1 Samuel 3:1 The boy Samuel served Yahveh in Eli’s presence. In those days the word of Yahveh was rare and prophetic visions were not widespread. 1 Samuel 3:2 One day Eli, whose eyesight was failing, was lying in his usual place. 1 Samuel 3:3 Before the lamp of God had gone out, Samuel was lying down in the temple of Yahveh, where the ark of God was located. 1 Samuel 3:4 Then Yahveh called Samuel, and he answered, “Notice me.” 1 Samuel 3:5 He ran to Eli and said, ” Notice me. You called me.” “I didn’t call,” Eli replied. “Go back and lie down.” So, he went and lay down. 1 Samuel 3:6 Once again Yahveh called, “Samuel!” Samuel got up, went to Eli, and said, “Notice me. You called me.” “I didn’t call, my son,” he replied. “Turn back and lie down.” 1 Samuel 3:7 Now Samuel did not yet know Yahveh, because the word of Yahveh had not yet been revealed to him. 1 Samuel 3:8 Once again, for the third time, Yahveh called Samuel. He got up, went to Eli, and said, “Notice me. You called me.” Then Eli understood that Yahveh was calling the boy. 1 Samuel 3:9 He told Samuel, “Go and lie down. If he calls you, say, ‘Speak, Lord, because your servant is listening.'” So, Samuel went and lay down in his place.
do not disturb
Samuel learned from Eli that God could call, and he must be wiulling to answer that call. So many of us put our spiritual cellphones on “do not disturb” because we cannot be bothered with a vision from God. Like it was in Eli’s day, the word of Yahveh is rare. We have God’s written word, but we often ignore that. Why should God call us?
1 Samuel 2:12 Eli’s sons were worthless sons; they did not respect Yahveh 1 Samuel 2:13 or the priests’ share of the sacrifices from the people. When anyone offered a sacrifice, the priest’s boy would come with a three-pronged meat fork while the meat was boiling 1 Samuel 2:14 and plunge it into the container, kettle, cauldron, or cooking pot. The priest would claim for himself whatever the meat fork brought up. This is the way they treated all the Israelites who came there to Shiloh. 1 Samuel 2:15 Even before the fat was burned, the priest’s boy would come and say to the one who was sacrificing, “Give the priest some meat to roast, because he won’t accept boiled meat from you — only raw.” 1 Samuel 2:16 If that person said to him, “The fat must be burned first; then you can take whatever you want for yourself,” the servant would reply, “No, you will give it right now. If you don’t, I’ll take it by force!” 1 Samuel 2:17 So the boys’ sin was very severe in the presence of Yahveh, because the men treated Yahveh’s offering disrespectfully. 1 Samuel 2:18 Samuel served in Yahveh’s presence — this mere boy was dressed in the linen ephod. 1 Samuel 2:19 Each year his mother made him a little robe and took it to him when she went with her husband to offer the annual sacrifice. 1 Samuel 2:20 Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife: “May Yahveh give you children by this woman in place of the one she has given to Yahveh.” Then they would go home. 1 Samuel 2:21 Yahveh paid attention to Hannah’s need, and she conceived and gave birth to three sons and two daughters. Meanwhile, the boy Samuel grew up in the presence of Yahveh. 1 Samuel 2:22 Now Eli was very old. He heard about everything his sons were doing to all Israel and how they were lying down with the women who served at the entrance to the tent of meeting. 1 Samuel 2:23 He said to them, “Why are you doing these things? I have heard about your evil actions from all these people. 1 Samuel 2:24 No, my sons, the news I hear Yahveh’s people spreading is not good. 1 Samuel 2:25 If one person sins against another, God can intercede for him, but if a person sins against Yahveh, who can intercede for him?” But they would not listen to their father, since Yahveh intended to kill them. 1 Samuel 2:26 By contrast, the boy Samuel grew in stature and in favor with Yahveh and with people. 1 Samuel 2:27 A man of God came to Eli and said to him, “This is what Yahveh says: ‘Didn’t I reveal myself to your forefather’s family when they were in Egypt and belonged to Pharaoh’s palace? 1 Samuel 2:28 Out of all the tribes of Israel, I chose your house to be my priests, to offer sacrifices on my altar, to burn incense, and to wear an ephod in my presence. I also gave your forefather’s family all the Israelite fire offerings. 