1 Samuel 4-8: Rare and Precious Words

1 Samuel 4:15
Amplified Bible (AMP)

“Now Eli was 98 years old; his eyes were dim so that he could not see.”


I believe the physical mirrors the spiritual. Eli’s poor eyesight symbolizes the spiritual condition (spiritual sight) of that time as noted in 1 Samuel 3:1.


1 Samuel 3:1
Amplified Bible (AMP)

“NOW THE boy Samuel ministered to the Lord before Eli. The word of the Lord was rare and precious in those days; there was no frequent or widely spread vision.”


A question I ask myself is, “Why would the word of the Lord be scarce?”


Some thoughts that come to mind are the ignoring of blatant sin issues may have cause spiritual ears and eyes to become dim. We are told in 1 Samuel 2:22-25 what was occurring with the spiritual leadership in Israel.


1 Samuel 2:22-25
Amplified Bible (AMP)

“Now Eli was very old, and he heard all that his sons did to all Israel and how they lay with the women who served at the door of the Tent of Meeting.

And he said to them, Why do you do such things? For I hear of your evil dealings from all the people.

No, my sons; it is no good report which I hear the Lord’s people spreading abroad.

If one man wrongs another, God will mediate for him; but if a man wrongs the Lord, who shall intercede for him? Yet they did not listen to their father, for it was the Lord’s will to slay them.”


Active, unrepentant sin has a way of hardening and closing off a once tender heart. A heart in this condition has difficulty hearing and responding to the stirrings of His Spirit. This heart often does not desire to know what God thinks, because it’s only interested in doing what it wants, in its own way.

I believe God speaks all the time in many different and varying ways, if we will just listen and ask to hear and see with a tenderized (repentant) heart.

Back in Joshua 24:25-27, we read how a stone could be a witness. Again, in 1 Samuel 6:18, a stone is referred to as “a witness,” and this time as a witness of God’s superiority over the false gods of the Philistines. See 1 Samuel 5-6.

I wonder how many inorganic substances have been a witness to situations in our own lives and what we did and said in response to them. Not accounting for the fact that God witnesses every word we have uttered and also every thought left unuttered. Ultimately, who we are in the core of our being, is known by God.

Lord, allow no thing block off my spiritual sight and hearing. Let everything I contact, whether inorganic or living and breathing be a witness to Your glory through me. In Jesus’ name. AMEN!!!