Samuel, who from childhood had been trained in the temple and was hailed as a prophet at an early age, was not yet in his teens when the Lord revealed to him the approaching doom of the sons of Eli the priest, Hophni and Phinehas, whose activities had demeaned the sacred office of priesthood (see I Sam. 3:13).
Israel had unwisely become involved in battle with the Philistines, and in the opening skirmish four thousand of the Hebrew warriors were slain. Stunned by this unforeseen reverse, the elders of Israel, evidently with the connivance of Eli's sons, brought the sacred "ark of the covenant" into their camp, confident that this rash act would assure them of victory. Actually it spurred the Philistines to stronger efforts against them. The Israelites were routed, Hophni and Phinehas were slain, and the ark itself was captured (see I Sam. 4:1–11).
It is not until some twenty years later that we again hear directly of Samuel and his activities. It is natural, however, to assume that during these years Samuel was continuing to prepare himself for his great mission and that his fame and influence gradually increased until he became convinced that the time had come for him to raise the standard of reformation. So he who in his younger days had been hailed as a prophet, now appears as a reformer.
