Samuel, Saul and David

Transcription

1 1 Samuel page Samuel: Bible Study and Commentary Samuel, Saul and David A Bible Study in EasyEnglish (2800 word vocabulary) on the Book of 1 Samuel Keith Simons EasyEnglish is a system of simple English designed by Wycliffe Associates (UK). Contents: 1 Samuel chapter 1 1 Samuel chapter 2 1 Samuel chapter 3 1 Samuel chapter 4 1 Samuel chapter 5 1 Samuel chapter 6 1 Samuel chapter 7 1 Samuel chapter 8 1 Samuel chapter 9 1 Samuel chapter 10 1 Samuel chapter 11 1 Samuel chapter 12 1 Samuel chapter 13 1 Samuel chapter 14 1 Samuel chapter 15 1 Samuel chapter 16 1 Samuel chapter 17 1 Samuel chapter 18 1 Samuel chapter 19 1 Samuel chapter 20 1 Samuel chapter 21 1 Samuel chapter 22 1 Samuel chapter 23 1 Samuel chapter 24 1 Samuel chapter 25 1 Samuel chapter 26 1 Samuel chapter 27 1 Samuel chapter 28 1 Samuel chapter 29 1 Samuel chapter 30 1 Samuel chapter 31 1 Samuel: a study guide 1 Samuel chapter 1 God uses weak and humble people to do great things (1 Samuel 1:1-2) Although 1 Samuel is a history book, its purpose is not to teach history. 1 Corinthians 10:11 explains why such books are in the Bible. God uses the events in these books to teach and to warn his people today. The Bible s history books contain essential lessons for all of God s people, today. So we must not neglect their message. The Book of 1 Samuel begins near the end of the period that the Book of Judges describes. For several hundred years, Israel had been a weak nation, without a king or even a government. Although God had established a relationship with that nation, its people were not often loyal to God. Whenever an enemy dealt with the people in Israel cruelly, they appealed to God for help. So God appointed someone to act as Israel s leader (or judge ). That person gathered Israel s men into an army to defeat the enemy. During each judge s life, the people continued to serve God, but afterwards, they started to serve false gods again.

2 1 Samuel page 2. The Books of 1 and 2 Samuel describe how God saved Israel from this unsatisfactory situation. He made Israel into a strong nation with a capable government and a king, David, who truly loved God. God defeated Israel s enemies and he brought peace to the country. He also taught Israel s people how they could serve him in a better and more loyal manner. We might imagine that it is only possible to achieve such great things by means of powerful and impressive leaders. Nations usually choose proud people with strong opinions to be their rulers (Mark 10:42). That was the kind of king that the people in Israel wanted (1 Samuel 8:20). But that is not how God works. David, the king whom God chose for Israel, was a sincere and humble man. (A humble person is willing to learn the lessons that God teaches and to obey his instructions.) That was the character of the man whom God used to defeat Israel s enemies. David loved God; and God made wonderful promises to David about the future of David s family (2 Samuel 7:12-16). God began to do these wonderful things with two events that seemed very weak. At about the same time, two babies were born. In the Book of Ruth, we read about how Ruth became a mother. She was a poor widow and a foreigner. However, Israel s royal family came from her family. At the start of the Book of 1 Samuel, we read how Hannah became a mother. She had been unable to have a child; but God gave her a son, Samuel. Samuel was the prophet (holy man) who appointed David to be Israel s king. Christian readers will notice how similar these events were to the birth of Christ. At that time, Israel was again in a weak situation. Foreign kings and foreign armies controlled the nation. But God worked in a similar way. He used two women, Elizabeth and Mary, whom people did not expect to have babies. Elizabeth s son was John, who prepared the nation for Jesus. Mary s son, of course, was Jesus, whom Christians believe to be Israel s king, from the family of David. That is what his title, Christ, means: the king of Israel. See Luke 1:5 to 2:7, and Matthew 1:1. Elkanah and his family (1 Samuel 1:3-8) Even during the worst periods of Israel s history, it seems that a few people remained loyal to God. God used those few people to rescue the nation and to carry out his purposes. Those few people mattered more in God s plans than all the people who were not loyal to him. Such a man was Elkanah. He lived at a time when even leaders of the priests, Hophni and Phinehas, were behaving in a wicked manner. However, Elkanah still continued to serve God in a loyal manner. Each year, Elkanah took an animal to God s house in Shiloh. At this time, God s house was the sacred tent that Moses had built (Exodus chapter 40). Elkanah s gift to God was the kind that Leviticus chapter 3 describes. The priests burned some parts of the animal as a gift to God, and they kept some parts for themselves. Elkanah received back the rest of the animal for himself and his family to eat. It was not wrong for Elkanah to have two wives. God s law permitted him to do that. However, the practice often caused the kind of troubles that Hannah suffered. Often, one wife was cruel to the other wife. Also, the children of different wives often argued and fought against each other. It is better for a man to have only one wife (1 Timothy 3:2). Although Peninnah was cruel to Hannah, Elkanah himself was kind to Hannah. He realised how difficult it was for Hannah to be without children in such a situation. So he showed her how much he loved her. Even if Hannah never had any children, Elkanah would still love her. But still, Hannah felt deeply sad. She strongly desired to have a son.

