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Towering Figures of the Old Testament |
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Samuel
1
Samuel 1-8 |
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Introduction |
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After
Joshua and before Saul the first king of
Israel, Israel is ruled by 12 judges. These
are wise leaders or military heroes. The
last of the judges is Samuel.
In Ramah, in
the hill country of Ephraim, Elkanah lives
with his two wives, Hannah and Peninnah.
Peninnah is blessed with children while
Hannah is childless. Elkanah regularly goes
on a pilgrimage from his city to worship the
LORD of hosts and to sacrifice to him at
Shiloh. The temple in Shiloh is ministered
by the priest Eli along with his two sons,
Hophni and Phinehas.
During
the day of the offering Elkanah gives a
portion each to his wife Peninnah and to all
her sons and daughters, but a double portion
to Hannah because he loves her.
Find out
how this story turns out! |
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The Birth of
Samuel |
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During one such
pilgrimage, as she did in the past, Peninnah
reminds Hannah that the LORD has left her
barren. Hannah becomes so upset she weeps and
refuses to eat. When Elkanah sees this, he
worries.
After a meal in Shiloh Hannah prays silently she
promises the LORD that if He gives her a male
child she will give him to the LORD for as long
as he lives. She also promises that neither wine
nor liquor will he drink and no razor will ever
touch his head.
Eli the priest of Shiloh sees Hannah praying and
weeping and Eli thinks that Hannah is drunk and
reproaches her to sober up. Hannah explains that
she was just pouring out her troubles and deep
misery to the LORD. Eli sends her off with a
blessing.
After she meets up with Elkanah they return home
where they had relations and the LORD remembers
Hannah. She conceives and gives birth to a son
whom she calls Samuel. |
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When it comes
time to offer sacrifice in Shiloh again,
Hannah refuses to go saying that she needs
to stay until Samuel is weaned so she can
offer him to the LORD as a consecrated man.
So Hannah stays to nurse her son.
Once Samuel is
weaned, Hannah brings him, along with a
three-year-old bull, about a bushel of
flour, and a skin of wine to the temple of
the LORD in Shiloh. Hannah presents Samuel
to Eli as an offering to the LORD, and to
live in the temple for as longs as he lives.
The boy
Samuel, girt with a linen apron, grows in
the presence of the LORD. He sees his mother
and father when they come up to offer
sacrifice at the temple at Shiloh. Samuel
grows in stature and in worth in the eyes of
the LORD and of men. |
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Hannah finds
favor with the LORD and she bears three more
sons and two daughters while Samuel is
serving at the temple. |
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The Sins of
Eli |
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Meanwhile the
sons of Eli are wicked. They neither respect
the LORD nor the priestly duties toward the
people. They demand portions of the offering
from the people and sometimes, they extract
their demands by force. They treat the
Israelites who come to make offerings badly
and their offering with disdain. These
wickedness go on without reproach from Eli.
One day a man of God comes to Eli and tells
him that he and his sons had dishonored the
LORD. The LORD tells Eli that no man in
Eli’s family shall reach old age. He also
says that his sons, Hophni and Phinehas,
will die on the same day. The LORD also
revokes His promise of eternal priesthood.
He tells Eli that He will choose a faithful
priest who shall do what He has in heart and
mind and establish a lasting house for him |
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The Call to
Samuel |
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One night
while Samuel sleeps in the temple of the
LORD where the ark of God is, the LORD calls
Samuel for the first time in his life.
Samuel runs to Eli and tells Eli, "Here I
am," thinking Eli had called him. Eli tells
he that he did not and tells him to go back
to sleep. |
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Again the LORD
calls Samuel, who rises and goes again to
Eli. "Here I am," he says. "You called me."
But again Eli answers that he did not call
him. He tells Samuel to go back to sleep.
The LORD calls Samuel again. Samuel gets up
and goes to Eli, he said, "Here I am. You
called me."
