1st Samuel CH 2

Summarize Ch1.

Alright

today we are going to be going through Chapter 2 in 1st Samuel

but before we do I wanted to give a little more background on 1st Samuel

1st and 2nd Samuel are probably my top two books in the Bible because it gives us great insight and application from the Life of David and Saul

In 1st Samuel we will see mostly Saul’s Kingship and then when we get into 2nd Samuel we will see Davids Kingship

1st Samuel was written at a time when Israel was in need of a King

When we Look back through the Book of Judges we see that Israel was going through some Hard times

1st The people fell into idolatry they were worshiping idols ,

2nd the lord raised up an adversary to afflict them and turn them back to Him

3rd the people turned back to the Lord and cried out to Him seeking repentance

4th the lord brought them deliverance through a Judge who He raised up

Judges 21:25 “25 In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.”

People were literally living their life how ever they wanted , they didn’t have a king or a Leader

And This is where 1st Samuel Picks up towards the end of those times

We are going to see through out these two Books that the themes are about

Leadership (good & bad ) , Gods Sovereignty ( His power) , Sin & Consequences , and then the Covenant

Remember Israel needed and wanted a king

So were gonna see how God uses Samuel in restructuring Israel and how He pointed people back to God

We always talk about David and Saul in these two books but we always forget how God used Samuel

The first 12 chapters of 1st Samuel are going to be about Samuels Ministry

We will see in the first few chapters all the way until chapter 8 & 9 that they were without a king

They had a prophet but not a king

There nation was under whats called a theocracy

which is a nation ruled by a religious leader like a priest, in this case Samuel

There were other religious leaders but God chose Samuel to be the one to carry out the restructuring of the Nation

This all sets the tone for Samuel that we see in CH 1:

So last week when Josh taught we saw the story of Hannah and the Birth of Samuel

God granted her with a son , a barren woman

we read in vs 28 that Hannah dedicates her son Samuel to Him

it says 1 Samuel 1:28 “28 Therefore I also have lent him to the Lord; as long as he lives he shall be lent to the Lord.” So they worshiped the Lord there.”

This sets the tone for Ch 2.

Theres two things i want to point out in this chapter:

1 bad Leadership, Vs 12-17 , 22-36

2 How God blesses us when we obey Him vs 18-21

1 Samuel 2:1 “1 And Hannah prayed and said: “My heart rejoices in the Lord; My horn is exalted in the Lord. I smile at my enemies, Because I rejoice in Your salvation.”

“ My heart rejoices in the Lord “

Hannahs petition/ prayer to the Lord had been granted

this song we see here known as Hannahs prayer is her giving thanks to the Lord for allowing her to have a son and to bear a child

In those days the women were looked down upon if they couldn’t have children

God in His timing allowed her to have Samuel , it was His plan all along

“My Horn is exalted in the Lord

so when we read this its seems weird, but in those times Women from lebanon would place a Horn on their forehead

the women from Israel had somewhat adopted this tradition as well

depending on the position on the forehead would determine wether a woman had no children or Have had children

A horn also symbolized a way of defense for an animal , but here symbolizes Strength , strength which came from the Lord

it was a way to identify what kind of women they were , they identified as a mother

Hannah was painting a picture for the Lord that her Horn was placed in the position recognizing that she now has a child and that he is due the glory

“ I smile at my enemies , Because i rejoice in your salvation “

Hannahs enemies / possibly Peninnah back in chapter 1 vs 6-7

She recognizes that God is the giver of life and that he saves

1 Samuel 2:2 “2 “No one is holy like the Lord, For there is none besides You, Nor is there any rock like our God.”

Hannah recognizes that there is no God that comes close to the one true God

again coming off a time period where worshiping idols was out of hand , she recognizes that there is none Like Him

He is compared to a rock/ not Just any rock but a Mountain , an immovable object

God is the foundation of this Life

Think of looking at a massive boulder or a massive pice of stone

1 Corinthians 10:4 “4 and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ.”

Hannah was speaking prophetic words here

She’s speaking of Jesus who is the Rock

Matthew 16:18 “18 And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.”

Again Hannah prophesied that Her God is the rock and to rejoice in His Salvation

1 Samuel 2:3 “3 “Talk no more so very proudly; Let no arrogance come from your mouth, For the Lord is the God of knowledge; And by Him actions are weighed.”

Gods ways are higher than our ways

Isaiah 55:8–9 “8 “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord. 9 “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts.”

