1Samuel 3. We ve covered Samuel s birth and his arrival in Eli s family. And now the story turns to Samuel s call to serve the Lord

Transcription

1 1Samuel 3 We ve cvered Samuel s birth and his arrival in Eli s family And nw the stry turns t Samuel s call t serve the Lrd Of curse, we already knw that Hannah has dedicated Samuel t the Lrd And we knw why she made her vw But what f Samuel s wn perspective? We might wnder hw he felt abut being dumped at the tabernacle by his parents? He saw them peridically, s we knw he knws them Therefre, he knws he s been dedicated t the temple service But what des this mean t a yung by? At sme pint, the true purpse in his dedicatin must becme real fr him And the day has cme fr a revelatin frm the Lrd Chapter 3 is Samuel s call and his first prphecy frm Gd And nce again, that prphecy centers n Eli s family 1Sam. 3:1 Nw the by Samuel was ministering t the LORD befre Eli. And wrd frm the LORD was rare in thse days, visins were infrequent. 1Sam. 3:2 It happened at that time as Eli was lying dwn in his place (nw his eyesight had begun t grw dim and he culd nt see well), 1Sam. 3:3 and the lamp f Gd had nt yet gne ut, and Samuel was lying dwn in the temple f the LORD where the ark f Gd was, 1Sam. 3:4 that the LORD called Samuel; and he said, Here I am. 1Sam. 3:5 Then he ran t Eli and said, Here I am, fr yu called me. But he said, I did nt call, lie dwn again. S he went and lay dwn. 1Sam. 3:6 The LORD called yet again, Samuel! S Samuel arse and went t Eli and said, Here I am, fr yu called me. But he answered, I did nt call, my sn, lie dwn again. 1Sam. 3:7 Nw Samuel did nt yet knw the LORD, nr had the wrd f the LORD yet been revealed t him Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

2 1Samuel 3 2 f 16 The start f Samuel s ministry is bth humrus and prfund First, we re tld again that Samuel is ministering t the Lrd befre Eli The Hebrew wrd fr by in v.1 is a wrd that generally refers t a yung man, nt a yung child Jsephus said that Samuel was 12 years ld in this mment Yung but at the same time he s been wrking in this rle fr smetime nw Yet until this pint, Samuel hadn t heard frm the Lrd persnally We re tld he was ministering t the Lrd thugh, s clearly the yung man was intent n being a servant f Gd But until the Lrd revealed Himself t Samuel, his service was merely an aspiratin And his purpse in service was t fulfill a calling assigned t him by his parents But if Samuel s service was t becme genuine, it required a call frm the Lrd Unless and until the Lrd called Samuel and aninted him, his service culdn t fulfill Gd s purpse His situatin is smething like that f a child that has been baptized as an infant and is tld t g t church And he says his prayers at night and knws the Bible stries by heart But until the Lrd places a call n that by s heart, his acts f piety are wrks f ritual and bedience t his parents But in time, the Lrd will reveal Himself t such a ne, and in that mment the heart quickens t serve the Living Gd The Lrd is ready t give Samuel a call as a prphet, a man wh will hear the vice f the Lrd and relate what he learns t men Ntice at the end f v.1 we re tld this is a time in which men didn t rutinely hear frm the Lrd Visins frm the Lrd were nt absent 2015 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

3 1Samuel 3 3 f 16 But they were rare, which means men were living with nly the Law and the bk f Jshua t guide them And it has been 300 years since Jshua was written Beynd that, the Lrd has nly revealed His wrd in mments thrugh judges Nw the Lrd is ging t call Samuel as a prphet, and being a prphet is a thankless, difficult jb Yu have t respnd t the wrd f the Lrd n matter when He calls Yu can t take a day ff r tell the Lrd yu re busy And yu have t be willing t tell peple things they wn t want t hear And yu have t place yu allegiance t the Lrd abve human relatinships, being willing t leave behind family and friends Remember that few prphets lived ut their lives, since mst were martyred S given Samuel s yung age, it makes sense that the Lrd s first call upn Samuel wuld give him an pprtunity t see what the prphet jb entails Eli is lying dwn in his bed lcated in the tabernacle curtyard As High Priest he essentially lived in the tabernacle cmpund, which was his hme This is lng befre the high priest became a psitin f riches and wealth, thugh we can see the seeds f such thinking in his sns But in this day, the jb was mre like a fireman, living in the firehuse Meanwhile, Samuel is als sleeping in the tabernacle, prbably in the curtyard In v.3 we re tld Samuel is in the temple But the Hebrew wrd fr temple is hekal, which is better translated curt 2015 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