3 1 Samuel page 3. Hannah s reaction to her sad feelings (1 Samuel 1:9-11) When people feel deeply sad, they do not always behave in the same way. Some people become bitter and angry against God; they blame him for their troubles. However, in other people s lives, their troubles cause them to desire God more and to ask for his help. That is what Hannah did. She desired a son so much that she made an extraordinary promise to God. If God gave her a son, she would not keep that boy for herself. She would give him to God, and he would be a Nazirite for his whole life. The Nazirites were the people who obeyed the special rules in Numbers chapter 6. They did not cut their hair. They did not eat the fruit called grapes; and they did not drink grape juice or any alcohol. They could not go near to a dead body, so they could not attend a funeral, even for a close relative. Usually people only became Nazirites for a certain period of time, perhaps a few months. They did it because they wanted to make a special promise to God. However, an angel (special servant of God) had told Samson s parents that Samson should be a Nazirite for his whole life (Judges 13:2-5). Perhaps Hannah had heard about that; it happened during the same period of Israel s history. Hannah s prayer was desperate, but her promise was sincere. Her attitudes had changed. She no longer wanted a son in order to please herself and her husband. Instead, she now wanted a son who would serve God. Now she only desired to please God. All that she hoped for, she had handed over to him. Eli gives God s promise to Hannah (1 Samuel 1:12-20) Eli was Israel s chief priest. He was an old man, and he was a weak man. In fact, he was weak in many different ways. His eyes were weak (1 Samuel 3:2) and his legs were probably weak (1 Samuel 1:9). He was too weak to stop his sons who were behaving wickedly (1 Samuel 3:13). Also, although he genuinely served God, his own relationship with God seemed weak (1 Samuel 2:29). Eli was unable to recognise the true nature of Hannah s prayer. People usually prayed aloud. Hannah was praying to God silently, but in a sincere and desperate manner. However, Eli thought that she had merely drunk too much alcohol. So he spoke severely to her. Eli had misunderstood, but Hannah explained her situation. She had been praying to God in that strange manner because she was so desperate and so sad. Eli realised his mistake and he replied politely. Perhaps Eli only intended a polite reply, but his words had special meaning to Hannah. Because he was Israel s chief priest, he had authority to speak on God s behalf. He had said: May the God of Israel give you what you have asked for. Eli had authority from God to speak those words, so Hannah accepted those words as a promise from God. She believed that God had answered her prayer. That is faith: in other words, active belief and trust in God. Hannah s sad feelings left her immediately. She had no reason to be sad when she was trusting God. She returned home and God helped her to have a baby by her husband. After the usual time, her son was born. She called him Samuel ; his name means God hears. She prayed silently, but God still heard her prayer. Hannah gives her son to God (1 Samuel 1:21-28) Hannah now had the son that she had so much desired. However, she had promised God that she would give her son to him (1 Samuel 1:11).

4 1 Samuel page 4. She explained her intentions to her husband. The boy would remain at home with her while he still needed his mother s milk. In ancient Israel, the time when a child no longer needed his mother s milk was an opportunity for a special party (Genesis 21:8). However, for young Samuel s parents, this was a very serious occasion. This was the day when they had promised to hand over their son as a gift to God. On this day, they took Samuel to God s house, the sacred tent at Shiloh. With him, they took some valuable gifts to offer to God. When they had offered their gifts, they handed their son over to Eli, the chief priest. Then they left Samuel there. Now he belonged to God. Leviticus 27:1-8 refers to the gift of people to God; Judges 11:34-39 may refer to the same thing. Those passages are difficult to understand; 1 Samuel chapter 3 explains the nature of Samuel s work more clearly. Eli looked after the boy; Samuel had to carry out duties as Eli s servant. Samuel could not become a priest because he did not belong to the families of the priests (1 Chronicles 6:16-28). So, Samuel s duties were physical tasks, for example to act as a guard, to look after lamps, to carry water or wood. Such was the work that Samuel s parents probably expected him to do for the rest of his life. However, they did not yet know about God s plans for their son. When they gave their boy to God, God accepted their gift. God had prepared a great work for Samuel to do as his (God s) servant.

5 1 Samuel page 5. 1 Samuel chapter 2 Hannah s prayer (1 Samuel 2:1) Hannah s prayer (1 Samuel 2:1-10) is one of a series of important songs and prayers by women in the Bible. Other examples are Miriam s song (Exodus 15:20-21), Deborah s song with Barak (Judges chapter 5) and Mary s song (Luke 1:46-55). Poems by women from the ancient world are very rare. Usually, men did not respect women and women had no opportunity to learn to write. However, the Bible always respects those women who served God. Although they did not always serve God in the same ways as men, their work for God was very important. Often the women served God in a better and more loyal manner than the men did. When Hannah spoke these words, she was speaking by the power of the Holy Spirit. The words were hers, but God gave her the power and knowledge to speak them. That fact becomes clear when we compare Hannah s prayer with other similar passages, for example Luke 1:67-70, or 2 Samuel chapter 22 and 2 Samuel 23:1-4. The fact should not surprise us. Women can speak by the power of the Holy Spirit, even as men can (Luke 1:41-42; 1 Corinthians 11:5). In fact, nobody can declare the truth about God except by the power of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:3). At the start of her prayer, Hannah expresses the joy that God has given to her. A horn is a sharp, bony point that grows on the heads of some animals; Hannah uses the word horn as a wordpicture for strength. God has made her strong and he has saved her from her enemies. Hannah is not referring to the cruelty of her husband s second wife (1 Samuel 1:6-7). She speaks by the power of the Holy Spirit; she declares future events. God saves his people from all their enemies: from evil deeds, death, the devil and hell. It was right for Hannah to declare these things as she gave her son to God. Samuel s work for God was an important part of God s plan to save his people. The one and only God (1 Samuel 2:2) Hannah prayed this prayer when she handed over her son, Samuel, to work for God. God filled her with his Spirit and with joy as she praised him. It seems clear that she did not just speak these words from her own mind. God showed her what she should say. In 1 Samuel 2:1, Hannah spoke about the good things that God does for his people. However, God s people do not only praise him because of the things that he does for them. They also praise him because of who he is. In other words, they praise him because of his perfect and wonderful character. He is the holy God; and he is the only God. All other gods are therefore false gods. None of them has the right to be called holy. None of them is like the real God. So really, they are not gods, although people may wrongly call them that. Hannah calls God her Rock, that is, her strong defence. In several places, the Bible calls God a Rock. For example, see Deuteronomy 32:4 and Psalm 18:2. As a storm has no effect on a strong rock, so troubles cannot disturb God. As a house on rock stands firm (Matthew 7:24-27), so God s people can always trust him. They do not need ever to be afraid, because he will never disappoint them. People may imagine that a false god can provide safety; but of course, they are wrong. No other god can save (or rescue) his people. No other god can keep his people safe. Only the real God who created heaven and earth, can do these things.

