A Heart Inclined to God
Here we
begin the story with Samuel in earnest.
First things first. Notice that
Samuel is placed in the same position as Eli’s sons. They all had Eli as a mentor. Yet compare the result between Samuel and
Eli’s sons. Samuel is honorable and does
what is right in the eyes of the Lord.
Eli’s sons don’t. The circumstances
were the same; the person is what is different.
There is no substitute for a heart that is inclined to God. With respect to us, it is the greatest
attribute that any of us can bring to the table of God’s spirituality.
Age is Irrelevant
Second,
notice that Samuel is called a “boy” at the time of his calling. This is the same term that is used to describe
David when he goes out to slay Goliath.
Certainly this doesn’t mean someone terribly young. However, I do think it is fair to say that
this is a description of an adolescent young man.
Why is
Samuel’s age important? Simply put,
because God can speak through anyone.
God speaks through children and youths frequently. Do we not have a saying in our culture about
this very thing? Do we not say “Out of
the mouths of babes?” We must not be
quick to dismiss the opinions and thoughts of our youth.
Furthermore,
we must take seriously their preparation.
If God is willing to use Samuel as an adolescent, what would it have
said about Eli had Samuel not been prepared?
Certainly God could have still used Samuel – God can accomplish anything
He desires. In a similar pattern of
thought we must take seriously our own youth, young adults, and children. We need to train them in God’s ways from an
early age. None of us really know when God
is going to ask us to serve Him; we should be serious about preparing people to
answer His calling at any age.
Samuel’s Devotion
Also,
notice Samuel’s devotion to Eli. It is
the middle of the night. The oil in his
lamp is almost consumed. Yet when Samuel
hears his name he goes to Eli. In fact,
this happens three times and each time Samuel is faithful. As a young adolescent, I can imagine Samuel
being warm, comfortable, and simply desiring to stay that way at this time of
night. He could have feigned hearing the
voice and stayed comfortable. But no, he
is faithful above his own comfort. He
goes when he is called – and this is a trait that we will see throughout his
whole life.
As a last
point about Samuel, notice that his first encounter with the living God is a
test. Imagine knowing that you had an
encounter with God. Wouldn’t you want to
tell everyone about it? Wouldn’t you be
tempted to promote your own self in a self-mongerish attempt at
glory-seeking? No, Samuel does not do
this either. Samuel goes about his daily
tasks as though nothing has changed. He
is still the servant that Eli has trained him to be.
Yet, this
is not the end of the test. Samuel is
also tested in his truthfulness. Imagine
hearing a vision from God that speaks about something very troubling to your
closest mentor. Imagine the conflict
inside about whether to tell them the vision (and possibly hurt them) or to not
tell them (and keep God’s Word to oneself).
Samuel does the right thing.
Samuel is honest and demonstrates that he is faithful first and foremost
to God and God’s Word.
There’s a
reason that Samuel was chosen. He was
faithful. He was loyal. He followed when he was led. He was quick to respond to the bidding of the
master. All in all, he’s looking like a pretty
good guy.
Eli
I’d like
to take a moment and speculate a little bit about Eli as I close this
post. I find Eli’s reaction to God’s
message a bit strange. Eli does not beg
for mercy with God. He does not plead
with God. He doesn’t even ask for forgiveness!
Now, I’m
not trying to slander Eli. I give him
credit for accepting that God is right and recognizing that his family is
caught up in sin. Eli gets a pat on the
back for that. But I also find it
strange that he doesn’t seem to repent, either.
Eli simply takes what the Lord gives in some resigned state of
existence. Eli’s words even demonstrate
this when he says in v. 18 “It is the Lord, let Him do what seems right to
Him.” Now that I think about it, these
words don’t even imply that Eli agrees with the Lord. Eli simply seems to know that He cannot
resist the Lord. As the Borg (Star Trek
character) are often heard saying, “Resistance is futile.” This seems to be Eli’s spiritual position.
I
understand that I am reading a bit into the text here and I have made a few
assumptions that could go a different way than I present them here. But, I find this a bit sad if the assumptions
I am making about the text are true. Eli
could have repented. Eli could have
confessed his sinfulness to the Lord. But what we get is a person resigned to their
fate in the hands of an all-powerful God.
I do pray
that Eli was more responsive and repentant than the text seems to imply. And I will learn that lesson. God desires repentance, a broken spirit, and
a contrite heart.
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