Bwebbservant
Sunday Evening Bible Study
May 20, 2001
I. Introduction
a. Goals of this study
i. Study 1 and 2 Samuel in their entirety as a single message
ii. Better understand the line of Messiah through types and prophecy
iii. Analyze the Shift from stoic to epicurean in society
iv. Examine Life and Times of the people 1000 years before Christ
b. How we will do this
i. Use maps, charts and graphs to understand relationships in certain areas
ii. Consider 1 & 2 Samuel as one book as the Hebrews did
iii. Evaluate civil, secular and religious life in 1000 year old terms from ancient literature
II. Previous Study
a. Situation of Ungodly Priests
b. ‘Sign’ brought by the Man of God
III. A Summons: The Call of Samuel
a. A Word on Hebrew from a Student-Scholar
i. Each Hebrew word can mean between 2 and 6 different things or more. This is intended to paint word pictures in the mind of the reader and allows some interesting speculations from the interpreter.
ii. When working with the Hebrew text it is important to dissect each phrase and word where necessary to get at the meaning. This is apparent in some areas, not so in others.
b. Background Information (3:1-3)
i. The Boy Samuel
ųņĒš‡
1. Means boy or servant
2. The imagery is one who has become useful as a son or servant.
3. It is interesting how Samuel is going to serve in both capacities: as a young boy and a servant
4. Eli will even go as far as call him son in vs. 6 & 16
ii. Ministered
śų‡LÜ
1. Strong’s states, “A primitive root; to attend as a menial or worshipper; figuratively to contribute to:—minister (unto), (do) serve (-ant, -ice, -itor), wait on.
2. It is alternately translated as minister, serve or personal servant
iii. Before
1. Means literally, “to his face” but we translate it out as “before”. It denotes a supervision aspect between the two parties, here for the ministration of YHWH under the supervision of Eli
iv. Two things about the days we are reading about:
1. Word from the Lord was rare
a. Word
ųį˜cŸ
i. Most generic form of revelation or statement in the OT
ii. Used 1223 time in the OT
b. Lord
äåäé
i. The covenantal name of God, used to denote a special relationship
c. Rare
ų÷®éˆ
i. Not only does this word mean rare, but also carries the additional meaning of precious or to make scarce.
2. Visions were infrequent
a. Visions
ļBęē˜
i. Strong’s says, “a sight (mentally), that is, a dream, revelation, or oracle:—vision.”
b. Infrequent
i. Made up of two words in Hebrew:
ļPT
ii. Meaning ‘nothing’ and
õų‡tČ
iii. Meaning ‘breaking through’
iv. Does anyone remember the name of Judah’s two sons by Tamar? One was Zerah meaning scarlet, but the other ones name was Perez, because he was completely born first, and is in the genealogy of Christ.
v. I believe this is one of the problems we have today, we do not let God’s word break through to us.
v. Eli was lying down in his place
1. We are unsure of the worship facilities available at Shiloh.
2. Eli was lying close enough that Samuel mistook the Lord’s call for Eli’s
3. The trouble is with the word ģėČéä• which means a large public building, a palace or a temple.
a. By God’s own testimony we know that this is not a temple because one had not been build yet
b. By the fact that there is no king yet in Israel it cannot be a palace like we would think of one.
c. The default then is to a large public building, in which case there must have been large rooms for worship and priests quarters.
Factoid:
I find it very interesting that the period of the exodus to the end of
the judges covers a period of about 400 years.
This is a nation of 2 million people be most counts and still it was not
God’s primary objective to build some kind of building for the Ark to live
in. Rather the Ark was to be typical
for the worship of the Israelites.
I wonder how God feels about our thirst for big buildings and cushioned pews? Not that those things are wrong but they can be a distraction. My friend at Southcrest BC asked me what I though about them borrowing another $ 10 million bringing the total indebtedness to + 30. I told him I would not be able to sleep at night if I ever told a church to borrow that much money. I wonder…
vi. Now his eyesight was dim and well he could not see
1. Eli was not completely blind at this point. His eyes had merely began to fail him
2. I think that spiritual reality works its way out into the physical. Eli had refused to look upon his son’s sin and judge it so his eyes had began to fail.
3. This could give us also a little bit clearer picture of how Samuel was ministering before the face of Eli. Perhaps Samuel was acting as Eli’s eyes. This is why Samuel ran to Eli in the middle of the night.
c. A Point of Conflict (3:4-14)
i. Before we look at the four calls I would like to note something:
Factoid:
Notice how we have covered possibly 20 years (172,800 hours) or more in a 64 verses (2700 hours or 112.5 days per verse) and this particular night and next morning, maybe 12 hours, gets 16 verses (45 minutes or 3/100’s of a day per verse). I bet the majority of you have never even thought about that! To not understand how time passes in the Bible misses important realities of God’s subtlety and patience with mankind, sinners and otherwise.
ii. Call # 1
1. God called Samuel
2. Samuel says, “Here I am”.
äp…ä”
(ép„š¨ä„)
a. This word is used 993 times in the OT. It is a strange word in that it does not come over clearly into English. It means Behold! Lo! See! Here! Look at! in a standard sense. When answering a call it is what is called by translators the predicator of existence and is translated, “Here I am!” to show presence and immediacy.
