The Bible Books of Samuel

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Samuel’s Family Visits Shiloh (1 Samuel 1:1-3) 

The opening of the Book of 1 Samuel places us in the worship center of Shiloh about 20 miles south of Jerusalem between 1100 and 1000 BC. The Tabernacle was there and Solomon’s Temple would not be built in Jerusalem until about 957 BC. We are in the family of a man named Elkanah who lived in the hill country of Ephraim. Elkanah had two wives, Peninnah and Hannah, whom he would take with him to Shiloh to worship and sacrifice at least annually. Pininnah was blessed with several sons and daughters but Hannah had none. Peninnah would secretly provoke Hannah to tears as Hannah would continue to pray at Shiloh for children from the Lord. Elkanah evidentlty knew nothing of Hannah’s suffering under Peninnah as seen in verse 8, “Then her husband, Elkanah said to her, “Hannah, why do you weep and why do you not eat and why is your heart sad? Am I not better to you than ten sons?” Nevertheless, a barran women in 1100 BC was considered a failure and Hannah was deeply troubled by it regardless of Elkanah’s kind words and expressions of his love for her. 

Verse 3 introduces us to the priests of the Tabernacle, Eli and his two sons Hophni and Phinehas. As we traverse Chapters 1 and the first half of Chapter 2, we take an automatic stand of honor, trust and respect for these three. But as soon as wee get past this first study, we will learn that Eli’s two sons are guilty of heinous sin against those offering sacrifices to the Lord and to the women who serve at the doors of the Tabernacle (1 Sam 2:12-17 & 22-25). These two open and obvious sinful behaviors reveal the hearts of Eli’s sons as men who do not know the Lord (vs. 12). Rest assured, however, God will deal with that situation very early in this book, and He will announce that plan to Samuel as a part of His plan for him. There will also be a stern warning to Eli, and through him, fathers and mothers across the world that parents who do not hold their children responsible for evil acts will be held accountable for their lack of action as well. When the Lord issues his call to young Samuel, he will tell him what His plan is for issuing stern corrections to all three of these priests in capital punishment, nor is there atonement available. 

Hannah Makes a Vow (1 Samuel 1:9-11, 17) 

The encouragement Hannah received from Elkanah was sufficient to get her to eat and drink.  The Scripture tells us she arose after eating and drinking (vs. 9). We also see that Eli the priest was sitting near the doorposts of the Temple. Hannah entered and was greatly distressed, so as she was earnestly praying and bitterly weeping, she made a vow to the Lord (vs. 9b). She said, “O Lord of hosts, if You will indeed look on the affliction of Your maidservant and remember me, and not forget Your maidservant, but will give Your maidservant a son, then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, and a razor shall never come on his head.” 

Hannah’s vow sets the stage for her son (who will be coming very soon) to be turned over to the Tabernacle leadership as a life-long resource to serve the Lord. This is how Samuel (the name Hannah will give her son) ends up serving the Lord as Israel’s last Judge and His first Prophet.

Now, as Hannah continued to pray, she allowed her lips to move, but no sound was spoken (vs. 13). As Eli happened to see her praying in this way, he thought she might be intoxicated. In verse 14, he asked how long she might cause herself to be publicly drunk, and said she should put her wine away from her. Hannah assured him that she was not drinking either wine or strong drink as he supposed, but rather, she was a woman deeply distressed by her situation in life and oppressed in the Spirit (vs. 15). She asked that Eli would not consider her a worthless woman but understand her situation. 

So, Eli reassesses his initial impression and responds to her with a sincere blessing, “Go in peace; and may the God of Israel grant your petition that you have asked of Him” (vs. 17). Hannah responded kindly as well saying, “Let your maidservant find favor in your sight.”  So, after she got up from her praying position, she went on her way and ate, and her face was no longer sad.

Notice how a little encouragement from God’s representative can make a great deal of difference. Sometimes people who hold these positions for God forget it is not them, it is the God they serve.

Hannah Dedicates Samuel (1 Samuel 1:20-22, 26-27) 

As advertised, the good news for Hannah was finally on the way. Now, when I first read that statement, I wondered whether it would be a boy or a girl. There were at least two reasons why I should have known that answer. First, Hannah did not pray for a girl, she prayed for a boy (vs. 11). Second, the title of the study is “Samuel” not “Sandra.” Samuel is a combination of two Hebrew words meaning “God hears attentively.” Hannah says it was “Because I have asked of the Lord.” Point made. Verse 21 says that Elkanah was ready to go to the Tabernacle and make his offering the very next opportunity. But verse 22 says that Hannah did not go. She remembered what she vowed to the Lord, so she was not going to the Tabernacle until it was time to deliver Samuel for fulltime service to the Lord. Instead, she said, “I will not go up until the child is weaned; then I will bring him, that he may appear before the Lord and stay there forever.” Hannah’s purpose for returning to the Tabernacle was to keep the promise she made to God. 