4 1Samuel 3 4 f 16 S Samuel isn t sleeping inside the Hly Place, since priests were required t remain standing inside the tabernacle Instead, he s sleeping smewhere in the curtyard f the tabernacle, where the ark f the Lrd was kept While he sleeps, the Lrd calls t Samuel We dn t knw what that call was like, f curse, but it appears t be an audible vice Because Samuel respnds as if he s heard Eli calling him Samuel s first respnse is t say here I am When he gets n further respnse, he gets up t find Eli, assuming Eli called him At this pint, he finds Eli sleeping, and when he wakes Eli, the ld man says I didn t call yu...g back t sleep S far this scene has a cmical quality t it, as we see the Lrd calling Samuel and Samuel mistaking the vice f the Lrd fr Eli s vice In fact, the entire exchange happens a secnd time A secnd call frm the Lrd and a secnd trip t Eli And again, Eli says g back t sleep, it wasn t me As we laugh at the situatin, stp and ask yurself why the Lrd let this mment develp Ntice in the first encunter Samuel immediately respnded Here I am If the Lrd wanted t have a cnversatin with Samuel, He has his mment The Lrd culd have avided any pssibility f mistaken identity right then But instead, the Lrd says nthing, leading Samuel t get up and investigate Only nce Samuel has encuntered Eli and returned t his place des the Lrd call again 2015 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

5 1Samuel 3 5 f 16 And nce again the Lrd allws the scene t play ut withut interrupting it Clearly, the Lrd is rchestrating this mment fr sme purpse Can we make sme cnclusin fr what the Lrd wants t teach Samuel and us? Remember, Samuel is abut t receive his call t serve the Lrd And this call will lead t Samuel representing the Lrd t the peple f Gd He will bring the wrd f the Lrd He will n lnger answer t the authrity f an earthly priest like Eli The Lrd wants Samuel t understand that his instructins will cme frm a Gd Wh has elected t reveal Himself t ne man nly Nt all men will hear what Samuel hears Nt even the High Priest f Israel will hear what the Lrd will reveal t Samuel What better way t make this clear than t demnstrate t Samuel that n ne else is hearing what Samuel is hearing And in a perfect pattern f three, the Lrd calls Samuel By the time Samuel realizes this call is frm the Lrd, he s als been made aware that his call is unique Ntice in v.7 we re tld that Samuel did nt yet knw the Lrd and had nt had the wrd f the Lrd revealed t him This phrase is raises sme interesting questins Des the cmment simply mean Samuel had nt yet had a persnal encunter with the Lrd f the type he s having nw? That s a cmmn interpretatin, but that interpretatin makes the entire statement unnecessary Obviusly, Samuel had never heard frm the Lrd as yet That s the whle pint f chapter 3, and s this statement seems entirely unnecessary if that is its nly pint 2015 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

6 1Samuel 3 6 f 16 Anther pssibility is that this is the mment that the Lrd revealed Himself t Samuel s heart, bringing Samuel saving faith In this interpretatin, we view Samuel s earlier dedicatin in the tabernacle as simply service rendered as a dutiful sn He s serving the ritual f the Law withut actually knwing the reality f the Living Gd Under these circumstances, Samuel wuld be very much like the millins and millins f men and wmen wh have attended churches f ne kind r anther And have genuflected, prayed, kneeled, and chanted n cue But have n persnal relatinship with the Lrd Perhaps this is the mment f Samuel s calling int faith, a mment like the ne Paul had n the rad t Damascus Remember, Paul was a Pharisee f Pharisees, as he put it He was the pre-eminent student in Judasim Paul wuld have put even Samuel t shame And yet Paul didn t knw the Lrd in his heart It required that Paul encunter the Wrd n the rad t truly answer his call And remember, when Paul received his call he respnded t the vice yet wasn t even sure Wh he was answering But it was the mment the Lrd revealed Himself t a man wh had been suppsed serving Gd all his life And what did it take t bring bth Paul and Samuel int the Light? As v.7 says, it required that the wrd f the Lrd be revealed t bth In Paul s day, the Wrd had already becme flesh, and s Paul s expsure t the wrd came in the Persn f the Risen Lrd Himself But in Samuel s day, the Lrd was still called the Angel f the Lrd And s Samuel is ging t have an encunter with the Lrd in this frm 2015 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