Our actions and our hearts are weighed more than what we do , we can say the right things

pray the right prayer “look the part”

none of it matters because God sees our true heart

doing the right thing means nothing with the wrong attitude

1 Samuel 2:4 “4 “The bows of the mighty men are broken, And those who stumbled are girded with strength.”

here its saying that the rich become poor and the poor become rich

2 Corinthians 8:9 “9 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich.”

with Jesus the poor become rich , full of life

we find purpose and strength through Jesus

without Jesus the rich become poor,

Luke 9:24–25 “24 For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it. 25 For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and is himself destroyed or lost?”

When we desire the Lord and seek Him , we no longer live for ourselves but for him

we leave the life we know and seek the Life God has for us

1 Samuel 2:5 “5 Those who were full have hired themselves out for bread, And the hungry have ceased to hunger. Even the barren has borne seven, And she who has many children has become feeble.”

Just like in vs 4 with the rich and poor

its comparing now those who were full are hungry, those who were hungry are no longer hungry,

the woman who was barren now has 7 children

and the woman who had children already is tired and wasting away

the point is, God can turn anything around especially the things we have little faith in

1 Samuel 2:6 “6 “The Lord kills and makes alive; He brings down to the grave and brings up.”

God is in control of Life

Jesus conquered death by raising from the dead

Again here we see prophecy from Hannah

1 Samuel 2:7 “7 The Lord makes poor and makes rich; He brings low and lifts up.”

1 Samuel 2:8 “8 He raises the poor from the dust And lifts the beggar from the ash heap, To set them among princes And make them inherit the throne of glory. “For the pillars of the earth are the Lord’s, And He has set the world upon them.”

1 Samuel 2:9 “9 He will guard the feet of His saints, But the wicked shall be silent in darkness. “For by strength no man shall prevail.”

These three verses show the power of God

His ability and his Love for his People

He is the creator of this Earth and of everything we know

All things are in His Hands , He is in control

by our own strength we will fail

Hannah’s is the perfect example of that

A barren woman able to bare a son , she wasn’t even young

It is estimated that she prayed for almost 19 years waiting to have a child

she ran to the Lord for years and He blessed her

what an awesome example to us

fully surrendering something to the Lord and look at the outcome

1 Samuel 2:10 “10 The adversaries of the Lord shall be broken in pieces; From heaven He will thunder against them. The Lord will judge the ends of the earth. “He will give strength to His king, And exalt the horn of His anointed.””

the enemies of the Lord are not gonna win

he will brake them

The translation to the word Messiah means the “ anointed one “ in Hebrew

The lord is coming and so is Judgment

Jesus will return to establish his kingdom

1 Samuel 2:11 “11 Then Elkanah went to his house at Ramah. But the child ministered to the Lord before Eli the priest.”

Samuel we see here in vs 11 starts his training spiritually and morally as he physically grew

1 Samuel 2:12 “12 Now the sons of Eli were corrupt; they did not know the Lord.”

1 Samuel 2:13 “13 And the priests’ custom with the people was that when any man offered a sacrifice, the priest’s servant would come with a three-pronged fleshhook in his hand while the meat was boiling.”

1 Samuel 2:14“14 Then he would thrust it into the pan, or kettle, or caldron, or pot; and the priest would take for himself all that the fleshhook brought up. So they did in Shiloh to all the Israelites who came there.”

1 Samuel 2:15 “15 Also, before they burned the fat, the priest’s servant would come and say to the man who sacrificed, “Give meat for roasting to the priest, for he will not take boiled meat from you, but raw.””

1 Samuel 2:16“16 And if the man said to him, “They should really burn the fat first; then you may take as much as your heart desires,” he would then answer him, “No, but you must give it now; and if not, I will take it by force.””

1 Samuel 2:17 “17 Therefore the sin of the young men was very great before the Lord, for men abhorred the offering of the Lord.”

these five verses have some really good application

again at the beginning we talked about how we will see in 1st and 2nd Samuel good and bad leadership

this is a prime example of bad leadership

the young men ( Elis sons ) were exploiting the people and their sacrifices meant for God

they would take the raw meat meant to be cooked and they would take it by force and go and cook it themselves

In turn it made the people of Israel hate coming to sacrifice because they had to go through these guys first

How can we relate that to today ?

