And Eli said to Samuel, Go, lie down; and it shall be, if he call thee, that thou shalt say, Speak, Jehovah, for thy servant heareth. So Samuel went and lay down in his place.
Three times a voice calls a boy in the dark. Three times he runs to the wrong man. Only when the old priest works out what is happening does Samuel learn what to say. In verse 9, Eli hands him the words that will make his faith his own.
Samuel answered every call at once, though he ran to the wrong person. One writer contrasts his alertness with the sleepy house he served in:
Samuel's first revelation from God comes at a time when Eli had lain down to sleep and his eyes had begun to grow dim. God means us to apply this spiritually too. Formalism always becomes dim-sighted, while faith becomes wide awake. While the lamp of God in the temple was almost ready to go out, God had His own way of causing revival.
Running back and forth to Eli was small, unglamorous service. That is why it mattered:
Three times the Lord calls Samuel. Even if he did not recognise the Voice at first, he was quick to answer. He ran to Eli, who he thought had called him. Willing child! He was faithful in what was least, and God would entrust him with greater things — a needed lesson for us all.
Eli needs three calls to work out what is happening. The difference between the two men is not how much they know:
It is not until the third call that "Eli perceived that the LORD was calling the boy." Yes, "dull of hearing": that is what he had become. Samuel was only ignorant, which is a thousand times better. When there is godliness, God remedies ignorance.
Twice Eli had already told the boy to go back to bed. That instinct carries a warning:
The poor old man was sleepy, and could only say over and over, "Lie down again." … May the Lord in His infinite mercy keep us from that dreadful state. It would lead us, half asleep, to quiet others who are awake. God forbid that we should ever say to someone God is speaking to, "Lie down again."
Eli could not receive the message himself, but he could tell Samuel how to receive it. It was also the end of Samuel's dependence on him:
Up to that moment, Eli's teaching had shown Samuel the way to enter into communication with God (v. 9). Now he is in direct relationship with the Lord, and the Lord is entrusting His secrets to him.
Eli's own words, "if he calls you," hint at his dread. The verse ends with the boy obeying:
"If he calls you" — was the rejected priest half hoping it was not really the voice of God, or that God might not call again? No doubt Eli feared the worst. So Samuel obeys and lies down once more, no doubt with a beating heart, to hear the Voice again.
Samuel had lived in the sanctuary since childhood, yet the chapter says he did not yet know the Lord. One writer sees the same gap in Christian lives today:
The point here is personal knowledge of the Lord. Samuel belonged to Him, served Him and worshipped Him from infancy, but he had not yet met the Lord face to face. In our Christian life we can rejoice in the finished work of the cross on our behalf without knowing the Lord personally. Knowing salvation and knowing the Author of salvation are two different things.
When the call came, Samuel left out one word: "Lord." Commentators differ on why. One reads it as a gap in his knowledge:
He leaves out the word "Lord." No doubt no one had taught him before about the Lord Himself. That can happen all too easily, even to someone surrounded by the formal acknowledgment of His things. In fact such things often tend to obscure the real knowledge of Himself.
Another reads it as reverence too deep for the word:
He did not say "Speak, Lord," as Eli had told him to reply. Perhaps his little heart was so full of childlike awe at that moment that he dared not say the word "Lord." But the Lord knew he was willing to listen.
What Eli taught in one night stayed with Samuel for life:
But Samuel had long been trained in subjection to the word of God. "Speak, Lord, for your servant hears" was the formative principle of his character from childhood.
And the posture is not reserved for prophets:
Is it not true that today God passes by all the pretentious official religion that has departed from Him? He reveals to babes the things hidden from the wise and clever. The childlike, obedient spirit that can say, "Speak, Lord, for Your servant hears," will have a message.
- Awake — Formalism grows dim-sighted; faith stays wide awake. Eli's problem was drowsiness, not lack of knowledge.
- Taught — Eli's last useful act was to teach Samuel how to speak with God. After that night, the boy dealt with the Lord directly.
