1 Samuel 4

I wonder how significant the names are in this story?
· Ebenezer – stone of help
· Aphek – enclosure
· Shiloh – place of rest
· Ichabod – no glory

v. 3. Were the Israelite treating the Ark like some kind of magic talisman? How often do we treat God like a genie in a bottle - bringing him out when trouble is brewing, hoping He will pop out and rescue us? Then, we can tuck him away again and go about our business.

v. 13. Why didn’t Eli stop them from taking the Ark? Why didn’t he seek God about what they should do next? Had he given up? Was he just a weak-willed, spineless, placating, pacifier? When confronted with a crowd, do I cave in to fit in?

1 Samuel 3

v. 1. Why was the word of the Lord rare? I wonder if that could be said of our churches and church leaders. Is it rare for me? How often do I hear a word from the Lord?

v. 4. So, when God calls to us, do we hear him, or are we so otherwise occupied that He does not bother to call out to us until we are attuning ourselves to hear him. Can even good, church things occupy us to such an extent that we do not hear from him? What are some things we can do to attune our hearts to hear the call of God, understand it, and obey?

v. 11. Don’t you want to see God do something amazing? What do we need to do to be ready for that? I see 2 things in Samuel: first, he had a servant’s heart. He served God faithfully even before he knew the Lord (v. 7). Secondly, he was open and willing to obey. He was setting his heart to be receptive to God and to obey him fully.

v. 13. Dads, we have an obligation before God to raise our kids in his ways. We are to teach and correct them. I don’t want to be judged by God because I failed as a Father.

v. 19. I sometimes let the word of God fall to the ground because of fear and doubt. It is one thing to hear from God, it is another to act on it. I wonder if I continually fail to act, how long will it be before He just stops speaking to me and goes on to find someone who will act? There is room to get it wrong. Better to swing and miss once in a while than to not swing at all. Who will miss out on what God has for them today because I am to afraid to act?

1 Samuel 2

v. 1. This thought just occurred to me: Hannah wanted an heir for Elkanah – she rejoiced in God’s blessing her with Samuel – and then she gave the heir away. My most precious gift to others is only good if I give it to God!

vv. 12-16. I wondered what the prescribed portions were for the priests. I look it up:

"Not content with the specified portions of the animals that the sacrificer is to "give" (cf. Deut 18:3) to the priests (cf. also Lev 7:34), the servant of Eli's sons "would take for himself whatever the fork brought up" (v.14). And not only that, "even before the fat was burned" (v.15), as the law mandated (Lev 7:31), Hophni and Phinehas demanded raw meat. In fact, on occasion they even preferred roasted meat to boiled—as if in mockery of the necessarily hasty method of preparing the first Passover feast (Exod 12:8-11). They wanted their unlawful portion before the Lord received what was rightfully his. Their rebellion, impatience, and impudence (v.16) are described as a "very great" sin (v.17). Like their postexilic counterparts (Mal 1:6-14), these premonarchic priests treated the Lord's offerings with contempt. Such conduct, especially when practiced by God's ministers, can only lead to disaster (cf. Num 16:30-32)." (Youngblood, Ronald F. “3. The wicked sons of Eli (2:12-26)” In The Expositor's Bible Commentary: Volume 3. 584. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, © 1992.)

These guys knew what was right and ignored it. We do this all the time when what feels good at the moment blocks out what we know to be right a good.

v. 21. And as we give what is most precious to us to God, He blesses us. What precious thing needs to be given to God?

v. 23. It was the Lord’s to put them to death? Can we assume that Eli raised his boys well, but they rebelled anyway or is Eli partly at fault for the spiritual condition of his sons?

v. 26. No matter what was happening around him Samuel kept his eyes on God. We let our circumstances and environment lead us astray. Wickedness is normal and so we accept it, a little at a time, until we consider the wickedness of our surroundings as a part of our normal lives as well. Samuel did not. No matter how bad normal society got, he served the Lord. Maybe we need to look at what we accept as normal in our lives and reject some of it.

v. 29. Did Eli condone his boys’ actions by not acting against them? The prophet rebuked Eli, not his sons.

v. 30. “Those who honor Me, I will honor, but those who despise Me will be disdained.” I need to look up the Hebrew for “despise” and “disdain.”

"The Lord honors (kabed lit., "makes heavy") those who honor him, but he disdains (qalah lit., "makes light") those who despise him. Eli had honored his sons (v.29) more than he honored God (v.30). The description of divine judgment in v.31, when translated literally, is vivid indeed: "I will chop off your arm and the arm of your father's house" (zeroa` "arm," is often used as a metaphor for "strength" in the OT)." (Youngblood, Ronald F. “4. The oracle against the house of Eli (2:27-36)” In The Expositor's Bible Commentary: Volume 3. 587. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, © 1992.)

1 Samuel 1

When I read the Old Testament, I read for Identification as much as I do for Information. Put yourself in the story. Am I like Hannah? Or Peninnah? What would it be like if I were more like Eli? How did Samuel feel? Have I ever felt like Samuel? I try to put myself in the place of the characters in the story and see if I am having or have had experiences, feelings and thoughts like they had.

Vv. 6-7. I wonder if Hannah was Elkanah’s first wife and since she could not perform her primary duty as a wife (give him and heir) he took a 2^nd wife. I bet she felt almost worthless. The greatest gift that she could give to her husband was beyond her ability and here this other woman did it and rubbed her face in it. Sometimes I feel almost worthless, do you? And then here comes Satan, in the form of other’s taunts, societal standards, and my own voice in my head tormenting me, reminding me that I am not good enough. What thoughts of worthlessness do you have? Where do you see yourself continually falling short of your (or God’s) goals? Does God not hear my please for help? Satan piles on any way he can, burying us in doubts, fears, feeling of inadequacy. How do we break out of this self-defeatism, self-deprecation? (See questions 4 – 6)

Or am I sometimes more like Peninnah? Do I provoke others, using subtle put-downs in order to make myself look or feel superior?

v. 17. We agree with others in prayer for starters. Would God have answered Hannah’s prayer if Eli had not blessed it? I don’t know. But perhaps, as God’s agents and ministers here on earth at this time, we should be continually asking each other to prayer with us, we should continually, be adding our blessing to what others are praying for. We should be agreeing with each other, holding each other up. (See question 9)

v. 27. Shouldn’t we offer back to God all that He has given us? I remember dedicating Sean to God when He was born and I meant every bit of it. Barb and I wanted a son and I really thought I would never have kids. When we dedicated him, I really meant that this boy was God’s. That it was a privilege to raise him and love him but he belongs to God and I want, really want, whatever God has for him. Do we miss out on God’s best blessings because we hold tightly to our earthly blessings? Our hearts are so concerned with preserving what we have that we cannot receive more form God. Is there something I will not give back to God? Is my desire to have control over my family, finances, career, sexuality, ministry, etc, getting in the way of God’s blessings? What would be different if I gave back to him the most precious blessing He has given me? How do I give these things back to God? What does that offering look like?

What was it like for Samuel to be left by his mother with this strange old priest? Fear? Confusion? Hurt? Haven’t we done things for our kids that may have hurt or left them confused for a time, but later they understood it was for their benefit? Sean has a boot on his foot because of a fracture. He hates it, but it is for his good. He knows that, but he is not very thankful for it – yet. Has God done things like this to us / for us?