A Prophet for the Times

First Samuel 3 opens with Samuel’s call and commission to the office of prophet. Samuel is first compared to the faithless sons of Eli: “Now the boy Samuel was ministering to the Lord before Eli” (v. 1). The emphasis is that Eli could not but take notice of the contrast. Nevertheless, it should be noted that the promise emphasized the establishment of a sure house (2:35). Samuel’s sons did not follow the Lord (8:3). Still, the Lord declared that He would raise up a faithful priest and Samuel was pointing to that truth fulfilled in Zadok during the rule of David and Solomon, the Lord’s anointed (1 Chron. 24:3).

The apostasy in the nation of Israel was desperate and critical. God was not talking to His covenant people. “The word of the Lord was rare in those days; there was no frequent vision” (v. 1b). While the people needed a faithful priest, they needed a prophet more. One cannot but notice the irony here. The tabernacle served as God’s temple—His dwelling place among His people (Ex. 29:45; Psalm 132:14). Twice the tabernacle here is called “the temple of the Lord” (1:9 and 3:3). He was in the midst of His people, but their sin was so great that He would not speak to them! Does this resemble our day? Yet, Samuel’s great contribution to the times was not to be the head of a priestly family but to be the spokesman of God.

The account of Samuel’s calling is detailed in verses 2 through 15. It appears that, because Eli’s eyesight was failing, Samuel was put in charge of trimming the menorah, the seven-branched lampstand that burned perpetually to light the sanctuary. To accomplish this task, Samuel slept in the sanctuary.

Again, we must take note of the imagery set forth here. The tabernacle was to serve as a miniature version of the creation as it was meant to be before Adam’s sin. The lampstand signified the light of witness and truth lighting up the darkness of that sacred space. Both the lampstand and the ark symbolized God’s presence in the tabernacle, making it the temple of God. God was in the midst of His people, revealing Himself to them (Rev. 21:22-26).

In this setting, Yahweh chose to make Himself known to the young boy. He called to the youth three times, confirming that it was indeed the Lord (v. 8). Verse 7 is illuminating: “Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, and the word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him.” It conjoins two inseparable truths—that God cannot be known unless and until He has revealed Himself through His Word to us. Samuel knew of the Lord, but He did not know the Lord personally and intimately until He made Himself known. Do you know the Lord?