6 1 Samuel page 6. God s judgements against his proud enemies (1 Samuel 2:3) The way that God saves his people is perfect (1 Samuel 2:1). His holy nature is perfect (1 Samuel 2:2). His judgements against his proud enemies are perfect (1 Samuel 2:3). Because God is holy, he saves his people from the proud plans of their wicked enemies (1 Samuel 2:1-3). These proud enemies prepare to fight against God s servants. They speak proudly because they are confident of success (Psalm 2:1-3). They even dare to insult God himself. However, their words are in vain, because God is on the side of his people (Daniel 7:20-22). He will fight for them, and nobody can defeat God (Psalm 2:4-6). God has perfect knowledge; he knows everything. He is aware of how those proud enemies have insulted his people. He knows about their evil plans even before they begin to carry them out (2 Kings 6:8-12). By the power of the Holy Spirit, Hannah declares God s judgement against his enemies. God knows what they are saying; and he is their judge. People weigh an object to test whether it is the proper weight. In the same manner, God weighs (or examines) deeds. He makes sure that they are right and proper. This could refer to people s deeds; if so, the meaning is that God is our judge. However, the phrase seems to refer to God s deeds; in other words, the acts that God carries out. So, the meaning is that all God s acts - especially his judgements - are right and proper. God saves his people from their enemies (1 Samuel 2:4) In ancient battles, the bows were among the most powerful tools for war. The strongest soldiers carried the bows; the sight of them made people very afraid. Bows were especially frightening because soldiers with them could stand away from any danger. Those soldiers could kill people who were completely unable to attack them. A soldier who attacks with a sword is in great personal danger; a soldier who uses a bow and arrows is much safer. However, Hannah describes a battle where God is acting to save his people. So the opposite is true. The strong soldiers with bows usually frighten people. However, in this battle, the soldiers with bows have themselves become very afraid. The people who stumble (fall) would usually be in the greatest danger during a battle. They are too weak to attack the enemy. In fact, they are too weak even to run away. However, in this battle, these weak people have become strong. That is because God is acting to save his people. So, the weakest people, because they are God s people, have become strong. The strongest people, because they are fighting against God, have become weak. Because God is on the side of his people, nobody can successfully oppose them. God s people may be weak; the proud words of their enemies may make them afraid. However, nothing can separate God s people from the love of God. In the end, their success is certain. Read Romans 8: Safety, satisfaction and peace for God s people (1 Samuel 2:5) God does not merely save (or rescue) his people. He also brings them safety, satisfaction and peace.

7 1 Samuel page 7. Clearly, Hannah refers to her own experience when she speaks about the woman without children. God had given Hannah the son that she had prayed for. However, by the power of the Holy Spirit, Hannah describes something that was beyond her own experience. That woman without children now has a complete family of 7 sons. Hannah is expressing how completely God satisfies his people. They lack nothing, because he provides for them (Psalm 23:1). On the other hand, the proud enemies of God s people lose everything. For them, hunger replaces greed, and despair replaces satisfaction. God has taken away from them all the things of which they were so proud. Of course, we do not always see such things happen in this life. For the author of Ecclesiastes, that fact was proof that there is life beyond death (Ecclesiastes 3:16-17). God is the judge of everyone, and his purposes cannot fail (Ecclesiastes 12:14). We can see that, by the power of the Holy Spirit, Mary expresses similar ideas to Hannah, in Luke 1: Jesus too seems to refer to Hannah s words in Luke 6:20-26 and perhaps Mark 10: Both Isaiah (Isaiah 54:1) and Jeremiah (Jeremiah 31:15-17) repeat the ideas that Hannah expressed. In fact, for Isaiah, the idea of the woman without children becomes a major part of the later chapters in his book. He uses it to express the promise that God would bring back his people to their own country, Israel. However, God s promise is not just for the people in that nation. God will bring safety, satisfaction and peace to all his people, from every nation. God s power over life and death (1 Samuel 2:6) God has power, even over life and death. The fact that God gives life should not surprise anyone. He is the maker of every living thing. It is because of him that they have life and strength (Acts 17:24-25). They could not exist without him (John 1:1-4). They depend on him for their life, their food and everything else that they need (Psalm 104:27-29). However, it may surprise us to read that God has power over death. Death is one of God s enemies (Revelation 20:14; 1 Corinthians 15:26). It is an evil force that the devil uses, even against God s people (Hebrews 2:14-15). God never intended that people should die. Death entered the world because of people s evil deeds (Genesis 3:19). God never does any evil thing (Job 34:10-12). However, God is not doing anything evil when he acts as our judge (Genesis 18:25). It is right and proper for a judge to issue right judgements. Death is the punishment that we all deserve because of our evil deeds (Romans 6:23). However, God is very kind. He allowed his Son, Jesus, to suffer death so that he can forgive us (Romans 3:23-24). We must confess our evil deeds to him and we must invite him into our lives. Then he will give us life that never ends (John 3:16). The most astonishing statement here is that God brings people back to life. However, that is what the Bible clearly declares (John 11:24-26; Revelation 20:4-6). By his death, Jesus defeated death for all God s people (1 Corinthians 15:50-57; Isaiah 25:7-8). He himself became alive again after his death (1 Corinthians 15:3-6). So too will all God s people at his return (1 Corinthians 15:22-26; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18). God s attitude towards humble people (1 Samuel 2:7-8) In this world, hardly anyone really respects poor people and humble people. Rich people receive honour; proud people have authority (Mark 10:42).

