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You can turn in your Bibles to 
1 Samuel 3. 1 Samuel 3. Chapters 1 and 2 take up the 
early life of Samuel. Actually, chapter 1 takes up 
the... pre-life Samuel indicates Hannah's 
prayer of affliction and distress. She cries out to God for a son. She promises or vows to give 
that son to the Lord and the Lord answers her prayers. So 
in chapter two there is her prayer of thanksgiving and praise unto 
God, and then the baby, after that, we find Samuel ministering, 
or growing up in the tabernacle alongside of Eli. Chapter 2 sets 
up a contrast between the wicked sons of Eli and Samuel. And so what we find in chapter 
3 is the official call to the prophetic ministry that God lays 
upon Samuel. So I want to read beginning in 
chapter 3 at verse 1 to the end of the chapter, and then we'll 
look in more detail at it. Now the boy Samuel ministered 
to the Lord before Eli. And the word of the Lord was 
rare in those days. There was no widespread revelation. 
And it came to pass at that time while Eli was lying down in his 
place, and when his eyes had begun to grow so dim that he 
could not see, and before the lamp of God went out in the tabernacle 
of the Lord where the ark of God was, and while Samuel was 
lying down that the Lord called Samuel. And he answered, here 
I am. So he ran to Eli and said, here 
I am, for you called me. And he said, I did not call, 
lie down again. And he went and lay down. Then the Lord called yet again, 
Samuel. So Samuel arose and went to Eli 
and said, here I am, for you called me. He answered, I did 
not call my son, lie down again. Now Samuel did not yet know the 
Lord, nor was the word of the Lord yet revealed to him. And 
the Lord called Samuel again the third time. So he arose and 
went to Eli and said, here I am, for you did call me. Then Eli 
perceived that the Lord had called the boy. Therefore, Eli said 
to Samuel, go lie down and it shall be. If he calls you that 
you must say, speak Lord, for your servant hears. So Samuel 
went and lay down in his place. Now the Lord came and stood and 
called as at other times, Samuel, Samuel. And Samuel answered, 
speak for your servant hears. Then the Lord said to Samuel, 
behold, I will do something in Israel at which both ears of 
everyone who hears it will tingle. In that day, I will perform against 
Eli all that I have spoken concerning his house from beginning to end. For I have told him that I will 
judge his house forever for the iniquity which he knows, because 
his sons made themselves vile and he did not restrain them. 
And therefore I have sworn to the house of Eli that the iniquity 
of Eli's house shall not be atoned for by sacrifice or offering 
forever. So Samuel lay down until morning 
and opened the doors of the house of the Lord. And Samuel was afraid 
to tell Eli the vision. Then Eli called Samuel and said, 
Samuel, my son. He answered, here I am. And he 
said, what is the word that the Lord spoke to you? Please do 
not hide it from me. God do so to you and more also, 
if you hide anything from me of all things that he said to 
you. Then Samuel told him everything and hid nothing from him. And 
he said, it is the Lord, let him do what seems good to him. 
So Samuel grew and the Lord was with him and let none of his 
words fall to the ground. And all Israel from Dan to Beersheba 
knew that Samuel had been established as a prophet of the Lord. Then 
the Lord appeared again in Shiloh, for the Lord revealed himself 
to Samuel in Shiloh by the word of the Lord. And the word of 
Samuel came to all Israel. Amen. Well, I believe central 
to chapter 3 is the word of God. In fact, if you look at verse 
1 and at the very end in verse 21, it's like book ends. We have 
a reference to the word of the Lord. The prophet's task primarily 
is to proclaim that word of the Lord as we see Samuel does according 
to chapter 4 and verse 1. One man has said concerning this 
particular instance of Samuel's call to ministry, this is Franz 
Delitzsch. He says this refer or he refers 
to Samuel's work as the establishment of a new age as Abraham is the 
father of believers and Moses is the mediator of the law. So 
Samuel is the father of the kingdom and the prophetic office. I think 
that's a pretty perceptive comment. And because I think that the, 
not because I think, but I think or I'm convinced that the word 
of the Lord is central here, I've kind of structured the exposition 
this way. First, we see the scarcity of 
the word in verse 1. Secondly, the preacher of the 
word in verses 2 to 10 Thirdly, the threat promised by the word 
in verses 11 to 18, and then the prevalence of the word in 
verses 19 to 41a. So we begin with the scarcity 
and we end with the prevalence, the prevailing of that word. 
