Immerse: Kingdoms Full Volume - Flipbook - Page 107
1S
| 3:1–4:1
S am u el – K I N G S
95
Meanwhile, the boy Samuel served the Lord by assisting Eli. Now in
those days messages from the Lord were very rare, and visions were quite
uncommon.
One night Eli, who was almost blind by now, had gone to bed. The lamp
of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was sleeping in the Tabernacle
near the Ark of God. Suddenly the Lord called out, “Samuel!”
“Yes?” Samue l replied. “What is it?” He got up and ran to Eli. “Here I am.
Did you call me?”
“I didn’t call you,” Eli replied. “Go back to bed.” So he did.
Then the Lord called out again, “Samuel!”
Again Samue l got up and went to Eli. “Here I am. Did you call me?”
“I didn’t call you, my son,” Eli said. “Go back to bed.”
Samuel did not yet know the Lord because he had never had a message
from the Lord before. So the Lord called a third time, and once more
Samuel got up and went to Eli. “Here I am. Did you call me?”
Then Eli realized it was the Lord who was calling the boy. So he said to
Samuel, “Go and lie down again, and if someone calls again, say, ‘Speak,
Lord, your servant is listening.’” So Samue l went back to bed.
And the Lord came and called as before, “Samuel! Samuel!”
And Samuel replied, “Speak, your servant is listening.”
Then the Lord said to Samuel, “I am about to do a shocking thing in
Israel. I am going to carry out all my threats against Eli and his family, from
beginning to end. I have warned him that judgment is coming upon his
family forever, because his sons are blaspheming God and he hasn’t disciplined them. So I have vowed that the sins of Eli and his sons will never be
forgiven by sacrifices or offerings.”
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. But Eli called out to him, “Samuel, my son.”
“Here I am,” Samuel replied.
“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!” So Samue l
told Eli everything; he didn’t hold anything back. “It is the Lord’s will,”
Eli replied. “Let him do what he thinks best.”
As Samuel grew up, the Lord was with him, and everything Samue l said
proved to be reliable. And all Israel, from Dan in the north to Beersheba in
the south, knew that Samuel was confirmed as a prophet of the Lord. The
Lord continued to appear at Shiloh and gave messages to Samuel there at
the Tabernacle. And Samue l’s words went out to all the people of Israel.