“The Growth of Samuel” – 1 Samuel 2:11-21

Hannah’s Song and the Promise of God’s King

His marvelous attributes to now turning her thoughts to God's judgment. She says this in verse 10, those who contend with the Lord will be shattered. Against them he will thunder in the heavens and he will give strength to his king and will exalt the form of his anointed.

We understand and know that God is sovereign in all things and he will guard the feet of his faithful ones but the wicked shall be cut off in darkness. So as we think of this text we realize that God is omnipotent, he's omnipresent, he is also a just God and a merciful God and yet his justice will be carried out for all those who do not turn to him for salvation.

As we look at this text we understand the Lord's will judge the ends of the earth and this warning in the first portion of verse 10 is a warning for all. This admonition also comes with an encouragement of God's provision over his people because through this we see a prophecy of God bringing forth a king over Israel but even greater is the promise of the anointing and the word anointed translated from the Greek is the word Messiah.

So this is a picture of God not just providing a king over Israel this is also a picture of the future provision for all mankind of our Lord Jesus Christ. This conclusion mentions a king provided by God although God's Messiah which is the Hebrew word for anointed highlights the importance of Hannah's song as an introduction to both books of Samuel, both first and second Samuel.

Hannah foresaw that God intended to meet Israel's need by providing them with a king. God would provide a king to rule over Israel and in the chapters following we'll be seeing that fulfilled in King David.

Hannah's prayer rises up to a prophetic glance at the consummation of the kingdom of God just as the Lord keeps the righteous and cast down the wicked he will also certainly judge the whole world and cast out his foes and perfect his kingdom.

The king which will be over all of Israel will be a king that God uses greatly. The expansion of the power of Israel is through David and as repeated victories against God's enemies. The success of kings of the house of David goes on and advancing the spread of the kingdom of Christ and will eventually attain to its eternal consummation in judgment of the last day through which all the enemies of Christ will be made on his footstool.

John Calvin makes a quite an incredible statement in this commentary on 1st Samuel 10. Before a king had been established over Israel the people, Hannah the mother of Samuel, describing the happiness of the godly already says in her song God will give strength to his king and exalt the horn of his Messiah.

By these words she means that God will bless the church. To his corresponding prophecy there is an added little letter a little bit later. The priest whom I shall raise up will walk in the presence of my Christ and there is no doubt that our Heavenly Father willed what we perceive in David and his descendants the living image of Christ.

Accordingly David wishing to urge a pious to fear God commands them to kiss the son. To this corresponds the saying of the gospel he who does not honor the son does not honor the father. Therefore although the kingdom collapsed because of the revolt of the ten tribes yet the covenant of God made with David and his successors had to stand.

Just as he spoke to the prophets I will not tear away all the kingdom for the sake of David my servant and for the sake of Jerusalem which I have chosen but to yourself one tribe will remain. The same promise is repeated a second and third time.

It's expressly stated I will afflict David's descendants but not eternally. Sometimes later it is said for the sake of David his servant God gave him a lamp in Jerusalem to raise himself up a son to protect Jerusalem.

To sum up while all others were passed over David alone was chosen as the one in whom God's pleasure should rest. At the end of the psalm of thanksgiving Elkina went back to his family in verse 11. Then Elkina went to his home in Ramah but the boy ministered to the Lord before Eli the priest.

Samuel Ministering Before the Lord in the Tabernacle

Eli went back to his home but the boy Samuel now is serving at the tabernacle of Eli the high priest. There he ministered to the Lord in the presence of Eli the priest to serve the Lord which is interchangeably to serve in the presence of the Lord in that translation.

It was a duties performed by the priests and Levites in connection with worshiping God. Samuel took part in it as he grew up under the supervision of Eli according to his instruction. Israel's hope for grace is represented by this young Samuel whom his parents left behind in the tabernacle.

Remember when Hannah prayed for a son she also said that her son would be dedicated to serve the Lord for all his days. So she dedicated Samuel before he was yet born. First and second Samuel is the use of contrasts as I mentioned in my opening statement.

