And the LORD continued to appear at Shiloh, because there He revealed Himself to Samuel by His word. Sermons
1 Samuel 3:19-4:1. (SHILOH) A prophet of the Lord (ver. 20). "A prophet was a man who drew aside the curtain from the secret counsels of Heaven. He declared or made public the previously hidden truths of God; and, because future events might chance to involve Divine truth, therefore a revealer of future events might happen to be a prophet. Yet, still, small was the part of a prophet's functions which contained the foreshadowing of events, and not necessarily any part of it" (De Quincey, 'Confessions,' p. 27). The greatest of prophets, and more than a prophet, was Moses (Numbers 12:6-8; Deuteronomy 18:15; Deuteronomy 34:9). After him a prophet arose at rare intervals. With Samuel, who was second only to Moses, a new prophetic era began. He was called to a permanent prophetic work; a type of the future line of the prophets which he virtually founded, and "set for all time the great example of the office of a prophet of the Lord." "In Samuel - Levite, Nazarite, at the sanctuary of Shiloh, prophet, and destined founder of a mightier prophetic power - were united from the first all spiritual gifts most potent for the welfare of the people, and under his powerful control stood the wheels on which the age revolved He was truly the father of all the great prophets who worked such wonders in the ensuing centuries" (Ewald. See 'Davison on Prophecy;' 'Fairbairn on Prophecy;' 'Prophecy a Preparation for Christ,' by the Dean of Canterbury). The summary of his prophetic activity here given leads us to consider - I. HIS QUALIFICATION. "And Samuel grew, and the Lord was with him" (ver. 19). "And the Lord appeared again in Shiloh (ver. 10): for the Lord revealed himself to Samuel in Shiloh by the word of the Lord (ver. 21). 1. The possession of a holy character, which was the general condition of prophetic endowment. At the time of his call Samuel entered into a higher knowledge of God, and a closer fellowship with him than he had before; he gradually advanced therein, and his character became more and more perfect. "Equable progression from the beginning to the end was the special characteristic of his life." "The qualifications which the Jewish doctors suppose necessarily antecedent to render any one habilem ad prophetandum are truly probity and piety; and this was the constant sense and opinion of them all universally, not excluding the vulgar themselves" (John Smith, 'Sel. Disc.' p. 250). 2. The revelation to him of the Divine word - by voices, visions, insight, intuition, inspiration (ver. 7). "For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man; but holy men of God spake as they were moved (borne along as a ship by the wind) by the Holy Ghost" (2 Peter 1:21). The communications of God to men have been made in many ways (by dreams, by Urim, by prophecy), and one communication faithfully received and used has prepared the way for another. How long after the Lord first appeared to Samuel he "apeared again" to him is not stated. 3. The conviction of its Divine origin, amounting to absolute certainty, and impelling him to speak and act in accordance with the revelation he received. II. HIS VOCATION. "And the word of Samuel came to all Israel" (ch. 4:1). He had not only to receive the word from God, but also to utter it to men. He was a spokesman for God, a messenger or interpreter of the Divine will. 1. The nature and purpose of his vocation were - (1) The communication of doctrine; the teaching of moral and spiritual truth; the declaration of the mind and will of the invisible and eternal King, with special reference to the requirements of the time in which he lived. He was a witness of the presence and government of Jehovah, his nature and character, his hatred of sin and love of righteousness, his dissatisfaction with merely formal and ceremonial services, his opposition to idolatry, his gifts, claims, and purposes with respect to his people. "The prophetic order in its highest signification was nothing else than a living witness for those eternal principles of righteous ness which previous revelation had implanted in the Hebrew race, and through them in the life of humanity" (Tulloch). (2) The enforcement of practice, by urgent appeals to the