_SAMUEL'S VISION._
1 SAMUEL iii.
It is evident that Samuel must have taken very kindly to the duties of
the sanctuary. He was manifestly one of those who are sanctified from
infancy, and whose hearts go from the first with sacred duties. There
were no wayward impulses to subdue, no hankerings after worldly freedom
and worldly enjoyment; there was no necessity for coercive measures,
either to restrain him from outbursts of frivolity or to compel him to
diligence and regularity in his calling. From the first he looked with
solemn awe and holy interest on all that related to the worship of God;
that, to him, was the duty above all other duties, the privilege above
all other privileges. God to him was not a mere idea, an abstraction,
representing merely the dogmas and services of religion. God was a
reality, a personality, a Being who dealt very closely with men, and
with whom they were called to deal very closely too. We can easily
conceive how desirous little Samuel would be to know something of the
meaning of the services at Shiloh; how scrupulous to perform every duty,
how regular and real in his prayers, and how full of reverence and
affection for God. He would go about all his duties with a grave,
sweet, earnest face, conscious of their importance and solemnity; always
thinking more of them than of anything else,--thinking perhaps of the
service of the angels in heaven, and trying to serve God as they served
Him, to do God's will on earth as it was done in heaven.
At the opening of this chapter he seems to be the confidential servant
of the high priest, sleeping near to him, and in the habit of receiving
directions from him. He must be more than a child now, otherwise he
would not be entrusted, as he was, with the opening of the doors of the
house of the Lord.
The evil example of Hophni and Phinehas, so far from corrupting him,
seems to have made him more resolute the other way. It was horrid and
disgusting; and as gross drunkenness on the part of a father sometimes
sets the children the more against it, so the profligacy of the young
priests would make Samuel more vigilant in every matter of duty. That
Eli bore as he did with the conduct of his sons must have been a great
perplexity to him, and a great sorrow; but it did not become one at his
time of life to argue the question with the aged high priest. This
conduct of Eli's did not in any respect diminish the respectful bearing
of Samuel towards him, or his readiness to comply with his every wish.
For Eli was God's high priest; and in engaging to be God's servant in
the tabernacle Samuel knew well that he took the high priest as his
earthly master.
1. The first thing that engages our special attention in this chapter is
the singular way in which Samuel was called to receive God's message in
the temple.
The word of God was rare in those days; there was no open vision, or
rather no vision that came abroad, that was promulgated to the nation
as the expression of God's will. From the tone in which this is referred
to, it was evidently looked on as a want, as placing the nation in a
less desirable position than in days when God was constantly
communicating His will. Now, however, God is to come into closer contact
with the people, and for this purpose He is to employ a new instrument
as the medium of His messages. For God is never at a loss for suitable
instruments--they are always ready when peculiar work has to be done. In
the selection of the boy Samuel as his prophet there is something
painful, but likewise something very interesting. It is painful to find
the old high priest passed over; his venerable years and venerable
office would naturally have pointed to him; but in spite of many good
qualities, in one point he is grossly unfaithful, and the very purpose
of the vision now to be made is to declare the outcome of his
faithlessness. But it is interesting to find that already the child of
Hannah is marked out for this distinguished service. Even in his case
there is opportunity for verifying the rule, "Them that honour Me I will
honour." His entire devotion to God's service, so beautiful in one of
such tender years, is the sign of a character well adapted to become the
medium of God's habitual communications with His people. Young though he
is, his very youth in one sense will prove an advantage. It will show
that what he speaks is not the mere fruit of his own thinking, but is
the message of God. It will show that the spiritual power that goes
forth with his words is not his own native force, but the force of the
Holy Spirit dwelling in him. It will thus be made apparent to all that
God has not forsaken His people, corrupt and lamentably wicked though
the young priests are.