because of the call of the prophet Samuel to this particular ministry. So let's look first at the scarcity 
of the Word, the lack of or the absence of the Word of God. Notice in chapter 3 at verse 
1, now the boy Samuel ministered to the Lord before Eli. Again, 
he's an apprentice, he's helping, he's doing those tasks that are 
fit for a young man in his particular situation. and then it says in 
the word of the Lord was rare in those days there was no widespread 
revelation. Now remember this is still the 
period of the judges and in the period of the judges we have 
a reference to Deborah who was a prophetess we have that reference 
to a particular prophet in Judges 6 in the Gideon cycle in Judges 
6, 7 to 10 there is this prophet that speaks And then we have 
the prophet in chapter 2 here in 1st Samuel. Go back for just 
a moment to 1st Samuel 2.27. Then a man of God came to Eli 
and said to him, thus says the Lord. So we don't have a whole 
lot of revelation or we don't have a whole lot of widespread 
revelation going on. at the time in Israel. And this 
probably indicates this absence of revelation, this absence of 
the word of the Lord, probably evidences the judgment of God. 
There are several places in the Old Testament that speaks of 
the absence of the word as a means of God's judgment. Psalm 74. 
You can turn to these passages because I hope that we will appreciate 
what it is that we have in terms of whole Bibles in terms of a 
church, in terms of access to, you know, a multitude of sermons 
on the Internet. We have a glut, really, of good 
things available to us, and if we don't use them, then that 
is truly a shame. Davis points out it's not just 
the absence of the word that is a means or that is an act 
of judgment, but a lack of appetite for the word. In other words, 
if you have a buffet laid out before you, if the Lord has provided 
good things, but you have no spiritual appetite for those 
things, they really don't do you any good. And that is as 
well an act or a sign that you are not in a good place spiritually. Psalm 74 verse 9. Well, beginning 
in verse 1, the prophet or the psalmist is lamenting the reality 
that God's house is in ruins. The Gentiles have come in. And 
then in verse 9 he says, we do not see our signs. There is no 
longer any prophet, nor is there any among us who knows how long. There is no longer any prophet. This is a bad thing. This is 
not a good thing. Lamentations chapter 2, specifically 
in verse 9. Remember, Lamentations is really 
that. It is a lament of the prophet 
Jeremiah after the fall of Jerusalem in 586 BC. Jeremiah is saddened. Jeremiah is a man of sorrows. Jeremiah is grieved over the 
state of the situation. And in chapter 2 at verse 9, 
our gates have sunk into the ground. He has destroyed and 
broken our bars. Her king and her princes are 
among the nations. The law is no more. And her prophets 
find no vision or prophetic revelation from the Lord. It was a time 
of God's judgment. It was a time of chastisement. The prophet Micah, one of the 
minor prophets, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah. In Micah chapter 3, a specific 
condemnation of the prophets we see in chapter 3 at verse 
5. Thus says the Lord concerning 
the prophets who make my people stray, who chant peace while 
they chew with their teeth, but who prepare war against him who 
puts nothing into their mouths. Therefore, you shall have night 
without vision, and you shall have darkness without divination. The sun shall go down on the 
prophets. and the day shall be dark for 
them. So the seers shall be ashamed 
and the diviners abashed. Indeed they shall all cover their 
lips for There is no answer from God. You see, this is an act 
of judgment. The pulling back of God, of his 
word, or of revelation, is a sign of his displeasure. In the book 
of Amos, this is promised as a threatened judgment by God. Hosea, Joel, Amos, chapter 8, 
specifically verses 11 and 12. 11 says, Behold, the days are coming, 
says the Lord God, that 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. So you see, if we do not find 
ourselves in such a situation, we ought to praise God for the 
benefits that He has given to us. And if He has given benefits 
to us, we certainly ought to use them. We ought to be students. 
of scripture. We ought to be those who attend 
public worship. We ought to be those who engage 
in family worship. It says in verse 12, they shall 
wander from sea to sea and from north to east. They shall run 
to and fro, seeking the word of the Lord, but shall not find 
it. One other passage, Proverbs 29. 
Proverbs 29, specifically at verse 18. Unfortunately, a text that has 
been yanked out of its context. If you look at the marginal reading, 
it says prophetic vision. Sometimes it just says vision. And so the visionary leaders 
in churches today use this particular verse to tout themselves or to 
highlight themselves and their vision for their specific church. 
The idea here is revelation. The idea here is the Word of 
God. It is the mind of God revealed to us in the Word of God. It 
says, where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint. 