8 1 Samuel page 8. God s opinion about people is very different from ours (1 Samuel 16:7). The things that impress people do not impress God. God sees the true attitude of a person s heart. It is a humble attitude that impresses God most (Isaiah 57:15). It is better to be humble than to give even the most valuable gifts to God (Micah 6:6-8). A humble person is willing to learn the lessons that God teaches and to obey his instructions. So God gives people the importance that they really deserve. Where he rules, he gives authority to humble people. He does not neglect poor people, but he provides for them. All his people receive honour, because they are the loyal servants of God their King. Clearly God will do these things in the future, when his power and authority will be complete. However, he has already started to do these things, even in the present age. He changes people s situation. Proud kings and powerful governments can suddenly lose their authority (Daniel 5:22-31). The strongest rulers can become weak in a moment of time (Daniel 4:28-33). In the end, wealth and power can protect nobody. All people must die and so they must lose their money, their authority and their importance. Even in his world, God can give honour to his humble servants. David was a humble man (2 Samuel 7:18-21), but God appointed him to be king of Israel. We may ask why God approves so strongly of humble attitudes. The answer is that only a humble person can truly trust God. Proud people trust in themselves: their own greatness, their wealth or their authority. Because they care so much about themselves, they do not respect God. So only a humble person gives God the honour that he deserves. God will separate good people from wicked people (1 Samuel 2:9) In this world, good people and wicked people live together (Matthew 13:24-30; Matthew 13:38). Here, only their different choices and different behaviour separate the two kinds of people (Psalm 1:1-2). The same kinds of events happen in the lives of all people (Ecclesiastes 9:1-2). However, God is establishing his rule. In his perfect government, wicked people cannot remain with good people; nothing unholy can enter his holy place (Revelation 21:3-8; Revelation 21:27). That perfect government is still in the future. However, God wanted to show the nature of his government in this world. First, he established it among his people in Israel. There, he appointed the family of his loyal servant, King David, to rule on his behalf. Then, he sent Christ, who came from David s family. Christ established God s rule among God s people from every nation. Before David s rule began, strong armies often gained control over Israel. Israel was a weak nation at that time. It seemed as if only the strongest and most cruel people would ever have authority. It only seemed possible to oppose them by even greater force. Humble, weak and poor people could do nothing to defend themselves. That may be the nature of human politics; but it is not how God acts. So God used a humble man, David, to establish his (God s) rule. (A humble person is willing to learn the lessons that God teaches and to obey his instructions.) David was just a poor man who led a small group of soldiers (1 Samuel 22:1-2). God made David the king over Israel, which was then a weak nation. However, God rescued David from all his enemies (2 Samuel 22:1). The result was that Israel became a strong, peaceful and wealthy nation (1 Kings 10:23-24). That did not happen by human strength. It happened because weak and poor people trusted God. God did it in order to show the nature of his rule.

9 1 Samuel page 9. The king and the Messiah (1 Samuel 2:10-11) The words that we call Hannah s prayer (1 Samuel 2:1-10) are in fact a prophecy (a message from God). Hannah received this prophecy from the Holy Spirit at the time when she handed over her son Samuel to work for God. Afterwards, Hannah returned to Ramah with her husband Elkanah. At that time, Israel had never had a king. However, Hannah saw by the power of the Holy Spirit that God would appoint a king to rule his people. In fact, God did that by means of Hannah s own son, Samuel. Hannah also calls the king: his (God s) anointed. That word refers to the special ceremony that 1 Samuel 16:13 describes. The purpose of that ceremony was to separate the king for a holy task: to rule God s people. The word anointed is a very special word in the Bible. In the Hebrew language, that word is Messiah; in the Greek language it is Christ. Originally, those words were titles for the kings of Israel from David s family. Christians use those words today as titles for Jesus, who also came from David's family. God would give strength to the king, God s anointed, to rule the nation on his behalf. However, although God is especially the God of Israel, he is also the God of the whole world. David was only the king of Israel, but Christ is the King of kings, who will rule every nation (Revelation 19:16; Psalm 2:7-8; Psalm 110). In her prophecy, Hannah understood this. She said that God would act as judge of the ends of the earth. That phrase means the most distant parts of the world. Israel s kings never achieved that. However, God will do it by means of his Messiah, the Christ (Acts 17:31; 1 Corinthians 15:24-25; Philippians 2:9-11). Evil priests at Shiloh (1 Samuel 2:12-17) Eli s sons were the leaders of the priests at God s tabernacle in Shiloh. The tabernacle was the sacred tent that Moses had built. It was the only place where God allowed his people to make their sacrifices to him. The sacrifices were animals that God s people killed as a gift to God. It was necessary for the priests to offer these animals on behalf of the people. We have already seen that Elkanah took his sacrifice to Shiloh for that reason each year (1 Samuel 1:3). At Shiloh, however, religion was in a bad state. There were not many people like Elkanah who still served the real God. Instead, people gave sacrifices to the false gods whose images were in their homes, in the towns and on the hills (1 Samuel 7:2-4). Even many people who still served the real God may have preferred to offer him their sacrifices on the hills (see 1 Kings 3:2-4). So, only a few loyal people went to Shiloh. There, they had to deal with wicked priests who did not respect God. The people wanted to offer sacrifices that showed fellowship (a right relationship) between themselves, their priests and God. Leviticus chapter 3 and Leviticus 7:11-36 contain instructions about this type of sacrifice. First the priest burned the fat from the animal as a gift to God. Then the priest waved the breast and the shoulder of the meat in front of God. Those parts then belonged to the priest. The person who brought the gift then cooked the rest of the meat for his family (see 1 Samuel 1:3-5). That was God s law about this kind of sacrifice. However, Eli s sons (the priests) were so wicked and greedy that they did not obey these rules. They wanted more of the meat; and, like thieves, they would even use cruel methods to get it. In fact, they were even worse than thieves. That is because the sacrifices were holy. It is very terrible to deal with a holy thing in an unholy and wicked manner.

