The Theme of 1st and 2nd Samuel Part 4
As you read thru Samuel take care to look at and think about all the good examples and the bad example that you see. It will be a lot.
If you remember I said that there is another theme running thru Samuel. And that is what we are going to finish our look at Samuel with.
It is serving the Lord. And in this theme you will also see Good examples and Bad examples. Over and over you will see good examples of how to serve the Lord and bad examples as well.
We have already seen some of those in the first 2 chapters. Eli, his sons, Hannah and Elkanah were all in the first 2 chapters.
In chapter 3 the Lord calls Samuel.
Sa 3:1 And 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.
1Sa 3:2 And 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;
1Sa 3:3 And 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;
1Sa 3:4 That the LORD called Samuel: and he answered, Here am I.
1Sa 3:5 And 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.
1Sa 3:6 And 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.
1Sa 3:7 Now Samuel did not yet know the LORD, neither was the word of the LORD yet revealed unto him.
1Sa 3:8 And 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.
1Sa 3:9 Therefore 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.
Eli was a bad example in a huge number of things. But rarely once in a while Eli would say something that was right. Here is great advice to anyone who wants to serve God.
Actually critical advice. In fact you cannot successful serve God without it. Eli says stop and listen. God will not speak to your heart if you do not.
1Sa 3:10 And the LORD came, and stood, and called as at other times, Samuel, Samuel. Then Samuel answered, Speak; for thy servant heareth.
1Sa 3:11 And 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.
Samuel stops and listens and God speaks to him. God kept calling, several times in fact, but He did not give Samuel the message until Samuel was willing to stop and listen. Today God does not call out in a voice. He does not come to my bed at night and speak and give me instructions.
Everything that God had to say, all of His instructions to man has all been given and recorded and preserved. But make no mistake God is still calling men and guiding them. He speaks thru His word, and He speaks to our hearts with that still small voice.
But we have to listen. The first step we see here is that we need to realize that. Once Samuel knew that he had to stop and listen, the second step is he had to want to. He had to make a choice and decide to listen. Samuel then responds to God and states that he wants to listen.
This is the same with us. We need to realize our need to listen and then we need to acknowledge that to God and then we need to pay attention and listen. This takes time and humility. And we have to be willing to hear whatever God says.
Once Samuel is properly listening (that is one of the first steps to serving God), God now gives Samuel a message to give to Eli.
1Sa 3:12 In 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.
1Sa 3:13 For 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.
1Sa 3:14 And 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.
1Sa 3:15 And Samuel lay until the morning, and opened the doors of the house of the LORD. And Samuel feared to shew Eli the vision.
Here is another truth about serving God. God does sometimes ask some hard things of His servants; sometimes some scary things. Samuel was given a hard message to deliver. And Samuel feared to tell it to Eli.
To serve God, Samuel has to learn to have faith in God no matter what God asks him to do. He has to learn to trust that God has a reason and that God will be with him and to do it even in the face of fear.
No man will ever succeed in serving God unless he learns these lessons. If you stop serving God because of hard circumstances or a hard message or fear, then guess what, you will stop serving Him because those things will come now and then.
Samuel first learned to listen to God and now we see Samuel learn to serve regardless of fear.
1Sa 3:16 Then Eli called Samuel, and said, Samuel, my son. And he answered, Here am I.
1Sa 3:17 And 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.
1Sa 3:18 And Samuel told him every whit, and hid nothing from him. And he said, It is the LORD: let him do what seemeth him good.
Samuel served God by fully giving the message that God wanted delivered. And Samuel told him every whit, and hid nothing from him. It was a hard message to deliver and the one he was delivering it to would not want to hear it. He would not be happy with it.
Samuel was faithful to God and said every single word that God wanted him to say.
I do not think that Samuel was mean about it, the truth should be given in love. I don’t think Samuel rubbed it in and Samuel did not add to it. He just simply said everything God said.
That is how you serve God. Don’t add, don’t take away, don’t play games, and don’t entertain. Just give the message.
So in this short account we learn some critical things about serving the Lord. Listen to God, follow His instructions, give the message that He wants given. No matter what. Keep serving even when the message is hard and even when we are fearful.
And then be faithful to give the entire message as God wants it given.
Samuel learned all of this and started doing this at a very early age. And we see that God was pleased with it.
1Sa 3:19 And Samuel grew, and the LORD was with him, and did let none of his words fall to the ground.
1Sa 3:20 And all Israel from Dan even to Beersheba knew that Samuel was established to be a prophet of the LORD.
1Sa 3:21 And the LORD appeared again in Shiloh: for the LORD revealed himself to Samuel in Shiloh by the word of the LORD.
And we are only in chapter 3. In chapters 4, 5, 6 are about the Philistines and the ark of the Lord. They tried to use the Ark of the Lord and it did not work out so well for them.
Chapter 7 Samuel calls Israel to return to God.
Chapter 8 Israel demands a king, Samuel tells them what that would be like and they want a king anyway. Chapter 9 Saul is made king. Saul is another bad example of how to serve God.
Saul never would have a repentant heart about anything, he always made excuses and finally takes it upon himself to try to do Samuel’s job.
In the book of Samuel we have David who in many ways served God correctly but he would mess up and sometimes really bad.
But when confronted David always repented. He always never did that thing again. David is a good example in what to do when you mess up. David would confess it and repent of it.
You will see the theme of how to serve God all the way thru 1st and 2nd Samuel. You will read of David and the giant, Johnathan, Abner, Joab, Absalom, Nathan Mephibosheth and many others.
And as you read all of those accounts, look for and think about how to serve God correctly. And watch for bad examples as well. They also can be helpful for they help us see what not to do.
See more lesson on Themes from Old Testament Books