We can learn many valuable lessons from the books of history in the Old Testament. In the New Testament we cannot find such fine, detailed lessons concerning the enjoyment of Christ for the fulfilling of God's economy. Samuel's relationship to the stale and waning Aaronic priesthood has some lessons for us today.
Samuel grew up under the custody of the old Eli, the last priest of the waning Aaronic priesthood (1:25). This was God's wisdom. Because God intended to replace the waning priesthood with Samuel, it was necessary for him to learn certain lessons while he was under Eli's custody. Samuel could realize that Eli had become a failure in the degraded priesthood. Samuel had the capacity to understand and apprehend what he saw in Eli's situation, and this became a constant warning to Samuel for the future.
Samuel learned of Eli to minister to Jehovah as a priest (2:11b).