141 Samuel - God's answer to the state of the nation - a podcast by Dr David Petts - Pentecostal preacher, former AoG Bible College Principal

Great Bible Truths Podcast Episode 141

Lessons from their lives: Talk 7

Samuel - God’s response to the state of the nation

 

Welcome to talk 7 in our series Lessons from their lives. Today we are looking at Samuel. I think that those of us who love the word of God are increasingly concerned at the way in which modern society pays little attention to the things that God has clearly declared in his word.  And the situation is not helped by church leaders who fail to take a stand for biblical truth, apparently afraid to call sin sin, but who rather prefer to interpret the Scriptures to conform to the current trends of worldly thinking. It’s as if we’re living in the days prophesied by Amos when he said:

 

‘The days are coming,’ declares the Sovereign Lord, ‘when I will send a famine through the land – not a famine of food or a thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the words of the Lord. Amos 8:11

 

It was just the same in the days of Eli the priest when Samuel was called by God to denounce the sins of the people. In 1 Samuel 3:1 we read:

 

In those days the word of the Lord was rare; there were not many visions.

 

Does this mean that God was communicating less because the people simply were not listening?

 

Before we look at 1 Samuel 3 which describes the call of Samuel, let’s first examine the context in which the chapter is set. I am going to suggest that there were four main factors that illustrate the state of the nation and which may be contributing factors to the state of our nation today.

 

The state of the nation

 

1. There was very little earnest pleading with God.

 

1 Samuel 1:12-15

As she kept on praying to the Lord, Eli observed her mouth. Hannah was praying in her heart, and her lips were moving but her voice was not heard. Eli thought she was drunk and said to her, ‘How long are you going to stay drunk? Put away your wine.’ ‘Not so, my Lord,’ Hannah replied, ‘I am a woman who is deeply troubled. I have not been drinking wine or beer; I was pouring out my soul to the Lord.

Hannah had no children, so she was pouring out her soul before the Lord. This was so unusual that the priest thought she was drunk. In that godless generation that was more likely!

 

 

 

1. The priesthood had become professionalised and had no regard for the Lord.

 

1 Samuel 2:12

Eli’s sons were scoundrels; they had no regard for the Lord.

 

1. As a result, God’s sacrificial offering was being despised

 

1 Samuel 2:17

This sin of the young men was very great in the Lord’s sight, for they were treating the Lord’s offering with contempt.

 

Their sin is described here in verses 13-16. When making an offering, the worshipper had to give the priest the fat, the breast and the shoulder. The fat was then burnt to the Lord. Hophni and Phineas were taking by force what belonged to the offerer and insulted God by demanding their portion before his was burnt on the altar. In other words they used what was intended as a sacrifice for the sins of the people as a source of profit for themselves.

 

1. There was sexual immorality among the priesthood.

 

1 Samuel 2:22

Now Eli, who was very old, heard about everything his sons were doing to all Israel and how they slept with the women who served at the entrance to the tent of meeting.

 

In other words, the whole nation was being affected by the failure of those who were supposed to be the spiritual leaders.

 

God’s answer to the need

 

Thank God he had an answer – a woman called Hannah.

I see Hannah as a picture of the Lord’s people, pleading for blessing.

She is unfruitful - she has no children - but earnestly seeks God who answers her prayer and Samuel is born.

 

Now, if you can, please have your Bible open at 1 Samuel 3. You will notice that, by the end of the chapter, things have changed very much for the better. I’m going to suggest that, if Hannah is a picture of God’s people pleading for blessing, Samuel may be seen as a picture of a renewed and revived church which hears what God is saying and declares it fearlessly to the nation.

 

1. Samuel was the product of the prayers of God’s people as a result of their unfruitfulness.

Cf. the Pentecostal Movement/Charismatic Renewal.

 

1. Samuel lived in the presence of the Lord

 

1 Samuel 2:26

Meanwhile, the boy Samuel grew up in the presence of the Lord. And the boy Samuel continued to grow in stature and in favour with the Lord and with people.

 

1. Samuel was called at a time when the vision of the established priesthood was dim.

 

2. One night Eli, whose eyes were becoming so weak that he could barely see, was lying down in his usual place.

 

Note: the lamp of God had not yet gone out (3)

 

1. Samuel heard and obeyed the voice of God.

 

4. Then the Lord called Samuel. Samuel answered, ‘Here I am.’
5. 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.
6. 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.’
7. Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord: the word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him.
8. 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 realised that the Lord was calling the boy.
9. 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.
10. The Lord came and stood there, calling as at the other times, ‘Samuel! Samuel!’ Then Samuel said, ‘Speak, for your servant is listening.’

 

Note:

Samuel was available. Here I am…

Samuel learned to recognise God’s voice v 7.

Samuel listened to God v 10

 

 

1. Samuel was willing to declare an unpopular message
2. 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.
3. At that time I will carry out against Eli everything I spoke against his family – from beginning to end.
4. For I told him that I would judge his family for ever because of the sin he knew about; his sons uttered blasphemies against God, and he failed to restrain them.
5. Therefore I swore to the house of Eli, “The guilt of Eli’s house will never be atoned for by sacrifice or offering.”?’
6. Samuel lay down until morning and then opened the doors of the house of the Lord. He was afraid to tell Eli the vision,
7. but Eli called him and said, ‘Samuel, my son.’ Samuel answered, ‘Here I am.’ ‘
8. 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.’
9. 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.’

 

1. God upheld Samuel’s prophetic words

 

19. The Lord was with Samuel as he grew up, and he let none of Samuel’s words fall to the ground.

 

G . Samuel was destined to be God’s instrument for the restoration of blessing to the nation.

 

20. And all Israel from Dan to Beersheba recognised that Samuel was attested as a prophet of the Lord.
21. The Lord continued to appear at Shiloh, and there he revealed himself to Samuel through the word of the Lord.

4:1 And Samuel’s word came to all Israel.

 

Finally, it was Samuel who brought in the kingdom of David

 

Could we be the generation that sees the arrival of the kingdom of great David’s greater Son?

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