Now, the customary way of doing the weaning process meant the child would be at least two years old but often even older before he was weaned, so Hannah is not talking of just a couple weeks, rather, it was a couple years at the soonest. We already know that holding the baby in her arms and nursing him, formed a bond she was not anxious to end. Nevertheless, she made a vow to God, and she was intent on keeping it.

Verse 26 jumps to that day. She goes to the Tabernacle and reports to Eli. She reminds him of that day saying, “Oh, my lord! As your soul lives, my lord, I am the woman who stood here beside you, praying to the Lord.” She wants to make sure he remembered. She was probably praying that he would tell her that God said it was okay for her to finish raising the boy. But not so. She finishes the hardest sentence she would ever speak, It “was for this boy I prayed, and the Lord has given me my partition which I asked” (vs. 27). I can imagine the tears hurt, but I can also imagine they were tears of joy. It was not a short trip to get to Shiloh, but she knew Elkanah would be coming at least once a year. She would see Samuel again; she would see her little boy serve God.

The Song of Hannah (1 Samuel 2:1-2, 8-9)   

Oh, how Hannah praised the Lord! Her song begins in 1 Samuel 2:1 with the feeling that was running over her, “My heart exalts in the Lord” (vs. 2:1). Her horn, the peak of everything, is made a hundred times bigger because of what the Lord has done for her. Part of the depth of her prayer for a son was because of the persecution of Elkanah’s other wife, but now she can say she has had mighty victory over any and all of them. She can look any enemy in the eyes and state that she has won a victory greater than any they won. Hannah spoke to the Creator of the Universe, He heard and He made her request live in the form of a beautiful little man. Further, she promised he would be dedicated to the Lord and His work forever. Samuel is already there, he is serving God, he is serving right next to the priest of the Tabernacle. 

She continues to exalt the Lord and yells out against her enemies, knowing that whatever they might want to say, she has experienced more. Her gratitude drives the thought that there is no one like the Lord. What He has done for her was nothing short of a miracle. He saved her from a life of shame and emptiness. He is truly her salvation, and she rejoices in it. There is no one who is holy like the Lord; in truth, there is no one holy! No one is like Him. He had personally raised her up from the dust, dirt and ashes to give her life meaning and completion.  

So, up from the dust and dirt and ash heap He brought her. And, she knows that awesome help has not left or abandoned her. What has taken place in her is beyond her wildest imagination. He keeps the feet of His holy ones. Hannah knows firsthand that there is no other help available. He is the author and finisher of her soul. There is truly no other name given among men whereby they must be saved, and He just dealt with her personally and directly. There is no other source of strength like the Lord provides. 

I wonder if Mother Mary ever read the Song of Hannah when she was pregnant with Jesus? Can anyone imagine what those words would sound like in the ears of another blessed human being just like herself? She finishes, “But the wicked ones are silenced!” Oh, what peace! 

Eli’s Sons Sin (1 Samuel 2:11-12, 15-17)  

Verse 11 tells us that Ramah is the home of Elkanah and his family. It stands about halfway between Jerusalem to the South and Shiloh to the North. That is halfway between the current place of the Tabernacle and the future home of Solomon’s Temple. Samuel (called “the boy” here) remained behind to begin his lifelong service to the Lord at His Tabernacle. 

I should have mentioned earlier that the standard Bible protocol for referring to God is that all caps are used when the Hebrew language is speaking of the LORD as Jehovah God, or God the Father. I changed all of them from LORD to Lord for appearance sake, but the fact remains, the writer was referring to Jehovah. Tradition holds that Judges and 1 & 2 Samuel were written by Samuel with some parts written by the prophets Nathan and Gad. 

We also learned that Eli’s sons are worthless and did not know the Lord in verse 12. This is one of the many problems with leaders appointed through heritage – the offspring seldom holds the same emotions or commitment to God as the father did. The standard practice for the priest taking a share of the offering is for the fat (the best) of the offering to be burned off as “a sweet-smelling savor for the Lord.” Eli’s sons were requiring their share before the fat was burned. Notice the priests making to offering protested, but Hophni and Phinehas threatened force (vs. 16). This shows contempt for the offering process and contempt for the Lord who was to receive the fat of this offering. It proves the statement made in verse 12 that these were worthless men who did not know the Lord. Verse 17 drives the seriousness of this sin even farther to its total disregard for the Lord’s offering by saying the sin was “very great before the Lord.” Samuel explains the reason it was so great was because it showed how the young men “despised the offering of the Lord.” While we will see additional sin against the Lord’s House and His workers, the contempt for the Lord shown here would easily justify any action the Lord would take against them. And we will also learn that they had equal disregard for their father (Eli) when he attempted to correct them.

