Being Moved to Care: 1 Samuel 3:1-3
God calls us to be different. If we are His people, then we are called to show God to the world. Yet, if we act no differently than how the world expects people to act, how will the world see Him?
Samuel slept apart from Eli. Eli slept in the quarters for the head priest; Samuel slept near the Ark of the Covenant. Since the Bible says he slept near the Ark, it is possible he slept in the Holy of Holies. It is also possible that the verse indicates Samuel slept generically in the tabernacle and Eli slept in a separate building.
It is possible to consider this description as a statement about Samuel’s faith verses Eli’s faith. After all, Eli was the high priest, yet Samuel was the one sleeping nearest to the Ark of the Covenant. This imagery directly compares the strength of Samuel’s faith to Eli’s, right?
Arguments like the one above are dangerous. There is a claim about Eli’s faith being made, but I personally don’t think the claim above is the one being made. Eli is an old man. It would be difficult for him to sleep on the floor. Furthermore, there was a building allotted for the high priest to live, and the high priests before him surely lived there. Eli was just following the prescribed pattern. There’s nothing wrong with the high priest sleeping in the building built for the high priest to dwell in.
Another reason the argument above is dangerous is because it makes the case that spirituality is equivalent to proximity. For example, some people genuinely believe the closer they are to a church, the closer they are to God. Or they believe the more front they sit in the congregation the closer they are to God. I’m not saying it is wrong to sit near the front of the church. If that feels natural for you, then sit there! But the person sitting in front of the church is not automatically closer to God than the person standing in the back row. Proximity does not equal spirituality.
What is the claim being made in these opening verses? Once more, we see how Eli could not be brought to care. Eli had his life and his routine. He didn’t ask for Samuel to be given to him, so why would he devote time and resources to making a place for him? Samuel was still young, and young people can sleep pretty much anywhere and still get decent sleep. The fact that Samuel slept in the tabernacle – probably on a mattress on the floor - says more about Eli’s heart than it does Samuel’s heart. It helps explain why the Lord wasn’t heard often in Eli’s day.
Caring for people takes time and energy. It takes effort. It isn’t always rewarded positively, either. It is far easier to go through life and not feel called to care about someone else. That’s why God calls us to be different.
