My Sunday School classes have finished studying the book of Ruth and we are now studying 1 Samuel.  Studying familiar stories are the hardest to do.  It’s like pressing niyog (coconut) for the second time : you are afraid that all the creamy coconut milk has been pressed the first time, all you get on the second press is water. This is a challenge for most Sunday School teachers, how to look at an old familiar landscape with fresh eyes.

Yesterday, I arrived at 7:08 at the MCLE Seminar venue.  I was early as the seminar would not start until 8am.  I opened my Bible and read the first few chapters of 1 Samuel.  And then I prayed for fresh eyes.  To my surprise, I began comparing the family of Samuel and the family of Eli.  The thoughts and insights were pouring out, I had to quickly jot them down in a notebook I had brought for the occasion.  And then, with each note of comparison, I was able to distill a spiritual principle.

1. Servants of the Lord are not exempt from suffering and they are not immune from family problems. Elkanah was a Levite as Eli was a high priest and judge.  They had serious problems in their families: Elkanah’s wives did not get along; one of his wives, Hannah, was childless.  Eli’s troubled sons were immoral, defiant and unruly.

2. An exalted religious position is not an accurate gauge of the pleasure or approval of God in one’s life.  Despite Elkanah’s troubled home life, he still led his family to worship and serve God once a year as they were required by the law. Elkanah fulfilled his turn to render service in the temple only once a year and it was at that time that Hannah humbled herself before God and asked for a child.  On the other hand,  Eli and his sons, Hophni and Phinehas lived near the tablernacle. They served God daily in the tabernacle.  And yet, their service was marred by selfishness and greed.  They caused the people of Israel to sin against God.  Eli’s sons occupied an exalted religious position and yet, they were ravening sexual predators.

3. Sin works itself insidiously even in the lives of the “holiest” of believers. Sin not only carries a penalty, sin has power and sin has presence.  Elkanah’s home was troubled by envy and strife. They bickered and quarreled all the time. Eli was an ineffectual father who could not discipline his children or train them to be humble before God.  Eli’s sons despite living in a “christian” home, did not know God.  They treated the temple as their business and the worshipers as customers or hapless victims of their opportunism.

4.God always reveals himself and his will to all believers, whether backslidden or holy. Notice that God sent an unnamed prophet to Eli to warn him of God’s displeasure and the punishment that God will mete out to this children.  God also gave them time and space to repent and amend.  In the same way, as Hannah prayed to God for a son, God spoke through Eli that He has granted Hannah’s request.  When the boy Samuel was already living in the tabernacle as Eli’s trainee and assistant, God called to Samuel in the middle of the night.  God speaks all the time but only those who are ready and willing to listen will hear God.  In the Old Testament, God spoke to us through his prophets.  In the New Testament, God spoke to us through his Son, Jesus Christ.  Today, God speaks to us as the Holy Spirit illumines our minds while we read his word.

5. Our reaction to God’s revelation of his will determines whether we are blessed to punished. When God reveals himself and his will to us, just as he revealed himself and his will both to Eli and to Hannah and to Samuel, their reactions determined whether they received blessing or punishment.  When Hannah received word from God through Eli that God has granted her request for a son, she got up from the temple, she became joyful and she anticipated God’s answer.  She was an altered woman.  She was no longer depressed or distraught.  When Samuel heard the voice of God, although he did not yet recognize the voice to be God, he immediately got up to respond.  There was a readiness in him to obey.  When Samuel was instructed by Eli to speak to God, he obeyed.  This began Samuel’s career as a prophet.  After this, all men in Israel regarded him as the man to whom God spoke, and the man who spoke to God in behalf of others.  Contrast these two reactions of Samuel and Hannah to the reaction of Eli.  When Eli heard what the unnamed prophet told him, and again when he heard what God told Samuel regarding God’s judgment, Eli did not repent.  Eli did not fall down in dust and ashes to mourn for his sin as well as his sons.  He shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly: let God do what he will. He did not restrain his sons.  He did not remove them from office, he did not judge them as he should have.

