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STUDENT LEADER GUIDE

The boy Samuel served the Lord in Eli’s presence. In those days the word of the Lord was rare and prophetic visions were not widespread. 2One day Eli, whose eyesight was failing, was lying in his room. 3Before the lamp of God had gone out, Samuel was lying down in the tabernacle of the Lord, where the ark of God was located. 4Then the Lord called Samuel, and he answered, “Here I am.” 5He ran to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.” “I didn’t call,” Eli replied. “Go back and lie down.” So he went and lay down. 6Once again the Lord called, “Samuel!” Samuel got up, went to Eli, and said, “Here I am; you called me.” “I didn’t call, my son,” he replied. “Go back and lie down.” 7Now Samuel had not yet experienced the Lord, because the word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him. 8Once again, for the third time, the Lord called Samuel. He got up, went to Eli, and said, “Here I am; you called me.” Then Eli understood that the Lord was calling the boy. 9He told Samuel, “Go and lie down. If He calls you, say, ‘Speak, Lord, for Your servant is listening.’” So Samuel went and lay down in his place. 10The Lord came, stood there, and called as before, “Samuel, Samuel!” Samuel responded, “Speak, for Your servant is listening.”

11The Lord said to Samuel, “I am about to do something in Israel that everyone who hears about it will shudder. 12On that day I will carry out against Eli everything I said about his family, from beginning to end. 13I told him that I am going to judge his family forever because of the iniquity he knows about: his sons are defiling the sanctuary, and he has not stopped them. 14Therefore, I have sworn to Eli’s family: The iniquity of Eli’s family will never be wiped out by either sacrifice or offering.” 15Samuel lay down until the morning; then he opened the doors of the Lord’s house. He was afraid to tell Eli the vision, 16but Eli called him and said, “Samuel, my son.” “Here I am,” answered Samuel. 17“What was the message He gave you?” Eli asked. “Don’t hide it from me. May God punish you and do so severely if you hide anything from me that He told you.”18So Samuel told him everything and did not hide anything from him. Eli responded, “He is the Lord. He will do what He thinks is good.” 19Samuel grew, and the Lord was with him, and He fulfilled everything Samuel prophesied. 20All Israel from Dan to Beer-sheba knew that Samuel was a confirmed prophet of the Lord. 21The Lord continued to appear in Shiloh, because there He revealed Himself to Samuel by His word.

HHIGHLIGHT: 1 Samuel 3

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STUDENT LEADER GUIDE

EXPLAIN

Leaders: Feel free to use any of the “Explain” materials to guide discussion as it is needed or to expound on a certain area of the text as it comes up during your Life Group time, but the purpose of this section is to deepen your own personal understanding of the Word.

The time of Judges is over, having ended with the 20-year reign of Samson. At the end of the book of Judges, the author writes, “In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did whatever he wanted.” This is the mentality going into the book of Samuel. The priesthood has been corrupted and wicked, so God is going to call Samuel to represent the Word to Israel.

v.2: Eyesight is used here, as it has before, in both a physical and spiritual sense. Eli has not been disobedient like his sons, but he failed to put an end to their corrupt Temple practices. Samuel, in contrast, saw clearly (v.15) and would effectively communicate God’s Word.

v.4: The Septuagint, which is a Greek translation of the Old Testament from as early as the 3rd century BC, records this as, “The Lord called, ‘Samuel, Samuel,’” as we see in verse 10. This repetition of the name indicates urgency, and we see it with Abraham (Gen. 22:11), Jacob (Gen. 46:2), Moses (Ex. 4:13), and Saul (Ac. 9:4), just to name a few examples. We see this urgency because of the immediacy with which Samuel responded (to what he thought was Eli’s voice) in the middle of the night. He demonstrates the immediacy with which we should respond to God’s voice.

v.17-18: The structure of Eli’s oath and Samuel’s response demonstrates both severity and complete obedience. This is done through the structure of both Eli’s oath and Samuel’s report. This structure is called “chiastic,” where two ideas echo one another.

Eli’s oath: A “The message He gave you”

B “Don’t hide it from me” C “May god punish you” if B’ “You hide anything” A’ “That He told you.”

Samuel’s response was to tell every part of the message and not hide anything.

The same chiastic structure echoes the arc of the chapter as a whole, which

makes the Word of the Lord and Samuel’s obedience the focal point of the entire section.

A No divine oracles (3:1) B Eli’s fading power (3:2) C Three divine calls to Samuel (3:3-9) D A divine oracle to Samuel (3:10-15) C’ Eli’s request for Samuel’s report (3:16-18) B’ Samuel’s growing stature (3:19a) A’ Return of divine oracles (3:19b-4:1a)

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STUDENT LEADER GUIDE

AAPPLY Your Leader Guide will have material that the student guides do not have. The bolded material is what the people in your group will have, the other material is only for you to help guide discussion.

This guide can be as strict a script or as general a resource as the leader needs it to be.

1. Read through 1 Samuel 3. If you’ve heard this account before, did you catch anything new after reading it this time? If it’s your first time reading it, is there anything that jumped out at you?

2. Why didn’t Samuel know that it was the Lord calling to him at first? How are we able to identify the Lord’s voice?

Notice that Samuel didn’t realize it was the Lord because, as verse 7 points out, he hadn’t yet experienced Him. Samuel didn’t know what His voice sounded like. Now, Samuel had lived in the Temple for some time by this point, so he was familiar with who God was and what He had done.

Fortunately for us, we do not live in a time where the Word of the Lord is rare, like in this passage! By knowing what our God sounds like, we will be able to do as John says and “test every spirit” to see if it is from Him (1 John 4:1). The sheep know their shepherd's voice. If you have developed a relationship with the Lord, you will know when it is the Lord speaking to you.

3. What are some ways that God speaks to us today?

God speaks to us in numerous ways still. For example, He speaks through His Word (the Bible), through His sovereignty (He arranges our circumstances), and through godly examples in our lives (like Eli in the life of Samuel).

4. What was special about the way that Samuel responded to the Lord when he recognized who it was? What is a practical way in which you can respond to the Lord like that today?

His response was important: “Speak, for Your servant is listening.” This response did not give God permission to speak, rather it signaled the state of Samuel’s heart. Samuel was quieted, undistracted, and focused on absorbing what God would say, and then ready to act on that Word. We know that he was ready to act on what God said because the word “Listen” is just like the word “Listen” that we saw in Deuteronomy 6:4 a few weeks ago—it implies a response to the words you hear.

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STUDENT LEADER GUIDE

RRESPOND

Based on the dynamic of your group and how discussion has progressed, challenge your group to respond. A response could look like this:

• What steps are you taking to listen for God’s voice in your life?

Encourage one another through email or text messages throughout the week to build up and encourage each other.

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5. What is one thing that you can change in your life in order to create a better environment for hearing God speak to you?

At the beginning of 1 Samuel 3, it says that the Word of the Lord was rare. We might understand why as we see what the heart of the nation of Israel was like at this time—the priesthood was defiling the Temple of God, the people were not actively seeking His face, and the nation was, as a whole, doing whatever it wanted (see Judges 21:25). Frequently in our lives, we find that this is true—the farther we get from God, the less clearly we can hear Him.

An excellent way to hear God speak, particularly through His Word, is with the HEAR method of journaling through the Bible: Highlight the passage you are focusing on by writing it down. Explain what is going on in the passage by providing a summary. Apply what the passage is saying to you, specifically. Respond to God’s message with a prayer or a specific action you can carry out.