Have you ever bargained with God? “Dear God, if you help me with _____ I promise I will ______.” In this passage we meet a woman who does just that.
Hannah is a married woman who has no children. In her day, being barren was a humiliation, often believed to be a punishment from God. Her barrenness was also a social embarrassment to her husband. But Elkanah loved her so much that her inability to have children didn’t matter to him.
Read More faithfulness, promiseHannah has just given up the most precious thing in her life, her miracle son. What does she do next? Is Hannah going to ask God to forgive her but she wants her son back? Is she feeling the sacrifice is just too difficult to make, the promise impossible to keep? Hannah prays, “You make me strong and happy, Lord.” She kept her promise to God. The result is she feels strong and happy! Her entire prayer is one of rejoicing.
Read More prayer, thanksgiving, wantsHow can priests be dishonest and refuse to obey the Lord? It’s a total oxymoron! Priests were God’s representatives to the people. They had been chosen by God for this position. There were very strict rules of behaviour and duties. Yet Eli’s sons brazenly disobey and disrespect God in public. Even the people who were offering sacrifices knew the “rules” of sacrifice and offering to the Lord (v 16).
Eli’s sons showed no respect for the sacrifices the people offered.
Read More service, disobedienceThe Lord had specially chosen Levites to be priests, his representatives to the people. It was a holy calling and responsibility. Yet even though Eli is aware of the disgusting, disrespectful, sinful things his sons are doing in their priestly role, he doesn’t stop them. They are thumbing their nose at God and Eli stands on the sidelines.
Disobedience, disrespect – these are widespread attitudes in today’s world.
Read More consequences, disobedience, disrespectDo you ever wish that God would talk out loud to you? You’d be sitting in a room all by yourself, and suddenly God would speak and give you the answer to some burning issue in your life.
Samuel had finished his duties of helping old Eli the priest, and was tucked up warm in bed asleep when he was awakened by someone calling his name. Naturally, he thought it was Eli. Who else could it be?
Read More obedience, courage, God’s voiceAre you ever critical of the people in the Bible? Look at Hophni and Phinehas, for example. They are of the priestly line, chosen by God to serve him at the temple. Their training, beginning at a young age, was the responsibility of their father, the priest Eli. Yet, they have a complete disrespect and disregard for their position and God (1 Samuel 2:12-17).
How clueless could they be?
Read More obedience, consequences, ark of the covenantAll through their history the Israelites had a yo-yo relationship with God. At times they worshipped and served God, at other times they turned away from him and worshipped idols. Samuel told them if they got rid of the idols and turned back to God, wholeheartedly, God would rescue them from their enemy, the Philistines. So the Israelites turned back to God.
When the Philistines marched towards them, the Israelites were scared, but they didn’t run.
Read More confession, God’s help, sinJudges had been God’s representatives to the Israelites for about 350 years. Samuel, the current judge took it personally when the nation’s leaders told him they now wanted a king, like the other nations. The Lord knew that the leaders weren’t rejecting Samuel as judge, they were rejecting God as their King.
There were going to be consequences to having a king, but they didn’t want to listen to Samuel as he laid it out for them.
Read More insistence, king, second bestIn Exodus 3, God calls Moses to be his spokesperson. What is Moses’ reaction? Is he honoured and humbled? Is he excited and overwhelmed? No. Moses says, “Who am I to go to the king and lead your people out of Egypt?” Saul reminds me of Moses when Samuel tells him not to worry about the donkeys, that everything valuable in Israel now belongs to Saul and his family. I can just see Saul looking incredulous, “Why are you telling me this? We’re nobody!”
Read More nobodies, mission, willingnessIt was obvious that God had chosen Saul to be Israel’s first king. Everything Samuel told Saul happened just as he said and right on that same day. All the Israelites gathered so that the Lord could choose a king. Saul was chosen just as God said. It was time for Saul to step forward and be declared king. There was only one problem, they couldn’t find him! The man chosen to be the first king of the Israelites was hiding.
Read More faith, maturity, unknown, response