Bible Story Topic: Samuel the Prophet
In 1 Samuel 3:1-4:22, Faithwheel.com

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1 Samuel 3:1-4:22

In those days, when the boy Samuel was serving the Lord under the direction of Eli, there were very few messages from the Lord, and visions from him were quite rare. One night Eli, who was now almost blind, was sleeping in his own room; Samuel was sleeping in the sanctuary, where the sacred Covenant Box was. Before dawn, while the lamp was still burning, the Lord called Samuel. He answered, “Yes, sir!”and ran to Eli and said, “You called me, and here I am.”

But Eli answered, “I didn’t call you; go back to bed.” So Samuel went back to bed.

The Lord called Samuel again. The boy did not know that it was the Lord, because the Lord had never spoken to him before. So he got up, went to Eli, and said, “You called me, and here I am.”

But Eli answered, “My son, I didn’t call you; go back to bed.”

The Lord called Samuel a third time; he got up, went to Eli, and said, “You called me, and here I am.”

Then Eli realized that it was the Lord who was calling the boy, so he said to him, “Go back to bed; and if he calls you again, say, ‘Speak, Lord, your servant is listening.’” So Samuel went back to bed.

The Lord came and stood there, and called as he had before, “Samuel! Samuel!”

Samuel answered, “Speak; your servant is listening.”

The Lord said to him, “Some day I am going to do something to the people of Israel that is so terrible that everyone who hears about it will be stunned. On that day I will carry out all my threats against Eli’s family, from beginning to end. I have already told him that I am going to punish his family forever because his sons have spoken evil things against me. Eli knew they were doing this, but he did not stop them. So I solemnly declare to the family of Eli that no sacrifice or offering will ever be able to remove the consequences of this terrible sin.”

Samuel stayed in bed until morning; then he got up and opened the doors of the house of the Lord. He was afraid to tell Eli about the vision. Eli called him, “Samuel, my boy!”

“Yes, sir,” answered Samuel.

“What did the Lord tell you?” Eli asked. “Don’t keep anything from me. God will punish you severely if you don’t tell me everything he said.”So Samuel told him everything; he did not keep anything back. Eli said, “He is the Lord; he will do whatever seems best to him.”

As Samuel grew up, the Lord was with him and made come true everything that Samuel said. So all the people of Israel, from one end of the country to the other, knew that Samuel was indeed a prophet of the Lord. The Lord continued to reveal himself at Shiloh, where he had appeared to Samuel and had spoken to him. And when Samuel spoke, all Israel listened.

At that time the Philistines gathered to go to war against Israel, so the Israelites set out to fight them. The Israelites set up their camp at Ebenezer and the Philistines at Aphek. The Philistines attacked, and after fierce fighting they defeated the Israelites and killed about four thousand men on the battlefield. When the survivors came back to camp, the leaders of Israel said, “Why did the Lord let the Philistines defeat us today? Let’s go and bring the Lord’s Covenant Box from Shiloh, so that he will go with us and save us from our enemies.” So they sent messengers to Shiloh and got the Covenant Box of the LordAlmighty, who is enthroned above the winged creatures. And Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, came along with the Covenant Box.

When the Covenant Box arrived, the Israelites gave such a loud shout of joy that the earth shook. The Philistines heard the shouting and said, “Listen to all that shouting in the Hebrew camp! What does it mean?” When they found out that the Lord’s Covenant Box had arrived in the Hebrew camp, they were afraid, and said, “A god has come into their camp! We’re lost! Nothing like this has ever happened to us before! Who can save us from those powerful gods? They are the gods who slaughtered the Egyptians in the desert! Be brave, Philistines! Fight like men, or we will become slaves to the Hebrews, just as they were our slaves. So fight like men!”

The Philistines fought hard and defeated the Israelites, who went running to their homes. There was a great slaughter: thirty thousand Israelite soldiers were killed. God’s Covenant Box was captured, and Eli’s sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were both killed.

A man from the tribe of Benjamin ran all the way from the battlefield to Shiloh and arrived there the same day. To show his grief, he had torn his clothes and put dirt on his head. Eli, who was very worried about the Covenant Box, was sitting in his seat beside the road, staring. The man spread the news throughout the town, and everyone cried out in fear. Eli heard the noise and asked, “What is all this noise about?” The man hurried to Eli to tell him the news. ( Eli was now ninety-eight years old and almost completely blind.) The man said, “I have escaped from the battle and have run all the way here today.”

Eli asked him, “What happened, my son?”

The messenger answered, “Israel ran away from the Philistines; it was a terrible defeat for us! Besides that, your sons Hophni and Phinehas were killed, and God’s Covenant Box was captured!”

When the man mentioned the Covenant Box, Eli fell backward from his seat beside the gate. He was so old and fat that the fall broke his neck, and he died. He had been a leader in Israel for forty years.

Eli’s daughter-in-law, the wife of Phinehas, was pregnant, and it was almost time for her baby to be born. When she heard that God’s Covenant Box had been captured and that her father-in-law and her husband were dead, she suddenly went into labor and gave birth. As she was dying, the women helping her said to her, “Be brave! You have a son!” But she paid no attention and did not answer. She named the boy Ichabod, explaining, “God’s glory has left Israel”—referring to the capture of the Covenant Box and the death of her father-in-law and her husband. “God’s glory has left Israel,” she said, “because God’s Covenant Box has been captured.”

Moral Lessons:

1)Spiritual mentorships/ guidance is important for every believer.
2) Like the case of Samuel, the lord is always looking for available vessels for his works( see 2tim2:20-21)
3) Age is not a barrier to God’s works.
4) Unlike Eli, parents should understand that they are caretakers of the children God has given them and will be held accountable for every
wrong training.(1sam3:12-14)
5) The God is not a respecter of titles or positions, the wages of sins is deaths.
6) Like samuel we should always let our light shine for people to glory God through us(1sam3:19-21)
7) The deaths of Eli, his sons and in-laws confirms that God’s words always come to pass.
8)like the slaughter of israel before the philistines its important to always follow divine instructions.