I Samuel 1-3
This lesson is about three people, mostly, and some side characters. It would make a good movie, and the way the prophet Samuel wrote it it seems like modern storytelling. The three characters are an old man who is not a wise man: Eli, who was the priest in the tabernacle in Shiloh, where the Israelites came to worship. The second is Hannah, the first wife of a probably well-off man whose second wife was a fertile Myrtle while Hannah, for many years, had no child. So she was very shamed for that in her culture. And the third is a child named Samuel who would become an extremely important person in the Bible.
Eli is someone who should have retired. He was insensitive to Hannah, did not hold his sons accountable, allowed corruption in the worship, and ignored the message of God, so God had to use other means.
Chapter 1:1-3.
Family is the context here. They were known by ancestors and by offspring.
Shiloh: We think of a Civil War battle in Mississippi, but Shiloh was here, and it was first mentioned in Genesis 48 in the prophesy about Judah. It symbolized the Messiah and worship in their minds; also associated with “peaceful one” and “gift from God.”
Easton's Bible Dictionary - Shiloh
Eli is not wise even though he is in a position to obtain wisdom. We don’t have time to pursue it today, but he allows his sons to do corruptly in the worship processes. Because he did not follow through on the actions he was commanded to do, he was cursed, which is recorded in chapter 4.
The second person is Hannah, so let’s read her story. 1:4-28; 2:18-21.
This story is heartbreaking but eventually happy, of course. I relate to it personally.
The last person is Samuel, chapter 3. We do not know how old he was here. He’s usually portrayed as a preschooler but I doubt that; he was perhaps closer to a teenager by this time. Samuel will be used to lead Israel up and through King David’s time.
This chapter sent me on a journey into the idea of inspiration of Scripture and how we understand it/how we should, and how God speaks today. Three important passages:
II Timothy 3:13-17 But evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived. 14 But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them, 15 and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.
16 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.
II Peter 1:16-21: 16 For we did not follow cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of His majesty. 17 For He received from God the Father honor and glory when such a voice came to Him from the Excellent Glory: “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” 18 And we heard this voice which came from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain.
19 And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts; 20 knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, 21 for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.
Hebrews 1:1-4 God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, 2 has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; 3 who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, 4 having become so much better than the angels, as He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.
From John MacArthur: The modern understanding of these verses on inspiration (and there are others) is that revelation - revelation is the content - revelation is the content. It is God’s disclosure of His truth. Inspiration is the vehicle. Revelation is the content, inspiration is how He did it. When we talk about divine revelation, we’re talking about the content - the message, the truth that God revealed or disclosed. When we talk about inspiration, we’re talking about the method that God used; how He breathed it out. In revelation, God makes Himself known. In inspiration, the Spirit of God takes the revelation and puts it through the mind of human writers in the Old and New Testament, who write it down as it flows from God the Holy Spirit through their minds.” (The people who compiled the Bible into the canon are also considered led by God, but that is a different matter. Also, they were inspired in their original languages; we can’t say all the translations are perfect and without error.)
We get lazy in our English by saying “God inspired me to write this song” and putting it on the same level as the Word. Or “I was inspired when I wrote this book.” It’s not the same. We also have to be careful when we say “God told me” or “God said to me.” I think there are better ways to say that. God is not going to tell you anything contrary to the Bible.
The Bible was not produced by automatic writing. “Automatic writing, also called psychography, is a claimed psychic ability allowing a person to produce written words without consciously writing. Practitioners engage in automatic writing by holding a writing instrument and allowing alleged spirits to manipulate the practitioner's hand. The instrument may be a standard writing instrument, or it may be one specially designed for automatic writing, such as a planchette or a ouija board.”
The writers of the Bible were conscious and their personal experiences and personality show through, which is one way we know they are real and from Paul, John, Luke, etc. In the Old Testament we read of many to whom the LORD spoke—how? First, plainly—unmistakable. Not a feeling or a whisper. Often audible and dramatic (with miracles and manifestations), and sometimes it was recorded in written text but not always. They do not get inspiration from nature by itself (Psalm 19) although some natural occurrences are part of the revelation and inspiration. Nature was created by God but also something to put under control.
So….how does God speak today?
I and II Samuel, I and II Kings, and I and II Chronicles are long books that record about 500 years of Israelite history. They are quite dramatic, and they teach God’s preservation of His people. For 2000 years the Church has been preserved but more: Matthew 16:18 “And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail [be victorious] against it.”
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