5/11/11
1 Samuel 1-3
Samuel's Birth and Dedication
1 Samuel 1:1 There was a certain man of Ramathaim, a Zuphite from the hill country of Ephraim, whose name was Elkanah son of Jeroham son of Elihu son of Tohu son of Zuph, an Ephraimite. 2 He had two wives; the name of the one was Hannah, and the name of the other Peninnah. Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children.
3 Now this man used to go up year by year from his town to worship and to sacrifice to the Lord of hosts at Shiloh, where the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were priests of the Lord. 4 On the day when Elkanah sacrificed, he would give portions to his wife Peninnah and to all her sons and daughters; 5 but to Hannah he gave a double portion, because he loved her, though the Lord had closed her womb. 6 Her rival used to provoke her severely, to irritate her, because the Lord had closed her womb. 7 So it went on year by year; as often as she went up to the house of the Lord, she used to provoke her. Therefore Hannah wept and would not eat. 8 Her husband Elkanah said to her, "Hannah, why do you weep? Why do you not eat? Why is your heart sad? Am I not more to you than ten sons?"
9 After they had eaten and drunk at Shiloh, Hannah rose and presented herself before the Lord. Now Eli the priest was sitting on the seat beside the doorpost of the temple of the Lord. 10 She was deeply distressed and prayed to the Lord, and wept bitterly. 11 She made this vow: "O Lord of hosts, if only you will look on the misery of your servant, and remember me, and not forget your servant, but will give to your servant a male child, then I will set him before you as a nazirite until the day of his death. He shall drink neither wine nor intoxicants, and no razor shall touch his head."
12 As she continued praying before the Lord, Eli observed her mouth. 13 Hannah was praying silently; only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard; therefore Eli thought she was drunk. 14 So Eli said to her, "How long will you make a drunken spectacle of yourself? Put away your wine." 15 But Hannah answered, "No, my lord, I am a woman deeply troubled; I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but I have been pouring out my soul before the Lord. 16 Do not regard your servant as a worthless woman, for I have been speaking out of my great anxiety and vexation all this time." 17 Then Eli answered, "Go in peace; the God of Israel grant the petition you have made to him." 18 And she said, "Let your servant find favor in your sight." Then the woman went to her quarters, ate and drank with her husband, and her countenance was sad no longer.
19 They rose early in the morning and worshiped before the Lord; then they went back to their house at Ramah. Elkanah knew his wife Hannah, and the Lord remembered her. 20 In due time Hannah conceived and bore a son. She named him Samuel, for she said, "I have asked him of the Lord."
21 The man Elkanah and all his household went up to offer to the Lord the yearly sacrifice, and to pay his vow. 22 But Hannah did not go up, for she said to her husband, "As soon as the child is weaned, I will bring him, that he may appear in the presence of the Lord, and remain there forever; I will offer him as a nazirite for all time." 23 Her husband Elkanah said to her, "Do what seems best to you, wait until you have weaned him; only—may the Lord establish his word." So the woman remained and nursed her son, until she weaned him. 24 When she had weaned him, she took him up with her, along with a three-year-old bull, an ephah of flour, and a skin of wine. She brought him to the house of the Lord at Shiloh; and the child was young. 25 Then they slaughtered the bull, and they brought the child to Eli. 26 And she said, "Oh, my lord! As you live, my lord, I am the woman who was standing here in your presence, praying to the Lord. 27 For this child I prayed; and the Lord has granted me the petition that I made to him. 28 Therefore I have lent him to the Lord; as long as he lives, he is given to the Lord."
She left him there for the Lord.
Hannah's Prayer (Cp Lk 1.46—55)
1 Samuel 2:1 Hannah prayed and said,
"My heart exults in the Lord;
my strength is exalted in my God.
My mouth derides my enemies,
because I rejoice in my victory.
2 "There is no Holy One like the Lord,
no one besides you;
there is no Rock like our God.
3 Talk no more so very proudly,
let not arrogance come from your mouth;
for the Lord is a God of knowledge,
and by him actions are weighed.
4 The bows of the mighty are broken,
but the feeble gird on strength.
5 Those who were full have hired themselves out for bread,
but those who were hungry are fat with spoil.
The barren has borne seven,
but she who has many children is forlorn.
