And Samuel grew, and Jehovah was with him, and let none of his words fall to the ground.
Samuel has just repeated God's whole message of judgment to Eli, without softening it. This verse is God's answer to that faithfulness.
Commentators tie Samuel's growth to what he did with his first message. Handling one word from God well opens the way to the next.
Samuel was holy in all his conduct. God entrusts a revelation to him; he administers this trust faithfully; and this is the means by which he receives a new revelation. So, we are told: Samuel grew; he continued to grow. His spiritual growth followed a walk that rose step by step. "And the LORD was with him and let none of his words fall to the ground." Samuel was God's instrument to express His mind, and he spoke "as oracles of God" because God was with him to preserve him.
The same chapter that says God was with Samuel says God was set against Eli's house.
Samuel answered the call of the Lord and faithfully delivered his first message. Then we learn that "the LORD was with him." God's solemn word about the priest was that He would carry out against Eli everything He had spoken. The Lord was against the priest; He was with the prophet. The Lord was with him, so He let none of his words "fall to the ground." Because his words did not fall, it became clear from Dan to Beersheba that God had established him as a prophet.
To let a word "fall to the ground" is to let it drop unfulfilled, wasted. It describes how Samuel spoke, and it exposes how most of us talk.
How different Samuel was, with a soul stirred from his youth! The Lord was with him as he grew, and allowed none of his words to fall to the ground. How few indeed have a reputation of this kind! Even if we do not speak harmful words, too often we let useless words fall from our lips, instead of words that are always true and right.
There was also a warning buried in it for the household under sentence. Every small word of Samuel's that came true proved the large one would too.
He allowed none of Samuel's words "to fall to the ground." This was a further testimony to Eli. What God had spoken through Samuel about the coming judgment of his house was certain, even if for reasons of His own He might delay the blow for a few years.
At this moment the priesthood should have been God's channel to the nation. It was unusable, so God went around it.
Had the circumstances been normal, God would have spoken to the people in and through the high priest, according to His own appointment. But since this was impossible, He spoke to and through the man with the willing ear. This is His way still... The man with the willing ear will keep advancing in the knowledge of God and His word. This brings deep blessing to him, and spiritual good to everyone who hears his testimony.
Samuel was young, unknown, and speaking against the leaders of his day.
The humble instrument will not go unrecognised, even though careless and thoughtless people may mock. The Lord let none of his words fall to the ground; what he said came to pass, and his message commanded a respect that could not be withheld... No need to fear the face of man when one has seen the face of God. The weakest is as strong as the mighty when he has the words of God on his lips. Let us remember this in these days, and not lose heart because of our feebleness. The Lord will let none of His words fall to the ground, even when faltering lips speak them.
Hannah had handed her son over to a household she had every reason to fear. This verse settles that risk.
It is deeply moving to see that dear child placed in Eli's hands by such unwavering faith, where Eli's wretched sons might have influenced him for evil. But Hannah commits Samuel to the care of the Lord, and the Lord takes care of him... What joy this must have been to Hannah's heart! — not the empty pride of having a distinguished son, but the deep thankfulness of one who cared for the Lord's interests before her own.
- Faithful — Samuel told Eli everything and hid nothing. Faithfulness with one message opened the door to the next.
- With him — God was against the priest and with the prophet. God's presence made the difference, not Samuel's age.
- Preserved — the words did not fall because God stood behind them. Samuel spoke as God's instrument, not on his own.
- Known — nothing he said failed, so all Israel knew him, from Dan in the north to Beersheba in the south.
- Repeatable — God still speaks through the one with a willing ear. He still lets none of His words fall, even from faltering lips.
And all Israel, from Dan even to Beer-sheba, knew that Samuel was established a prophet of Jehovah.
Israel's priesthood had collapsed in Eli's house, and God's word had become rare. In the middle of that decline, a boy raised at the sanctuary becomes the one voice the whole nation trusts. It marks a new line of communication between God and His people. How did Samuel win that place, and what did it mean for the old order?
The verse names Samuel a prophet, not a priest. Commentators see a contrast there: the two roles move in opposite directions.
It is deeply significant that Samuel was established as a prophet of the LORD. This marks the difference between the priest and the prophet. The office of the priest is to draw near to the Lord on behalf of the people, and so keep relations with the Lord in place. The prophet is one through whom the Lord draws near to the people. He comes when the people's failure has broken those relations down. For this reason the prophet comes to the front in a day of ruin.
The chapter opened by saying the word of the Lord was rare. That shortage is the setting for this gift.
In times of ruin the enemy often hinders God from making His mind known... But the word was hindered, not stopped. Grace provides for the needs of each era. Here is the greatest comfort: it is often in the darkest days of decline that God gives the most new light, to guide and encourage His own... The priests were unfaithful, so the ordinary way God had set up for coming near Him was almost lost. But the grace of God could not leave His people without help and without a way of communicating with Himself.
The order of events matters. Israel recognises Samuel while Eli still lives and the sentence on his house still waits.
The priesthood has now been judged, and we find the prophet brought out into the open. God provides in this way so that there is no lapse on His side, however much everything else may fail. So Samuel is called now, and established before all Israel as the mouthpiece of the LORD to them. This happens before the promised judgment falls on Eli's house.
How did a nation come to know this? By watching his words. The previous verse supplies the evidence for this one.
Samuel answered the call of the Lord and delivered his first message faithfully. Then we learn that "the LORD was with him." The solemn word about the priest was, "I will fulfill against Eli all that I have spoken" (12). The Lord was against the priest, He was with the prophet. Because the Lord was with him, He let none of his words "fall to the ground." And since his words did not fall to the ground, it is clear from Dan to Beersheba that he is "established as a prophet of the LORD."
Dan and Beersheba mark the far north and far south — the whole country. The nation had also watched his whole life.
Samuel had not come to power in a rush, by an unexpected turn of fortune. He was not the favoured creature of some revolution. He had been with them from a child, and "all Israel from Dan to Beersheba knew that Samuel was established as a prophet of the LORD," for their guidance and blessing. He had grown up in front of them, and everyone knew his honesty and worth.
Recognition ran in both directions. What the nation gained was not only a man who spoke to them from God, but one who spoke to God for them.
Beyond and above all knowledge of truth, Samuel, child as he was, had the deep joy of knowing that the Lord had called him, chosen him, and loved him. This carried him through every scene of trial, sorrow, and difficulty in that great period. It enabled him to give real help to the people when by sin they had forfeited everything... If they knew from Dan to Beersheba that he was established as a prophet of the LORD, they also learned that as a prophet he could and would pray for them.
The same holds where God's servants are small and weak.
All knew the Lord was speaking through Samuel. It will be so now. Just as we are little, and weakness itself, God will use His servants, and people will hear their words far beyond Dan to Beersheba.
- Ruin. The priest's job was to bring the people near to God. When that broke down, God raised up a prophet to bring Himself near to the people.
- Grace. In the darkest stretch of decline God often gives the most new light. He will not leave His people without a way to hear Him.
- Timing. God established Samuel in front of all Israel before judgment fell on Eli's house, so there would be no gap on His side.
- Proof. The nation knew him because nothing he said failed — the Lord was against the priest and with the prophet.
- Reach. From Dan to Beersheba, the whole land had watched this boy grow up. He became its voice from God, and the one who prayed to God for the people.