1 Samuel 3:1 Now the boy Samuel was ministering to the LORD before Eli. And word from the LORD was rare in those days, visions were infrequent.

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1 Knock, Knock September God s There 1 Samuel 3 Page 1 We saw the vast difference last week between the atmosphere at the Tabernacle versus Samuel and his dedication Remember there is a in the Land Eli has been Judge in the Land As it pertains to Eli and his family, it s good to be the judge Another look at the period of time we are in The center of the Nation was intended to be around the The crisis of leadership, which we saw in Judges, is an infection which has also affected the priesthood Hophni and Phinehas reflect what has happened to the tribe of Levi and worship at Shiloh They have been aiding and abetting driving the from God They have turned the priesthood into a profession and worship The center of worship was to be here God s presence was visibly still here But God, due to the problem with the priesthood, was not talking much anymore. 1 Samuel 3:1 Now the boy Samuel was ministering to the LORD before Eli. And word from the LORD was rare in those days, visions were infrequent. How old is Samuel at this point? Now when Samuel was twelve years old, he began to prophesy: and once when he was asleep, God called to him by his name; and he, supposing he had been called by the high priest, came to him: but when the high priest said he did not call him, God did so thrice. Flavius Josephus and William Whiston, The Works of Josephus: Complete and Unabridged (Peabody: Hendrickson, 1987). We know that there is a lack of leadership, there is also a lack of. This is the real problem Deuteronomy 8:3 He humbled you and let you be hungry, and fed you with manna which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that He might make you understand that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the LORD. God is not talking at the place He is to be worshiped to those who are supposed to be leading that worship Who has he talked to Hannah An unknown prophet Neither one at Shiloh That is all about to change

2 Not hearing from God, not relying on His word on hearing from Him is a threat we see issued in Amos Page 2 Amos 8:11 12 Behold, days are coming, declares the Lord GOD, When I will send a famine on the land, Not a famine for bread or a thirst for water, But rather for hearing the words of the LORD. People will stagger from sea to sea And from the north even to the east; They will go to and fro to seek the word of the LORD, But they will not find it. The people had taken God for granted and His word for granted As a result, His Word This will happen again several more times and also, as we see in Amos, at the end of the age. How did this happen? Eli is part of the problem What do we know about Eli to this point? He is very old He has taken liberties with the Word and with his office He has committed idolatry by holding his sons as more important than God s Word He has failing eyesight 1 Samuel 3:2 3 It happened at that time as Eli was lying down in his place (now his eyesight had begun to grow dim and he could not see well), and 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 We see a picture, in Eli s physical condition, of the of the people The people do not see well spiritually, neither does Eli There is clearly a connection between the rarity of the word of the Lord and the failings of the priesthood. God would not speak often to such a priesthood, and when he did speak, it would be the kind of terrible word that we heard at the end of chapter 2. John Woodhouse, 1 Samuel: Looking for a Leader, Preaching the Word (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2008), 74. Notice where Eli is resting,. Nothing wrong with that but we do not know exactly where that is Where is the 12 year old Samuel resting? 1 Samuel 3:3 and 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 To fully understand just where Samuel was, we have to understand a bit about the layout of the holy place in the Tabernacle just outside the Holy of Holies. Tabernacle holy place The Temple Institute Many of the items have been reconstructed in preparation of the Temple being rebuilt

3 Page 3 The lampstand is probably the most perfect picture of Christ found in the tabernacle furniture. It sets Him forth as pure gold and speaks of His deity. It sets Him forth as He is God. Worship has to do with walking in the light. J. Vernon McGee, Thru the Bible Commentary, electronic ed., Ex 25:40 (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1997). Made of gold a sign of pointing directly to God but notice beaten gold Isaiah 53:5 But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, and by His scourging we are healed. John 19:1 3 Pilate then took Jesus and scourged Him. And the soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on His head, and put a purple robe on Him; and they began to come up to Him and say, Hail, King of the Jews! and to give Him slaps in the face. How many lights on the lampstand? Why seven? Seven is the number of Six is the number of Man John 15:5 I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. The light was necessary for worship to take place

