1-Samuel 2:12-3
"Speak, for your servant hears"
Eli the descendant of Aaron, the priest at Shiloh had two sons.
"Now the sons of Eli were worthless men. They did not know the Lord" (Ch.2 verse 12)
They broke the custom of the priest-- while the meat was boiling they would come and take a big chunk of meat for themselves and moreover before the sacrifice was burnt they took raw meat from people and threatened them if people refused to give them meat. They would also sleep with women who were outside of temple, serving.
Eli heard about all of these terrible things his sons were doing and he talked to them saying, "If someone sins against a man, God will mediate for him, but if someone sins against the Lord, who cam intercede for him?" (Ch. 2 verse 25)
But they refused to listen to their father.
Then a man of God came to Eli and told him what the Lord declares about Eli's house-- Eli's posterity will die in young age and his linage will no longer be priests. To know that these words are true God will send Eli a sign, and the sign in that both of his sons will die in the same day."I[God] will raise up for Myself a faithful priest, who shall do according to what is it My heart and in My mind" (Ch.2 verse 35)
Samuel grew and served before the Lord, and God blessed Hannah, Samuel's mother with five for children.
"The word of the Lord was rare in those days; there was no frequent visions." (Ch.3 verse 1)
Samuel didn't have the experience of talking to God, He didn't know God personally, he know only about God.
One day before the sunset, while Samuel and Eli were laying in their beds not asleep yet, Samuel heard someone calling him, and he got up and went to Eli saying, "here I am", but Eli said that he didn't call Samuel, so Samuel went back to his bed.
This repeated three times, and on the third time Eli realized that it was God who was calling Samuel and he told Samuel "Go, lie down, and if He calls you, you shall say, "Speak, Lord, for your servant hears." (Ch.3 verse 9)
And when God called Samuel again Samuel did what Eli said, he said "Speak for your servant hears" (Ch. 3 verse 10)
And God revealed to Samuel what He had told Eli "I declare to him [Eli] that I am about to punish his house forever, for the inequity that he knew, because his sons were blaspheming God, and he did not restrain them. Therefore I swear to the house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli's house shall not be atoned for by sacrifice of offering forever" (Ch.3 verse 13,14)
The next day Eli asked Samuel to tell him what God told Samuel, and Samuel did just that-- and Eli said "It is the Lord. Let Him do what seems good to him." (Ch.3 verse 18)
After sometime people everywhere knew that Samuel was a prophet of the Lord because God had revealed himself to Samuel.
Today...
These few chapters show us a parallel between Eli's sons and Samuel, Hannah's son. God punishes Eli 's house and his sons and He blesses Hannah and her son. They both reaped what they have sown.
There is a such a big responsibility that lays on each parent to raise their children in truth, we do not carry their sins and we will not be responsible for their choices in life, but while they are little children we have a responsibility to teach them, punish them, reward them, love them, guide them so they see and learn the truth, learn the right way of living. As parents we are responsible for the first couple of building blocks of our child's life and those blocks will then play a big role in their life. But once they are old enough they will reap the consequences to the actions and words that they have sown on their own.
Samuel didn't know God personally until God revealed Himself to him. Today God had revealed Himself to everyone by taking that first step towards human's sinful hearts by dyeing on the cross for all the people, and it is up to us now to say "Speak for your servant hears you." And be able and willing to listen to God.
Although Hannah gave Samuel to Eli so he would serve all his life in a temple, once Samuel was old enough he did not rebel against his mother's choice. He was a young man who could be having fun being with other young people outside the temple, but God saw his heart and He revealed Himself to this young man, and once again people of Israel had a man of God in the midst of them.
We worry too much of what people will think of us or of what we might miss out in our life if we give our life to Jesus and truly serve Him. But time will come and all the time that could've been spent praising and serving the Lord will be wasted and we will have to answer for that before the Lord. That's a scary thought.
Do we allow God to speak to us?
Do we want to hear God when He speaks to us?
