When God Breaks the Silence - 1 Samuel 3:1-4:1a
The Bible is the most popular book ever written, and yet, so many know so little about it. Most of us probably have half a dozen copies of it in our homes, but few have actually read it cover to cover.
And to be fair, it is a long book, but how important is it to you? I mention this because we’re not called to own copies of God’s word, we’re called to love, know, and receive God’s word.
And that’s precisely what we see in this passage. Samuel was formally called by God in his service, but more than that he was called to communicate the word of God. Remember, Samuel serves as a transitional figure for Israel. He’s the last judge and functions as both a priest and a prophet.
And so Samuel had a responsibility to share God’s word. He too, had to receive and then communicate God’s word.
This passage breaks down into three parts: first, we learn of God’s silence (vv. 1-3), then God’s word Revealed (vv. 4-14), which meant that God’s word had to be Delivered (vv. 15-4:1a).
As we saw last week, 1 Samuel chapter 2 highlighted the depth of depravity that was taking place among Eli’s own sons, Hophni and Phinehas.
They were stealing the Lord’s portion of the offering, engaging in sexual sin in the tabernacle, but their most egregious offense was that they did not know the Lord.
But so much of what we read last week is contrasted by what we just read. Chapter 3 begins by telling us that, “...the boy Samuel was ministering to the Lord in the presence of Eli.”
Samuel was growing up and faithfully serving the Lord in the tabernacle with Eli. The word ‘boy’ can be translated as ‘youth,’ which seems to suggest that Samuel was like 12, 13, or 14 years old.
In other words, the young Samuel was the opposite of Hophni and Phinehas.
God’s silence (vv. 1-3)
However, there is a major problem in Israel: “…the word of the Lord was rare in those days; there was no frequent vision.”
In other words, God was silent. The people didn’t hear from the Lord. Remember, the primary way people heard from the Lord at this point in redemptive history was through prophetic words and visions.
Those things are no longer necessary now that we have the written word of God, but those things were absolutely crucial during Samuel’s lifetime. A lack of prophetic words and visions would be the modern equivalent to not having access to the Bible.
Amos chapter 8 says,
“Behold, the days are coming,” declares the Lord God, “when I will send a famine on the land—not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord. 12 They shall wander from sea to sea, and from north to east; they shall run to and fro, to seek the word of the Lord, but they shall not find it.”
There was a famine at this time in Israel. But it wasn’t a lack of bread. It was a lack of God’s Word. And of course, this was often understood as a sign of God’s judgment.
Which shouldn’t be a tremendous surprise based upon everything that we know was going on in Israel at that time. Especially when you consider the heinous sins of Eli’s two sons Hophni and Phinehas. Evil seemed to flourish while a genuine love for God seemed to be scarce.
As worship grew more corrupt and God’s people were either indifferent or hostile towards him, he’d pull his presence from his people.
And the way you would know that he had pulled his presence from his people was by the fact that they’d never hear from him! There would be no prophetic word! There would be no vision from the Lord.
Which seems to shed some light on this passage. It all takes place in the evening as Eli and Samuel are preparing to go to sleep. They had just gotten their MyPillows out and were snuggling into their Geza Dream Sheets.
The sun had set but the Lamp of God had not yet gone out. The lamp of God or the golden lampstand, which was lit every night was still just barely burning. And the lamp of God or golden lampstand was a symbol of God’s presence with his people.
Which is why it’s significant that we’re told in verse 3 that it, “had not yet gone out.” The light of God’s presence was still glowing!
Talk about incredible imagery! Darkness was all around, but the light of God’s presence hadn’t gone out! Although God’s word was rare, he hadn’t totally abandoned his people.
God’s word is a symbol of his grace isn’t it? The fact that you can pick up your Bible and know that you need to put your trust in Jesus Christ, that’s a gift. In many ways, we’re blessed by the fact that we’re no longer dependent upon prophets as God’s people were in Samuel’s day, because we have the Bible. So the temptation would be to believe that because God’s word is so accessible that his word is no longer rare.
But that would be incorrect. God’s word can still be rare. But it’s not rare due to lack of availability, what makes God’s word rare today is an unwillingness to receive his word.
I like the way the commentator Dale Ralph Davis put it, “...the word of God still becomes rare [because] people have no ears to hear. In fact, even the ability to hear [from God is a] divine gift. We may have the Scriptures but suffer from deafness, and so the word is rare. Starvation may not come from absence of food but from lack of appetite. When God’s Word – written, preached, is welcomed – [that] is [a] token of God’s grace to [his] people.”
That’s the problem isn’t it? Not access, but an unwillingness to receive from God’s word.
We’ve all seen this sort of thing! We know people who profess faith, understand God’s word, but refuse to listen to it.
In many ways it was the same in Samuel’s day. Hophni and Phinehas knew stealing the Lord’s portion and engaging in sexual immorality in the tabernacle were not God’s will and yet, they did it anyway.
God’s Word Revealed (vv. 4-14)
But God’s word would break through the silence in a very clear way, wouldn’t it?
In fact, what we read might be one of the most famous scenes in all of 1 Samuel.