10 1 Samuel page 10. The boy Samuel (1 Samuel 2:18-21) Eli s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, who were the leaders of the priests, were behaving very wickedly. However, the boy Samuel still learned how to live a holy life, although very unholy things were constantly happening round him. Samuel was working as the servant or slave of Eli, Israel s chief priest, who was now very old. It was Eli who had the responsibility to teach the boy. We do not know how much Eli really understood about God. However, Eli knew about his duty to bless God s people (1 Samuel 2:20). He understood something about God s standards (1 Samuel 2:22-25). He knew about the importance of God s word (1 Samuel 3:17). He realised the importance of his duties as God s priest (1 Samuel 4:17-18). So Eli trained the boy; but it was God who provided young Samuel s food. Leviticus 22:11 says that a priest s slave may eat the sacred food. That means food from the gifts that Israel s people give to God. God gave that part of these holy gifts to the priests; they shared it with their close family, including their slaves. Elkanah and Hannah had given their son to God, but they still cared very much for him. Eli taught the boy and God provided his food; but his parents gave him his clothes. God was kind to them; Hannah had 5 more children. It was not unusual for a young boy to work as a servant or slave. However, it was unusual for a boy to work at God s house, as Samuel did. People saw his holy behaviour and his sincere attitudes, and they respected him (1 Samuel 2:26). Maybe they even hoped that, by means of him, God would bring about a change in the behaviour of their priests. Such a change was very necessary. All God s people were suffering because of the wicked behaviour of their priests (1 Samuel 2:14). The priests who had wrong sex (1 Samuel 2:22) The Bible has already told us how wicked Eli s sons (Hophni and Phinehas, the priests) were. However, 1 Samuel 2:22 still gives us a shock. There were certain women who worked at the entrance to God s house. (God s law did not allow women to go inside God s house.) Someone had probably given these women to God, even as Samuel s parents had given him to God. So they were holy women, who carried out sacred tasks. The priests, Hophni and Phinehas, were having sex with those women. That kind of behaviour was not unusual at the houses of false gods. For example, in the religion of Baal (a male god) and Asherah (a female god), sex was a normal part of the ceremonies (see Judges 6:25; Numbers 25:1-3). In some evil religions, priestesses (female priests) worked as prostitutes (that is, they were available to have sex with any man). It was very terrible that the priests of the real God were imitating this wicked behaviour. God s word, the Bible, warns clearly that his people must never carry out such wicked acts (Leviticus chapters 18 and 20). It is wrong to have sex, except between husband and wife. God s people should not do whatever they may desire to do. They must not allow their feelings to rule their lives. God made them holy, so now they belong to God. So, they should use their bodies in a manner that pleases God (1 Corinthians 6:18-20). Israel s priests had a duty to teach the people how to serve God (Leviticus 10:11). However, the priests were not even obeying God themselves. Anyone who teaches other people must be especially careful to behave in a proper manner. God demands even higher standards from a leader of his people (James 3:1).

