1 Samuel - The Coming King Sýnishorn

We’ve already seen the spiritual mess of God’s people in these opening chapters of 1 Samuel. There’s a need for revival and good spiritual leadership to resolve the mess. But, above all, what God’s people really need is to recover the word of the Lord. In verse 1 we read that ‘the word of the Lord was rare’ at the time. It wasn’t quite a famine of the word (cf. Amos 8:11), but it was a lack of the word. The people were getting by with the bare minimum of spiritual sustenance. The good news now, though, is that the word is about to come afresh. 

The surprise in this story, though, is the one to whom the word comes. It isn’t the experienced priest, Eli, who receives the word, but the boy apprentice, Samuel. Again, we see God’s way of reversing fortunes. Eli has high status, but is an unfaithful priest. He is now brought down, while Samuel, inexperienced and with no special lineage, is raised up. God our Father is an impartial Judge (1 Pet. 1:17) and no respecter of human privilege or background. Samuel has become God’s prophet bringing God’s word (v. 8). The word is spoken through Samuel first to Eli (vv. 15–18), and then to the people (3:20 – 4:1). A new era has dawned as God’s word becomes available again. 

We can be thankful today that we don’t have to wait for a prophet to come to bring us God’s word, but we have the incredible privilege of having God’s complete written word completely available to us. Further, we don’t, through the Bible, have access to only one great prophet, but we can listen to many prophets and apostles. In fact, we have access to the Son of God himself, who has brought us God’s final word (Heb. 1:1–2). Let’s value that word today!

REFLECTION

1. What’s so bad about not having access to God’s word? What happens as a result?

2. How can you take advantage of the privileged access to God’s word that you have today?