Both Eli and Samuel sleep within the precincts of the tabernacle. Not,
however, in the sanctuary itself, but in one of those buildings that
opened into its courts, which were erected for the accommodation of the
priests and Levites. Eli's sight was failing him, and perhaps the care
of the lamp as well as the door was entrusted to Samuel. The lamp was to
burn always (Exod. xxvii. 20), that is, it was to be trimmed and lighted
every morning and evening (Exod. xxx. 7, 8); and to attend to this was
primarily the high priest's duty. The lamp had doubtless been duly
trimmed, and it would probably continue burning through a good part of
the night. It was not yet out when a voice fell on the ears of Samuel,
loud enough to rouse him from the profound slumber into which he had
probably fallen. Thinking it was Eli's, he ran to his side; but Eli had
not called him. Again the voice sounded, again Samuel springs to his
feet and hastens to the high priest; again he is sent back with the same
assurance. A third time the voice calls; a third time the willing and
dutiful Samuel flies to Eli's side, but this time he is sent back with a
different answer. Hitherto Samuel had not known the Lord--that is, he
had not been cognisant of His way of communicating with men in a
supernatural form--and it had never occurred to him that such a thing
could happen in his case. But Eli knew that such communications were
made at times by God, and, remembering the visit of the man of God to
himself, he may have surmised that this was another such occasion. The
voice evidently was no natural voice; so Samuel is told to lie down once
more, to take the attitude of simple receptiveness, and humbly invite
God to utter His message.
There are some lesser traits of Samuel's character in this part of the
transaction which ought not to be passed over without remark. The
readiness with which he springs from his bed time after time, and the
meekness and patience with which he asks Eli for his orders, without a
word of complaint on his apparently unreasonable conduct, make it very
clear that Samuel had learned to subdue two things--to subdue his body
and to subdue his temper. It is not an easy thing for a young person in
the midst of a deep sleep to spring to his feet time after time. In such
circumstances the body is very apt to overcome the mind. But Samuel's
mind overcame the body. The body was the servant, not the master. What
an admirable lesson Samuel had already learned! Few parts of early
education are so important as to learn to keep the body in subjection.
To resist bodily cravings, whether greater or smaller, which unfit one
for duty; temptations to drink, or smoke, or dawdle, or lie in bed, or
waste time when one ought to be up and doing; to be always ready for
one's work, punctual, methodical, purpose-like, save only when sickness
intervenes,--denotes a very admirable discipline for a young person, and
is a sure token of success in life. Not less admirable is that control
over the temper which Samuel had evidently acquired. To be treated by
Eli as he supposed that he had been, was highly provoking. Why drag him
out of bed at that time of night at all? Why drag him over the cold
stones in the chill darkness, and why tantalise him first by denying
that he called him and then by calling him again? As far as appears,
Samuel's temper was in no degree ruffled by the treatment he appeared to
be receiving from Eli; he felt that he was a servant, and Eli was his
master, and it was his part to obey his master, however unreasonable
his treatment might be.
2. We proceed now to the message itself, and Samuel's reception of it.
It is substantially a repetition of what God had already communicated to
Eli by the man of God a few years before; only it is more peremptory,
and the bearing of it is more fixed and rigid. When God denounced His
judgment on Eli's house by the prophet, he seems to have intended to
give them an opportunity to repent. If Eli had bestirred himself then,
and banished the young men from Shiloh, and if his sons in their
affliction and humiliation had repented of their wickedness, the
threatened doom might have been averted. So at least we are led to
believe by this second message having been superadded to the first. Now
the opportunity of repentance has passed away. God's words are very
explicit--"I have sworn unto the house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli's
house shall not be purged with sacrifice nor offering for ever." After
the previous warning, Eli seems to have gone on lamenting but not
chastising. Hophni and Phinehas seem to have gone on sinning as before,
and heedless of the scandal they were causing. In announcing to Samuel
the coming catastrophe, God shows Himself thoroughly alive to the
magnitude of the punishment He is to inflict, and the calamity that is
to happen. It is such that the ears of every one that heareth it shall
tingle. God shows also that, painful though it is, it has been
deliberately determined, and no relenting will occur when once the
terrible retribution begins. "In that day will I perform against Eli all
that I have spoken concerning his house; when I begin I will also make
an end." But terrible though the punishment will be, there is only too
good cause for it. "For I have told him that I will judge his house for
ever, for the iniquity which he knoweth; because his sons made
themselves vile, and he restrained them not." There are some good
parents whose sons have made themselves vile, and they would fain have
restrained them but their efforts to restrain have been in vain. The
fault of Eli was, that he might have restrained them and he did not
restrain them. In those times fathers had more authority over their
families than is given them now. The head of the house was counted
responsible for the house, because it was only by his neglecting the
power he had that his family could become openly wicked. It was only by
Eli neglecting the power he had that his sons could have become so vile.
