SAMUEL'S VISITATION

Pastor Mel Kunau

Text: I Samuel 3:1-21

In this story and contrast of an old priest and a new one, we see two very different men with two very different responses to the visitation of the Lord.

Verse 1 – “And the word of the LORD was precious in those days, and there was no open vision.” [“Precious” in Hebrew is “yaqar,” -- valuable, clear, rare, costly.]

About the phrase, “There was no open vision,” Dr. Adam Clarke has this to say:
“There were but few revelations from God, because the word was scarce. Therefore it was valuable. The author of this book probably lived when prophecy was frequent, and knew that there was no public, accredited prophet -- one with whom the secret of the LORD was known to dwell, and to whom all might have recourse in cases of doubt and public emergency.” Adam Clarke’s Commentary

Verse 2 states, “Eli laid down in his place, and his eyes began to wax dim, that he could not see. And the lamp of God went out in the temple of the LORD, where the Ark of God was.”

At this point in time, Samuel was not responsible – Eli was responsible for keeping the lamp lit. Because Eli let the lamp of the LORD go out, God did not call Eli again, but went to Samuel for response, and for Samuel to take up his responsibility and corresponding authority to steward the temple and the holy things in it. God also bypassed Eli because his sons were evil and did not follow the holy priesthood.

There were three times that Eli was awakened by Samuel, and none of those three times was Eli even aware that the lamp of the LORD had gone out. We see that Eli had become derelict in his duties before the LORD. Eli was both blind and darkened, because of his own physical blindness, but more significantly because of his spiritual blindness. Eli’s three major sins were: He did not heed the word of the LORD; he did not discipline his sons and cause them to heed the word of the LORD; and he let the lamp of God go out.

God called Samuel, and he ran to Eli 3 times, before Eli recognized that God was calling Samuel. God was acquainting Samuel with His voice. Samuel did not yet know the LORD; and the word of the LORD was not yet revealed unto Him, according to verse 7. How would this be remedied? Samuel would get to know the LORD by hearing and responding to His voice.

In verse 9, Eli first admonished Samuel to “Go lie down,” and then to respond when the LORD called him again. In other words, there wouldn’t be another voice until Samuel went to lie down again. Samuel had to posture himself in a place of submission.

Because Samuel did not yet know the LORD, he did not follow Eli’s admonition to say, “Speak, LORD; for thy servant heareth.” So Samuel’s genuine first response was as a servant: “Speak, for thy servant heareth.” It would be later, after establishing relationship with Him, that he would eventually call Him LORD.

The fourth time Samuel’s name was called, there was voice recognition. In verse 10, it says, “And the LORD came, and stood, and called as at other times, Samuel, Samuel.” God had given voice visitation to Eli, who did not respond. It is very clear to me that the LORD was done with Eli. God had given voice visitation to Samuel, and this time He came and stood with a personal visitation to Samuel. Even though it was a quick thing, the visitation of the LORD to Samuel was a personal one – He came and stood – and therefore relationship began to be established between the LORD and Samuel. Here was a young man, who did not know the LORD until this visitation, and God’s first message to him was heavy and intense. God let Samuel know that this first message would cause the ears of the people to tingle. And God was conditioning Samuel’s ears to the power of His spoken Word. In a short few moments, a mantle came upon Samuel from the LORD Himself. If God had not put His mantle on Samuel, he could not have handled the intensity of this very heavy, first message that God gave him, of judgment against Eli and his house.

We also see in this chapter that there were three stages of growth in Samuel’s life: first, in I Samuel 2:21, “he grew”; second, in verse 26, “he grew on and was in favor with the LORD, and with men”; and third, in Chapter 3, verse 19, “he grew, and the LORD was with him, and did let none of his words fall to the ground.” That is an awesome, progressive mantle of God upon Samuel’s life.

And finally, we see that God continued to reveal Himself to and through Samuel by the word of the LORD:

I Samuel 3:21 – “And the LORD appeared again in Shiloh: for the LORD revealed Himself to Samuel in Shiloh by the word of the LORD.”

We are all blessed to have Bibles and have the Holy Spirit, through our study, reveal God’s Word to us. Samuel, in addition to having the 10 commandments, had the privilege of God coming to him personally, and declaring Himself, and teaching him in the process. Samuel got it first, received God’s teaching, and then, when he declared and prophesied what God gave him, God would amplify His Word when Samuel delivered it. My personal prayer is that God must, again, speak personally to at least the five-fold ministers, and even more so to the apostles and prophets. They are the messengers of God. The apostles and prophets will declare revelation, but will also declare the power and righteous judgment of God, in the timing of the LORD. Too many times, God has spoken to and through His prophets and messengers, and the people did not understand nor take heed to the word. We are living to close to the end, where God cannot afford to give us messages, and not have them heeded and fulfilled. We must obey the word of the LORD, and walk in it. And we must walk in the fear of the LORD.