“But Samuel ministered before the Lord, even as a child, wearing a linen ephod. Moreover his mother used to make him a little robe, and bring it to him year by year when she came up with her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice. And Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife, and say, “The Lord give you descendants from this woman for the loan that was given to the Lord.” Then they would go to their own home. And the Lord visited Hannah, so that she conceived and bore three sons and two daughters. Meanwhile the child Samuel grew before the Lord.”
– 1 Samuel 2:18-21
Light shining forth brightly in the midst of darkness is a glorious theme on display throughout the Scriptures. Wholehearted obedience to God in the heart and life of a sinner is like a beautiful beacon, blessed and sustained by God, in the midst of corruption surrounding it. The godly rising up, even growing up for His glory, to bring about reform and restoration in the midst of the corruption of sin. This is a striking contrast that we find time and again, especially here between the righteous son of Elkanah and the wicked sons of the high priest, Eli, in 1 Sam. 2.
Eli was a godly man, a godly servant of the Lord. However, though his sons, Hophni and Phineas, were to lead the people in Shiloh in the correct worship of God, they profaned the sacrifices, taking from them the fat and other portions that were to be burned up to the Lord. Verse 17 of this chapter teaches us that their sin was very great, as they abhorred the offering of the Lord. It’s true that Eli tried to get his sons to stop corrupting Israel’s worship. However, his efforts fell flat as he only verbally chastised them and didn’t remove them from the priesthood. Therefore, Samuel’s growth in ministry, from a young age, would shine all the more brightly, as God would raise him up to learn from, and later replace, Eli.
Now, considering a man would have to be at least 25 years old to serve as a priest, what does it mean that Samuel “ministered before the Lord, even as a child, wearing a linen ephod”? Samuel was growing in his learning the ministry at his age and capacity. He was under the study of Eli, who taught Samuel his catechism. Samuel learned to how to read and was faithful in his devotions. He took pleasure in being a good student of the law. Further, he assisted Eli with ministry duties that were appropriate for him to do. By God’s grace, Samuel was growing in becoming a man, as he more and more put away childish things (1 Cor. 13:11). After some time of faithful service, Eli appointed that he should minister with a linen ephod as the priests did (though he was no priest), because he saw that God was with him. Hannah would make him a new“little robe” each year when they would see him on their trip to sacrifice on the Day of Atonement. As Elkanah and Hannah’s family grew in number, the Lord grew Samuel in stature and service.
Beloved, consider a couple of things today:
- Samuel, Hophni, and Phineas had godly parents. However, let Eli’s failure to not only chastise his sons, but also to remove them from office because of their sin be a lesson to you as parents. Godly parenting often involves verbal correction coupled with further discipline to rightly address and deal with sin in the heart and lives of your children. Pray for God’s grace to correct wayward behavior in them. Don’t wait too long, like Eli did. Verbal correction of your children may often not be enough. The rod of discipline needs to be coupled with it. (Prov. 13:24, Prov. 29:15)
- Let Eli’s failure also be a lesson to the church. For the church does well to deal rightly with great sin in ministers and officers who serve her. To preserve the honor and witness of Christ and the purity of the church and it’s special offices, good and right discipline may require the officer to be deposed, or divested from, office (OPC FG XXVI).
- What are your desires and gifting in serving the Lord? Are there things that you would like to grow in, or be mentored in? I encourage those of you who are parents to be daily mindful and active in raising and training your children to serve the Lord from their youngest years. Pray with and for them. Have intentional conversation with them about serving God. Show them, teach them, guide them, and mold them. If you need help, get it. If the Lord gives your young men interest in serving in ministry, even pastoral ministry, praise Him and encourage them in that, like Samuel was. Get them connected with me so I can engage in mentoring them and show them step-by-step the foundations of ministry, what it looks like, and how it’s done. If they have other service interests, get them connected with our elders and deacon, as well as others who have godly wisdom and experience so they can engage and mentor in their areas of service as well.
As I preached from Matt. 9 this past Lord’s Day, fields are ripe, the harvest is ready, and more laborers are needed to bring it in. It’s also true that the church is always ripe for reform. Who is God raising up to bring in and minister to His lambs? Who is God raising up to be a beacon to call the church to return and tocontinue in the pure and true doctrine, biblical worship, to remain on the pure and righteous path, in accordance with His Word? Think about this more today: in what ways is God using your children, or will use them in His service? Such ways may already be evident and budding. Others are yet to be made clear. Train them early and train them well for His glory.