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These two prophecies concerning Jerusalem were tragically fulfilled later when the
army of Nebuchanezzar systematically reduced the city to a heap of rubble. When the
Author of the Scriptures spoke through the men that wrote them and used the phrase "that
whosoever heareth it both his ears shall tingle", He is drawing the attention of all who
read these words to the cataclysmic events which left so indelible a mark upon the history
of the nation of Israel. Tragically, the event was repeated once again in 70A.D. when
Titus and his Roman legion razed the Temple and the city of Jerusalem to the ground,
after the Jews at Rome had manifested Israel's final rejection of the King and the
kingdom and the apostle Paul had pronounced upon them the sentence of blindness at
Acts 28: 23-29.
To return to I Sam. 3: 13, the enormity of the sin of Eli and his sons which was to be
punished so fearfully, resulted in their death and the capture of the ark of God by the
Philistines. For a period of 20 years the Glory of Jehovah departed from among His
people. The ceremonial service that should have enabled Israel to see the truth of
atonement and sanctification was no longer possible. The priests and the people
degenerated to the unclean heathen superstitions of the nations around them. This was
the extent of the mischief that must be measured against the punishment meted out to Eli
and his sons.
It is no wonder that Samuel feared to divulge to Eli the terrible message that the Lord
had given him. Here was his first experience of a prophet's responsibility. We are
reminded of the terrible persecutions that Jeremiah endured because of the messages God
gave him to declare to the people of Judah. He was derided and goaded almost to
distraction, so that he cried out "I will not make mention of Him, nor speak any more in
His name. But His word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I
became weary with forbearing, and I could not stay" (Jer. 20: 9).
"And Samuel lay until the morning, and opened the doors of the house of the Lord.
And Samuel feared to show Eli the vision" (I Sam. 3: 15).
The abominable behaviour of Hophni and Phinehas was not hidden, and though he
was only 12 years of age, Samuel must surely have wondered how it was that the great
Jehovah allowed such behaviour to continue. Nevertheless he undoubtedly loved and
revered the old priest who had been a second father to him, and dreaded to show him the
vision. When pressed by Eli, however, not to hide anything from him, Samuel concealed
nothing and in the words of our A.V., "told him every whit".
"Then Eli called Samuel, and said, Samuel my son. And he answered, Here am 1:
And he said, What is the thing that the Lord hath said unto thee? I pray thee hide it not
from me: God do so to thee, and more also, if thou hide anything from me of all the
things that He said unto thee. And Samuel told him every whit, and hid nothing from
him. And he said, It is the Lord: let Him do what seemeth Him good" (3: 16-18).
Eli's reception of the terrible news and his reply indicated that in spite of his weakness
and foolish partiality for his sons, at heart he was a devoted servant of the Lord. He must
have seen, as he looked back, how deeply he had failed in his high office and allowed