A Rare Appearance?

I have been reading about Samuel, the last judge of Israel.


As I have commented in the past, I am taking a deliberately slow walk through the Bible; my hope is that I will better savor every word and try to get as much mileage as possible out of each line. Sometimes that has been the case; other times I still find myself reading through a passage and walking away unscathed by the Sword.


This week I noticed a sharp contrast between the first and last verse of 1 Samuel 3. This is the account of little Samuel's call from God. At the beginning of the chapter, it is said that the "word of the Lord was rare in those days" (italics mine).


In other words it was very unusual for people to hear from God during that time. While the fact is, that the people had distanced themselves from God and His Word - it seemed as if God had left them.


My Granddad's main form of transportation was his two feet. He traveled all over the southern United States "giving religious talks" in churches, schools, court yards, home prayer meetings and sometimes on street corners during the early part of the last century. And while he would go by bus, or train or hitch-hiking - the staple of his transport fare was walking.


When I came along, he was old and on his occasional visits, he and I would go on what he called a "stroll". This walk would often take us into town, possibly by the bank - where he would sometimes walk up to the drive-thru teller, to the post office where he would catch up on his numerous correspondence and then possibly by the park on the way home.


Once we stopped outside the courthouse in Cedartown, Georgia, my Granddad settled on a park bench there to rest a few moments and I played.

Soon he drifted off to sleep, and I remember feeling as if he had left me alone there. So I began deliberately making noises and playing about in a loud manner in hopes that he would wake up - I didn't like him leaving me alone like that.


I suspect the people of God felt a little like I did in that situation: it seemed that God had just drifted off to sleep and left them there.


At the end of the chapter comes the contrast:



Then the LORD appeared again in Shiloh. For the LORD revealed Himself to Samuel in Shiloh by the word of the LORD. 1st Samuel 3:21 NKJV

The Lord "appeared again" . . . He "revealed Himself." What brought about this seeming change in God's attitude?

From reading the contents of the chapter between the first and last verses - it looks like the difference was one young man.

Boy- actually - little Samuel was undistracted enough to hear God's gentle calling to him. Then once he had some direction from the old priest Eli, he was willing to respond properly to God's call. Finally - his response required obedience. God gave him something to do and he did it.

What a huge difference a willing heart can make: listening undistracted, responding properly, and obeying fully.