6 The Lord kills and brings to life;
he brings down to Sheol and raises up.
7 The Lord makes poor and makes rich;
he brings low, he also exalts.
8 He raises up the poor from the dust;
he lifts the needy from the ash heap,
to make them sit with princes
and inherit a seat of honor.
For the pillars of the earth are the Lord's,
and on them he has set the world.
9 "He will guard the feet of his faithful ones,
but the wicked shall be cut off in darkness;
for not by might does one prevail.
10 The Lord! His adversaries shall be shattered;
the Most High will thunder in heaven.
The Lord will judge the ends of the earth;
he will give strength to his king,
and exalt the power of his anointed."
Eli's Wicked Sons
11 Then Elkanah went home to Ramah, while the boy remained to minister to the Lord, in the presence of the priest Eli.
12 Now the sons of Eli were scoundrels; they had no regard for the Lord 13 or for the duties of the priests to the people. When anyone offered sacrifice, the priest's servant would come, while the meat was boiling, with a three-pronged fork in his hand, 14 and he would thrust it into the pan, or kettle, or caldron, or pot; all that the fork brought up the priest would take for himself. This is what they did at Shiloh to all the Israelites who came there. 15 Moreover, before the fat was burned, the priest's servant would come and say to the one who was sacrificing, "Give meat for the priest to roast; for he will not accept boiled meat from you, but only raw." 16 And if the man said to him, "Let them burn the fat first, and then take whatever you wish," he would say, "No, you must give it now; if not, I will take it by force." 17 Thus the sin of the young men was very great in the sight of the Lord; for they treated the offerings of the Lord with contempt.
The Child Samuel at Shiloh
18 Samuel was ministering before the Lord, a boy wearing a linen ephod. 19 His mother used to make for him a little robe and take it to him each year, when she went up with her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice. 20 Then Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife, and say, "May the Lord repay you with children by this woman for the gift that she made to the Lord"; and then they would return to their home.
21 And the Lord took note of Hannah; she conceived and bore three sons and two daughters. And the boy Samuel grew up in the presence of the Lord.
Prophecy against Eli's Household
22 Now Eli was very old. He heard all that his sons were doing to all Israel, and how they lay with the women who served at the entrance to the tent of meeting. 23 He said to them, "Why do you do such things? For I hear of your evil dealings from all these people. 24 No, my sons; it is not a good report that I hear the people of the Lord spreading abroad. 25 If one person sins against another, someone can intercede for the sinner with the Lord; but if someone sins against the Lord, who can make intercession?" But they would not listen to the voice of their father; for it was the will of the Lord to kill them.
26 Now the boy Samuel continued to grow both in stature and in favor with the Lord and with the people. Reminds me of Luke 2:52.
27 A man of God came to Eli and said to him, "Thus the Lord has said, 'I revealed myself to the family of your ancestor in Egypt when they were slaves to the house of Pharaoh. 28 I chose him out of all the tribes of Israel to be my priest, to go up to my altar, to offer incense, to wear an ephod before me; and I gave to the family of your ancestor all my offerings by fire from the people of Israel. 29 Why then look with greedy eye at my sacrifices and my offerings that I commanded, and honor your sons more than me by fattening yourselves on the choicest parts of every offering of my people Israel?' 30 Therefore the Lord the God of Israel declares: 'I promised that your family and the family of your ancestor should go in and out before me forever'; but now the Lord declares: 'Far be it from me; for those who honor me I will honor, and those who despise me shall be treated with contempt. 31 See, a time is coming when I will cut off your strength and the strength of your ancestor's family, so that no one in your family will live to old age. 32 Then in distress you will look with greedy eye on all the prosperity that shall be bestowed upon Israel; and no one in your family shall ever live to old age. 33 The only one of you whom I shall not cut off from my altar shall be spared to weep out his eyes and grieve his heart; all the members of your household shall die by the sword. 34 The fate of your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, shall be the sign to you—both of them shall die on the same day. 35 I will raise up for myself a faithful priest, who shall do according to what is in my heart and in my mind. I will build him a sure house, and he shall go in and out before my anointed one forever. 36 Everyone who is left in your family shall come to implore him for a piece of silver or a loaf of bread, and shall say, Please put me in one of the priest's places, that I may eat a morsel of bread.' "
Samuel's Calling and Prophetic Activity
1 Samuel 3:1 Now the boy Samuel was ministering to the Lord under Eli. The word of the Lord was rare in those days; visions were not widespread.
