4. It was followed by a beneficial effect. Not, indeed, in rousing the high priest to strenuous efforts for the reformation of his house, which he probably deemed impossible, but in leading him to acknowledge that it was the Lord who had spoken, and to resign himself to his will. No such effect followed the warning previously addressed to him. A similar spirit was shown by Aaron (Le 1 Samuel 10:3), by Job 1:21, by David (2 Samuel 18:14, 2 Samuel 18:15, 2 Samuel 18:32, 2 Samuel 18:33), by Hezekiah (2 Kings 20:19), and, above all, by the great High Priest himself (Matthew 26:42). No other Divine message came apparently to Eli or his house. Henceforth there was only the silence that precedes the thunderstorm and the earthquake.—D.
1 Samuel 3:10
The faithful servant.
"Speak; for thy servant heareth." The wellknown picture by Sir Joshua Reynolds, representing the child Samuel in the attitude of prayer, aptly expresses the spirit of his whole life. His own language in response to the call of God does this still more perfectly, and "contains the secret of his strength." It also teaches us how we should respond to the Divine call which is addressed to us, and what is the spirit which we ought ever to possess. For God speaks to us as truly as he spoke to Samuel, though in a somewhat different manner. He speaks to us often, and calls each of us to special service for him; and there cannot be a nobler aim than that of possessing the mind, disposition, and character of a "faithful servant" (Matthew 25:21) here portrayed. This implies—
I. CONSCIOUSNESS OF THE MASTER'S PRESENCE.
1. Peculiar; not merely a general belief in his omnipresence, such as most persons have, but a realisation of his presence here; not as in a dream, but in full waking thought; not as if he were at a distance from us, but "face to face." "Thou God seest me."
2. Intense; filling the soul with the light of his glory and with profound reverence (Job 42:6).
3. Habitual; abiding with us at all times, carried with us into every place, and pervading and influencing all our thoughts, words, and actions.
II. ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF THE MASTER'S CLAIMS. "Thy servant." His claims are—
1. Just; because of—
2. Supreme. All other claims are inferior to his, and must be regarded as subordinate to them.
3. Universal; extending to all our faculties, possessions, etc.
"My gracious Lord, I own thy right
To every service I can pay,
And call it my supreme delight
To hear thy dictates and obey.
What is my being but for thee,
Its sure support, its noblest end;
Thy ever-smiling face to see,
And serve the cause of such a Friend?"
(Doddridge).
III. LISTENING TO THE MASTER'S DIRECTIONS. "Speak." "I am waiting to hear thy commands, and desire to know thy will." "What saith my Lord unto his servant?" (Joshua 5:14). "What wilt thou have me to do?" (Acts 9:6). His directions are given by—
1. His word, in the law and the gospel.
2. His providence, in the various events of life, affording fresh opportunities, bringing new responsibilities, indicating special methods of service. "New occasions teach new duties." "There are so many kinds of voices in the world, and none of them is without signification" (1 Corinthians 14:10).
3. His Spirit; teaching the meaning and application of the word, suggesting thoughts and activities in accordance with his revealed will, filling the heart with holy and benevolent impulses. "It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God" (John 6:45). "Behold, as the eyes of servants look unto the hand of their masters" (watching with the utmost attention forevery indication of their will), "so our eyes wait upon the Lord our God" (Psalms 85:8; Psalms 123:2; Habakkuk 2:1).
IV. READINESS FOR THE MASTER'S WORK. "Thy servant heareth;" stands ready to obey—
1. Whatever thou mayest direct.
2. With my utmost strength.
3. Promptly; without delay.
"When it pleased God to reveal his Son in me, immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood, but went" (Galatians 1:15-17). When Ledyard (whose life was the first of many sacrificed to African discovery) closed with the proposal of the Association for Promoting the Discovery of the Inland Parts of Africa to undertake a journey in that region, and was asked how soon he would be ready to set out, he replied, "Tomorrow morning." The like promptitude should be exhibited by every "good and faithful servant."—D.
1 Samuel 3:13
Parental restraint.
"And he restrained them not." The parental relation was universally regarded in ancient times as one which involved a closer identity between parents and children, and a more absolute authority on the part of the former over the latter, than would now be deemed just. This fact explains many occurrences in the sacred history. It also makes more apparent the inexcusable conduct of Eli in omitting to restrain his sons from their evil way. To every head of a family, however, belongs a certain measure of authority, and he is responsible for its exercise in "commanding his children and his household" (Genesis 18:19) to do what is right, and restraining them from doing what is wrong. Concerning PARENTAL RESTRAINT, observe that—
I. ITS NEED IS URGENT.
1. Because of the strong tendency to evil which exists in children. However it may be accounted for or explained, there can be no doubt of the fact. If it be simply, as some say, a desire of self-gratification, and dislike of everything that hinders it—self-will, it is necessary that it should be checked; for those who are trained to deny themselves in very early life, and submit to the will of their parents, are far more likely than others to accept and submit to the will of God when they become conscious of it. "In order to form the minds of children, the first thing to be done is to conquer their will and bring them to an obedient temper. This is the only strong and rational foundation of a religious education, without which both precept and example will be ineffectual. As self-will is the root of all sin and misery, so whatever cherishes this in children insures their after wretc.hedness and irreligion; whatever checks and mortifies it promotes their future happiness and piety" (The mother of the Wesleys).
