Life of Samuel

Hannah’s Vow and Fulfillment

Year after year, Hannah, whose womb the Lord had closed, went to the house of the Lord at Shiloh with her husband Elkanah to worship and sacrifice to the Lord. Hannah was in bitterness of soul and prayed to the Lord and wept in anguish. Then she made a vow and 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 male child, then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, and no razor shall come upon his head” (1 Samuel 1:11) Hannah spoke in her heart; only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard. Eli the priest thought that she was drunk. Hannah answered “No, my lord, I am a woman of sorrowful spirit. I have drunk neither wine not intoxicating drink but have poured out my soul before the Lord.” (1:15). Eli blessed her saying, “Go in peace, and the God of Israel grant your petition which you have asked of Him” (1:17). Hannah went her way and ate, and her face was no longer sad.

In the process of time Hannah conceived and bore a son, and called his name Samuel, saying “Because I have asked for him from the Lord” (1:20). When Hannah had weaned Samuel, she took him with her and brought him to Eli. Hannah said to Eli “For this child I prayed, and the Lord has granted me my petition which I asked of Him. Therefore, I also have lent him to the Lord; as long as he lives he shall be lent to the Lord” (1:27-28). Samuel ministered to the Lord before Eli the priest, even as a child, wearing a linen ephod. Hannah used to make him a little robe, and bring it to him year by year when she came with Elkanah to offer the yearly sacrifice. Samuel grew in stature, and in favor both with Lord and men.

Lord calls Samuel

The boy Samuel ministered to the Lord before Eli. The word of the Lord was rare in those days; there was no widespread revelation. One day early morning the Lord called Samuel with an audible voice inside the tabernacle of the Lord where the ark of God was, and Samuel mistook it for the voice of Eli. But Eli perceived that the Lord had called Samuel and instructed Samuel on how to respond to the call. The Lord revealed to Samuel that he will judge the house of Eli because of their iniquities. Samuel told Eli what the Lord had told him. So, Samuel grew, and the Lord was with him and let none of his words fall to the ground. All Israel knew that Samuel had been established as a prophet of the Lord. And the word of Samuel came to all Israel.

Samuel Judges Israel

After the death of Eli and his sons, Samuel became a Judge over all Israel. Then Samuel spoke to all the house of Israel, saying, “If you return to the Lord with all your hearts, then put away the foreign gods and Ashtoreths from among you, and prepare your hearts for the Lord and serve Him only; and He will deliver you from the hand of the Philistines. So, the children of Israel put away the Baals and the Ashtoreths and served the Lord only." (7:3-4) Samuel judged the children of Israel at Mizpah. And the hand of the Lord was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel. Then the cities which the Philistines had taken from Israel was restored to Israel, and Israel recovered its territory from the hands of Philistines. And Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life.

Israel Demands a King

When Samuel was old he made his sons judges over Israel. But his sons did not walk in his ways; they turned aside after dishonest gain, took bribes, and perverted justice. The elders of Israel told Samuel “Look, you are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now make us a king to judge us like all the nations” (8:5) Samuel prayed to the Lord, and the Lord said to Samuel “Heed the voice of the people in all that they say to you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me, that I should not reign over them” (8:7) Samuel tried to forewarn them about the way kings reign, but the people did not want to heed them. So, the Lord said to Samuel, “Heed their voice, and make them a king”.

Saul is chosen as King

The Lord had told Samuel in his ear the day before Saul came, saying, “Tomorrow about this time I will send you a man from the land of Benjamin, and you shall anoint him commander over My people Israel, that he may save My People from the hand of the Philistines; for I have looked upon my people, because their cry has come to Me.” (9:16) So when Samuel saw Saul, the Lord said to him, “There he is, the man of whom I spoke to you. This one shall reign over My People.” (9:17) There was not a more handsome person than he among the children of Israel. From his shoulders upward, he was taller that any of the people. (9:2) Samuel explained to the people the behavior of royalty and wrote it in a book and laid it up before the Lord.