2 At that time Eli, whose eyesight had begun to grow dim so that he could not see, was lying down in his room; 3 the lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the temple of the Lord, where the ark of God was. 4 Then the Lord called, "Samuel! Samuel!" and he said, "Here I am!" 5 and ran to Eli, and said, "Here I am, for you called me." But he said, "I did not call; lie down again." So he went and lay down. 6 The Lord called again, "Samuel!" Samuel got up and went to Eli, and said, "Here I am, for you called me." But he said, "I did not call, my son; lie down again." 7 Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, and the word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him. 8 The Lord called Samuel again, a third time. And he got up and went to Eli, and said, "Here I am, for you called me." Then Eli perceived that the Lord was calling the boy. 9 Therefore Eli said to Samuel, "Go, lie down; and if he calls you, you shall say, 'Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.' " So Samuel went and lay down in his place.
10 Now the Lord came and stood there, calling as before, "Samuel! Samuel!" And Samuel said, "Speak, for your servant is listening." 11 Then the Lord said to Samuel, "See, I am about to do something in Israel that will make both ears of anyone who hears of it tingle. 12 On that day I will fulfill against Eli all that I have spoken concerning his house, from beginning to end. 13 For I have told him that I am about to punish his house forever, for the iniquity that he knew, because his sons were blaspheming God, and he did not restrain them. 14 Therefore I swear to the house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli's house shall not be expiated by sacrifice or offering forever."
15 Samuel lay there until morning; then he opened the doors of the house of the Lord. Samuel was afraid to tell the vision to Eli. 16 But Eli called Samuel and said, "Samuel, my son." He said, "Here I am." 17 Eli said, "What was it that he told you? Do not hide it from me. May God do so to you and more also, if you hide anything from me of all that he told you." 18 So Samuel told him everything and hid nothing from him. Then he said, "It is the Lord; let him do what seems good to him."
19 As Samuel grew up, the Lord was with him and let none of his words fall to the ground. 20 And all Israel from Dan to Beer-sheba knew that Samuel was a trustworthy prophet of the Lord. 21 The Lord continued to appear at Shiloh, for the Lord revealed himself to Samuel at Shiloh by the word of the Lord.
Devotionals, Videos and more ...
by Bill Federer
The son of a rabbi, born this day, May 11, 1888, he was four-years old when he immigrated from Russia to New York. Falling in love with America, he served in the U.S. infantry during World War I and wrote some of the country's most popular songs, including: "Alexander's Ragtime Band," "White Christmas" and "God Bless America," the royalties from which he gave to the Boy Scouts. Who was he? Irving Berlin, who in 1945, received the Congressional Gold Medal from President Eisenhower. "God Bless America, Land that I Love, Stand Beside Her, and Guide Her, Through the Night, with the Light From Above."
Federer, B. (2003). American minute. St. Louis, MO.: Amerisearch, Inc.
by whoever
A beggar who begs for bread will plead the greatness of his poverty and necessity.
And God allows such a plea as this,
for he is moved to mercy toward us by nothing in us but the misery of our case.
He does not pity sinners because they are worthy
but because they need his pity.
--- Jonathan Edwards
I simply haven't the nerve to imagine a being,
a force, a cause
which keeps the planets revolving in their orbits,
and then suddenly stops in order to give me
a bicycle with three speeds.
--- Quentin Crisp
... from here, there and everywhere
by D.H. Stern
What your eyes have seen,
8 don't rush to present in a dispute.
For what will you do later on,
if your neighbor puts you to shame?
9 Discuss your dispute with your neighbor,
but don't reveal another person's secrets.
10 If you do, and he hears of it, he will disgrace you,
and your bad reputation will stick.
Stern, D. H. (1998). Complete Jewish Bible-OE
: An English version of the Tanakh (OT) and
B'rit Hadashah (NT) (1st ed.). Clarksville, Md.: Jewish
New Testament Publications.
A Daily Devotional by Oswald Chambers
You won’t reach it on tiptoe
Add to your brotherliness … love. --- 2 Peter 1:7.