But happy is he who keeps the law. John Gill comments on Proverbs 
2918. He says, so it was in the Gentile 
world before the gospel was brought into it. Where there is no revelation, 
the people cast off restraint. So it was in the Gentile world 
before the gospel was brought into it. And so it now is in 
those places where the seven churches of Asia were. And in 
all Asia, which once heard the word of the Lord, even all that 
large country, And now it is not heard at all in it, but covered 
with Mahatmaton darkness. And this is the case in all Popish 
countries, subject to the sea of Rome, where the word of God 
is not preached to the people, nor suffered so much as to be 
read by them. And then I like what he said 
here, and even in reformed churches, for the most part, only a little 
morality is preached and not the gospel of Christ. You see, 
we need to make sure we understand morality is not the gospel of 
Christ. The gospel of Christ answers 
to our immorality. When we, by the grace of God, 
believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, then what is preached to us is 
the law of God as the standard by which we are to conduct ourselves 
in the power of the Holy Spirit. But churches are not supposed 
to be about helping you to try a bit harder or to do a bit more. I thought that was very perceptive, 
what our dear particular Baptist brother said. And even in reformed 
churches, for the most part, only a little morality is preached 
and not the gospel of Christ. He says, so that here the people 
are perishing for lack of knowledge. Davis says, commenting on 1 Samuel 
chapter 3, he says, the absence of the word of God was a sign 
of the judgment of God, of Yahweh's withdrawing the light of his 
word and allowing Israel to wander in the darkness she apparently 
preferred. So when we come to chapter 3 
and verse 1 hits us with this reality that the word of the 
Lord was rare in those days, we really shouldn't be surprised 
coming out of chapter 2. I mean, how do the priests of 
Yahweh perform in the house of God at Shiloh? They don't know 
the Lord. They did not know the Lord and 
as a result they prostitute the sacrificial system and they also 
lay with women at the gate of the tabernacle. So it is a bad 
climate going on in Israel at this particular time. These are 
dark days in Israelites history. But we don't see this confined 
to Israel. When we look at church history, 
we see that there are times and there are seasons. Several examples 
mentioned by John Gill in that quote that I read from Proverbs. 
Several instances and seasons where the Word of God is not 
widespread, where the Word of the Lord is unfortunately rare. So we ought to conclude that 
it's wretched when churches do not preach the Word of God. In 
other words, we've been given the Word of God not to moralize, 
but to proclaim the cross of Jesus Christ our Lord. Secondly, 
we ought to reckon the blessing of churches that do preach the 
Word. I love what Davis said here. 
He says, it is a sign of God's grace when God's Word has free 
course among God's people. That is the teaching of 1 Samuel 
3. He says if contemporary believers 
have a church where social activities, committee meetings, and nifty 
programs have not eclipsed the place of the Word of God, if 
the teaching of the Word of God stands at the heart of the church's 
life, if there is a pulpit ministry where the scriptures are clearly, 
accurately, and helpfully preached, then they are rich in the grace 
of God. I think Davis hits the nail on 
the head in that particular statement. And then, as I already alluded 
to, the problem may not be an absence of the Word, but an absence 
of an appetite for the Word. And that is harmful as well. 
I mean, if God has given us this glut of resources, but we can't 
provide the simplest explanation of the simplest doctrines in 
all of the Bible, then the problem certainly is not God's, it's 
us, and we need to avail ourselves of the truth. Remember the parable 
of the sower, Matthew chapter 13, the parallel in Mark 4, the 
parallel in Luke 8. What does Jesus teach us? There are various ways to receive 
the word of God. There is only one way that is 
commended by the Lord himself. It is to believe it, it is to 
heed it, it is to walk according to it. C.H. Spurgeon makes this 
comment on the parable of the sower. He says, first, hear. Hear. Isn't that what Jesus says? Therefore, beware how you hear. Spurgeon says, hear. It is your wisdom to know what 
God says. He says, hear well. God's teaching 
deserves the deepest attention. It will repay the best consideration. He says, hear often. Waste no 
Sabbath, nor any one of its services. Use weekday lectures and prayer 
meetings. He says, finally, hear better. You will grow the holier thereby. You will find heavenly joy by 
hearing with faith. Davis says starvation may not 
come from absence of food, but from lack of appetite. But God's 
word, written, preached, welcomed, is the token of God's grace to 
God's people. So we see the scarcity of the 
word according to chapter 3 and verse 1. On the heels of this, 
or before we leave this particular section, note the mercy of God. The fact is that there was no 
widespread revelation, so what does God do? He calls Samuel 
to the prophetic ministry. God makes good. God overrules. God reverses this particular 
trend. This speaks of better things 
in Israel's future at this particular time. Remember that Samuel is 
the kingmaker. He's the one that's going to 
anoint Saul. Certainly things don't go very well under Saul. 
But under David, they certainly flourish and prosper. Under Solomon, 
they certainly flourish and prosper. At the division of the kingdom, 
not so well in the north, but there are hints and glimmers 
of good in the south. And so what we find here is God 
sends the prophets to answer to this particular scarcity. 
The Word of the Lord was rare in those days. There was no widespread 
revelation. And that sets the stage for the 
second main observation, the preacher of the Word, verses 
2 to 10. Note the first and second calls. The setting is developed in great 
length and detail in verses two and three. You can almost close 
your eyes and picture the scene. You've got the tabernacle. You've 
got the whole situation. You've got Eli laying in his 
particular bed. And you've got Samuel, the young 
man lying down sleeping. Verse two, it came to pass at 
that time. This is not general anymore. 
