Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley

The boy Samuel ministered before the Lord under Eli. In those days the word of the Lord was rare; there were not many visions.
One night Eli, whose eyes were becoming so weak that he could barely see, was lying down in his usual place. The lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the house of the Lord, where the ark of God was. Then the Lord called Samuel.
Samuel answered, “Here I am.” And he ran to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.”
But Eli said, “I did not call; go back and lie down.” So he went and lay down.
Again the Lord called, “Samuel!” And Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.”
“My son,” Eli said, “I did not call; go back and lie down.”
Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord: The word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him.
A third time the Lord called, “Samuel!” And Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.”
Then Eli realized that the Lord was calling the boy. So Eli told Samuel, “Go and lie down, and if he calls you, say, ‘Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.’” So Samuel went and lay down in his place.
The Lord came and stood there, calling as at the other times, “Samuel! Samuel!”
Then Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant is listening.”
And the Lord said to Samuel: “See, I am about to do something in Israel that will make the ears of everyone who hears about it tingle. At that time I will carry out against Eli everything I spoke against his family—from beginning to end. For I told him that I would judge his family forever because of the sin he knew about; his sons blasphemed God, and he failed to restrain them. Therefore I swore to the house of Eli, ‘The guilt of Eli’s house will never be atoned for by sacrifice or offering.’”
Samuel lay down until morning and then opened the doors of the house of the Lord. He was afraid to tell Eli the vision, but Eli called him and said, “Samuel, my son.”
Samuel answered, “Here I am.”
“What was it he said to you?” Eli asked. “Do not hide it from me. May God deal with you, be it ever so severely, if you hide from me anything he told you.” So Samuel told him everything, hiding nothing from him. Then Eli said, “He is the Lord; let him do what is good in his eyes.”
The Lord was with Samuel as he grew up, and he let none of Samuel’s words fall to the ground. And all Israel from Dan to Beersheba recognized that Samuel was attested as a prophet of the Lord. The Lord continued to appear at Shiloh, and there he revealed himself to Samuel through his word.

• 1 Samuel 3:1-21

And Samuel’s word came to all Israel.
Now the Israelites went out to fight against the Philistines. The Israelites camped at Ebenezer, and the Philistines at Aphek. The Philistines deployed their forces to meet Israel, and as the battle spread, Israel was defeated by the Philistines, who killed about four thousand of them on the battlefield. When the soldiers returned to camp, the elders of Israel asked, “Why did the Lord bring defeat on us today before the Philistines? Let us bring the ark of the Lord’s covenant from Shiloh, so that he may go with us and save us from the hand of our enemies.”
So the people sent men to Shiloh, and they brought back the ark of the covenant of the Lord Almighty, who is enthroned between the cherubim. And Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God.
When the ark of the Lord’s covenant came into the camp, all Israel raised such a great shout that the ground shook. Hearing the uproar, the Philistines asked, “What’s all this shouting in the Hebrew camp?”
When they learned that the ark of the Lord had come into the camp, the Philistines were afraid. “A god has come into the camp,” they said. “Oh no! Nothing like this has happened before. We’re doomed! Who will deliver us from the hand of these mighty gods? They are the gods who struck the Egyptians with all kinds of plagues in the wilderness. Be strong, Philistines! Be men, or you will be subject to the Hebrews, as they have been to you. Be men, and fight!”
So the Philistines fought, and the Israelites were defeated and every man fled to his tent. The slaughter was very great; Israel lost thirty thousand foot soldiers. The ark of God was captured, and Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, died.
That same day a Benjamite ran from the battle line and went to Shiloh with his clothes torn and dust on his head. When he arrived, there was Eli sitting on his chair by the side of the road, watching, because his heart feared for the ark of God. When the man entered the town and told what had happened, the whole town sent up a cry.
Eli heard the outcry and asked, “What is the meaning of this uproar?”
The man hurried over to Eli, who was ninety-eight years old and whose eyes had failed so that he could not see. He told Eli, “I have just come from the battle line; I fled from it this very day.”
Eli asked, “What happened, my son?”
The man who brought the news replied, “Israel fled before the Philistines, and the army has suffered heavy losses. Also your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead, and the ark of God has been captured.”
When he mentioned the ark of God, Eli fell backward off his chair by the side of the gate. His neck was broken and he died, for he was an old man, and he was heavy. He had led Israel forty years.
His daughter-in-law, the wife of Phinehas, was pregnant and near the time of delivery. When she heard the news that the ark of God had been captured and that her father-in-law and her husband were dead, she went into labor and gave birth, but was overcome by her labor pains. As she was dying, the women attending her said, “Don’t despair; you have given birth to a son.” But she did not respond or pay any attention.
She named the boy Ichabod, saying, “The Glory has departed from Israel”—because of the capture of the ark of God and the deaths of her father-in-law and her husband. She said, “The Glory has departed from Israel, for the ark of God has been captured.”