Love is indefinite to most of us, we do not know what we mean when we talk about love. Love is the sovereign preference of one person for another, and spiritually Jesus demands that that preference be for Himself (cf. Luke 14:26). When the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost, Jesus Christ is easily first; then we must practise the working out of these things mentioned by Peter.
The first thing God does is to knock pretence and the pious pose right out of me. The Holy Spirit reveals that God loved me not because I was lovable, but because it was His nature to do so. ‘Now,’ He says to me, ‘show the same love to others’—“Love as I have loved you.” ‘I will bring any number of people about you whom you cannot respect, and you must exhibit My love to them as I have exhibited it to you.’ You won’t reach it on tiptoe. Some of us have tried to, but we were soon tired. “The Lord suffereth long …” Let me look within and see His dealings with me. The knowledge that God has loved me to the uttermost, to the end of all my sin and meanness and selfishness and wrong, will send me forth into the world to love in the same way. God’s love to me is inexhaustible, and I must love others from the bedrock of God’s love to me. Growth in grace stops the moment I get huffed. I get huffed because I have a peculiar person to live with. Just think how disagreeable I have been to God! Am I prepared to be so identified with the Lord Jesus that His life and His sweetness are being poured out all the time? Neither natural love nor Divine love will remain unless it is cultivated. Love is spontaneous, but it has to be maintained by discipline. Chambers, O. (1993). My Utmost for His Highest
the Poetry of R.S. Thomas
Acting
Being unwise enough to have married her
I never knew when she was not acting.
"I love you," she would say; I heard the audiences
Sigh. "I hate you"; I could never be sure
They were still there. She was lovely. I
Was only the looking-glass she made up in.
I husbanded the rippling meadow
Of her body. Their eyes grazed nightly upon it.
Alone now, on the brittle platform
Of herself she is playing her last rôle.
It is perfect. Never in all her career
Was she so good. And yet the curtain
Has fallen. My charmer, come out from behind
It to take the applause. Look, I am clapping too.
Thomas, R. S. H'm: Poems. London: Macmillan, 1972.
Bava Kamma 92b–93a
A middle-age woman decides to spend much of her day with her mother. She feels guilty for having ignored Mom of late and for not having spent more time with her. As she has been focusing more of her attention on her children and her career, her own mother has become less a part of her everyday life. The woman finally decides to right the wrong by spending a day with her mother, but the day turns out to be most difficult. It's been a while since the two spent so much time with each other, and even though there is a great deal of love, there is also tension. The relationship has changed, and their day together is less rewarding than expected.
As this woman returns home, she finds her children needy and clingy and her husband resentful and jealous that Grandma received so much attention today. "When is the last time we spent an entire day together?" he complains, noting that the babysitter arrived late and one of the children got sick while his wife was away. Before they can talk about the family situation, the phone rings. It's the woman's boss at work, calling with an office crisis that only she can handle. With children screaming and husband pouting, she works furiously to solve the emergency at hand, knowing full well that she will be faced with a family crisis when she hangs up.
The feeling of being "bald from both sides" is typical of people in the "sandwich generation," trying to cope with both parents and children, juggling career and family, obligations to and love for parents and responsibility to and love for children. Such people are like the husband in Rabbi Yitzḥak's story, beleaguered from two sides by different generations and differing needs. It is often difficult—if not downright impossible—to please everyone and not to end the day feeling guilty for having hurt both sides.
How can we learn to cope with such a situation? First, Rabbi Yitzḥak Nappaḥa admits that some situations are "no-win." His students will never be fully satisfied if he teaches only legend or only law. In such a predicament, this admission is an important first step.
Rabbi Yitzḥak, in his genius, finds a verse that satisfies both sides, if not perfectly, then at least adequately. Perhaps those of us in the sandwich generation can emulate his genius. Next time, the woman in the incident above might bring the whole family together for part of the day, so that everyone receives a bit of Grandma's attention and no one at home feels resentful and cheated of Mom's love.
It is clear, however, that not every conflict can be solved so cleverly. What if Rabbi Yitzḥak Nappaḥa had not been so creative? What if he could not think of that one verse? At one point or another in life, each of us will find ourselves in a Catch-22. If we are blessed with a flash of genius, we may create an escape. If not, we have to admit to one side or another (and to ourselves as well) that we cannot fully satisfy everyone. One day, we may have to say: "Kids, today Grandma needs me, and even though I love you and I want to spend time with you, I can't do it right now." At another time, we might want to say, "Mom, I wish that I could go with you tomorrow, but I really have to spend the day with the children. They see precious little of me as is, and I promised them long ago that we would share tomorrow."
