Eli Has Been Judge in the Land

Knock, Knock September 30. 2015

God’s There

1 Samuel 3 Page 1

We saw the vast difference last week between the atmosphere at the Tabernacle versus Samuel and his dedication

Remember…there is a ______in the Land

Eli has been Judge in the Land

As it pertains to Eli and his family, it’s good to be the judge

Another look at the period of time we are in

The center of the Nation was intended to be around the ______

The crisis of leadership, which we saw in Judges, is an infection which has also affected the priesthood

Hophni and Phinehas reflect what has happened to the tribe of Levi and worship at Shiloh

They have been aiding and abetting driving the ______from God

They have turned the priesthood into a profession and ______worship

The center of worship was to be here

God’s presence was visibly still here

But God, due to the problem with the priesthood, was not talking much anymore.

1 Samuel 3:1

Now the boy Samuel was ministering to the LORD before Eli. And word from the LORD was rare in those days, visions were infrequent.

How old is Samuel at this point?

Now when Samuel was twelve years old, he began to prophesy: and once when he was asleep, God called to him by his name; and he, supposing he had been called by the high priest, came to him: but when the high priest said he did not call him, God did so thrice.

Flavius Josephus and William Whiston, The Works of Josephus: Complete and Unabridged (Peabody: Hendrickson, 1987).

We know that there is a lack of leadership, there is also a lack of ______.

This is the real problem

Deuteronomy 8:3

“He humbled you and let you be hungry, and fed you with manna which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that He might make you understand that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the LORD.”

God is not talking at the place He is to be worshiped to those who are supposed to be leading that worship

Who has he talked to

Hannah

An unknown prophet

Neither one at Shiloh

That is all about to change

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Not hearing from God, not relying on His word on hearing from Him is a threat we see issued in Amos

Amos 8:11–12

“Behold, days are coming,” declares the Lord GOD, “When I will send a famine on the land, Not a famine for bread or a thirst for water, But rather for hearing the words of the LORD. People will stagger from sea to sea And from the north even to the east; They will go to and fro to seek the word of the LORD, But they will not find it.”

The people had taken God for granted and His word for granted

As a result, His Word ______

This will happen again several more times and also, as we see in Amos, at the end of the age.

How did this happen?

Eli is part of the problem

What do we know about Eli to this point?

He is very old

He has taken liberties with the Word and with his office

He has committed idolatry by holding his sons as more important than God’s Word

He has failing eyesight

1 Samuel 3:2–3

We see a picture, in Eli’s physical condition, of the ______of the people

The people do not see well spiritually, neither does Eli

There is clearly a connection between the rarity of the word of the Lord and the failings of the priesthood. God would not speak often to such a priesthood, and when he did speak, it would be the kind of terrible word that we heard at the end of chapter 2.

John Woodhouse, 1 Samuel: Looking for a Leader, Preaching the Word (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2008), 74.

Notice where Eli is resting, ______.

Nothing wrong with that but we do not know exactly where that is

Where is the 12 year old Samuel resting?

1 Samuel 3:3

…and 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…

To fully understand just where Samuel was, we have to understand a bit about the layout of the holy place in the Tabernacle just outside the Holy of Holies.

Tabernacle holy place

The Temple Institute

http://www.templeinstitute.org/main.htm

Many of the items have been reconstructed in preparation of the Temple being rebuilt

Page 3

The lampstand is probably the most perfect picture of Christ found in the tabernacle furniture. It sets Him forth as pure gold and speaks of His deity. It sets Him forth as He is—God. Worship has to do with walking in the light.

J. Vernon McGee, Thru the Bible Commentary, electronic ed., Ex 25:40 (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1997).

Made of gold – a sign of ______pointing directly to God but notice – beaten gold

Isaiah 53:5

But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, and by His scourging we are healed.

John 19:1–3

Pilate then took Jesus and scourged Him. And the soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on His head, and put a purple robe on Him; and they began to come up to Him and say, “Hail, King of the Jews!” and to give Him slaps in the face.

How many lights on the lampstand?

Why seven?

Seven is the number of ______

Six is the number of Man

John 15:5

“I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.”

The light was necessary for worship to take place

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John 8:12

Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, “I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.”

Without light, you would be worshipping in the dark, God wants ______

The oil has to be present for the light to shine

The oil points directly to the ______

The oil energizes the light as we too now can shine forth for Christ

Philippians 2:14–15

Do all things without grumbling or disputing; so that you will prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world…

Matthew 5:14–16

“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.”

Why almond blossoms?