• 1 Samuel 4:1-22

Noted Biblical Scholars, Teachers, and Preachers Comments

1 Samuel 3:1 ‘the boy Samuel’: “Samuel was no longer a child (2:21, 26). While Jewish historian Josephus suggested he was 12 years of age, he was probably a teenager at this time. The same Heb. term translated here ‘boy’ was used of David when he slew Goliath (17:33). the word of the LORD was rare. The time of the judges was a period of extremely limited prophetic activity. The few visions that God did give were not widely known. revelation. Lit. ‘vision.’ A divine revelation mediated through an auditory or visual encounter.”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

1 Samuel 3:3 ‘before the lamp of God went out’: “The golden lampstand, located in the Holy Place of the tabernacle, was filled with olive oil and lit at twilight (Ex. 30:8). The lamp was kept burning from evening until morning (Ex. 27:20, 21). Just before dawn, while the golden lampstand was still burning, Samuel was called to his prophetic ministry. ark of God. See Ex. 25:10–22.”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

1 Samuel 3:4 ‘the ear gate’: “Samuel had a hearing ear. Do we have hearing ears? We should be grateful if we have, for all people do not have that blessing. Some have an itching ear. They come to a place of worship not to hear and profit but merely to judge, to criticize, to find fault, to draw comparisons between one speaker and another. If that is the case with us, may the Lord cure our ears of itching and open them to the truth of God, for they are stopped up. John Bunyan speaks of Ear-Gate being stopped up with filth, and it is often so. [ED: In The Holy War, Bunyan depicts the human soul as a city, Mansoul, with five gates: Ear Gate, Eye Gate, Nose Gate, Feel Gate, and Mouth Gate.] People cannot hear the voice of God because there is sin in the way-some darlings in-and they are not wise enough to realize that what they hear will be the means either of saving them or of damning them. Hearing true gospel sermons is one of the most solemn occupations in which intelligent beings can be employed. Hearing ears are by no means common things-we who have them are happy. Samuel was asleep, yet he heard God’s voice. I know some people who are awake yet who have not heard it. They sit listening to sermons with their eyes wide open, yet they see nothing of the truth-and with their ears open, too, yet the voice of God never penetrates the secret chambers of their souls.”

• Charles H. Spurgeon, from sermon notes

1 Samuel 3:7 ‘Samuel did not yet know the Lord’: “Samuel had not yet encountered the Lord in a personal way, nor had he received God’s Word by divine revelation (see 2:12).”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

