Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening – I Samuel 3:1-10

The account of the prophet Samuel begins in the first chapter of the books now known as 1 and 2 Samuel.  Samuel’s father – Elkanah – had two wives which was not an unusual thing for that time. He was a Zuphite from the hill country of Ephraim.  At this time Jerusalem was not the centre for worship – it was Shiloh in the region of Ephraim where the ark of the covenant was kept.  The family taking care of the ark at Shiloh was Eli and his sons Hophni and Phineas.

Every year Elkanah came with his wives – Peninnah and Hannah – to offer his sacrifices. The one wife – Peninnah - had been blessed with children but Hannah had none.  Peninnah constantly told Hannah that God didn’t care about her because he had not blessed her with children.  As you might expect, this upset Hannah deeply.  Her husband found her weeping and tried to reassure her that he loved her for her and that it did not matter to him whether or not she could bear children.

But this bothered Hannah greatly.  That day she made a vow to God that was overheard by the priest Eli.  Her vow was this: “O Lord of hosts, if only you will look on the misery of your servant, and remember me, and not  forget your servant, but will give to your servant a male child, then I will set him before you as a Nazirite until the day of his death. He shall drink neither wine nor intoxicants, and no razor shall touch his head.” (1 Samuel 1:11)

Children were considered a gift from God and it was believed that God alone could cause a child to be born.  And so Hannah – who seemed unable to bear children – asked God to remember her and her great desire to give birth to a child.  But Hannah knew that she could not expect to keep such a child for herself as the child would be a miracle birth.  And so when the child was born, she named him Samuel which in Hebrew means “the one asked of the Lord”. In due time, she took the child along with a three-year old bull, a sack of flour and a flask of wine. After the appropriate sacrifices were made, Hannah spoke to Eli reminding him that she was the woman whom he had heard make her vow to the Lord.  She then does not say that she is giving the child to the Lord in the care of Eli but that she is lending him to the Lord. She will ever be his mother but in reality he will never return to his family home as he will be raised in the temple and be the Lord’s for the rest of his life

Something worth while noting are the similarities between the story of Samuel and his role in anointing and confirming David as King over Israel and John the Baptist and his role in affirming Jesus as the Son of God and king of heaven at his baptism in the river Jordan.  Both Samuel and John were dedicated as Nazirites. Both Hannah and Mary – the mother of Jesus – have poems which speak of the glory of God and how God will intervene in the world.  Hannah’s is called a prayer and Mary’s is called a song. Hannah’s prayer is found in 1 Samuel 2:1-8 and Mary’s song in Luke 1:46-56.  After a false start with Saul, Samuel is led to anoint David as the first king of the kingdom of Israel with the promise that a descendant of David will ever sit on the throne. John recognizes Jesus as the Lamb of God, the Son of the Most High God and this Jesus – born in the line of David – will be the first and only king of the new heaven – the new kingdom of God.  Reluctantly God allowed an earthly king to be anointed for the people. In Jesus he comes to usher in the kingdom that will have no end.  And so we discover once again that there is a thread that runs through the recorded history and that shows once again that God’s plans and purposes are not random or by chance but that there is a plan.

But back to Samuel. At this stage we have a young boy who is serving in the temple of the Lord but has never heard the voice of God.  Eli is getting old and is hopeful that his sons will succeed him. But they have been unfaithful and have acted inappropriately with the sacrifices that the people were bringing.  Their sins have been repeated back to Eli and he had become greatly disturbed by what he was hearing.  Eli is visited by a man of God. It is not clear whether the man is a prophet or perhaps an angel but the message is clear. Eli’s household will not be given the privilege of continuing to serve God in the temple.  That privilege will fall to Samuel but he still has not heard the voice of God.

And so we come to the account that we heard in our reading today from 1 Samuel 3.  The three times that Samuel hears the voice calling his name.  Once again the number 3 that is so prominent in the Bible is here again.   The first time he hears his name called he immediately thinks it is Eli for Eli’s voice is the one that he would have expected to hear in the night – especially as Eli was aging and it was probably something that Samuel was used to hearing.  But when he arrives at Eli’s bed, he is told to return to his room and lay down.  The second time he is called, he is told the same thing. The third time he is called but this time Eli perceives that if he is not calling the boy  that it must be God.  And so Eli explains to Samuel that the Lord is calling him. He is then instructed to respond “Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening”.

What Samuel hears from God is that Eli’s sons will not be allowed to continue as priests and that there will be no forgiveness for what they have done.  The sons of Eli have committed an unforgiveable sin – they have sinned against God himself and Eli did nothing to stop it.   The sons of Eli had not only disobeyed the laws concerning sacrifice but they had instituted laws of their own. They had sought to take the place of God and for that they would not be forgiven.

This becomes the first time when Samuel receives from God a prophecy that will bring great change to the people. The second time will be when God takes the kingship away from Saul and his sons and asks Samuel to anoint a son of Jesse – the one we know as David.

Throughout his life, Samuel will continue to be the faithful prophet of God and his words will never fail to be heard as he would ever be listening for the voice of God.

Last week the prophet Isaiah said, “Here am I, send me.” This week the prophet Samuel said, “Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.” Two different responses but the same result. Both of them answered the call from God and both of them listened for the word of God.  AMEN