2. Because of the evil examples by which they are surrounded, and which act so powerfully on their susceptibility to impression and their propensity to imitation.
3. Because of the manifold temptations to which they are exposed. However guarded, they cannot be altogether kept from their influence.
II. ITS OBLIGATION IS IMPERATIVE.
1. It is obviously a part of parental duty.
2. It is often enjoined in the word of God (Deuteronomy 21:15-21; Proverbs 19:18; Proverbs 23:13, Proverbs 23:14; Proverbs 29:15, Proverbs 29:17).
3. It is clearly adapted to accomplish beneficial results (Proverbs 22:6). It is thus a duty which parents owe not only to their children, but also to the great Parent of all, who, by the manner in which he deals with his earthly children, has himself set them an example.
II. ITS METHOD IS IMPORTANT. It should be—
1. Timely; commenced at an early age (Proverbs 13:24).
2. Firm and just.
3. With consideration, kindness, and patience (Ephesians 6:4; Colossians 3:21).
"O'er wayward childhood wouldst thou hold firm rule,
And sun thee in the light of happy faces,
Love, hope, and patience, these must be thy graces,
And in thine own heart let them first keep school;
For as old Atlas on his broad neck places
Heaven's starry globe, and there sustains it; so
Do these bear up the little world below
Of education—patience, love, and hope"
(Coleridge).
IV. ITS OMISSION IS RUINOUS.
1. To children (1 Samuel 4:11).
2. To parents (1 Samuel 4:18).
3. To the nation (1 Samuel 4:22).
"Indulgent parents are cruel to themselves and their posterity" (Hall). How numerous are the facts which justify these statements! "As in inviduals, so in nations, unbridled indulgence of the passions must produce, and does produce, frivolity, effeminacy, slavery to the appetite of the moment; a brutalised and reckless temper, before which prudence, energy, national feeling, any and every feeling which is not centred in self, perishes utterly. The old French noblesse gave a proof of this law which will last as a warning beacon to the end of time. The Spanish population of America, I am told, gives now a fearful proof of this same terrible penalty. Has not Italy proved it likewise for centuries past? It must be so. For national life is grounded on, is the development of, the life of the family. And where the root is corrupt the tree must be corrupt likewise" (Kingsley, 'The Roman and the Teuton,' Lect. 2). Therefore
1 Samuel 3:18
Resignation.
"It is the Lord: let him do what seemeth him good." The sentence which was pronounced on Eli and his house was almost as severe as can be conceived. But the manner in which it was received by him shows that, notwithstanding the defects of his character, he possessed the "spirit of faith," which shone like a spark of fire amidst the ashes and gloom of his closing days. He did not refuse to admit its Divine Author, did not question its justice, did not rebel against it and seek to reverse it, did not fret and murmur and give himself up to despair. His language expresses a spirit the exact opposite of all this. "When Samuel had told him every whit, Eli replied, It is the Lord. The highest religion could say no more. What more can there be than surrender to the will of God? In that one brave sentence you forget all Eli's vacillation. Free from envy, free from priestcraft, earnest, humbly submissive; that is the bright side of Eli's character, and the side least known or thought of" (F.W. Robertson).
I. HE RECOGNISES THE APPOINTMENT OF GOD. "It is the Lord," or "he is the Lord," who has spoken. He believed that the voice was really his, notwithstanding
II. HE JUSTIFIES THE RECTITUDE OF GOD. Such justification (Psalms 51:4)—
1. Is implied in the acknowledgment that it comes from Jehovah, who alone is holy (1 Samuel 2:2). "Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?" (Genesis 18:25).
2. Proceeds from the conviction that it is deserved on account of the iniquity of his sons, and his own sins of omission (Lamentations 3:39; Micah 7:9). They who have a due sense of the evil of sin are not disposed to complain of the severity of the sentence pronounced against it.
3. Is not the less real because not fully expressed, for silence itself is often the most genuine testimony to the perfect equity of the Divine procedure. "Aaron held his peace" (Le 1 Samuel 10:3; Psalms 39:9, Psalms 39:11).
III. HE SUBMITS TO THE SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD. "Let him do what seemeth him good."
1. Very reverently and humbly (1 Peter 5:6). It is vain to contend against him.
2. Freely and cheerfully; not because he cannot be effectually resisted, but because what he does is right and good; the spontaneous surrender and sacrifice of the will.