Faith and trust Hannah had in God contrasted by the arrogance and hostility and jealousy of Hannah. Remember this was the second wife of Elkina and she was always jealous of Hannah. Hannah prayed for a son.

God blessed her with a son. Then was even more hostile towards him. We see the contrast of the wickedness of sons of Eli contrasted with the holiness and goodness of Samuel, the young man that's being mentored, serving.

The reason for these contrasts is the grace of God at work in a dark world. You know we think today it couldn't get much worse. As we go on in this text we'll see just how bad it can get. In the early 1740s an American pastor by the name of Samuel Blair complained.

He said this, religion lay as it were dying and ready to expire its last breath of life. This is part of the visible church. However, God at that time was on the brink of launching one of the greatest revivals in church history.

It was called the Great Awakening which dates to that very year in 1740. God had been quietly working behind the scenes preparing what would soon be broadcast on the front pages of the world. A similar situation is seen in the early chapters of 1 Samuel.

The contrast between Samuel and Eli's sons does more than warn us of the way of the wicked. It is a sound reminder that God is always at work to carry out his providential plan. So when we look and see all the evil around us, we don't lose hope because our trust is in our almighty God.

Yes, we pray for individuals, we pray for their salvation, we sometimes pray for God's judgment to be carried out, but we know that whatever has happened is part of God's providential plan. There is always hope in the grace of God.

We live in a perilous time. In fact, Paul writing to Timothy in 2 Timothy ends this, but realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come for men will be lovers of self, lovers of plenty, boastful, revilers, disobedient parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving.

Irreconcilable, malicious, gossips, without self-control, brutal haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power, and then he gives this admonition, avoid such men as these.

Now, when Paul was speaking of the last days, that actually began at the incarnation of Christ. So we are in the last days. We can take comfort in Christ alone, that he will return in glory. Paul in this epistle to the Philippians brings this great encouragement, chapter 3, verses 20 and 21, he says,.

Even to subject all things to himself. Above all, we can sometimes lose heart when we see the corruption and the wickedness, and yet understanding that our citizenship is in heaven should transcend what we see here on earth.

Eli’s Worthless Sons and the Desecration of Worship

Israel's Pope, for grace, represented by Samuel, whose parents left him behind in the tabernacle to serve the Lord. The introduction of Eli's sons tells us clearly what kind of men they were. Verse 12,.

Now the sons of Eli were worthless men. They did not know the Lord, and the custom of the priests was a very condemning introduction to who Eli's sons were. These men, Hophni and Phinehas, these unbelieving men, were considered and entitled worthless men, which refers to their spiritual condition.

In other words, worthless men, translated to agents of destruction. They were the children of Satan. To say that they did not know the Lord was to say that even though they had access to the Pentateuch and the divine religion, as well as the knowledge and theology of the rituals of worship, the demands of God's holiness, and all that is given.

It was a crisis for Israel that such men of spiritual depravity were considered priests in Israel. That also is pictured by the deadness of Hannah's womb prior to God blessing her. As we go on, verses 13 and 14, it says,.

And the custom of the priests, with the people, when any man was offering a sacrifice, the priest's servant would come, while the meat was boiling, with a three-pronged fork in his hand. Then he would thrust it into the pan or kettle or cauldron or pot.

All of that pork brought up, the priest would take for himself. Thus they did Shiloh to all the Israelites who came there. We have to remember where the temple was, not the temple, excuse me, the tabernacle was located.

Faithful Israelites would come from all over to Shiloh to offer sacrifices to the Lord. They would bring choice, and yet, here these men, these two men, these two sons of Eli were taking the actual sacrifices that were supposed to be offered.

So if we just stop and think about what that meant, they were desecrating the tabernacle. Of Eli's sons also reflects in how they treated the offerings that were brought to the Lord at the tabernacle.

