King James Version, with Nii Okai's journal notes · 10 notes
1And the child Samuel ministered unto the LORD before Eli. And the word of the LORD was precious in those days; there was no open vision.
2And it came to pass at that time, when Eli was laid down in his place, and his eyes began to wax dim, that he could not see;
3And ere the lamp of God went out in the temple of the LORD, where the ark of God was, and Samuel was laid down to sleep;
4That the LORD called Samuel: and he answered, Here am I.
In a sense, this goes to show God does speak through the voice of his servants... through preaching, counsel and advice.
5And he ran unto Eli, and said, Here am I; for thou calledst me. And he said, I called not; lie down again. And he went and lay down.
6And the LORD called yet again, Samuel. And Samuel arose and went to Eli, and said, Here am I; for thou didst call me. And he answered, I called not, my son; lie down again.
7Now Samuel did not yet know the LORD, neither was the word of the LORD yet revealed unto him.
He did not know the Lord? Of course he knew the Lord... He was a priest.
He did not yet know the Lord in knowing his ways and in hearing and identifying his voice.
8And the LORD called Samuel again the third time. And he arose and went to Eli, and said, Here am I; for thou didst call me. And Eli perceived that the LORD had called the child.
Double meaning here.
One being God had called Samuel as described here, and the second being Samuel had received a calling — i.e. he had been ushered by God into his prophetic office.
Even though, reading contextually, it's in reference to a literal verbal call, as in when one calls another.
But the second is so right even within the context.
9Therefore Eli said unto Samuel, Go, lie down: and it shall be, if he call thee, that thou shalt say, Speak, LORD; for thy servant heareth. So Samuel went and lay down in his place.
10And the LORD came, and stood, and called as at other times, Samuel, Samuel. Then Samuel answered, Speak; for thy servant heareth.
Ah, so refreshing to see God the Father here again being described in almost literal and physical terms, though he is a spirit.
It has been a while God was described in this way, i.e. appearing in his place at the altar and in the tabernacle, his dwelling place.
Indeed, the word of the Lord was scarce, but God had found himself a man 👨, the boy Samuel.
Now God was back 💪.
11And the LORD said to Samuel, Behold, I will do a thing in Israel, at which both the ears of every one that heareth it shall tingle.
12In that day I will perform against Eli all things which I have spoken concerning his house: when I begin, I will also make an end.
13For I have told him that I will judge his house for ever for the iniquity which he knoweth; because his sons made themselves vile, and he restrained them not.
Not the iniquity which he committed, but the one he knoweth and did nothing about.
An iniquity he called only a transgression. He made light of it, though he knew how grievous it was.
Why didn't God speak to the boys himself? Maybe he did, though I suspect he did not.
These were sons of Belial and not worth his time and attention.
He won't honour them with his voice and word apart from what was written, which they were not obeying anyways.
That would suffice, and if they refused that one, it was up to them.
It's like Abraham telling the rich man that the law and the written word was enough, and they need not any to come out of the grave for them to believe.
If they disobeyed the written word... no miracle would convince them otherwise.
I wonder, so does that mean Eli did not repent even after he was warned by the first man of God?
14And therefore I have sworn unto the house of Eli, that the iniquity of Eli’s house shall not be purged with sacrifice nor offering for ever.
15And Samuel lay until the morning, and opened the doors of the house of the LORD. And Samuel feared to shew Eli the vision.
16Then Eli called Samuel, and said, Samuel, my son. And he answered, Here am I.
17And he said, What is the thing that the Lord hath said unto thee? I pray thee hide it not from me: God do so to thee, and more also, if thou hide any thing from me of all the things that he said unto thee.
How did Eli know that the Lord had spoken clearly and it concerned something important?
How come he seemed so versed in the things of God?
Maybe he himself used to experience same as a boy 🧒, or when he was much younger.
But now it seems as the Lord had left him.
But he still knew the ways of God and of his Spirit.
Eli was no carnal man, as seen by what even killed him.
The news of the capture of the ark of the Lord.
The glory of Israel captured by the uncircumcised Philistines.
An abomination. He knew at that point that God had abandoned them.
At that moment he died.
As terrible as that news and incident of the ark capture was, God was still with Israel.
Indeed, he was now beginning his dealing with Samuel, through whom he dealt with Israel.
So sometimes, in the worst of moments, seemingly when God has disappeared from the scene...
He's working something new in the background.
It was in that same season that the kings were born... Kings such as Saul and David.
18And Samuel told him every whit, and hid nothing from him. And he said, It is the LORD: let him do what seemeth him good.
He left his fate in the hands of the Lord at this point.
19And Samuel grew, and the LORD was with him, and did let none of his words fall to the ground.
So God can decide that the words of someone should fall to the ground and become mere empty words, words without substance, by not causing them to happen.
But with someone, his words came to pass.
We really have to study this our Father and know his ways and his word.
20And all Israel from Dan even to Beer-sheba knew that Samuel was established to be a prophet of the LORD.
21And the LORD appeared again in Shiloh: for the LORD revealed himself to Samuel in Shiloh by the word of the LORD.
How does one reveal words? Revealed by the word of the Lord... What or how is this done?
Some believe “the LORD appeared again” to refer to his visible presence coming down once again in the cloud cover, whiles it could also mean the word of the Lord became more regular, as if God was now back again, though he didn't go anywhere.
It was their sins that had hidden his face from them.