It's not an in those days. It's at that time. to get to 
the main point. In many respects, chapters 1 
and 2 build us up to chapter 3, because the focus now is on 
Samuel. We move from Elkanah and Hannah 
and Eli. By the time we get to the end 
of chapter 3 and the beginning of chapter 4, it's about Samuel. It's about the word of God, that 
Samuel is the vehicle or the means to propagate to Israel. That's where the focus is driving 
up to this particular point. So it came to pass at that time 
while Eli was lying down in his place and when his eyes had begun 
to grow so dim that he could not see. Now it may not be the 
case that he could not see at all. He could still see a bit. 
It could go either way. And before the lamp of God went 
out in the tabernacle of the Lord where the ark of God was, 
and while Samuel was lying down, you see, it's really painted 
for you, really kind of picture the scene here. It's prior to 
dawn, we've got darkness, the light in the outer portion of 
the tabernacle is burning, and Samuel gets the word of the Lord. The Lord called Samuel, and he 
answered, here I am. So he ran to Eli and said, here 
I am, for you called me. Now, as I'm sure any of us would 
do, if we were Eli, we'd say, I didn't call you. Go back to 
bed, right? You're tired, you're sleeping. 
If your son runs into your room and he says, Dad, what do you 
want? Well, I didn't call you. Go back and lay down. I mean, 
the way that the scene is narrated, you can imagine and picture it 
happening just like it's reported here to us. Then the Lord called 
yet again, Samuel. I'm sorry, yeah, verse six. at the end of verse 5, and he 
said, I did not call, lie down again. And he went and lay down. 
Then the Lord called yet again, Samuel. So Samuel arose and went 
to Eli and said, here I am for you called me. He answered, I 
did not call my son, lie down again. And now there's explanation 
in verse seven. Now Samuel did not yet know the 
Lord, nor was the word of the Lord yet revealed to him. Now 
this isn't an indictment like it is in 2.12 concerning the 
sons of Eli. The sons of Eli were, you know, 
young men. They were probably in their teens 
or early twenties. They should have known the Lord. 
They were priests of God Most High. Samuel is a young lad. He does not yet know the Lord. Doesn't mean it's an indictment, 
it's not a bad thing, but rather it is simply giving us the information. It's not blame, it's explanation. Samuel has not yet been given 
any personal experience with Yahweh. And so it is understandable 
that such is the case. But one thing we should appreciate 
as we move through this section is note the patience of God. 
You know, God doesn't send a big hand out of heaven and slap Samuel 
on the side of the face because he didn't get it the first time. 
Just like our Lord Jesus, have I been with you so long and you 
still don't understand these things? Or in John 16, 12, I 
still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them 
now. God goes with him each of these 
times. Samuel runs to Eli, Eli says 
it wasn't me, sends him back to bed. God speaks again. Samuel 
runs to Eli, and Eli says it wasn't me, sends him back. You 
know, we see the scene here, but we see the forbearance of 
God, the kindness of God. We see it in Acts chapter 10. How many times did Peter need 
to see the vision before he understood it? He tells us, it happened 
to me three times. I mean, you know, not everybody 
would be so forthcoming. What, you saw a vision from God 
and it took you three times to sort of process that? Yeah, we're 
thick-headed. We're not that bright. We're 
certainly not in tune with the spiritual realities that we ought 
to be with. Samuel did not yet know the Lord, 
nor was the word of the Lord yet revealed to him. That brings 
us to this particular third call. Notice in verse 8. And the Lord 
called Samuel again the third time. So he arose and went to 
Eli and said, Here I am, for you did call me. Eli's starting 
to figure it out now. Then Eli perceived that the Lord 
had called the boy. This is probably pretty exciting 
for Eli. I mean, he too lives in a day 
and age where there is no widespread revelation. When we get further 
in the narrative, Samuel is afraid to tell Eli the message of God. Why is that? Because there's 
affection between these two men. Notice in verse 6 and 16a, how 
does Eli refer to Samuel, my son? I mean, I don't think Eli's, 
you know, the worst cat in the world. He's sinful, and he deserves 
the judgment of God Most High for not having restrained his 
sons. But I'm not sure he's Satan. There is some affection there 
for Samuel. There is at least an intuition 
to say, hey, this could be Yahweh. I want you to go back and lay 
down. And when Yahweh calls again, you say to him, speak, Lord, 
for your servant ears. So Samuel went and lay down in 
his place. Now we come to the fourth call. 