Sometimes, the situation may truly be no-win. The best we can hope for is to cut our loses. At such times, it may be helpful to remind each party of the story told by Rabbi Yitzḥak: Neither wife wanted her husband to be bald. Each woman pulled out only part of the husband's hair, with the result that he became totally bald. Acknowledging a no-win situation may help us move on and put this crisis in perspective.
When we were young, [we were treated] like grown-ups; now that we are elderly, [we are treated] like children.
Text / Rava said to Rabbah bar Mari: "What is the source of what they say: 'If you lift up the burden, I will lift it, and if not, I won't lift it'?" He said to him: "As it is written: 'But Barak said to her, "If you will go with me, I will go; if not, I will not go" ' [Judges 4:8]."
Rava said to Rabbah bar Mari: "What is the source of what they say: 'When we were young, [we were treated] like grown-ups; now that we are elderly, [we are treated] like children.'?" He said to him: "First it is written: 'The Lord went before them in a pillar of cloud by day, to guide them along the way, and in a pillar of fire by night, to give them light' [Exodus 13:21], but afterwards it is written: 'I am sending an angel before you to guard you on the way.' [Exodus 23:20]."
Context / Deborah, wife of Lappidoth, was a prophetess; she led Israel at that time.… She summoned Barak son of Abinoam, of Kedesh in Naphtali, and said to him, "The Lord, the God of Israel, has commanded: Go, march up to Mount Tabor, and take with you ten thousand men of Naphtali and Zebulun. And I will draw Sisera, Jabin's army commander, with his chariots and his troops, toward you up to the Wadi Kishon; and I will deliver him into your hands." But Barak said to her, "If you will go with me, I will go; if not, I will not go." "Very well, I will go with you," she answered. "However, there will be no glory for you in the course you are taking, for then the Lord will deliver Sisera into the hands of a woman." (Judges 4:4, 6–9)
These two short sections of Gemara are from a longer series of queries from Rava to Rabbah bar Mari on the origin of various aphorisms. In each case, Rava asks for a biblical verse for the derivation of a popular saying. Every time, Rabbah provides Rava with a scriptural illustration of the maxim.
In the first inquiry above, Rava asks for the biblical basis of the adage "If you lift up the burden, I will lift it, and if not, I won't lift it." Apparently, this was a popular maxim and was taken to refer not only to physical burdens but also to military endeavors and business ventures as well. Rabbah cites a verse from Judges in which the Israelite general Barak tries to convince Deborah to fight Sisera and the enemy forces. If two are willing to carry the burden—in this case, the battle against the enemy—it can be done. If only one is willing to bear the burden, it is impossibly heavy.
In the second question, Rava asks for the origin of the phrase "When we were young, [we were treated] like grownups; now that we are elderly, [we are treated] like children." Rabbah explains its origin in two verses that the Torah uses to describe God's protection of the Israelites as they left Egypt. When they were a young people and needed God's close attention and protection, God (apparently complimenting them) treated them as if they were older and more mature, sending only a pillar of cloud by day and pillar of fire by night. However, later in the story, when they presumably needed less help and guidance, a more protective angel was nonetheless sent to guard them on the way.
Katz, M., & Schwartz, G. (1998). Swimming in the Sea of Talmud: Lessons for Everyday LIving
by Diana Wallis
Let him who walks in the dark,… trust in the name of the LORD. --- Isaiah 50:10
Some who are in my judgment among the very choicest of God's people nevertheless travel most of the way to heaven by night. Twelve sermons for the troubled and tried: Delivered at the Metropolitan Tabernacle
Darkness is an evil that the soul does not love, and by it all our faculties are tried. It is possible at times to even question the existence of God, though we still cling to him with desperate resolve.
At such times the Holy Spirit seems to suspend his comforting operations, and we read the Bible, and we are not cheered by the promises; we attend public services, and the bells of the sanctuary seem to have lost their music. The Holy Spirit is leaving us for awhile that we may know what poor things we are apart from him, and how useless are ordinances without his divine presence in them. Satan makes earnest use of his hour, and it is no fault of his that we do not die in the dark and utterly perish from the way.
