Here I Am

By Jared Warner

Willow Creek Friends Church

January 14, 2024

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1 Samuel 3:1–10 (NRSV)

¹ Now the boy Samuel was ministering to the Lord under Eli. The word of the Lord was rare in those days; visions were not widespread. ² At that time Eli, whose eyesight had begun to grow dim so that he could not see, was lying down in his room; ³ the lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the temple of the Lord, where the ark of God was. ⁴ Then the Lord called, “Samuel! Samuel!” and he said, “Here I am!” ⁵ and ran to Eli, and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But he said, “I did not call; lie down again.” So he went and lay down. ⁶ The Lord called again, “Samuel!” Samuel got up and went to Eli, and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But he said, “I did not call, my son; lie down again.” ⁷ Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, and the word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him. ⁸ The Lord called Samuel again, a third time. And he got up and went to Eli, and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” Then Eli perceived that the Lord was calling the boy. ⁹ Therefore Eli said to Samuel, “Go, lie down; and if he calls you, you shall say, ‘Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.’ ” So Samuel went and lay down in his place. ¹⁰ Now the Lord came and stood there, calling as before, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant is listening.”

We hear a lot about Genesis. We love the book of Exodus. We know about the wondering in the desert as God took a people that only knew slavery and formed them into a nation. At the end of Exodus Moses looked over the land that was promised to this group of people. God allowed him to see it with his own eyes, but Moses the great lawgiver was not permitted to enter into that land.

I have reflected on this often. To live your entire life driven toward one goal. Inspiring people to pursue this dream set before you. Taking the lead on an epic quest that would be remembered for all history. And amazingly after thousands of years we know the story. We know more about this little group of people called Israel than we know about ancient empires hundreds of times more powerful. Moses was given this mission, and just when the greatest breakthrough was about to happen, God told him he could not enter.

The next phase of the story of Israel was left to someone else. All the people in Moses’ generation were left wondering in the wilderness, and Moses was their leader. He was the one that lead them through the wilderness, but this is a new time a new era. Joshua was chosen to lead the people of Israel, the nation of Israel into the land of promise.

Joshua followed Moses, he was by his side the entire journey. When they first approached the land of promise, it was Joshua and Caleb that looked into the land and saw hope where everyone else saw giants. Joshua was the man to lead Israel into the nation, because he believed, he saw what everyone else could not see. And the day that Moses was taken from the nation Joshua stood before the nation and said “you can follow the gods of Egypt or the gods of Canaan but as for me and my house, we will follow the Lord.” That of course is my own paraphrase. But the scene remains the same. Joshua looked out over the twelve tribes, he saw them each. He had participated in countless encampments where each of these tribes would take their dedicated place, surrounding the tabernacle. He had watched countless times over the past forty years as these tribes would pack up their belongings and set out to march, again taking up their dedicated place. Now they were encamped just outside of Canaan, and the tribes were in formation. He stood before them and he called in a loud voice I will serve the Lord, and the next morning they crossed the river and entered the land they would soon call home.

Joshua and his generation took hold of that land, they made it their home. They became a nation not only of people, but geography. The promise given to their father Abraham seemed to have fulfillment before their very eyes. And they celebrated.

Now that victorious generation had come to an end as well. They were in the land. The manna had stopped falling from the sky and those that inhabited the land we far enough removed from those days that I am sure they questioned the story. Who had ever heard of food just falling from the sky they might ask. They were in the land, each tribe taking up residence in their own allotted portion. They were free. They were able to live their own life. They could plant, grow, build, tear down what every they desired. They were at liberty. One nation under God.

They did not have a king, because God was their king. They were subject only to their God, their tribe, and their family. This was the time of Judges.

When we read the book of Judges we often do not see the freedom and liberty that fills the gaps between the words written on the pages. We often miss the beauty of what God had created in that land because what was written seems so dark. The book ends, “In those days there was no king in Israel; all the people did what was right in their own eyes.”

There was no king, everyone did what was right in their own eyes. We see this as such a negative statement, and rightfully so because throughout that book we are told of terrible things. The last story within the book of judges has the people of Israel acting terribly, so badly Sodom would have blushed.

Moses lead the people out of Egypt. Joshua lead them into the land of promise. Throughout that time those leaders had boldly proclaimed God as their ultimate leader, but now as they became rooted in the land their attention had been pulled elsewhere. They had the freedom and the liberty to live their own life. They were subject only to God, their tribe, and their family. They were free, but at the end of the story it says, there was no king in Israel, all the people did what was right in their own eyes. We often miss the full reality of that statement. We look at it and think they need a king, they need strong leadership, they were just sheep without a shepherd. A king would be good. And eventually they do receive a king, and through that king we eventually are given our salvation. But we often miss the most important point of the statement. Why was their no king? Why?

