Week 13 1 Samuel 3
The writer begins by saying that Samuel is a young apprentice in the tabernacle. Then he adds: in those days messages from the Lord were very rare, and visions were quite uncommon.
I’m reluctant to make anything more of it than that – when Samuel was young messages from the Lord were rare.
I draw a vertical line on a page and title it ‘Message Frequency’.
At the bottom of the line I write ‘Rare’ and at the top ‘Often’.
Beside ‘Rare’ I add extra words – infrequent uncommon seldom once-in-a-blue-moon. Direct and immediate contact wasn’t happening. Israel was in the communication doldrums.
At the top beside ‘Often’ I add frequent regular recurring common repeatedly often-enough. Communication initiatives are happening.
I wonder why the writer made this point about message frequency. I figure that for one thing he was saying that Samuel’s nighttime experience when he heard the Lord was an exception to the rule. And maybe too that this was the beginning of an uptick in message frequency. (That’s a pretty safe bet. I’ve read the story of Samuel before and know that he develops into a regular conduit of messages from the Lord.)
And I also wonder whether message frequency is a longer-term & recurring & cyclical thing. A repeatable pattern over periods of time. Stages when the Lord’s voice is rare. Then times when it’s regular. Back-forth. On-off. Open-shut. I wonder what regulates the interval. Wonder if and how it’s regulable.
Note: quote from 1 Samuel 3:1 (NLT)