4 Page 4 John 8:12 Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life. Without light, you would be worshipping in the dark, God wants The oil has to be present for the light to shine The oil points directly to the The oil energizes the light as we too now can shine forth for Christ Philippians 2:14 15 Do all things without grumbling or disputing; so that you will prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world Matthew 5:14 16 You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven. Why almond blossoms? It is the first tree to bloom each spring in the Promised Land A picture of the of Jesus Christ The placement of the Lampstand, in the Holy Place, only visible to the Priests Who are priests in the New Testament Christ is hidden to the world but visible to the priests What is Samuel? By the way, after His resurrection, who saw and touched Christ? Revelation 5:9 10 And they sang a new song, saying: You are worthy to take the scroll, And to open its seals; For You were slain, And have redeemed us to God by Your blood Out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, And have made us kings and priests to our God; And we shall reign on the earth. (NKJV) The placement of the Lampstand in front of the Table of Showbread Only through the ministry and power of the Holy Spirit can we perceive the. Only by the Spirit can we feed upon the nourishment of the Word of God About the Number of Lights Isaiah 11:1 2 Then a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse, and a branch from his roots will bear fruit. The Spirit of the LORD will rest on Him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and strength, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD. Other than in Exodus 25, the Lampstand is mentioned two other times in scripture 1 Samuel 3:2 3 It happened at that time as Eli was lying down in his place (now his eyesight had begun to grow dim and he could not see well), and 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 God warning Eli of coming judgment Pointing to the judgment of the

5 Page 5 Daniel 5:2 When Belshazzar tasted the wine, he gave orders to bring the gold and silver vessels which Nebuchadnezzar his father had taken out of the temple which was in Jerusalem, so that the king and his nobles, his wives and his concubines might drink from them. The Lampstand is part of this, out it comes to light up the party God judges the TribulationIt was to be kept lit always The manner in which it is referenced here, it appears it is the duty of Samuel to ensure that it stays lit Leviticus 24:2 4 Command the sons of Israel that they bring to you clear oil from beaten olives for the light, to make a lamp burn continually. Outside the veil of testimony in the tent of meeting, Aaron shall keep it in order from evening to morning before the LORD continually; it shall be a perpetual statute throughout your generations. He shall keep the lamps in order on the pure gold lampstand before the LORD continually. 1 John 1:5 This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. The path to approach God was to always be lit, He is to hear from His people So here we have Samuel, lying down to sleep in or very near to the Holy Place The incense has a distinctive odor that can only be used in one place, the Holy Place The light is always on The table of shew bread is there In this place with the distinctive sights and smells of the presence of God, Samuel rests 1 Samuel 3:2 10 It happened at that time as Eli was lying down in his place (now his eyesight had begun to grow dim and he could not see well), and 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, that the LORD called Samuel; and he said, Here I am. Then he ran to Eli and said, Here I am, for you called me. But he said, I did not call, lie down again. So he went and lay down. The LORD called yet again, Samuel! So Samuel arose and went to Eli and said, Here I am, for you called me. But he answered, I did not call, my son, lie down again. Now Samuel did not yet know the LORD, nor had the word of the LORD yet been revealed to him. So the LORD called Samuel again for the third time. And he arose and went to Eli and said, Here I am, for you called me. Then Eli discerned that the LORD was calling the boy. And Eli said to Samuel, Go lie down, and it shall be if He calls you, that you shall say, Speak, LORD, for Your servant is listening. So Samuel went and lay down in his place. Then the LORD came and stood and called as at other times, Samuel! Samuel! And Samuel said, Speak, for Your servant is listening. The lamp of God had not yet gone out There was for Israel The light was not totally gone yet There is still hope for us The lamp of God has not yet gone out Just as He calls to us, He called to Samuel The first two calls to Samuel are the same as the calls the Holy Spirit makes to us as He goes about introducing us to Jesus these are calls to Note verse 7, Samuel is being raised up in the training of the Lord, He is serving in the Tabernacle, and it is time for Him to know God and know God s word and in addition to know God s calling on His life

