Old Testament - 1 Samuel 3 - June 10, 2022

6/10/2022 – 1 Samuel 3

Eli is quite old now. His vision is dim. Samuel, still a child, “ministered unto the Lord before Eli.” (v 1) And we are also told that “the word of the Lord was precious in those days; there was no open vision.” Harold B Lee spoke of this in a talk at BYU. He explained that the word Precious means ‘scarce’, which means that “the word of God was seldom heard in all the land.” Here is Elder Lee’s talk (But Arise and Stand Upon Thy Feet –and I Will Speak with Thee): “‘And the child Samuel ministered unto the Lord before Eli. And the word of the Lord was precious in those days; there was no open vision.’ (I Samuel 3:1) ... That means that there was no prophet upon the earth through whom the Lord could reveal his will, either by personal experience, or by revelation. And it came to pass that Eli was laid down in his place and his eyes were dim, and Samuel the boy also lay down to his sleep, and you remember through that night there came a call, ‘Samuel,’ and thinking that Eli had called him he went to Eli’s room to be told that Eli had not called him. And he lay down the second time again to be called, and yet the third time. And by this time Eli, sensing the fact that he was being spoken to by an unseen speaker, said, ‘The next time that you hear, then you shall answer, “Here I am Lord, speak to me.”’ And so the next time when the call came, Samuel answered as he had been directed. Now it says, ‘Samuel (up to this time) did not yet know the Lord, neither was the word of the Lord revealed unto him.’ And after he had recognized the Lord and said, ‘Thy servant heareth,’ then he was told that the Lord was to proceed to ‘do a thing in Israel, at which both the ears of everyone that heareth it, shall tingle.’ And then he explained the reason why Eli could not receive further messages from the Lord. ‘His sons make themselves vile, and he restrained them not,’ or in other words he allowed his sons to curse God and therefore were leading the people of Israel astray.”

V 7 tells us how Samuel reacted to the first two times that the Lord called him: “Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, neither was the word of the Lord yet revealed unto him.”  It is true that Samuel did not yet know the Lord—but he had been obedient, and the Lord knew him. He was still a child, but his ways of living in the midst of Israel where most people had turned from the Lord and toward false gods made a great different. And so the Lord came to the one who was obedient and every day trying to do his best in the work of the temple.

We can learn from this young man who lived so long ago: 

1) If we are willing and receptive, we can grow in our ability to hear and recognize the voice of the Lord.

2) As we work to receive and to recognize and to understand personal revelation, we will grow to recognize Him more quickly and easily and realize that we can’t just hear His instructions, but we must follow His instructions. 

Boyd K Parker described one way the Lord communicates with us: “The Spirit does not get our attention by shouting or shaking us with a heavy hand. Rather it whispers. It caresses so gently that if we are preoccupied we may not feel it at all…. Occasionally it will press just firmly enough for us to pay heed. But most of the time, if we do not heed the gentle feeling, the Spirit will withdraw and wait until we come seeking and listening.”

Samuel did heed the Lord: “And Samuel grew, and the Lord was with him, and did not let none of his words fall to the ground…and all Israel…knew that Samuel was established to be a prophet of the Lord.” (v’s 18-19)

It didn’t happen all at once-- his spiritual growth came gradually. But it came, and came strongly, because he “did let none of His words fall to the ground.” (v 19)