Ep. 72 - Samuel's First Prophecy

In the last episode, we learned about the miraculous birth of a boy named Samuel. For a long time, Samuel’s mother, Hannah, couldn’t have children. And one day, after it had been weighing on her heart for years, she went to the tabernacle, poured out her soul, and prayed for God to give her a child. And as part of her prayer, she made a promise - if God gave her a male child, she would give him to the Lord…that is to say, she would give him to the priests to help take care of the tabernacle. And wouldn’t you know it, after the high priest Eli blessed her prayer, Hannah went back home and became pregnant. And she delivered a male child…a beautiful boy who she named Samuel. A few years later, Hannah went back to the tabernacle and made good on her promise. And, no doubt with tears in her eyes, she gave her precious miracle child to the high priest Eli. What was going to happen to Samuel? Did God maybe have a special plan for this miracle boy? Well, let’s find out.

Now when Hannah made good on her promise to give her child to God, she could at least take some comfort that Samuel would grow up in a great place…or as parents like to say…grow up in a good environment. I mean, what better environment could a young boy grow up in than with priests…the very people who would have known all the holy scriptures, the very people who helped with all the special tabernacle services, the very people who were always close to the holy place, the most holy place, and ark of the covenant? There couldn’t have been any better environment than that, right kidzos? Well, not quite. Because as it turns out, many of the priests who were serving the tabernacle were corrupt. And the most corrupt of the priests were high priest Eli’s two sons - Hophni and Phinehas.

These two characters seemed to think that being a priest was less about serving God and more about getting rich. These two would steal from the Israelites who came the tabernacle to offer sacrifices. For example, for certain types of sacrifices, you were supposed to burn the fatty parts of animal on the alter, give a small part of the animal to the priests for them to eat, and then the rest of the animal was supposed to be boiled and then given to the family that had brought the sacrifice. But instead of doing that, Hophni and Phineas would go over to the pot where the meat was being boiled, take a big sharp hook, dunk it into the boiling water…and whatever the hook caught when they pulled it up, the priests would keep for themselves…sometimes leaving nothing for the family. Sometimes they would just go to people before they’d had a chance to sacrifice and steal the meat raw…meaning these poor people who’d journeyed from who knows where wouldn’t even be able to sacrifice at all. And these guys would do all kinds of other horrible things too. Like there were these women who would hang out at the entrance of the tabernacle, who…as far as we can tell…had dedicated their lives to helping the priests and the tabernacle…well…Hophni and Phinehas would force these women to sleep in the same bed as them even though they weren’t married. Terrible, right kidzos?

Now if you will remember, around this time, the Israelites were still ruled by the Philistines and still struggling with false gods. But even when the Israelites wanted to do the right thing and worship the true God, some would hesitate because of the bad things that Hophni and Phinehas were doing. You can just imagine someone thinking…yah I’d love to go to Shiloh this year and offer sacrifices there…but do I really want to deal with Hophni and Phinehas? Maybe not.

Now, where was high priest Eli, the father of Hophni and Phineas, in all of this? Well, it seems that Eli himself was a good high priest…he wasn’t corrupt and he tried to do his best to serve God. But for whatever reason, Eli could not bring himself to do anything about these bad things that Hophni and Phinehas were doing. Eli talked to them about it, told them to knock if off…but when they ignored him…Eli did nothing. And ya know, it would be one thing if this was just some random family like mine or yours where the parents are just having a hard time disciplining their kids. But this was the family of the high priest…this was the family that represented God to the rest of the nation… and the sons of the high priest were expected to follow God’s law. And so, God couldn’t stand by and do nothing.

So, God sent a warning to Eli. And one day a man showed up with a message from God for Eli, and he said, “Thus says the Lord: … Why do you kick at My sacrifice and My offering which I have commanded in My dwelling place, and honor your sons more than Me, to make yourselves fat with the best of all the offerings of Israel My people? … Behold the days are coming that I will cut off your arm and the arm of your father’s house, so that there will not be an old man in your house. And you will see an enemy in My dwelling place, despite all the good that which God does for Israel. … Now this shall be a sign to you that will come upon your two sons, on Hophni and Phinehas: in one day they shall die, both of them. Then I will raise up for Myself a faithful priest who shall do according to what is in My heart and in My mind. I will build him a sure house, and he shall walk before My anointed forever.” (2:27,29,31,32,34,35) God warned Eli that if he didn’t do anything about his sons, that God was going to take drastic action…that one day both his sons would suddenly die, that somehow an enemy of Israel would take over the tabernacle, and that God would take away Eli’s family privilege of serving as Israel’s high priest…a job that had passed from son to son to son for generations. It was a dire warning…one that Eli best not ignore.

And what did Eli do? Well, as far as we can tell…not much. He no doubt told his sons what God had said, and no doubt tried again to convince them to stop doing all these bad things…but as usual Hophni and Phinehas ignored their father. And so the corruption, and the stealing, and the smearing of God’s name continued. And ya know kidzos…on a side note…this is what can happen when parents fail to discipline their kidzos. As far as we can tell, Eli hadn’t disciplined his sons at a young age, and they had gotten used to disobeying their father. And when they were kids, maybe this wasn’t a huge deal. But when those disobedient sons grew up, and they started not only disobeying their father but also disobeying God…well that’s when it became a big deal…for everyone. And it’s the same for you kidzos. If you are disobedient to your parents when you are young, you will most likely disobey God when you grow up. And no parent wants to see this. And so, because your parents love you, and want the best for you (and don’t want you to turn out like these two characters, Hophni and Phinehas, in our story), they will discipline you. So when your parents are punishing you for this or that, you might think that your parents are mean, or harsh, or that they hate you…but it’s exactly the opposite. They are punishing you because they love and want the best for you.

