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In the book of 1 Samuel we read about kings, Saul and David in particular, the first kings in Israel. But what we're supposed to see is that God is the ultimate king and that no one has any authority that He has not given.
When we understand the text...
This is When We Understand the Text, a daily Bible commentary to help encourage your time in the Word. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday we feature New Testament Study, an Old Testament book on Thursday, and our Q &A on Friday.
Now here's your teacher, Pastor Gabe.
Thank you, Becky. We finished our study of the book of Ruth last week, and this week we're going to keep right on going into the next book of 1 Samuel. So if you want to open up your Bible there, we're going to read chapters 1, 2, and 3.
Before doing that, let's look at some of the backstory behind this book and also the reason why it was written. What is it that we are supposed to understand from the book of 1 Samuel? When we were looking at Judges, I mentioned that the Jewish tradition was that Samuel wrote the book of Judges.
And the Jewish tradition also holds that Samuel wrote the book of Ruth. There's a couple of different schools of thought there. Either Samuel wrote Ruth to remember the line through which David came and ascended to the throne, because we have it mentioned at the end of the book of Ruth, that small little Davidic genealogy.
It talks about how David is a descendant of Boaz and Ruth. Or, because of some of the language that we see in there anticipating a restoration of the kingdom of Israel, it could have been that Ruth was written either during the split kingdoms after Solomon or during Babylonian exile.
That the Israelites were anticipating the restoration of Israel to becoming the empire that it once was, the superpower in the world, and there was going to be a king in the line of David that was going to ascend to that throne.
Now, we know when we read the book of Ruth, what we're anticipating there is the coming of the Messiah. That's really what's being talked about. But the Israelites may have had this anticipation of a king in the line of David that was going to be an earthly Messiah, so to speak, who was going to be a king as great as David and would lead Israel into being a great empire once again.
That's what they were anticipating. So, because of some of the language that's written in there that way, maybe Samuel wasn't the author, but somebody who followed him, either a disciple of his, or it could have been Nathan or Gad.
And I mention those two names because at the end of 1 Chronicles, it mentions that the books that we're reading here that go from Judges through 2 Chronicles were written by Samuel, Nathan, and Gad. So either those three men wrote those books by their own pen, or they had disciples under studies under them that would have written what they directed them to write.
Even after Samuel died, still would have been able to direct his scribes as to what it was that they should keep writing even after he is gone. We know that Samuel likely did not write most of the book of 1 Samuel.
Why is that? Because he dies in chapter 25. So he could not have written most of this book and definitely would not have written 2 Samuel. So again, that would have been picked up either by Nathan or it would have been some of Samuel's understudies that would have continued writing.
So we have the books of Judges and Ruth and perhaps a little bit of 1 Samuel being credited to Samuel. Now there was a time when 1 and 2 Samuel were actually one book, and it was paired with 1 and 2 Kings, which was one book, referred to as the Books of the Kingdoms.
But the Septuagint separated them out into 1 and 2 Samuel and 1 and 2 Kingdoms. In the Hebrew Bible, this is part of what's called the Former Prophets, and it goes from Joshua through 2 Kings. And then you have 1 and 2 Chronicles, which are the Books of the Chronicles.
As a matter of fact, we'll see that mentioned. I believe it comes up in 2 Samuel and also in 1 and 2 Kings, the Books of the Chronicles of the Kings. But this book in particular, we see the end of the Judges and the beginning of a monarchy.
In fact, that is one of the major themes of the book of 1 Samuel, is the establishment of the monarchy in Israel. All of the Old Testament was written out of four major events. There was the Exodus from Egypt, there was the establishment of the monarchy, there was Babylonian exile, and then there was the restoration of Israel, which we read about in Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther.
That restoration was what led to the writings of those books. So we have about the first five or six books of the Bible that came from the Exodus from Egypt, and then the establishment of the monarchy in Israel is where we get 1 Samuel.
The Books of Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, the Psalms, Song of Solomon. All of this would have come out of the monarchy as well, because they would have been written by either David or Solomon. Now, not every psalm was written by David, but a good majority of those psalms.
So it kind of fits into having been inspired by the things that were happening during the time of the monarchy in Israel, or the great period of the monarchy that would have extended from Saul to David to Solomon.
