“Adonai called a second time, ‘Sh’mu’el! Sh’mu’el got up, went to ‘Eli and said, “Here I am — you called me.’ He answered, ‘I didn’t call, my son; lie down again.’ Now Sh’mu’el didn’t yet know Adonai; the word of Adonai had not yet been revealed to him.“-1 Samuel 3:6-7
The Lord calls out to Samuel.
But Samuel thinks it’s the blind and frail Eli calling out to him for help.
Samuel rushes to Eli’s bedside and says “Here I am”.
Eli tells Samuel he didn’t call him and to go back to bed.
Samuel returns to bed…
But then it happens again.
The Lord calls out to Samuel.
Samuel is convinced it’s Eli calling out to him.
So Samuel rushes to Eli’s room…
And Eli tells him again that he didn’t call him.
Now the interesting question here is…
Why in the world didn’t Samuel know it was God calling Him?
I mean for sure the Lord’s voice must have been quite different from the elderly Eli’s
There’s a powerful spiritual lesson here we’d be remiss to overlook.
Verse 7 gives us two reasons why Samuel didn’t recognize the voice of the Lord.
FIRST, Samuel didn’t grasp that God was calling him “because he didn’t yet know Him”.
SECOND, the word of the Lord “had not yet been revealed to him”.
Of course, since Samuel was still a young child, he was still not mature enough to comprehend the higher things of God…
And apparently Eli hadn’t properly educated Samuel on the things of God.
Just as he hadn’t reprimanded his two sons for their sins.
However, there’s something else here we shouldn’t miss.
Samuel was performing regular service before God in His Sanctuary…
Yet at the same time, He didn’t know the Lord nor His Word.
Ain’t that interesting?
This tells us that it’s totally possible for one to just go through the motions and perform repetitive religious services in some house of worship…
Yet not possess any sort of intimate relationship with God whatsoever.
We witness this same sort of thing in the church at all levels.
Think of all the pastors, preachers and Sunday school teachers who possess zero understanding of God’s Torah and His commands…
Yet have been serving in some capacity in the name of God for years.
Seriously, any deacon or elder who claims it’s okay to eat unclean foods and that “Jesus abolished the Law” has never heard the voice of the Lord.
More like the voice of Satan if you ask me.
No wonder a good number of Pastors and ordained Ministers abandon their positions every year and return to secular life.
It’s because they never had a strong foundation in the first place.
They’ll tell us the reason they left the church is because they got burned out…
Or they couldn’t make enough money to support their families…
While there may be some element of truth to that…
That ain’t the real reason homies.
The real reason is they never believed or had faith in the first place.
And they just couldn’t live with the hypocrisy anymore.
I’m talking about church leaders who for years…
Performed baptisms…
Led worship, prayer and Bible studies…
Taught children…
But at the end of the day never had a saving faith or personal relationship with God.
That’s the big takeaway here.
Eli and his two scoundrel sons were in positions of service to God…
Yet they were as far from God as one could be.
Apparently Eli hadn’t taught anything to Samuel about God’s character and His attributes…
He had only instructed Samuel on manmade traditions, customs and rituals (Doesn’t that sound familiar?).
So Samuel knew that God existed…
But that was about the extent of his knowledge…
He didn’t know God…
Nor did he possess any knowledge of the Lord’s laws and commands.
Well, that was about to change.
Okay, I know this is getting a bit long…
But I wanted to close by asking you what I think is a very important question.
Would you recognize the voice of God if He spoke to you?
Seriously, ask yourself that question.
Do you possess enough knowledge of God’s character and His Word to discern His voice if He reached out and spoke to you.
Or would you be like the young and naive Samuel who had no idea it was God speaking out to Him?
I can’t tell you how often I believe I am given a message to share and I wonder to myself, “Is this God giving me a message, or some personal peeve that is really just me?”
I always question myself, and to answer that question I go to the Tanakh (I don’t really need to go to the New Covenant, because everything in there is from the Tanakh) and look for where God said something that is in line with what I am thinking (or, more correctly, if what I am thinking is in line with what God said). If I can verify that the message I believe I hear is truly in accord with the Torah, then I feel it is a valid word.
With regard to my asking God something personal in prayer and what he answers, if the answer (which I hear in the back of my head) goes against what I was originally thinking, then I am pretty sure that is from God.
I always doubt myself because I am human and my spirit is one of iniquity, so when I ask God a quetion and the answer is not what I thought it would be, then I am pretty sure it isn’t me, but God.
And, of course, the answer also has to be one that is in line with everything I read in the Word of God.
Thanks for sharing this Steven.
Yes, I find myself going through a similar struggle…
Did God really say that or not?