1 Samuel 2 – Verses 1 – 11; It’s a very unusual thing for a composition for someone like Hannah to be recorded in the Bible. Hannah had no official status to warrant this getting written down. Songs and prayers like this are usually composed by kings or leaders of the people, not a common woman like Hannah. It’s likely that Samuel, who we assume wrote (or was responsible for the writing of) these portions of the book of Samuel obtained this prayer from her mother Hannah in some way, who had written it down on this exciting occasion of her son’s birth.
Verses 12 – 26; There are many examples of God choosing people from before the time they were born to be his servants – Samuel is one, but also Isaac, Jeremiah, and John the Baptist come to mind. I think often there is something in a person’s genetic makeup that allows them to embrace the call of God to special tasks better than another person. Samuel got good genes from Hannah and Elkanah. Eli’s sons treated God’s sacrifices and their status as priests with contempt, reflecting the permissive nature of their father. Hannah, however, displayed a deep faith and desire to do God’s will, a quality seen reflected in Samuel’s life.
Verse 25; Eli’s comment should bring Christ to mind. “If a man sins against another man, God may mediate for him; but if a man sins against the LORD, who will intercede for Him?” The answer is that the very sacrifices Eli’s sons were treating with contempt (by taking their portion for themselves before the fat was burned off – the fat was to be God’s portion) would have pleaded for their forgiveness if they would have desired it, as those sacrifices were in anticipation of the ultimate sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
Verses 27 – 36; This prophecy about Eli’s family foreshadows the revelation God would later give to Samuel (in chapter three).
1 Samuel 3 – Verse 3; The place where Samuel was lying down is referred to as “the temple” here. In 1 Samuel 2:22, it’s clear that the Ark of the Covenant was still in the Tent of Meeting. My guess is that the term “temple” was used as a general term to talk about an area of worship. Or, perhaps rather than just an enclosure, as it had been out in the wilderness where there was little rain, now that the ark of the covenant had found a permanent home in Shiloh, a somewhat permanent structure was built to house it and the tabernacle – that is the tent that covered the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies. I think it’s safe to assume that Samuel was not actually sleeping in the Holy of Holies, but in the structure that housed it. Nevertheless, the writer thought it significant to point at that Samuel was at least near the ark, the presence of God, so that God would then communicate with him as He had years before with Moses. That the LORD would speak to Samuel at the ark in Shiloh would be a continuing thing, according to verse 21.
Verse 7; When it says Samuel did not yet know the LORD it does not mean that Samuel hadn’t been taught about the LORD. It simply means that the LORD had not yet spoken to Samuel personally.
Verse 10; “The LORD came and stood there.” My hunch is that once again this is the Son of God appearing in physical form. That seems to be his role more often than not in the Old Testament.
Verse 15; More evidence that the ark and its tent covering were now housed in a permanent structure, as Samuel “opened the doors” of the “house” of the LORD.
Verse 19 – 20; Samuel became a prophet of God, a rarity according to verse 1. The unnamed prophet in chapter 2 (verses 27 – 36) must have been another one of the few. That Samuel “let none of His (God’s) words fall to the ground” is the ultimate obedience of the prophet – to take all the words God shares and act on them and/or relate them to others, no matter how difficult or unwelcome, is what a prophet is called to do.
1 Samuel 4 – Verses 1 – 11; Why, in these verses, did the ark of God not “work?” Because the Israelites were treating it as a good luck charm, or an object to be used the way they wanted to, rather than what it was – the presence of the Almighty God. What the Israelites needed to do was inquire of God about their battle. Should they be battling at all? Would he give them victory? How would he want them to go about doing it? Rarely, if ever, in their history, had the Ark of the LORD been brought onto the battle stage. They had acted on their own, without inquiring what God would have had them do.
Verses 12 – 22; More evidence that the ark was venerated more than the God who made the ark special is in this section. Eli was overcome with emotion when he heard about the capture of the ark (and the death’s of his sons, but the capture of the ark troubled him even more), and he fell of his chair and died. His daughter-in-law, the wife of Phinehas, also was so grieved she died during childbirth. She named her child Ichabod, which means “no glory,” saying, “The glory has departed from Israel, for the ark of God has been captured.” I hope there were some in Israel, however, that recognized what happened. The ark had been captured, but they were still God’s covenant people. The glory they had was the fact that God put his name on them. Perhaps that was God’s desire, that they come to venerate the God of the ark more than the object itself.
Verse 20 – 21; How is it that Eli’s daughter-in-law could name her new baby when she did not respond or pay attention when the baby was born? I think that’s a description of her initial reaction. Normally, a Hebrew mother would be ecstatic at the birth of a son. She, however, paid attention only enough to give him a name that was not very desirable.
1 Samuel 5 – Verses 1 – 5; Dagon was a god venerated by a number of Canaanite people, including the Amorites as well. Some historians list him third in importance to El (a generic name for God (El was the moon god worshipped by some Arabic peoples that Mohammed adopted as the one true God, later calling him Allah) and Baal. Samson destroyed one of Dagon’s temples in his death. When Dagon fell before the ark of the LORD like this, eventually breaking off his arms and head, it makes one wonder why the Philistines might consider getting rid of their weaker God and adopting a stronger one instead. I think back then, however, gods were seen somewhat similar as professional sports teams. If your god beats mine, that just means my god had a bad day, and mine may have the upper hand against yours later. It is my feeling that God used this capture of the ark and the strange behavior of Dagon to try to get through to some of the people of the Philistines.
