Fear No Fear

(All scripture from Lexham English Bible, Copyright 2012 Logos Bible Software)

There is a shift here. God was using the judges to judge Israel, but the people were continually turning away. Open visions were almost non-existent. The priesthood was corrupt. God was making a shift and about to raise up the first of His prophets. Men who would carry His voice to every corner of Israel from Dan (in the extreme north) to Beersheba (in the extreme south). The prophets would take the place of the judges, able to deliver judgment as well as messages, but their focus would be on the spiritual and not solely on the civic – instead of looking to God for rulership, the nation would demand a king (a pattern of wanting men to rule over them showed itself loud and clear in the book of Judges).

We open with the household of Elkanah, Hannah, and Peninnah. Once again we see why the Lord planned for one wife and one husband as a single couple (Matthew 19:4-9). Peninnah loathed Hannah and made her miserable. Elkanah loved Hannah best. Hannah was barren, the source of all the conflict with Peninnah. It is a messy situation and there is nothing pleasant about it. Hannah was miserable in her condition, even though she often got double portions because of Elkanah’s love for her. Bemoaning her childless state, she goes to the doorway to the tabernacle. Coincidently, sitting on the seat by the doorpost is Eli, the high priest.

Eli was high priest and he had two sons who also served: Hophni and Phinehas. They were terrible priests and immoral men. Eli loved them too much and put them before what was right. He put them before the Lord. This would prove to be a POOR decision. These two young men (early twenties) would sleep with women coming to give sacrifices. They would demand more than the portion the Lord had set aside for themselves, and took it by force in improper ways. Eli told them to ‘quit it’ and ‘cut it out’ and ‘that’s not right’, but he never uses his authority to cast them out of the priesthood – the proper thing to do. The people all knew of these bad priests and some turned away from following the Lord instead of dealing with the hassle of their immorality. Sad situation.

Hannah is so overwrought over her (years) of abuse at the hand of Peninnah that she is crying and praying from her heart. But she isn’t using audible words, just her mouth is moving. Eli chastises her for being drunk, but she tells him she would never indulge in that wickedness. She tells him she is praying for a child, and what’s more makes an oath that if the Lord grants it she will lend him to the Lord for life – giving him to service in the tabernacle. In addition, the child will be a Nazarite all of his life (never cutting his hair or drinking – Judges 13:5; Numbers 6). Eli blesses her wish and she immediately stops crying – she has put her trust in the blessing.

She has a child and her husband has not overruled her oath (Numbers 30:13). She waits for the boy they name Samuel to be weaned before presenting him to Eli. They do when Samuel is somewhere between 4 and 7 (it’s unclear). Eli accepts him and blesses the couple (Hannah goes on to have three sons and two daughters). Hannah visits every year and brings Samuel a coat she makes during the year. Samuel grows up under Eli and learns to stick with the Lord and put value on His Word. Everyone sees it and is impressed. Hannah gives a beautiful song of thanksgiving, giving all praise and glory to the Lord.

“There is no one holy like Yahweh, for there is no one besides you, and there is no rock like our God.” (1 Samuel 2:2)

The bad behaviour of the sons continues. An unnamed man of God comes to warn Eli about the judgment for his lack of dealing with his sons. His lack of action is causing conflict in the people as far as their relationship with God and that’s unacceptable. Good lesson for all godly leaders. Don’t be a stumbling block. Time has been passing. When we pick up with Samuel he is being called of God. Called to be a responsible person following God. The age that a child became an adult was 20yrs. The age a Levite began serving in the tabernacle was 25yrs. The age a priest began serving was 30yrs. From this and the nature of Samuel’s call, it can be assumed that he was NOT a little boy. But more like Ishmael when he was kicked out of Abram’s home or Isaac when he was to be sacrificed: in his early twenties. God doesn’t call us to action until we are ready to walk in the way of that action.

Late one night, when the lamps were on the way to going out (heading toward sunrise), Samuel is in bed when he is called. He goes to Eli, but Eli didn’t call him. He’s told to go back to bed. This re-occurs a couple of times until Eli realises what’s happening. He tells Samuel to go to bed but answer, ‘Here I am, Lord’ the next time it happens. Samuel does and he has an open vision – very rare for the day. It is not good news for Eli and his family. In the morning, Eli demands to know what the Lord said. Samuel tells him and Eli accepts it. His feeling is that the Lord can do whatever he wants and Eli will submit to it.

The message Samuel receives confirms the message of the unnamed man of God. The Lord dislikes that Eli honours his sons more than the Lord. Since Eli has broken covenant with the Lord over this, the Lord will not honour his promise to Eli’s ancestors. God is going to cut off Eli’s line. They will all die young. Hophni and Phinehas will die on the same day. Someone else will be raised up in their place, a faithful priest (Jesus) who will do what is in the Lord’s heart. Eli and Eli’s house will be judged because his sons made themselves vile and he did not restrain them. God will do it in such a way as the whole land will talk about it.

Samuel didn’t want to give the message, but he does when asked. Obedient child. Eli accepts the words of the Lord. Samuel continues to grow up and everyone in the land learn of him and see how the Lord is with him. They all can see that the Lord is raising up a prophet for Israel. It also became known that the Lord was appearing in Shiloh again – to Samuel. For his part, Samuel was dedicated to the Word and seeing the Lord revealed in those scrolls (Genesis to Deuteronomy).

Summary

Key Players: God, Hannah, Eli, Samuel

Key Themes: Sons, Godly Leadership, Parental Responsibility

Key Verse(s): 1 Samuel 1: 4-7, 11, 28; 2:22, 26, 30; 3:1, 10-11, 18, 20-21