1 Samuel 3:1 -- Tradition says Samuel was 12 when this story took place. At this time, we are told there is no official prophet of God. An actual message was exceedingly rare, and visions came only to individuals here and there. We are told this because it was Samuel that turned this around. Not only did he begin hearing from Jehovah, but also established several academies to train men in the sort of spiritual discipline required to be a prophet. You may hear the term "School of the Prophets," and for quite some time there was at least one such academy in Israel somewhere.
3:2-10 -- The scene opens with the remark that Eli was now nearly, if not completely, blind. He would need constant attendance from Samuel, so the boy was used to responding to a call. It was near morning, as the mennorah, usually filled with enough oil to last until daylight, had not quite burned out (Leviticus 24:2-3). Samuel was in the cell near the Holy Place, reserved for priests on duty. When the voice of God called to him, Samuel made the only sensible assumption and responded as if Eli had called. This happened three times, and each time Eli insisted he had not called. The third time it dawned on Eli what was happening, so he told Samuel how to respond. The term "hear" implies more of "paying attention" and carries the implication of already committed to obey.
3:11-13 -- What Jehovah claims He will do is something that would hold spellbound anyone hearing it. He reveals to Samuel the word given to Eli some years before by another prophet, and declared the depth of this sin was such that there no longer remained any acceptable sacrifice to cover it. Dismissing his family from the priesthood was irrevocable.
3:14-18 -- By this time, it seems apparent the Tabernacle had been buttressed or replaced by a permanent structure. Rather than a curtain, the entranced had regular doors. Part of Samuel's duty was to open them to worshippers at the appointed time. The phrase implies he began his daily duties. Eli insisted Samuel reveal the whole thing. In the first place, this is excellent training. During those hours beginning with Samuel bursting in claiming to have been summoned, Eli had been reawakening the memory of proper handling of the Word of Jehovah. That included not holding back the truth, even if it was heart-rending to consider what it meant. "May God do so..." was a figure of speech accompanied by a physical demonstration of dire consequences, roughly equivalent to today's drawing the finger across the throat to signify decapitation. Eli responded with resignation, for how does one dispute with God?
3:19-21 -- This event was a clear signal God intended to make Samuel a true prophet. Not once did something he claimed was a word from God fail to come true. His reputation was firmly established from "Dan to Beersheba," a phrase signifying the whole land of Israel. Further, the glowing presence of the Lord returned to the Holy of Holies. This was a turn of affairs for which many had hoped. Sadly, they did not seek God's Word in everything.
4:1-4 -- Some 20 miles west of Shiloh, in the coastal plain, were the cities of Aphek and Ebenezer. These sat at what was then the northern end of Philistine territory. The occasion of battle is not given, but we can be certain the location gave the Philistines the advantage with their chariots. Naturally they won the first day's fighting. The Israeli leadership decided they needed their sacred talisman, the Ark of Covenant. Their thinking is nearly pagan in flavor, as they assumed God was tied to the box, else He wouldn't have let them fail in battle. While Eli had no power to reject the idea, he did send his two corrupt sons to stay with the Ark, as if it would help matters. Indeed, it was they alone who could touch it to carry it.
4:5-9 -- As the Ark was marched into the war camp of Israel, the spirit of the soldiers revived, and their shout of elation was heard across the way by the Philistines. As soon as they knew what had happened, the Philistines trembled. They had never faced the God of Israel. What they did not understand was the the apostasy of the Hebrews was their only advantage; their real danger was from God's own hand, far greater than the threat of the soldiers claiming His protection. They possessed enough character to insist it was better to die in battle than to lose and serve Israel, as Israel had served them.
4:10-11 -- This fatalistic spirit carried them through the next day's fighting, and they slaughtered a larger number than ever. It was decisive, for the Hebrews fled, leaving the Ark to their enemy. As prophesied, the two sons of Eli died that day together.
4:19-22 -- News of the disaster brought Eli's daughter-in-law into labor. The phrase describes the Egyptian habit they had picked up of kneeling to deliver. Hearing that she brought forth a son was not enough to relieve her distress. There was no glory to be taken to the grave. She managed to mumble something about the glory of God departing before she died. Thus, her son's name was Ichabod: "Where is the glory?" or more precisely, "Where is God?" Here we are reminded yet again how deeply sunk into to pagan thought were God's people. They were so wrapped up in the symbols of His presence they could not separate them from His actual presence.
Records are silent on the matter of timing, but it is all but certain this event was followed closely by yet another raid by the Philistines, in which the city and Temple of Shiloh were destroyed. It is mentioned by Jeremiah in 7:12-15, 26:6-7. What Jeremiah describes shows it was never rebuilt there. If there was any bloodshed, the site was defiled, neither Tabernacle or Temple could stand there again. We have some unlikely traditions claiming that the man who brought the bad news to Shiloh was Saul, and that in the heat of battle he had tried to protect the Ark, but that Goliath snatched it away. What is not lost on anyone who reads is the clear and obvious reason for the multiple disaster: unfaithfullness to Jehovah.
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Ed Hurst
revised 05 April 2004
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