Notice in verse 10, now the Lord came and stood and called as 
at other times. Samuel, Samuel, the way he did 
with Abraham, Abraham and Jacob, Jacob, God is getting the attention 
of his servant. God has something to report to 
his servant. And Samuel answered, speak for 
your servant hears. Notice the language in verse 
10, the Lord came and stood and called as at other times. Notice 
what we find in verse 21, then the Lord appeared again in Shiloh. We're probably looking at theophany, 
that is a visible manifestation of the invisible God. And what 
we, I think Gil explains it well. On verse 21 he says, for the 
Lord revealed himself to Samuel by the word of the Lord, by Christ, 
the word of the Lord, who appeared to him. It is probable and in 
human form, as he was wont to do to the patriarchs and prophets, 
and by whom the Lord revealed his mind and will unto them, 
being the angel of his presence and the messenger of his covenant. The angel of the Lord appeared 
in certain instances. in the Old Testament. When we 
see this in verses 10 and 21, it would not be incredulous to 
think that we're looking at a theophany. It says that God, or the Lord, 
came and stood and called as at other times. Then the Lord 
appeared again in Shiloh. So we see God's intimate dealings 
with this man Samuel, this young man Samuel. And then the prophet 
responds, speak for your servant ears. Now, certainly there's 
application there for us, as we come to scripture, as we come 
to church, as we come in contact with the word of the living God, 
we ought to be a people that say, speak for your servant ears. 
Now, there is difference though, because we're not prophets, we 
don't have a direct line to God. So do not wake up tomorrow morning 
and open your eyes and hold up your hands and say, Speak, Lord, 
for your servant hears. No, what is consistent for us 
as New Covenant Christians is to go to the scriptures where 
the Lord has spoken and where we are supposed to listen and 
we are to do as he calls us to do according to his word. So that is the preacher of the 
word. Now notice, thirdly, the threat 
promised by the word in verses 11 to 18. This is a grave situation, 
verse 11. Then the Lord said to Samuel, 
Behold, I will do something in Israel at which both ears of 
everyone who hears it will tingle." That phrase is used in 2 Kings 
21, 12 and Jeremiah 19, 3. It's going to be significant. It's going to be big. Now, just 
think for a moment. Eli is the priest of the house 
of the Lord at Shiloh. Eli's sons serve alongside of 
him. Certainly, Eli is a public figure. Eli is a well-known figure. Eli 
is a figure that everybody in the community would be aware 
of. For him to fall under the judgment of God would certainly 
promote tingling ears. Not least of which might be, 
well, if God deals with the priest that way for having defiled his 
house, how will God deal with me if I likewise defile his house? There are good lessons to be 
learned when there is the judgment of God unleashed upon souls. And so the ears in Israel would 
tingle. They would be aware of the reality 
that this was a significant and a massive event in this particular 
time. Notice the promised judgment 
in verses 12 to 14. The execution of judgment is 
given in verse 12. In that day, I will perform against 
Eli all that I have spoken concerning his house from beginning to end. Again, we just left chapter 2. 
That man of God comes in verse 27, and he prophesies concerning 
God's judgment upon the house of Israel. Now Samuel is to report 
to Eli, the time is up, the judgment of God is sure, punishment is 
coming to you and to your sons. Notice the reason for the judgment 
is stipulated in verse 13. God is not capricious, God is 
not arbitrary, does not act on a whim, but rather God has perfect 
reasons for what it is he does. For I have told him that I will 
judge his house forever, first, for the iniquity which he knows, 
first, because his sons made themselves vile, and secondly, 
he did not restrain them. We spent time in this last week. 
The vileness of the sons were seen liturgically. They prostituted 
sacrifice. When people came to offer sacrifice, 
those thugs would take a three-pronged flesh hook and throw it into 
the pot and take out as much as they wanted. And then when 
it came time to take the meat, without burning the fat first, 
if the worshipper reminded the sons of Eli, no, the fat is supposed 
to be burned first, the thug would get very thuggish with 
it and threaten to do harm to that worshipper. So what this 
promoted in Israel was a disdain for the worship structure, for 
the sacrificial system. If you knew that when you came 
to church, Pastor Cam was gonna bully you, you might have second 
thoughts about coming to church. Not Pastor Cam, it'd probably 
be Pastor Jim. Cam's the tender one, he's the 
gracious one. You wouldn't want to come to 
church, would you? If you were being bullied, if 
you were being ripped off, if you were having things stolen 
from you. How would that affect you? And imagine that if you 
lived in Shiloh, it wasn't like you had the first Presbyterian 
church on the corner, the first Baptist church, catty corner. 
