Bible 101 - I Samuel Chapters 1-4

Presented October 11, 2004 by Phyllis Gilbert

Background: At the end of Judges, we left the people of Israel in a sorry state. They've conquered Canaan (most of it) and settled it, but have in the process, largely forgotten the God of the Covenant. Some families, as we saw in the story of Naomi, Ruth, and Boaz, continue to worship God, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and to keep his law. But the people are scattered geographically and spiritually, needing a leader to unify them and lead them back to God.

Noteworthy time markers: The exodus from Egypt occurred in 1446 B.C., the conquest began in 1406 B.C., the settlement was completed by 1380 B.C., and the period of the judges stretched from then until 1050 B.C. when Saul was anointed the first king of Israel.

Israel's monarchy: Since we're about to enter a period that stretches from 1050B.C. to the captivity and/or defeat of the nation of Israel, a bit of history is appropriate: The first king was Saul, who reigned from 1050 to 1010 B.C. He was succeeded by David who reigned from 1010-970 B.C., and his son Solomon then came to the throne. After his death in 930 B.C., his son Rehoboam and his rival Jeroboam (not of David's family) fought for the throne, and the kingdom split into two nations: Israel in the north and Judah in the south. (for a list of the kings go to www.keyway.ca/htm2002/kinglist.htm). Each had its own king, and in all there were 40 of them. The northern kingdom was defeated by the Assyrians in 722 B.C., and Judah held on until it was defeated by the Babylonians in 586 B.C., its people carried into captivity. Daniel was among those captives. Seventy years of exile followed, and then when Babylon was defeated by the Persians, their kings (the first was Cyrus, and later Artaxerses) allowed Israelites to return to Jerusalem, and in three groups they did: the first went in 538 to rebuild the temple; the second went almost 80 years later in 458 under Ezra and the third in 432 B.C. under Nehemiah; the last group rebuilt the wall. The northern and southern kingdoms were defeated when God allowed stronger enemy nations to levy God's punishment on the people for their unbelief.

God had promised through the prophets that though they'd be punished, they'd be restored in the Promised Land. And they were under Persian rulers who saw a real advantage to allowing the people to return to their own lands, restore an economy, and pay taxes, rather than to remain as exiles. After their return to Israel, the Greeks conquered them in 332 B.C., and the Romans conquered them and most of the known world, so that during Jesus' time, Rome controlled all of the country side and cities he walked through and ministered in. The Romans under Herod the Great refurbished the Temple in 20 B.C., but then they destroy Jerusalem and the Temple in 70 A.D.

Cycles of belief and unbelief: The cycles we saw first in the wilderness and then in the Promised Land after they settled it - faith, adherence to the covenant, dependence on God, followed by a departure to idol worship and disobedience - continued throughout the nation's history. But always God preserved a remnant of faithful people. Daniel is a great example: even in captivity, he prayed, his faith grew stronger, and he was not defeated by a foreign culture or leaders. And there were many others who clung to their faith, to the law and to the Covenant. We've wandered back and forward in Israel's history, but now to the matter at hand: Samuel and the beginning of the monarchy.

Samuel: The man whose life spans both the periods of judges and the monarchy, and who anoints not only the first king, but his successor, is Samuel. It is for him that the first two books in the monarchial sequence of six books (I and II Samuel, I and II Kings, I and II Chronicles) is named. The author is unknown; Samuel may have written some of the book, but because he died before Saul did, he cannot have written all of even one of the books. However, his influence and his position as the last of the judges and the first of the prophets, makes the name appropriate. The book opens with his miraculous birth, probably in about 1105 B.C.

I Samuel 1:1-2: In this chapter, we have a look at a family in Israel living by God's law. It gives us hope, just as the story of Ruth gave us encouragement. Hannah is married to a man named Elkanah; he has another wife, Peninah. More of them in a moment. Their home is the "hill country of Ephraim," an area which in Judges 17, was home to Micah. Remember him? He's the man who installed first his son as his family priest and then a Levite from Bethlehem (Jonathan) as his son's replacement. Micah was the man who stole 1100 shekels of silver from his mother, and then when she cursed the thief, returned them, saying "I stole them," and she blessed him! It was a scene that epitomized the upside down nature of Israel's sense of worship, moral values and faith. In Judges 19, we meet a Levite from "the hill country of Ephraim" whose concubine has left him, and he travels to Bethlehem, to her father's house, to try to talk her into coming back to him. She's the sacrificial lamb in a horrendous, Sodom-Gomorrah-like incident. Her "husband" and his host toss her out to the wolves of Gibeah, Benjamites by tribe, who rape her all night long and kill her. Her body is cut up and sent among the tribes as a call to action; the tribes then nearly wipe out the Benjamites for this sin. And that's where Judges ends. We have not seen much that's positive in the "hill country of Ephraim." But here is a faithful man, and it is most likely that he is of the tribe of Levi.

