Week 9 1 Samuel 2-3
Samuel’s folks took him to live with a priest when he still a young boy. It was an exception to normal family practice and the arrangement likely raised-eyebrows. But it was the start of a religious life:
The boy Samuel ministered to the Lord before Eli the priest
He slept where the ark of God was
He opened the doors of the building in the morning.
Simple tasks. Learning-the-ropes. A religious apprentice.
And 0ver time the boy matured and developed:
Samuel grew and the Lord was with him and let none of his words fail
Eventually his reputation spread so that all Israel…knew that Samuel was confirmed as a prophet of the Lord.
I don’t know which bible person has the longest & most complete biography but Samuel would rank pretty high on the list. There’s a fair bit of detail – even the prenatal events (he’s a bit like Samson in that way).
Anyway what I notice is that a) he started small and b) he started young (at the end of his career he could tell Israel that I have walked before you from my youth).
From other life stories in the bible it’s pretty clear that starting young and small isn’t necessary. But in Samuel’s case it seemed like a great fit. And the consequence was an (almost) ideal life.
Note: quotes from 1 Samuel 2:11 3:3 15 19 20 & 12:2 (NASB)