1 Samuel 3:10 ‘God spoke only to Samuel, a boy’: “The child Samuel was favored above all the family with whom he dwelt. The Lord did not speak at night to Eli or to any of Eli’s sons. In all that house, in all the rows of rooms that were around the tabernacle where the ark of the Lord was kept, Jehovah spoke to no one except Samuel. The fact that the Lord should choose to speak to a child out of all that household ought to be encouraging to us who think ourselves to be the least likely to be recognized by God. Are we so young? Yet we are not younger than Samuel was at this time. Do we seem to be insignificant? Yet we can hardly be more so than this child of Hannah’s love. Have we many troubles? We have not more than rested on young Samuel, for it must have been hard for him to part from his dear mother at such a young age, to be sent so early to do a servant’s work, even though it was in the house of the Lord. I have noticed how often God looks with eyes of special love on those in a family who seem least likely to be so regarded. It was on Joseph, whom his brothers hated that God’s electing love descended. Why should it not come on us? Perhaps, in the house where we live, we seem to be a stranger. Our opponents are in our own household. We have many sorrows, yet the Lord may have a special regard for us. We must come to Christ and put our soul’s trust in him, and then we will have to say, ‘He drew me to him with human cords, with ropes of love. He loved me with an everlasting love’ (see Hs 11:4; Jr 31:3).”

• Charles H. Spurgeon, from sermon notes

1 Samuel 2:27-34, 36; 3:11-14 ‘The Line of Eli Divinely Cursed’: “In contrast to Hannah’s son, dedicated to the Lord, Eli’s sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were ‘worthless men’ who habitually sinned grievously against the Lord through abuse of their priestly office (2:12- 17), including ritual fornication and adultery with the women serving within the tabernacle (2:22). An unnamed ‘man of God’ (a prophet) addressed Eli with a message of divine condemnation (2:27-36). As a result of the priesthood’s corruption under Eli’s administration, the hereditary priesthood would no longer advance from the house, or dynasty, of Eli. His family line would be disastrously cut off, and it would become normative for the family’s men to die young, “in the prime of life” (verse 33). From this time onward, the continuation of the priesthood would proceed through the lineage of another of Aaron’s direct descendants.”

• Tim LaHaye and Ed Hindson, Exploring Bible Prophecy

1 Samuel 3:17 ‘God do so to you, and more also’: “This is an oath of imprecation. Eli called down God’s judgment on Samuel if he refused to tell everything he knew.”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

1 Samuel 3:18 ‘Let Him do what seems good to Him’: “Eli resigned himself to divine sovereignty, without reluctance.”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

1 Samuel 3 ‘Challenge’: “Lord, teach me to listen. The times are noisy and my ears are weary with the thousand raucous sounds which continuously assault them. Give me the spirit of the boy Samuel when he said to Thee, ‘Speak, for thy servant heareth.’ Let me hear Thee speaking in my heart. Let me get used to the sound of Thy voice, that its tones may be familiar when the sounds of earth die away and the only sound will be the music of Thy speaking voice. Amen.”

• A. W. Tozer, The Pursuit of God

1 Samuel 4:1 ‘the word of Samuel came to all Israel’: ”The text of 1:1–3:21 climaxes with the establishment of Samuel as God’s spokesman/representative. Observe that ‘the word of the LORD’ (3:21) has become equivalent to ‘the word of Samuel.’ Philistines. From the period of the judges through the end of David’s reign, the Philistines (‘Sea Peoples’) were an ever-present enemy of Israel. They were non-Semitic immigrants (see Gen. 10:14; 1 Chr. 1:12; Jer. 47:4, 5; Amos 9:7) who settled along the coastal regions of southern Canaan, organizing their power in five chief cities: Ashdod, Ashkelon, Ekron, Gath, and Gaza (1 Sam. 6:17; Judg. 3:13). The introduction of the Philistines into the narrative provides a link between the judgeship of Samuel and the judgeship which Samson was not able to complete (Judg. 13–16). Ebenezer. The location of this site has not been specifically identified. Opposite Aphek in Israelite territory, it is possibly modern Izbet Sarteh on the road to Shiloh. When translated it means ‘stone of help,’ and its mention here (and 5:1) and again in 7:12 of another location mark this section as a literary unit. Aphek. This site is located near the source of the Yarkon River, at the southern end of the coastal plain of Sharon, approximately 5 mi. E of the Mediterranean. This city marked the northeastern edge of Philistine territory.”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