1 Samuel 2:29 Why, then, do all of you despise my sacrifices and offerings that I require at the place of worship? You have honored your sons more than me, by making yourselves fat with the first of all the offerings of my people Israel.’ 1 Samuel 2:30 “Therefore, this is the declaration of Yahveh, the God of Israel: ‘I did say that your family and your forefather’s family would walk before me forever. But now,’ this is Yahveh’s declaration, ‘no longer! For those who honor me I will honor, but those who despise me will be disgraced. 1 Samuel 2:31 Notice, the days are coming when I will cut off your strength and the strength of your forefather’s house, so that none in your family will reach old age. 1 Samuel 2:32 You will see distress in the place of worship, despite all that is good in Israel, and no one in your family will ever again reach old age. 1 Samuel 2:33 Any man from your family I do not cut off from my altar will bring grief and sadness to your throat. All your descendants will die violently. 1 Samuel 2:34 This will be the sign that will come to you concerning your two sons Hophni and Phinehas: both will die on the same day. 1 Samuel 2:35 ” ‘Then I will raise up a faithful priest for myself. He will do whatever is in my heart and throat. I will establish a lasting dynasty for him, and he will walk before my anointed one for all time. 1 Samuel 2:36 Anyone who is left in your family will come and bow down to him for a piece of silver or a loaf of bread. He will say: Please appoint me to some priestly office so I can have a piece of bread to eat.'”
disrespect, disregard
Samuel was learning to respect God, the traditions of the priesthood, and the Israelites he would serve in that office. These were precisely the areas where Eli’s sons showed disrespect. You can tell a lot about a person by observing how he acts toward others. Disregarding the rules is also a sign that something about a person is not right.
The man of God who visited Eli warned him that he could not get away with letting his sons keep living in disrespect. Eli probably felt helpless to change them. He probably spoiled them as children and opened the door to much suffering and shame in his future.
1 Samuel 2:1 Hannah prayed: My heart rejoices in Yahveh; my horn is lifted by Yahveh. My mouth boasts over my enemies because I rejoice in your salvation. 1 Samuel 2:2 There is no one holy like Yahveh. There is no one besides you! And there is no boulder like our God. 1 Samuel 2:3 Do not boast so proudly, or let arrogant words come out of your mouth, because Yahveh is a God who knows, and actions are examined by him. 1 Samuel 2:4 The bows of the warriors are broken, but the stumblers are clothed with efficiency. 1 Samuel 2:5 Those who are full hire themselves out for food, but those who are starving hunger no more. The woman who is childless gives birth to seven, but the woman with many sons dries up. 1 Samuel 2:6 Yahveh brings death and gives life; he sends down to Sheol, and he raises up from it. 1 Samuel 2:7 Yahveh brings poverty and gives wealth; he humbles, and he exalts. 1 Samuel 2:8 He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the garbage mound. He seats them with noblemen and gives them a throne of honor. For the foundations of the land are Yahveh’s; he has set the world on them. 1 Samuel 2:9 He guards the steps of his faithful ones, but the wicked are silenced in darkness because a person does not prevail by his own strength. 1 Samuel 2:10 Those who oppose Yahveh will be shattered; he will thunder in the sky against them. Yahveh will judge the ends of the land. He will give power to his king; he will lift the horn of his anointed. 1 Samuel 2:11 Elkanah went home to Ramah, but the boy served Yahveh in the presence of the priest Eli.
real victory
Hannah learned went through the ordeal of barrenness, her desperate prayer for a child, the answer to the prayer, and then her giving Samuel to God to serve at the temple. She had become victorious, not because of what she did, but because of what God did for her. That is the gospel. We experience the real victory when we confess our desperate need to God and trust him to provide the solution.
Real Christianity always trusts God for victory. It doesn’t parade its own works or seek its own power. It says “God be merciful to me — a sinner” and puts its trust in the God of mercy. The song of praise we sing is “My mouth boasts over my enemies because I rejoice in your salvation.”
