In this passage we see a comparison between Eli the Priest's sons who were wicked and treated the Lord's sacrifices with contempt verses Samuel who grew in stature and in favor with the Lord and with men (2:26). Eli was told by a man of God as well as through Samuel that Eli's sons would die, and the priesthood would be taken from them. We find in chapter 3 the calling of Samuel, and the first time the Lord had revealed Himself to him. Three times the Lord called Samuel by name, and he thought it was Eli, but finally Eli realized it was the Lord, and he told Samuel to say, "Speak, for your servant is listening." All Israel began to realize that Samuel was a prophet of the Lord. The Israelites went to attack the Philistines and they lost, so they decided to take "the ark of the covenant of the Lord Almighty, who is enthroned between the cherubim, but they quickly learned that the Ark was not a good luck charm. They lost, and the Philistines captured the Ark. When Eli heard that both of his sons were dead, but especially that the Ark had been captured, he fell backward, broke his neck, and died. The Lord brought plagues of boils upon the Philistines, plus their statue of Dagon fell twice and broke before the Ark of God, so they sent it to different Philistine cities, but the plague followed the ark, so they decided to send it back to the Israelites. When it reached the land of Joshua, the harvesters used the wood for an altar and they sacrificed the cows as an offering to the Lord. Some of the Jews opened the Ark and disrespected it, and they died. This brought the fear of the Lord upon the people. Samuel told them to get rid of the pagan idols, and turn and serve the Lord. This section ends with Samuel judging over Israel all the days of his life.
