BIBLE STUDY LESSON 02
THE LORD’S PRESENCE
A PRAYER OF JOY
From 1 Samuel 2:1-21
“From a heart filled with joy because of her son Samuel, Hannah offered this prayer to the Lord:
‘My heart is filled with joy in the Lord,
For He has given me great strength.
Now that the Lord has given me a child,
My enemies have no more evil to say to me,
So I rejoice in Him.
There is none as holy as the Lord,
And there is no one else who is God,
Nor is there any Foundation Stone like Him.
Stop boasting so proudly,
Stop speaking with such arrogance,
For the Lord knows all about you
And He weighs your actions.
Those once mighty have been put down
And those once weak have now been made strong.
Those once full are working for bread,
And those once empty are well fed.
The childless woman now has seven,
And the woman with children has them no more.
The Lord removes life and He gives life,
He causes men to be rich or poor,
He humbles and He exalts,
He lifts the poor from the earth’s dust
And the needy from a pile of ashes,
Seating them with princes, in places of honour,
For the earth is the Lord’s,
And He brings it under His command.
He guards the footsteps of His faithful,
But casts aside the wicked into darkness.
A man is not victorious in his own strength,
And those who fight the Lord
Will be broken to pieces.
From the heavens, He thunders against them,
And sends His judgment to the ends of the earth.
To His King He supplies great power,
And increases the might of His Anointed One.’
Hannah and her family returned home to Ramah, leaving Samuel to minister to the Lord in the tabernacle with Eli the priest. But Eli’s sons were evil men who cared not for the Lord. There was a custom in those days that a priest’s servant could stick a three-pronged hook into the pot where the meat for the sacrifice was boiling. The meat that remained on the hook was given to Eli’s sons. Thus, everyone who came to Shiloh to sacrifice had to give part of his meat to the sons of Eli. Their servant might also come at times, before the visitor had burned the fat on the altar and say, give me some of this raw meat so the priest may roast it, for he does not want the boiled meat. If the man who was sacrificing answered, Let me first burn the fat on the altar, then you may have what you want, the servant would say, No, I must have it now. Give it to me or I will take it! By doing this, the sons of Eli were showing contempt for the Lord’s offering and thus were sinning greatly. Although Samuel was still a child, he wore a linen ephod which was like the priests’ as he ministered in the tabernacle. Each year when his mother visited Shiloh with Elkanah for the annual sacrifice, she brought a new robe for Samuel. And each year Eli blessed the parents saying, May the Lord gives you two more children because of the son you have lent to the Lord. Having received this blessing, Hannah and Elkanah then returned home to Ramah. In time, Eli’s blessing came true, for the Lord gave Hannah three sons and two daughters. And as the years passed, Samuel grew up in the tabernacle, serving the Lord.
COMMENTARY
SAMUEL’S FAMILY
Each year Elkanah and his family took time from their work to make a pilgrimage to the temple at Shiloh. Elkanah may have owned enough donkeys to carry his whole family, hut if not, the twelve-mile walk to the temple would not have taken them very long. Fortunately, the well-travelled road to Shiloh was not far from their home in Ramah. Even before Samuel’s birth the family went there every year. After he left to live with Eli they brought another package with them to Shiloh. Each year Hannah wove Samuel a new robe to replace the one he had worn during the previous year. Since clothes were expensive and took hours to make, even more prosperous families like Elkanah’s received a new set only once a year.
HANNAH
In Old Testament times, a large family was considered a source of happiness and a sign of success. Wives without children were often thought of as cursed for some reason. Although Hannah willingly promised Samuel to God’s service at the temple, it must have been difficult to leave the child she had yearned for through so many years. She and Elkanah must have chosen Samuel’s name with much care. Names not only were a reflection of a child’s personality, they were also believed to influence the fortunes of a person’s life. The name Samuel, “To Ask the Lord,” was a reminder that God had answered Hannah’s prayer. In the years that followed, she bore five more sons and daughters.
ELKANAH
Elkanah was one of the rich and important men in Ramah, a town in the mountainous area of Ephraim. One sign of his wealth was his family; he had two wives. Although Elkanah tried to reassure Hannah that he loved her more than Peninnah, she knew that wives were sometimes divorced if they had no children. Elkanah was a member of the Levite tribe, descendants of Jacob and his son Levi. This was the tribe from which all of Israel’s priests were to come.
SAMUEL
Since he was a Levite, Samuel might have eventually become a priest under any circumstances. Then, his service would not have started until he was twenty-five years old. But because of Hannah’s dedication, he started his training when he was only three. Growing up at the tabernacle taught him many things about the priesthood that he would probably not have learned otherwise. Watching Eli’s sons steal the sacrifices that worshipers offered to God must have caused him to ponder the qualities a good priest and leader must have. Even as a young man Samuel was known for his wisdom and judgment. In the coming years he became a trusted spokesman for God, directing the people as a priest, a judge and a prophet. When he was a boy working at the tabernacle Samuel heard God speak to him about the evil of Eli’s sons. When he had two sons of his own, Joel and Abijah, he learned how Eli must have felt. His own sons were known for their evil behaviour. Although they were judges in a large city, Joel and Abijah were greedy and unjust and took bribes.
TEST YOURSELF
1.) Why did Hannah offer her prayer of thanks?
A) She was thankful for Samuel’s birth
B) She was bored
C) She was thankful for the large present her husband had given her that year
D) She was angry at Peninnah
2.) How did Eli’s sons disrespect the Lord?
A) Burning strange incense
B) Stealing meat from the sacrifice
C) Anointing themselves with holy oil
D) Touching the Ark with unclean hands
3.) How many times did Hannah visit Samuel?
A) Two
B) Three
C) One
D) Four
4.) Who marks the end of the judges and the rise of the kings in the Old Testament?
A) Eli
B) Samuel
C) Hannah
D) Jonah
5.) What tribe was Elkanah from?
A) Judah
B) Ephraim
C) Ruben
D) Levi
6.) Who were Joel and Abijah?
A) David’s sons
B) Eli’s sons
C) Samuel’s sons
D) Elkanah’s sons |
