1 Samuel 2:12-4:1, Do you take God serioulsy?

Few years back, there were billboards so called, "God Billboards." These were initially put up by an anonymous person who contacted The Smith Agency in Florida in 1998 to get people to think about spirituality. The proved so popular that Outdoor Advertising Association of America made them their national public service campaign. Soon, "God Speaks" campaign brought about 10,000 displays throughout America.

Let’s take a look at some of them.

• Let's meet at my house Sunday before the game.
• What part of "Thou Shalt Not..." didn't you understand?
• We need to talk.
• Keep using my name in vain, I'll make rush hour longer.
• Loved the wedding, invite me to the marriage.
• That "Love Thy Neighbor" thing... I meant it.
• I love you…I love you...I love you.
• Will the road you're on get you to my place?
• Follow me.
• Need directions?
• You think it's hot here?
• Do you have any idea where you're going?
• My way is the highway.

Don’t you wish it was that easy to hear from God? When you get on highways, just look up and read your today’s God’s Billboard message. But, life isn’t quite like that, right? Does it ever feel it is not easy to know what God is saying to you these days?
If you feel that way, I would like to talk to you this morning.

During the time of Judges, people had real difficult time hearing God and knowing God’s will for them. Would you turn your scripture to 1 Samuel 3? ­Verse 1-2 says, “The boy Samuel ministered before the LORD under Eli. In those days the word of the LORD was rare; there were not many visions.” This specifically meant that there was hardly any message from the LORD spoken through prophets. It was a time when the revelation from God about who he was, and what he expected from his people were scarce.

1. You cannot hear God if you don’t take God seriously.

What is the cause for the word, visions of the LORD, being rare during this time? The cause was that God’s people didn’t take God seriously. The principle is that you cannot hear God if you don’t take God seriously.

In chapter 2:12-36 underscore how bad things were. The priest, Eli’s two sons Hophni and Phinehas were described as wicked men who had no regard for the LORD in verse 12. Since they didn’t know the LORD, they didn’t care about God. Since they didn’t care about God, they were wicked that is they were worthless, good for nothing. It is ironic that Eli thought that Hannah was wicked in chapter 1 when in fact she was the godly woman and his sons were the wicked ones.

Leviticus 7:28-36 and Deuteronomy 18:3 said the priests were to have specific portion from
the sacrificial animals given to the LORD. But things were different in Shiloh where Eli and his two sons, Hophni and Phinehas served. Instead of taking the specifically designated portions of meat, Hophni and Phinehas would thrust a fork into the boiling pot and pull up whatever came out stuck on the fork. Leviticus 17:6, says, “burn the fat as an aroma pleasing to the LORD.” Fat of sacrificial animals therefore were to be set aside and be burned for the LORD (Leviticus 7:23-25, 31; 17:6). But, even before the fat was trimmed off to be burned for the LORD, they demanded their meat. When the worshippers made concession to give them whatever they wanted but only allow them first to burn the fat for the LORD. But, the Eli’s sons would not have any of it. They threatened to use force to get what they wanted. This is how they had no regard for the LORD (verse 12) and how they were treating the LORD’s offering with contempt (verse 17).

When all this was going on with these two sons, their father Eli talked to them about this in 2:12-25 but that was the extent of what he did… just talking about it. His sons did not listen to Eli; they continued to work in the temple of the LORD. It was like a coach calling players outside for not playing by the rules of the game, talking to them how they need to abide by the rules, but putting them right back into the games. He took no further measure to restrain them. Because Eli was not going to restrain them from dishonoring God, it says in 2:25, God’s will was to put them to death.

A man of God came to Eli and gave God’s charge against him. 2:29 asks, “Why do you scorn my sacrifice and offering that I prescribed for my dwelling? Why do you honor your sons more than me by fattening yourselves on the choice parts of every offering made by my people Israel?” God said in verse 30, “Those who honor me I will honor, but those who despise me will be disdained.”

Eli’s family was given the privilege honor to minister God forever according to 2:30, but because they didn’t take God seriously, but took him and his promise lightly and disgust, God was no longer going to honor his promise to them. To be disdained is to be cursed. The curse was that his two sons would die on the same day, 2:34; that all his descendants would die in their prime of life, 2:33. The curse was that the honor once bestowed on Eli’s family to minister before the LORD forever would be revoked.

The vision, the word of the LORD was rare during this time because they didn’t take God seriously.

2. If you honor God, if you are serious about God, you hear from him.

But the story of Samuel tells a different story. His story tells us that if we honor God, if we are serious about God, we can hear from him.

Chapter 2:35 says, “I will raise up for myself a faithful priest, who will do according to what is in my heart and mind.” 1 Chronicle 28:9 says, “for the LORD searches every heart and understands every motive behind the thoughts. If you seek him, he will be found by you; but if you forsake him, he will reject you forever.” Having rejected Eli and his sons who rejected him, his good promise to them, God sought after a faithful person who was determine to do things according to what was in God’s heart and mind.

In the backdrop when the word of the LORD was rare and there were not many visions, revelation from the LORD, we see God at moving. It was a dark time. Eli is said to be legally blind. People were spiritually blind and deaf because they were determined to do as they saw fit, instead of being serious for God.

