1 Sam 3:1-14
In the opening of 1 Samuel, God is doing a new thing. Until this time the people of Israel were led by judges. Men and Women that could discern God’s will in a specific situation that usually provided deliverance from the enemies. The judges spoke condemnation to the enemies of Israel. Samuel is called the last Judge because Saul becomes King, but Samuel has a new position in Israel. He is a prophet, one who speaks the word or message from God.
The prophet speaks to the people, rebukes the people, comforts the people, and even tells the people the plan of God for now and the future. In our text this week, Samuel is a young person that receives his first message from God. It is a hard message because it is judgment on the house of Eli the High Priest. But the message of God is often a hard message.
God does not ask us to sign-up to be a prophet, and God really doesn’t give us a choice in it. We are all called to the prophetic ministry. The call to justice, the plight of the poor, the abuse of children and the weak are prophetic calls. As well as the message of comfort and hope. The prophet ministry does not mean the we are mean to those we disagree with, but as Samuel, we have to be faithful to the message God gives us.
Isaiah gives us the culmination of the prophetic message (Isaiah 40:1-2):
Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.
Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,
and cry to her
that her warfare is ended,
that her iniquity is pardoned,
that she has received from the Lord’s hand
double for all her sins.
The things that make for peace is the ultimate call of the prophet. Are we instruments of God’s peace. Matthew 5:9; “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.”
Pastor Greg
