1 Samuel 1 – Samuel’s Birth
The
book starts with a list Elkanah’s family, which may indicate that he was an
important man. He had two wives,
Peninnah and Hannah. Hannah couldn’t
have children and Peninnah would upset her because of it. Elkanah loved Hannah very much although she
couldn’t have a son for him. She was
very sad and even desperate for a son.
Each
year Elkanah and his family went to Shiloh to offer sacrifices. One day Eli, the priest saw Hannah crying. He saw her mouth was moving, but no words
came out. She was praying silently. Eli watched and though she was drunk. People didn’t say silent prayers, but prayed
aloud. Although she prayed silently, God
heard her prayers. She prayed humbly as
a servant to God. She felt God had
forgotten her and that He was the only one to help her. God answered her prayer and gave her a son,
Samuel.
God
always answers our prayers. If we have
to wait a while, it doesn’t mean they He has forgotten us. Isaiah
49:15 – “I will not forget you”.
After
Hannah had her Samuel, she didn’t go with Elkanah to Shiloh until he was about
3 years old. Then she took him to
Eli. “I prayed
for this child and the Lord has granted me what I asked of him. So now I give him to the Lord. For his whole life he will be given over to
the Lord.” – 1 Samuel 27.
1 Samuel 2:1-10 – Hannah’s Prayer
Hannah
prayed a prayer that was full of praises to God. She was very thankful to God for giving her a
son. She had felt shame for not having
children, but God saved her from this shame.
She says “my mouth
boasts over my enemies”. - Samuel 2:1.
There was a sense of vindication over her rival, Peninnah. “There is no one holy
like the Lord; there is no one besides you; there is no Rock like our God.”
– 1 Samuel 2:2. She praised Him for His actions – He brings
life, death and lifts the needy. At the
end of her prayer is a prophecy. “He will give strength to his king and exalt the horn of his
anointed”. – 1 Samuel 2:10. These words
point to King David’s descendant, our eternal King Jesus.
Hannah
dedicated Samuel to the Lord. Samuel
stayed there with Eli and ministered to the Lord. I am sure it was hard to leave Samuel, but
they had promise God and they kept their promise. He became the Lord’s helper.
1 Samuel 2:11-26 – Eli’s Judgment
With all
the sacrifices brought to the tabernacle, a portion was give to God and a
portion to the priest. God’s portion was
always given first so it was wrong to take the priest’s portion before they
burned the fat. The idea was that God
should get the best. Eli’s sons were
wicked men and had no regard to for the Lord.
They were greedy and wanted the raw mean, maybe so they could sell it
for more money. They didn’t hesitate to
use violence and threats to get what they wanted.
Eli
heard how his sons acted, but only rebuked them. They were even committing sexual
immorality. Because they didn’t listen
when Eli rebuked them, God saw they were corrupt and warned Eli that He would
deal with them and they would be punished.
Eli’s sons were not worthy to be his successor.
In the
mean time, Samuel continued to grow in stature and in favor with the Lord and
with men.
A man
of God came to Eli with a very important message about future events. He told him that God would not bless his
descendants. Eli had allowed his sons to
behave in this way as priests. He told
him that God would give him a sign that his sons will die in one day and Eli
will know the judgment of God has come against his house.
1 Samuel 2:28 is a
summary of some of the priesthood duties.
The job of the High Priest was to minister to the Lord. He was a servant of God first and then the
people. He brought sacrifices for
atonement and worship. He burnt incense
which was a picture of prayer. He wore
special clothing that represented majesty, dignity, glory and beauty of God to
the people. He was responsible of
receiving offerings from the people.
Because
Eli did not correct his sons and by his actions chose them to the Lord, God said,
“I will raise up for
myself a faithful priest who will do according to what is in my heart and
mind. I will firmly establish his house,
and he will minister before my anointed one always.” – 1 Samuel 2:35 Eli and his family would one day be reduced
to begging. This promise to raise up a
faithful priest was partially fulfilled in Samuel. The promise was ultimately fulfilled in
Jesus, the High Priest forever.
1 Samuel 3 – Samuel’s Call
Eli’s
eyesight was going and he had gone to bed.
Samuel was lying down when he heard a voice calling his name. He thought it was Eli so he went to Eli, but
it wasn’t Eli who had called him. Eli
told Samuel to go back and lie down.
This happened a second time. Then
when it happened a third time, Eli realized it was the Lord who was calling
Samuel so he told Samuel to go back and when it happened again he was to say, “Speak, Lord for your servant is listening” – 1 Samuel 3:9. Then the Lord came and stood calling Samuel again. He answered as Eli had said, “Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.” – 1 Samuel 3:10. Then the Lord told Samuel what He was about
to do. “See, I
am about to do something in Israel that will make the ears of everyone who
hears of it tingle. At that time I will
carry out against Eli everything I spoke against his family – from beginning to
end.” – 1 Samuel 3:11.
God
spoke to Samuel not silently, but in an audible voice. Samuel answered by saying “Here I am!” God knew where he was. It just reminds us we are His servants asking
what He wants us to do. There are others
who answered God in the same way – Abraham in Gen. 22:1, Jacob in Gen. 31:11
and 46:2, Moses in Ex. 3:4, Isaiah in Is. 6:8, and Ananias in Acts
9:10. God often speaks to us today
in an “inner voice”, but when He does He will confirm what He wants us to do in
a variety of other ways.
When
has God spoken to you?
How did
you respond?
These are
several lessons here: we are to make
ourselves available for God to speak; then we are to be obedient to His call;
we are to respond to God; we are to humble ourselves before God and His Word. The Lord stood may mean this time it was a
unique appearing of the Lord. Maybe it was
Jesus Himself.
The “ears of everyone who hears will tingle” are signs of God’s
severe judgment (2 Kings 21:12, Jer.
19:3). Samuel already heard of the
judgment to come on Eli and his family. Since
there was no repentance God confirmed the judgment through Samuel.
Samuel
went back to bed. I’m sure he didn’t get
much sleep because His ears were probably tingling. He probably asked himself if he should tell
Eli or not. The Scripture tells us he
was afraid to tell him. In the morning he told Eli everything the Lord
had said. Eli accepted it and said that
He is Lord and will do what is good in His eyes.
Samuel
grew up and the Lord was always with him.
“Let none of his words fall to the ground”
mean Samuel’s prophecies came true. All
of Israel recognized that Samuel was a prophet of the Lord. The Lord continued to reveal Himself to Samuel
through His Word.
What
has God revealed to you in His Word?
How are
you a servant of the Lord?
Prayer
is communication with God. It keeps
God’s people powerfully connected with Him.
It is a great privilege to be in His presence. He always hears and answers in His perfect
timing and His perfect way. Hannah had
to wait years for God to answer her prayers, but through it all she experienced
God’s power to peacefully persevere.
Next
week we will continue our study in 1
Samuel. Hope to see you here.
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