Eli
understands then that the LORD is calling
the youth. So he says to Samuel, "Go to
sleep, and if you are called, reply, 'Speak,
LORD, for your servant is listening.'"
When Samuel
goes back to sleep in his place, the LORD
comes and reveals his presence, calling out
as before, "Samuel, Samuel!" Samuel answers,
"Speak, for your servant is listening."
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The LORD says to
Samuel that that day is coming He will carry out
everything He threatened
against the family of Eli. The LORD tells Samuel that
Eli’s sons blasphemed God, and yet Eli did not
reprove them.
Samuel then sleeps until morning. He gets up
early and opens the doors of the temple of the
LORD. Eli calls him and demands that Samuel
tells him everything that the LORD said.
So Samuel does. Afterwards, Eli answers that the
LORD will do what He judges best.
Samuel grows up, and the LORD is with him, not
permitting any word of his to be without effect.
Thus all Israel comes to know that Samuel is a
prophet of the LORD.
The LORD continues to appear at Shiloh to Samuel
and Samuel speaks to Israel. |
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The Ark of the
LORD of Hosts Is Captured |
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At this time, the
Philistines gather for an attack on Israel.
Israel goes out to engage them in battle but
Israel is defeated.
Thinking that if the ark of the LORD goes into
battle among them and they will be saved from
their enemies the Israelites brought with them
the ark of the LORD of hosts, who is enthroned
upon the cherubim.
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Philistines
battle Israel with such resolve and defeat
Israel capturing the ark of God. Eli's two
sons, Hophni and Phinehas, who were with the ark
are killed. Upon learning that the ark of God
has been captured, Eli falls breaking his neck
and he dies. He was ninety-eight years old.
The Philistines then brings the ark of God into
the temple of Dagon in Ashdod, placing it beside
Dagon. Next morning the people of Ashod find
Dagon lying prone on the ground before the ark
of the LORD. They pick Dagon up and put him back
on his altar. But next morning the people again
find Dagon lying prone on the ground before the
ark of the LORD with his head and hands broken
off.The LORD punishes the people of Ashdod. He
ravages and afflicts the city and its vicinity a
great
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and deadly plague
of mice that swarm in their ships and overrun
their fields. And everywhere they move and keep
the ark the LORD throws that city into turmoil.
So they decide to send the ark back to Israel. They place the ark on a
cart with the guilt offerings pull by two cows.
The two cows go straight to the field of Joshua
the Beth-shemite and they stop there.
With the ark of the LORD back in Israel the
whole Israelite population turns back to the
LORD.
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Samuel Judges
Israel |
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Samuel tells the
Israelites to throw away their foreign gods and
to devote themselves to the LORD, and worship
him alone. He tells them that that is the only
way the He will deliver them from the power of
the Philistines.
So the Israelites do as Samuel ordered. Samuel
orders all Israel to gather at Mizpah, and
there they fast and confess to the LORD.
It is at Mizpah that Samuel begins to judge the
Israelites.
When the Philistines hear that the Israelites
had gathered at Mizpah, they plan to attack
Israel.
But Samuel prays to the LORD to save them from
the Philistines and offers a sacrifice. During
the sacrifice the Philistines attack Israel.
That day, however, the LORD thunders loudly
against the Philistines, and throws them into
such confusion that Israel defeats them. Never
again are they to enter the territory of Israel,
for the LORD punishes them severely as long as
Samuel lived.
The cities from Ekron to Gath which the
Philistines had taken from Israel are restored
to them. Israel also frees the territory of
these cities from the dominion of the
Philistines. Moreover there is peace between
Israel and the Amorites.
Samuel judges Israel as long as he lived. He
travels yearly, passing through Bethel, Gilgal
and Mizpah and judging Israel at each of these
sanctuaries. |
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Israel Demands
a King |
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In his old age
Samuel appoints his sons judges over Israel. His
first-born is named Joel, his second son, Abijah;
they judge at Beer-sheba. When the sons of
Samuel turn out to be corrupt, the elders of
Israel come to Samuel demanding that Samuel
appoint a king over them instead.