Samuel’s Family Prospers (1 Samuel 2:18-21)

Samuel shows great contrast compared with Eli’s sons, Hophni and Phinehas, as he describes himself as the young boy serving in the Tabernacle.  He wore a linen ephod which was usually a dark blue worn over a white robe with full sleeves. He wore clothes that were typical of those wore by the High Priests. Verse 19 says that Hannah made little robes for him each year when Elkanah came to sacrifice before the Lord. Those robes became the foundational garments for the rest of his outfits. The sleeveless ephod was worn over the white robe creating a contrast in color.  The shoulders of the ephod would have epaulets designed to fasten a gold chain from which a square tablet with the twelve stones of the tribes of Israel were fastened. Samuel looked very much like the High Priest even as a young boy ministering before the Lord. 

At Elkanah’s annual visits, Eli would bless him and Hannah, his wife by praying, “May the Lord give you children from this woman in place of the one she dedicated to the Lord.” As they returned home, the Lord blessed Eli’s prayer for Hannah and began giving her children to replace Samuel. She not only conceived once but had three sons and two daughters. In addition to the blessings of having all those children, Hannah was filled with pride and gratitude as she watched Samuel serve the Lord and grow before God’s presence. 

The biblical account does not mention the changes in the atmosphere in Elkanah’s home, but the persecution from his other wife against Hannah must have decreased steadily as Hannah continued to produce more and more children of her own. While Peninnah likely continued having more children, the fact that Hannah had five of her own plus the greater blessing of seeing her firstborn, Samuel serving the Lord tipped the balance in her favor. 

In contrast, the life of Eli was getting worse every day. While young Samuel was bringing blessings to his parents, Hophni and Phinehas were bringing sorrow and gloom into Eli’s life. As High Priest, Eli was expected to maintain a reasonable decorum within the Tabernacle complex. Eli’s sons were making sure Eli was filled with shame and sorrow at their behaviors.

Eli’s Rebuke Fails (1 Samuel 2:22-26)

The fact that Eli’s sons were bringing complete dishonor to the Lord’s offerings by stealing them before the fat was offered up was just one of their gross behaviors to blaspheme Eli’s office. He also received word that they were laying with the women who were serving at the doorways to the Tabernacle tent of meeting (vs. 22). He knew he had to put an end to that behavior and approached Hophni and Phinehas to end it. He began by asking them why they did such evil things as were being reported to him by all the people (vs. 23).  In verse 24, he declared that these reports were far from being good. Rather, those making these reports were circulating them beyond themselves to the rest of the people living in the Tabernacle complex and the adjoining towns. Not only was this behavior embarrassing, but it was also illegal and gross sin against God and His Tabernacle. To make the gross level of their sin clearer in their eyes, Eli explained that when a man sins against another man, God will mediate for him to bring them back together. But in these cases, it is man who is sinning against God, and there is no one left to mediate for him. He puts the events back in their courts by asking the question, “Who can intercede for him?”  

We conclude reading in verse 25 by hearing the words, “But they would not listen to the voice of their father, for the Lord desired to put them to death.” The language of that verse might be difficult to put together in today’s frame of reference, so let us go back a few years to the period of time when Moses was trying convince Egypt’s Pharaoh to “let my people go” (Ex 7:14- 12:30). The 10 Plagues He brought against Egypt were, in order: the Nile turning to blood, frogs, lice, flies, livestock pestilence, boils, hail, locusts, darkness, and finally, the death of all firstborn children. After each of the first 9 plagues, Pharaoh relented to get Moses to stop the plague but then “the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he was not willing to let them go.” Pharaoh’s heart was hardened just like the hearts of these two sons of Eli’s hearts were hardened.  God had made the decision He was going to do all 10 plagues against Pharaoh just like God had decided He was going to require the lives of Hophni and Phinehas. They were beyond repentance. But one more contrast: “Samuel was growing in stature and favor with the Lord and with men” (vs. 26).

Judgment on Eli’s House (1 Samuel 2:29, 34-36)

God is watching Eli address his sons and sees him reluctant to accept God’s punishment against them. God’s question is righteous, “Why do you kick at My sacrifice and at My offering which I have commanded in My dwelling, and honor your sons above Me, by making yourselves fat with the choicest of every offering of My people Israel?’ (vs. 29). God says to Eli that it looks like he prefers his sons to God’s commandments. Worse, God says Eli is party to the sins because he is eating the sacrifices intended for His people and even before the fat (the choicest part) is offered. Therefore, God says, “This will be the sign to you which will come concerning your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas: on the same day both of them will die” (vs. 34). A half century ago I received instructions on how a military officer must issue orders, “They must be clear, unambiguous and unequivocal.” God just told Eli what His legal order was for his boys. They would die, and they would die in one day.  

