GOD CALLS THE YOUNG. 1 Samuel 3. Listening and responding are vital in forming and retaining a meaningful relationship with God. In the days of the judges, the voice of the Lord had rarely been heard for those three hundred years. Very few prophets spoke to God's people because they had let too many things come in the way. Before long, we Christians can become used to how things are and think everything happening around us is not all that bad. Some people are waiting for God to speak to them, unwilling to accept that He already has spoken to them in His word. When people refuse to accept the truth God has already said in words we can understand, then any "vision" would have no meaning. To many today, the "word of the Lord is precious (rare)" because they would rather read the books people write about the Bible than the Bible itself. God speaks to us clearly through the written word; we must learn to act upon it and what it tells us.
“Knowing God” implies a personal experience and a direct relationship with Him. Responding to God’s call opens our hearts and minds to Him, revealing Himself through His word. When God speaks, we are expected to listen and respond to what He says. Even though we likely will not hear God's call in an audible voice, Samuel's response teaches us to understand our attitude and actions to a call of God.
Hannah could care for and teach Samuel the ways of the Lord when he was young, and he could serve Eli in the Tabernacle and know all about the Lord, even wear an ephod, making him look like a priest, but none of that made him “know the Lord.” There had to be a personal response to the call of God before he actually knew the Lord. He was likely around twelve years old when this event happened.
No matter how obedient a child might be to parents or how intelligent in the scriptures they may be at a young age, there has to come a time when they hear the Spirit of God speaking to them personally. By faith, they respond to the unseen God by speaking to Him. “If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in thy heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.” That confession demonstrates the reality of faith in Christ. Instead of waiting in silence for something to happen to them, one speaks openly in faith to the Lord Jesus as a person.
There are a number of things we can learn from this boy, Samuel, that we can apply to ourselves - old or young. Samuel was serving in the Tabernacle, the house of God. Then Samuel was clothed with priestly garments. More than that, and perhaps because of that, Samuel pleased God and found favor with men. In contrast to the evil of Eli's sons and Eli's lethargic approach to the work of the Lord to which he had been called, there was the brightness of Samuel's testimony as a young boy growing in the Lord while Eli was declining in eyesight.
There is service we can do for the Lord where He has placed us. That is where we begin with God. There is a difference, even in the outward appearance, that reveals the attitude of heart of those who want to please and serve God. It is no accident that those who honor God He honors. There are good reasons for this. To be engaged in priestly service is not a small thing, no matter how insignificant it may seem. Also, there is evidence of spiritual growth when serving in a respectable and dignified way. Both people and the Lord see evidence of growth when one is in the right place, doing the right things despite all that goes on around them.
Eli's experience as a priest, age, and position did not make him a man of faith and obedience. He had spent his whole life in the service of God by serving God's people, but he had overlooked his responsibility to his family. Eli was "laid down in his place," which must have been in or very near the holy place and within earshot of the Holiest of all. He had become so used to the way things were that the lamp of God, which was supposed to burn perpetually, went out shortly after he was used to going to sleep. Samuel would not have known the difference, so it was normal for him to go to sleep nearby.
God speaks to those He knows will listen and do what He says. Our desire to do the work of the Lord can cause us to neglect our own family, who may suffer the effects of that neglect. If our sense of personal importance overrides our family responsibility, we sin. We must not forget the necessity of keeping God's word for our guidance. In that way, we are ready to act when directed by the Lord and to do so within the boundary of God's revealed will in the scripture. When God speaks, we must be ready with “here am I” to act on this call. We need to be prepared for God to work at any place, at any time, and through anyone He chooses. Service can degenerate into a quest for personal importance.
"In those days," God was silent to the nation, the priest was failing, and the light was going out in the house of the Lord. There was a spiritual famine in the land of Israel because there was "no open vision,” and hearing from God was not common. Moral darkness had settled down upon the nation; the priest had laid down on the job, and the lamp of God was burning down. Such a condition would make us so discouraged and pessimistic that we would figure we had passed the place of recovery. But God’s chain of command is based on faith, not age or position. Eli’s service to God apparently caused him to neglect his family. The sin of Eli’s sons could not be covered by sacrifice.
In that setting, which, from man's perspective, was hopeless, a small boy was serving the Lord in a simple way and with the devoted service peculiar to those who have no personal agenda to which they are committed. God can and will use who He chooses to do what needs to be done, even when more qualified people are there. Like Samuel, when we are ready and willing to obey Him, we hear the call of the Lord and learn to recognize His voice. When we read the Word, He reveals His plans and will to us. Then the messenger of the Lord by which He communicates His mind comes to us, and then the presence of the Lord, by which blessing is given to us and our ministry, is effective.
Samuel was resting near where God rests, "where the ark of God was." That is a good place to be because one can hear the voice of God when they are close to Him. A child can hear the word of God. He can hear about God. Samuel was where he could hear God. He heard God speak four times before Eli guided him to understand the voice was from God. Samuel received a message very similar to the prophet's message to Eli. Now Samuel knew what Eli knew. Disaster was coming to Eli's home was the message to both of them.
