1 Samuel 2
McGeeCHAPTER 2THEME: Hannah’s prophetic prayer; Eli’s evil sons; the boy Samuel in the tabernacle; Eli’s sons judgedHannah’s prayer of thanksgiving is prophetic, as she mentions the Messiah for the first time. Eli’s sons are evil and unfit for the priest’s office. An unnamed prophet warns Eli that his line will be cut off as high priest and God will raise up a faithful priest.
1 Samuel 2:1
HANNAH’S PROPHETIC PRAYERThis is one of the great prayers of Scripture. A “horn” speaks of strength, something to hold on to. Hannah says “her strength,” but she means her strength in the Lord. She is rejoicing over the fact that God has given her a son. She is victorious over those who ridiculed her for being barren, and she is rejoicing in her salvation. There has been a present deliverance. Salvation comes in three tenses. (1) We have been saved. “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath [right now] everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life” (Joh_5:24). That means that God has delivered us from the guilt of sin by the death of Christ. That is justification, and it is past tense. (2) God has also delivered us from what the old theologians called “the pollution of sin,” which is present deliverance. We are being saved. It is a deliverance from the weaknesses of the flesh, the sins of the flesh, the faults of the mind, and the actions of the will. This is the present deliverance that Hannah is talking about.
It is sanctification and is in the present tense. (3) Finally there is the deliverance from death in the futurenot physical, but spiritual death. “Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is” (1Jn_3:2). This is a future deliverance. We shall be saved. That will be glorification, which is future tense. We have been saved, we are being saved, and we will be saved. Hannah was rejoicing in her salvation. You remember that Jonah said, “Salvation is of the LORD” (Jon_2:9). The psalmist repeats again and again that salvation is of the Lord. The great truth of salvation is that it is by the grace of God. That is, we have been justified freely by His grace. The word freely means “without a cause.” God found nothing in us to merit salvation. He found the explanation in HimselfHe loves us.
1 Samuel 2:2
The Lord is spoken of as a “rock” in the Old Testament. In the New Testament the Lord Jesus Christ is called the “chief corner stone” (1Pe_2:6). In Mat_16:18 Christ spoke of Himself when He said, “…upon this rock I will build my church.” That Rock upon which Hannah rested is the same Rock upon which we rest today. There is no Rock like our God.
1 Samuel 2:3
When we come to God in prayer, we need to be very careful, friends, that we do not let our pride cause us to stumble. We need to recognize our weakness, our insufficiency, and our inability, and the fact that we really have no claim on God. Sometimes we hear people ask, “Why didn’t God hear my prayer?” To be quite frank, why should He? What claim do you have on Him? If you have accepted Jesus Christ as Savior, you have a wonderful claim on God, and you can come to Him in the name of Jesus Christ. As His children we have Jesus’ right and claim. However, we must remember that our prayers must be in accordance with His will.
1 Samuel 2:4
The whole thought in this passage is that God gives life. As Job said, “the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD” (Job_1:21). Only God has the power to give life, and only He has the right to take it away. Until you and I have the power to give life, we have no right to take life away. So far only God has that power. Believe me, God will take the blame (if that is what you want to call it) for the deaths of Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5. He does not apologize for the fact that He intends to judge the wicked. They will go down into death and be separated from God. God does not apologize for what He does. Why? Because this is His universe; we are His creatures; He is running the universe His way. Not long ago I talked to a young university student who had received Christ as Savior but who was still unwilling to accept many things. I said to him, “If you do not like the way God has worked out His plan of salvation, and you don’t like the things He is doing, you can go off somewhere and make your own universe, set up your own rules, and run it your own way. But as long as you are in God’s universe, you are going to have to do things His way.” It is a most wonderful thing that you and I can bow to Him and come under His blessing if we are willing to do things His way.
1 Samuel 2:7
This verse brings up a question that many of us have: “Why are some people rich and some people poor?” I cannot understand why God has permitted some folks to be wealthy and others to be needy. I think I could distribute the wealth a little bit better than He has done it, I will be frank with you. But, you know, He did not leave that to me. That is His business and He will be able to explain it some day. I am going to wait for the explanation, because I know He has the answer.
1 Samuel 2:8
Man, by his own effort, power, and strength, can never accomplish anything for God. Christians today need to recognize that fact. It is only what you and I do by the power of the Holy Spirit that will count. We need to learn to be dependent upon Him and rest in Him.
1 Samuel 2:10
This is one of the great verses of Scripture and the first one to use the name Messiahthe word anointed is the Hebrew word Messiah. It is translated Christos in the Greek New Testament and comes to us as “Christ” in English. It is the title of the Lord Jesus. God is getting ready to set up a kingdom in Israel. Since Israel has rejected the theocracy, God is going to appoint them a king.