Do we see that today in the church ?

maybe not as blatant but we do see it

when men and women get into a position of power that they shouldn’t be in

they aren’t truly working for the lord but themselves

for self gain

that sin of abusing power has consequences

we can turn people away from the Lord

I recently watched a tv show where this couple decided to create a cult

and in that cult they would chose what gender someone was suppose to be and why they needed to be that gender

all roads lead back to them leading people to buy their coaching products to brainwash them and take their money

the guy later on decided that he could save money on taxes if he claimed to be a church so he did

but its sad because here is this couple posturing up to be people they aren’t and they are leading people astray

(expound ) don’t say what show it is

Romans 16:17–20 “17 Now I urge you, brethren, note those who cause divisions and offenses, contrary to the doctrine which you learned, and avoid them. 18 For those who are such do not serve our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly, and by smooth words and flattering speech deceive the hearts of the simple. 19 For your obedience has become known to all. Therefore I am glad on your behalf; but I want you to be wise in what is good, and simple concerning evil. 20 And the God of peace will crush Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen.”

poor leaders are divisive people

here in Romans it says to “note those who cause divisions and offenses “ and then goes on to say to avoid them and that they don’t serve the Lord , they serve themselves

I believe this can be a common thing amongst any church

when people get a taste of leadership, it no longer becomes about the Lord but their status and what they know

they love to be in the know, they want to know peoples business , they wanna know the latest drama

they want to interject there opinions and so on not realizing they can be turning people away from the Lord

thats toxic , obviously no church is perfect but again, we take note of those who are divisive .

we have to look in the mirror if we are turning people away instead of pointing people to the Lord .

What kind of example are you ? do you point people to the Lord or do you pull people away from the Lord because of your toxic manner

Samuels Childhood Ministry

1 Samuel 2:18 “18 But Samuel ministered before the Lord, even as a child, wearing a linen ephod.”

Samuel i could imagine being a young child was wise beyond his years

he was running around wearing a sweet vest that typically priests or high priests wore

1 Samuel 2:19 “19 Moreover his mother used to make him a little robe, and bring it to him year by year when she came up with her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice.”

each year His mom would bring him a new robe , He was growing

1 Samuel 2:20 “20 And Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife, and say, “The Lord give you descendants from this woman for the loan that was given to the Lord.” Then they would go to their own home.”

1 Samuel 2:21 “21 And the Lord visited Hannah, so that she conceived and bore three sons and two daughters. Meanwhile the child Samuel grew before the Lord.”

So we saw Later on in chapter 1 how because of Hannahs petition to the Lord that he blessed her with Samuel

Well once Samuel was weened He was given up to be used by the Lord

His mom sent Him to school (basically)

Because of her Obedience we see here in vs 20 and 21 that the lord blessed them with 5 more children

what a cool example, God is always blessing us beyond what we can comprehend

even when we don’t fully understand

One minute Hannah is barren and the next she’s pregnant having a baby

then gives up that baby to the Lord, Holds true to her promise and then gets blessed with 5 more children

Ephesians 3:20 “20 Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us,”

Prophecy Against Elis Household

1 Samuel 2:22 “22 Now Eli was very old; and he heard everything his sons did to all Israel, and how they lay with the women who assembled at the door of the tabernacle of meeting.”

Elis sons were messed up

they were sleeping with women right outside the door of the tabernacle

they had fallen so far off they had no conscious and they were suppose to be leaders

1 Samuel 2:23 “23 So he said to them, “Why do you do such things? For I hear of your evil dealings from all the people.”

1 Samuel 2:24 “24 No, my sons! For it is not a good report that I hear. You make the Lord’s people transgress.”

1 Samuel 2:25 “25 If one man sins against another, God will judge him. But if a man sins against the Lord, who will intercede for him?” Nevertheless they did not heed the voice of their father, because the Lord desired to kill them.”

God can intercede in a dispute between two men here

but their sin was directly against the lord , so only condemnation was possible

they literally sinned against the Judge

they were causing people to go away from the Lord

Eli confronts them but again they were so far gone that even wise counsel didn’t matter

the Lord wanted them dead

They didn’t listen to their pops

their time was coming ( remember there is consequence to Sin )

1 Samuel 2:26 “26 And the child Samuel grew in stature, and in favor both with the Lord and men.”

Samuel was growing physically, spiritually, and was gaining favor among people

1 Samuel 2:27 “27 Then a man of God came to Eli and said to him, “Thus says the Lord: ‘Did I not clearly reveal Myself to the house of your father when they were in Egypt in Pharaoh’s house?”