6.God does not take our age into consideration when he reveals himself or his will.  Living a life that is pleasing and honoring to God can be accomplished by anyone young or old. Elkanah pleased God by worshiping God with his whole family once every year.  Hannah pleased God by humbling herself before God in prayer, imploring God to bless her with a son.  Hannah also honored God by offering up to Him the son she had asked of God.  Samuel was just a child, he had just been weaned which probably means he was about seven years old.  God called him, he responded to God.  He was just a child and yet, when God spoke to him, he listened and obeyed.  Contrast this with Eli who about 90 years old and his sons who would have been over the age of 30 for levitical priests cannot enter into the service until they are 30 years old.  Levites retire from the tabernacle service at the age of 50.  Eli’s sons did not even honor the God they are supposed to be serving by getting to know him.  They despised the offerings, not recognizing that the offerings are holy unto God.  They viewed the offerings as their property that they can dispose of in any way they desire.

7.God’s presence brings blessing as well as judgment.  When God appeared in the Old Testament, the shekinah cloud is seen.  The shekinah cloud is not God, it just signifies God’s presence. The re-appearance of the shekinah cloud was rare.  God had not been appearing in the days of the judges.  There were no open visions of the presence of God.  When God spoke to Samuel, the shekinah cloud once more appeared.  It brought blessing to Samuel’s life because Samuel got to know God.  God revealed himself to Samuel.  God revealed his word to Samuel.  God chose Samuel as a prophet.  After God spoke to Samuel, the whole of Israel knew that God spoke to Samuel and Samuel spoke to God in behalf of Israel.  But God’s presence also brought judgment of Eli and his sons.  God pronounced his punishment for Eli and his sons.  In the Old Testament, God spoke through the prophets.  In the New Testament, God spoke through his Son, Jesus Christ.  In our day, God speaks through His Word.  When we read his word, the Holy Spirit illumines us: he gives us understanding of the Word and he applies the word to our hearts.  The result is that we become painfully aware of our sin and our filthiness before the holiness of God.  We are convinced of our sinfulness and our unworthiness and yet, we are convinced that God loves us despite our sin.  This drives us to worship him.  God’s presence in our life convicts us of our sin, and yet, it gives us the assurance that we are his sons because he corrects and disciplines us, a great blessing of sonship indeed.

8. Repentance and humility honor God while stubbornness and defiance dishonor God. Hannah humbled herself before God and asked for a son.  She didn’t just grit her teeth and just bear the shame of childlessness.  She went to God, she came before the tabernacle of God. She humbled herself before God and asked God for a son.  She thought herself unworthy of a son such that she promised to give God back that son should God give her one.  Samuel humbled himself before God.  He heard God’s voice and jumped up from sleep to respond.  He did this three times.  When he was corrected by Eli, and he was instructed by Eli, he did not disregard Eli’s advise.  He did not have contempt for Eli although he saw how Eli’s sons defied him.  He humbled himself and obeyed Eli. When God spoke, Samuel listened.  Samuel took to heart all that God told him.  He kept it secret until Eli commanded him to tell him, and then Samuel obeyed.  Samuel’s life is a testament to humility before God and obedience to God.  This is why he was greatly used of God.  He was always willing to be led of God.  Contrast this with the defiance of Eli and his sons.  They stubbornly went their sinful ways, unmindful of God’s manifest displeasure.  They disregarded God’s pronouncement of judgment.  They ignored the opportunity God gave them to repent.  Eli died when news of his sons’ death reached Shiloh.  None of Eli’s descendants ever served as high priests in Israel.  They were removed by God and replaced by one more honorable than them.

Conclusion:  God is not to be taken lightly. His Word must be taken seriously.  God honors those who honor him with their lives.  The consequences of sin and of obedience are all real.  Our obedience or defiance determines whether or not God will use us in the ministry.  Our humility and willingness to be led will determine the extent of God’s pleasure and approval in our lives.  It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.  Let us serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear for our God is a consuming fire.