“But,” the Lord adds to His discussion, “I will raise up for Myself a faithful priest who will do according to what is in My heart and in My soul; and I will build him an enduring house, and he will walk before My anointed always. Everyone who is left in your house will come and bow down to him for a piece of silver or a loaf of bread and say, ‘Please assign me to one of the priest’s offices so that I may eat a piece of bread’” (vss. 35-36). 

Eli receives two harsh messages here from the voice of God. First, God lets him know he was not a good steward for the trust God placed in him to raise two male children. The sins they committed were sins of the father because he did not “raise up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” Eli failed as a father. Second, Eli would be replaced as High Priest by a man God could trust to keep His word Holy and Righteous. That priest would walk with God’s anointed ones to execute God’s will on this earth. In other words, Eli’s sons would be taken from him because he failed them. They would be executed. And, Eli would be terminated from the position of High Priest and be replaced by someone God could trust to do His will. 

Samuel Serves in Temple (1 Samuel 3:1-5 & 8-9)

First Samuel 3:1 has a lot of information for introducing this pieace of history. To begin, it still called Samuel “the boy Samuel” in the beginning of the verse. But, in contrast, it informs us that Samuel was ministering to the LORD (upper case indicating Jehovah) before Eli. This indicates that Samuel was active in the ministry along with the High Priest. Further,  our Hebrew dictionary lists the word “boy” as Hebrew na’ ar which speaks of a child (KJV) between infancy and adolescence. We know “infancy” was out of the question because Hannah did not surrender the boy to Eli until after he was weaned; i.e., somewhere between two and four years old. Samuel also writes that this period of time in Israel was a time when a Word from the LORD was scarce, indeed, and visions were even more scarce. In short, the period of Judges left the land spiritually weakened. And the word “judges” here did not indicate leaders of jurisprudence, rather, they were military leaders with charisma and power. But also note that during this period of twelve judges, in a heavily paternalistic society, that there were so few leaders that 1 of the 12 judges was female (Deborah, 1107 – 1067 BC).  So, Samuel correctly described the time as spiritually lacking. 

The setting presented is that Eli was in his bed and had developed weak eyesight by now (vs. 2). But notice that Samuel is in the Temple, and recall that there was no Temple until King Solomon, about 952 BC, so Samuel was in the Tabernacle where the Ark of the Covenants was. That means that Samuel was sleeping in the Holy of Holies.  This was the place where “only the High Priest could enter once a year and not without blood” (Heb 9:7). This was more evidence of the spiritual condition of the times. We see that Samuel was called of God three times and each time he dutifully reported to Eli for instructions. On the first two times, Eli merely sent the boy back to bed after telling him that he did not call him (vss. 4-6). On the third time, however, Eli realized it was God who was calling Samuel and gave him instructions on how to properly reply. He told young Samuel to say to the LORD, “Speak, Lord, for Your servant is listening.” So, Samuel (the author) tells us, that the boy went back to his resting place where the Ark of God was.

God Judges Eli’s House (1 Samuel 3:10-14)

Verse 10 shows us that Samuel remembered Eli’s instructions for how to respond when the LORD calls him the next time. This first part of verse 10, “Then the LORD came and stood,” sounds more like a vision than just a verbal “Word from the LORD”. The fact that God spoke Samuel’s name twice may indicate a touch of frustration in Samuel running over to Eli’s bed every time the LORD calls to speak with him. Verse 1 also includes Samuel’s response, “Speak, for Your servant is listening.” Samuel wants nothing to prevent his full hearing of this “Word from God” as soon as He says it (vs. 10). So, the message to Samuel is that the LORD is “about to do a thing in Israel at which both ears of everyone who hears it will tingle.” He continues in verses 12 and 13 saying, “In that day I will carry out against Eli all that I have spoken concerning his house, from beginning to end. For I have told him that I am about to judge his house forever for the iniquity which he knew, because his sons brought a curse on themselves and he did not rebuke them.” So, the judgment that Eli is under is because he, as the father of these boys, did not take action to cause them to stop what they were doing. This is information all of us who raise children or grandchildren need to hear, that is, that if we do not “bring up a child in the way he should go” we may very well bring their curse upon ourselves as well (Prov 22:6). Notice that God says he did not rebuke them, but we just read last week that Eli did rebuke them. What God is saying is that rebuke that is spoken without enforcing compliance is no rebuke at all. 

Now, in the last sentence of God’s words, He announces that there will be no turning back, reaction to repentance or sufficient sacrifice to atone for these gross deeds by Eli or his sons. The terminology we have learned is that God has made the sins of the boys and the reaction of their father “unpardonable sins.” God said, “therefore I have sworn to the house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli’s house shall not be atoned for by sacrifice or offering forever.” In other words, there is not now, nor will there ever be a way to eliminate the guilt of what Eli’s house has done: by the acts of the two sons, nor for the failure of Eli to correct them. This is God’s curse on Eli’s house forever and ever. 