You didn't have a, you know, sort of a community church on 
the other side. There was the house of God at 
Shiloh. There was one place in town. And so if the priests threatened 
your life, it probably didn't make you think fondly of Sabbath 
days and of trotting down to the house of the Lord to offer 
up your sacrifice. were vile men. They gave cause 
to God's people, in this instance, to disdain the house of the Lord. So it was the fact that his sons 
made themselves vile, but secondly, Eli did not restrain them. He didn't stop them. Chapter 
2, he does rebuke them. It's a marginal reading here 
in the New King James, rebuke. Maybe one of your versions has 
rebuked. Some have said, well, he did 
rebuke them in Chapter 2. I think restrain gives us the 
meaning of the word. It's not just rebuke that God 
was after with reference to the sons of Eli. It was stop them. Eli couldn't make his sons know 
the Lord. Eli couldn't make his sons stop 
being thugs. But Eli could stop them from 
being priests in the house of God at Shiloh. And he didn't 
do that. He didn't restrain them. Gil, 
again, comments this way, he says, and he restrained them 
not from their evil practices. He did not make use of his authority, 
neither as a father, which we are invested with. The fifth 
commandment, brethren, gives us authority over our children, 
not as dictators, not as commandants, not as those who can make them 
do wicked things, but there is an authority clothed in the parents 
that God stations over children, and Eli did not exercise that 
authority. He doesn't stop there. He did 
not make use of his authority neither as a father and especially 
not as a high priest. I mean, if this is going on under 
your watch, if people are being threatened when they come to 
the house of God in Shiloh, Eli, didn't you feel constrained to 
stop this wickedness? When we read this judgment and 
when we see it fleshed out in chapter 4, never think that this 
is too severe. What is severe is taking the 
house of God and making it a mockery. God the Lord is showing that 
he must be treated as holy. Same lesson that Nadab and Abihu 
learned in Leviticus chapter 10. By those who come to me, 
I must be regarded as holy. Eli did not provide an environment 
where such was communicated. Rather, Eli allowed an environment 
to flourish where the house of God was held in disdain by the 
people of God. He says, he did not make use 
of his authority, neither as a father, and especially not 
as high priest, and the judge of Israel. This was Eli's function 
as well. Now Samuel takes this over. By 
the time we get to 1 Samuel 7, we have not only the prophet 
Samuel, but he's judging Israel prior to the installation of 
Saul as king. Samuel at this time, he's probably 
still very young. It's later on that he actually 
is the judge in Israel. Gil then goes on to say, who 
ought not only to have sharply reproved them, which he did not, 
but to have censured or punished them and turned them out of their 
office, or did not frown upon them, as in the margin of our 
Bibles. You know those marginal readings, 
I guess in his margin, I didn't see that margin or that note 
in my margin, but in Gil's margin he says, he has, or did not frown 
upon them. As in the margin of our Bibles, 
he did not knit his brows or wrinkle up his face and by his 
countenance show his displeasure at their proceedings, but in 
an easy, smooth, gentle manner expostulated with them about 
them. Gil says he should have laid 
down the law with these young men. This was wrong and God gives 
this as a reason for why he is going to bring judgment. Now 
notice the inevitability of this judgment in verse 14. And therefore 
I have sworn to the house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli's 
house shall not be atoned for by sacrifice or offering forever. Ironic, this is the very thing 
that Eli confessed, or Eli admitted, or Eli said when he was speaking 
to his sons. Notice in chapter 2 at verse 
25. If one man sins against another, 
God will judge him. But if a man sins against the 
Lord, who will intercede for him? Essentially, he's telling 
his sons that when you commit a high-handed sin against God, 
this isn't the sin that God forgives because you are repentant and 
you go through the sacrificial system. This is the high-handed 
sin, similar to what we find in the New Covenant setting of 
the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. In this instance, these 
young men did not repent. There was no grief, there was 
no sorrow, there was no desire to make things right. And so 
God has sworn the vows of Eli that the iniquity of Eli's house 
shall not be atoned for by sacrifice or offering forever. Samora makes 
this observation. He says, Eli's house had despised 
the sacrifice and offering, 229, and hence these things will not 
have any efficacy on their behalf. Though normal or inadvertent 
sins of priests could be expiated by offering, Eli's sons had sinned 
defiantly and their guilt could not be removed. And it's interesting, 
he cites numbers 15 there, the old covenant, but in Hebrews 
10, 26, Hebrews 10.26 is that, you know, counting unworthy the 
one who is sanctified, trampling underfoot the Son of God, those 
who have heard the gospel, those who have defiantly rejected it 
and forsaken it. So Eli's sons are not, you know, 
misguided young men that just need a sacrifice offer. No, the 
threatened punishment of God has now been pronounced. And 
this is Samuel's first sermon. It's tough, isn't it? He's a 
young man. Notice in verse 15, so Samuel 
lay down until morning and opened the doors of the house of the 
Lord and Samuel was afraid to tell Eli the vision. Again, there's 
affection there. Samuel grew up with Eli. It's a father figure. Eli calls 
him, my son, my son. He loved Eli. Now he's got to 
tell Eli, God is going to destroy you and your house because you're 
a lousy father. That's got to be tough for the 
young man. He's afraid. Davis says there 
is always this tension in the word of God. There is always 
this tension in the Word of God. He gets the message from the 
Lord. He knows what the truth is, and now he must speak that 
truth to the target audience. But he knows that that target 
audience is somebody that he loves, and he'd really rather 
not ruin their day, if at all possible. I mean, prophets and 
preachers don't like to ruin anyone's day any more than anyone 
else likes to ruin people's days. He says, there is always this 
tension in the Word of God, and any authentic messenger of that 
Word knows and lives in it. If a preacher, for example, never 
places you under the criticism of God's Word, never tells you 
your sin, but only smothers you with comfort, you must wonder 
if he is a phony. If his preaching contains only 
the judgment note and seldom offers comfort and encouragement, 
one must ask if he actually cares for God's people. If one has 
a high regard both for the truth of God, even if it's judgment, 
and for the troubles of the church, he will retain the proper tension 
in the biblical world. He will both afflict the comfortable 
and comfort the afflicted. It's a good statement there. 