1 Samuel 1:19 The next morning Elkanah and Hannah got up early to bow before Yahveh. Afterward, they returned home to Ramah. Then Elkanah was intimate with his wife Hannah, and Yahveh remembered her. 1 Samuel 1:20 After some time, Hannah conceived and gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel, because she said, “I requested him from Yahveh.” 1 Samuel 1:21 When Elkanah and all his household went up to make the annual sacrifice and his vow offering to Yahveh, 1 Samuel 1:22 Hannah did not go and explained to her husband, “After the boy is weaned, I’ll take him to appear in Yahveh’s presence and to stay there permanently.” 1 Samuel 1:23 Her husband Elkanah replied, “Do what you think is best, and stay here until you’ve weaned him. May Yahveh confirm your word.” So, Hannah stayed there and nursed her son until she weaned him. 1 Samuel 1:24 When she had weaned him, she took him with her to Shiloh, a three-year-old bull, half a bushel of flour, and a clay jar of wine. Though the boy was still young, she took him to Yahveh’s house at Shiloh. 1 Samuel 1:25 Then they slaughtered the bull and brought the boy to Eli. 1 Samuel 1:26 “Please, my lord,” she said, “as surely as your throat lives, my lord, I am the woman who stood here beside you praying to Yahveh. 1 Samuel 1:27 I prayed for this boy, and since Yahveh gave me what I asked him for, 1 Samuel 1:28 I now give the boy to Yahveh. For as long as he lives, he is given to Yahveh.” Then he worshiped Yahveh there.
giving Samuel back
I suppose many in this modern day read this story and scratch their heads in confusion. It is hard to grasp why Hannah was so willing to “give up” her son since he meant so much to her in the first place. But she had made a vow to do so. She knew that God had answered her prayer, and given her the joy of that so until he was weaned and ready to serve Yahveh. The shame had been replaced with joy and she could willingly give back the gift.
In a sense, all of us who are believers experience what Hannah did. We knew the fruitlessness of a barren life until we meet Christ and are born again. But our vow to God is to give the life he gave us back to him. We can do so with joy because the life came from him in the first place.
1 Samuel 1:9 Then Hannah got up after they ate and drank at Shiloh. The priest Eli was sitting on a chair by the doorpost of Yahveh’s temple. 1 Samuel 1:10 Deeply bitter, Hannah prayed to Yahveh and wept with many tears. 1 Samuel 1:11 Making a vow, she pleaded, “Yahveh of Armies, if you will take notice of your servant’s affliction, remember and not forget me, and give your servant a son, I will give him to Yahveh all the days of his life, and his hair will never be cut.” 1 Samuel 1:12 While she continued praying in Yahveh’s presence, Eli watched her mouth. 1 Samuel 1:13 Hannah was praying silently, and though her lips were moving, her voice could not be heard. Eli thought she was drunk 1 Samuel 1:14 and said to her, “How long are you going to be drunk? Get rid of your wine!” 1 Samuel 1:15 “No, my lord,” Hannah replied. “I am a woman with hard breath. I haven’t had any wine or beer; I’ve been pouring out my throat before Yahveh. 1 Samuel 1:16 Don’t think of me as a wicked woman; I’ve been praying from the depth of my anguish and resentment.” 1 Samuel 1:17 Eli responded, “Go in peace, and may the God of Israel grant the request you’ve made of him.” 1 Samuel 1:18 “May your servant find favor in your eyes,” she replied. Then Hannah went on her way; she ate and no longer looked despondent.
misunderstood at the temple
It didn’t seem like things were going to go well with Hannah at the temple. Even the priest misunderstood her praying, assuming that she was drunk. But instead of running away in tears, she stood up for the truth. She left the temple that day with new courage and resolve. She knew she had finally been heard.
May we have the courage to keep praying until we know an answer has come.
1 Samuel 1:1 There was a man from Ramathaim-tsofim in the hill country of Ephraim. His name was Elkanah son of Jeroham, son of Elihu, son of Tohu, son of Zuph, an Ephraimite. 1 Samuel 1:2 He had two wives, one named Hannah and the second Peninnah. Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children. 1 Samuel 1:3 This man would go up from his town every year to worship and to sacrifice to Yahveh of Armies at Shiloh, where Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were Yahveh’s priests. 1 Samuel 1:4 Whenever Elkanah offered a sacrifice, he always gave portions of the meat to his wife Peninnah and to each of her sons and daughters. 1 Samuel 1:5 But he gave a double portion to Hannah because he cared for her even though Yahveh had kept her from conceiving. 1 Samuel 1:6 Her rival would taunt her severely just to provoke her because Yahveh had kept Hannah from conceiving. 1 Samuel 1:7 Year after year, when she went up to Yahveh’s house, her rival taunted her in this way. Hannah would weep and would not eat. 1 Samuel 1:8 “Hannah, why are you crying?” her husband Elkanah would ask. “Why won’t you eat? Why are you troubled? Am I not better to you than ten sons?”
