Sometimes, Only Hearing Is Believing

It is when looking closely, beyond the obvious, that we 'see'.

Figures of speech are sometimes considered to be 'literal', and I'd like to share an insight.

Let us read about 'how' the Lord called Samuel.

Samuel was quite a special and unique person.

Samuel's mother, Hannah, was married but barren and had prayed that God grant her a child, and in return she would dedicate the child to the Lord's service.

God answered her prayer and she became pregnant.

When Samuel was weened, his mother handed him over to the priest Eli's care at Shiloh:

The boy Samuel ministered before the Lord under Eli. In those days the Word of the Lord was rare; there were not many visions. 

One night Eli, whose eyes were becoming so weak that he could barely see, was lying down in his usual place. The lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the house of the Lord, where the ark of God was. Then the Lord called Samuel. 

Samuel answered, “Here I am.” And he ran to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.” 

But Eli said, “I did not call; go back and lie down.” So he went and lay down. 

Again the Lord called, “Samuel!” And Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.” 

“My son,” Eli said, “I did not call; go back and lie down.” 

Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord: The Word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him. 

A third time the Lord called, “Samuel!” And Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, 

“Here I am; you called me.” 

Then Eli realized that the Lord was calling the boy. So Eli told Samuel, “Go and lie down, and if He calls you, say, ‘Speak, Lord, for Your servant is listening.’ ” So Samuel went and lay down in his place. 

The Lord came and stood there, calling as at the other times, “Samuel! Samuel!” 

Then Samuel said, “Speak, for Your servant is listening.” 

And the Lord said to Samuel: “See, I am about to do something in Israel that will make the ears of everyone who hears about 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 blasphemed God, and he failed to restrain them. Therefore I swore to the house of Eli, ‘The guilt of Eli’s house will never be atoned for by sacrifice or offering.’ ” 

Samuel lay down until morning and then opened the doors of the house of the Lord. He was afraid to tell Eli the vision, but Eli called him and said, “Samuel, my son.” 

Samuel answered, “Here I am.” 

“What was it He said to you?” Eli asked. “Do not hide it from me. May God deal with you, be it ever so severely, if you hide from me anything He told you.” So Samuel told him everything, hiding nothing from him. Then Eli said, “He is the Lord; let Him do what is good in His eyes.” 

The Lord was with Samuel as he grew up, and He let none of Samuel’s words fall to the ground. And all Israel from Dan to Beersheba recognized that Samuel was attested as a prophet of the Lord. The Lord continued to appear at Shiloh, and there He revealed Himself to Samuel through His Word. 

- 1 Samuel 3

Let us explore certain details and manners of expression.

There is mention of 'vision' and 'appearing', however there is no description of Samuel or someone else 'seeing' something.

Notice how the first verse mentions the Word of God being rare and also the mention of 'visions'.

Let us consider figures of speech in describing things of the Spirit when reading the description 'visions' and the 'Word of God'.

We read from Isaiah and Ezekiel (and others) how God manifested Himself to these prophets while they were awake, and what they 'saw' is described in detail.

They also describe what they 'heard' as well as what they 'saw'.

Vision is literally expressed in their accounts.

These two prophets literally saw and they heard God speak while awake.

With Daniel (and others), we read how he had 'visions' of God while he slept, described in detail.

With Daniel we read about the messages he heard alongside the visions.

Daniel literally saw and heard God speak, among other things, in his dreams.

In Samuel 3, we don't read physical descriptions of God, or specifically from 'whom' nor 'where' the Voice / Word of God was speaking to Samuel.

Absence of a physical description does not mean nothing was 'seen'.

However, nothing is expressed as eluding to something being witnessed or seen.

What is clearly expressed at the end of this chapter is: the Lord continued to appear at Shiloh, and there He revealed Himself to Samuel through His Word.

We can read the figure of speech in describing how God continued to 'appear' and 'reveal' Himself to Samuel: through His Word.

We read that Samuel was 'hearing' a Voice.

According to the account, the Voice seemed to either be coming from where Samuel was laying down, or it sounded to Samuel that Eli was calling him.

Eli had a 'usual place' that he would lay down, with Samuel mentioned laying elsewhere.

Eli and Samuel were likely not the only two residing in the place of worship at Shiloh.

There were other priests present or residing there / nearby who performed various duties, and at least two are mentioned in this chapter and in the previous chapter (the sons of Eli).

Considering these details, why would Samuel think it was Eli that was calling him those three times?