Those priests who served at the tabernacle were given instruction provided by the Law of Moses in Leviticus 7 .34 and Deuteronomy 18 .3. The Law of Moses did not matter to Hothi. They sought only to satisfy their fleshly desires.

These priests would take the meat which was being brought for the sacrifices to be offered in a constant from the faithful Israelites. In verse 15 and 16, also before they burned the bath, the priest's servant would come and say to the man who was sacrificing, Give the priest meat for roasting as he will not take the boiled meat from you, only the raw.

If the man said to them, they must surely burn the fat first and then take as much as you desire, then they would say, no, but you shall give it to me now. And if not, this is the sacrificial place to worship God.

And they were stealing these sacrifices. Verse 17, thus the sin of the young men was very great before the Lord, for the men despised the offering. Those Israelites that would come to Shiloh to worship God and offer sacrifices were devout to God.

They came there only for one purpose, to bring glory to God, to sacrifice to God. This was a travesty of truth in the sight of the Lord and in the sight of all the Israelites, those faithful Israelites.

As they saw these men come in and desecrate the tabernacle, they spread the word. We find the seriousness of which the Lord takes, priestly misconduct in Leviticus. I'm going to read the whole passage that refers to making an offering and what happened there.

In chapter 10 of Leviticus, beginning with verse 1 through 11. Now Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took their respective firepans and after putting fire in them, placed incense on them and offered strange fire before the Lord, which he had not commanded them.

And fire came out from the presence of the Lord and consumed them, and they died. And then Moses said to Aaron, it is what the Lord spoke, saying, by those who come near me, I will treat as holy and before all the people, I will be honored.

So Aaron, therefore, kept silent. Moses called after Meshiach and Elzabod, the sons of Aaron's uncle, Uzziel, and said to them, come forward, carry your relatives away from the front of the sanctuary to the outside of the camp.

So they came forward and carried them still in their tunics to the outside of the camp, as Moses said. Then Moses said to Aaron and to his sons Eleazar and Ithamar, Do not uncover your heads, nor tear your cloths, that you will not die.

For he will not become wrathful against all the congregation. But your kinsmen, the whole house of Israel, shall beware the burning which the Lord has brought about. You shall not even go out from the door or the way of the tent, or you will die.

For the Lord's anointing oil is upon you. So they did according to the word of Moses. The Lord then spoke to Aaron, saying, do not drink wine or strong drink, neither you nor your sons with you. When you come into the tent, you will not die.

It is a perpetual statute throughout all your generations, and so as to make a distinction between the holy and the profane, and between the unclean and the clean, and so as to teach the sons of Israel all the statutes which the Lord has spoken to them through Moses.

MacArthur did a conference. It was entitled Strange Fire. It was a conference that many took part in. Bill Johnson, Justin Peters, and several others spoke at this conference. And the title was Strange Fire.

The importance of understanding how vital it is to worship God with a pure heart. I'm going to read an excerpt from that book. I didn't go to the conference, but I do have the book. How vital it is to worship God with a pure heart.

Understanding that God we serve is the one in three persons. God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. In his introduction of the book, he speaks of Nadab and Abihu. They violated the instruction revealed to the Levitical ceremony regarding the burnt offerings given before the Lord.

Nadab and Abihu were, by all appearances, righteous and respectful men and godly spiritual leaders. They were priests of the true God, and they were Levites. Nadab was heir apparent to the office of the high priest, and Abihu was next in line after him.

They were the eldest sons of Aaron, who was their uncle. Their names have been placed on the list of nobles of the children of Israel in Exodus 24. These two brothers, together with 70 elders, were privileged at Sinai.

The people of Israel had been instructed to stand at the foot of the mountain, and not to go up to the mountain, or even touch its base. While God was up there talking to Moses, even if an animal strayed in to the skirt of Sinai, from the base of the mountain, all the Israelites could see was that of the smoke surrounding God and Moses, and they saw smoke and light.