So we find that Samuel is afraid to tell Eli the message. Verse 16, Eli said, Eli, let 
me see, then Eli called Samuel and said, Samuel, my son, he 
answered, here I am. It's easy to forget the human 
element in these stories, just read through it, ah, he's getting 
on the word of God, probably this was tough. If you gotta 
say something to somebody that you know they're not going to 
like, do you guys like to do that? Do you like to tell people 
things that you know they're not going to be happy with? Imagine 
if that's your calling as a prophet. The prophet in Israel didn't 
typically wander around, have tea with people and just tell 
them everything's great, everything's cheery, everything's peachy. Typically what we find in the 
prophetic literature are messages of condemnation. There are messages 
of repentance. There are messages to upgrade 
the children of Israel. This was a tough calling. Samuel 
is cutting his teeth. His first message as a prophet 
of God is not a message of comfort. It's a message of great trouble 
for Eli. And then in verse 17, he said, 
what is the word that the Lord spoke to you? Please do not hide 
it from me. Probably he could see his countenance. 
probably he could tell, probably he saw something in the young 
man that he observed grow up under his nose. He probably saw 
something about him and he says, please tell me, do not hide it 
from me. God do so to you and more also 
if you hide anything from me of all the things that he has 
said to you. He invokes an oath. He puts Samuel 
under this act of compliance. Then verse 18, Samuel told him 
everything and hid nothing from him. Gil says, and Samuel told 
him every wit, and hid nothing from him, and so approved himself 
to be a faithful prophet of God, and man of God, as he is afterwards 
called. The whole counsel of God is to 
be declared by his servants the prophets, and the ministers of 
his word. Nothing is to be concealed, which 
it is the will of God, which it is the will of God should 
be made known, whether it be pleasing or displeasing to men. You see, that's the function 
of the prophet. But even then, we see there is 
this reluctance, this fear. You say, well, you know, that's 
the way it was for Samuel. Paul, in Ephesians 6, asks for 
prayer. He asked for prayer, pray for 
me that utterance would be given to me so that I may speak the 
gospel boldly as I ought to speak. You wouldn't think you'd need 
to pray for Paul to be a bold gospel preacher, would you? But 
probably Paul was a bold gospel preacher because the people of 
God were praying for him to be a bold gospel preacher. You see, 
brethren, you need to pray for men that stand before others 
and preach the Word of God. I'm not, you know, making some 
shameless plug here. Pray for me in camp. Pray for 
missionaries. Pray for anyone who is charged or has the task 
to tell people things that are pretty difficult, at least on 
a human level, to tell people. You think it's fun to say, to, 
you know, people, hey, you're gonna go to hell if you don't 
repent. I mean, people that find some glee and delight in doing 
that are probably people that shouldn't be doing that. You 
know, I think it was Edwards, we need to preach with one eye 
on the joy of heaven and one eye on the terror of hell. That 
provides that proper balance, that proper tension that the 
preacher of God needs to have. And then Eli resigns himself 
to the sovereignty of God. He said, it is the Lord, let 
him do what seems good to him. That's pretty amazing. It's hymn 
94 from our hymn book. Whatever my God ordains is right. It is the Lord. Let him do what 
seems good to him. I don't think it's whatever seems 
good to him. I think it's a resignation because 
he knows he's been wrong. He did not restrain his sons. 