On three separate occasions the Lord calls to Samuel, and each time Samuel runs to Eli and says, “Here I am!” Three times God called, “Samuel!” and three times he ran to Eli thinking it was him who called him.
What really stands out from this whole episode is Samuel’s sincerity and innocence. We get an explanation in verse 7: “Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, and the word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him.”
That’s not a comment on the status of Samuel’s salvation, as much as it is a comment on Samuel’s lack of prophetic experience. He hadn’t known the Lord in a prophetic way. God had not literally spoken to him before. Which would of course explain Samuel’s confusion. He didn’t understand what was going on at this point.
It was Eli who eventually “perceived” it was God speaking to Samuel. After Samuel ran into his room for the third time, Eli told him to say, “‘Speak, Lord, for your servant hears.’”
I’m going to go out on a limb and say none of us have had God stand at our door and speak to us. This is a highly unique situation!
The Westminster Shorter Catechism 89 reminds us of this truth when it asks,
How is the Word made effectual to salvation?
The Spirit of God maketh the reading, but especially the preaching, of the Word, an effectual means of convincing and converting sinners, and of building them up in holiness and comfort through faith unto salvation.
Not all that long ago, I heard a story about a pastor, I might have been John MacArthur who shared this story, but he said that one Sunday after the sermon, a man came up to him and said, “you know, pastor, I think I got saved! And he said, praise the Lord, I’m so happy to hear that. I’m just curious, was there a specific moment in the sermon that had a dramatic impact on you?” And the man said, “No no. It had nothing to do with the sermon. It was when you read the Scriptures.”
No doubt, God works through the preaching of his word, but we’ve all heard countless stories of people getting saved because they decided to start reading the Bible.
This passage is revealing to us something about God and his nature, isn’t it? And what I think this passage demonstrates for us God’s word has the power to alter history and change lives.
And when you recognize the beauty and significance of God’s word then you have no choice but to submit your life to it.
And what’s so significant about these sorts of stories is that those who have been saved simply by reading God’s word are because they put themselves under it. They submitted their lives to it. They were willing to receive it and it changed their lives.
Not only did Samuel’s life change the moment he received a prophetic word from the Lord, but so did all of Israel for that matter! The fact that Lord spoke to Samuel meant that the famine of God’s word was over.
And so God finally breaks his silence and reveals a wonderful message to Samuel of great tidings of abundant joy! Is that what happened? No, not at all. Samuel’s first message from the Lord is a very difficult one.
But of course God choosing to speak through Samuel was a heavy responsibility. Because now that God had spoken to him, he now had a responsibility to share God’s message.
Look at verse 11 with me.
“Behold, I am about to do a thing in Israel at which the two ears of everyone who hears it will tingle. 12 On that day I will fulfill against Eli all that I have spoken concerning his house, from beginning to end. 13 And I declare to him that I am about to punish his house forever, for the iniquity that he knew, because his sons were blaspheming God, and he did not restrain them. 14
Therefore I swear to the house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli's house shall not be atoned for by sacrifice or offering forever.”
God instructed Samuel to tell Eli that the prophetic word that was delivered by the nameless prophet in chapter 2, would soon be fulfilled. God said Samuel, “I am about to punish [Eli’s] house forever!”
Why is God going to destroy Eli’s family legacy? Because Eli knew that his sons, Hophni and Phinehas were, “blaspheming God, and he did not restrain them.” They were devouring the Lord’s portion of the sacrifices and engaging in sexual immorality within the tabernacle and Eli did nothing.
And it was particularly egregious for Hophni and Phinehas to devour the Lord’s portion of sacrifices, because by that one action, they demonstrated hostility for the very elements that represented atonement for sin.
Hophni and Phinehas understood that the sacrificial elements represented forgiveness of sins, and yet, they didn’t care. They didn’t care about God.
I can’t help but see a parallel between God’s judgment on Eli’s house as the fulfillment of what we read every week from 1 Corinthians 11. The Apostle Paul warns the church in Corinth that if you reject the atoning work of Jesus Christ but shamelessly participate in the Lord’s Supper, the very meal that represents forgiveness of sins, then you eat and drink judgment on yourself.
Isn’t that what Hophni and Phinehas were doing on a regular basis? Just making an absolute mockery of God’s grace.
After all, the sacrifices point us to God’s grace to us through Christ’s once for all sacrifice on the cross.
Which is why it was so offensive for Hophni and Phinehas to eat God’s portion of the sacrifice. It was a clear demonstration that they didn’t care about having their sins forgiven.
And so the Lord tells Samuel that because they didn’t care about having their sins forgiven, guess what? They’re sins won’t be forgiven. In fact, they’re going to be held accountable for their sins.
This is why God says in verse 14, “...I swear to the house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli's house shall not be atoned for by sacrifice or offering forever.”
They had treated forgiveness of sins with contempt. They thought God’s grace, mercy, and forgiveness was a joke.