There was not a king because Israel was supposed to be a nation devoted to God. They were each given the teachings of God, they were to be a people devoted to Loving God with all that they had and all that they were, and to love their neighbor as themselves. That is what Jesus says is the whole law. But they did not live that way. They instead looked to themselves. They sought to make their own names, build their own wealth. They began to look at the ways and the systems of the kingdoms of men instead of that of God. They were supposed to be image bearers and the light to the nations, instead they desired to be like the nations. “We want a king to fight for us.” they would eventually say. We want a strong man, we want our own giants. Israel within the first few generations rejected the kingdom of God, and desired the ways of the world of men.

This brings us to today’s passage. Eli the priest is often regarded as the last Judge of Israel. Some might say Samuel was the last Judge. I would even venture to say that Saul was the last judge even though most say he is the first king. But that does not really matter. The point of the story is not who was last, the point is what is going on in the story. Eli was the high priest. He was the top representative of God to the people and the representative of the people to God. He carried on the legacy of Aaron. He by all outward accounts was a righteous man, he was a priest. Unfortunately, he may have been a great priest, but his children were corupt.

The book of Judges ends with a story of how poorly the men of Israel treated and took advantage of women, and that attitude unfortunately can be found in the very tent dedicated to God. Eli’s own sons used and abused their position for personal gain and pleasure. They were chastised by the people for taking the good portions of the meat of sacrifice before they offered it to God. They justified it in their minds. God had ordained that the priests’ needs would be satisfied through the offerings brought to the altar. The problem was how they obtain their portion, and what they took. But what was worse than the theft of meat was that they would take advantage of the women that came to worship. They used their position, they abused their position. They would use the intense desire of those that came to worship to fulfill their personal lustful desires. Today we would call this assault and these priests should face criminal prosicution.

“And the word of the Lord was rare in those days; there was no frequent vision.” Eli, was the high priest while these things were happening. He knew what his sons were doing, yet he did not put a stop to it. The word of the Lord was rare. We might wonder why this was but the answer is pretty clear. The secular and religious leaders were not listening. They were not seeking. They had turned their backs on their God, and were turning to themselves for direction.

This sets the scene for the rest of today’s passage. Now the boy Samuel was ministering to the Lord in the presence of Eli. Samuel is a miracle child. His history resembles that of the great patriarch. His mother Hannah was unable to bear a child for many years. In the ancient cultures children were important. They were a sign of wealth and favor. To have children ensured that the family would continue into the future. We often get mixed understandings as to why this is because we have centuries of cultural interpretation clouding our understandings. But I want us to understand one thing. Ancient Israel at this time did not have the understanding we have today. When we look at the books of the law, we will see that there was great concern about the inheritance of land, and what should happen if there was not a proper heir. Unlike many of the ancient cultures in the region, Israel was incredibly progressive. They have a precedent where male or female children could inherit the land and carry the family name to the next generation. And this was important because the land and the family was often seen as the source of blessing in this culture. If the family name was to cease, the understanding was that that family was no longer part of Israel.

Hannah was unable to bear a child, she held this stigma within her culture that God’s blessing was leaving the house of Elkannah. And like many husbands in those ancient days, because children were important not just for inheritance but also for providing labor within the household, he took a second wife. And this second wife did bear children for Elkannah. Yet Hannah was not comforted. She was his wife, his first wife and she was unable to fulfill the duty their culture demanded of her. And Elkannah said to her, “why do you weep? And why do you not eat? And why is your heart sad? Am I not more to you than ten sons?”

We might laugh at his statement. We might grimance, we might join Hannah in her tears. We need to be careful with our words because we never know what people are feeling and at times our words can add greater burden. I am certain Elkannah loved his wife, I am sure that he was trying to provide comfort. But we cannot know another’s internal struggles unless they reveal them to us. Hannah wanted a son for her husband. Her greatest desire was to be the one through whom the blessings of God would flow. Yet that blessing was not hers at that moment.

She had only one course to take, she came to the end of herself, and all she could do was pray. This is so often how we think of things. Often prayer is the last thing we do. This is a sign of our times. And a sign of the times in Israel. We will do everything possible until we no longer see a way forward, and then we pray.

“And the word of the Lord was rare in those days; there was no frequent vision.” How can we hear the word of the Lord if the Lord is the last thing in our minds? I struggle with this, myself. I catch myself seeking to write great words of inspiration, and I wonder why I cannot begin writing and often it is because I had not been in prayer.

Hannah prayed, she poured her heart out to God while they were at the tabernacle offering sacrifices to their Lord. And Eli the priest saw Hannah praying, he believed her to be drunk and began to chastise her for that. It is interesting that that was the first thing that came to his mind, but once he realized that she was not intoxicated he had enough wisdom to encourage her instead. And he pronounced over her that God had heard her prayers and would grant her request. God did hear her prayers. And she gave birth to a son. And that child was named Samuel.