conscience, and presenting powerful motives of gratitude for past benefits, hope of future good, and fear of future evil. "The prophets, beside their communication of doctrine, had another and a direct office to discharge as pastors and ministerial monitors of the people of God. Their work was to admonish and reprove, to arraign forevery ruling sin, to blow the trumpet of repentance, and shake the terrors of the Divine judgment over a guilty land. Often they bore the message of consolation or pardon; rarely, if ever, of public approbation or praise" (Davison). (3) The prediction of things to come; not simply general results of good or evil con duct, but specific events that could not have been known except by Divine inspiration (1 Samuel 7:4; 1 Samuel 10:2; 1 Samuel 12:17; 1 Samuel 13:14); an element which became more prominent in subsequent times - the things to come having relation to the setting up of a kingdom of heaven on earth. We need not here dwell upon other matters connected with and growing out of the prophetic vocation of Samuel, viz., (4) his offering sacrifice; (5) his civil magistracy; (6) his presiding over the "school of the prophets;" (7) his recording the events of his time (1 Chronicles 29:29). 2. The persons whom his vocation immediately concerned. (1) The people and the elders of Israel - directing them what to do, exhorting them to forsake their sins, sometimes opposing and condemning their wishes. "His business was to keep all Israel true to the Divine purpose for which they had been made a nation" ('Expositor,' vol. 3. p. 344). (2) The priesthood, as in the case of Eli and his sons. (3) The king - teaching him that he was a servant of Jehovah, appointed by him, and bound to obey his laws, and when he departed from them denouncing his disobedience. "Under the protection generally, though not always effectual, of their sacred character the prophets were a power in the nation often more than a match for kings and priests, and kept up in that little corner in the earth the antagonism of influences which is the only real security for continued progress The remark of a distinguished Hebrew, that the prophets were in Church and State equivalent to the modern liberty of the press, gives a just but not an inadequate conception of the part fulfilled in national and universal history by this great element of Jewish life" (J.S. Mill, 'Representative Government,' p. 41). 3. The manner in which it was fulfilled: diligently (Jeremiah 23:28; Jeremiah 48:10 = negligently): faithfully (not according to his own natural wishes, but God's will); fearlessly; established = found trustworthy - Numbers 12:7; 1 Samuel 2:35), fully (not shunning to declare all the counsel of God - Deuteronomy 4:2; Acts 20:27). III. HIS CONFIRMATION. "The Lord was with him, and did let none of his words fall to the ground" (but made them stand firmly, or attain their aim like an arrow which hits the mark - ver. 19). He attested, sealed him as his messenger - 1. By bringing to pass the good or evil foretold by him (Numbers 22:6). 2. By providential and even miraculous occurrences, indicating his approval (1 Samuel 7:10; 1 Samuel 12:18). 3. By clothing his word with power, so that it was felt by those to whom it was addressed to be the word of the Lord; for there is something Divine within which responds to the Divine without, and every one who is truthful perceives and obeys the voice of eternal truth (John 18:37). IV. HIS RECOGNITION. "And all Israel from Dan even to Beer-sheba knew that Samuel was established to be a prophet of the Lord" (ver. 20). The Divine word was no more rare (1 Samuel 3:1). 1. His authority was universally admitted. It was familiarly known throughout the land that he had been appointed as a regular medium of communication between Jehovah and his people. 2. His utterances were widely disseminated, and regarded with reverence. "The word of Samuel came to all Israel." 3. His work thereby became highly effective. Its full effect appeared long afterwards. But even before the blow of judgment, which he predicted, fell (some ten years after his call), he doubtless laboured not in vain; and during the succeeding twenty years (1 Samuel 7:2) he "spent his time in a slow but resolute work of kindling the almost extinguished flame of a higher life in Israel." - D.