Elkanah’s love
Elkanah was fair to both of his wives, but he was compassionate to Hannah because of her distress. As believers, we should be fair to all, but we should show Elkanah’s love to the less fortunate. There are many around us who will give us an opportunity to show that kind of love. We should thank the LORD for that gift.
Amos 9:1 I saw the Lord standing beside the altar, and he said: Hit the capitals of the pillars so that the thresholds shake; knock them down on the heads of all the people. Then I will kill the rest of them with the sword. None of those who flee will get away; none of the fugitives will escape. Amos 9:2 If they dig down to Sheol, from there my hand will take them; if they climb up to the sky,1 from there I will bring them down. Amos 9:3 If they hide on the top of Carmel, from there I will track them down and seize them; if they conceal themselves from my sight on the sea floor, from there I will command the sea snake to bite them. Amos 9:4 And if they are driven by their enemies into captivity, from there I will command the sword to kill them. I will keep my eye on them for harm and not for good. Amos 9:5 Yahveh, the God of Armies – he touches the land; it melts, and all who live in it mourn; all of it rises like the Nile and subsides like the Nile of Egypt. Amos 9:6 He builds his upper chambers in the sky and lays the foundation of his vault on the land. He summons the water of the sea and pours it out over the surface of the land. Yahveh is his name. Amos 9:7 Israelites, are you not like the Cushites to me? This is Yahveh’s declaration. Didn’t I bring Israel from the land of Egypt, the Philistines from Caphtor, and the Arameans from Kir? Amos 9:8 Notice, the eyes of the Lord Yahveh are on the sinful kingdom, and I will obliterate it from the face of the land. However, I will not totally destroy the house of Jacob — this is Yahveh’s declaration — Amos 9:9 Notice, because I am about to give the command, and I will shake the house of Israel among all the nations, as one shakes a sieve, but not a pebble will fall to the ground. Amos 9:10 All the sinners among my people who say: “Disaster will never overtake or confront us,” will die by the sword. Amos 9:11 In that day I will restore the fallen shelter of David: I will repair its gaps, restore its ruins, and rebuild it as in the days of old, Amos 9:12 so that they may possess the remnant of Edom and all the nations that bear my name — this is the declaration of Yahveh; he will do this. Amos 9:13 Notice, the days are coming– this is Yahveh’s declaration– when the plowman will overtake the reaper and the one who treads grapes, the sower of seed. The mountains will drip with sweet wine, and all the hills will flow with it. Amos 9:14 I will restore the fortunes of my people Israel. They will rebuild and live in ruined cities, plant vineyards and drink their wine, make gardens and eat their produce. Amos 9:15 I will plant them on their land, and they will never again be uprooted from the land I have given them. Yahveh your God has spoken.
promise and context
The good news that the LORD is going to rebuild Israel comes in the context of the bad news that it is the LORD who is orchestrating their destruction. The sinners among his people are so sure of their secure position and the support of their political alliances that they boast “Disaster shall not overtake or meet us.” But the LORD has a sword with their name on it. The prophets remind us that our Lord’s mercy and grace comes in the context of his own severe justice.
LORD, forgive us for placing confidence in confidence itself. We run to you for cleansing and forgiveness. repair our ruins, and begin with the ruins of our hearts.
Amos 8:1 The Lord Yahveh showed me this: I noticed a basket of summer fruit. Amos 8:2 He asked me, “What do you see, Amos?” I replied, “A basket of summer fruit.” Yahveh said to me, “The end has come for my people Israel; I will no longer spare them. Amos 8:3 On that day the temple songs will become yelling”1 – this is the Lord Yahveh’s declaration. “Many dead bodies, thrown everywhere! Silence!” Amos 8:4 Listen to this, you who are trampling on the needy and doing away with the poor of the land, Amos 8:5 asking, “When will the New Moon be over so we may sell grain, and the Sabbath, so we may market wheat? We can reduce the measure while increasing the price and cheat with dishonest scales. Amos 8:6 We can buy the poor with silver and the needy for a pair of sandals and even sell the chaff!” Amos 8:7 Yahveh has sworn by the Pride of Jacob: I will never forget all their deeds. Amos 8:8 Because of this, won’t the land quake and all who live in it mourn? All of it will rise like the Nile; it will surge and then subside like the Nile in Egypt. Amos 8:9 And in that day — this is the declaration of the Lord Yahveh — I will make the sun go down at noon; I will darken the land in the daytime. Amos 8:10 I will turn your feasts into mourning and all your songs into lament; I will cause everyone to wear sackcloth and every head to be shaved. I will make that grief like mourning for an only son and its outcome like a bitter day. Amos 8:11 Notice, the days are coming– this is the declaration of The Lord Yahveh – when I will send a famine through the land: not a famine of bread or a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of Yahveh. Amos 8:12 People will stagger from sea to sea and roam from north to east seeking the word of Yahveh, but they will not find it. Amos 8:13 In that day the beautiful young women, the young men also, will faint from thirst. Amos 8:14 Those who swear by the guilt of Samaria and say, “As your god lives, Dan,” or, “As the way of Beer-sheba lives” — they will fall, never to rise again.
