Pastor Nate continues our study through the Bible in the book of 1 Samuel.
[00:00:01] You are listening to the Through the Bible Studio series with Pastor Nate Holdridge.
[00:00:06] Join us as we continue our study through the whole Testament book of 1 Samuel.
[00:00:12] Here's Nate.
[00:00:13] 1st and 2nd Samuel are incredible books in God's Word to study.
[00:00:21] A Samuel, of course, is in one sense the last of the era of the judges.
[00:00:28] There were various figures that God would raise up.
[00:00:31] These judges who were in effect heroes in the nation of Israel,
[00:00:35] godly men and a woman who God used to deliver the nation from their spiritual lethargy.
[00:00:45] And Samuel in one sense was the last of the judges.
[00:00:48] After him would be the era of the kings.
[00:00:52] He's going to be the one to introduce us to that kingdom age in Israel.
[00:00:59] The book of 1 Samuel is an incredible book because it shows us Samuel, Saul,
[00:01:05] Saul's son Jonathan and of course introduces us to the great king of Israel,
[00:01:12] David himself.
[00:01:14] We will learn much from their examples, see what their life was like,
[00:01:19] their priorities were, their victories and their failings here in the book of 1st and 2nd Samuel.
[00:01:27] Now in one sense you could say that the theme of 1st and 2nd Samuel is the sovereignty of God.
[00:01:33] But you could really say that over the course of all of the historical books in the Old Testament.
[00:01:40] God is unfolding his plan of redemption on earth.
[00:01:46] In Samuel you go from the prophetic kind of realm, the judge kind of realm,
[00:01:53] the priests as the spiritual leaders moment in Israel's history to the kings as the leaders.
[00:02:01] But especially once you get to 2nd Samuel chapter 7 you see God's promise that there would be a man,
[00:02:10] a Messiah, a king, an anointed one to sit upon the throne forever and ever from the line of David.
[00:02:19] And so in one sense you're seeing God's sovereign hand in unfolding the events of history to get his son
[00:02:29] into the world to be the atonement of the mercy seat, the great sacrifice for mankind
[00:02:37] so that we might be saved.
[00:02:39] Now it tells us here in verse 1, we begin this story very simply.
[00:02:44] It says there was a certain man of Ramaphim Zophim of the hill country of Ephraim whose name was Elkina,
[00:02:53] the son of Jeroham, son of Elihu, son of Tohu, son of Zoph and Ephrathite.
[00:03:01] And so we begin first with a man. His name was Elkina, we get his history, his lineage which at first glance
[00:03:13] when you see that Elkina is from Ephraim might be slightly troubling because his son is going to be Samuel
[00:03:20] and Samuel would serve as a priest which was an office reserved exclusively for Levites
[00:03:26] but we learn from 1 Chronicles chapter 6 especially that Elkina was a direct descendant of Levi
[00:03:34] and qualified to function in a priestly capacity. It's just that we get a listing here in verse 1 of where he lived
[00:03:42] and the town from which he or in which he resided.
[00:03:48] Now in verse 2 we get the problem of the story.
[00:03:51] It says that he had two wives. The name of the one was Hannah and the name of the other Paninna
[00:04:00] and Paninna had children but Hannah had no children.
[00:04:05] Now this of course is a concept that takes a little bit of explanation up for us.
[00:04:11] Here we are humming along in scripture and we get to this moment where you've got this man named Elkina
[00:04:16] who had two wives. Now one thing that's important to mention is that he is actually the only commoner
[00:04:25] in the books of Samuel and Kings to specifically be mentioned as having more than one wife.
[00:04:33] There was polygamy but it was often reserved for or at least spoken of amongst the kings,
[00:04:40] those who were nobles and in great authority. He's the only common man listed in Samuel or Kings
[00:04:50] to have had more than one wife.
[00:04:54] And so it's important for us to see here that just because it's mentioned doesn't mean that God instituted it
[00:05:00] or favored it. Polygamy was never instituted by God and in fact always caused strife,
[00:05:08] difficulty and problems. When you read Genesis chapter 2 and you see the initial marriage it becomes
[00:05:16] very obvious though not overtly stated, it becomes very obvious though to see that God desires for one man
[00:05:24] and one woman to come together in marriage till death do they part in covenantal relationship with one another.
