Samuel! Oh Samuel! The story when Eli hears God calling.

A story that most of you have heard - when Eli hears God calling.

Even though you may have heard this, I want to do it again.

It's in Samuel 3. It starts -

3:1 Now the boy Samuel continued serving the Lord under Eli’s supervision.¹ Word from the Lord was rare in those days; revelatory visions were infrequent.

If you've heard the story of Samuel's childhood, you know that Samuel's mom gave him to God. Of course, since you can't just heap a kid up to heaven, there are other ways of giving him to God. The way Hannah, Samuel's mom did it is by giving Samuel to Eli, the prophet. 

A prophet is a man sent by God to tell what God wants them to hear.

So Eli was supervising the little kid, Samuel. It now says that it was uncommon to hear from God. Revelatory visions are visions that actually has information in the future. (I never noticed this) So, I'll get the Bible on the screen.

3:2 Eli’s eyes had begun to fail, so that he was unable to see well. At that time he was lying down in his place, 3:3 and the lamp of God had not yet been extinguished. Samuel was lying down in the temple of the Lord as well; the ark of God was also there.

So now, we see that Eli's becoming blind. He's getting old. So he just threw on the blanket, let his head rest on the pillow, and started counting sheep. 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10... (Just joking. I just am saying that he got to bed.) The lamp of God must have been a special item for the tabernacle. So they said that the lamp wasn't out yet.  Samuel, the kid was also lying down. Maybe he was also counting sheep. (Another of my jokes. I bet the guy who invented the idea wasn't alive back then. :))

They said that the ark of God was also there. It was a special item with God's presence. Once they carried it into war and the enemies just took it. But that's another story. 

So, we mowed that hill.

 3:4 The Lord called to Samuel, and he replied, “Here I am!” 3:5 Then he ran to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But Eli ² said, “I didn't call you. Go back and lie down.” So he went back and lay down. 

So the Lord was calling Samuel and, just what I would think, Samuel thought Eli was trying to communicate. He counted too many sheep, he was just too tired. (A joke) So, he ran up, (He didn't count too many sheep) and said,"Here I am, for you called me." And Eli, his eyes heavy, responds, "I did NOT call you. Get back to bed." So Eli runs back and what but...

3:6 The Lord again called, “Samuel!” So Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But Eli ³ said, “I didn’t call you, my son. Go back and lie down.”

So God calls again. He says,"Samuel!" Just like before, he runs to Eli. You might have guessed what's going to happen. Eli says, eyes TOO heavy, sleepily,"Really. I didn't call you. Please get in bed." Again...

3:7 Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord; the word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him. 3:8 Then the Lord called Samuel a third time. So he got up and went to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me!” Eli then realized that it was the Lord who was calling the boy. 3:9 So Eli said to Samuel, “Go back and lie down. When he calls you, say, “Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.” So Samuel went back and lay down in his place.

Samuel just couldn't figure out the caller. He didn't figure that it was God calling him. So once more, God called. Samuel goes straight to Eli. He says,"Hey! you called me. What is it?"

Now, Eli going in the right direction tells Eli",Go to bed. I didn't call you".  He really tells him it's God calling him. Eli broke the code. He tells Samuel,"Just say, when you hear it again, Speak Lord, your servant is listening." So, Samuel just hops into his bed.

3:10 Then the Lord came and stood nearby, calling as he had previously done, “Samuel! Samuel!” Samuel replied, “Speak, for your servant is listening!” 

Now God comes near Samuel and he says,"Samuel! Samuel."

Instead of his usual routine, he says,"Speak Lord, your servant is listening." And then...

3:11 The Lord said to Samuel, “Look! I am about to do something in Israel;⁴ when anyone hears about it, both of his ears will tingle. 3:12 On that day I will carry out⁵ against Eli everything that I spoke about his house – from start to finish! 3:13 You⁶ should tell him that I am about to judge his house forever because of⁷ the sin that he knew about. For his sons were cursing God,⁸ and he did not rebuke them. 3:14 Therefore I swore an oath to the house of Eli, ‘The sin of the house of Eli can never be forgiven by sacrifice or by grain offering.’”

Now, the news comes. God says,"Check this out. Whenever someone hears this stuff, their ears will tingle.On that day, tell Eli I'm going to judge his house - The sin? He knew about it. And the sin is they have been cursing Me. So I swore,'The sin of Eli's house can never forgiven by sacrifice, or any grain offering."'

I don't know how Eli will feel when he hears the news!

His reaction and what's next -

3:15 So Samuel lay down until morning. Then he opened the doors of the Lord’s house. But Samuel was afraid to tell Eli about the vision. 3:16 However, Eli called Samuel and said, “Samuel, my son!” He replied, “Here I am.” 3:17 Eli⁹ said, “What message did he speak to you? Don’t conceal it from me. God will judge you severely¹⁰ if you conceal from me anything that he said to you!”

Samuel lay and lay and lay - no sleep and lay and lay... until the sun rose. When that happened, Samuel gets up and opens the doors of the Lord's house. Not surprisingly, Samuel was afraid tell his vision. Anyhow, he called Samuel and Eli said,"Samuel, my son." Samuel says,"I'm right here." Now Eli knows."What message did God tell you. Don't keep it a secret. God will judge you if you keep that secret."

I'll end with this.

3:18 So Samuel told him everything. He did not hold back anything from him. Eli¹ said, “The Lord will do what he pleases.”

Samuel emptied his mouth with everything God told him and Eli says,"God will do as he wants."