1 Samuel 2:11
It may sound as though Samuel was being left in a place of protection and shelter. The tabernacle should have been a place like that, but unfortunately it was not.
1 Samuel 2:12
ELI’S EVIL SONSEli’s boys were “sons of Belial,” meaning sons of the Devil. They were not saved. Here they were, sons of the high priest, hanging around the tabernacle and actually ministering there! There are many folk who send a son to a Christian school and feel very comfortable about it. I don’t want you to misunderstand what I am sayingI thank God for Christian schools. The problem is that since the boy is in a good place, they quit praying for him. That boy may be in the most dangerous place imaginable. Other parents feel secure in the fact that their son is in a fine church. My friend, that’s where the Devil goesto those wonderful places! Remember that the Devil was in the Upper Room where Christ celebrated the Last Supper with His disciples. That room was the most dangerous place in Jerusalem that night because the Devil was present. We need to remember that the boy who goes to a good church or a good school still needs prayer. He may be in a dangerous place. This little fellow Samuel is in a dangerous place, and his mother is going to continue to pray for him, you may be sure of that.
1 Samuel 2:13
They were totally dishonest in the Lord’s work. They were running one of the first religious rackets.
1 Samuel 2:17
Their dishonesty caused many people to turn from God. The Israelites saw what Eli’s sons were doing at the tabernacle and, instead of being drawn closer to the Lord, they were driven away. Friends, we need to be careful about how we live our lives and how we run our churches. This idea of shutting our eyes to sin in the church and trying to cover it up just drives people away from God. That is one of the protests of our young people today. Recently I have had the privilege of seeing over one hundred of these young people turn to Christ. I have talked with them and have seen them in action. They are against the organized church because of the hypocrisy that is in it. That disturbs me because I know it is therejust as it was in the tabernacle in Eli’s day.
1 Samuel 2:18
THE BOY SAMUEL IN THE TABERNACLEWhile Samuel is growing up under the influence of Eli’s dishonest sons, his mother does not forget him. Hannah loves her little boy. She had promised to give him to the Lord, and she kept her word. And every year she makes a coat for him and gives it to him. There is nothing quite as tender and loving as this type of thing. I think one of the greatest joys that Mrs. McGee and I have is in selecting clothes, a little suit or something, for our grandson. Nothing is as satisfying as that. My heart goes out to Hannah as we see her here.
1 Samuel 2:20
God was good to Hannah. She had five other children, but she never forgot Samuel during all those years. Every year she made him a little coat. And, in spite of the bad environment of the tabernacle, Samuel grew before the Lord.
1 Samuel 2:22
ELI’S SONS JUDGEDEli was an indulgent father who shut his eyes to the sins of his sons. Notice their awful, gross immorality “and how they lay with the women that assembled at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation”! There is a great deal of talk today about what is called the “new morality.” I think Eli’s sons beat the crowd today in the new morality. Actually, it was not even new in their day; it goes back to the time of the Flood.
1 Samuel 2:23
The actions of Eli’s sons were an open scandal in Israel, and all Eli did was give his boys a gentle slap on the wrist!
1 Samuel 2:24
The people were doing what the priests were doing. Eli’s sons were leading the Israelites into sin. Instead of taking positive steps to correct the situation, Eli gently rebukes them. He was an indulgent father.
1 Samuel 2:25
Even in this bad environment, Samuel is growing in favor with God and man. He is dedicated to God and backed by his mother’s interest and prayer. God is going to use him.
1 Samuel 2:27
God sent a prophet to old Eli who told him that God was through with him as the high priest. No longer would God move through the priest. Instead, God was now raising up a priest-prophet. It was going to be Samuel. He would minister for the Lord, and his office would be that of a prophet.
1 Samuel 2:30
Let’s be very careful in our lives to honor God. Psa_107:1-2 says, “O give thanks unto the LORD, for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever. Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy.” The redeemed of the Lord need to say so today.
1 Samuel 2:31
All of the prophecies mentioned in these verses came to pass. As we move through the Word of God, we shall see these things happen.
1 Samuel 2:35
Who is this verse talking about? It is the Lord Jesus Christ. In Hannah’s prayer, you remember, He is mentioned as the King, the Messiah, who is to come. He has been mentioned by Moses as a prophet and now in 1 Samuel is mentioned as a priest. The Lord Jesus Christ is Prophet, Priest, and King. He is the only One who ever fulfilled all of these offices.