He did not act accordingly and therefore he submits ultimately 
to God's rule. And then fourthly and finally 
the prevalence of the word. Verse 19, Samuel grew and the 
Lord was with him. Samuel grew and the Lord was 
with him. It says this about Jesus in the New Testament too, 
doesn't it? Luke's Gospel. He grew in wisdom 
and in stature with God and men. Same is true with Samuel the 
prophet. He grew and the Lord was with him and let none of 
his words fall to the ground. It's beautiful language there. 
Let none of his words fall to the ground. That means when Samuel 
spoke, The word of the Lord, it was confirmed, it was affirmed, 
it was indeed the truth of God Most High. Notice, and all Israel 
from Dan to Beersheba knew that Samuel had been established as 
a prophet of the Lord. Then the Lord appeared again 
in Shiloh for the Lord revealed Himself to Samuel in Shiloh by 
the word of the Lord. And the word of Samuel came to 
all Israel. So that's the emphasis. That's 
where we've been driving to, to this particular point in time 
in the narrative. Samuel is the prophet of God. 
Samuel is the mouthpiece of God. Samuel is to go out and do the 
bidding of God. From Dan to Beersheba recognizes 
this, they understand this, they know that they are in a state 
or a situation where they have the mouth of God coming through 
the prophet Samuel. We learn from this passage that 
the absence of revelation is the judgment of God. When we 
do not have the Word of God, that is not a good thing. It 
is a bad thing. When we have the Word of God, 
it is blessing. We ought to avail ourselves of 
it. We ought to be students of scripture. 
You know, I always make a plug, by the end of the year, coming 
into the new year, You're starting January 1st. Dare to be a Daniel 
and read through that Bible in a year. I mean, we can do those 
things we want to do. We can do those things and carve 
away or carve out time for things that are important to us. We 
probably have hobbies or we have, you know, leisure time or we 
have something. I mean, we live in a day and 
age where we have, you know, so many electronic devices to 
make our lives easier, to make ourselves more efficient. I mean, 
we're not having to walk down to the well 15 times a day and 
schlep buckets up so that we can, you know, hand wash our 
clothes. We can throw clothes into the 
washing machine and shut it and read the Bible. I mean, we have 
the opportunity. You know, people say, but I'm 
so busy. Joshua was a busy man. I don't 
know a busier man or how a man could be busier than commanding 
the armies of Israel to go in and utterly dispossess the land 
of Canaanites from the land. I don't know what could be a 
more difficult job than cutting off heads, stabbing people, and 
breaking things, and taking land and property. And yet, God tells 
Samuel, meditate on my law day and night. When the king of Israel 
took his throne in Deuteronomy 17, what was he supposed to do? 
He was supposed to take out his own ink pen, he was supposed 
to take out his own sheet of paper, and he was supposed to 
write the law of the Lord. He was then to put it in his 
pocket, and then he was to take it out several times during the 
day and read it. You see, it just doesn't fly 
in this generation to say, I'm so busy, I don't have time to 
read my Bible. You probably do. I'm guessing 
you do. There are busy people, and you're 
all busy, and I'm not undermining or underestimating that. It's 
easy for you to say, Butler, that's what you're paid to do 
is sit and read your Bible. Yeah, even then. Still got to 
work at it and discipline and all those sorts of things. Brethren, 
January 1st, take McShane and say, I'm going to read through 
the McShane calendar, some calendar, something. I don't want to be 
the McShane cult leader here. It's just something I use and 
enjoy. But January 1st, and you've got a few days even ahead of 
time, go ahead and start. Get a jump on it. Read scripture. It is a blessing from God most 
high. As well, the importance of the 
word is held out here. We see our need for scripture. When God wants to set things 
in order in Israel, what does he do? He raises up a prophet 
and he sends him to preach the truth to the people in Israel. And then the role of Samuel the 
prophet. I'll quote Samora and then we end. Samora, by the way, 
is a Japanese man who's got a very excellent commentary on the book 
of 1 Samuel, David Samora. He says, we now see Samuel at 
the point towards which the whole story has led. From the time 
before his birth by God's action, through the notes of his growing 
up. He had served God as a child in the temple, but now he serves 
all Israel as a prophet. Amen. Well, let us close in a 
word of prayer. Our father, we thank you for 
this chapter. We thank you for this book. We thank you for the 
entirety of the Bible. And I pray that you'd help us 
to be students. Help us to be eager, father, 
to read these things, to study the law. Make us like Ezra, who 
set his heart to study the law of the Lord and to do it and 
to teach the statutes in Israel. Give us grace, father. Give us 
the Holy Spirit. Give us discipline and conviction 
and the things that we need to be students of Holy Scripture. We thank you for Samuel's role 
in redemptive history. We see such a significance to 
it. We thank you for the way that 
you worked out your providence in the history of Israel and 
now in the New Covenant Church. We thank you for your sovereignty. 
We thank you for your glory and your majesty. Go with us now, 
we pray in Jesus' holy name. Amen.