7 1Samuel 3 7 f 16 1Sam. 3:8 S the LORD called Samuel again fr the third time. And he arse and went t Eli and said, Here I am, fr yu called me. Then Eli discerned that the LORD was calling the by. 1Sam. 3:9 And Eli said t Samuel, G lie dwn, and it shall be if He calls yu, that yu shall say, Speak, LORD, fr Yur servant is listening. S Samuel went and lay dwn in his place. 1Sam. 3:10 Then the LORD came and std and called as at ther times, Samuel! Samuel! And Samuel said, Speak, fr Yur servant is listening. 1Sam. 3:11 The LORD said t Samuel, Behld, I am abut t d a thing in Israel at which bth ears f everyne wh hears it will tingle. 1Sam. 3:12 In that day I will carry ut against Eli all that I have spken cncerning his huse, frm beginning t end. 1Sam. 3:13 Fr I have tld him that I am abut t judge his huse frever fr the iniquity which he knew, because his sns brught a curse n themselves and he did nt rebuke them. 1Sam. 3:14 Therefre I have swrn t the huse f Eli that the iniquity f Eli s huse shall nt be atned fr by sacrifice r ffering frever. On the third ccasin, the Lrd calls Samuel and nce mre Samuel ges t Eli Samuel must have thught that Eli was playing a trick n him We shuld nte that Samuel s patient heart f service is evident in this mment Wh amng us wuld shw this much patience under the same circumstances? Wuldn t we start t shw frustratin at this pint? Or perhaps we wuld just stay in bed assuming it s a prank? But yung Samuel is s dedicated t service that he gets up each and every time he s heard a vice and returns t Eli withut cmplaint And Eli must have knwn Samuel s heart fr service S when Samuel returns a third time, Eli suspects smething else is ging n, since he knws the by wuldn t be playing And he cmes t realize the Lrd is speaking t Samuel Given hw rare it was t hear the Lrd s vice, yu have t wnder if Eli was surprised by this encunter 2015 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

8 1Samuel 3 8 f 16 Or perhaps the earlier visit frm the racle was intended t get Eli s attentin And because he had recently heard frm the Lrd, perhaps he was mre sensitive t that pssibility In any case, Eli tells Samuel t g back and lay dwn and when the vice returns, say Here I am Lrd and then listen Eli gives instructins like he s been there befre himself When Samuel returns, sure enugh the Lrd respnds And Samuel has his encunter with the wrd f the Lrd Once again, why didn t the Lrd just begin with His message in the first encunter We already said the Lrd wanted Samuel t appreciate that he was receiving smething uniquely appinted But this call and respnse pattern is als an imprtant detail t the stry Samuel needed t learn t hear the Lrd s call and recgnize it Nt because the Lrd is incapable f making Himself heard But because He is intent n training His servant t knw Him intimately Samuel didn t knw the Lrd, but it was time he came t knw Him And that prcess f cming t knw the Lrd begins with a call frm the Lrd t thse the Lrd selects t hear And then nce the time arrives t hear, the wrd f Gd pens the ears and the called will hear and respnd And s Samuel awaits the call, and then nly when he hears the call and respnds des the Lrd reveal Himself As Paul says Rm. 10:17 S faith cmes frm hearing, and hearing by the wrd f Christ Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