Saul is rejected as King

The word of the Lord came to Samuel, saying, “I greatly regret that I have set up Saul as king, for he has turned back from following Me, and has not performed My commands.” (15:11) And it grieved Samuel, and he cried out to the Lord all night. So, Samuel said to Saul: “Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, He also has rejected you from being king.” (15:22-23) And Samuel went no more to see Saul until the day of his death. Nevertheless, Samuel mourned for Saul, and the Lord regretted that He made Saul king over Israel.

David anointed as King

The Lord said to Samuel, “How long will you mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? Fill your horn with oil and go; I am sending you to Jesse the Bethlehemite. For I have provided Myself a king among his sons." (16:1) The Lord said to Samuel “You shall anoint for Me the one I name to you.” (16:3) The Lord rejected all the other seven sons of Jesse and chose the youngest one David. The Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers; and the Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward. (16:13)

Death of Samuel

Then Samuel died; and the Israelites gathered together and lamented for him and buried him at his home in Ramah.

Lessons that can be learnt

• Samuel’s mother dedicated him to serve the Lord even before he was born. Samuel did not reject this at any time of his life and continued to be in service of the Lord as a Judge, Prophet and Priest all his life
• When the Lord rejected Saul as King, Samuel continued to mourn for Saul even though Samuel did not choose Saul to be the King
• When choosing David as the King, Samuel kept looking for someone as handsome as Saul and did not look at the heart of David as God had looked at

About this Post

This post is adapted from the Term Paper that I submitted to World Video Bible School as a part of my study of Old Testament History 2 Course.

You can read about the Gideon from the Book of Judges from the earlier course of Old Testament History 1.

You can read about The God I believe in here .

If you like my blogs please visit https://www.facebook.com/fjpandiaraj and like that page to be notified of my future posts in Facebook. You can also find links to my older posts there.

Gideon from the Book of Judges

Book of Judges

The Book of Judges covers a period of about 300 years from the death of Joshua to the rise of Samuel. This Book of Judges was written either at the end of the rule of Judges or very early in the rule of King Saul. Samuel appears to be the author of this Book.

Gideon the Judge

Gideon was one of the thirteen Judges whose life is given in the Book of Judges. He was the fifth Judge about whom the Book of Judges provides details about. The life of Gideon is described in Judges 6:1 to 8:35. The Lord chose Gideon to deliver Israel, when she was being oppressed by Midianites, Amalekites and the people of the East for seven years and the people of Israel cried out to the Lord.

Midianite Oppression

The Midianites are the descendants of Abraham and Keturah (Genesis 25:2). The oppressors did not oppress Israel either by way of war or by killing. Instead, they would enter the land in great numbers to destroy it (6:5). They would also take for themselves all that Israel had sown and destroy the remaining harvest and leave none for Israel (6:3-4). Because of this Israel was greatly impoverished and forced to live in caves in the mountains to hide anything they had and to keep it for themselves.

Appearance of the Angel of the Lord

The Angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon while he was threshing wheat in a wine press to hide it from the Midianites. The Angel of the Lord said to Gideon, “The Lord is with you, you mighty man of valor!” (6:12) “Go in this might of yours, and you shall save Israel from the Midianites. Have I not sent you?” (6:14) “Surely I will be with you, and you shall defeat the Midianites as one man” (6:16) Gideon sought a sign from the Angel of the Lord by bringing an offering of prepared meat of a young goat, unleavened bread and broth and offered it to the Angel of the Lord. The Angel of the Lord confirmed the sign by consuming them through the fire that rose out of the rock and departing out of his sight.

Gideon tears down his father’s Altar of Baal

That same night the LORD said to Gideon “Take your father’s young bull, the second bull of seven years old, and tear down the altar of Baal that you father has, and cut down the wooden image that is beside it; and build an altar to the Lord your God on top of this rock in proper arrangement, and take the second bull and offer a burnt sacrifice with the wood of the image which you shall cut down.” (6:25-26) Gideon did what the Lord said to him that night with the help of his ten servants.

