Chapter 3

⁴ that the Lord called Samuel. And he answered, “Here I am!” ⁵ So he ran to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” And he said, “I did not call; lie down again.” And he went and lay down. 
⁶ Then the Lord called yet again, “Samuel!” So Samuel arose and went to Eli, and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” He answered, “I did not call, my son; lie down again.” (1 Samuel 3:4-6)

It’s very interesting to note that the Lord called out to Samuel, but he heard the voice of Eli. There is a deep spiritual truth here. This is because Samuel was submitting to Eli. You will often hear the voice of God in the voice of the man or woman of God to whom you submit. 

(Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, nor was the word of the Lord yet revealed to him.) (1 Samuel 3:7)

One of the reasons for not recognizing the voice of the LORD is that Samuel did not yet know the LORD intimately. It's both ways; when you hear the voice of the LORD, you begin to know Him intimately. Today, we are better off than Prophet Samuel because we have His Word, which is His voice. The prophet Samuel did not have that.

For I have told him that I will judge his house forever for the iniquity which he knows, because his sons made themselves vile, and he did not restrain them (1 Samuel 3:13)

Eli had two wicked sons named Hophni and Phineas, who also served in the tabernacle but did not know the Lord (1 Samuel 2:12). They violated the Law by keeping and eating meat from the sacrifices that were not allocated to them. They also had sexual relations with the women who served at the entrance to the tent of meeting (1 Samuel 2:22). Evidently, the evil behaviour of Eli's sons was widely known (1 Samuel 2:24), and Eli received word of it. When he discovered this, he reprimanded his sons but failed to stop them, enabling them to continue defiling the tabernacle (1 Samuel 2:25).

Eli, as both a parent and a priest, was responsible for restraining his sons. Eli's heart was likely more with his sons than with the Lord.

Then Samuel told him everything and hid nothing from him. And he said, “It is the Lord. Let Him do what seems good to Him.” (1 Samuel 3:18)

Eli displayed a very casual attitude to the serious message that he received from the Lord. He should have fallen on his face and trembled at the word of the Lord. 

There are people like Eli who want to hear what God is saying, but when they hear it, they do not take any action on it.