9 1Samuel 3 9 f 16 At this pint the Lrd gives Samuel his first wrd frm the Lrd The Lrd s first wrds t Samuel aren t an explanatin fr Wh He is r what s happening There s n Hell, Samuel, I m the Lrd If yu remember in Acts when Saul meets the Lrd n the rad, Jesus desn t make intrductins either When the Lrd steps int ur lives and calls us int a relatinship with Him, He needs nt intrduce Himself His revelatin f Himself is sufficient t bring us int the family f Gd As Paul said elsewhere: 2Cr. 4:6 Fr Gd, wh said, Light shall shine ut f darkness, is the One wh has shne in ur hearts t give the Light f the knwledge f the glry f Gd in the face f Christ. Samuel has had the Light f Christ shined int his heart, and nw he s in a relatinship with the Living Gd Since the relatinship is established, it s time t get dwn t business Once we enter int that relatinship, the expectatin is that we immediately begin t serve the Lrd As Jesus said t Peter and Andrew Matt. 4:18 Nw as Jesus was walking by the Sea f Galilee, He saw tw brthers, Simn wh was called Peter, and Andrew his brther, casting a net int the sea; fr they were fishermen. Matt. 4:19 And He said t them, Fllw Me, and I will make yu fishers f men. Matt. 4:20 Immediately they left their nets and fllwed Him. Fr Samuel, the first assignment is nt a pleasant ne The Lrd tells Samuel He is prepared t d smething s remarkable in Israel that peple wh hear abut it will be amazed This phrase is mre than just hyperble It s a marker t indicate what news the Lrd is preparing t bring 2015 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

10 1Samuel 3 10 f 16 We knw it includes the revelatin abut Eli s family But it ges beynd that detail The Lrd is lking beynd this single mment f revelatin He s referring t the revelatin that a mnarchy is ging t be established in Israel Hw d we knw that? Because this cmment abut ears tingling nly ccurs ne ther place in the Bible, in 2 Kings 21 and Jeremiah 19 Jer. 19:1 Thus says the LORD, G and buy a ptter s earthenware jar, and take sme f the elders f the peple and sme f the senir priests. Jer. 19:2 Then g ut t the valley f Ben-hinnm, which is by the entrance f the ptsherd gate, and prclaim there the wrds that I tell yu, Jer. 19:3 and say, Hear the wrd f the LORD, O kings f Judah and inhabitants f Jerusalem: thus says the LORD f hsts, the Gd f Israel, Behld I am abut t bring a calamity upn this place, at which the ears f everyne that hears f it will tingle. Jer. 19:4 Because they have frsaken Me and have made this an alien place and have burned sacrifices in it t ther gds, that neither they nr their frefathers nr the kings f Judah had ever knwn, and because they have filled this place with the bld f the inncent Jer. 19:5 and have built the high places f Baal t burn their sns in the fire as burnt fferings t Baal, a thing which I never cmmanded r spke f, nr did it ever enter My mind; Jer. 19:6 therefre, behld, days are cming, declares the LORD, when this place will n lnger be called Tpheth r the valley f Ben-hinnm, but rather the valley f Slaughter. In this passage the Lrd declares the end f the Jewish mnarchy Just as it began with Samuel with ears excited at the news S it will end with ears shcked by the revelatin that Israel will cease having a king Until the Messiah cmes, that is N man apart frm Christ will ever rule as king ver Israel Sme like Antichus and Herd have tried, but they were nt legitimate nr did their reign last 2015 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

11 1Samuel 3 11 f 16 S the Lrd s annuncement is an allusin t greater things t cme beynd this single revelatin cncerning Eli The Lrd tells Samuel that there is big news cming and he s the man wh will deliver it t Israel But befre we get t all that, the Lrd needs Samuel t deliver Eli a persnal message Eli gets cnfirmatin that he and his sns are ging t be cut ff Ntice in v.12 the Lrd says that everything He s already spken cncerning Eli is ging t happen S this is nt new infrmatin fr Eli...it s a cnfirmatin He repeats that Eli s huse will have n pprtunity fr atnement fr these sins but they will have a curse placed n them Once again, we wnder why the Lrd needed Samuel t deliver this cnfirmatin t Eli? First, Eli is the high priest, s the Lrd culd have spken t Eli directly Secndly, the Lrd has already revealed this truth t Eli thrugh an earlier prphet s why bther repeating Himself thrugh Samuel? The answer has little t d with Eli and everything t d with Samuel This is Samuel s pprtunity t practice delivering bad news t peple wh wn t like t hear it This will take curage and it will teach him a lessn abut serving Gd rather than pleasing men When the Lrd says speak, we speak And whatever respnse the wrd f the Lrd generates is the intended reactin the Lrd wanted We can t cntrl it nr shuld we attempt t sften it 2015 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