1 Samuel 4:3 ‘Why has the Lord defeated us?’: “The question of the elders reflected their knowledge that the Lord both fought their battles (2:10; 17:47) and allowed their defeat. To be defeated clearly meant that God was not ‘with’ them (Num. 14:42; Deut. 1:42). Instead of inquiring of the Lord for direction, they proceeded to take the matter into their own hands. Let us bring the ark. The ark symbolized the presence and power of the Lord. Yet, Israel treated it like a good-luck charm, which would ensure them victory over the Philistines. Knowing that victory or defeat depended upon the Lord’s presence, they confused the symbol of His presence with His actual presence. In this way, their understanding of God resembled that of the Philistines (4:8).”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

1 Samuel 4:4 ‘dwells between the cherubim’: “A repeated phrase used to describe the Lord (see 2 Sam. 6:2; 2 Kin. 19:15; 1 Chr. 13:6; Pss. 80:1; 99:1; Is. 37:16). It spoke of His sovereign majesty. Hophni and Phinehas. These were the two wicked sons of Eli (2:12–17, 27–36), of whom it was said that they ‘did not know the LORD’ (2:12). The fact that they were mentioned together recalls the prophecy that they would die together (2:34).”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

1 Samuel 4:7 ‘God has come into the camp’: “The idol, to the Philistine, was thought to be the actual dwelling place of his deity. Hence, when Israel brought the ark into the camp, the Philistines concluded that God was present, an exclamation that reflected a knowledge of God’s power.”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

1 Samuel 4:7 ‘Israel had forgotten God’: “Israel was out of gear with God. The people had forgotten the Most High and had turned to the worship of Baal. They had neglected the things of God, and therefore they were given up to their enemies. When Jehovah had brought them out of Egypt, he instructed them how they were to live in the land to which he would bring them, and he warned them that if they turned away from him, they would be disciplined. His words were very plain: ‘If in spite of this you do not obey me but act with hostility toward me, I will act with furious hostility toward you; I will also discipline you seven times for your sins’(Lv 26:27-28).In fulfillment of this threat, the Philistines had been divinely permitted to bring widespread destruction on the idolatrous Israelites and to hold them in cruel slavery. The only way for them to get out of their trouble was to return to God and renew their faith and their covenant with God. But this is the last thing people will do. We will attend to any outward duty or to any external rite, but to bring our minds and hearts into subjection to the divine will, the unbeliever abhors. Instead of attempting to get right with God, these Israelites set about devising superstitious means of securing the victory over their foes.  In this respect most of us have imitated them. When we pass through trials, we think we must have forgotten some little thing in connection with external religion instead of seeing that faith is what pleases God. And we cannot come to this apart from the Spirit of God.”

• Charles H. Spurgeon, from sermon notes

1 Samuel 4:9 ‘servants … as they have been to you’: “Israel’s failure to uproot all the inhabitants of Canaan (see Judg. 1:28) caused them to fall under the judgment of God. As a consequence of this judgment, Israel was enslaved to Philistine oppression (see Judg. 10, 13–16). The Philistines feared that they would become servants of the Hebrews.”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

1 Samuel 4:11 ‘the ark of God was captured’: “In spite of their hopes to manipulate God into giving them the victory, Israel was defeated and the ark fell into the hands of the Philistines. The view of having the ark of God being equivalent to having control of God, possessed both by Israel and then the Philistines, is to be contrasted with the power and providence of God in the remaining narrative. Hophni and Phinehas, died. In fulfillment of 2:34 and 3:12, Eli’s sons died together.”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

1 Samuel 4:13 ‘his heart trembled for the ark of God’: “Eli’s concern for the ark stands in stark contrast to his earlier actions of honoring his two sons over honoring the Lord (2:29, 30; cf. 4:17, 18).”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

