Friday Devo
Scripture:
1 Samuel 3:9-21
9 So he said to Samuel, “Go and lie down again, and if someone calls again, say, ‘Speak, Lord, your servant is listening.’” So Samuel went back to bed.
10 And the Lord came and called as before, “Samuel! Samuel!”
And Samuel replied, “Speak, your servant is listening.”
11 Then the Lord said to Samuel, “I am about to do a shocking thing in Israel. 12 I am going to carry out all my threats against Eli and his family, from beginning to end. 13 I have warned him that judgment is coming upon his family forever, because his sons are blaspheming God and he hasn’t disciplined them. 14 So I have vowed that the sins of Eli and his sons will never be forgiven by sacrifices or offerings.”
Samuel Speaks for the Lord
15 Samuel stayed in bed until morning, then got up and opened the doors of the Tabernacle as usual. He was afraid to tell Eli what the Lord had said to him. 16 But Eli called out to him, “Samuel, my son.”
“Here I am,” Samuel replied.
17 “What did the Lord say to you? Tell me everything. And may God strike you and even kill you if you hide anything from me!” 18 So Samuel told Eli everything; he didn’t hold anything back. “It is the Lord’s will,” Eli replied. “Let him do what he thinks best.”
19 As Samuel grew up, the Lord was with him, and everything Samuel said proved to be reliable. 20 And all Israel, from Dan in the north to Beersheba in the south, knew that Samuel was confirmed as a prophet of the Lord. 21 The Lord continued to appear at Shiloh and gave messages to Samuel there at the Tabernacle.
9 So he said to Samuel, “Go and lie down again, and if someone calls again, say, ‘Speak, Lord, your servant is listening.’” So Samuel went back to bed.
10 And the Lord came and called as before, “Samuel! Samuel!”
And Samuel replied, “Speak, your servant is listening.”
11 Then the Lord said to Samuel, “I am about to do a shocking thing in Israel. 12 I am going to carry out all my threats against Eli and his family, from beginning to end. 13 I have warned him that judgment is coming upon his family forever, because his sons are blaspheming God and he hasn’t disciplined them. 14 So I have vowed that the sins of Eli and his sons will never be forgiven by sacrifices or offerings.”
Samuel Speaks for the Lord
15 Samuel stayed in bed until morning, then got up and opened the doors of the Tabernacle as usual. He was afraid to tell Eli what the Lord had said to him. 16 But Eli called out to him, “Samuel, my son.”
“Here I am,” Samuel replied.
17 “What did the Lord say to you? Tell me everything. And may God strike you and even kill you if you hide anything from me!” 18 So Samuel told Eli everything; he didn’t hold anything back. “It is the Lord’s will,” Eli replied. “Let him do what he thinks best.”
19 As Samuel grew up, the Lord was with him, and everything Samuel said proved to be reliable. 20 And all Israel, from Dan in the north to Beersheba in the south, knew that Samuel was confirmed as a prophet of the Lord. 21 The Lord continued to appear at Shiloh and gave messages to Samuel there at the Tabernacle.
Commentary:
3:11 This is the Lord’s first word to Samuel as a prophet. It is often difficult for the recipient to receive the Lord’s initial revelation; cf. Moses (Ex. 4:13) and Isaiah (Isa. 6:9).
3:12 all that I have spoken. Cf. 2:27–36.
3:13 The MT reads “blaspheming for themselves” (see ESV footnote). In Hebrew the phrases blaspheming God and “blaspheming for themselves” differ by just one consonant. That consonant was left out by pious scribes so that in copying they would not even need to write the offensive phrase “blaspheming God.” Cf. Ex. 22:28; Lev. 24:15.
3:14 Eli’s house has despised God’s sacrifices and offerings (2:29), and hence these things will have no efficacy on their behalf. Though normal or inadvertent sins of priests could be atoned for by offering (Lev. 4:3–12), Eli’s sons sinned defiantly, and their guilt could not be removed (Num. 15:30; see also Heb. 10:26), as Eli himself recognizes (1 Sam. 2:25).
3:17 May God do so to you and more also if is a form of solemn appeal to the Lord, a kind of oath. Cf. Ruth 1:17; 1 Sam. 14:44; 25:22; 2 Sam. 3:9; 19:13; 1 Kings 19:2.
3:18 It is the LORD. Eli accepts the judgment humbly.
3:19 the LORD … let none of his words fall to the ground. I.e., all that Samuel spoke was fulfilled, and thus he could be known as a prophet (Deut. 18:21–22). On the relationship between the prophet and the word of the Lord, see Jer. 20:8–9; Amos 3:8.