Gathering for confrontation

The Midianites and Amalekites and the people of the East crossed over and gathered together at the Valley of Jezreel and encamped against Israel. Now the Spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon. Gideon blew the trumpet and gathered the Abiezrites with him. Then he sent messengers throughout Manasseh, Asher, Zebulun and Naphtali and gathered them behind him.

Sign of the Fleece

Gideon said to God, “If You will save Israel by my hand as You have said - look, I shall put a fleece of wool on the threshing floor; if there is dew on the fleece only, and it is dry on all the ground then I shall know that You will save Israel by my hand, as You have said.” (6:36-37). Next morning the ground was dry, but when Gideon squeezed the fleece he could gather a bowlful of water. Once again Gideon said to God “Do not be angry with me but let me speak just once more: Let me test, I pray, just once more with the fleece; let it now be dry only on the fleece, but on all the ground let there be dew.” (6:39) God did so that night. In the morning there was dew on all of the ground, but the fleece was dry.

God chooses only 300

The Lord said to Gideon, “The people who are with you are too many … Whoever is fearful and afraid, let him turn and depart at once ...” (7:2-3). Then 22,000 people returned, and 10,000 people were still left. The Lord said to Gideon, “The people are still too many; bring them down to the water, and I will test them for you there.” (7:4) By this test the Lord chose only 300 men and sent all the rest of the Israel to their tents. The same night the Lord said to Gideon, “Arise, go down against the camp, for I have delivered it into your hand.” (7:9)

Confrontation

Gideon divided the 300 men into 3 companies and gave to every man a trumpet and empty pitchers with torches inside the pitchers. By mid-night Gideon’s three companies surrounded the Midianite camp on all sides. In a coordinated manner based on Gideon’s signal all of them simultaneously blew the trumpets and broke the pitchers in their hands. They held the torches in their left hands and blew the trumpet with their right hand and shouted, “The sword of the Lord and of Gideon!” and stood in the same place around the camp. Panic spread throughout the whole camp and the army cried out, ran and fled. In the panic the Lord set every man’s sword against his companion throughout the whole camp and they fled. The men of Israel gathered together and pursued the Midianites. Gideon sent messengers throughout Israel asking them to “Come down against the Midianites and seize from the watering places.” And they did so and subdued the Midianites.

Gideon’s Ephod

Then the men of Israel said to Gideon, “Rule over us, … for you have delivered us from the hand of Midian.” (8:22) Gideon collected all the golden earrings from the plunder and made it into an ephod and kept it in his city, Ophrah. And all Israel played the harlot with it there, and it became a snare to Gideon and to his house.

Death of Gideon

Through Gideon, Mideon was subdued before Israel, and they did not lift their heads any more. There was peace in the land for 40 years in the days of Gideon. Gideon died at a good old age and was buried in a tomb in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.

Lessons that can be learnt

• The first act of Gideon was to destroy the Baal worship at his father’s house. We too must begin the process of salvation with those closer to our homes.
• Because of what Gideon experienced he repeatedly kept on asking God for signs again and again. First, he brings an offering and the Lord consumes it. Then he wants two different type of fleece tests. He even goes into the Midianite camp as the Lord suggested to see the extent of fear in the camp. He wants to be sure that it is the Lord that is directing him and that he is not carried away by anything else. We too need to be sure that what we are doing for God is in fact coming from God.
• Gideon made an Ephod as symbol of his worship to God. Instead of worshiping God they started worshiping an object that represented God. We too should directly worship God and not get distracted by anything else that represents God.

About this Post

This post is adapted from the Term Paper that I submitted to World Video Bible School as a part of my study of Old Testament History 1 Course.

You can read about the Christian Evidences from the earlier course of Christian Evidences.

You can read about The God I believe in here .

If you like my blogs please visit https://www.facebook.com/fjpandiaraj and like that page to be notified of my future posts in Facebook. You can also find links to my older posts there.