3. Entirely. "The will of the Lord be done" (Acts 21:14).
IV. HE CONFIDES IN THE GOODNESS OF GOD. "Good." "Good is the word of the Lord" (2 Kings 20:19). Eli could not have spoken as he did unless he believed that—
Verse 19-4:1. (SHILOH)
Samuel the prophet.
"A prophet of the Lord" (1 Samuel 4:20). "A prophet was a man who drew aside the curtain from the secret counsels of Heaven. He declared or made public the previously hidden truths of God; and, because future events might chance to involve Divine truth, therefore a revealer of future events might happen to be a prophet. Yet, still, small was the part of a prophet's functions which contained the foreshadowing of events, and not necessarily any part of it". The greatest of prophets, and more than a prophet, was Moses (Numbers 12:6-8; Deuteronomy 18:15; Deuteronomy 34:9). After him a prophet arose at rare intervals. With Samuel, who was second only to Moses, a new prophetic era began. He was called to a permanent prophetic work; a type of the future line of the prophets which he virtually founded, and "set for all time the great example of the office of a prophet of the Lord." "In Samuel—Levite, Nazarite, at the sanctuary of Shiloh, prophet, and destined founder of a mightier prophetic power—were united from the first all spiritual gifts most potent for the welfare of the people, and under his powerful control stood the wheels on which the age revolved He was truly the father of all the great prophets who worked such wonders in the ensuing centuries" (Ewald. See 'Davison on Prophecy;' 'Fairbairn on Prophecy;' 'Prophecy a Preparation for Christ,' by the Dean of Canterbury). The summary of his prophetic activity here given leads us to consider—
I. HIS QUALIFICATION. "And Samuel grew, and the Lord was with him" (1 Samuel 4:19). "And the Lord appeared again in Shiloh (1 Samuel 4:10): for the Lord revealed himself to Samuel in Shiloh by the word of the Lord (1 Samuel 4:21).
1. The possession of a holy character, which was the general condition of prophetic endowment. At the time of his call Samuel entered into a higher knowledge of God, and a closer fellowship with him than he had before; he gradually advanced therein, and his character became more and more perfect. "Equable progression from the beginning to the end was the special characteristic of his life." "The qualifications which the Jewish doctors suppose necessarily antecedent to render any one habilem ad prophetandum are truly probity and piety; and this was the constant sense and opinion of them all universally, not excluding the vulgar themselves".
2. The revelation to him of the Divine word—by voices, visions, insight, intuition, inspiration (1 Samuel 4:7). "For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man; but holy men of God spake as they were moved (borne along as a ship by the wind) by the Holy Ghost" (2 Peter 1:21). The communications of God to men have been made in many ways (by dreams, by Urim, by prophecy), and one communication faithfully received and used has prepared the way for another. How long after the Lord first appeared to Samuel he "apeared again" to him is not stated.
3. The conviction of its Divine origin, amounting to absolute certainty, and impelling him to speak and act in accordance with the revelation he received.
II. HIS VOCATION. "And the word of Samuel came to all Israel" (1 Samuel 4:1). He had not only to receive the word from God, but also to utter it to men. He was a spokesman for God, a messenger or interpreter of the Divine will.
1. The nature and purpose of his vocation were—
2. The persons whom his vocation immediately concerned.
3. The manner in which it was fulfilled: diligently (Jeremiah 23:28; Jeremiah 48:10 = negligently): faithfully (not according to his own natural wishes, but God's will); fearlessly; established = found trustworthy—Numbers 12:7; 1 Samuel 2:35), fully.
III. HIS CONFIRMATION. "The Lord was with him, and did let none of his words fall to the ground". He attested, sealed him as his messenger—
1. By bringing to pass the good or evil foretold by him (Numbers 22:6).
2. By providential and even miraculous occurrences, indicating his approval (1 Samuel 7:10; 1 Samuel 12:18).
3. By clothing his word with power, so that it was felt by those to whom it was addressed to be the word of the Lord; for there is something Divine within which responds to the Divine without, and every one who is truthful perceives and obeys the voice of eternal truth (John 18:37).
IV. HIS RECOGNITION. "And all Israel from Dan even to Beer-sheba knew that Samuel was established to be a prophet of the Lord" (1 Samuel 2:20). The Divine word was no more rare (1 Samuel 3:1).
1. His authority was universally admitted. It was familiarly known throughout the land that he had been appointed as a regular medium of communication between Jehovah and his people.
2. His utterances were widely disseminated, and regarded with reverence. "The word of Samuel came to all Israel."
3. His work thereby became highly effective. Its full effect appeared long afterwards. But even before the blow of judgment, which he predicted, fell (some ten years after his call), he doubtless laboured not in vain; and during the succeeding twenty years (1 Samuel 7:2) he "spent his time in a slow but resolute work of kindling the almost extinguished flame of a higher life in Israel."—D.
1 Samuel
1 Samuel 3 - 1-samuel-3 - worlddic.com