But Nadab and Abihu were allowed by the Lord himself to come up and bring 70 elders, and they saw God, and they ate and drank. And Abihu were closer to God than most anyone. No other Israelite, except Moses himself, had ever been given honor.

These men seemed to be godly, trustworthy spiritual leaders, as well as faithful servants of God. No doubt Israel esteemed them highly. This caused all of Israel to be shocked when God suddenly struck Nadab and Abihu dead with a blast of fire.

This apparently occurred on the first day of their service in the tabernacle. Aaron and his sons were anointed in a seven-day-long ceremony, when the building of the tabernacle was a big celebration before the Lord, the first sin offering ever made in the tabernacle.

And the ceremony was punctuated with a miracle. Fire came down out of heaven before the Lord had consumed the burnt offering. When all the people saw it, they shouted and fell on their faces. In other words, God himself sent a consuming fire on this sacrificial offering.

This records the events that happened next. Now, Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took their prospective fire parents, and after putting fire in them, placed incense on them, and offered strange fire before the Lord, which had not been commanded of them.

And they died before the Lord. Then Moses said to Aaron, It is what the Lord spoke, saying, By those who come near me, I will be treated as holy, and before all the people I will be honored. When we think of that, that was from Leviticus 10, 1 -3, most likely, Arthur says in his book, Nadab and Abihu had taken fire from some other source, not what God had provided to the blazing fire, but they, in their offering, brazen, on the altar, they used something else to light it.

Whether it was coals from a fire from the camp, or something of their own making, the actual source for which they obtained their fire isn't recorded. The point is, they used something other than the fire God himself had provided.

They violated the very ordinances of God. This offense may seem trifling to someone who's accustomed to the type of casual, self-indulgent worship of our generation, which is known. They did not treat him as holy or exalt his name before the people.

The Lord's response was swift and deadly. The strange fire of Nadab and Abihu ignited the unquenchable flames of the divine judgment again, and they were incinerated. This is a very sobering account. As we think how casual some are to this day, in some places called the place of the church and worship, what is called worship is actually a desecration.

MacArthur and his whole conference goes on to say of the heinous things that are practiced by some of the tele-evangelists and some of the charismatic movements that just mock a holy God. The account is sobering and it has implications for the church today.

If it is a serious sin to dishonor God and to treat him with contempt or to approach him in a way that he detests, those who worship God should never approach him in ways that he detests. As one approaches God, we need to understand that we should always reverence our Lord in humility as he is holy and omniscient and omnipotent.

We have another example amongst the numerous examples in the Old Testament which is shown in Acts, and we're all familiar with it, Ananias and Sapphira, when they are instantly struck dead after lying to the Holy Spirit about what they had withheld.

The author of Hebrews gives this stern warning in Charity 1.

He says this,.

It's a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. We have lost the understanding today in the universal church of how reverent.

Verse 17,.

Thus the sin of the young men was very great before the Lord, for the men despised the offering of the Lord. This contempt that these two priests showed towards God's holiness was such a wicked desecration.

Even more contemptuous was their sexual sins committed by Eli's two sons. They would seduce the women who would come to take care of the tabernacle who should have been treated like a pagan temple prostitute.

This contempt by the high priests had impacted devoted Israelites who came there to Shiloh and spread throughout Israel. It was a vivid desecration, the utter mockery of the most holy. This should be really a powerful illustration of how spiritual leaders today should understand that their moral conduct can have a peer of a Christian professing to be Christian have some immoral scandal and it devastates.

They're not even sensitive to who God is or his holiness or the purity that God desires us to pursue. The scriptures are replete with admonitions of such. Having these promises, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of the flesh and the spirit, perfecting the fear of God and holiness.

That's in 2 Corinthians 7 -1 where Paul is addressing them. ...to become the people of God. Paul also exhorted the Ephesians to put on the new self which is in the likeness of God has been created in the righteousness and holiness of the true Ephesians.