Perhaps the worst feature of this darkness is that it is so bewildering. You have to walk, and yet your way is hidden. What simpletons we are to fancy that if we do not see a way of deliverance God does not see one either! If you have ever steamed up the Rhine, you have looked before you, and it has looked as if you could go no further; the river seemed to be a lake; great mountains and vast rocks blocked up all further advance. Suddenly there has been a turn in the stream, and at once a broad highway has been before you, inviting you to enter the heart of the country. Perhaps you are in one of those parts of the river of life where no progress appears possible.
What is there to trust to when you are in such a condition as that? Well, says the text, "Trust in the name of the LORD."
What is there to trust in the name of Jehovah? It is "I Am," and signifies his self-existence. This is a fine foundation for trust. Your friend is dead, but Jehovah is still living. Those who could have succored you have forsaken you, but he says, "I am with you."
The name of the Lord contains within it immutability. Here is a rock under your feet. If you trust in an unchanging God whose love and faithfulness and power cannot be diminished, then you have a glorious object for your faith to rest on!
--- C. H. Spurgeon
(27). Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications.Teacher's Commentary
Samuel, Israel's last, greatest judge, was also a prophet (1 Samuel 3:20) and a priest (1 Samuel 9:12–13). In his old age he served as God's adviser to Israel's first king, Saul. Samuel anointed Israel's greatest king, David.
Together the two Books of Samuel cover the history of Israel from the last quarter of the 12th century B.C. to the first quarter of the 10th. They explain Israel's transition from loosely associated tribes led by local judges to a unified nation led by kings.
The Book of 1 Samuel can be outlined as the story of two men, though the biblical focus soon shifts from the flawed Saul to his more godly successor.
First and 2 Samuel are rich sources of familiar stories. But even more important, they are a source of many lessons that can be directly applied to the lives of children, youth, and adults.
Samuel's Early Life: 1 Samuel 1–3
The right to be bitter (1 Samuel 1:1–20). Like many of us, Hannah was sure that she had the right to be bitter.
Life hadn't been fair to her. And every day, painful irritants reminded Hannah of her complaint.
Hannah was one of two wives of a man named Elkanah. The other wife, Peninnah, had children. But Hannah had none.
In ancient Israel, children were more than important: they were symbols of fulfillment. In Hannah's case her childlessness was a double burden. "Her rival kept provoking her in order to irritate her" (1 Samuel:1:6).
Year after year when Elkanah took his family to Shiloh to worship at the tabernacle there, Hannah met her family and friends—still childless. There her constant pain peaked, and she could hardly bear her fate. We can understand why Hannah felt bitter. She was denied something she wanted desperately.
Hannah's childlessness had at least two tragic effects. First, it colored her whole outlook on life. The Bible says that she was bitter. She wept often, and would not eat. She was "downhearted." And in her prayer to God, Hannah spoke of her condition as "misery." How tragic when we are so burdened that we're unable to experience the simple joys that enrich our lives.
Hannah's depression was so great that she could not even recognize evidences of the grace of God. Hannah had no child. But she had a husband who loved her and who was sympathetic. We can sense Elkanah's love in his words encouraging Hannah to eat: "Don't I mean more to you than 10 sons?" So often when we feel bitter and downcast we too are unable to sense, in the good gifts God has given us, evidences of His love and grace.
Hannah's perspective was so totally colored by her personal tragedy that she could not sense the beauty, the good, or grace with which God infuses every believer's life.
Finally, in her bitterness, Hannah took two vital steps. First, she took her bitterness to God. And second, in prayer she began to reorder priorities. Hannah made a commitment to dedicate the son she prayed for to the Lord. She no longer wanted a child just for herself. She began to look beyond her own needs, and to envision the good that meeting her need might do for others.
Hannah's prayer was a desperate one, so heartfelt that her lips moved, even though she was praying in her heart (1 Samuel 1:13). The high priest at the time, Eli, thought she was drunk and rebuked her. When she explained that she was praying out her anguish and grief, Eli blessed her and Hannah went away with a strange assurance. We read that she ate, and "her face was no longer downcast" (1 Samuel 1:18). That prayer of Hannah's was answered: she conceived and bore a child whom she named Samuel. A child who would grow up to become one of the most significant of all Bible characters.