11 1 Samuel page 11. The chief priest who would not stop his sons wicked behaviour (1 Samuel 2:23-25) 1 Samuel 3:13 says that Eli did not stop his sons wicked behaviour. Clearly he warned them; but he did not stop them. As Israel s chief priest, he could have stopped them. He could have removed their authority to act as priests. He could have ordered them to leave Shiloh, or even to leave Israel. He had the authority to do that; he should have done it. Eli tried to persuade them to change their behaviour, but he was not successful. 1 Samuel 2:25 gives the reason. He had already allowed these evil deeds to continue for too long; God had already made his judgement against Eli s sons. Perhaps if Eli had acted sooner, his sons would have been willing to follow his advice. However, when Eli spoke, he was too late. His sons liked to do these wicked things; they were behaving like that on purpose. However, Eli s words to warn his sons did have a proper purpose. Those words show clearly that God s judgement against Eli s sons was right. Numbers 15:30-31 explains the proper punishment for a person who, on purpose, decided to oppose God. Such a person would not remain one of God s people, so the proper punishment was death (Numbers 15:35). Eli told his sons that their wrong deeds were not against any person, but against God. Afterwards, they continued their wicked behaviour, so they clearly chose on purpose to do it. In the end, it was God who carried out the punishment against Eli s sons. They died in a terrible battle because God had made his judgement against them (1 Samuel 4:10-11). God wants to forgive every kind of evil deed (Exodus 34:6-7). However, for God to forgive anyone, that person must be humble and he must confess his evil behaviour to God. He must ask God to help him, so that he can change his behaviour. He must invite God into his life, and he must trust God to save him. If anyone refuses to do these things, God s judgement will be against him. A child who chooses to serve God (1 Samuel 2:26) There is something wonderful about the attitude of a child who sincerely wants to serve God. In his body, that child becomes stronger. However, he is not like other children, who may use that strength to please themselves or even to serve the devil. That child gives his strength to God, and with it he gladly works to help other people. At the same time, the child s mind develops as he learns new things. However, such a child does not waste his thoughts with efforts to imitate evil behaviour or to make evil schemes. Instead, he learns so that he can become wise. That child s first lesson in wisdom is to respect God (Proverbs 1:7). His next lesson is to refuse to do evil things (Job 28:28). God s word, the Bible, is that child s best teacher; God s law is the child s most precious possession (Psalm 119:97-100). People may be unkind to that child. His sensible behaviour may cause them to feel foolish; his right behaviour may cause them to feel guilty. They may say that he is wasting his life. Really, however, it is they themselves who may be wasting their lives. However, God approves of such a child, and God s people should approve of that child too. That is what happened to the boy Samuel. The people were watching him; they wanted to see what God would do by means of that child. The Bible uses very similar words about the boy Jesus (Luke 2:52). Samuel, of course, was not perfect. Like other children he would have done many wrong things. However, his attitude towards God was right. The boy Samuel truly wanted to serve God.

12 1 Samuel page 12. God s message to the priests (1 Samuel 2:27) Eli s family were Israel s priests. It was their duty and honour to act on God s behalf in Israel. However, Eli s sons were behaving wickedly and Eli was too weak to stop them. It became necessary for God himself to act, in order to defend his own honour. So, God sent a certain man to Eli. We know nothing about that man, except for the message that he gave. The Bible simply calls him a man of God. That phrase probably means a prophet, in other words, someone who spoke messages from God. That did not happen often in Israel during this period of its history (1 Samuel 3:1). The message from God emphasises the importance of Israel s priests in God s plan. They all belonged to one family, the family of Aaron, whom the passage calls your (Eli s) father. In fact, Aaron lived several centuries before Eli. Aaron is called Eli s father because Eli came from Aaron s family. Perhaps Eli s sons felt as if they were carrying on a family business, like any other family in Israel. Other families were farmers, or traders, or skilled workmen, and the work passed from father to son in the same family. Eli s sons probably thought that they knew much better than their father how to make money as priests. Their attitude was foolish and wicked. God had freed all Israel s people from their hard work as slaves in Egypt. Then, by means of Moses and Aaron, he showed them how they should serve him. It was God who chose Aaron s family to be Israel s priests. It was God who showed them to carry out their special duties as his priests. So it was God whom Eli s sons were opposing by their wicked behaviour. The work of the priests (1 Samuel 2:28) God reminded Eli, the chief priest, about the importance of the work that Israel s priests carried out. In Israel, a priest was not just someone whom the people had appointed to look after their relationship with God. God himself had chosen Aaron s family to act on his behalf as priests. So, they were responsible to God for the work that they did as priests. In 1 Samuel 2:28, God mentions some of their most important tasks. (1) God s law only permitted Israel s priests to work at his altar. The altar was the place where the priests burned sacrifices as a gift to God. The sacrifices were the animals that Israel s people gave to God. The wrong things (called sin) that people do, separate them from God. They could not even offer their own sacrifices; the priests had to do it on their behalf. So, by their work at the altar, the priests were dealing with sin. They were making it possible for Israel s people to have a relationship with God. (2) Only the priests had the right to enter the sacred tent (called the tabernacle), which was the house of God. There they burned incense (a substance with a sweet smell). That incense was an expression to God of the prayers and love of his people (Psalm 141:2). It was the proper way to praise God in that holy place. (3) The ephod was a long shirt. The priests (and also the boy Samuel - 1 Samuel 2:18) wore a plain white shirt (Exodus 39:27). However, the chief priest alone wore the splendid and beautiful ephod that Exodus 39:2-21 describes. The sacred objects called the URIM and THUMMIM were in the ephod (Exodus 28:30). By means of those objects, God guided the chief priest when Israel s people inquired of God. So, the priests work was to deal with sin and to praise God. Also, by means of the chief priest, God guided his people. These were extremely important tasks. Together, these tasks were essential for the relationship between God and his people.

