God’s Word Comes

The author of 1 Samuel tells us that, having heard the words of God Himself, the boy Samuel lies down until morning. He lies down, but we can hardly imagine that he sleeps. What a whirl of emotions he must be experiencing—fear at having been in God’s presence, stunned amazement that God would speak to him, and certainly great distress that judgment against the family of his mentor is fast approaching. Quite understandably, he is afraid to tell Eli what God has revealed to him. At dawn, he goes about his regular tasks, opening the doors and such, probably hoping to avoid Eli and his questions. But it is not to be. Eli calls Samuel to him, addressing the boy as ” ‘my son’ ” and politely asking him to reveal what God said. But he also adds a common Hebrew oath: ” ‘God do so to you, and more also, if you hide anything from me of all the things that He said to you.’ ” He is calling on God to judge Samuel if he fails to reveal all that God has revealed to him. There is no indication that Samuel has thoughts of doing otherwise before Eli adds the oath, and he tells Eli all that God told him. Eli’s response is one of acceptance and submission: ” ‘It is the Lord. Let Him do what seems good to Him.’ ” With these words, the high priest implicitly acknowledges his sin and admits that he has no grounds to quarrel with God’s judgment.

Having told Eli the word of God, Samuel’s first prophetic assignment is complete. It is only the first of many. The closing words of chapter 3 give us a sense of the changes that come about because of Samuel’s call. It becomes clear that God is with the boy as he grows, for He begins to reveal Himself to Samuel at Shiloh with some regularity. Presumably these are words of revelation to the Israelites as a people, for we are told that “the word of Samuel came to all Israel.” Moreover, God does not let Samuel’s utterances “fall to the ground.” In other words, his prophecies prove accurate, which is the test of a prophet (Deut. 18:21–22). Slowly the realization spreads across the nation that there is a true prophet in Shiloh. God is speaking to His people once again; the drought of revelation is over. It is as if God Himself has returned to Shiloh after an absence. No doubt this is a time of great joy for the faithful remnant in Israel, for they recognize divine revelation as the mighty blessing it is.