SERIES I --- THE NATION UNITES

BIBLE STUDY LESSON 03

YOUR SERVANT LISTENS

A MESSAGE FROM THE LORD
From 1 Samuel 2:22-3:21
“Although Eli had grown old, he was aware of the evil things that his sons were doing. Instead of serving the Lord as they should, these priests were spending their time doing evil with the young women who served the Lord at the entrance to the tabernacle. Why are you doing this? Eli complained to them. Everyone is talking about the evil things you are doing. If a person sins against another, God will act as his judge. But if a person sins against God, who will intercede for him? Eli’s sons ignored him, for they had given themselves to their sin so completely that the Lord had already planned to take their lives. During this time, Samuel was growing up. God was pleased with Samuel and so were God’s people. One day a man of God brought Eli a message from the Lord. When your ancestors were slaves in Egypt, I chose Levi to be My priest, to burn incense and make sacrifices on the altar and to wear an ephod when he was in My presence. To the Levites I gave the burnt offerings, so why did you take the other offerings? And why did you put your sons ahead of Me, letting them fatten you and themselves with the best of My meat offerings?

I promised that the Levites could be My priests forever, but not in the way that you are doing! I will give honour to those who honour Me, but I will show no honour to those who despise Me. No, your family will soon be cut off as My priests and they will all die before they reach old age. While Israel prospers, your family will suffer in want. Not one will live to be old. Those who do live will have sorrow and grief and many of them shall be killed by the sword. You will soon know that these things will happen, for both Hophni and Phinehas will die on the same day. When that happens, I will give their work to a faithful priest who will do what I want. He and his descendants will minister to My kings forever. Your descendants will come to his, begging for a piece of silver or a loaf of bread. They will beg for a priest’s job so that they may have food to eat. In those days, Samuel helped old Eli with the work at the tabernacle. God seldom spoke to His people any more, but He did one night when Eli, who was so old that he could hardly see, had gone to bed. Samuel lay on his bed near the Ark of God, in the innermost sanctuary of the tabernacle. The light from the seven branched lamp stand still flickered, for it had not yet gone out. ‘Samuel! Samuel!’ the Lord called. ‘I’m here!’ said Samuel.

He thought Eli had called him, so he ran to Eli to see what he wanted. ‘You called for me,’ said Samuel. ‘What do you want?’ ‘I didn’t call for you,’ said Eli. ‘Go lie down.’ Samuel heard a voice calling him and hurried to Eli’s bed to see what the old priest wanted. Why would Eli call him in the middle of the night? But again Eli protested that he had not called. Then it became clear that the voice was the voice of God. Samuel went back to bed, but the Lord soon called to him again. ‘Samuel!’ He said. Again Samuel got up and ran to Eli. ‘You called me again,’ said Samuel, ‘so here I am.’ ‘But I didn’t call you my son,’ said Eli. ‘Go back to bed.’ Samuel had never heard a message from the Lord before, so he did not realize that the Lord was calling him. Once more, when he heard his name called, he jumped up and ran to see Eli. ‘Here I am,’ he said to Eli. ‘You called me again.’ By now, Eli knew that it was the voice of the Lord calling. ‘Go back to bed,’ said Eli. ‘When the Lord calls again, tell Him to speak and you will listen.’ So Samuel went back to bed and waited for the Lord to speak. Then the Lord spoke to Samuel as He had done before. ‘Samuel! Samuel!’ He called. ‘Speak, Lord, for I am listening,’ Samuel answered.

Then the Lord spoke to Samuel. ‘I have warned Eli about some frightful things that I am about to do,’ the Lord said. ‘I am about to do things which will make some ears tingle. I will do all that I said against Eli and his family. I have told him that I will punish his family forever because his sons brought great evil upon God and themselves and he did nothing to stop them. Thus, I have warned that the sins of Eli and his sons will never be taken away through sacrifices or offerings.’ Samuel remained in bed until morning, when he opened the doors of the tabernacle, as he usually did. He was afraid to tell Eli about the Lord’s message, but Eli called for him. ‘What did the Lord tell you, my son?’ Eli asked. ‘You must not hide a thing from me, for if you do, may the Lord punish you.’ Samuel told Eli everything that the Lord had said. ‘The Lord has spoken,’ said old Eli. ‘Let Him do what He knows is right.’ As time passed, Samuel grew stronger and wiser. Since the Lord was with him, people valued his counsel. Everyone from the far north at Dan to the far south at Beersheba knew that Samuel would be the Lord’s prophet. From time to time, the Lord revealed Himself to Samuel at Shiloh and Samuel shared His messages with the people.”

COMMENTARY

WHERE SAMUEL SLEPT IN THE TABERNACLE
God gave general guidance to His people in the Scriptures. He also gave specific messages through prophets. At the time Samuel lived, no special word had been heard from God for years. Now God spoke to the young boy who slept by the golden lamp stand in the tabernacle. Through Samuel, the Word of God would come to all Israel. Samuel was only three years old when his mother took him to the tabernacle to live with the high priest. Few children left home at such an early age, but Samuel’s mother had promised God that her son would become a Nazirite; a child specially dedicated to the service of God. As Samuel grew up he spent much of his time working with Eli, his teacher. The old priest was almost blind and he depended on Samuel to help him care for the temple. Eli’s own sons did not listen to him and cared little for the proper ways of doing things in the temple. They ate the animals sacrificed to God and misbehaved with the women who came to worship. At night, Samuel spread his mat on the temple floor and slept by the soft flickering light of the menorah.

This special lamp stand had seven branches or stands, with a small lamp set on top of each branch. Each morning the lamps were filled with enough pure olive oil to burn through the day and into the night. Every few hours the wicks were checked to make sure they did not slip down and suffocate in the oil. For the Israelites, the burning lamps symbolized life and the constant presence of the Lord; tending the lamp of God was probably one of Samuel’s most important duties. In later times the rules for tending the menorah were very carefully spelled out. Priests cleaned the oil cups and refilled them with fresh oil every morning and evening. Old wicks were replaced with bits of the priest’s worn-out clothing. If one of the side lamps burned out, it could be relit with the flame from another lamp. But the centre wick would be relit only with fire from the altar of sacrifice.
Working from the outside, the priests lit all the wicks from the right to the centre, then from the left, leaving the centre wick for last. This method of kindling the menorah came to symbolize the unity of the people of Israel. Today the menorah is still one of the main symbols of the Jewish faith.

TEST YOURSELF

1.) Who was doing evil things with young women who came to worship at the temple?
            A) Eli’s sons
            B) Samuel
            C) Saul
            D) Eli

2.) Who came to Eli with a message from God?
            A) A man of God
            B) A doppelganger
            C) Samuel
            D) A juggernaut

3.) What was promised to Eli, as punishment for his disobedience?
            A) His family would be plagued by sorrow
            B) Many of his family would die by the sword
            C) Both of his sons would die on the same day
            D) All of these are correct

4.) Where did Samuel sleep?
            A) Outside the temple
            B) In the priest’s quarters
            C) By the bronze laver
            D) In the sanctuary

5.) How many times did God call Samuel before Eli realized what was happening?
            A) Three
            B) Two
            C) Four
            D) One

6.) What vow did Samuel’s mother promise God her son would follow?
            A) The Nazirite vow
            B) The vow of priests
            C) The camp vow
            D) The son’s vow

7.) Why did Samuel sleep near the menorah?
            A) To keep warm
            B) To escape Eli
            C) To keep the lamps trimmed
            D) To make sure no-one stole it