And all Israel, from Dan even to Beer-sheba, knew that Samuel was established to be a prophet of the Lord. that is to say, from Plymouth to Aberdeen — all the people in the towns and villages of Israel knew that there was come a new thing on the earth, that God was now speaking by the mouth of a little child. One of the first lessons which comes from the study of this story is, that bad men and bad things are doomed. Nothing can keep alive that which God has condemned. I look upon Hophni and Phinehas as representatives of that which was bad. "All Israel from Dan to Beer-sheba knew that Samuel was established to be a prophet of the Lord," and at the same time, that Hophni and Phinehas were to be removed from the face of the earth. We are surrounded by evil; bad men and bad things are all around us. But I want those of us who believe in God to cheer ourselves with the thought that nothing will live forever but that which is good. No wrong thing can live forever. Slavery was a giant. It is a giant yet in Africa; but its brother, American slavery, came down never to rise. Tyranny is a doomed thing. "Samuel is established to be a prophet of the Lord;" and I do not care who Hophni and Phinehas are if you will only do your duty. Be brave, and God will see you through.2. The second lesson I want to teach today is this: Mothers, get your children ready, "that Samuel may be established to be a prophet of the Lord." Oh! what honour came to Hannah through Samuel. We should encourage our children to have right ideas, and encourage them to propagate their ideas. Never was there a time when there was so much room for individual goodness. 3. I should say, further, that early consecration is the pathway to honour and greatness. What a great man Samuel became. (T. Champness.) II. But in the second place let us consider THE PROPHETIC WORK OR SAMUEL. 1. First, his work Was to announce the Divine mind by predicting future events. 2. In the second place, another pare of the prophetic work of Samuel was to revive religion and restore the worship of God among the nation. For at the time that Samuel was introduced to the prophetic office, religion was exceedingly low, indescribably low. 3. But, in the next place, another part of his work was to decide all doubtful cases, according to the will and the law of God. The most difficult of all those cases that came before him was the introduction of monarchy into the theocracy. 4. Another part of the work of Samuel was to introduce and to perpetuate a race of prophets, a series of prophets, in the Jewish church. 5. But again: another part of his work was to write a portion of the inspired volume — to communicate a part of the mind of God by inspiration. 1. Let us learn from this, in the first place, that early piety is of great influence in the Christian church. 2. And, in the second place, let us learn how a youth, in very disadvantageous circumstances, may be of great use in reviving religion in his day and generation (T. W. Jenkyn, D. D.) 2. But again: "God revealed Himself to Samuel by the word of the Lord." We may justly reflect that He has done this more completely to ourselves than He did to Samuel. Now, do we each one of us practically act as if we fully believed that constant revelations from God were necessary to make us holy and happy? Do we make daily devout use of the Holy Scripture, which is our great means of receiving revelations, or, in other words, communications from God? (Dean Goulburn.). People Dan, Eli, SamuelPlaces Beersheba, Dan, ShilohTopics Addeth, Appear, Appeared, Revealed, Revelation, Samuel, ShilohOutline 1. How the word of the Lord was first revealed to Samuel11. God tells Samuel the destruction of Eli's house 15. Samuel, though loath, tells Eli the vision 19. Samuel grows in credit Dictionary of Bible Themes 1 Samuel 3:21Library Divine Calls. "And the Lord came, and stood, and called as at other times, Samuel; Samuel. Then Samuel answered, Speak; for Thy servant heareth."--1 Samuel iii. 10. In the narrative of which these words form part, we have a remarkable instance of a Divine call, and the manner in which it is our duty to meet it. Samuel was from a child brought to the house of the Lord; and in due time he was called to a sacred office, and made a prophet. He was called, and he forthwith answered the call. God said, "Samuel, … John Henry Newman—Parochial and Plain Sermons, Vol. VIII A Private Enquiry What the Truth Saith Inwardly Without Noise of Words Samuel, the Little Server By Collating Similar Passages with 1 Sam. ... Letter Xlvi (Circa A. D. 1125) to Guigues, the Prior, and to the Other Monks of the Grand Chartreuse Being Made Archbishop of Armagh, He Suffers Many Troubles. Peace Being Made, from Being Archbishop of Armagh He Becomes Bishop of Down. Faithlessness and Defeat Christian Meekness Our Attitude Toward his Sovereignty The Acceptable Sacrifice; Effectual Calling Thoughts Upon Self-Denyal. Exposition of Chap. Iii. (ii. 28-32. ) The Christian's Book The Roman Pilgrimage: the Miracles which were Wrought in It. Samuel Links 1 Samuel 3:21 NIV1 Samuel 3:21 NLT 1 Samuel 3:21 ESV 1 Samuel 3:21 NASB 1 Samuel 3:21 KJV 1 Samuel 3:21 Bible Apps 1 Samuel 3:21 Parallel 1 Samuel 3:21 Biblia Paralela 1 Samuel 3:21 Chinese Bible 1 Samuel 3:21 French Bible 1 Samuel 3:21 German Bible 1 Samuel 3:21 Commentaries Bible Hub |
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