[00:05:31] A man is to leave his father and be and his mother and be joined to his wife.
[00:05:38] Unfortunately polygamy was the practice of the nations that surrounded Israel and so Elkina borrowed this practice
[00:05:47] from the pagan nations. Probably what happened is that he married Hannah, it's very obvious from the text
[00:05:53] that Hannah is his favored wife but after a while realized that she was barren and would not yield him an heir
[00:06:03] and so he adopts an ungodly practice justifying it because of his need for offspring.
[00:06:11] This is fascinating to me because as a pastor I see how quickly people will abandon a clear biblical mandate
[00:06:20] for practicality's sake. It is so much better to cling to obedience, cling to the Lord who cares
[00:06:30] whether you think it's practical or not. Obedience to the Lord is always the better option.
[00:06:38] Elkina compromised and I'm sure justified it by saying well you know I've got to have a child
[00:06:45] but this is where the big conflict came in. So a great difficulty caused by this polygamous family.
[00:06:56] Panina had children but Hannah, she was barren, she had no children.
[00:07:03] But what we'll discover here in a moment is that she had no children for a reason.
[00:07:07] Now this man, verse 3 used to go up year by year from his city to worship and to sacrifice
[00:07:15] the Lord of hosts at Shiloh where the two sons of Eli, Hophne and Phineas were priests of the Lord.
[00:07:24] On the day when Elkina sacrificed he would give portions to Panina his wife and to all her sons and daughters
[00:07:33] but to Hannah he gave a double portion because he loved her though the Lord had closed her womb.
[00:07:40] So year by year Elkina would go up to Shiloh that's where the Tabernacle resided at that moment
[00:07:49] and he would worship the Lord there and offer sacrifices to him.
[00:07:55] And this was of course the responsibility of all of the men in Israel each year, three times a year.
[00:08:02] All the Israelite men were required to go to the sanctuary, to the Tabernacle
[00:08:07] and offer their sacrifices during these main religious festivals.
[00:08:13] And so Elkina was obedient to the Lord and he would go up to sacrifice but he perhaps uniquely would bring his wives with him
[00:08:21] and would give them sacrifices to offer to the Lord and he would give a double portion to Hannah
[00:08:28] because of the love that he had for her.
[00:08:32] Now it's good to at least notice these men will come up later in the story.
[00:08:38] In verse 3 the priests that were serving, two sons of the high priest Eli their names were Hophne and Phineas
[00:08:48] and these would be the men who would eventually be replaced by a son that God would miraculously give to Elkina's wife Hannah.
[00:08:57] And so it says in verse 6 during this scene, during these sacrifices and going up to Shilod, worship the Lord.
[00:09:07] It says that her rival verse 6, the rival of Hannah used to provoke her grievously to irritate her because the Lord had closed her womb.
[00:09:19] So it went on year by year as often as she went up to the house of the Lord she used to provoke her.
[00:09:25] In other words, Panina the other wife would provoke and ridicule the barren wife who was obviously more loved by the husband Hannah.
[00:09:37] She would provoke her therefore Hannah as a response to this wept and would not eat.
[00:09:43] And Elkina her husband said to her Hannah why do you weep and why do you not eat and why is your heart sad?
[00:09:51] Am I not more to you than ten sons?
[00:09:56] A couple of things for us to take note of in this short paragraph.
[00:10:02] Number one, notice that the two wives became rivals against one another.
[00:10:09] This would be expected in a polygamous family of course.
[00:10:14] Two people, two women fighting for a position that only one can rightfully and honestly hold.
[00:10:23] They were warring over one position to be Elkina's true wife.
[00:10:28] And I think that quite often this is a great picture for us as believers because quite often we are guilty of spiritual polygamy.
[00:10:35] We want the Lord but we also want the world and when we put our feet in both places there is a rivalry that ensues.
[00:10:46] Jesus said we can only serve one real master in our lives.
[00:10:53] A man cannot have or operate with two masters so we should be a people who make sure our allegiance is devoted to one.
[00:11:01] That there is no rivalry inside of our lives.