Before, under Solomon's sons, we had the split kingdoms, and then you had so many wicked kings that came to power in Israel and in Judah. Anyway, we'll talk more about that when we get to 1 and 2 Kings.
What are some of the main themes that we're going to be taking out of the book of 1 Samuel? Well, first of all, God's kingship. Even though we are focusing on Saul and David, they're the two major kings in the book of 1 Samuel, God is running the show.
He is the king of the universe, and nobody sits enthroned on earth that he has not appointed. You can consider a king to be a deputy king to the king of the universe. God is the one that ordains Saul to sit on the throne, and then when Saul falls out of favor with God, David is the one that God chooses to be the next king of Israel.
He chooses Saul. He chooses David. And then from the line of David, we get Solomon and about one of the greatest periods of Israel that the nation ever saw, the 30 to 40 years of peace under Solomon, but then of course all of that kind of falls apart.
But it's from the line of David that we're going to get the Messiah, and so God has arranged these pieces in place as part of his redemption story. He is the ultimate king. Secondly, what's the second theme that we're looking at in the book of 1 Samuel?
God's providence. Romans 8 .28 tells us that all things work together for good for those who love God and are called according to his purpose, and we see that theme in the book of 1 Samuel. You see with Hannah, which is the part of the story that we're going to be looking at today, she was barren, had no children, and she cries out to the Lord and prays for a child, and God gives a child to her, and it is that child who is Samuel, and Samuel is going to anoint the first king, and he will also anoint the second king.
So you have God's providential guidance over these set pieces that are coming together for this plan of redemption that God has plotted out. Third theme that we see in the book of 1 Samuel is God's sovereignty.
Hannah even says in her song, as we're going to read about it today, that God is the all-knowing God. He is the God of knowledge. He chooses and rejects people according to his sovereign will and purpose, and one of the most popular sections of 1 Samuel that illustrates this is 1 Samuel 16, when Samuel has gone to anoint the next king after Saul, and he goes to the house of Jesse, and Jesse's oldest son, Eliab, is the first son that passes in front of Samuel, and he's a big hoss of a guy just like Saul was.
Saul was a big dude, and so when Samuel sees Eliab, he goes, yeah, surely God's anointed is before me, and this is where we have the popular passage where God speaks to Samuel and says, do not judge by his outward appearance, for I have rejected him.
The Lord does not look at what man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart. So you see God's sovereignty even over the events as they occur in 1 Samuel, and he is the one that is guiding and is choosing lovingly by his own grace and purpose, and God is the ultimate king who sits enthroned over heaven and earth.
Nothing happens without God's sovereign decree. And so let's get to reading here, 1 Samuel chapters 1, 2, and 3. There was a certain man of Ramathame-Zophim of the hill country of Ephraim, whose name was Elkanah, the son of Jeraham, son of Elihu, son of Tohu, son of Zoph, an Ephrathite.
He had two wives. The name of the one was Hannah, and the name of the other, Penina. And Penina had children, but Hannah had no children. Now this man used to go up year by year from his city to worship and to sacrifice to the Lord of hosts at Shiloh, where the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were priests of the Lord.
On the day when Elkanah sacrificed, he would give portions to Penina, his wife, and to all her sons and daughters. But to Hannah he gave a double portion because he loved her, though the Lord had closed her womb.
And her rival used to provoke her grievously to irritate her because the Lord had closed her womb. So it went on year by year. As often as she went up to the house of the Lord, she used to provoke her.
Therefore Hannah wept and would not eat. And Elkanah, her husband, said to her, Hannah, why do you weep? And why do you not eat? And why is your heart sad? Am I not more to you than ten sons? After they had eaten and drunk at Shiloh, Hannah rose.
Now Eli, the priest, was sitting on the seat beside the doorpost of the temple of the Lord. She was deeply distressed and prayed to the Lord and wept bitterly. And she vowed a vow and said, The Lord of hosts, if you will indeed look on the affliction of your servant and remember me and not forget your servant, but will give to your servant a son, then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life and no razor shall touch his head.
This is the same Nazarite vow that Samson would have been under, that Samson was vowed to be under in submission to the Lord. So Samuel, you can picture as a prophet who had long braids of hair, just like Samson did, although probably not as big a dude as Samson.