12 1Samuel 3 12 f 16 Tday, believers aren t arrested at night with a wrd frm the Lrd, since Hebrews tells us that the cunsel f Gd is cmplete in Christ thrugh His wrd But we have a similar challenge when we re tasked t share what we knw frm the wrd There are many places in scripture that wn t please thse we might share it with Peple wn t like t hear what the Bible says abut sin, especially sin that sciety has embraced and determined is acceptable Peple dn t like t learn that Hell is a real place that real peple g when they die in their sins And peple dn t like t knw that they aren t OK the way they are and that they must repent But these messages and many mre truths are the wrd we ve been tld t share with the wrld The same wrd that cndemns sin als prclaims the gd news f Salvatin The same wrd that speak f Hell ffers the prmise f Heaven The same wrd that cnvicts us saves us We need t learn the lessn that the Lrd is wrking t teach Samuel We take what the Lrd gives us and we share it withut editing and withut fear The Lrd in His wisdm has determined this is the ne right message We d nt have liberty t change it r hide it This was the situatin Samuel faced at this mment...des he dare share this news with his surrgate father and the high priest f Israel? What will be the repercussins? What might the High Priest d t Samuel when he hears this statement? As we watch what Samuel des, remember he s likely abut 12 years ld And Eli s sns are fully grwn and ruthless 2015 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

13 1Samuel 3 13 f 16 This is a test f Samuel s heart t speak the wrd f the Lrd withut cncern fr the persn cnsequences This is a test fr every prphet But we re getting a chance t see hw the Lrd trains His prphets fr this difficult assignment 1Sam. 3:15 S Samuel lay dwn until mrning. Then he pened the drs f the huse f the LORD. But Samuel was afraid t tell the visin t Eli. 1Sam. 3:16 Then Eli called Samuel and said, Samuel, my sn. And he said, Here I am. 1Sam. 3:17 He said, What is the wrd that He spke t yu? Please d nt hide it frm me. May Gd d s t yu, and mre als, if yu hide anything frm me f all the wrds that He spke t yu. 1Sam. 3:18 S Samuel tld him everything and hid nthing frm him. And he said, It is the LORD; let Him d what seems gd t Him. Smartly, Samuel decides he s prbably wken Eli ne t many times already tnight Prbably better t save this news until mrning, s Samuel ges back t sleep But when mrning cmes, Samuel isn t feeling much mre like sharing what he s learned Nevertheless, he gt up and begun the duty f the day And naturally Eli eventually encunters Samuel Eli asks Samuel t share the news, which we can see as a measure f Gd s grace t prmpt Samuel t d the right thing Cnfrnted with the questin, Samuel has little chice but t answer Eli In fact, Eli prnunces his wn prphecy n Samuel That if Samuel isn t willing t share the wrd the Lrd gave him, then the things Gd prclaimed wuld cme upn Samuel Clearly, Eli culd tell Samuel had bad news he was reluctant t share, which made Eli all the mre curius t hear it S Samuel shares the news the Lrd cmmanded him t share, and Eli s reactin is nthing like Samuel expects 2015 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

