Eli, Samuel and Saul

One of scripture’s most endearing and loved stories is of the young boy Samuel being woken by the voice of the Lord in the night. So it can come as a shock to realise that in the wider picture, Samuel was part of a context of dysfunction that brought considerable damage to God’s people.

Now, there is no doubt that Samuel was powerfully gifted in the prophetic from a young age. The scriptures tell us that the Lord allowed none of his words to fall to the ground: in other words, Samuel’s prophetic messages were extremely accurate. Everyone knew that it was very wise to listen carefully to anything Samuel said.

The problem was that because Eli never mentored Samuel, Samuel never mentored Saul, and Saul became one of the very worst of Israel’s kings.

Eli was the priest at Shiloh in a time before the monarchy. It was a spiritual low point. Eli did not correct his sons – scripture describes them as scoundrels - and he never instructed Samuel, or taught him about hearing the Lord. In fact Eli was so bad that the Lord removed him from being a priest.

So Samuel grew up ‘fatherless’. Untrained. Unmentored. Untaught.

And later, when the Lord instructed Samuel to anoint Saul as king. He anointed Saul as king and then left him to it.

Saul was a complex character; tall, impressive, but also fearful (they had to search for him because he was hiding in the baggage), capricious, with wild mood swings. Insecure. Violent.

If Eli had been a good father to Samuel, then Samuel would have known that Saul needed a great deal of support, help and counsel. But, apart from the initial encounter in 1 Samuel 9, there is scant evidence that Samuel did anything to help and guide Saul. So their relationship quickly turned sour, to the point where Samuel was frightened of Saul and kept well away from him.

Every apprentice in the kingdom of heaven needs others to help them grow in the kingdom. To encourage us, guide us, pick us up and get us on our feet again when we have made mistakes. We each need spiritual fathers and mothers, especially if we have been given powerful anointings by the Holy Spirit.

Paul wrote to the immature, childish church at Corinth: ‘Even if you had ten thousand guardians in Christ, you do not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel.’ 1 Corinthians 4:15.