1 Samuel 2:20-3:920And Eli blessed Elkanah and his wife, and said, The Lord give thee seed of this woman for the loan which is lent to the Lord. And they went unto their own home. 21And the Lord visited Hannah, so that she conceived, and bare three sons and two daughters. And the child Samuel grew before the Lord. 22Now Eli was very old, and heard all that his sons did unto all Israel; and how they lay with the women that assembled at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. 23And he said unto them, Why do ye such things? for I hear of your evil dealings by all this people. 24Nay, my sons; for it is no good report that I hear: ye make the Lord's people to transgress. 25If one man sin against another, the judge shall judge him: but if a man sin against the Lord, who shall entreat for him? Notwithstanding they hearkened not unto the voice of their father, because the Lord would slay them. 26And the child Samuel grew on, and was in favor both with the Lord, and also with men. 27And there came a man of God unto Eli, and said unto him, Thus saith the Lord, Did I plainly appear unto the house of thy father, when they were in Egypt in Pharaoh's house? 28And did I choose him out of all the tribes of Israel to be my priest, to offer upon mine altar, to burn incense, to wear an ephod before me? and did I give unto the house of thy father all the offerings made by fire of the children of Israel? 29Wherefore kick ye at my sacrifice and at mine offering, which I have commanded in my habitation; and honorest thy sons above me, to make yourselves fat with the chiefest of all the offerings of Israel my people? 30Wherefore the Lord God of Israel saith, I said indeed that thy house, and the house of thy father, should walk before me for ever: but now the Lord saith, Be it far from me; for them that honor me I will honor, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed. 31Behold, the days come, that I will cut off thine arm, and the arm of thy father's house, that there shall not be an old man in thine house. 32And thou shalt see an enemy in my habitation, in all the wealth which God shall give Israel: and there shall not be an old man in thine house for ever. 33And the man of thine, whom I shall not cut off from mine altar, shall be to consume thine eyes, and to grieve thine heart: and all the increase of thine house shall die in the flower of their age. 34And this shall be a sign unto thee, that shall come upon thy two sons, on Hophni and Phinehas; in one day they shall die both of them. 35And I will raise me up a faithful priest, that shall do according to that which is in mine heart and in my mind: and I will build him a sure house; and he shall walk before mine anointed for ever. 36And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left in thine house shall come and crouch to him for a piece of silver and a morsel of bread, and shall say, Put me, I pray thee, into one of the priests' offices, that I may eat a piece of bread. 1And the child Samuel ministered unto the Lord before Eli. And the word of the Lord was precious in those days; there was no open vision. 2And it came to pass at that time, when Eli was laid down in his place, and his eyes began to wax dim, that he could not see; 3And ere the lamp of God went out in the temple of the Lord, where the ark of God was, and Samuel was laid down to sleep; 4That the Lord called Samuel: and he answered, Here am I. 5And he ran unto Eli, and said, Here am I; for thou calledst me. And he said, I called not; lie down again. And he went and lay down. 6And the Lord called yet again, Samuel. And Samuel arose and went to Eli, and said, Here am I; for thou didst call me. And he answered, I called not, my son; lie down again. 7Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, neither was the word of the Lord yet revealed unto him. 8And the Lord called Samuel again the third time. And he arose and went to Eli, and said, Here am I; for thou didst call me. And Eli perceived that the Lord had called the child. 9Therefore Eli said unto Samuel, Go, lie down: and it shall be, if he call thee, that thou shalt say, Speak, Lord; for thy servant heareth. So Samuel went and lay down in his place. (1 Samuel 2:20‑3:9).
After the Lord had given Hannah her little son, Samuel, and she had loaned him to the Lord, then He gave her three sons and two daughters. If we do anything for the Lord we can be sure He will fully reward us, although our motive in doing it is not the reward, but just to please Him.
We find here that, although Eli rebuked his sons for their wicked conduct, he did not restrain them. He allowed it to go on unpunished. We, as parents, may correct our children for their evil ways, but this is not enough. We should put a stop to it; and God holds us, as parents, responsible if we do not, as He did Eli here.
God then sent one of His servants to Eli to tell him how He was going to punish him for the sins of his sons. Let us remember, children, that if your parents do not make you obedient, God says they are honoring you above Him, and this is serious indeed. He will have to punish them for this, as He did Eli. Oh, dear parents, let us not think that we are wiser than God, who has told us to use the rod upon our children (Proverbs 13:24, 19:18), for if we spare them, God.will have to use the rod of His chastisement upon us for our folly and disobedience to His Word. How often this has taken place, as we all know!
God said that in place of the house of Eli, He would raise up a faithful Priest who would walk before His Anointed forever. This is undoubtedly a beautiful reference to the millennial day, when Christ will be both Priest and King. The priesthood had failed, and the king who was soon to be chosen would fail too, but it is remarkable to read this prophecy here concerning Christ. The priesthood was to be set aside as the direct means of God speaking to His people, and now, before a king ever reigned in Israel, God tells us of His anointed One. It is lovely to see this, I say, for in the Word of God, purpose is always before responsibility. Man has always failed under responsibility, but, thank God, His purposes shall stand forever.
We now come to the interesting story of Samuel as a child. The dear little lad had early learned to be helpful, and to serve the Lord. He had learned the preciousness of the Word of God too, although so young, for God had not spoken by signs for some time. Let us always read and value the precious Word of God, the Bible.
One night, when both Eli and Samuel had gone to bed, Samuel heard someone calling him. Like an obedient little lad he jumped out of bed, and ran in to Eli and said, “Here am I; for thou calledst me.” Eli had not called him, and he thought Samuel had just imagined it, so he told him to go and lie down again. Samuel did so, and before long he heard the voice again. For the second time he went to Eli and said, “Here am I; for thou didst call me.” Eli assured him that he had not called, and told him to go and lie down again.
Soon the voice called again, the third time, and Samuel ran in to Eli. By this time Eli realized that it was the Lord who was calling Samuel, and so he told him to lie down in bed once more, and if the voice called again to just say, “Speak, Lord; for Thy servant heareth.” What a lovely attitude for a little boy, with his ear opened to hear the Lord speaking to him!
ML 04/18/1954