1 Samuel 2:28 “28 Did I not choose him out of all the tribes of Israel to be My priest, to offer upon My altar, to burn incense, and to wear an ephod before Me? And did I not give to the house of your father all the offerings of the children of Israel made by fire?”

1 Samuel 2:29 “29 Why do you kick at My sacrifice and My offering which I have commanded in My dwelling place, and honor your sons more than Me, to make yourselves fat with the best of all the offerings of Israel My people?’”

This un named man some other priest calls out Eli

basically for not doing anything about His sons , yes he warned them but nothing was done

the responsibility of their actions fell on Eli

Eli didn’t love the Lord with all His heart by allowing these things to Happen

He was braking the commandment and this priest was calling it out

1 Samuel 2:30 “30 Therefore the Lord God of Israel says: ‘I said indeed that your house and the house of your father would walk before Me forever.’ But now the Lord says: ‘Far be it from Me; for those who honor Me I will honor, and those who despise Me shall be lightly esteemed.”

God had judged Elis house and deemed them unfit to serve as priests

1 Samuel 2:31 “31 Behold, the days are coming that I will cut off your arm and the arm of your father’s house, so that there will not be an old man in your house.”

1 Samuel 2:32 “32 And you will see an enemy in My dwelling place, despite all the good which God does for Israel. And there shall not be an old man in your house forever.”

God didn’t completely destroy Elis house but he definitely chops it down

1 Samuel 2:33 “33 But any of your men whom I do not cut off from My altar shall consume your eyes and grieve your heart. And all the descendants of your house shall die in the flower of their age.”

1 Samuel 2:34 “34 Now this shall be a sign to you that will come upon your two sons, on Hophni and Phinehas: in one day they shall die, both of them.”

God is saying here that both Elis sons will be killed on the same day

1 Samuel 2:35 “35 Then I will raise up for Myself a faithful priest who shall do according to what is in My heart and in My mind. I will build him a sure house, and he shall walk before My anointed forever.”

This is referring to priests that come from the Line of David

the Same lineage that Jesus was born

1 Samuel 2:36 “36 And it shall come to pass that everyone who is left in your house will come and bow down to him for a piece of silver and a morsel of bread, and say, “Please, put me in one of the priestly positions, that I may eat a piece of bread.”

Now the idea here is as Parents it is our duty to Hold our children accountable

Eli didn’t and that didn’t set well with the Lord, especially because Eli was a spiritual leader

Like vs 29 says , when children are not disciplined under your authority you are honouring them more than the Lord

Proverbs 13:24 “24 He who spares his rod hates his son, But he who loves him disciplines him promptly.”

and for you children it is important that you listen to your parents

 Elis sons didn’t listen to their father even though He didn’t do much

why is it so hard to be obedient as a younger kid ?

When i was your guys age i hated authority

It didn’t matter who it was, I wouldn’t listen

remember theres consequence to sin

1 Samuel 4:11 “11 Also the ark of God was captured; and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, died.”

Hophni and Phinehas were killed as the Lord promised

Ephesians 6:1–3 “1 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2 “Honor your father and mother,” which is the first commandment with promise: 3 “that it may be well with you and you may live long on the earth.””

God promises as His children that if we honour our father and mother that we will live long life’s . Also prosperous life’s

I wonder why , i know for guys maybe because we don’t always have the ability to see when were doing something so stupid its harmful to ourselves

Like maybe running across the street when cars are coming

or jumping off the roof into the pool

or not wearing a helmet doing extreme sports

thats why women live longer

Share stories of not Listening to my parents

to obey our parents is to recognize their authority in our life

Colossians 3:20 “20 Children, obey your parents in all things, for this is well pleasing to the Lord.”

Proverbs 29:15 “15 The rod and rebuke give wisdom, But a child left to himself brings shame to his mother.”

Exodus 20:12 “12 “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you.” - This is the 5th commandment out of the ten

Jesus is another perfect example of this

He listened to His parents even though He was Jesus

He gained favor from God and Man

our parents know what is best for us at any age when we live under their roof

Share the story of Jeff

Be all Ears ! Listen intently

Again ill close with this

Hannah gave thanks to the Lord and prophesied about the future

she was then blessed not only with 1 child but with 6 total

She was “obedient”

Eli’s sons were disobedient and had no real leadership

Eli Himself was not a good leader

He put his kids before the Lord

when we are obedient God blesses us

when we are disobedient we sin and sin Has consequence

Obey with intent !