- Personal — Samuel served and worshipped the Lord for years without knowing Him. Knowing salvation and knowing the Author of salvation are two different things.
- Imperfect — Samuel answered without saying "Lord," and God still spoke. Writers read that missing word as either untaught ignorance or childlike awe.
- Formative — "Speak, LORD, for your servant hears" was not one night's reply. It shaped Samuel's whole character, and it is still the spirit that receives a message.
And Jehovah came, and stood, and called as at the other times, Samuel, Samuel! And Samuel said, Speak, for thy servant heareth.
In the days of Eli the high priest, ministry from the Lord had nearly dried up in Israel, and into that silence a voice called a boy by name — four times over. Why the boy, and not the priest?
Notice who takes the first step.
It is a solemn thing when the people of God as a whole, or any company of His people, have little ministry from the Lord to feed their souls. It is solemn too when they lack spiritual discernment, and when the testimony to God among them is dying out. Such was the condition of Israel in the days of Eli. But God is not unmindful of His people, whatever their condition. So we find the Lord beginning to act from Himself in sovereign grace, "to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death." We might have thought that the people — or the priest on their behalf — would have called upon the Lord. It was the Lord, however, who "called Samuel."
The Lord "came and stood" and called Samuel by name. The voice was God's, yet it sounded human.
Yet how sweet this divine-human Voice is! In every age it is the same. It calls one by name, for He knows His sheep by name. But may we not also, like Samuel here, mistake the divine voice because it is so human — expecting it from far off, and missing it because it is near?
Three times Samuel ran to Eli. The Lord called again anyway.
In Samuel's case, the Lord in rich grace repeated the call until He had separated him from man to Himself. What a happy result of persistent grace! Every truly delivered soul is in debt to it.
But why did he run to Eli at all?
Samuel's first lesson was to know and obey the voice of the Lord. We can see why: when the Lord called him, he ran at first to Eli. As a child, he was strongly influenced by the high priest's age and sacred office. But this danger is not limited to the young. A conscience belongs to God alone. How often people hand it over to the claimed authority of men!
Eli had told him to answer, "Speak, LORD." Samuel drops the name. Commentators differ on why. One reads it as a gap in knowledge:
Samuel would surely stay wide awake for the fourth call. He answers, "Speak, for your servant hears." He leaves out the word "Lord." No doubt this is because he had not yet been taught about the Lord Himself. That is all too possible even when a person is surrounded by the formal acknowledgment of His things. In fact such things often tend to hide the real knowledge of Him.
Another reads it as awe rather than ignorance: "He may have felt unfit to take that sacred, awesome Name on his lips. Whatever the cause, we may be sure it was not disobedience to Eli" (C. Knapp).
The one who says "your servant" is a boy.
Notice also the character of the one the Lord uses for the prophetic office. He had been devoted to the Lord as a Nazirite, and the account calls him, again and again, the child. He is separate from the evil he testifies against. He is devoted to the Lord's interests. Like a child, he is aware of his own weakness and lack of wisdom. So he depends on the Lord and draws all his resources from the Lord. This is the kind of person the Lord uses to reach the consciences of His people.
This is not only Samuel's story.
Had things been normal, God would have spoken to the people in and through the high priest, as He Himself had arranged. But since that was impossible, He spoke to and through the man with the willing ear. This is still His way. Seven times the messages to the churches in Asia say, "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches." This is clearly an individual matter.
- Silence. When ministry dries up and discernment fails, God does not go quiet. He calls first, before anyone calls on Him.
- Name. The voice is God's, yet so human it can be mistaken. He calls His own by name. The risk is expecting Him far off and missing Him near.
- Again. The Lord called again and again until Samuel stopped leaning on a man. Persistent grace — and a warning against handing your conscience to men.
- Servant. God used a child: separate from the evil around him, aware of his own weakness, dependent. That is who He uses to reach consciences.
- Ear. Where the appointed channel fails, God speaks through the one with the willing ear. "He who has an ear, let him hear" — that means you, one at a time.