1 Samuel 3:1-21

And the word of the Lord was rare in those days; there was no widespread revelation (1 Sam 3:1b). The lamp of God in the Tabernacle was flickering, not yet extinguished, but symbolic of a dim and fading divine presence.

The priestly house of Eli, represented by his corrupt sons Hophni and Phinehas, had become faithless, treating the offerings of the Lord with contempt and leading Israel into sin. The established religious order was defunct, incapable of mediating God’s word or presence. This historical reality foreshadows the spiritual condition of Israel at the time of Christ’s advent. The religious establishment of the Pharisees and Sadducees, though outwardly rigorous, was often characterized by hypocrisy, legalism, and a failure to truly know God. The prophetic voice had been silent for 400 years; the word of the Lord was once again rare.

Now the boy Samuel ministered to the Lord before Eli (1 Sam 3:1a). Samuel was a servant in the Lord’s house, but he did not yet know the Lord, nor was the word of the Lord yet revealed to him (1 Sam 3:7). His initial inability to recognize the divine voice shows that true prophecy is not a human capacity but a divine gift of revelation. Jesus is the true and greater Samuel, who from his youth was about his Father’s business. Jesus is the Word. The rare and precious word that came to Samuel was a fragmentary revelation; the Word that is Christ is the complete self-disclosure of God. He is God speaking. The faint, audible voice in the Shiloh Tabernacle is fulfilled in the incarnate Person who dwelt among us (John 1:14).

Samuel was called: Samuel! And he responded, Here I am! and he journeyed three times to Eli, thinking it was the priest calling him. There is confusion when God’s voice is unfamiliar. It requires the mediation of the old, failing priest to guide him: Therefore, Eli said to Samuel, “Go, lie down; and it shall be, if He calls you, that you must say, ‘Speak, Lord, for Your servant hears.’ (1 Sam 3:9). This mediation points forward to the need for a true mediator between God and humanity. Jesus Christ is both the Voice of God that calls and the true High Priest who perfectly interprets and mediates that call to humanity. We no longer need an Eli to guide us, for we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God (Heb 4:14). Our response is now directed to Christ Himself: Speak, Lord, for your servant hears.

The message Samuel finally receives is not one of comfort but of severe judgment against the house of Eli, for the iniquity which he knows, because his sons made themselves vile, and he did not restrain them (1 Sam 3:13). Samuel, the newly called prophet, becomes the bearer of a word of judgment against the established religious order. Jesus, the Faithful Prophet, came first to the house of Israel and delivered a scathing judgment against the hypocrisy and dead religion of the scribes and Pharisees (Matt 23). The judgment on Eli’s house signaled the end of one priestly dynasty and the rise of a new prophetic voice; Christ’s judgment announced the end of the old covenant system and the inauguration of a new covenant in His blood.

The conclusion of the chapter establishes Samuel’s credibility: So, Samuel grew, and the Lord was with him and let none of his words fall to the ground. And all Israel from Dan to Beersheba knew that Samuel had been established as a prophet of the Lord. (1 Sam 3:19-20). Samuel was a faithful prophet, but the Scriptures themselves record his limitations and failures. Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of the promise of a prophet like Moses, to whom everyone must listen. He is the Faithful Prophet whose words never fall to the ground, for heaven and earth will pass away, but His words will by no means pass away (Matt 24:35). His credibility is established by His teaching and ultimately by His resurrection. All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Him, and now not just Israel, but all nations, from every corner of the earth, know that Jesus Christ is established as the Lord’s ultimate Prophet, Priest, and King.

The boy Samuel, called by name in the darkness, was the beginning of a new word from God, a prophetic voice that would anoint kings and shape a nation. But he was only a type, a shadow, pointing forward to the light that shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it (John 1:5).

Jesus Christ is the true and faithful Prophet who dwells in the true Tabernacle, who knows the Father perfectly, who speaks the word of judgment and grace with final authority, and whose revelation of God is His very Person. In Him, the word of the Lord is no longer rare; it is abundantly and eternally present.

Ask God to:

• teach you to respond with a surrendered heart: Speak, Lord, for your servant hears.
• empower you to be a faithful witness like Samuel, and ultimately like Christ, who spoke truth with grace and authority.
• help you to build your life upon the unchanging truth of Scripture.

Soli Deo Gloria – to God alone be the glory! Rev. Luke Haisa