Samuel
8th Bible: Old Testament
Devotions: I Samuel 1:1-20, 2:12-26
I. The Birth of Samuel (ch.1)
A. Why was Hannah greatly distressed?
a. “The LORD had shut her womb.” (verse 6)
b. Hannah prayed earnestly unto the LORD. (verse 10) – prayer with weeping
B. What does Hannah vow to the LORD?
a. VERSE 11 – She vowed that if the LORD would giver her a son, then she would dedicate this child unto the LORD all the days of his life.
b. Her child would be a Nazirite.
c. Eli wrongly accuses Hannah of drunkenness. – a daughter of Belial (a wicked woman)
d. Eli blesses Hannah – “Go in peace: and the God of Israel grant thee thy petition that thou hast asked of Him” (1 Samuel 1:17).
C. What does Samuel’s name mean?
a. “She bare a son, and called his name Samuel, saying, Because I have asked him of the LORD.” (verse 20)
b. The name Samuel literally means “heard by God.”
D. What does Hannah do with Samuel?
a. “For this child I prayed; and the LORD hath given me my petition which I asked of Him: Therefore also I have lent him to the LORD; as long as he liveth he shall be lent to the LORD” (1 Samuel 1:27-28).
b. “Samuel ministered before the LORD, being a child, girded with a linen ephod” (1 Samuel 2:18).
E. Hannah’s Prophetic Prayer of Praise
a. Hannah rejoices in the LORD and in His salvation (see ch.2:1).
b. God’s attributes are praised: His holiness, knowledge, and strength.
c. Verse 10 – Prophecy of the coming king (DAVID) who would triumph victoriously over the adversaries of the LORD.
d. The LORD gives Hannah 3 more sons and 2 daughters. (READ 2:21)
II. The Word of the LORD Comes to Samuel (ch.3)
A. Sinfulness of Eli’s Sons: Hophni and Phinehas
a. They were sons of Belial – they knew not the LORD. (ch.2:12)
b. They made the offering of the LORD to be abhorred. (ch.2:17)
c. They committed adultery at the door of the tabernacle. (ch.2:22)
d. See 1 Samuel 2:17-18 – Notice the contrast between Samuel and Eli’s sons.
B. Compromise of Eli as Father
a. Eli did not restrain his sons. (see ch.2:29 and ch.3:13)
b. God sends a man of God who rebukes Eli. (1 Samuel 2:27-36)
c. Eli’s house would be cut off.
d. Verse 35 – Prophecy of the coming king. “I will raise me up a faithful priest…he shall walk before mine anointed forever.”
C. God Calls Samuel
a. READ 1 Samuel 3:1-18
b. The LORD speaks to Samuel in a vision [a rare and precious thing in those days] – (consider ch.3:1)
D. Judgment Upon the House of Eli
a. “If a man sin against the LORD, who shall entreat for him?” (1 Sam. 2:25)
b. “The iniquity of Eli’s house shall not be purged (atoned for) with sacrifice nor offering forever” (1 Samuel 3:14).
c. “Behold, I will do a thing in Israel, at which both the ears of everyone that heareth it shall tingle” (ch.3:11).
III. Samuel is Recognized as the New Leader in Israel (ch.3:19-21)
A. Israel Fighting the Philistines
a. Israel is losing so they bring the ark of the covenant into the camp. (ch.4:3-9)
B. Eli and His Sons Die
a. Eli fell from off his seat when he heard that “the ark of God is taken.”
b. Phinehas’ wife also dies in childbirth.
c. She named her child “Ichabod, saying, The glory is departed from Israel.”
Side note: "Kabod" = the glory of the LORD which dwelt above the mercy-seat; Ichabode=the glory is departed.
C. The Philistines Sin With the Ark
a. The ark is set in the temple of dagon.
b. Dagon falls on his face before the ark.
c. God sends terrible plagues upon the Philistines.
D. The Israelites Sin With the Ark
a. When the ark is returned the Israelites look into the ark and God killed 50,070 Israelites for this sin. (ch.6:19)
b. “And the men of Bethshemesh said, Who is able to stand before this holy LORD God?” (verse 20)
E. Israel Returns to the LORD (ch.7:1-11)
Side note: See 7:2 The people of God during this time of great darkness were lamenting after the LORD; lamenting=sorrow like after when someone has died (desiring God); the word of the LORD was precious.
a. Samuel calls Israel to repentance. (Verse 3)
1. “Return unto the LORD with all your hearts.”
2. “Put away the strange gods … from among you.”
3. “Prepare your hearts unto the LORD.”
4. “And serve Him only.”
b. Israel does repent and Samuel prays for Israel. (verse 4-6)
c. Then God also gives Israel victory over the Philistines. (verse 10)
d. Samuel sets up a memorial stone and called it “Ebenezer, saying, Hitherto hath the LORD helped us” (1 Samuel 7:12).
e. The enemies of Israel are subdued all the days of Samuel. (see ch.7:13)
f. “And Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life” (1 Samuel 7:15).
Side note: The Lord raises up Samuel to go before His king. Samuel, the child who was born out of great impossibility was a preacher of repentance (1 Samuel 7:3); he was to prepare the people for the coming of the king - compare with John the Baptist.
IV. Israel Demands that Samuel Give Them a King (READ ch.8:1-9)
A. Israel Rejects Samuel’s Sons as Leaders
a. When Samuel was old, he made his sons judges over Israel, but they walked not in his ways.
b. Samuel’s sons turned aside after money, took bribes, and perverted judgment.
c. The elders of Israel “said unto him, Behold, thou art old, and thy sons walk not in thy ways: now make us a king to judge us like all the nations.”
B. What was wrong with Israel's request for a king? Their MOTIVE.
a. “And the LORD said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected Me, that I should not reign over them.”
b. Israel’s sin was in rejecting God as their King and desiring a king “like all the nations” (SEE 1 Samuel 8:5 and 20).
c. Israel did not want God to “reign over them” (verse 7), but rather another king to “reign over them” (verse 9).
d. The sin of Israel is idolatry – “they have forsaken Me, and served other gods” (1 Samuel 8:8).
V. Samuel Warns Israel (ch.8:10-22)
A. What will the king be like? “He will take – your sons, your daughters, your fields, your vineyards, your oliveyards, your menservants, and your maidservants.
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