Samuel Shares God’s Message (1 Samuel 3:15-18)  

Recall that all the prophetic information God gave to Samuel, was given by God to Samuel, alone. It would not take much imagination to understand why Samuel might fear sharing this information with Eli.  He had become Samuel’s father figure, too. So, verse 15 tells us that Samuel decided to lay in his bed after he received God’s words as long as he could. He anticipated that Eli was going to ask him to reveal every word that God gave him. Further, God did not forbid Samuel from sharing His prophecy with anyone else. So, Samuel got up in the morning and set about opening the Tabernacle for its standard business (vs. 16). But Eli saw him and called him to come to him using endearing words. He said, “Samuel, my son” to which Samuel replied, “Here am I.” 

Here is the question Eli asked which Samuel really hoped he would never have to answer. “What is the word that He spoke to you?” That question alone is sufficiently direct and concise to force the harsh truth, but Eli continued, “Please do not hide it from me. May God do so to you, and more also, if you hide anything from me of all the words that He spoke to you” (vs. 17). 

Eli was no fool. He heard at least twice that God had serious difficulty with what Hophni and Phinehas were doing. The knowledge that every meal of meat the family ate, while appropriately taken as a part of the offerings, it was inappropriately taken before the fat of the offering was sacrificed was a great sin before the Lord. The words of the boys laying with the women who ministered to the doors of the Tabernacle was more gross sin. Eli reasoned with his sons revealing the anger of God over these sins, but the boys refused to repent. They took no thought of the fact that they were condemning their father along with themselves when they refused to hear and respond to their father. But is that not always true? When we refuse to hear God or those He sends to us, we properly condemn ourselves, but there are so many more that we drag into the sin with us. Eve certainly drew Adam into her failure and all humankind still pays the price. Ananias conspired with Sapphira to lie about the price they received for their house – it costed both of the their lives.

Samuel Becomes a Prophet (1 Samuel 3:19-4:1a)  

The LORD overheard the cries of Elkanah’s wife Hannah for a son.  Her cries to the LORD were also overheard by Eli, the High Priest, and he stated the vow that resulted in the birth of Samuel. During those early years before Hannah weaned Samuel, I can imagine the conversations of love she had with the little boy. She had no way of knowing that this little boy would be Israel’s last Judge and the nation’s first Prophet. I have no knowledge of Hannah’s awareness of the sin of the house of Eli nor God’s wrath associated with it. But I do know that Eli’s blessing upon her, her prayer and her resulting vow caused a powerful blessing on the little boy she named Samuel. The name means God hears, and God certainly heard her prayer and blessed her so mightily that she had five additional children with Elkanah and erased her shame of being barren. But that was not all, she would also have the massive blessing of watching her son rise to serve as the High Priest alongside Eli and stand alone as Judge and Prophet as Israel moved forward. 

She watched Samuel grow to be tested as a Prophet. Verse 19 says his words never failed, after all, the only test of a true prophet is whether their prophecies come true (Deut 18:20-22). Verse 20 says that all of Israel from the tip of Dan in the North to the bottom of Beersheba in the South knew that Samuel was confirmed as a prophet of the LORD.  

Verse 21 closes chapter 3 by announcing that the LORD appeared again to Samuel in Shiloh just as He had appeared to him before by His Word. So, God chose to reveal Himself to Samuel in Shiloh just as He had when He first called Samuel to serve with Eli in those early days. Recall that God revealed the future fate of Eli and his sons to Samuel, and Eli pressured Samuel to tell him every detail of what the Lord told him. Samuel told him that Hophni and Phinehas would be killed in the same day and that he (Eli) would also die because he knew the evil his sons but did nothing to stop it. This prophecy was fulfilled as Hophni and Phinehas were killed as the Philistines took the Ark of God and Eli died as he received the word of his sons’ death (1 Sam 4:10-18. Here, we see that the word (prophecies) of Samuel came to all of Israel.

The Ark of the Covenant (Exodus 25:10-22)

Moses received the direction from God to build the Ark of the covenant, or as it is sometimes called, The Ark of the Testimony. We will see from this Scripture and Hebrews 8-10 that it has two primary purposes. First, it will be a storage chest for three items of great importance to the history of Israel and, second, it will become the center of Israel’s sacrificial system, especially on the Day of Atonement. The three elements stored in the Ark are the second set of Ten Commandments, Aaron’s rod that budded and a pot of manna. These elements represent Israel’s rejection of God’s Law, God’s Leadership and God’s Logistics (Heb 9:4). 