So, when Hannah delivered her son to the tabernacle, this is the “environment” that little Samuel came into…not quite what anyone would have expected. And of course, seeing all these bad examples all around him, Samuel just followed along, right? I mean, you kids know how it is…you can see 100 good things happening and no big deal…but you see one bad thing happen and that’s all you want to do…right? Riiight? Well…not for Samuel. In fact, the Bible says that Samuel, “ministered before the Lord, even as a young child, wearing a linen ephod.” (2:18) Despite everything that was happening around him…despite the bad environment, Samuel faithfully served Eli and God’s tabernacle. He worked hard, he did what he was told, and he always tried to do the right thing. Recognizing Samuel’s special character and his faithful service, Eli decided to let him wear a linen ephod…which was a simple but special robe that showed that Samuel was serving the tabernacle…something usually only worn by Levites…and even then, usually not worn until at least the age of 25. And not only that, but as far as we can tell, Eli came to really love the boy and even seems to have raised Samuel as his own son…even sleeping in the same house together. And it’s easy to understand why. With all the trouble that Hophni and Phinehas was giving him, it would have been a huge comfort spending his time with this faithful boy.

But even though Samuel was helping Eli to feel a little better about his problems, that didn’t mean that the problems were going away. God’s tabernacle and His services were still being corrupted. God’s name was still being drug through the mud. And so, our patient God, who is always trying to find ways to be merciful, send Eli another warning…this time in the gentlest way possible. One night, while Eli and Samuel were sleeping soundly, Samuel suddenly woke up to his name being called, ”Samuel!” Of course, thinking that Eli had called him, Samuel got out of his bed, rushed over to Eli, and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” (3:5) A startled Eli woke up, and confusedly looked at Samuel and said, “I did not call; lie down again.” (3:5) And so a confused Samuel obediently went back to his bed…probably things…boy that was weird. But, just as Samuel was falling asleep again, he heard the voice call him again, “Samuel!” (3:6) This time Samuel was sure Eli had called him, and he rushed over to Eli again and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” (3:6) But again, the tired old Eli answered him, “I did not call, my son; lie down again.” (3:6) And a now thoroughly confused Samuel went back to his bed…he’d was so sure that Eli had called him that time…what was the deal? But then again, for the 3^rd time, he heard the voice call him, “Samuel!”. Ok now Samuel was ultra super duper sure that Eli had called him, and he rushed to Eli’s room yet again and said, “Here I am, for you did call me.” (3:8)

Eli, probably starting to get a bit irritated, was about to send Samuel back to his bed for the 3^rd and hopefully final time, when a thought occurred to him…what if? Is it? Could it be? Well, there was one way to find out. And Eli turned to Samuel and said, “Go, lie down; and it shall be, if He calls you, that you must say, ‘Speak, Lord, for Your servant hears.” (3:9) Eli thought maybe…just maybe…the voice that Samuel was hearing was God. And if God was talking to Samuel, Samuel should listen. And so, Samuel, probably feeling the weight of what Eli was telling him to do, dutifully went back to his bed and laid down. And sure enough, for a fourth time the voice called out to him, “Samuel! Samuel!” (3:10) And Samuel answered as Eli had told him to, “Speak, for Your servant hears.” (3:10) Then, out of darkness, the voice continued, and said, “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.” (3:11-14) And then, just as quickly as the voice came, the voice went away.

Oh boy. This was definitely not a nice thing that God was telling Samuel. God was telling Samuel that Eli was very quickly running out of time to do something about Hophni and Phinehas…that Eli couldn’t keep asking God for forgiveness for what his sons were doing. And that if Eli didn’t act soon…everything God had warned him about was going to happen. And Samuel, after hearing this hard message from God, just laid there. He didn’t want to say anything to Eli. Samuel loved Eli…the old man was like a father to Samuel…and Samuel did not want to give him bad news. And God hadn’t actually told Samuel to tell Eli. And so, without saying a word, Samuel turned over in his bed and tried to go back to sleep.

The next morning, Samuel did his best to avoid Eli. He woke up early and got started on his daily chores…probably trying to stay out of Eli’s way. But of course, Eli hadn’t forgotten what had happened the night before, and he eventually cornered Samuel and 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 the things that He said to you.” (3:17) Since Samuel had been trying to avoid him, Eli probably figured it wasn’t good news. So he really had to push Samuel to tell him…which Samuel did. And so Samuel shared with Eli Samuel’s first prophecy…and told Eli everything that God had told him the night before – that Eli was running out of time to do something about his sons, and that if he didn’t act, God was going to follow through on everything. It was a tough prophecy…and he delivered it faithfully to this man whom he loved deeply.

Unfortunately, this wouldn’t be the last time that Samuel had to deliver a tough message from God. As the years went on, and Samuel continued to grow in strength of body and strength of mind, God continued to speak through Samuel. And over time, all the people of Israel came to know that Samuel was a prophet. And the Bible says, “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.” (3:19-20) But would people listen to Samuel’s prophecies? Would Eli listen to Samuel’s prophecies? What other tough prophecies was Samuel going to have to deliver? Well, we will find out all about it…next time.