YHWH's Word To Samuel Concerning The House Of Eli (1 Samuel 3:11-14).
It is probable that Samuel had no notion of what the man of God had said to Eli. It was not the kind of thing that Eli would have shared with a boy. Thus what YHWH said to him must have come as a complete surprise.
‘ And YHWH said to Samuel, “Behold, I will do a thing in Israel, at which both the ears of every one who hears it will tingle.”
YHWH informs Samuel of the seriousness of what He is about to tell him. For He is about to do something that will stir the whole of Israel and make their ears tingle because of the seriousness of it. The news of the exclusion from the High Priesthood of the ‘reigning' line would come as a huge shock to Samuel. It was almost unthinkable. High Priests were for ever. And it also portended terrible events to bring it about, something truly earthshaking.
“At which both the ears of every one who hears it will tingle.” This phrase always portends judgment. Compare the use of it in 2 Kings 21:12; Jeremiah 19:3. Indeed Jeremiah would later liken the destruction of the Jerusalem to the destruction of Shiloh (Jeremiah 7:12-14; Jeremiah 26:6).
“In that day I will perform against Eli all that I have spoken concerning his house, from the beginning even to the end. For I have told him that I will judge his house for ever, for the iniquity which he knew, because his sons brought a curse on themselves, and he did not restrain them.”
Notice the regular prophetic phrase ‘in that day”, which always signals something God will assuredly do in the future, usually in the form of judgment (but be it noted not necessarily always in the end days). And ‘in that day' YHWH tells him, He will perform against Eli all that He had spoken concerning his house from beginning to end. Then He explains to him that He has informed Eli that His permanent judgment has been passed on Eli's house for ever because of the iniquity that he knew about and did nothing to prevent. That is, the iniquity of his two sons and their sacrilegious behaviour.
Samuel was, of course, well aware of the behaviour of Eli's sons, and had probably anticipated that at some time YHWH would act on the matter. But he had probably not dreamed that it would affect his beloved Eli. He was as yet too young to recognise that to fail to put restraint on open sin when it was within a person's authority, was to be guilty of participation in that sin.
“ And therefore I have sworn to the house of Eli, that the iniquity of Eli's house shall not be expiated with sacrifice nor offering for ever.”
And therefore, YHWH explains, He has sworn to the house of Eli that no sacrifice or offering would be able to expiate their sin for ever. Thus Samuel learns, possibly for the first time, that sacrifices and offerings do not inevitably expiate sin. Obedience also is necessary.
The news must have come to him in a way that chilled his bones. He was learning from the commencement that being a prophet of YHWH was never going to be an easy thing. For he was learning that as a prophet he would be called on to bear the ‘burden' of others, and to communicate unpleasant news.