On the Day of Atonement (the first day of the seventh month), only the High Priest could enter into the Holy of Holies where the Ark was placed and only with a basin of blood from a perfect lamb or goat (Lev 23). God would be looking down on the top of the Ark where the two cheribum, with out-sretched wings would block the sight of the Mercy Seat from the front, back and each side. But God could look down on the Mercy Seat and see man’s rejection of everything He provided as represented by those three elemets. But when the High Priest would sprinkle the blood of the unblemished lamb on that Mercy Seat, God could no longer see the sin of man.  In that holiness, God would speak to His subjects the messages for the coming years. 

Exodus 25:10-22 provided the detailed instructions for building the Ark. It was to be built of shittim wood, 2.5 cubits long, 1.5 cubits wide and 1.5 cubits deep (45” x 27” x 27”). The gold cherubim are placed on the mercy seat facing each other with their wings stretched forward. When the High Priest sprinkles the blood of the lamb or goat on the mercy seat, it is between the cherubim and God promised to hover there to deliver annual instructions and blessings for Israel. 

The writers of Hebrews correctly point out that throughout history the dozens High Priests have had to stand by the Ark to offer for sin repetitively. They observed that Jesus Christ is unique because He offered one sacrifice for atonement and sat down at the Father’s right hand (Heb 9:27). 

The Ark is Captured (1 Samuel 4:1b-22)

Israel was used to winning battles because of the strength of their God. They routinely entered wars or battles where they were significantly outnumbered. Nevertheless, God would make the difference for them and provide the victory. Here, Israel has chosen to do battel with its frequent enemy, the Philistines. Israel was camped at Ebenezer while the Philistines were camped at Aphek. In this case, the Philistines killed over 4,000 Israelis resulting in a decisive defeat of Israel. Israel was expecting to win this battle but were left questioning why they did not (vs. 3). They were asking questions like, “Why has the Lord defeated us before the Philistines?” They decided it was likely due to the lack of God’s physical presence with them on the front and sent to Shiloh to have the Ark of the Covenant relocated. The text informs that both of Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas accompany the Ark on its move to the front. 

Israel was jubilant at the Ark’s arrival and gave out a loud shout which was heard by their enemy (vs. 6). The Philistines knew the history of Israel’s victories when the Ark was present with them and feared they had made a great error for war at this time. Despite their feelings of insufficiency and defeat, the Philistines were once again victorious to the point of massive Israeli casualties including both of Eli’s sons. (Recall the prophecy was that both sons would die at nearly the same time.) Worse, the Philistines also took the Ark of the Covenants, and when this was briefed to Eli, he lost his balance and flipped backwards, breaking his neck. (More prophecy fulfilled, Eli would die because of not rebuking his sons from their evil at the Tabernacle.)

Phinehas’ wife was pregnant and when she heard of her husband being killed and the Ark being taken by the Philistines, she went into labor and delivered a son. She named the little boy I-chabod, the combination of two Hebrew words, the first was “I” meaning the opposite of what the second word was, and the second meaning “glory” saying the glory of the Lord has departed Israel, because her father-in-law and her husband was taken from her, and the Ark of the Covenant has been taken away from Israel. The pain of all that loss seemed very personal to her.  

The Ark Troubles the Philistines (1 Samuel 5:1-12)

The Philistines moved the recently captured Ark of the Covenants from Ebenezer to Ashdod where the worship place for their god, Dagon was. They thought it wise to put the Ark in the same enclosure with Dagon, their deity (vs. 2). The next morning, they had to reassess because they found Dagon face-down in front of the Ark. Thinking that was surely an accident, they put Dagon back in place, but next day, not only had he put his face in the dirt, but his head and both palms were broken off on the threshold. Only the trunk of Dagon remained. The people of Ashdod remember that day by abstaining from stepping on the threshold of entering that worship center to this day (vs. 5). After this. The people were very much aware of the presence of the Ark as God widened the attack of tumors across the entire city. The people gathered all their leaders together and insisted they send the Ark back to its own home to cease His attacks against Ashdod (vs. 11).

The people of Ashdod were enraged against their leaders and nothing but confusion across their land. They felt the heavy hand of God throughout and demanded relief. Those who did not die from God’s activity were subject to the plague tumors and only wanted an end to the Ark’s presence among them. The prayer of the people went up as a cry into the heavens, but there is no help coming from the heavens for them. They are seeing a demonstration of power from the Creator of the Universe, and they are asking for relief from Him. Oh, if they only understood!

It reminds me of the shouts of the lost during the Tribulation Period, “And said to the mountains and rocks, ‘Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb’” (Rev 6:16). If only they understood that He from Whom they were begging protection was the only source of protection. The Ashdodites were pleading for relief from the plagues of the God of the Ark of the Covenants and the people of the Tribulation Period were praying for relief from seeing the face of the Lamb. Both were asking for relief from God’s primary activity of “seeking to save that which was lost.” Was that not the primary work of Jesus when God sent His only Son “to seek and to save that which was lost” from Him (Luke 19:10)?

