1 Samuel · chapter 3 of 31
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1 Samuel 3 tells how the Lord calls young Samuel at night at Shiloh. Samuel thinks Eli is calling him three times, until Eli understands and teaches him how to answer. God then announces that he will judge Eli's house for the wickedness of his sons, and in the end all Israel recognizes Samuel as the Lord's prophet.
As this chapter opens, the word of the Lord was rare in Israel and visions were not widespread. After the warning of the man of God in chapter 2, God himself now speaks, and he does so to a boy serving in the sanctuary. This chapter marks the moment when Samuel stops being the priest's helper and begins to be God's spokesman.
The young Samuel was serving the Lord under Eli. In those days the word of the Lord was rare and visions were not widespread. Eli, whose eyesight had grown dim, was lying down in his place, and Samuel was lying down in the Lord's temple where the ark of God was, before the lamp of God had gone out.
The Lord called Samuel by name. The boy answered and ran to Eli, thinking Eli had called him, but Eli said no and told him to lie down again. This happened three times. Samuel did not yet know the Lord, and the word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him. The third time, Eli understood that the Lord was calling the boy and told him that if he was called again he should answer that the Lord should speak because his servant was listening.
The fourth time the Lord came and stood and called again, and Samuel answered as Eli had taught him. God told him he was about to do something in Israel that would make the ears of everyone who heard it tingle: he would carry out against Eli everything he had said about his house, because Eli knew his sons were behaving wickedly and had not restrained them. For that reason the guilt of Eli's house would not be atoned for by sacrifice or offering.
Samuel lay until morning and then opened the doors of the house of the Lord, but he was afraid to tell Eli the vision. Eli called him and urged him strongly not to hide anything. Samuel told him everything, and Eli answered that the Lord should do what seemed good to him. Samuel grew, the Lord was with him, and he let none of his words fall to the ground. From Dan to Beersheba, all Israel knew that Samuel was a prophet of the Lord, and the Lord continued to reveal himself at Shiloh by his word.
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
We are told the word of the Lord was rare and visions were not widespread. The setting is one of spiritual silence, which makes it more striking that God chooses to speak to a boy rather than to the established priests.
Eli instructs Samuel that if the Lord calls again, he should answer that the Lord should speak because his servant is listening. It is an attitude of readiness and obedience that serves as a model for anyone approaching God's word.
God says he will judge Eli's house forever because Eli knew his sons were behaving badly and did not restrain them. Eli's fault was not a single act but leaving uncorrected a sin he knew about.
Samuel grows, the Lord is with him, and none of his words fall to the ground. This line presents Samuel as a reliable prophet whose message comes true, in contrast to the corruption of the priesthood at Shiloh.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: It was rare, and visions were not widespread. — 1 Samuel 3:1
Answer: Three times; the third time Eli realized it was the Lord. — 1 Samuel 3:4-8
Answer: That the Lord should speak because his servant was listening. — 1 Samuel 3:9
Answer: Because Eli's sons were acting wickedly, and Eli knew it and did not restrain them. — 1 Samuel 3:13
Answer: He was afraid to tell it to him. — 1 Samuel 3:15
Answer: That he was established as a prophet of the Lord, from Dan to Beersheba. — 1 Samuel 3:20
This chapter encourages us to listen to God with an open heart. Samuel did not recognize the voice, but he was available and learned with the help of someone more experienced. In a small group or Sunday school class, it is a good occasion to talk about how to walk beside young people in their spiritual lives and how adults can teach them to hear God in his word.
It also speaks of the courage to tell the truth. It cost Samuel to deliver a hard message to the man who had raised him, but he did it without cutting anything. And Eli, though under judgment, accepted the message with humility. Ask yourself what uncomfortable truths you need to hear or speak in love, and whether you are willing to answer: speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.
1 Samuel 3 ends with Samuel recognized as a prophet throughout Israel and the Lord revealing himself at Shiloh through his word. In the next chapter, the judgment announced on Eli's house begins to be fulfilled when the Israelites go out to war against the Philistines and the ark is put at risk.
The text says Samuel did not yet know the Lord because the word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him. It does not mean he did not believe in God, since he served in the sanctuary, but that he had not yet had the direct experience of hearing God speak.
They are details of the place where Samuel slept. The lamp that had not yet gone out suggests it was the early hours of the morning, and the ark is a reminder that God was present among his people. Some readers see in the lamp an image of the light that still remained in Israel.
The text says their guilt would not be atoned for by sacrifice or offering forever. The sin of Eli's sons was a deliberate contempt for the Lord's offerings, and the punishment on their house would be carried out. The law of Moses provided atonement for sin committed unintentionally, but here there is rebellion without repentance.