But, God was still moving. In darkness, there was still a flicker of hope. 3:3 says, “The lamp of God had not yet gone out,” meaning that God was not done with the Israelites. Know this. Our God is God who moves to awaken the souls to himself, to his service. He is searching for those who would honor him, who would take God seriously.

Samuel was that person God was looking for. While it was still dark outside and there was that flicker of a lamp light in the temple of the LORD, Samuel heard someone calling. He answered “Here I am,” and he “ran” to Eli and said to him, “Here I am; you called me.”

He ran perhaps thinking legally blind Eli needed some help! But, it wasn’t Eli who called him. Eli told Samuel, “I did not call; go back and life down.” This happened again. This time Samuel didn’t run, but went to him perhaps unsure what was going on. Eli again sent Samuel back.
Verse 7 explains what was going on. It says, “Now Samuel did not yet know the LORD.” It doesn’t mean that Samuel didn’t have relationship with God. Hannah, his mother wanted him to honor God for the rest of his life. Samuel was young and his heart was in the right place. It just that Samuel had not learned to recognize God’s voice yet.

When God called the third time, Eli who was spiritually insensitive finally got it that God was calling Samuel. Eli gave Samuel a helpful tip in what he should do when he was called again, to say, “Speak, LORD, for your servant is listening.” Samuel responded to God who showed up and called him as Eli instructed him to say.

There are two things that I want you note in Samuel’s response to God’s call him. To refer to himself as God’s servant revealed he honored God as God; it also shows his willingness to listen. Samuel humbly desired to hear from God and listen to him. He was seriously about God. And, God spoke to him.

3. When God speaks, you need to act on it.

The next thing we see in Samuel is that when God spoke to him, he acted upon it.
God told Samuel in verse 11-14, "See, I am about to do something in Israel that will make the ears of everyone who hears of it tingle. At that time I will carry out against Eli everything I spoke against his family--from beginning to end. For I told him that I would judge his family forever because of the sin he knew about; his sons made themselves contemptible, and he failed to restrain them. ¹⁴ Therefore, I swore to the house of Eli, `The guilt of Eli's house will never be atoned for by sacrifice or offering.'”

Verse 15 says Samuel was afraid to tell Eli the vision. You can imagine this little boy who respected and looked up to the priest Eli, not knowing what to do with what he heard from the LORD. Eli was like a father to Samuel. It is not too difficult to see why he was afraid to tell Eli what he heard from God.

When Eli confronted Samuel about what the LORD said to him and “Samuel told him everything, hiding nothing from him,” verse 18. As hard as it was for Samuel to reveal what God had spoken to him to Eli, he did it without withholding any truth from God. And, verse 19 says, God “let none of his words fall to the ground,” meaning that whatever God revealed to Samuel came to be true.

God’s further word was possible because Samuel acted on God’s word. This was God’s priest in making. His childhood experience of hearing God for himself and listening to him and carrying out God’s word was Samuel’s initiation into the lifetime of service to God. When God speaks, we need to act on his word.

Applications

• Do you want to listen to God?

When I mentioned about the billboards in the beginning, I asked you, “Don’t you wish it was that easy to hear from God?” Hearing the voice of God seems difficult. But, this is not because God doesn’t speak to us today. You shouldn’t expect God to show up routinely in the middle of the night, call you and reveal to you his plan like he did with Samuel. To hear God’s voice audibly is rare thing. I personally have not heard God speak to me audibly for the last 35 years.
The way God choose to speak to us today is through his Word and to our hearts. And, because we have the word of God, the Bible, so readily accessible, it is wrong to say that the word of God is rare, or God doesn’t speak to us any more.

The problem is not the accessibility to God’s word or he doesn’t speak. God’s word is abundant. God speaks to us today! Through his word, he speaks to us about his character, his will, his desire, his purpose for each of us, for our church, for our lives, for our families, for our careers, for our school works.

The problem is not that God doesn’t speak to you. The problem is that you don’t want to listen God; if you don’t want to listen God, it means you don’t want to know God. If you don’t want to know God, you don’t want to do things as God sees fit, but you do things you see fit. You don’t honor God.

God has a way of making things very clear to us. He shows you two pictures

• a picture of Samuel who eagerly desired to hear God, who heard God call him, and was used mightily for God’s purpose
• a picture of Eli’s two sons who didn’t want to hear from God, did things as they saw fit and met God’s curse, and forfeited the privilege to serve God. They were wicked, worthless, good for nothing

Everyday, you must declare your intention before God. Are you going to listen to God as Samuel did or are you going to disregard God like Hophin and Phinehas did?

• Have an expectant heart!

When you declare you intention to listen to God and open the Bible to read God’s word, have an expectant heart that God is going to speak to you.

• You need to act on God’s word.

What you do with the word of God declares your intention to become like Samuel or Eli’s family. Here is the second application point I want you to consider. You need to choose to honor God over your fears and feelings. Again God shows two clear pictures.

• a picture of Samuel, declaring God’s word over his fear of talking to Eli and becoming God’s prophet
• a picture of Eli, not restraining his sons in sinning against God and thereby forfeiting God’s promise