The Ark is Returned to Israel (1 Samuel 6:1-7:2)  

It has now been seven months since the Ark of the Covenant was stolen by the Philistines (vs. 6.1). Having the Ark in their country had not been a pleasant time. It seemed that wherever the leaders chose to place the Ark, the people paid a severe price for having It. Now, the question finally comes, “What shall we do with the ark of the LORD? Tell us “How we shall send it to its place” (vs. 2). So, they began the discussion of what kind of offering they should send to accompany the Ark’s return. The decision was almost as hilarious as the idea to take it from the beginning. Verses 5 and 6 document that the Guilt Offering ought to be “Five golden tumors and five golden mice” (vss. 4-5). (I laughed when I read that the leaders of the Philistia were modeling hemorrhoids and mice to send to Israel as a Guilt Offering with the Ark.) Those delivering the Ark were tasked to watch to make sure It went to Bethshemite and not return to Philistia. It was interesting that their advisers referenced the plagues of Egypt as an example of what could happen to them for stealing the Ark (vss. 5-6).

So, they made a new cart and put the Ark on it pulled by two cows that had recently given birth and kept their calves behind. The plan was that the cows would be released and return to their calves. They had evidently forgotten Israel’s propensity for sacrificing to the Lord. The Levites receiving the cart did just that. When the five lords of the Philistines delivering the Ark saw this, they returned to Akron believing their mission was completed (vs. 16). Samuel wrote that the large stone upon which they placed the Ark is a witness to this day of the return of the Ark to the field of Joshua the Bethshemite (vs. 18). 

Some of the men of Bethshemesh made the mistake of looking into the Ark. God struck down 50,070 men, and the people mourned such a large loss (vss. 19-20). The leaders sent word to Kirjath-jearim to come for the Ark. The men came and took the Ark to the house of Abinadab the Levite in the hillside. He commissioned his son, Eleazar to watch over the Ark, and it remained in his house for 20 years (vss. 7:1-2). 

Repentance Required (1 Samuel 7:3-5)

Just a very quick reminder of the context of Samuel’s assuming leadership over the entire nation, Israel was a back-slid, disobedient, God-dishonoring people. The period preceding Samuel was that of the 12 judges of Israel and that entire period was categorized as a dark period in Israel’s history. Samuel begins his service as a Judge of Israel by calling on the nation to return to God and turn away from idolatry (vs. 3). He generally mentions turning away from all foreign gods but specifically mentions turning away from the Baals and Ashtaroth. The names of each of these gods are plurals and could represent many idols. Ashtaroth can be seen as the female counterpart for Baal. Both are fertility gods whose worship includes sensual aspects such as temporal prostitutes, drugs and alcohol, and infant sacrifice. All of these negatives are added to the fact that worshiping any god other than Jehovah/Yahweh is strictly forbidden by the Lord’s very first of His Ten Commandments (Ex 20:1). This is the nation Samuel is taking over after the deaths of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, the High Priest/Judge and his two sons.

Samuel begins by telling Israel if they truly wish to be delivered from the hands of the Philistinians, they must return to the LORD (Heb, Jehovah) with all their hearts, remove all the idols from among them and direct their hearts to Jehovah and serve Him alone (vs. 3).  Israel agrees and removes all the statues of Baals and Ashtaroth from across the whole nation.

Then Samuel called for a national prayer meeting at the city of Mizpah (vs. 5). “There,” he said, “I will pray for you to the only true God of the Universe.” The absolute fear and desperation of the times were instrumental in Israel’s response to Samuel. The Philistinian enemies were literally, knocking at their door. Whatever they were getting from their idolatry was not working against the real foe at hand. The Philistinians were not only beating them in battle, but they also stole the Ark of the Covenants, so for the idolator’s mindset, they have stolen their God. Recall that the Ark was returned because of all the trouble God caused while with them, but it is hidden away.

Israel Hears Samuel (1 Samuel 7:6-7)

Israel backed up their actions of disposing of the idols by travelling to Mizpah for the prayer meeting suggested by Samuel. They demonstrated their sincerity by adding fasting to their commitment to prayer. They symbolically drew water from the well and poured it out without consuming any of it to show they were fasting even water (vs. 6a). They added to the prayer and fasting an open confession to the Lord with the words, “We have sinned against the LORD” (vs. 6b). It was at this meeting that Samuel formally took the position of Judge of Israel. 

It seems that the praying, fasting and confessing of sin was well-intended, but not personally inspiring for Israel. Look at what happens when the Philistinians learn of their prayer meeting at Mizpah (vs. 7). Their spies first reported the meeting to the leaders of the land. The leaders (lords) of the Philistinians went up against Israel at that very place. When the sons of Israel heard that was happening, they were afraid of the Philistines (vs. 7).

