Bible Memory Verse:
In the land of Israel, there lived a man named Elkanah who had two wives. This was not against the law in Israel at that time. However, it is against God’s law. It was never God’s plan for one man to have two wives. Each man is to have one wife and she is to remain his wife for his entire life. We always get into trouble when we disobey God.
There was jealousy between the two wives. His wife, Peninnah had children, but his wife Hannah had none. Hannah was very upset because she had no children. Peninnah, would make fun of Hannah because she had no children. But the husband, Elkanah, loved Hannah very much and tired to comfort her.
Year after year they went up to worship the Lord at His temple where Eli, the priest, lived. One year Hannah went to worship at the temple. She was so upset that she could not even eat. She cried out to the Lord and promised Him that if He would give her a son, she would give her son back to Him. Eli, the priest, saw her praying and thought that she was drunk. When she told him she was not but was very distressed and in prayer to the Lord, Eli blessed her and asked the Lord to give her whatever she was asking for.
In the course of time Hannah had a son whom she named Samuel. After three years she brought Samuel to Eli, the priest, and said Samuel was the son she had prayed for and now she was giving him back to the Lord. Samuel came into the temple to stay with Eli and serve the people.
Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were wicked men; they had no regard for the Lord. As priests, they would offer wrong sacrifices to the Lord and do other evil deeds.
The boy Samuel ministered before the Lord under Eli. In those days the word of the Lord was rare; there were not many visions.
One night Eli, whose eyes were becoming so weak that he could barely see, was lying down in his usual place. The lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the temple of the Lord, where the ark of God was. The ark of God was very important to the Israelites because it was a symbol of God’s presence. They felt that if the ark of God was with them, God was with them. It was a long box covered inside and out with gold. Two golden angels with outspread wings had been made to crown its top. People carried the ark by poles put through special rings on its corners. Samuel slept near the Ark of God.
One night the Lord called Samuel: "Samuel!"
Samuel answered, “Here I am.” And he ran to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.”
But Eli said, “I did not call; go back and lie down.”
Again the Lord called, “Samuel!” And Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.”
“My son,” Eli said, “I did not call; go back and lie down.”
Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord; the word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him.
The Lord called Samuel a third time and Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, “Here I am, you called me.”
Then Eli realized that the Lord was calling the boy. So Eli told Samuel, “Go and lie down and if he calls you say, ‘Speak Lord, for your servant is listening.’” So Samuel went and lay down in his place.
The Lord came and stood there, calling as at other times, “Samuel! Samuel!”
Then Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant is listening.”
And the Lord said to Samuel, “See, I am about to do something in Israel that will that will make the ears of everyone who hears about it tingle. At that time I will carry out against Eli everything I spoke against his family-from beginning to end. For I told him that I would judge his family forever because of the sin that he knew about; his sons made themselves contemptible, and he failed to restrain them. Therefore, I swore to the house of Eli, ‘The guilt of Eli’s household will never be atoned for by sacrifice or offerings.”
Samuel lay down until morning and then opened the doors of the house of the Lord. He was afraid to tell Eli the vision, but the Lord called him, “Samuel, my son.”
Samuel answered, “Here I am.”
“What was it he said to you?” Eli asked. “Do not hide it from me. May God deal with you, be it ever so severely, if you hide from me anything he told you.” So Samuel told him everything, hiding nothing from him. Then Eli said, “He is the Lord; let him do what is good in his eyes.”
The Lord was with Samuel as he grew up, and he let none of his words fall to the ground. That means that everything that Samuel said that spoke for the Lord came true. And all Israel recognized that Samuel was a prophet of God. The Lord continued to reveal Himself to Samuel through His word. And Samuel’s word came to all Israel.
Now the Israelites went out to fight against the Philistines, their enemies. Israel was defeated by the Philistines, who killed about 4,000 of them on the battlefield. When the soldiers returned to camp, the elders of Israel asked, “Why did the Lord bring defeat upon us today before the Philistines? Let us bring the ark of the Lord’ s covenant from Shiloh, so that it may go with us and save us from the hand of our enemies.”