This is a warning to all of us this evening: the gospel of Jesus Christ is deadly serious. We should never take God’s grace, mercy, and forgiveness in Christ for granted. We should never let ourselves believe that it’s our right for our sins to be forgiven. No, it’s an unmerited gift that should bring us to our knees with gratitude. “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”
This is what makes ministry difficult in my opinion: not just saying the things that everyone wants to hear. Every minister wants to preach grace, but not every minister wants to preach “because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of God's righteous judgment.”
And yet, you need the bad news in order to fully appreciate the good news, right?
Which makes this passage so interesting! The word of the Lord finally breaks through to Samuel and he makes him deliver bad news. He has to tell Eli that God’s wrath and judgment upon his house is imminent.
It’s difficult to deliver bad news in general, but it’s especially difficult to deliver bad news to people that you care about.
We learn from the text that Eli and Samuel had grown close. Eli called Samuel, “my son” in verse 6. It certainly seems plausible that Eli had a closer relationship with Samuel than he even did with his own sons, Hophni and Phinehas. And of course, Samuel would have had a relationship with Hophni and Phinehas as well.
This was in many ways a test for Samuel’s ministry: was he willing to say what God says and let the chips fall where they may!
God’s Word Delivered (vv. 15-4:1a)
And so you feel the tension in the text. Would Samuel have the courage to tell Eli what God said or would he sweep it under the rug? You totally understand why Samuel would not have slept a wink that night.
Verse 15 tells us, “And Samuel was afraid to tell the vision to Eli.”
Initially, Samuel didn’t want to tell Eli. Eli had to call Samuel to him and ask him what the Lord had said to him.
Verse 17: “What was it that [the Lord] told you? Do not hide it from me. May God do so to you and more also if you hide anything from me of all that he told you.” 18 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.”
Eli had to threaten Samuel with a curse in order to get him to speak. And to be fair to Eli, Samuel had a responsibility to share the word of the Lord with him!
“So Samuel told him everything and hid nothing from him.”
He shared with Eli God’s word of judgment upon his house and how the Lord’s wrath would fall upon them for their sin. But the way Eli responds is remarkable isn’t it? “It is the Lord. Let him do what seems good to him.”
Eli was a complex person wasn’t he? We like to box people into the categories of ‘good guys’ or ‘bad guys.’ But Eli doesn’t neatly fit into either box. He’s certainly a sinner, but accepts God’s word with humility.
And it’s from here, we begin to see more clearly the changing of the guard. Samuel was going to replace Eli. Samuel was God’s chosen instrument.
The elderly Eli was being replaced by the youth Samuel. The old man whose eyes had grown dim was being replaced by the young man who had visions.
God’s favor was not upon the man who would “[lie] down in his own place” but upon the youth who would make his bed in the “in the temple of the Lord.”
And all of this stressed at the end of our passage.
“And Samuel grew, and the Lord was with him and let none of his words fall to the ground. 20 And all Israel from Dan to Beersheba knew that Samuel was established as a prophet of the Lord. 21 And the Lord appeared again at Shiloh, for the Lord revealed himself to Samuel at Shiloh by the word of the Lord.”
“4 And the word of Samuel came to all Israel.”
Hannah’s prayers were answered. Samuel, who was desperately prayed over and prayed for, was growing into a man of God.
The Old Testament prophets were essentially the Bibles for the people of Israel. If they wanted to hear from the Lord, then they needed to pay attention to what the prophets had to say.
And that’s exactly what happened to Samuel. The word got out that Samuel was a prophet of the Lord. And we’re told in verse 21 that, “the Lord revealed himself to Samuel at Shiloh by the word of the Lord.”
In other words, the Lord told Samuel what to say, and Samuel communicated his word. “And the word of Samuel came to all Israel.”
Again, Samuel was a transitional figure for the people of Israel. He functioned as both a priest and a prophet. He was a faithful minister for the people of Israel.
And one of the distinguishing characteristics of a faithful minister is that he’s willing faithfully to communicate the whole counsel of God. To be even more specific, he’s willing to communicate the unpleasant parts of the word of God.
Ministers are to proclaim the good, the bad, and the ugly.
Samuel faced that challenge right out the gate. It wasn’t, “you’re going to preach at a tent revival where 10,000 people are going to be saved! Congratulations buddy!” No, his first message was to the man he was closest to where he had to say, “God’s judgment is upon you and your entire household.”
Samuel didn’t want that message and who can possibly blame him!
But the reality is, faithful ministers must be willing to communicate, at times, unpopular messages.
If every sermon is smiley faces, rainbows, and sunshine, then they’re not adequately reflecting God’s word that they’re called to preach!
And of course, there is grace and mercy for all who turn from your sin and trust in Jesus.
The reminder for all of us this evening is that we must receive God’s word with humility.
I’m sure many of you are aware that Thomas Jefferson famously took a pen knife to his Bible and cut out all the miracles. Effectively, he cut out all the parts that he didn’t like.
But ladies and gentlemen, I’m here to tell you we don’t have that right. God’s word is truth which means it’s all or nothing.
But always remember what God told Isaiah:
“But this is the one to whom I will look [for]: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word.”
Is that you? Do you treat God’s word with contempt? Or do you humbly submit yourself to it?
Let’s pray together.