Verses 6 – 12; I wonder how the Philistines transported the ark around, not knowing the proper way to do it? Did some of their people touch the ark and die? Did they leave the ark covered, as it was supposed to be during transport (per God’s instructions in the book of Numbers)? Wherever the ark went, it was a burden to the people, continuing to dispel the notion that the ark was a good luck charm. God would use his presence to bring blessing to whom he wanted to bring blessing, and to bring harm to those whom he wanted to bring harm.
1 Samuel 6 – Verses 1 – 9; As I read this section, my first question is, who are the “priests and diviners” spoken of in verse 2? I don’t think they were members of the Philistine nation, but rather “freelance” spiritual people who had some kind of knowledge (however tainted) about spiritual things. They speak to the Philistines using the pronoun “you” instead of “we.” They do, however, give interesting advice. They were to put the Ark of the Covenant on a new cart and have it be pulled by cows that have just calved. With their calves penned up, the natural inclination of the cows would be to try to find their calves. However, if they took the Ark back to where it belongs, the Philistines would then know that what had happened to them was of God and not by chance. How did those diviners know to do that? Perhaps one or two of them was a believer in Yahweh, and received word from him. Or perhaps God used their strange theories to reveal something about himself to them – that he was the true and powerful God of heaven and earth. They put him to the test, and He responded by showing them a demonstration of his power that should have led them to believe (and perhaps did, for a few).
Verses 10 – 13; The demonstration of His power was the fact that these cows took the ark straight out of Philistine territory as if someone was leading them the whole way.
Verses 14 – 21; The return of the ark was bittersweet for the people of Beth Shemesh, where it first arrived. They offered sacrifices in celebration, but 70 of them also died, penalized for looking into the ark. This leads me to believe their deaths were not instantaneous, otherwise I doubt of 60 more would have done it after the first 10 or so died. Perhaps they were stricken with an illness that resulted in their deaths shortly thereafter. In most cases, however, misuse of the ark meant instantaneous death. Perhaps there was a mob of 70 people who demanded that the ark to be opened, and God punished all of them, even those who had not actually been able to see in. Unfortunately, the people of Israel at that time were so far away from a knowledge of the Word of God that they had no idea how to treat the ark, and showed that disrespect for it by looking inside it.
1 Samuel 7 – Verses 2 – 4; The ark now had downgraded status in Israel, simply warehoused during this time, rather than serving during worship. The people of Israel mourned this situation, pledging, after the admonition of Samuel to serve Yahweh only.
Verses 5 – 6; Samuel planned a revival of sorts, for the people to assemble so he could pray for them, presumably prayers asking for God’s forgiveness.
Verses 7 – 11; In an attack no doubt instigated by God, the Philistines came to Mizpah, probably seeing the Israelites as defenseless there. God used this attack as a dramatic display of what happens when His people turn to him with all their heart, instead of dividing their worship between Him and other gods. He gave the Israelites a stunning victory over the Philistines.
Verse 12; The name Ebenezer that Samuel gave to the stone means “stone of strength.”
Verses 13 – 17; We know that in later times the Philistines and the Amorites still gave Israel plenty of trouble, but during this period – much of Samuel’s time as the last judge of Israel, there was relative peace. Samuel’s role seemed similar to that of Moses during his day – making himself available to the people to lead them spiritually and “judged” them with his wisdom.
1 Samuel 8 – Verses 1 – 5; Unfortunately, with all the things Samuel was, apparently he was not the best spiritual leader to his sons, who did not act as he did. I have a pastor friend who was raised in an unchristian home as a child. Today, he is as dedicated to the LORD as anyone, but he did not have the influence of the Christian father to help him know how to be a father to his own children. Therefore, over the years, his children had many struggles, partly due to his permissiveness with them. Samuel, being raised in the temple with the permissive Eli as his role model, apparently struggled to know how to spiritually lead his sons as well. Because his sons were not the leaders he was, the people asked for a king rather than his sons as judges.
Verses 6 – 9; God clarifies that their desire to have a human king is a rejection of God, not of Samuel. The Expositor’s Bible Commentary points out that a monarch seems to be something God had in his plans for his people all the way back in the days of Abraham. “Kings will come from you,” God told Abraham in Genesis 17:6. Israel was to be a “kingdom of priests and a holy nation” in Exodus 19:6. Yet, though God knew the future of Israel and that it would involve kings, that doesn’t necessarily mean kings would be what was best for them. Ideally, they all needed to honor God as king, but if they rejected that, God would do for them what they wanted, trying to make the best of the situation by providing them with godly kings. Eventually, the ultimate king would come from the line of David, Jesus himself, to be our prophet, priest and king, embodying in himself the three main roles of leadership in the nation of Israel. So, God did have in mind for a king to serve over them, but he wanted it to be at a time of his own choosing, not at the demands of the Israelites.
Verses 10 – 22; Power corrupts, and Samuel tells the Israelites that even the best intentioned king would change life for them. They would be taxed, and forced to serve in military, and so forth. In spite of his warnings, they demanded a king. God grudgingly agreed. Sometimes God will give us what we want if we complain enough, even if it isn’t best for us, just to help us learn a lesson. The lesson he wanted the Israelites to learn, I think, is that no king would be more loving, more powerful, more attentive, than the King of Heaven and Earth. |