a revelation famine
The people were fed up with Amos’ words of doom and Amaziah voiced their frustration. He told Amos to go back to Judah and prophesy there. They had had enough of his negative thoughts, and predictions of despair and disaster. Amos turned their request against them. He told them that since they were tired of God’s message – God was going to send them one more disaster in addition to all the others. They would have a revelation famine. They would search for a word from God but not find it.
LORD, give us wisdom to pay attention to your word, especially when it convicts us of wrong.
Amos 7:10 Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent word to King Jeroboam of Israel, saying, “Amos has conspired against you right here in the house of Israel. The land cannot endure all his words, Amos 7:11 for Amos has said this: ‘Jeroboam will die by the sword, and Israel will certainly go into exile from its homeland.'” Amos 7:12 Then Amaziah said to Amos, “Walk off, you “seer!” Go through to the land of Judah. Eat your bread and give your prophecies there, Amos 7:13 but don’t ever prophesy at Bethel again, because it is the king’s sanctuary and a royal temple.” Amos 7:14 So Amos answered Amaziah, “I was not a prophet or the son of a prophet; instead, I was a herdsman, and I took care of sycamore figs. Amos 7:15 But Yahveh took me from following the flock and said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to my people Israel.'” Amos 7:16 Now hear the word of Yahveh. You say: Do not prophesy against Israel; do not preach against the house of Isaac. Amos 7:17 Therefore, this is what Yahveh is saying: Your wife will be a prostitute in the city, your sons and daughters will fall by the sword, and your land will be divided up with a measuring line. You yourself will die on pagan soil, and Israel will certainly go into exile from its homeland.
Amaziah’s sin
Amaziah thought that he had dealt shrewdly with his opponent — that prophet with his negative words. He sought government approval to send Amos away to prophesy to neighboring Judah. Problem solved. But then Amos predicts that misery and death will come to that priest as well.
Jesus taught his disciples not to turn on each other, but to welcome one another as equals. He set a child at his side and told them that whoever welcomes this child, welcomes him. We are not helping ourselves when we turn against our brothers and sisters. We are committing Amaziah’s sin.
Amos 7:1 The Lord Yahveh showed me this: I noticed as he was forming a swarm of locusts when the spring crop first began to sprout– after the cutting of the king’s hay. Amos 7:2 When the locusts finished eating the vegetation of the land, I said, “the Lord Yahveh, please forgive! How will Jacob survive since he is so small?” Amos 7:3 Yahveh relented concerning this. “It will not happen,” he said. Amos 7:4 The Lord Yahveh showed me this: I noticed as The Lord Yahveh was calling for a judgment by fire. It consumed the great deep and devoured the land. Amos 7:5 Then I said, “Lord Yahveh, please stop! How will Jacob survive since he is so small?” Amos 7:6 Yahveh relented concerning this. “This will not happen either,” said the Lord Yahveh. Amos 7:7 He showed me this: I noticed as Yahveh was standing there by a vertical wall with a plumb line in his hand. Amos 7:8 Yahveh asked me, “What do you see, Amos?” I replied, “A plumb line.” Then Yahveh said, “Notice, I am setting a plumb line among my people Israel; I will no longer spare them: Amos 7:9 Isaac’s high places will be deserted, and Israel’s sanctuaries will be in ruins; I will rise up against the house of Jeroboam with a sword.”
not out of options
God has many ways he can punish rebellious and disobedient people. If he relents here and there because of his great grace and compassion, it doesn’t mean we get off entirely. He will not be mocked. If his people refuse to repent of their sins, he will address that failure.