3. Samuel ran to Eli
4. Samuel says, “Here I am, for you called me.”
5. Eli says, “I did not call, lie down again.”
6. Samuel went and laid down
iii. Call # 2
1. God said, “Samuel!”
2. Samuel arose and went to Eli
3. Samuel says, “Here I Am, for you called me.”
4. Eli answers him and says, “I did not call, my son, lie down again.”
iv. Parenthetical Statement for clarification
1. Samuel did not yet know ņćžéˆ the Lord. This is not talking about a mechanical knowledge, but a deep abiding one. Look at these levels of learning:
- Levels of Learning -
Knowledge Low Memorization,
recalling of facts
Comprehension Low Interpretation
Application Low Transfer
to a new situation
Analysis High Breaking into systematic parts
for intake
Synthesis High Rearranging
parts for something new
Evaluation High Judging
value on certain human standards
Wisdom
Highest Judging value with
absolute Divine standards
Notes: Knowledge to evaluation is progressive. Evaluation to Wisdom is functional. Understanding
is objective from comprehension to evaluation. The evaluation level is where
the Christian would be gaining worldly wisdom.
True wisdom is that which comes from God at highest level.
2. Look at Samuel going through each one of these levels
3.
Samuel had not had the word revealed to him
4. Revealed is galah (äģČbˆ) in Hebrew and denotes a stripping away usually associated with violence. Here the revelation is to be understood as an utter revealing with nothing hidden
v. Call # 3
1. The Lord calls a third time
2. Samuel arises and goes to Eli
3. Samuel says, “Here I am, for you called me.”
4. Eli discerns (Hebrew beyin or consider or explain) it is the Lord
How has God revealed Himself to you in your life? Do you know? Discuss.
5. Eli instructs Samuel:
a. Go Lie Down
i. If he says nothing go to sleep, NO
b. If The Lord Calls again say, “Speak, YHWH, for Your servant is listening.”
i. Eli’s training of Samuel had been successful
c. Samuel went and laid down in his place.
vi. Call # 4
1. The Lord came and stood and called
a. It is interesting to me that this states that God stood in the place or proximity of Samuel. This means this was more than just a voice in Samuel’s head, this was a tangible experience
2. The Lord called, “Samuel! Samuel!”
3. Samuel said, “Speak, for Your servant is listening.”
Factoid:
I do not know if there is anything to Samuel not saying exactly what Eli said to say in response. One possible reason is that Samuel had a greater reverence for the name of God than Eli. One thing is for sure that encounters with God are personal and are experienced in the soul of the individual towards the motives already there. Eli could not have helped him more than he did.
d. Test of Worthiness (3:15-18)
i. God Gives Samuel the revelation
1. God is going to do a new thing
a. I am sure this did not go over well with the traditionalists
2. Eli’s house is going to be judged
a. It almost seems here as if Eli had not shared the revelation of the man of God with anyone.
b. Eli’s judgment is because of three reasons:
1. HE DID NOT REBUKE HIS SONS!
2. HE DID NOT REBUKE HIS SONS!!
3. HE DID NOT REBUKE HIS SONS!!!
c. No atonement can be made at this point, judgment is sure
ii. Samuel does not sleep on it
1. Read the passage again
2. Samuel is scared to tell Eli these words
3. Eli calls this time and Samuel says hennani
iii. Samuel is responsible for it
1. Eli offers him a curse
2. Eli will finish his training on Samuel today, encouraging him to say the right thing even if it is hard or hurts those you love.
3. Eli lets Samuel in on the secret; he reveals that God’s word is true. There is no discussion about how to change it or circumvent it. It is accepted, as I read this from one man of god to another.
4. Eli’s last recorded words to Samuel are this, “Let (the Lord) do what seems good to Him.”
e. Benefit of Godliness (3:19-4:1a)
i. Thus (or because of this) Samuel grew
1. Have you ever been account able to God for an important message? These are times that precede amounts of growth.
a. The time I had to stand up for full inspiration of the Bible against everyone else in my class.
b. Abraham picking up and going
c. David praying over and over again, “Do I go up?” and getting an answer.
d. Treating God’s message with disdain yields corruption. See Ch. 4:3 next weeks lesson
ii. God let none of Samuels Words fail
1. You either are a prophet or you are not
2. Dan is in the extreme n of Palestine, originally known as Laish. It was renamed after its capture by the Danites, who had migrated to the n. For all practical purposes, it was the n limit of Israelite occupation, thus giving rise to the phrase, “from Dan to Beersheba” to describe the territory of Israel from n to s. Jeroboam I set up a golden calf idol in the city, making Dan a royal sanctuary of his idolatrous cult. Identified with a site at the s foot of Mt. Hermon.
3. Beersheba is the chief city of the Negev in s Judah, allotted to the tribe of Simeon. For all practical purposes, it was the s limit of Israelite territory, thus giving rise to the expression “from Dan to Beersheba” to indicate the whole of Israel.
4. Everybody from North to South knew that Samuel was a Prophet of God.
5. God appeared to Samuel and gave him the messages to give to all Israel.
IV. Conclusion
a. This week we have seen:
i. God will move everything according to his own time
ii. It is good to show a reverence to God always even when communicating with Him personally
iii. There will always be a test of faithfulness.
iv. The proof of faithfulness will always be reward. This is true not only with God but also with the world. Watch who you are being faithful to.
b. Next week we will see:
i. Read 1 Samuel 4:1b-22
I. “The End of Shiloh”
Any Questions? Contact the Webbservant at… stephen.mack.howard@juno.com