1 Samuel 4:18 ‘Eli … died’: “As was the case with Hophni and Phinehas, Eli died. Thus, in fulfillment of the word of the Lord, all of the priestly line through Eli had been wiped out (2:29–34). See … 2:31. he had judged Israel forty years. Over that time Eli fulfilled the office of both priest and judge in Israel.”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

1 Samuel 4:21 ‘Ichabod … The glory has departed’: “Due primarily to the loss of the ark, the symbol of God’s presence, Phinehas’ wife names her child Ichabod, meaning either ‘Where is the glory?’ or ‘no glory.’ To the Hebrew, ‘glory’ was often used to refer to God’s presence; hence, the text means ‘Where is God?’ The word ‘departed’ carries the idea of having gone into exile. Thus, to the people of Israel, the capturing of the ark was a symbol that God had gone into exile. Although this was the mindset of Israel, the text narrative will reveal that God was present, even when He disciplined His people. See … Ezek. 10:18, 19.”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

My Thoughts

The commentaries that I have used are slim in First Samuel, yet, as a child, I looked toward 1 Samuel 3 as being such a meaningful story.  Was it because I was a boy and Samuel was a boy?  Or was it that Almighty God should choose a boy with whom to talk?  I think the latter.

At that time in my life, I lived alone.  I was an introvert and living alone was not a bad thing for me.  When I was allowed to go to my grandmother’s house in town, nine out of ten times, the other kids had to get permission to come to the empty lot next to MawMaw’s house.  Only the tenth of those ten times was I allowed to visit their house.  I never understood that dynamic, but my friends in the neighborhood loved coming to the empty lot.  We could play real sports games: football – sometimes pass and catch, baseball – using a tennis ball to prevent knocking out the neighbor’s windows with what we considered a ground-rule double.  My piano/organ teacher bought the house where I lived when I was born, and then she bought MawMaw’s house, building a huge house.  I recently did not recognize the property until I saw the smokehouse that was behind the empty lot where we played.  The empty lot was still there.

But the idea of having God speak to me directly in the quiet moments of the early morning, before dawn, as Rev. MacArthur points out, that mesmerized me.

And while things are often done in threes, Samuel hears God calling him.  Three times in a row, he goes to Eli, thinking the voice to be Eli’s.  It took Eli three times before he figured it out.  It was God calling Samuel.

It was the fourth time that God called when Samuel was armed with his instructions from Eli that God let Samuel know that the curse upon Eli’s family is imminent.

Samuel is afraid to give bad news to Eli, but Eli swears a curse on Samuel if he did not tell him.  Samuel tells him what the Lord says, and Eli says that if that is what the Lord wants, then that is what will happen.  Eli had been soft in his discipline.  Had he acted differently in his upbringing of Samuel?  Or had Samuel understood his position of a servant to Eli from early on and was willing to serve Eli and God.

Note: The Scriptures say here that Samuel did not know God.  Rev. MacArthur touched on this, but does this mean that this was the first audible message?  It was, but had not Samuel learned anything under Eli’s tutelage about the Torah?  Samuel may have known all those old stories, but it is like a lot of people today – is God real in your life?

I have often thought about this story after having children.  They can be so different.  Some can be angels, and others can find that last nerve and find it so entertaining to pounce on that last nerve, repeatedly.  Hophni and Phinehas were corrupt to the core.  And Samuel had the same priest as a guardian, but he was a willing and cheerful servant.

But I cringe over something that I copied from Rev. MacArthur.  No one should put themselves into a situation where they think that the Word of the Lord is equivalent to the Word of the person, fill in the blank as to whom.  Politicians, pastors, Sunday school teachers, and blog writers can make mistakes.  Now, with Samuel repeating what God told him, people relied on what Samuel said, but that is not to equate the Word of the Lord to what Samuel said in passing.  Samuel could be having an off day.

Chapter four starts with the Philistines attacking.  Interestingly, the people blame God for deserting them, instead of blaming themselves for deserting God.  Then they get the bright idea to bring the Ark of God into the battle.  Truly, God would protect the Ark and them by extension.  Note: They had no faith in God.  They were using the Ark as a false god.  The Ark was something that could be touched, while God was unseen, a spirit with no earthly substance.

