1 Samuel 1:5 – He would also give one portion to Hannah because he loved her, even though the Lord had kept her from having children.
The Lord kept her. I was honestly thinking of Yahweh preventing her from having children for a reason, but as I wrote, “The Lord kept her,” the other meaning came to the front. Yahweh was also protecting her. We don’t know from what. But by not allowing her to have a child until the appointed time, he was protecting her.
1 Samuel 2:3 – “Do not boast or let arrogance come out of your mouth because the Lord is a God of knowledge, and he weighs our actions.
Weighs our actions. The why we do anything. It’s not about “looking good” for other people.
1 Samuel 2:5(b) – …Even the woman who was childless gives birth to seven children, but the mother of many children grieves all alone.
Just noting the number seven.
1 Samuel 2:29 – Why do you show no respect for my sacrifices and grain offerings that I have commanded people to make in my dwelling place? Why do you honor your sons more than me by making yourselves fat on the best of all the sacrifices offered by my people Israel?
I’ve kinda always figured that even though Eli did not truly correct his sons (yes he spoke to them, but did nothing to stop them. I wonder if he could have stripped them from being priests?) that he did not take part in their foolishness. Eli may not have slept with the women at the gate, but he ate of what they took form the sacrifices – “making yourselves fat.” (1 Samuel 4:18) By eating what they took wrongfully, he was also complicit with their wrong doing.
1 Samuel 3:18 – So Samuel told Eli everything. Eli replied, “He is the Lord. May he do what he thinks is right.”
This honestly sounds like. “Oh well, whatever.” Eli was warned before and did nothing. He was warned again and did nothing. He didn’t even pray for forgiveness it seems. Yahweh accepts the prayer of a contrite heart. It doesn’t seem like Eli was.
1 Samuel 4:22 – “Israel’s glory is gone because the ark of God has been captured,” she said.
I beg to differ. Israel’s glory – the glory of Yahweh left before because Israel was doing wrong in his sight (1 Samuel 3:1). But the Israelites put more faith in the ark than Yahweh. Though the Philistines probably had more faith than they did. (1 Samuel 4:7-8).
1 Samuel 8:3 – The sons didn’t follow their father’s example but turned to dishonest ways of making money. They took bribes and denied people justice.
It’s interesting to note a repeat of Eli. Why did Samuel allow his sons to remain as judges? I do believe, however, that at least Samuel himself remained faithful or else Yahweh would not have continued to speak with him. Unlike with Eli who he stopped speaking to. Wow. That’s a distressing thought, that Yahweh would stop speaking.
1 Samuel 9:21 – Saul replied, “I am a man from the tribe of Benjamin, the smallest tribe of Israel. My family is the most insignificant of all the families of the tribe of Benjamin. So why are you saying such things to me?”
First thing: it truly seems that everyone that Yahweh calls always seems to respond from a place of insignificance. But we need to always remember that, because it helps us to remember that Yahweh is the one who enables and sets up.
Secondly: Saul clearly dd not remember who he was representing. He was the son of Kish. Kish was a powerful man (1 Samuel 9:1). Even if he wanted to say that the tribe was small, he earthly father was powerful. And he forgot that in his desire to minimise himself. So often we do that. We minimise the power of our heavenly father in our efforts to minimise ourselves.
SIDEBAR: Saul was from the tribe of Benjamin. David from the tribe of Judah. At the blessing of Judah, (Genesis 49:8-12) it was prophesied that the scepter will not depart from Judah. Before Saul, the kings of Israel were to come from Judah. So why was Saul made king first? Saul from the tribe of Benjamin? I submit, that Yahweh lays every stepping stone for a reason. Saul was a bad king in the end and his demise led the way for David. The way he treated David actually encouraged others to follow David. Additionally it allowed David to be forged in the fire. To be tested and proven.
1 Samuel 13:13 and 1 Samuel 15:10
Yahweh rejected Saul twice. Both times because of sacrifices. What is Yahweh asking for us to sacrifice?