Have you ever had an appointment or a delivery window of time for something that you purchased? It was important that you were available and listening for whoever was coming to provide the service or deliver the thing you purchased. To not be available and listening was to risk missing out and being disappointed that your opportunity was wasted. In 1 Samuel 3:8–20, God called Samuel at an early age to serve as a Prophet who would lead Israel in obedience to Him. Samuel made himself available and listened for God’s calling. When he answered, God’s initial message to Samuel was a devastating judgment against Eli and his lineage of the priesthood because of their sins. What is God calling you to do for His kingdom? In order for you to know, you must be available and listening for His voice. Amen.
A third time the LORD called, “Samuel!” 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.
The LORD came and stood there, calling as at the other times, “Samuel! Samuel! ”
Then Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant is listening.” (1 Samuel 3:8-10)
God called Samuel at a young age to be a prophet to serve Him. Two previous times, Samuel had heard a voice calling his name. But Samuel was confused, hearing his name being called in the middle of the night. He assumed it was Eli calling out to him, and had gone to answer the priest. This third time, Eli was able to discern that it was God calling to Samuel. So Eli instructed Samuel to answer God’s call, by saying “speak, for your servant is listening”. Eli recognized that God was calling Samuel for his service, and that Samuel‘s response should indicate that he was a willing servant of the Lord.
And the LORD said to Samuel: “See, I am about to do something in Israel that will make the ears of everyone who hears about 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 blasphemed God, 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.’” (1 Samuel 3:11-14)
When God spoke to Samuel, His message was that He planned to remove Eli’s lineage from serving as priests. God told Samuel that this action would make everyone take notice when they heard the news. And He explained His reason for this pronouncement upon Eli‘s family. Eli’s sons were corrupt and blasphemous against God, and Eli had done nothing to stop them.
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.” 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.”
The LORD was with Samuel as he grew up, and he let none of Samuel’s words fall to the ground. And all Israel from Dan to Beersheba recognized that Samuel was attested as a prophet of the LORD. (1 Samuel 3:15-20)
Upon hearing the Lord‘s instructions and prophetic word, Samuel went back to sleep. In the morning, Eli inquired what the Lord had spoken to Samuel. He warned Samuel not to hide anything from him. When Samuel shared what God had spoken to him, Eli did not hold it against Samuel. He recognized that God had given Samuel a prophetic word, and he accepted God’s judgment against the sins of he and his family, saying that it was what was good in God’s eyes.
Conclusion
God called Samuel at a young age to serve him. To speak and do what God told him to say and do. He became a leader of Israel, leading them to do what was right in God‘s eyes. Unlike Eli, Samuel was faithful to God his entire life. Whereas Eli and the priesthood failed in their calling to guide Israel in obedience to God, Samuel became the transition point between Israel’s apostasy in the time Judges, and God using prophets instead of priests in His revelations to Israel. He would also have the honor of being the one who anointed David as king (a man after God’s heart) based on God‘s directive. And through David’s lineage would come Jesus, the One who sits on the throne forever. But it all started for Samuel with a simple answer to God‘s call…“Speak, for your servant is listening“.
What does God have for you to do for the kingdom? Are you someone who is willing to answer God‘s call? Will you say to Him, “Your servant is listening”? God wants to use all of His children to serve him, and to do what we were created to do. He has something great that He wants done for His kingdom, and you are the one that He has chosen to do it. But it begins with you having a willing spirit to answer and be used by the God. In fact, that may be Him calling us right now… “Speak Lord, for your servant is listening”!
Blessings, Rev. Glenn