Where his sons were heirs to such sacred functions there was a double
call to restrain them, and that call he neglected. He neglected it at
the time when he might have done it, and that time could never be
recalled.
So, there is an age when children may be restrained, and if that age is
allowed to pass the power of restraining them goes along with it. There
are faults in this matter on the part of many parents, on the right hand
and on the left. Many err by not restraining at all. Mothers begin while
their children are yet infants to humour their every whim, and cannot
bear to hold back from them anything they may wish. It is this habit
that is liable to have such a terrible reaction. There are other parents
that while they restrain do not restrain wisely. They punish, but they
do not punish in love. They are angry because their children have broken
their rules; they punish in anger, and the punishment falls merely as
the blow of a stronger person on a weaker. It does not humble, it does
not soften. What awful consequences it often brings! What skeletons it
lodges in many a house! God has designed the family to be the nurse of
what is best and purest in human life, and when this design is crossed
then the family institution, which was designed to bring the purest joy,
breeds the darkest misery. And this is one of the forms of retribution
on wickedness which we see carried out in their fulness in the present
life! How strange, that men should be in any doubt as to God carrying
out the retribution of wickedness to the bitter end! How singular they
should disbelieve in a hell! The end of many a career is written in
these words:--"Thine own wickedness shall correct thee, and thy
backslidings shall reprove thee; know therefore, and see that it is an
evil thing and bitter that thou hast forsaken the Lord thy God, and that
My fear is not in thee, saith the Lord God of hosts."
3. And now we go on to the meeting of Eli and Samuel. Samuel is in no
haste to communicate to Eli the painful message he has received. He has
not been required to do it, and he lies till the morning, awake we may
believe, but staggered and dismayed. As usual he goes to open the doors
of God's house. And then it is that Eli calls him. "What is the thing
that He hath said unto thee?" he asks. He adjures Samuel to tell him
all. And Samuel does tell him all. And Eli listens in silence, and when
it is over he says, with meek resignation, "It is the Lord; let Him do
what seemeth Him good."
We are touched by this behaviour of Eli. First we are touched by his
bearing toward Samuel. He knows that God has conferred an honour on
Samuel which He has not bestowed on him, but young though Samuel is he
feels no jealousy, he betrays no sign of wounded pride. It is not easy
for God's servants to bear being passed over in favour of others, in
favour of younger men. A feeling of mortification is apt to steal on
them, accompanied with some bitterness toward the object of God's
preference. This venerable old man shows nothing of that feeling. He is
not too proud to ask Samuel for a full account of God's message. He will
not have him leave anything out, out of regard to his feelings. He must
know the whole, however painful it may be. He has learned to reverence
God's truth, and he cannot bear the idea of not knowing all. And Samuel,
who did not wish to tell him anything, is now constrained to tell him
the whole. "He told him every whit, and hid nothing from him." He did
not shun to declare to him the whole counsel of God. Admirable example
for all God's servants! How averse some men are to hear the truth! And
how prone are we to try to soften what is disagreeable in our message to
sinners--to take off the sharp edge, and sheathe it in generalities and
possibilities. It is no real kindness. The kindest thing we can do is to
declare God's doom on sin, and to assure men that any hopes they may
cherish of His relenting to do as He has said are vain hopes--"When I
begin," says God, "I will also make an end."