Although this demand displeases him, Samuel
prays to the LORD who tells him to grant the
people's every request. The LORD tells Samuel
that the Israelites are rejecting the LORD as
their king.
He also tells Samuel to warn them solemnly and
inform them of the rights of the king who will
rule them.
Samuel delivers the message of the LORD in full
to the elders. Samuel warns them that the king
will take their sons and daughters and make them his
soldiers, cooks and bakers. He also tells them
that the king will take all that is theirs from
them as his own. He also tells them they will
all become slaves of the king.
Finally,
Samuel warns them when this happens all of
Israel will complain but on that day the LORD
will not answer them.
But the people do not believe Samuel and insist
for a king over Israel.
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The LORD
through Samuel grants Israel their first kings.
What follows next is the anointment by Samuel of Saul, and then David. |
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I & II Samuel: A Commentary (Old Testament Library)
First sentence in
the book:
""THE BOOKS OF SAMUEL contain that
part of the history of Israel which describes
the foundation of the State, running from the
close of the period of the Judges to the
establishment of the united kingdom." |
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Samson and Delilah and Other Old Testament
Stories (Discovering the Bible)
(Hardcover) by Victoria Parker (Author), Retold
by Victoria Parker (Author)
This book provides known Bible stories from
Israel in the Promised land to the Story of
Ruth. It has the stories we grew up with but it
adds historical and religious facts to each
story. It tells the stories gearing them toward
elementary school children. |
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Moses Great Lives Series: Volume 4 ,
by Charles R. Swindoll. This book presents the
Bible's real Moses-the Moses who tried to
decline his assignment from God; the Moses who
dazzled Pharoh; the Moses who received the Ten
Commandments; the Moses who was disobedient and
weak; the Moses who was the greatest leader of
God's people in all of history. Through his
faith and selfless dedication, Moses continually
chose to follow God's will through difficult and
seemingly impossible situations.
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Jacob and Esau
by Harriette Augusta Curtiss and F. Homer
Curtiss (Paperback - Dec 30, 2005) |
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The Prophecy of Isaiah: An Introduction &
Commentary
by J. A. Motyer
Recipient of a Christianity Today 1994 Critics
Choice Award! Among Old Testament prophetic
books no other equals Isaiah's brilliance of
style and metaphor, its arresting vision of the
Holy One of Israel and its kaleidoscopic vision
of God's future restoration of Israel and the
world. Now, after over three decades of studying
and teaching Isaiah, Alec Motyer presents a
wealth of commentary and perspective on this
book. |
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Saint of the Day: Lives, Lessons, and Feasts
(Paperback)
by Leonard Foley (Editor), Pat McCloskey
(Editor) |
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Lives of the
Saints You Should Know by Margaret R. Bunson,
Matthew E. Bunson |
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New Illustrated Book of Saints
Author: Catholic Book Publishing Company |
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One Hundred Saints: Their Lives and Likenesses
Drawn from Butler's
This is a coffee-table collection of 100 popular
saints illustrated with art works taken from
international galleries. The saints are listed
alphabetically in a valuable table of contents,
with a larger list of patron saints following
the text. Inclusion is based on popularity
within the Christian world and the
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availability of
atypical art works. Entries are generally based
on the 1926-38 edition of Butler's Lives of the
Saints, with the length of each entry varying
from one-half page to several pages. Short
entries giving written insight into the lives of
pious individuals are combined with depictions
rendered by artists such as Raphael and El
Greco. An inexpensive tribute to art and faith
more appropriate for gift-giving than for
libraries. |
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Apologetics |
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Mary
and the Saints |
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Mass
and the Eucharist |
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Prayers |
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Novenas |
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The Rosary |
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Traditional Prayers:
Discover the origin of your favorite prayer. We might
even have the original Latin version, too. |
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to say a novena in honor of your favorite
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