I Samuel 1:3-11: Elkanah takes his two wives and children each year to Shiloh to worship and offer sacrifices. It was here in Shiloh that Joshua and the people erected the Tabernacle (Josh. 18), and it was to this place that all Israel was to come three times a year on Passover, Pentecost and Tabernacles to worship and offer sacrifices. At least some are doing this. We read that Peninah has many children, but Hannah is barren. Elkanah loves her, and always gives her a double portion of the feast; but Hannah is desperate for a child. Not only does she feel she's a failure as a woman, but the other wife taunts her. She goes to the Tabernacle to pray, and silently, pours out her heart to God, promising that if she's given a son, she'll give him back to God. And she vows that he'll be a Nazirite all the days of his life (as Samson was).

I Samuel 1:13-18: Watching her pray (without sound) is Eli the priest. He interprets her behavior as drunkenness (making us wonder if drunk worshipers often go to the Tabernacle) and admonishes her to lay off the booze. She replies that she's touched neither beer or wine (and an NIV study Bible footnote says that brewing beer was an industry as early as 2500BC according to ancient Mesopotamian texts.) In any event, Hannah says she's "poured out her soul to God," and so Eli says, "may he grant your request." Eli's words give her heart; she washes her face, eats, and looks happy. She has faith that God will answer her prayer; I think she's already thanking God for the baby that she can imagine is in her arms.

I Samuel 1:19: After they return home, Hannah becomes pregnant and in due time, Samuel is born. She gives him a name which sounds like "heart of God" in Hebrew, and lives in gratitude caring for this child whom God has given her. Rather than go back to the Tabernacle, for the first few years after Samuel's birth, Hannah stays at home to care for him. Then when he's weaned (at 3 or 4), she takes him to Shiloh and gives he back to God as she'd promised. Eli becomes a kind of father and mentor to Samuel.

I Samuel 2: The first part of this chapter reminds us of Mary's song in praise of being chosen to bear the Messiah, the song we call the Magnificat. Hannah pours out thanksgiving for her son, for God's mercy, for all God's gifts. And she is prophetic. In verse 10, she mentions God's anointed, using the same Hebrew word which is also translated messiah and Christos in Greek. This is clearly pointing to Jesus, the anointed one of God, who will judge the earth, and who is the exalted king of kings.

I Samuel 2:11: Elkhanah, Hannah and their family returned home without Samuel. This had to be extremely difficult for Hannah, but she also felt fulfilled: she'd had a son, and he was a gift from God, and she'd given him back, keeping her vow. God gives her five other children (2:21), and she has the satisfaction of knowing Samuel is serving God.

I Samuel 2:12-17, 22-25 and 27-end of chapter: By contrast to the faithfulness of Elkhanah's family, and Hannah's gift to the Lord, we have Eli. Eli is the high priest, and he is a good man, but his two sons, Hophni and Phineas, who serve as priests in the Tabernacle, are wicked: "They had no regard for the Lord," a sad commentary on these descendants of Aaron. We discover that they not only sleep with the women who serve at the Tabernacle entrance, but they also steal the sacrificial offerings. Their lack of reverence for God and God's laws is shocking. Eli know what they're doing. He tells them "you're sinning," but they ignore him. Eli is not a strong father; he could easily have replaced them with other priests; he could have had them disciplined in several ways, but he does nothing but talk, and his speech to them falls on deaf ears. These guys have it made, and they know it. Their hearts are as hard as Pharaoh's was to the ways and the voice of God. God tells Eli through a "man of God," an unnamed prophet, that both his sons will die and that no descendants of Eli's family will live out a normal life span, and none of them will be priests. God says that he will raise up a faithful priest, and that man is Samuel.