In 1 Thessalonians Paul says this,. For God has not called us for the purpose of impurity, but in sanctification. The word sanctification, of course, is from the word agiosmos which is also translated holiness in other passages.

So God has called us. The author of Hebrews gives the instructions this way,. We had earthly fathers to discipline us, and we respected them. Shall we not much more, rather, respect the Father of spirits and live?

For they disciplined us for a short time, as seemed best to them. But he owned good, so that we may share in his holiness. A Christian is disciplined. It's actually a blessing from God to bring us back to a place where we repent, pursue peace with all men, and sanctification without which no one will.

Samuel’s Growth, His Family, and God’s Blessing

...18 and 19 of chapter 2 of Samuel. Now Samuel was ministering before the Lord as a boy wearing a linen teapot, and his mother would make him a little robe and bring it to him from year to year when she would come up with her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice.

Behind the scenes is the contrast to Eli's corrupt family, the family of Samuel. God works powerfully in faithful individuals. How much more powerful is the presence of God for those godly families? Now Cana and Hannah, we see the value of the loving,.

Godly involvement.

They loved God.

They would travel every year to the tabernacle to offer sacrifices unto the Lord. Their son, at that time their only son, made this comment regarding Samuel's mother and father. His mother would make a little robe each year and give it to her son Samuel.

Even though Hannah and her husband were imperfect sinners, such as we are, they loved and cared for their son. Hannah would make a new robe every year for her son as he grew in stature.

As well as in godliness.

So as Samuel grew, his mother would make another ephod, which is like a short robe. The ephod of the high priest was a sacred garment of gold, blue, purple, scarlet, and fine twine linen worn by the priest.

The ordinary priest was by the high priest. The ordinary priest wore simple linen ephod. In verse 20 and 21, then Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife and say, May the Lord give you children from this woman in place of the one she dedicated to the Lord.

And they went to their home and the Lord visited Hannah and she conceived and gave birth to three sons and two daughters and the boy Samuel grew before them. Their faithfulness and their love for God giving their only son as a servant for God, God blessed them with five more children.

Hannah's spiritual faithfulness was also seen in the increase of her families. Every year they realized how he was growing faithfully. Verses 20 and 21, Eli's blessing as the high priest was not truthless.

It wasn't just a statement by him. He was praying and pardoning God's blessing upon Hannah and Elkanah. Here again we find Eli invoking the Lord God Jehovah and giving this blessing. Eli's words were fulfilled.

The Lord Jehovah God visited Hannah. God sovereignly blessed them and they had more children. In the final portion of verse 21 it says and the boy Samuel grew.

Before the Lord.

As Samuel grew in age as well as stature and favor with other men he was maturing into a godly young man who was also growing in favor with the Israelites as they observed his spiritual. Those who have children were given instructions and commands that we may honor and glorify God.

Children are a gift from the Lord. The blessing of having children is also given to us through God's work. Proverbs chapter 6 says this My son observe the commandments of your father and do not forsake the teachings of your mother.

Bind them continually on your heart tie them around your neck. When you walk about they will guide you when you sleep they will watch over you and when you awake.

They will talk to you.

For the commandment is to loosen disciplines on the way that's from Proverbs 6 22 -23 Scriptures replete with instructions for parents to govern over their children. Those that don't have children we have the privilege of being able to be an example before the youth and the children to be a godly example before the families.

The Glory of God, Holiness, and Closing Prayer

I'm going to stop here because I just want to focus on the one major thing and that is the glory of God. How great a God we serve and how holy a God we live in front of the Lord and our hearts and our praise.

Obey my commandments by his grace we can do so and bring glory and honor to our Lord. Father we thank you for your word we thank you how you are such a holy God and you reveal yourself to us from your word.

You give us your holy spirit to understand and practice your word and we want to praise you today and pray that you can worship service. May you be glorified with the songs and praise that we offer before you and may all that we do respond to the message we get from you.

Respond and ponder the things that are said and bring glory to you. To your glory we pray this in Jesus precious name amen.