And we are touched further by Eli's resignation to God's will. The words
of Samuel must have raised a deep agony in his spirit when he thought of
the doom of his sons. Feeble though he was, there might have arisen in
his heart a gust of fierce rebellion against that doom. But nothing of
the kind took place. Eli was memorable for the passive virtues. He could
bear much, though he could dare little. He could submit, but he could
not fight. We find him here meekly recognizing the Divine will. God has
a right to do what He will with His own; and who am I that I should cry
out against Him? He is the Supreme Disposer of all events; why should a
worm like me stand in His way? He submits implicitly to God. "The thing
formed must not say to Him that formed him, Why hast Thou formed me
thus"? What God ordains must be right. It is a terrible blow to Eli, but
he may understand the bearings of it better in another state. He bows to
that Supreme Will which he has learned to trust and to honour above
every force in the universe.
Yes, we are touched by Eli's meekness and submission. And yet, though
Eli had in him the stuff that martyrs are often made of, his character
was essentially feeble, and his influence was not wholesome. He wanted
that resolute purpose which men like Daniel possessed. His will was too
feeble to control his life. He was too apprehensive of immediate
trouble, of present inconvenience and unpleasantness, to carry out firm
principles of action against wickedness, even in his own family. He was
a memorable instance of the soundness of the principle afterwards laid
down by St. Paul: "If a man know not how to rule his own house, how
shall he take care of the Church of God?" He greatly needed the
exhortation which God gave to Joshua--"Be strong and of a good courage."
It is true his infirmity was one of natural temperament. Men might say
he could not help it. Neither can one overcome temperament altogether.
But men of feeble temperament, especially when set over others, have
great need to watch it, and ask God to strengthen them where they are
weak. Divine grace has a wonderful power to make up the defects of
nature. Timid, irresolute Peter was a different man after his fall.
Divine grace turned him into a rock after all. The coward who had shrunk
from before a maiden got courage to defy a whole Sanhedrim. In the
ministers of God's house the timid, crouching spirit is specially
unseemly. They, at least, would need to rest on firm convictions, and to
be governed by a resolute will. "Finally, brethren, be strong in the
Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armour of God, that
ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to
stand."
4. Samuel is now openly known to be the prophet of the Lord. "Samuel
grew, and the Lord was with him, and did let none of his words fall to
the ground." Little didst thou think, Hannah, some twenty years ago,
that the child thou didst then ask of the Lord would ere long supersede
the high priest who showed so little tact and judgment in interpreting
the agitation of thy spirit! No, thou hast no feeling against the
venerable old man; but thou canst not but wonder at the ups and downs of
Providence; thou canst not but recall the words of thine own song, "He
bringeth low, and lifteth up." And Samuel has not to fight his way to
public recognition, or wait long till it come. "All Israel, from Dan
even to Beersheba, knew that Samuel was established to be a prophet of
the Lord."
And by-and-bye other oracles came to him, by which all men might have
known that he was the recognized channel of communication between God
and the people. We shall see in our next chapter into what trouble the
nation was brought by disregarding his prophetic office, and recklessly
determining to drag the ark of God into the battlefield. Meanwhile we
cannot but remark what a dangerous position, in a mere human point of
view, Samuel now occupied. The danger was that which a young man
encounters when suddenly or early raised to the possession of high
spiritual power. Samuel, though little more than a boy, was now
virtually the chief man in Israel. Set so high, his natural danger was
great. But God, who placed him there, sustained in him the spirit of
humble dependence. After all he was but God's servant. Humble obedience
was still his duty. And in this higher sphere his career was but a
continuation of what had been described when it was said, "The child
Samuel ministered to the Lord in Shiloh."