Verse 12. As she continued praying before the Lord, Eli observed her mouth. Hannah was speaking in her heart. Only her lips moved and her voice was not heard. Therefore, Eli took her to be a drunken woman.
And Eli said to her, How long will you go on being drunk? Put your wine away from you. But Hannah answered, No, my Lord, I am a woman troubled in spirit. I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but I have been pouring out my soul before the Lord.
Do not regard your servant as a worthless woman, for all along I have been speaking out of my great anxiety and vexation. Then Eli answered, Go in peace, and the God of Israel grant your petition that you have made to him.
And she said, Let your servant find favor in your eyes. Then the woman went her way and ate, and her face was no longer sad. They rose early in the morning and worshiped before the Lord, and they went back to their house at Ramah.
And Elkanah knew Hannah his wife, and the Lord remembered her. And in due time Hannah conceived and bore a son, and she called his name Samuel, for she said, I have asked for him from the Lord. How beautiful is that, and how lovingly the Lord had prepared Hannah for that great blessing of being given a son, and how much more elated her heart was rejoicing in the Lord, because at the proper time the Lord answered her prayer.
Verse 21. The man Elkanah and all of his house went up to offer to the Lord the yearly sacrifice and to pay his vow. But Hannah did not go up, for she said to her husband, As soon as the child is weaned, I will bring him, so that he may appear in the presence of the Lord and dwell there forever.
Elkanah her husband said to her, Do what seems best to you. Wait until you have weaned him. Only may the Lord establish his word. So the woman remained and nursed her son until she weaned him. And when she had weaned him, she took him up with her along with a three-year-old bull, an ephah of flour, and a skin of wine.
And she brought him to the house of the Lord at Shiloh, and the child was young. Then they slaughtered the bull, and they brought the child to Eli. And she said, O my Lord, as you live, my Lord, I am the woman who was standing here in your presence praying to the Lord.
For this child I prayed, and the Lord has granted me my petition that I made to him. Therefore I have lent him to the Lord. As long as he lives, he is lent to the Lord. And he worshipped the Lord there.
Chapter 2. And Hannah prayed and said, My heart exalts in the Lord. My horn is exalted in the Lord. My mouth derides my enemies, because I rejoice in your salvation. There is none holy like the Lord, for there is none besides you.
There is no rock like our God. Talk no more so very proudly. Let not arrogance come from your mouth. For the Lord is a God of knowledge, and by Him actions are weighed. The bows of the mighty are broken, but the feeble bind on strength.
Those who were full have hired themselves out for bread, but those who were hungry have ceased to hunger. The barren has born seven, but she who has many children is forlorn. The Lord kills and brings to life.
He brings down to Sheol, and He raises up. The Lord makes poor, and the Lord makes rich. He brings low, and He exalts. He raises up the poor from the dust. He lifts the needy from the ash heap, to make them sit with princes and inherit a seat of honor.
For the pillars of the earth are the Lord's, and on them He has set the world. He will guard the feet of His faithful ones, but the wicked shall be cut off in darkness. For not by might shall a man prevail.
The adversaries of the Lord shall be broken to pieces. Against them He will thunder in heaven. The Lord will judge the ends of the earth. He will give strength to His king, and exalt the horn of His anointed.
Then Elkanah went home to Ramah, and the boy was ministering to the Lord in the presence of Eli the priest. And you can hear there by Hannah's song, you see those main themes that will come out of the book of 1 Samuel.
God is king, and there is no king established that God has not appointed. You even have it there at the end of her song, where she says the Lord will judge the ends of the earth. He will give strength to His king, and exalt the horn of His anointed.
God is provident. He has ordained all of these things for the good of those who love Him. He will guard the feet of His faithful ones. You have the very beginning of the song. Hannah sang, my heart exalts in the Lord.
My heart is exalted in the Lord. And finally, that God is sovereign. And you see this also in her song, as it says the bows of the mighty are broken, but the feeble will bind on strength. The Lord kills and brings to life.
The Lord makes poor, and He makes rich. And the adversaries of the Lord shall be broken to pieces. Against them He will thunder in His heaven. And so, all of these themes that we see coming out of the book of 1 Samuel, we also find here in Hannah's song.
