Few Bible stories fill us with as much envy as the story of Samuel's calling. After all here is a call that is both unmistakably clear and remarkably consistent. With patient urgency God's voice repeats until Samuel at last understands and responds. When Samuel repeats the message God has given him, all those around him seem to accept unquestioningly the truth of his words and his new role as prophet (see verse 20).

Yet a closer look at this text reveals that even a straight-forward calling such as Samuel's involved ambiguous moments and required difficult choices. Through the story of Samuel's birth we know that his mother Hannah had dedicated him to the temple as a toddler. We also are told in verse 1 that "the word of the Lord was rare in those days." Thus Samuel's long apprenticeship …