HERE AM I! III

Concluding from last couple of days on the call of Samuel in 1 Samuel 1-4.

Eli called to Samuel the next morning and asked him what the Lord had told him. He told him everything the Lord had said about the destruction of his priesthood and family (3:17-18) Eli conceded, “the Lord does as he pleases” (v.18)

As for Samuel at age twelve (?) we read: “Samuel continued to grow, and the Lord was with him. None of his prophecies fell to the ground unfulfilled. All Israel from Dan to Beer Sheba realized that Samuel was confirmed as a prophet of the Lord. Then the Lord again appeared in Shiloh, for it was in Shiloh that the Lord had revealed himself to Samuel through a message from the Lord” (3:19-21).

Then Israel went to war with the Philistines who had stolen the Ark of the Covenant seven months earlier. In this fight 30,000 Israelites were killed including Eli’s two corrupt sons, Hophni and Phinehas (4:17). When this news came to Eli (who was ninety-eight years old, fat and mostly blind (4:15-18), that the Ark of the Covenant had been taken, Eli fell off the seat backward and broke his neck and died, for he was old and heavy (4:18). Then Eli’s daughter in law, Phinehas’s wife, gave birth to a son and named him Ichabod saying, “Israel’s glory is gone.” She said this because the Ark of God had been taken and her father-in-law and husband were dead. She said, “Israel’s glory is gone, because the Ark of God has been taken away.” 4:21-22)

What the Lord told Samuel happened exactly and quickly. Corrupt leaders, religion and practices all fell. This happened because a boy said, ‘Here I am. Speak for your servant is listening.’ It’s good to listen.

“I tell you, many prophets and kings wanted to see what you now see, but they did not, and they wanted to hear what you now hear, but they did not.” Jesus