Let's keep going, picking up in verse 12 here of chapter 2. Now the sons of Eli were worthless men. They did not know the Lord. The custom of the priests with the people was that when any man offered a sacrifice, the priest's servant would come while the meat was boiling with a three-pronged fork in his hand, and he would thrust it into the pan or the cauldron or the pot.
All that the fork brought up, the priest would take for himself. This is what they did at Shiloh to all the Israelites who came there. Moreover, before the fat was burned, the priest's servant would come and say to the man who was sacrificing, Give meat for the priest to roast, for he will not accept boiled meat from you, but only raw.
And if the man said to him, Let them burn the fat first, and then take as much as you wish, he would say, No, you must give it to me now, and if not, I will take it by force. Thus the sin of the young men was very great in the sight of the Lord, for the men treated the offering of the Lord with contempt.
Samuel was ministering before the Lord, a boy clothed with a linen ephod, and his mother used to make for him a little robe and take it to him each year when she went up with her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice.
Then Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife and say, May the Lord give you children by this woman, for the petition she asked of the Lord, so then they would return to their home. Indeed, the Lord visited Hannah, and she conceived and bore three sons and two daughters, and the boy Samuel grew in the presence of the Lord.
Now Eli was very old, and he kept hearing all that his sons were doing to all of Israel, and how they lay with the women who were serving at the entrance of the Ten of Meeting. And he said to them, Why do you do such things?
For I hear of your evil dealings from all these people. No, my sons, it is no good report that I hear the people of the Lord spreading abroad. If someone sins against a man, God will mediate for him, but if someone sins against the Lord, who can intercede for him?
But they would not listen to the voice of their father, for it was the will of the Lord to put them to death. So once again you see the theme of God's sovereignty, even upon the wickedness of Eli's sons.
Now the boy Samuel continued to grow, both in stature and in favor with the Lord, and also with man. And there came a man of God to Eli and said to him, Thus says the Lord, Did I indeed reveal myself to the house of your father when they were in Egypt subject to the house of Pharaoh?
Did I choose him out of all the tribes of Israel to be my priest, to go up to my altar to burn incense, to wear an ephod before me? I gave to the house of your father all my offerings by fire from the people of Israel.
Why then do you scorn my sacrifices and my offerings that I commanded for my dwelling, and honor your sons above me by fattening yourselves on the choicest parts of every offering of the people of Israel?
Therefore the Lord the God of Israel declares, I promised that your house and the house of your father should go in and out before me forever. But now the Lord declares, Far be it from me, for those who honor me I will honor, and those who despise me shall be lightly esteemed.
Behold, the days are coming when I will cut off your strength and the strength of your father's house so that there will not be an old man in your house. Then in distress you will look with envious eye on all the prosperity that shall be bestowed on Israel, and there shall not be an old man in your house forever.
The only one of you whom I shall not cut off from my altar shall be spared to weep his eyes out, to grieve his heart, and all the descendants of your house shall die by the sword of men. And this that shall come upon your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, shall be the sign to you.
Both of them shall die on the same day, and I will raise up for myself a faithful priest who shall do according to what is in my heart and in my mind. And I will build him a sure house, and he will go in and out before my anointed forever.
And everyone who is left in your house shall come to implore him for a piece of silver or a loaf of bread and shall say, Please put me in one of the priest's places that I may eat a morsel of bread. Now the boy Samuel was ministering to the Lord in the presence of Eli, and the word of the Lord was rare in those days.
There was no frequent vision. At that time Eli, whose eyesight had begun to grow dim so that he could not see, was lying down in his own place. The lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the temple of the Lord where the ark of God was.
Then the Lord called Samuel, and he said, Here I am. And he ran to Eli, and he said, Here I am, for you called me. But Eli said, I did not call. Lie down again. So he went and lay down. And the Lord called again, Samuel.
And Samuel arose and went to Eli and said, Here I am, for you called me. But Eli said, I did not call, my son. Lie down again. Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, and the word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him.
Now that's a really strange statement to make considering that Samuel was serving in the tabernacle. So how was it that serving under Eli, the priest, Samuel did not yet know the Lord, nor did he know the word of the Lord?
