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.
And Jehovah appeared again at Shiloh; for Jehovah revealed himself to Samuel at Shiloh by the word of Jehovah.
The chapter opened with God's word rare and visions few. It closes with the LORD appearing again at Shiloh, making Himself known to a boy. That turn raises the question this verse answers. How does God speak when the order He appointed for His people has broken down?
One writer sees the timing as the point. The enemy hindered God's communication but did not stop it. The hour of deepest decline is when fresh light comes.
Often in times of ruin the enemy hinders the revealing of God's mind... But though hindered, nothing had stopped the word. Grace provides for the needs of each age. And here is the comfort: it is often in the darkest days of decline that God gives the most new light, to guide and encourage His own.
The priest was the appointed go-between, and the priesthood had failed. But God does not lose His voice when that arrangement fails. He reverses the direction of approach.
The priesthood was the way man drew near to God. But when the priesthood had failed, God can work in sovereignty, and that is what He is doing here. He gives Samuel, that is, prophecy, and through it God draws near to man, in His sovereign grace.
The same act shows something about God's character. His word here holds faith up while the old order collapses.
So grace acts when the wickedness of the priesthood has broken up the established order in Israel... "Samuel was established [a word that carries the thought of God's faithfulness, see margin] as a prophet of the LORD," and so God renews His communications with His people... We see God's faithfulness in this. He gives His word to hold faith up in a time of disorder, and to work on the conscience and conduct of those who hear it.
The phrase is not filler. One writer follows the Hebrew wording through Scripture. He notes how rarely it appears before this point, and how clearly it stands out here.
We do not meet davar (word of) Jehovah again until 1 Samuel 3:1, 7, 21, which makes it more striking. In verse 21 it stands out clearly: Jehovah spoke to him, Samuel, bid'var — by the word of Jehovah.
Samuel was faithful with the first message God gave him. One writer reads what follows as the fruit of that, and as growth in two directions at once.
God entrusts a revelation to him. He handles this trust faithfully. And that is how he receives a new revelation... One revelation leads to another. The Lord kept appearing to him at Shiloh and revealed Himself to him by His word (v. 21). So Samuel grew both in personal knowledge of the Lord and in the knowledge of His revealed word.
Why Samuel and not the high priest? One writer answers by pointing to the hearer, and brings the principle into our own day.
If things had been normal, God would have spoken to the people in and through the High Priest, as He Himself had arranged. But that was impossible, so He spoke to and through the man with the willing ear. This is His way still... the man who has the willing ear... is sure to grow in the knowledge of God and His word. That brings deep blessing to him, and spiritual gain to everyone who hears his testimony.
Shiloh was Israel's gathering place. The size of the gathering was never the point.
Shiloh was the gathering place of Israel. However few gathered to Him — yes, even one — He reveals Himself in this way... He reveals Himself to those who are truly gathered to Himself in a way you find nowhere else, and He does it by the word of the Lord.
But standing in the right place guaranteed nothing. Eli was in that same house and heard nothing at all.
There is Eli, heavy and old, the very priest of Jehovah. Yes, age, long standing, office, authority — he has all of these, and he is in the dwelling place of God, but he does not hear a word. He had grieved the Lord by allowing evil. Is it so with any of us? Can we hear and understand the voice of the Lord if we are allowing evil? Impossible!
- Ruin — The enemy hindered God's word in Eli's day, but never silenced it. The darkest hours are often when God gives the most new light.
- Grace — With the priesthood failed, God does not stop speaking. He gives prophecy, and draws near to man instead of waiting for man to draw near to Him.
- Word — He revealed Himself by the word, a phrase set apart here. Samuel grew both in knowing the Lord and in knowing what the Lord said.
- Ear — He spoke through the man with the willing ear, and that is still His way. Being faithful with one message opens the door to the next.
- Heart — Eli held office and stood in the same house, yet heard nothing. He allowed evil. The place alone never gives hearing.