3:19 Samuel’s calling at an early age prefigures the intimacy with God that Christ as the Son enjoys with the Father from all eternity.
3:20 From Dan to Beersheba is the traditional limits of Israel to the north and south (Judg. 20:1; 2 Sam. 17:11).
Crossway Bibles, The ESV Study Bible (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2008), 497.
3:12 all that I have spoken. Cf. 2:27–36.
3:13 The MT reads “blaspheming for themselves” (see ESV footnote). In Hebrew the phrases blaspheming God and “blaspheming for themselves” differ by just one consonant. That consonant was left out by pious scribes so that in copying they would not even need to write the offensive phrase “blaspheming God.” Cf. Ex. 22:28; Lev. 24:15.
3:14 Eli’s house has despised God’s sacrifices and offerings (2:29), and hence these things will have no efficacy on their behalf. Though normal or inadvertent sins of priests could be atoned for by offering (Lev. 4:3–12), Eli’s sons sinned defiantly, and their guilt could not be removed (Num. 15:30; see also Heb. 10:26), as Eli himself recognizes (1 Sam. 2:25).
3:17 May God do so to you and more also if is a form of solemn appeal to the Lord, a kind of oath. Cf. Ruth 1:17; 1 Sam. 14:44; 25:22; 2 Sam. 3:9; 19:13; 1 Kings 19:2.
3:18 It is the LORD. Eli accepts the judgment humbly.
3:19 the LORD … let none of his words fall to the ground. I.e., all that Samuel spoke was fulfilled, and thus he could be known as a prophet (Deut. 18:21–22). On the relationship between the prophet and the word of the Lord, see Jer. 20:8–9; Amos 3:8.
3:19 Samuel’s calling at an early age prefigures the intimacy with God that Christ as the Son enjoys with the Father from all eternity.
3:20 From Dan to Beersheba is the traditional limits of Israel to the north and south (Judg. 20:1; 2 Sam. 17:11).
Crossway Bibles, The ESV Study Bible (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2008), 497.
Questions:
Samuel's response to God was simple: “Speak, Lord, your servant is listening.” But the purpose of listening was greater than just collecting information. God spoke to Samuel because He intended Samuel to become His prophet and speak His Word faithfully to Israel. By the end of the chapter, Samuel has grown from a boy serving in the tabernacle into a recognized prophet of the Lord, and Scripture says that the Lord was with him and that none of Samuel's words fell to the ground.
The true hearing of God's Word involves an obedient heart that actually performs what it receives. Brandon made the same point directly: “The test is the space between hearing and doing.” It is possible to spend years listening to sermons, reading Scripture, discussing theology, and asking God for direction while still avoiding the obedience He has already made clear. God's Word is not only meant to inform us; it is meant to form us into people who increasingly reflect Christ.
God does not promise to show us the entire path at once, sometimes His Word gives us the long-term light for the path, and sometimes it gives us only the next faithful step. Samuel did not know everything God would ask of him, but he was willing to say yes before he knew the whole story.
The true hearing of God's Word involves an obedient heart that actually performs what it receives. Brandon made the same point directly: “The test is the space between hearing and doing.” It is possible to spend years listening to sermons, reading Scripture, discussing theology, and asking God for direction while still avoiding the obedience He has already made clear. God's Word is not only meant to inform us; it is meant to form us into people who increasingly reflect Christ.
God does not promise to show us the entire path at once, sometimes His Word gives us the long-term light for the path, and sometimes it gives us only the next faithful step. Samuel did not know everything God would ask of him, but he was willing to say yes before he knew the whole story.
- Where is there the greatest gap in your life right now between what you know God has said and how you are actually living? What steps of obedience do you need to take?
- Samuel's story ends with God establishing him as a faithful prophet. Jesus is the truly faithful Servant who heard and obeyed the Father perfectly. How does looking at Christ change the way we think about obedience, not only as something God requires of us, but as something Jesus perfectly accomplished for us and now enables us to walk in?
- If obedience is the test of whether we have truly heard God, what are you currently doing with something God has already made clear? Are you obeying, delaying, rationalizing, or waiting for God to give you an answer you would prefer?
Prayer Topics:
- Confess the ways you have heard God's Word without acting on it, especially where fear, comfort, or control has kept you from obedience.
- Thank God that He teaches and forms His people, giving us His Word, His Spirit, and His people to guide us.
- Ask God for the courage to obey what He has already made clear instead of waiting for perfect circumstances or complete understanding.
This Week's City 7:
Try to commit to memory!
5. Why do I follow Jesus? I follow Jesus because Jesus rose from the dead proving that He is the way, the truth and the life.
(Matthew 7:24-27; John 14:6)
(Matthew 7:24-27; John 14:6)
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