I Samuel 2:18-21 and 26: Samuel is serving God by serving Eli. He's in an apprentice role, a little early, but he's learning. (Remember in Numbers we learned that priests began their training at age 25 and then became full fledged priests at age 30). He wears an ephod and must have appeared like a miniature priest. Hannah, on her yearly visits, brings him new clothes. What a reunion they must have had each year: she gets to see how much he's grown, and he hears about all that's going on back home (although Shiloh and the Tabernacle are now his home). In v. 26, we read "And the boy Samuel continued to grow in stature and in favor with the Lord and with men." We read this only once more in scripture, and it's said of Jesus in Luke 2:52.

I Samuel 3: Now God calls Samuel. Twice before we've read of God's calls: first to Abraham in Genesis 12, and then to Moses in Exodus 3. Both times, God called them to go on journeys and in Moses' case, to lead his people out of Egypt. Samuel's call is different in form and in content. Where as God tells Abraham to leave his country and go to a place he will show him, Moses is called from a burning bush, Samuel is called by a voice in the night. Three times God calls "Samuel," and he runs to Eli thinking it is his voice he's heard. The first verse of the chapter says "the word of the Lord was rare in those days; there were not many visions," so people had become used to God's silence. Finally, Eli realizes that it's God's voice Samuel has heard, and he tells him, "if he calls again, say 'speak Lord, for your servant is listening,'" and Samuel obeys. Samuel is told that what God had told Eli through the prophet would come to pass, and that what God did would make all their ears tingle. What it means is that the punishment God will mete out is shocking, and those who hear it is to happen to them will be stunned, as will all who hear about it. The most shocking thing about it is that Eli's sons cannot be redeemed; no sacrifice or offering can atone for their sins. What a price they've paid for their gluttony: they are to be cut off forever from God. Remember Cain, who killed his brother, and God punished him by sending him away to wander, and Cain said his punishment was more than he could bear. God told him he'd be marked in such a way that others would not kill him, but then we read, "Cain went out from the Lord's presence" (Gen. 4:16). This is a sad, sad statement. Moses says in Psalm 90, "Lord you have been our dwelling place throughout all generations," and that means living IN God's presence. It's the only place of joy and fulfillment for any of us. Eli's sons probably never knew that joy, and now will never know it.

I Samuel 3:15: Samuel is fearful the next morning: should he tell Eli what God said? But Eli solves the dilemma telling him not to withhold any of what God said, and Samuel does not. Eli affirms it: "He is the Lord, let him do what is good in his eyes." Years go by, and we read that as Samuel grows, "none of his words fell to the ground." What a contrast to Eli's sons: Samuel says nothing that's frivolous or would not build up the people of God. He's truly God's man. God appears to him and speaks to him, confirming that he has given Samuel a role to play as prophet and priest.

I Samuel 4: Now the scene shifts to battle. The Philistines, Israel's enemies in Samson's time, are again attacking. Israel is defeated, losing 4,000 men on one day. The Philistines are descendants of immigrants from Crete, and they are skilled in war, possessing sophisticated weapons--much more refined in fighting than Israel is. Under Joshua, Israel's forces used stealth and ambush, and God's weapons (storms, thunder, earthquakes, hail) to defeat the enemy. Now they've drifted so far from God that they're "on their own" against the Philistines, and they're unprepared and untrained. So they decide to get the Ark from the Tabernacle and take it onto the battlefield with them. God would never permit this; in fact, recall that the Ark stood in the Holy of Holies and ONLY the high priest could go into this section of the Tabernacle, and then only once a year on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. The Ark represented God's presence; it was to be treated as holy. And when the Tabernacle was on the move with the people, only the Kohathites could carry it. Now, however, all these laws and all their respect for holy things have been forgotten. So off they went with the Ark, Hophni and Phineas, Eli's sons, carrying it. A great cheer went up with the Israelite troops saw the Ark, and this caused the Philistines to think "their God is in their camp; we must fight harder," and they do, and not only are the Israelites defeated, but the Ark is captured. Israel lost 30,000 soldiers and Eli's sons are both killed. Back in Shiloh, when Eli is told of the defeat, the capture of the Ark and his son's death, he falls off his chair and dies, his neck broken. His pregnant daughter in law, wife of Phineas, goes into labor at the news, and dies as the child is born. She calls him Ichabod, meaning "the glory of the Lord has departed." It is a day of deep mourning in Israel.

Next week: Samuel's story continues after the Philistines deal with the Ark.

Homework for those who want to go deeper:

Let's close in prayer.