1 Sam 1 — The Birth and Dedication of Samuel
1 Sam 2:1-11 — Hannah’s Prayer
1 Sam 2:12-36 — Eli’s Sons Disobedience and the Results
Thoughts about serving others
This link includes a list of posts about Serving the Least, the Lost, and the Lonely.
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Let the Word evoke words. May your life encourage lives.
There are three stories in these first two chapters: 1) Elkahah as the faithful husband, 2) Hannah’s incredible faith and Eli’s scoundrels (his sons).
1. Elkanah makes a brief appearance here, but his part in the narrative is significant. He’s a faithful follower of God’s laws, consistently making it to the temple to offer sacrifices. He has two wives, Hannah and Peninnah. I assume that since Hannah was barren, he marries Peninnah and thus he is able to have children to support the family. Still, he loves Hannah more (makes me think about Abraham with Sarah and Hagar) and gives her twice the portion of food as Peninnah which creates a bitter rivalry. Peninnah constantly provokes Hannah, to the point of tears, but Hannah does not fight back. Amazingly, Hannah stays faithful.
2. Hannah is eventually seen by Eli as she is weeping and praying to the Lord for help. She makes a vow, “not forget your servant but give her a son, then I will give him to the Lord for all the days of his life, and no razor will ever be used on his head” (1 Sam 1:11). Eli sees her lips moving and accuses her of being drunk! Still, she doesn’t fight back, rather humbly responds to Eli and he is touched by her sincerity. Eli blesses her, “Go in peace, and may the God of Israel grant you what you have asked of him” (1 Sam 1:17). This is significant and Hannah receives the blessing in short order by becoming pregnant with Samuel. After he is weaned, Hannah makes good on her vow, and takes the boy to Eli with an explanation, “…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 Sam 1:26-28). Such amazing faith! Lord, may I have one-tenth of Hannah’s faith!! God was gracious to Hannah and she had more children (1 Sam 2:21). This is significant since she offered Samuel to Eli as his servant, her only child after years of being barren, before she had any other children. She didn’t know God would continue to bless her, yet she was faithful.
3. In stark contrast, the next chapter switches quickly to Eli’s scoundrel sons Hophni and Phinehas. These two have the privilege and favor of serving the Lord in the temple, but they commit grievous sins with the sacrifices offered as well as sleeping “with the women who served at the entrance to the tent of meeting” (1 Sam 2:22). A man of God confronts Eli and tells him of God’s plan for his family…not a good plan. We’ll see this unfold shortly.
Through the drama of rival wives and scoundrel sons, Samuel (and his parents) continues to serve the Lord with Eli as a young boy. Talk about a bad environment to be raised! They see the bad behavior and choose to serve the Lord without missing a beat. Lord may I learn great lessons from this consistency. May I simply serve you without being distracted by the world around me. Amen.