Praise for answered prayer (1 Samuel 1:21–2:10). When Samuel was weaned, which according to custom would have been about age three, he was taken to Shiloh and presented to Eli. Hannah told how she prayed for this child, and now he was given to the Lord for lifetime service.
It must have been painful for Hannah to leave Samuel. But Hannah's prayer, recorded in chapter 2, is a prayer of pure joy.
Perhaps even more significant, it is a prayer that shows a deep awareness of who God is. Hannah acknowledged God as holy (1 Samuel 2:2), as One who knows and weighs human deeds (1 Samuel 2:3). Hannah saw Him as the One who satisfies the needy (1 Samuel 2:5), who is Master of life and death, of poverty and wealth (1 Samuel 2:6). Her sense of the power and glory of God is summed up beautifully in these verses:
For the foundations of the earth are the Lord's; upon them He has set the world.
He will guard the feet of His saints, but the wicked will be silenced in darkness. It is not by strength that one prevails; those who oppose the Lord will be shattered. --- 1 Samuel 2:8–10
What a tremendous reorientation! The same Hannah who was so bitter and downcast that she could not even sense God's grace now saw the Lord clearly. In fact, she was able to praise God in a situation which some might expect would throw her back into despair—the loss of the very child she had prayed for!
What was so different? Hannah now was able to look beyond herself and her own needs. She could sense God's love now, and trust Him. And she could sense the future that God had for this first child she loved so deeply. Because Hannah truly had given her son to the Lord, she trusted God to care for him and to give him a fulfilling life.
The story of Hannah and Elkanah concludes with a single paragraph. Each year the two returned to the tabernacle to worship, bringing Samuel new clothes. But they did not come alone. God had opened Hannah's womb, and she bore three additional sons and two daughters.
What a wonderful reminder. It is impossible for us to out give God.
As for Samuel, the boy ministered before the Lord and was cared for by Eli the priest.
Eli's family failures (1 Samuel 2:12–36). While Eli himself was a dedicated and righteous man, his sons "had no regard for the Lord" (1 Samuel 2:12). This passage catalogs their sins as both ritual and moral. Ritually they violated regulations in the Law concerning the sacrifices that signified God's acceptance of sinners. In this they treated the Lord's offering with contempt, a very great sin in God's sight. Morally they were just as corrupt, quick to commit adultery, and ready to use violence as were the people that, as priests, they were called to serve.
While Eli rebuked his sons, they paid no attention. And Eli did no more than rebuke them. He did not even strip them of their priesthood, the least he might have done. As a result God sent a prophet to announce His judgment. The prophet outlined a series of tragic events that would take place "because you scorn My sacrifice and offering" and "honor your sons more than Me" (1 Samuel 2:29). No one in Eli's family line would grow old: his descendants would die in the prime of life. In the place of Eli and his line God would raise up "a faithful priest, who will do according to what is in My heart and mind" (1 Samuel 2:35).
Ultimately that faithful Priest is Jesus, who fulfills in Himself all that the Old Testament priesthood merely signified. In the immediate context Samuel, whose primary role was as a judge and prophet, did serve as a priest. And in the course of history the high priestly role was shifted from Eli's family line to another branch of Aaron's family (cf. 1 Kings 2:27, 35).
Samuel's call (1 Sam. 3:1–21). One of the most familiar of all children's stories is told in this chapter. Samuel heard a voice that he mistook as Eli's. Each time he ran to the old priest, he was told to go back to bed. Finally Eli realized that God was speaking to Samuel, and told Samuel that if the voice called again, he was to say, "Speak, Lord, for Your servant is listening."
Usually children are not told Samuel's message. For that message is a dark one. God told Samuel that the judgment of which He had warned Eli was coming soon. This was in fact a prediction of the future: a prediction which when announced by Samuel and fulfilled, marked him as a prophet, one who would speak God's message to His people. The passage observes that God continued to reveal Himself to Samuel, and that as Samuel grew up He "let none of his words fall to the ground" (1 Samuel 3:19). This phrase simply means that everything that Samuel foretold came true. As a result, Samuel was recognized as a prophet of God.