13 1 Samuel page 13. God did not ask his priests to do this work without proper payment. God himself paid them from the gifts that people gave for his altar. God gave them their proper part of each of the sacrifices (see, for example, Leviticus 7:28-36). So, their food was sacred food. It was those rules that Eli s sons, the leaders of Israel s priests, were refusing to obey. Their wicked behaviour insulted God. That was why God had decided to act against his own priests, the family of Eli. Priests who were greedy (1 Samuel 2:29) God accused his priests in a very severe manner: You are taking the best parts of the meat that my people in Israel are giving to me. And you are using that meat to make yourselves fat. You can read what the priests were doing in 1 Samuel 2: They were taking pieces of meat that God s law did not allow them to take. They were doing it because they were greedy and wicked. Their behaviour offended God. It also upset God s people in Israel. God s words here may refer to the same word-picture that appears in James 5:5. Before a farmer kills an animal, he gives it plenty of food in order to make it fat. James compared those animals to some rich people who were behaving in a wicked and cruel manner. Those rich people had plenty of everything now, but God would soon punish them. That was God s message to the priests in Eli s family too. Soon, God would punish them; he would stop their evil deeds. However, God s words about Eli s family were not just a word-picture. 1 Samuel 4:18 says that Eli was a heavy man. 1 Samuel 2:12-16 shows that Eli s sons were taking even more meat than him. It seems that they cared about nothing, except their own desires. They neither cared about God nor about his people. All this was happening during a period of history when Israel s people were poor. Judges 6:1-5 describes how Israel s enemies used to steal and to destroy everything in Israel. Often, as in Ruth 1:1, the people had to leave their country because of a lack of food. In the ancient world, only the richest people could eat plentifully. Most people were poor; they were hungry, and thin. So their priests, Eli s family, were imitating the bad habits of the richest people. The person who gave an animal to God had the right to eat most of its meat, with his family. Only the shoulder and breast of the animal belonged to the priest. So by their actions in 1 Samuel 2:12-16, the priests were stealing meat from the person who brought the animal. However, the priests were offending against God, and not just against the person who brought the animal. Eli, and not only his sons, was responsible. Eli was giving honour to his sons that only God deserved. These arrangements about the meat were not just customs. God had made these rules in order to show fellowship (friendship) between himself, his priests and his people. When the priests did not obey, they were acting against God. How Eleazar s family became Israel s chief priests (1 Samuel 2:30) In Exodus 29:9, God said that Aaron s family would always be Israel s priests. So, Israel s chief priest must be from Aaron s family (Exodus 29:29-30) When Aaron died, his son Eleazar became chief priest (Numbers 20:23-29). After Eleazar, his son, Phinehas, became chief priest; God had made special promises to him (Numbers 25:10-13). The Bible does not explain how Eli became Israel s chief priest. He was from the family of Aaron, but he did not belong to the families of Eleazar or Phinehas. Instead, he came from the family of Ithamar, Eleazar s brother.

14 1 Samuel page 14. However, it is clear that God accepted Eli as the proper chief priest. If Eli s family had served God properly, then Israel s chief priest would always be from Eli s family. But now, God declared that he would not permit that to happen. God does not give honour to people who hate him. The sons of Eli had dealt with God s holy things in a shameful manner. God was not removing from Eli s future family their right to act as priests (1 Samuel 2:36). However, the chief priest would not still come from that family. (The chief priest would still be from Aaron s family, as God promised to Aaron.) These things did not happen immediately. Eli s two sons died before Eli, so neither of them became chief priest. During the rule of King Saul (1 Samuel 14:3; 1 Samuel 22:11) and the rule of King David (1 Chronicles 24:3), Eli s family still served as chief priests. However, Abiathar (who was from Eli s family) opposed King Solomon. So, Solomon would not allow Abiathar to act as chief priest (1 Kings 2:27). Instead, Zadok (who came from the family of Eleazar) served alone as chief priest. After that, Israel s chief priests no longer came from Eli s family. God removes the authority from wicked people (1 Samuel 2:31-33) God was making great changes in Israel, and those changes began at his own house. Since the time of Joshua, God s house - the sacred tent called the tabernacle - had stood at Shiloh (Joshua 18:1). So, for about 400 years, God s people gathered there to pray and to offer their gifts to God. But now, God had chosen to leave that place (Psalm 78:60). It would no longer be a holy place; Jeremiah 7:12-14 describes its terrible state afterwards. God s chief priest would no longer come from Eli s family. You can read about the terrible things that happened to Eli s family in 1 Samuel 4:10-22, 1 Samuel 22:16-20 and 1 Kings 2: These events were awful; but God was still doing something good in Israel. He was removing the authority from wicked people in order to give authority to people who served him (1 Samuel 2:7-10). God would have a new house: the magnificent building called the temple, which Solomon built in Jerusalem. God would continue to have chief priests in Israel - but they would come from Zadok s family, not from Eli s family. Israel would have a king whom God had chosen: King David. David would organise the priests properly, so that they could serve God in a better manner. Then, for the first time, Israel would have peace, with a strong government and loyal priests. God does not want people to suffer. He wants to forgive people, so that they do not suffer his punishment. When Eli heard this news, the proper reaction for him was to be humble in front of God (compare 1 Kings 21:27-29). But the Bible does not say that Eli ever did that. His sons did not ask God to forgive them. They continued to act in a proud manner until they suffered their punishment (1 Samuel 4:4-11). Hophni and Phinehas (1 Samuel 2:34) Eli s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, had the opportunity to achieve great things in their lives. However, they both wasted their lives completely. They both chose, on purpose, to live in a greedy and wicked manner. Eli had tried to warn them about their foolish behaviour, but they refused to listen (1 Samuel 2:23-25). God told Eli how his two sons would die. They would die together, suddenly. That event would prove to Eli that this message about Eli s family really was from God. God knew what would happen; God had already warned Eli about these future events.