Do we accept what God tells us?
Eli the descendant of Aaron, the priest at Shiloh had two sons.
"Now the sons of Eli were worthless men. They did not know the Lord" (Ch.2 verse 12)
They broke the custom of the priest-- while the meat was boiling they would come and take a big chunk of meat for themselves and moreover before the sacrifice was burnt they took raw meat from people and threatened them if people refused to give them meat. They would also sleep with women who were outside of temple, serving.
Eli heard about all of these terrible things his sons were doing and he talked to them saying, "If someone sins against a man, God will mediate for him, but if someone sins against the Lord, who cam intercede for him?" (Ch. 2 verse 25)
But they refused to listen to their father.
Then a man of God came to Eli and told him what the Lord declares about Eli's house-- Eli's posterity will die in young age and his linage will no longer be priests. To know that these words are true God will send Eli a sign, and the sign in that both of his sons will die in the same day."I[God] will raise up for Myself a faithful priest, who shall do according to what is it My heart and in My mind" (Ch.2 verse 35)
Samuel grew and served before the Lord, and God blessed Hannah, Samuel's mother with five for children.
"The word of the Lord was rare in those days; there was no frequent visions." (Ch.3 verse 1)
Samuel didn't have the experience of talking to God, He didn't know God personally, he know only about God.
One day before the sunset, while Samuel and Eli were laying in their beds not asleep yet, Samuel heard someone calling him, and he got up and went to Eli saying, "here I am", but Eli said that he didn't call Samuel, so Samuel went back to his bed.
This repeated three times, and on the third time Eli realized that it was God who was calling Samuel and he told Samuel "Go, lie down, and if He calls you, you shall say, "Speak, Lord, for your servant hears." (Ch.3 verse 9)
And when God called Samuel again Samuel did what Eli said, he said "Speak for your servant hears" (Ch. 3 verse 10)
And God revealed to Samuel what He had told Eli "I declare to him [Eli] that I am about to punish his house forever, for the inequity that he knew, because his sons were blaspheming God, and he did not restrain them. Therefore I swear to the house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli's house shall not be atoned for by sacrifice of offering forever" (Ch.3 verse 13,14)
The next day Eli asked Samuel to tell him what God told Samuel, and Samuel did just that-- and Eli said "It is the Lord. Let Him do what seems good to him." (Ch.3 verse 18)
After sometime people everywhere knew that Samuel was a prophet of the Lord because God had revealed himself to Samuel.
Today...
These few chapters show us a parallel between Eli's sons and Samuel, Hannah's son. God punishes Eli 's house and his sons and He blesses Hannah and her son. They both reaped what they have sown.
There is a such a big responsibility that lays on each parent to raise their children in truth, we do not carry their sins and we will not be responsible for their choices in life, but while they are little children we have a responsibility to teach them, punish them, reward them, love them, guide them so they see and learn the truth, learn the right way of living. As parents we are responsible for the first couple of building blocks of our child's life and those blocks will then play a big role in their life. But once they are old enough they will reap the consequences to the actions and words that they have sown on their own.
Samuel didn't know God personally until God revealed Himself to him. Today God had revealed Himself to everyone by taking that first step towards human's sinful hearts by dyeing on the cross for all the people, and it is up to us now to say "Speak for your servant hears you." And be able and willing to listen to God.
Although Hannah gave Samuel to Eli so he would serve all his life in a temple, once Samuel was old enough he did not rebel against his mother's choice. He was a young man who could be having fun being with other young people outside the temple, but God saw his heart and He revealed Himself to this young man, and once again people of Israel had a man of God in the midst of them.
We worry too much of what people will think of us or of what we might miss out in our life if we give our life to Jesus and truly serve Him. But time will come and all the time that could've been spent praising and serving the Lord will be wasted and we will have to answer for that before the Lord. That's a scary thought.
Do we allow God to speak to us?
Do we want to hear God when He speaks to us?
Do we accept what God tells us?
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