It is the first tree to bloom each spring in the Promised Land

A picture of the ______of Jesus Christ

The placement of the Lampstand, in the Holy Place, only visible to the Priests

Who are priests in the New Testament

Christ is hidden to the world but visible to the priests

What is Samuel?

By the way, after His resurrection, who saw and touched Christ?

Revelation 5:9–10

And they sang a new song, saying: “You are worthy to take the scroll, And to open its seals; For You were slain, And have redeemed us to God by Your blood Out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, And have made us kings and priests to our God; And we shall reign on the earth.” (NKJV)

The placement of the Lampstand in front of the Table of Showbread

Only through the ministry and power of the Holy Spirit can we perceive the ______

______. Only by the Spirit can we feed upon the nourishment of the Word of God

About the Number of Lights

Isaiah 11:1–2

Then a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse, and a branch from his roots will bear fruit. The Spirit of the LORD will rest on Him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and strength, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD.

Other than in Exodus 25, the Lampstand is mentioned two other times in scripture

1 Samuel 3:2–3

God warning Eli of coming judgment

Pointing to the judgment of the ______

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Daniel 5:2

When Belshazzar tasted the wine, he gave orders to bring the gold and silver vessels which Nebuchadnezzar his father had taken out of the temple which was in Jerusalem, so that the king and his nobles, his wives and his concubines might drink from them.

The Lampstand is part of this, out it comes to light up the party

God judges the ______– TribulationIt was to be kept lit always

The manner in which it is referenced here, it appears it is the duty of Samuel to ensure that it stays lit

Leviticus 24:2–4

“Command the sons of Israel that they bring to you clear oil from beaten olives for the light, to make a lamp burn continually. Outside the veil of testimony in the tent of meeting, Aaron shall keep it in order from evening to morning before the LORD continually; it shall be a perpetual statute throughout your generations. “He shall keep the lamps in order on the pure gold lampstand before the LORD continually.”

1 John 1:5

This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all.

The path to approach God was to always be lit, He is ______to hear from His people

So here we have Samuel, lying down to sleep in or very near to the Holy Place

The incense has a distinctive odor that can only be used in one place, the Holy Place

The light is always on

The table of shew bread is there

In this place with the distinctive sights and smells of the presence of God, Samuel rests

1 Samuel 3:2–10

It happened at that time as Eli was lying down in his place (now his eyesight had begun to grow dim and he could not see well), and 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, that the LORD called Samuel; and he said, “Here I am.” Then he 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. The LORD called yet again, “Samuel!” So Samuel arose and went to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But he answered, “I did not call, my son, lie down again.” Now Samuel did not yet know the LORD, nor had the word of the LORD yet been revealed to him. So the LORD called Samuel again for the third time. And he arose and went to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” Then Eli discerned that the LORD was calling the boy. And Eli said to Samuel, “Go lie down, and it shall be if He calls you, that you shall say, ‘Speak, LORD, for Your servant is listening.’” So Samuel went and lay down in his place. Then the LORD came and stood and called as at other times, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel said, “Speak, for Your servant is listening.”

The lamp of God had not yet gone out

There was ______for Israel

The light was not totally gone yet

There is still hope for us

The lamp of God has not yet gone out

Just as He calls to us, He called to Samuel

The first two calls to Samuel are the same as the calls the Holy Spirit makes to us as He goes about introducing us to Jesus…these are calls to ______

Note verse 7, Samuel is being raised up in the training of the Lord, He is serving in the Tabernacle, and it is time for Him to know God and know God’s word and in addition to know God’s calling on His life

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Samuel did not know the Lord. God was calling him to salvation. What is the age of accountability? Whatever it is, Samuel had reached it, and God is now going to hold him responsible. In the Book of Numbers a man was not able to go to war until he was twenty. The Levites did not begin their service until they were twenty-five years old, and the priests began to serve at age thirty. When Israel turned back to wander in the wilderness because of unbelief, only those who were under twenty years of age were allowed to live and go into the Promised Land. I do not know exactly how old Samuel was, but we can be certain he was not a toddler.

J. Vernon McGee, Thru the Bible Commentary, electronic ed., vol. 2 (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1997), 130.

Now imagine this, you are sleeping in the Holy place

You have heard someone call out your name twice now

You have responded to whom you thought was calling, but he is not the one calling. Eli tells you it is the Lord

You return to the Holy place, you are asleep on the ground directly in front of the curtain that leads to the Holy of Holies

No one enters the Holy of Holies except on the Day of Atonement

God’s presence is ______over the Holy of Holies

And now someone ______through the curtain

And what is the reaction of this 12 year old?

To me, a reflection of ______, it does not say he is surprised or that he gets up, he listens to what it is God says to Him, it is his next step