God’s blessing to him for such.

The LORD was with Samuel as he grew up, and he let none of his words fall to the ground. And all Israel from Dan to Beersheba recognized that Samuel was attested as a prophet of the Lord.  The Lord continued to appear at Shiloh, and there he revealed himself to Samuel through his word. –I Samuel 3:19-21

All Israel learned that Samuel was a man of God, a man whose prophecies came true by God’s power.  From what I can tell, the phrase, “let none of his words fall to the ground” appears to be a Hebrew idiom simply meaning that everything he said would happen did happen by God’s power.  Remember earlier that during the time of the judges they only ruled small groups and were more military power heroes than governmental figures.  This is the first time that all of Israel recognizes one man as God’s spokesman.  Verse 21 tells us that after this, God continued to appear at Shiloh and that “he revealed himself to Samuel through his word.” 

So, after looking at all of this, how should this affect us today?  Ask yourselves these questions as we go through them.

1. Do I know what God’s voice sounds like?  If He called me, would I run to someone else thinking they had called?

2. How many times does he have to call me to get my attention?  What do I need to cut from my life in order to spend more time listening to God?  Am I that kid that keeps playing with his Legos completely ignoring his parents’ repeated calls to come do something else?

3. What hard truth has he called me to speak?  Perhaps it’s something as simple as sharing the Gospel with a friend, but it’s hard because I’m afraid of their response.  (Remember, they aren’t rejecting me.  I’m just the messenger.  But woe to me if I don’t tell them before it’s too late!)  It is always our responsibility as God’s messengers to bring everything he has said.  As John pointed out last week, if God has called us to speak hard truth we still have to do it out of a spirit of love.  We can’t get in their face and preach hellfire and brimstone only.  As Paul said in Acts 20:26-27 “Therefore, I declare to you today that I am innocent of the blood of all men. For I have not hesitated to proclaim to you the whole will of God.”

4. When tough times come, is my response to God to say “You are God.  Whatever you do is best.”?

5. Have I been spending time in the Word so that God can reveal Himself to me through His Word?

I’m going to give us each a few minutes to examine our hearts before the Lord before I close in prayer.  Ask God to show you what response He wants you to take away from our study of this passage, and then thank Him for giving you the strength to take action.

Father, we are thankful that Your Word is living and even stories of old can be relevant to our lives today.  I pray that each of us would be listening for You to speak into our lives and that we would respond with willingness, even when you ask us to speak hard truths.  Amen.