15 1 Samuel page 15. These things seem especially sad when we think about Hophni s and Phinehas s opportunities in life. Eli had chosen for his son Phinehas the name of one of the great heroes in the Bible: Phinehas, son of Eleazar. You can read what that first Phinehas did to save his nation in Numbers 25:6-13. But this second Phinehas, Eli s son, did nothing good. He and his brother Hophni only caused trouble for themselves, for their family, and for all Israel. Everyone expected that, after the death of Eli, one of his sons would become the chief priest. In fact, that never happened, because God s judgement against them for their evil deeds happened first. They both died before their father died. They were not the first sons of a chief priest to die because of God s judgement against their unholy acts. Aaron s sons Nadab and Abihu also died for that reason (Leviticus 10:1-3). A loyal priest: Zadok (1 Samuel 2:35) Even God s judgement against the family of Eli came with a promise. This promise would bring comfort to those people who were loyal to God. Perhaps, therefore, it also offered some comfort to Eli. Although Eli was very weak in his relationship with God, he always wanted to be loyal to God. The chief priest could not continue to come from Eli s family. Eli would have considered God s judgement in that matter to be right. He certainly would not want either of his two wicked sons to become chief priest. However, God would not leave Israel without a chief priest. God knew that Israel s people needed a chief priest to pray for them and to lead them in their religion. So, God would appoint a chief priest who was loyal to him. This chief priest would serve God sincerely, with the king whom God had chosen. Originally, that chief priest meant Zadok (1 Kings 1:32-40; 1 Kings 2:35). Zadok was not from Eli s family. After Zadok, the chief priest came from Zadok s family. Zadok s name means righteous (in other words, someone who does what is right and good). That is how God s priests should be (Ezekiel 44:15). God did not allow Israel s priests to be kings, nor its kings to be priests. However, the Bible refers to a time when God s king would also be his priest (Psalm 110:1-4). For Christians, that is a very important promise, because it refers to Jesus Christ (Hebrews 7:11-25). So, when 1 Samuel 2:35 refers to a loyal priest, it does not just refer to Zadok. It refers to God s perfect priest, even as 1 Samuel 2:10 refers to God s perfect king. How the evil deeds of Eli s family would end (1 Samuel 2:36) This last verse of God s message to Eli may remind us of some verses from Hannah s prayer. God makes proud people humble (1 Samuel 2:7). God makes greedy people hungry, so that they must work for their food (1 Samuel 2:5). It is very sad when people make themselves into God s enemies. It is even worse when, as here, those people were the servants and the priests of God. However, when God makes his people humble, it gives them the opportunity to return to him. They see how their wrong attitudes, their wrong desires and their wrong behaviour could not satisfy them. They should realise how much they depend on God. They should trust him completely. So, although Eli s family would suffer greatly, that family would not disappear completely. Israel s chief priest would not still come from their family, but they would still be able to work as priests. Someone else, who was loyal to God, would be the chief priest. He would arrange the work of the priests who were less important, including the members of Eli s family. They would go to him for silver (in other words, money) and for bread (in other words, food).

16 1 Samuel page 16. That chief priest would allow them to work as priests in God s house. Then, they would receive a regular share of food from the gifts that God s people brought. They would not still take more meat than God s law gave to them (see 1 Samuel 2:12-17). They would be humble enough to be grateful to God for what he had provided. So, the evil deeds of Eli s family would end.

17 1 Samuel page Samuel chapter 3 Samuel hears God s voice (1 Samuel 3:1-7) We have already studied two prophecies (messages from God) that people received during the early years of Samuel s life: 1 Samuel 2:1-10 and 1 Samuel 2: However, prophecies were rare during this period of Israel s history. 1 Samuel chapter 3 is the account of how Samuel became a prophet (a person who spoke messages from God). Samuel was just a boy; he worked as the servant of Eli, Israel s chief priest. Really, however, Samuel was the servant of God; his mother had given him to work for God (1 Samuel 1:28). One of Samuel s duties was to sleep in the house of God. Many of the objects there were gold; Samuel was acting as a guard. If anyone entered that place, Samuel had to run away to call the priests. Then, the priests and the other men from the town would fight the thieves. At that time, the house of God was not a building; it was a tent. So, Samuel could easily hear if Eli called him from his (Eli s) home. Eli probably called Samuel often; Eli was old and weak. On this particular night, Samuel thought that he heard his master s voice. Samuel was a willing servant; he ran to help Eli. However, Eli had not called the boy, and he did not need help. So Samuel returned to the sacred tent to sleep. Again the voice called Samuel by name. Again Samuel went to help Eli. Samuel was sure that his master had called him. But Eli insisted that he had not called him. In fact, Samuel s master had called Samuel: not Eli, but Samuel s real master, that is, God. However, Samuel did not yet know God in that way. Of course Samuel loved God and he served God. But he could not yet recognise God s voice. The most important lesson in life (1 Samuel 3:8-9) When God called Samuel for the third time, the boy still did not recognise him. He again went to Eli, the chief priest, to offer his help. Eli could have been angry. The boy had woken him three times without any proper reason. However, on this occasion, Eli understood what was happening. Eli s relationship with God often seems very weak, but still, Eli believed in God. Eli recognised that, on rare occasions, God might still speak to his people (1 Samuel 3:1). Eli even realised that a boy like Samuel could be the proper person to hear God s voice. Samuel had the right attitudes: he was willing, sincere and humble. (A humble person is willing to learn the lessons that God teaches and to obey his instructions.) Samuel had served Eli well; he would be a good servant of God. So, it was Eli who taught the boy Samuel the most important lesson of his life. Eli taught Samuel how he should serve God. Eli explained to Samuel that God still does call people to serve him. So, people must not be too afraid to listen to God; and they must not be too proud to obey him. Their relationship with him is like a servant s relationship with his master. They must listen to God s words in a humble manner; they must speak to him in a manner that respects him. As Samuel returned to his place, something very important had happened in his life. He still had a duty to serve Eli; but Samuel had the much more important duty to serve God. Even Eli had recognised that the boy s true master was God. So now Samuel was ready to hear God s word to him.