Waiting upon God is never wasted time. Often, time is needed so we do not make a mistake. We need to listen to God more than those who talk about God. "The words of wise men are heard in “quiet," when we hear the voice of God; we should speak readily and willingly. Don't keep God waiting when He speaks to us. Receiving a message comes to those who hear Him and serve Him. Receiving a message from God comes to those who hear Him and truly want to serve Him. Judgment is necessary when sin is committed, but mercy is offered when repentance is real.
Samuel was ready and eager to hear what God had to say to him. That attitude was the foundational practice of Samuel’s whole life and his ministry. He immediately followed God's guidance when he realized God had a specific work for him. There were occasions when he asked God for clarification about a matter, but acting on what God said characterized his service to God.
The attitude of listening for God to speak to us through His word is of paramount importance in our lives. Being ready and eager to do God’s will makes our lives meaningful to us and useful to others. We may not be directed each day to a specific work or service, but when we read God’s word and meditate on it, we are ready to act on what He directs us to do or the message He wants to pass on through us at the time of His choosing.
Like Samuel, we need to be able to recognize His voice when He calls us. When we have the word of the Lord in our hearts, He can reveal His will and work to us. When we know the Lord’s presence with us, He can communicate His mind and message through us. That opens up doors of service that He has for us and the divinely imparted power to make it effective.
When "judgment begins at the house of God," all the people of God are affected. Counterfeit Christianity is going to be judged as counterfeit Judaism was judged. Samuel probably lay awake until morning, thinking about what was coming. After he opened the doors of the house of the Lord in the morning, he knew he would have to tell Eli what God had told him. "I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than to dwell in the tents of wickedness." Even though he was a child, Samuel was old enough to understand and recount the Lord's message to Eli. When Samuel heard the voice of God and the message He gave, he also received a revelation of what "Lord" means. The word of the Lord broke the silence of God, and Samuel, the last of the judges, became the beginning of the line of prophets. His first prophetic word was to unveil sin and its consequences to the people of God. However, his ministry would reveal God's love for His people and His plans to bring a day of glory that will be seen. The old priest had been bypassed, and a new generation was to speak for God.
There is authority to which we all must bow when God speaks. People need to hear the bad and the good when God speaks to us through His word and servants. Anything left out that should be heard is really dishonest. God is raising up people of a new generation in our day to preach the Gospel and teach His people. They deserve our support, and we need to listen to their message from the position of the new generation and help them see and understand the value of the things we have learned. It is up to us, who are older, to assist them in moving forward and taking responsibility for the people of God.
Samuel told it all to Eli, who knew he had been set aside and a young person had been taken up to lead in service for God. Eli bowed in submission and resignation rather than in repentance and faith. Samuel is raised as "the man of God," with the presence of the Lord real to him and the power of the Lord impacting his words at the place where the Lord again appears - Shiloh. Samuel heard the Lord speak to him at other times, and the messages he received came to pass. From then on, throughout the rest of his life, Samuel was recognized by the children of Israel as a prophet of God.
Early conversions followed by a life of living for God help young people overcome the pressures of youth and teenage years and mature with their faith in the solid rock of the word of God. Young people need the help of spiritually mature people as soon as they are saved. In the privacy of life, when a person is young, they can hear the voice of the Lord in simple, understandable terms. They can minister to the Lord in simple and practical ways when no one else is looking and do what they do as "unto the Lord," not trying to impress anyone. Our attitude toward God, His word, and His people are formed in that time of our Christian life. Our actions are not complicated, and not much is expected of us, but what we attempt for the Lord is very special to us and others. During those early years of our Christian life, habits are formed that stay with us and will bless others and honor the Lord throughout our lifetime.
The Israelites rarely heard God's voice for years, decades, and centuries during the time of the judges. Very few people were concerned about God or listening to His Word. They were more concerned about the idols that attracted the people around them. But a young boy fresh from the faith and support of his mother was one God could speak to when He couldn’t find another who was even interested in what He had to say. Samuel had served the Lord well by serving an old man who didn’t have a lot of discernment but had a big job. We are not sure what all Samuel did, but God was, and He still can see when service for Him is done for the highest reason. Serving others is one way of serving God. Moreover, it is a way we can please Him.
When we are ready and willing for God to use, this is when God will speak plainly to us through His word or those who know His word. He knows what motivates and directs the way we take and the things we do. Someone who has done well in smaller things before attempting bigger things can be trusted. God can trust that person to the service He puts in our hands to do for Him. Even when times are dark, and there seems no end to the departure and rejection of truth, God will find a listener and let him turn on the light of truth that will lead men from darkness into day. The truth of God affects all they do, and hopefully, people will hear what they say.
Graceful living for God has a powerful effect on many people, especially young people, even though they are inexperienced. If a person comes fresh from the school of God in his heart, God can speak to others through him. Through an available person, God can bring life to a generation whom God’s expectations cannot meet.