But who are the Philistines?  There have been many guesses.  The “Sea People” could have arrived from Greece (some Grecian artifacts being found) and intermarried with the Canaanites.  Some think they were Egyptians or half-breed Egyptians (some Egyptian artifacts being found) that developed trade along what is now the Gaza strip.  Really, if you trade with seafaring people, you will accumulate artifacts from those cultures.  But the key here is that they were not Canaanites.

But see what happens.  They see the Ark and they are momentarily fearful.  The Israelite god, meaning the Ark, was with them.  But they capture the Ark, and they kill Hophni and Phinehas, as had been prophesied.  They died together.

Now the Benjamite ran to tell Eli.  Eli was seated when he arrived.  Note that the Scriptures say that Eli was sitting on the chair, not in the chair.  When we sit in a chair, we lean back against the back of the chair and have the chair enfold us.  Eli was probably sitting on a chair that had no back, thus sitting on instead of in.

Samuel had told him that God’s curse would be carried out.  Eli took the death of his sons in stride, but when he heard that the Ark had been captured, he leaned back and fell, hitting his head.  And Eli died.  He could accept the curse that God had placed on his family, but having the Ark captured was too much for him to bear.

Phinehas’ wife gave birth to a son, Ichabod, meaning the glory is gone.  But this leads to the priestly line of Eli continuing.  The curse is completed before the end of First Samuel.

I like what Rev. MacArthur said about the age of Samuel.  As a child, I read the first four chapters, often in a single sitting, and I never thought of Samuel being a teenager when God spoke to him, and when you flip from Chapter 3 to Chapter 4, you often do not have to flip the page.  You just keep reading.

But is three very short chapters, you go from Samuel being weaned, at the most, about three years of age.  Then, Samuel is taught everything that needs to be done at the tabernacle.  If he is a teenager when he first hears God’s voice, it takes a while before the Israelites spread the word that God speaks directly to Samuel.  He might be beyond his teens when Eli dies.  At any rate, Samuel has developed the reputation of being someone who hears God’s voice and God speaks to him.  Thus, Samuel becomes judge, prophet, and priest at a young age, but not as young as I imagined in my youth.

As for the Ark, one of the stories that you do not hear much about happens next.  It is a series of bizarre miracles, bordering on the comical.  But that can wait until next week.

Some Serendipitous Reflections

1 Samuel 3: 1. Has the Lord recently convicted you of some sin or failure? How did you react?
“2. Do you pray with an attitude of: (a) ‘speak Lord, your servant listens’ or (b) ‘listen Lord, for your servant speaks’? How can you learn to listen more and speak less?
“3. How do you treat the word of God? What commands have you ‘let fall to the ground’?
1 Samuel 4:1-11 The Philistine’s Capture the Ark 1. When have you trusted in symbols or rituals instead of the reality to which they point?
“2. Role play how each of the following characters would interact with God: (a) Philistine soldier; (b) Hebrew soldier; (c) Eli’s sons. Which of these characters had a view of God which is closest to your own?
1 Samuel 4:12-22 Death of Eli 1. What low points and high points have marked your spiritual pilgrimage? Where are you just now on the ‘bad-news-to­ good-news’ spectrum?
“2. When was the last time that you felt deserted by God? What was the cause? The solution?
“3. Is God currently in your camp? In the Philistines’ camp? Somewhere on the road between?”

• Lyman Coleman, et al, The NIV Serendipity Bible for Study Groups

There is one set of questions for 1 Samuel 3.  There are two sets of questions for 1 Samuel 4 as noted.

Substitute whatever group for any reference to a small group or ask who could come to your aid.

If you like these Thursday morning Bible studies, but you think you missed a few, you can use this LINK. I have set up a page off the home page for links to these Thursday morning posts. I will continue to modify the page as I add more.

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.