We can consider that the sound of the Voice was at least coming from where Eli was laying down, and likely not from another place or near someone else.

The account describes Samuel going to Samuel.

We read that Samuel most likely perceived Eli was calling him.

Is it possible Samuel was 'hearing' Eli's voice, yet it was the Lord speaking through Eli?

We find the Spirit of God speaks through people throughout the Bible, both Old and New Testaments, in a variety of ways.

We read this phenomenon with king Saul and even his military men when approaching Samuel (1 Samuel 19: 18-24).

Although Saul had already been clearly rejected by God, somehow the Spirit of God came upon Saul and spoke through him.

The condition in which Saul prophesied (without clothes on) shows how Saul was likely not in his full capacity.

It can be deduced that when the Lord desires to speak through someone, that person is not able to resist nor is even made aware of what is happening to / through them.

This brings us to my posit: it was likely through Eli that the Lord spoke to Samuel that first time.

In the following passage from 2 Chronicles, we can deduce at least two manners a message from God was narrated.

The first example being a second-hand account, where the Lord is 'quoted'.

The second example is a first-hand account, similar to what occurred to Saul and his military men.

Let us look at these two manners mentioned here:

Then the prophet Shemaiah came to Rehoboam and to the leaders of Judah who had assembled in Jerusalem for fear of Shishak, and he said to them, “This is what the Lord says, ‘You have abandoned Me; therefore, I now abandon you to Shishak.’ ” 

The leaders of Israel and the king humbled themselves and said, “The Lord is just.” 

When the Lord saw that they humbled themselves, this Word of the Lord came to Shemaiah: “Since they have humbled themselves, I will not destroy them but will soon give them deliverance. My wrath will not be poured out on Jerusalem through Shishak. They will, however, become subject to him, so that they may learn the difference between serving Me and serving the kings of other lands.” 

- 2 Chronicles 12: 5-8

Notice in the first part that Shemaiah arrives and quotes the message, likely already 'known' to Shemaiah...and begins with “This is what the Lord says...”.

This second-hand example is similar to how an ambassador carries a detailed message narrated to them, recalling word-for-word the message.

Now notice in the second part the response from God to the humility of the leaders and king.

There is no 'quoting' of the Lord as before, but rather what seems like a direct and immediate response spoken through the lips of Shemaiah.

This may be an immediate prophetic message occurring the moment the Spirit of the Lord comes upon someone.

Several possibilities may be considered in relation to the 'timing' within the narrative.

One possibility is the immediate response from God as mentioned.

A second possibility my be Shemaiah having stepped away and 'heard' the message in a particular way, then later approached the men with the message.

However, we don't read the second-hand quoting as in the first part...which is one common theme found throughout the Bible.

The notion that men are enabled in real-time by the Holy Spirit to speak things they are not privy to, is exemplified by this comforting teaching many centuries after Samuel's account:

“When you are brought before synagogues, rulers and authorities, do not worry about how you will defend yourselves or what you will say, for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what you should say.” 

- Luke 12: 11-12

This shows how at that time the follower of Christ will be 'taught' what to say.

Will it be a teaching that would first need to be 'heard', possibly 'learned', and then recalled and quoted to the hearers?

The answer to that is made very clear when the Apostles of Christ were baptized by the Holy Spirit:

All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.

- Acts 2: 4

Consider how a person who can only speak their native language (a single language) would be enabled to instantaneously speak a foreign language.

Not just a few words like many people may now, as asking for the restroom when visiting a foreign land or for a place to eat or hotel.

The enabling to fluently and succinctly speak a language unknown to the speaker.

Or consider the enabling of the foreign listener 'hearing' their own language coming from a person who does not know that foreign language.

Either way, this is how the Word of God that was revealed from Above has been proclaimed throughout the world.

It is by such miraculous power the testimony of God is furthered throughout the world still Today.

In this specific scenario in Acts 2, notice the Apostles primarily spoke the Galilean dialect of Hebrew, and some of them possibly knew portions of either Greek, Roman and/or Aramaic (the other present languages in Judea).

Yet a variety of languages were either spoken or heard that miraculous day of Pentecost:

Then how is it that each of us hears them in our native language? Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs—we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!” Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, “What does this mean?” 

- Acts 2: 9-12

At least 15 different languages are mentioned, 16 if including the language from Judea which was possibly a slight variant dialect from Galilean.

As to whether or not the men were speaking Galilean and it was actually the hearer's language that was heard by the hearers, or if various languages were being spoken from the mouths of the Galileans that were actually heard by the hearers...may be the subject of another article.