It's because Eli just was not a good priest. And this is why Eli's sons were so wicked. So that even Samuel serving under Eli was not being taught the way that he should have been taught. So this is by God's sovereign grace, once again, that the Lord would reveal himself to Samuel and not leave him in ignorance.
And the Lord called Samuel again the third time, and he arose and went to Eli and said, Here I am, for you called me. And Eli perceived that the Lord was calling the boy. Therefore Eli said to Samuel, Go, lie down.
And if he calls you, you shall say, Speak, Lord, for your servant hears. So Samuel went and lay down in his place. And the Lord came and stood, calling as at other times, Samuel, Samuel. And Samuel said, Speak for your servant hears.
Then the Lord said to Samuel, Behold, I'm about to do a thing in Israel at which the two ears of everyone who hears it will tingle. On that day I will fulfill against Eli all that I have spoken concerning his house from beginning to end.
And I declare to him that I am about to punish his house forever for the iniquity that he knew, because his sons were blaspheming God, and he did not restrain them. Therefore I swear to the house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli's house shall not be atoned for by sacrifice or offering forever.
Samuel lay until morning. Then he opened the doors of the house of the Lord, and Samuel was afraid to tell the vision to Eli. But Eli called Samuel and said, Samuel, my son. And he said, Here I am. And Eli said, What was it that he told you?
Do not hide it from me. May God do so to you, and more also, if you hide anything from me of all that he told you. How's that for a threat? And probably would have made Samuel nervous, knowing what it was that God said was about to happen to Eli.
So Samuel told him everything and hid nothing from him. And Eli said, It is the Lord. Let him do what seems good to him. And it's likely what Samuel said to Eli was what was revealed to the man of God in chapter 2, verses 27 through 36.
So we have an unnamed man of God there. But perhaps it was what God revealed to Samuel to say to Eli, and that's what we have written down. Just for whatever reason, it's not in chronological order. But notice Eli's response.
So Samuel told him everything and hid nothing from him. And Eli said, It is the Lord. Let him do what seems good to him. It's like Eli doesn't even act repentant. He doesn't even weep before the Lord and say, Oh, I have sinned.
What a wicked man that I am. Which is the way David responded to Nathan when Nathan came to David and told him of the sinful wickedness that he had committed against God concerning Bathsheba and Uriah the Hittite.
David was sorrowful in his heart. He ripped his garments and he wept before the Lord and prayed for repentance. And yet Eli just kind of ho-hum, just like, You know, it's the Lord. Let him do what it is that seems good to him.
He knows that he's probably going to be stricken, but still so prideful that he does not even have a broken heart over the sin that is exposed before the sovereign Lord. In verse 19, Samuel grew and the Lord was with him and let none of his words fall to the ground.
And all Israel from Dan to Bathsheba knew that Samuel was established as a prophet of the Lord. And the Lord appeared again at Shiloh for the Lord revealed himself to Samuel at Shiloh by the word of the Lord.
And that's the conclusion of chapter three. So we've gotten through the first three chapters of the book of Samuel here and we'll pick up there next week. Our gracious and sovereign Lord, as we read these words, seeing your power, your sovereign hand, your love and your grace upon Hannah and upon Samuel with what we've read here in this story, may these things revive us in our minds, restore in our hearts a love and an appreciation and a worship of you as a God who works all things together for good for those who love you and are called according to your purpose.
We see those words that Paul wrote down in Romans 8 28 in effect right here in the book of first Samuel, putting all these things in order to make way for the Messiah who would come and die on the cross for our sins, ascending into heaven where he is seated at the right hand of the throne of God, interceding for us.
He is the King of kings and the Lord of lords. And so may we worship you all the more, seeing your love and grace upon your people. You are a great God. And I pray that we do not withhold these words from anybody, but preach of the great and loving Lord who saved us by his son Christ in whose name we pray.
Amen.
Pastor Gabe keeps a regular blog sharing personal thoughts, alerting readers to false teachers, and offering commentary on the church and social issues. You can find a link to the blog through our website www .utt .com.
Thank you for listening and join us again tomorrow as we continue our study in God's Word when we understand the text.