6 Page 6 Samuel did not know the Lord. God was calling him to salvation. What is the age of accountability? Whatever it is, Samuel had reached it, and God is now going to hold him responsible. In the Book of Numbers a man was not able to go to war until he was twenty. The Levites did not begin their service until they were twenty-five years old, and the priests began to serve at age thirty. When Israel turned back to wander in the wilderness because of unbelief, only those who were under twenty years of age were allowed to live and go into the Promised Land. I do not know exactly how old Samuel was, but we can be certain he was not a toddler. J. Vernon McGee, Thru the Bible Commentary, electronic ed., vol. 2 (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1997), 130. Now imagine this, you are sleeping in the Holy place You have heard someone call out your name twice now You have responded to whom you thought was calling, but he is not the one calling. Eli tells you it is the Lord You return to the Holy place, you are asleep on the ground directly in front of the curtain that leads to the Holy of Holies No one enters the Holy of Holies except on the Day of Atonement God s presence is over the Holy of Holies And now someone through the curtain And what is the reaction of this 12 year old? To me, a reflection of, it does not say he is surprised or that he gets up, he listens to what it is God says to Him, it is his next step 1 Samuel 3:10 15 Then the LORD came and stood and called as at other times, Samuel! Samuel! And Samuel said, Speak, for Your servant is listening. The LORD said to Samuel, Behold, I am about to do a thing in Israel at which both ears of everyone who hears it will tingle. In that day I will carry out against Eli all that I have spoken concerning his house, from beginning to end. For I have told him that I am about to judge his house forever for the iniquity which he knew, because his sons brought a curse on themselves and he did not rebuke them. Therefore I have sworn to the house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli s house shall not be atoned for by sacrifice or offering forever. So Samuel lay down until morning. Then he opened the doors of the house of the LORD. But Samuel was afraid to tell the vision to Eli. Now the ministry of Samuel It begins with him up the doors of the Holy Place Samuel has been called as a His first message, not a happy one But in the middle of the night he responded Do we respond when called in the middle of the night? Notice, the Lord called Samuel by and Samuel recognized the calling, he thought it was Eli because his response was immediate But he was called by name John 10:2 4 But he who enters by the door is a shepherd of the sheep. To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he puts forth all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice.

7 Page 7 Also notice that Samuel experienced a A visible pre-incarnate appearance of the Messiah The message given was a heavy tough message to be given to a young man But none of the men were spiritually mature enough to hear The only one listening to God, the only one desiring to be as close as possible without breaking the law is a When God couldn t find a man to be a Judge, He called Deborah When God could not find a priest of age to call, He called Samuel 1 Corinthians 1:26 29 For consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble; but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are, so that no man may boast before God. Samuel didn t know the message the unknown prophet had delivered to Eli, but the message God gave him confirmed it. The Lord would judge the house of Eli because Eli s two sons made themselves vile [contemptible] and Eli did nothing to restrain them. Warren W. Wiersbe, Be Successful, Be Commentary Series (Colorado Springs, CO: Victor/Cook Communications, 2001), 28. Eli knew that God had spoken with Samuel He wanted to know what was said, but I think he already had a hint of that from earlier 1 Samuel 3:16 21 Then Eli called Samuel and said, Samuel, my son. And he said, Here I am. He said, What is the word that He spoke to you? Please do not hide it from me. May God do so to you, and more also, if you hide anything from me of all the words that He spoke to you. So Samuel told him everything and hid nothing from him. And he said, It is the LORD; let Him do what seems good to Him. Thus Samuel grew and the LORD was with him and let none of his words fail. All Israel from Dan even to Beersheba knew that Samuel was confirmed as a prophet of the LORD. And the LORD appeared again at Shiloh, because the LORD revealed Himself to Samuel at Shiloh by the word of the LORD. I am sure Samuel did not want to deliver to Eli the message that God left him with But God has now used him as a prophet Not all of the messages from God are pleasant Just as when we teach God s word Not all of the teachings are pleasant Deuteronomy 4:2 You shall not add to the word which I am commanding you, nor take away from it, that you may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you. 2 Timothy 4:1 4 I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths.

8 Page 8 After avoiding him as long as he could, Eli confronts Samuel and gets the story He accepts it as from God And now we see the beginning of Samuel s ministry He grew in his ministry Everything he prophesied came to pass Everyone knew he was a Shiloh regained its prestige as the central sanctuary of God s people, not because the ark was there, but because an accredited man of God was there. The text suggests that people would come to Shiloh to consult with the boy prophet. The reason Samuel could make such accurate predictions is that the Lord continued to appear (lit., added to appear ) to him at Shiloh. Yahweh would reveal himself to Samuel through his word, (lit., in the word of Yahweh ), i.e., through a prophetic announcement of his word. Samuel then would take that word to all the people of Israel (v. 21). James E. Smith, 1 & 2 Samuel, The College Press NIV Commentary (Joplin, MO: College Press Pub. Co., 2000), 80. Remember, there is a leadership crisis in Israel How did God solve the problem, with a man who has superior skills in organization and leadership? He solves the problem through the provision of God sent a prophet who was to speak His words. Just as God led His people then with His word, He does the same today all we have to do is 1 Samuel 4:1 Thus the word of Samuel came to all Israel. Now Israel went out to meet the Philistines in battle and camped beside Ebenezer while the Philistines camped in Aphek. Past teachings, study notes and slides of Through the Bible with Pastor Ken Brown are available at: