This chapter is filled with many details regarding Hannah, Samuel, Eli (the current high priest of the temple), and Eli’s family. There is too much going on to cover it all. I highly recommend you read v1-11 yourself, which contains Hannah’s prayer at the time she dedicated Samuel.
“And there came a man of God to Eli and said to him… ‘Therefore the Lord, the God of Israel, declares: “I promised that your house and the house of your father should go in and out before me forever,” but now the Lord declares: “Far be it from me, for those who honor me I will honor, and those who despise me shall be lightly esteemed. Behold, the days are coming when I will cut off your strength and the strength of your father’s house… and all the descendants of your house shall die by the sword of men… And I will raise up for myself a faithful priest, who shall do according to what is in my heart and in my mind. And I will build him a sure house, and he shall go in and out before my anointed forever.” ‘ ” (v27-35 abr)
Eli is a faithful servant of the Lord, however, he has wicked sons that do not follow God. These sons commit multiple sins against the Israelite people, and despite Eli rebuking them, they don’t repent. A prophet delivers God’s message to Eli, telling him that even though his father was promised their family would always be in the temple, that covenant is now broken because Eli’s sons are not worthy to continue the priestly lineage. God then says Eli’s house (his sons and descendants) will be destroyed, and another person will become God’s faithful messenger.
We know of course God is talking about Samuel, who at the age of three-to-four “was ministering to the Lord in the presence of Eli the priest” (v11) and “continued to grow both in stature and in favor with the Lord and also with man” (v26).
Killing off Eli’s descendants may sound a little brutal, but at this critical point in history God was not messing around with Israel’s spiritual well-being. We have just come through 300 years of judges, where Israel was in a cycle of sin, and God longed to break that cycle. We’re on the threshold of the age of kings, where God raises up kings to lead the people (similar to how He raised up Moses and the judges), and Samuel will play a critical role in this plan.
Have you ever felt that you have far more potential than you are currently utilizing, that you are not fulfilling your greatest calling? I have. This chapter of Samuel show that if we want God to work in and through us, we need to devote ourselves to His service. I’m not saying we all quit our jobs and become pastors – I’m saying that we all become obedient to God where we’re at, and if we’re diligently faithful, we’ll grow toward “a greater level of service”.
By “a greater level of service”, I mean how closely we obey God’s leading in our lives. This has absolutely nothing to do with the “job description”. We could exhibit a greater level of service in the way we clean our own homes, or look after someone else’s children, or insulate someone’s attic. It’s not the “job description” that determines our level of service, it’s our attitude, humility and obedience that determine how well we love and obey God.
When it says Samuel “was ministering to the Lord”, it’s meaning he was serving God. It’s that simple. I encourage us to serve God with all of our heart, soul, strength and mind, and love our neighbor as Jesus loves them. If we do that, we will achieve a greater level of service, and our potential as followers of Jesus will be more fully utilized.
Father God, Almighty Lord and King, great is Your faithfulness. Father You never cease to shower us with Your grace and mercy, all praise be to You. May You graciously encourage us to minister to You, so we learn the sound of Your voice, making it easier for us to obey. Please hold us close, so our hearts would beat as one, and Your love would spill out of us into all that we say and do. May our obedience become natural, and may others come to love You through Your works by our hands. In the name of Jesus, who exhibited the greatest level of service, amen.
~ Conqueror in Training