Remember, the ark of God meant God’s presence to them. They thought that if the Ark of God went with them into battle, God’s presence was going with them in a special way. When they brought the Ark of God into the camp before the battle, all Israel raised such a great shout that the ground shook. Hearing all the shouting, the Philistines asked, “What’s all this shouting in the Hebrew camp?”
When they learned that the ark of the Lord had come into the camp, the Philistines were afraid. “A god has come into their camp,” they said. “We’re in trouble. Nothing like this has happened before. Woe to us! Who will deliver us from the hand of these mighty gods? They are the gods who struck the Egyptians with all kinds of plagues in the desert. Be strong, Philistines! Be men, or you will be subject to the Hebrews, as they have been to you. Be men, and fight!”
So the Philistines fought, and the Israelites were defeated and every man fled to his tent.
The slaughter was very great; Israel lost thirty thousand foot soldiers. The ark of God was captured and Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were killed.
Why do you think the Israelites were defeated even though they had the symbol of God’s presence with them? (The Israelites, especially their leaders, were being disobedient to God. God will not protect you if you are being disobedient to Him; the devil has the legal right to harm you if you are being disobedient to God. Also, what God had prophesied through Samuel has to be fulfilled; God has said that Eli’s household would be destroyed and everything God says has to come true.
That same day a messenger ran to the town of Siloh to tell what had happened. When he arrived, there was Eli sitting on his chair by the side of the road, watching, because his heart feared for the ark of God. When the messenger entered the town and told what had happened, the whole town sent up a cry.
Eli heard the outcry and said, “What is the meaning of this uproar?”
The messenger hurried over to Eli who was ninety-nine years old and whose eyes were set so that he could not see. He told Eli, “I have just come from the battle line; I fled from it this very day.”
Eli said, “What happened my son?”
The man who brought the news replied, “Israel fled before the Philistines, and the army has suffered heavy losses. Also, your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas are dead, and the ark of God has been captured.”
When he mentioned the ark of God, Eli fell backward off his chair by the side of the gate. His neck was broken and he died, for he was an old man and heavy. He had led Israel forty years.
After Eli had died, Samuel became the leader or judge of Israel. He was a very good judge and did all that God asked him to do.
But when Samuel became old, his sons that were to take his place were not good like he was. The people asked for a king to rule them. God was not pleased with this because the real reason they asked for a king was because they wanted to be like the nations around them. When Samuel ruled them, God was ruling them through Samuel. Now they wanted a king instead of God. But God let them have what they asked for. He sent Samuel to anoint as the first king of Israel a man named Saul. Anoint means to pour oil over, as a sgin that God had given him a special blessing to be king.
QUESTIONS:
1. Why did Samuel come to live in the house of the Lord?
2. What did God say to Samuel about Eli?
3. What is the ark of God?
4. Why did God’s people, the Israelites, take the ark of God into battle with them?
5. What happened to the ark of God?
6. How did Eli die?
7. Who ruled Israel after Eli died?
8. Why did Israel want a king to rule them?
SAMUEL
Bible Memory Verse:
“The Lord was with Samuel as he grew up, and he let none of his words fall to the ground.” 1 Samuel 3:19
Words to choose from: PROPHECY, ELI, ARK, CHAIR, SPOKE, BOY, TEMPLE, NATIONS, GOD, CAPTURED
1. Hannah prayed for a __ __ __.
2. Samuel came to live in the __ __ __ __ __ __because his mother had dedicated him to the Lord.
3. __ __ __, the priest, took care of Samuel.
4. God __ __ __ __ __to Samuel when he was only a boy.
5. God sent a __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __through Samuel that He was going to destroy the house of Eli because his sons were so wicked.
6. The __ __ __ of God represented God’s presence.
7. The Ark of God was __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ by the enemy.
8. Eli died when he fell off his __ __ __ __ __ by the side of the gate.
9. Samuel ruled Israel after Eli died and did everything __ __ __ wanted him to do.
10. Israel wanted a king like the other __ __ __ __ __ __.