“And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson and Jephthah, about David and Samuel and the prophets, who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. “
Hebrews 11:32-34(NIV)
I recently read this scripture and thought it might be fun to take a look at the people mentioned. The last person mentioned is Samuel. I will paraphrase some of the scriptures because it is several chapters. I’ll leave a link at the bottom so you can read it. I’m going going to summarize the first part of Samuel’s life because there is a lot to cover.
Who is Samuel?
Elkanah had two wives, Hannah and Peninnah. Penninah had children, but Hannah was childless. Penninah would tease Hannah for years about this. She would tease her every year until Hannah would be sick. She would cry and not eat. Elkanah didn’t want her crying, because he loved her and would dote on her (sidebar….why would he marry someone else if he loved her so much?).
Hannah went to to pray. She made a vow to God. Remember me and give me a song and I’ll give him to you. Meaning that she would give him to the priesthood. God heard her prayers. He gave her a son and she named him Samuel, which means “heard by God”.
When Samuel was weaned, Hannah and Elkanah take him and dedicate him to God. Hannah then prays a beautiful prayer. Samuel is then left at the temple with Eli, who is the head priest.
Eli’s Evil Sons
Eli’s sons also worked in the temple, but they did not act priestly. They took the offering that was the Lord’s and if it wasn’t freely given, they would take it by force. Eli tried talking to his sons, but they wouldn’t listen to him. A man of God came to Eli and told him that no one in his family line will live to old age. They have done badly in the sight of the Lord. Your two sons will die on the same say. The Lord will raise up a faithful priest.
The Call
“In those days the word of the Lord was rare; there were not many visions.”
1 Samuel 3:1 (NIV)
Samuel was lying down in the room with the ark. Samuel was important in the eyes of God, because not everyone could be near the ark. Even for priests, they could only be near the ark on special days. This is a big deal!
The Lord called Samuel three times. Each time he thought Eli was calling him. The third time Eli told him that it was the Lord and if he called again, Eli should say “Speak, for your servant is listening”. Samuel followed Eli’s advice and the Lord told Samuel what he was going to do to Eli’s family. The next day, Samuel didn’t want to tell Eli, but Eli convinced him to share what told to him. Samuel shared the message from God. Eli’s answer was:
“He is the Lord; let him do what is good in his eyes.”
1 Samuel 3:18 (NIV)
The Lord continued to appear to Samuel at the temple.
The Ark
The Israelites were fighting the Philistines and someone has the idea to take the ark along with them. Israel lost the battle, Eli’s sons were killed and the ark was captured by the Philistines. Eli was told that the ark was captured and his sons had died. When he was told this, he fell over and died.
The ark went around to different groups of people. There are some funny parts in the Bible about the other deity idols falling down in the presence of the ark. No one wanted the ark because of the trouble it would cause them and the Philistines decided to give it back to Israel.
“Samuel continued as Israel’s leader all the days of his life. From year to year he went on a circuit from Bethel to Gilgal to Mizpah, judging Israel in all those places. But he always went back to Ramah, where his home was, and there he also held court for Israel. And he built an altar there to the Lord.”
1 Samuel 7:15-17 (NIV)
What can we learn from Samuel?
Stay close to God and you can hear him
God will take care of you
When God tells you he is going to do something, you’d better believe him
Keep your heart and mind clear
Do right in God’s eyes and be willing to do his will
Pray for your family
When you see your family doing wrong, instruct them in the right ways
Be a good example
If you would like to read the scriptures, here is a link. It starts in 1 Samuel 1-1 Samuel 7. The link is for the New International Version, but you can click on the right on the webpage and change to a different version.
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Samuel+1&version=NIV
Did you learn about Samuel? This concludes all of the people named in this scripture from Hebrews 11. I’d appreciate the feedback. Let me know if you learned anything and would like to see more like this!
If you like what you see, please like, share, and pass it along! You can subscribe to the blog and you can find us on Pinterest and Facebook!