How can Israel experience so much fear after Samuel’s prayer and the nation’s fasting and confession of sin? Recall that Israel just returned to the Lord after decades of religion based primarily on works. Fertility rights were experienced with the help of the temple prostitutes. The worship experience was aided by drugs and alcohol. Every experience was based on what the worshipper wanted to experience and was willing to “contribute” to. True religion is not works-based; it is faith-based. Paul says in Romans 10:10-11, “10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 11 For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.” Israel was afraid because they had not yet transitioned back to the power of God through faith. They repeated their lessons learned through idolatry and did things in order to get things. In reality, the power of prayer, fasting and confession comes from the power of faith in the heart of the believer. It is a matter of the heart; not of the mind. Very soon we will see that they get the victory over the Philistines through the great power of their faith in Jehovah and not because of what they did. They needed a heart revival.

Victory Won at Mizpah (1 Samuel 7:8-11)  

We see that Israel caught on right away. They knew there was more available from God than they had received so far. Further, they recognized that Samuel was more closely attuned to God than they were. They approached him saying, “Do not cease to cry to the LORD our God for us, that He may save us from the hand of the Philistines” (vs. 8). (Note: “The LORD our God” is Hebrew Jehovah our Elohym.) They had no trouble seeing the power for salvation was there, but they could not transition from the “finding the right thing to do” in favor of the “believe with thine heart and confess with the mouth the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved” (Rom 10:9). Samuel was raised in the home of the High Priest (Eli) and lived in the Tabernacle for decades. He had intimate knowledge of God’s sacrificial system, so Samuel offered a young lamb to the Lord as he cried to Him for Israel’s protection. The word “cry” requested by Israel and the word “cried” used by Samuel as he offered the suckling lamb were the same Hebrew word zowak which means to yell out like a herald calling for emergency assembly. 

Verse 10 tells us that at the very moment that Samuel was offering the lamb, the Philistines “drew near to battle against Israel.”  But wait! “The LORD thundered with a great thunder on that day against the Philistines and confused them, so they were routed before Israel.” God caused a noise in the heavens that frustrated the plan of the Philistines. The noise was surprising, impossible to ignore, required the heads and eyes to point in that direction. It took away their focus on destroying Israel; they were too busy trying to figure out what the noise was and how they could survive it. The men of Israel saw the Philistines break formation and become disorderly as they approached battle. “Israel went out from Mizpah and pursued the Philistines and struck them down as far as below Beth-car” (vs. 11). So, Israel was striking down the Philistines as they chased them west, nearly into the Mediterranean Sea. The word nearly overlooked in verse 10 was that the Philistines were “routed.” They were not just defeated; they were embarrassed before Israel. Some might be tempted to shrug their shoulders and ask what was happening. “By faith they were saved…”

Samuel’s Ministry Summarized (1 Samuel 7:12-17) 

God instructed Samuel to write down the turning point of his Judging of Israel. This was the point where God used Hannah’s baby boy to intercede for Israel and cause the defeat of the Philistines by Israeli armies. Samuel marked the spot with a stone he called Ebenezer saying, “Thus far the LORD has helped us” (vs. 12). As the Lord summarizes the ministry of Samuel, He says that the Philistines were subdued, and they did not come anymore within the border of Israel.  And the hand of the LORD was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel (vs. 13). So, God caused peace to exist for the total length of Samuel’s life as a Judge for Israel. Further, all the cities of Israel previously taken by the Philistines, from Ekron to Gath, were returned to Israel.  And Israel gladly received them back from the Philistines (vs. 14).  

Verse 14 summarizes, “So, there was peace between Israel and the Amorites. Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life (vs. 15). He traveled on circuit between Bethel, Gilgal and Mizpah. He judged Israel from each of these places. He continued to judge Isreal from each of these places for the remainder of his life. Samuel returned to his childhood home in Ramah because it was still available to him after his period of judging Israel was completed. He built an altar in honor of the Lord at Ramah.

The summary of Samuel’s ministry is a little out of place here considering that he will anoint Saul as King of Israel in Chapter 10 and David as King of Israel in Chapter 16. Samuel plays a very large role in the history of Israel until Chapter 25. The anointing of King Saul comes about after Israel rejected Samual’s sons as leaders just as they did Eli’s sons (Chap. 8). Israel selected Saul because of physical attributes rather than relationship with God. He failed shortly thereafter but not before trying to assassinate David who had already been anointed as king to replace Saul. 

Saul persecutes David from his youth, when he killed Goliath, throughout the many years David hid in caves to avoid being murdered by Saul. Finally, in 2 Samuel 2, David becomes king.