14 1Samuel 3 14 f 16 As we said last week, when a man hears the Lrd is prepared t take the lives f his sns, we might expect him t react with mre cncern r passin But Eli seems either indifferent r simply resigned t what s cming But at the very least, we see n indicatin f repentance in Eli Eli is a man wh is ld, tired and weary under the burden f serving He has raised tw sns wh have n regard fr the Lrd and wh despise the priesthd His sns will die His family will be cut ff frm the priesthd And he will live ut his remaining days with the burden f knwing what the Lrd has planned The nly blessing in his life was a yung man that the Lrd entrusted int his care fr a few years, and nw even that man is a surce f pain Nt fr wh is r what he des but fr what the Lrd says thrugh him Such is the life f a prphet They bring the wrd f the Lrd, gd news t thse wh lve the Lrd and serve Him bediently But srrw t thse wh are far frm the Lrd And as if usually the case, thse wh are in pwer are thse wh knw the srrw f the Lrd s wrd And as a result, they are prne t bringing persecutin against the Lrd s prphet Samuel will be spared much f that persecutin But later prphets will nt be s frtunate And in fact, frm Samuel t Christ, the Lrd s prphets are increasingly persecuted fr they minister t an increasingly apstate peple Meanwhile, the yung Samuel has just begun his wrk fr the Lrd 2015 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

15 1Samuel 3 15 f 16 1Sam. 3:19 Thus Samuel grew and the LORD was with him and let nne f his wrds fail. 1Sam. 3:20 All Israel frm Dan even t Beersheba knew that Samuel was cnfirmed as a prphet f the LORD. 1Sam. 3:21 And the LORD appeared again at Shilh, because the LORD revealed Himself t Samuel at Shilh by the wrd f the LORD. Samuel grew t adulthd, and the Lrd was with and let nne f Samuel s wrds fail This means that every time the Lrd gave Samuel a wrd t share, the wrd Samuel spke came t pass as the Lrd prmised And Samuel says specifically that the Lrd let nne f his wrds fail (literally: fall t the grund, as in an arrw that misses) S Samuel was always 100% accurate in his prphecy This is imprtant, because this is the biblical test fr anyne wh calls themselves a prphet In Deuternmy 18, Israel was tld that the nly legitimate prphet is ne that is never wrng Deut. 18:17 The LORD said t me, They have spken well. Deut. 18:18 I will raise up a prphet frm amng their cuntrymen like yu, and I will put My wrds in his muth, and he shall speak t them all that I cmmand him. Deut. 18:19 It shall cme abut that whever will nt listen t My wrds which he shall speak in My name, I Myself will require it f him. Deut. 18:20 But the prphet wh speaks a wrd presumptuusly in My name which I have nt cmmanded him t speak, r which he speaks in the name f ther gds, that prphet shall die. Deut. 18:21 Yu may say in yur heart, Hw will we knw the wrd which the LORD has nt spken? Deut. 18:22 When a prphet speaks in the name f the LORD, if the thing des nt cme abut r cme true, that is the thing which the LORD has nt spken. The prphet has spken it presumptuusly; yu shall nt be afraid f him. The Lrd prmised Israel wuld receive a Prphet, Wh was t be Christ But f curse, ther prphets wuld als arise befre the Messiah appeared, and the test is the same fr all f them 2015 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

16 1Samuel 3 16 f 16 When they speak frm the Lrd, everyne must listen t the prphet If they reject the wrd f the Lrd, the Lrd will reject them But then the Lrd anticipates the peples questin f hw d we tell the difference between a true prphet and a false prphet? The answer the Lrd gives is perfectin If smething the prphet says des nt cme t pass, they are shwing themselves t be a false prphet Yu shall nt fear such a persn, meaning yu can safely ignre what he says, since he isn t speaking with the authrity f Gd Elsewhere, the Lrd says such a persn must be put t death because they were nt a prphet at all Essentially, the rule is smene is either 100% perfect in his prnuncements r else he was always 100% fraud N true prphet is ever wrng S Samuel s wn testimny t the legitimacy f his ffice is his perfect recrd f predictin And that perfect recrd spreads as news thrughut Israel Frm Dan, which was the nrthern mst tribe T Beersheba, the Suthern mst city in the land Everyne knew and accepted Samuel s authrity as a prphet Given hw lng it had been since the peple had been given a prphet (ver 300 years), this must have been a dramatic develpment fr the peple When the Lrd steps ut f 300 years f virtual silence and prvide a prphet, yu have t wnder what s cming And there were big changes cming fr the peple But thse changes are freshadwed by events with the Ark Which Samuel intrduces in v.21, which takes us t chapter 4 next week 2015 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.