Hannah and Elkannah took this child to the tabernacle, and they dedicated him to the Lord. We might not understand this, we are told that the Levites are to be the priests, and Elkannah was of the house of Ephraim so how could their child serve God in the tabernacle? This goes into the deeper law. By law the first fruits of all the land, animal, and humanity belonged to God. This goes back to the when Israel walked out of Egypt, the last plague was the death of the firstborn. God preserved the firstborn of Israel, but that preservation had a price. From that moment on the first born child of every woman was dedicated to God and the parents would need to redeem their child from God through various sacrifices and offerings. This is why the tribe of Levi became the priestly tribe, because they were the ones that would stand in for the rest of Israel, they would take the place of the children that the other tribes ransomed. Hannah and Elkannah provided the required offerings, yet they proceeded to dedicate their firstborn son to the service of God.

This offering was something profound especially in their era of history. Eli the priest accepted the offering and he raised the child and Samuel became his eyes in his old age. But what is interesting is that Samuel lived in the tabernacle. He was sleeping in the holy place, laying his head down at the end of the day before the lampstand that stood before the Ark of the Covenent, which was the footstool of the God’s Throne.

And we are told that Samuel lay there on the floor before this lampstand and the lamp of God had not yet gone out. This lamp was significant in the religious practices of ancient Israel. It was there to symbolize the presence of God. The lampstand stood before the Ark which was seperated by a curtain and in front of the lamp stood the table of show bread. This lamp was supposed to burn throughout the night until morning. After the rededication of the temple by the Maccabees the lamp was to burn continuously at all times. It is interesting that here they mention that the lamp of God had not yet gone out. This has a double meaning, it tells us that it was nearing dawn because the oil had not yet run out, but it also says that the presence of God had not completely left the people of Israel. The light remains in the darkness.

Samuel slept in the presence of God, his duty was most likely to tend the lamps for Eli the priest, because Eli was unable to do this himself, and his sons were not worthy of that job. Samuel tended the lamp. And he dozed off, and as he slept he heard a voice call his name. Samuel was not accustomed to hearing anyone but Eli call for him, so he immediately went to wake his master. And Eli in his own sleepy state told the boy to go back to bed. Again Samuel heard the voice, and again he went to Eli, the second time. Only to be given the same advice. A third time the voice cried out to Samuel, and he ran to Eli’s side, this time Eli realized that the boy was actually hearing something so he said, “Go, lie down, and if he calls you, you shall say, ‘Speak, Lord, for your servant hears.’” Why Eli gave this advice is up for debate. Did he recognize that God was actually calling Samuel or was he simply hitting the metaphorical snooze button? I joke because, “the word of the Lord was rare in those days.” so it was not something Eli would expect. We may never fully know but the advice was sound.

Samuel goes back to lay down, “And the Lord came and stood, calling as at other times, “Samuel, Samuel.” God stood in the tent, while Samuel responds. Was there a physical manifestation of God standing in that room with Samuel? The text suggests this, it could have been a vision or real. What we do know is that this meeting had a profound effect on the boy. They spoke there just before dawn. Just before morning’s new light came to chase away the darkness.

“And the word of the Lord was rare in those days.” I want us to focus on this phrase. We live in a world so often seen as dark. We want strongmen to come fight our battles. This is evident throughout the world. From the war waging in Ukraine to our own presidential campaingns. We want strong personalities to lead us into the future. We are placing our faith in these strong people, these giants. We might even say that they are called by God.

“And the word of the Lord was rare in those days.” So often we seek the strong men or women. We want them to lead us, we want them to provide for us. But we also want to do what is right in our own eyes. We want strong leaders, but do we know what we are even looking for? The word of the Lord is rare in these days.

Hannah was at the end of herself, and she gives us direction. She went to God to pray. And her response was to give back the very blessing God had given her. While the rest of the world was doing what seemed right in their own eyes, Hannah, Samuel’s mother dedicated her own son to God. And Samuel grew under Eli’s guardianship, and he did not yet know the Lord. He grew up dedicated to God yet he did not know him.

We live in a dark world. We seek strength in the world. And do we even know what we are looking for? Samuel ran to Eli. Are we seeking God or humankind? “The word of the Lord was rare in those days.” The same could be said today. What are we seeking first? What are we listening to? Have we taken the time to seek the very real presence of God or are we seeking giants of mankind? Four times God called to Samuel before Samuel was ready to listen. How many times has God called us? How many times have we ran this way or that? How many times have we relied on ourselves or those around us before we were willing to say, “Speak, for your servant hears.”?

We live in a world where people are going about doing what is right in their own eyes. We live in a world where we would like others to fight our battles for us. We live in a world, but the lamp of God has not yet gone out. There is still hope, even in the darkness we perceive surrounding us. We want hope, we want revelation, we want to hear the word of the Lord but are we listening?

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