A Precious Word

“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.”  I Samuel 3:1

Earlier in the book of 1 Samuel, we find that Hannah, a Jewish woman, had not been able to bear children, but her husband’s other wife could.  Hannah was distraught and prayed to the LORD, asking for a male child, and promised if He would grant her request, that she would give the child to the LORD all the days of his life, and he would be a Nazarite, one who was wholly dedicated to the LORD.  How difficult would it be for a mother to give up her son voluntarily when he was just a small child for someone else to rear?  I think that she was completely aware that she could never break her vow.  She must have been a very strong woman who truly loved the LORD.

God granted her request, and she delivered a baby boy and named him Samuel which means “asked of God”.  We don’t know how old Samuel was when Hannah presented him to Eli, the priest, but he was probably only three or four years old.  I don’t know, but I suspect that Samuel was a complete surprise to Eli, who had two grown sons whom he had not disciplined as they grew up, and Hophni and Phinehas, as they were named, were a shame to Eli and a scourge upon Israel.  Samuel was just the opposite.  He was very conscientious about his role in the temple and eager to learn.  Since God’s hand was upon him, he likely knew that he was meant to serve the LORD.

Regardless of the wickedness abounding throughout the house of God, Samuel grew and matured in the LORD and was esteemed by the people of God for his integrity and faithfulness even as a child.  Eli was now an old man whose vision had grown dim.  One night he went to bed, and Samuel also went to bed, his bed being not too far away from Eli’s bed.  Samuel was sleeping and awoke to a voice he heard calling his name.  He answered, “Here am I”, believing it was Eli who called him.  He ran into Eli’s room to see what he wanted and asked if Eli had called him.  Eli told him that he did not call him and to go back to bed.   Soon after Samuel got back into bed, he heard the voice again calling out “Samuel”.  He assumed it was Eli, returned to Eli’s room, only to be told that Eli did not call him.

Samuel must have been very puzzled.  He knew of the LORD because of the teachings of first his parents and then of Eli, but he had not had a personal encounter with the LORD as of yet.  There are multitudes of folks who know about God and about Jesus Christ, but they have not had a personal encounter with the Lord mostly by their own choosing.  Samuel likely had heard the Torah, the first five books of the Old Testament, read in temple services, but he had not yet received revelation of God’s word through the Holy Spirit.  Therefore, he wouldn’t have associated the voice with God.  He would soon realize, though, that serving the LORD was more than lighting lamps in the temple and helping Eli.  Some who claim to be believers in Jesus Christ still haven’t realized that serving Christ is more than briefly reading over the Sunday School lesson, going to church once and a while, putting a few dollars in the collection plate, and attending church socials.

Back in his bed, Samuel heard the voice for the third time, and for the third time he went to Eli’s room.  This time, though, Eli realized that it was the LORD calling Samuel.  It took a while for Eli to “connect the dots” probably because he considered Samuel to not as yet have reached the maturity that he would need to begin his ministry for the LORD.  We do the same thing.  We see others who are called to do particular tasks for the Lord, and we wonder why would He call them because we consider them too young or too immature in the faith, but when did God make us the decider in chief?  Eli realized that God was ready to use Samuel in a mighty way.  He told Samuel to go and lay back down, and if God called him again, to answer for he was ready to listen.  He was about to have his first personal encounter with the God of heaven and earth.

The portion of the verse in focus for today’s blog that stood out to me was “the word of the LORD was precious in those days”.  Not many people had a copy of the Torah.  To have the written word was indeed precious.  Fast forward to today.  There are millions of copies of God’s word in homes, churches, and hotels, at least there use to be Bibles in hotels.  The Gideons give away thousands of Bibles every year, and there are other Christian organizations which will give Bibles to anyone who requests one.  The word is read on Christian television and radio and is widely available online.  Folks can pull up the scriptures on their smart phones.  There is no excuse not to have at least some familiarity with God’s word.  When the writer of 1 Samuel wrote that there was no open vision, he meant that there were very few prophets in those days to deliver God’s message to the people.  Today, we have preachers, pastors, teachers, and lay people who are willing to share God’s word with any who will listen, but it seems that not too many desire to listen.  There may come a day where God’s word is not available because it has been outlawed.  His word should be cherished, read, studied, memorized, and lived by so that we will have His word in our hearts and minds.