[00:11:06] This is why Jesus said that the greatest commandment is to love God with all your heart, your mind, your soul and your strength.
[00:11:14] The loving of God placing him as the priority so that there is no rivalry.
[00:11:20] But notice secondly that it tells us in verse six that the Lord had closed her womb.
[00:11:26] In other words the scripture is giving God the credit or the blame depending on how you look at things for the closing of Hannah's womb.
[00:11:38] Now God had closed her womb for a reason.
[00:11:41] You see God had a situation.
[00:11:44] Here he is we know from 2 Corinthians 16 verse 9 the eyes of the Lord look to and fro.
[00:11:51] He is looking for people to show himself strong on their behalf.
[00:11:58] He is looking for that next judge so to speak.
[00:12:02] You know who would be raised up after an era filled with men like Gideon or Samson when he was walking with the Lord?
[00:12:12] Men like Jephthah, men like Barak who would rise up and take that kind of mantle in the nation of Israel?
[00:12:22] And apparently there was no one that God deemed sufficient for that role.
[00:12:28] He would need a child.
[00:12:30] He would need a new man in order to create that kind of judge, that kind of leader that he was looking for.
[00:12:41] And so what he needed or what he desired was for there to be a woman who would give her child the Lord but also give her child to the Lord.
[00:12:56] And in order for Hannah who was a godly woman, in order for Hannah to come to a place where she'd be willing to give her son away to the service of the Lord.
[00:13:07] She would have to come to a place where her barrenness brought her to a place where she'd be willing, if God would give her a son, she would be willing to let her son go.
[00:13:20] God was closing her womb so that he could use her life in bigger ways.
[00:13:25] This trial in her life was there for a wonderful reason.
[00:13:32] As James said in James chapter one, let the steadfastness that you acquire through trials as you walk through them in Christ,
[00:13:42] let steadfastness have its full effect that you might be perfect and complete lacking in nothing.
[00:13:48] And she was going to go through a process here where this major trial in her life, she was going to let it have its full effect in her life.
[00:14:00] And God was going to reward her richly for her obedience to him.
[00:14:05] So Elkene comes on and sees all of this sadness coming from Hannah.
[00:14:09] He asks her a few questions.
[00:14:11] Why is your heart sad?
[00:14:13] Am I not more to you than ten sons?
[00:14:15] And I love that there is no answer recorded, sort of awkward silence after Elkene asked that question.
[00:14:23] Hey aren't I greater to you than ten sons and no response from Hannah.
[00:14:30] After they had eaten and drunk and shyloh, Hannah rose.
[00:14:34] Now Eli the priest was sitting on the seat beside the doorpost of the temple of the Lord.
[00:14:39] So there they are there, worshiping the Lord, offering their sacrifices.
[00:14:42] They're there for this religious festival.
[00:14:46] Hannah goes up to the temple of the Lord, the tabernacle.
[00:14:50] And she's there and Eli the priest is there sitting beside the doorpost.
[00:14:56] She verse 10 was deeply distressed.
[00:14:59] This was just a deeper emotional depressed moment in her heart as she went through this trial.
[00:15:07] The provoking of Panina was just growing so strong.
[00:15:10] She's distressed and she verse 10 prayed to the Lord and wept bitterly.
[00:15:18] This is so wonderful because what you see here number one is that her emotion drove her to God, drove her to prayer.
[00:15:29] So often I think when people enter into trials they run from the Lord rather than running to the Lord.
[00:15:37] But that was Hannah. She ran straight to the Lord in this moment of bitterness and distress.
[00:15:45] Secondly it's wonderful to see that this woman understood that it wasn't conversation with Elkina,
[00:15:52] with her husband that would help her.
[00:15:55] A husband should be a good man, have an open heart, be willing to listen to his bride,
[00:15:59] love his bride through conversations and through an open heart.
[00:16:02] But on the other hand a woman should understand, a husband or a wife should understand that their ultimate fulfillment
[00:16:12] is going to come from God himself.
[00:16:15] There are people that we can run to in life but none of them have the power, the strength, the authority of God himself.
[00:16:24] People cannot solve your issues.
[00:16:26] Go to God, cast all your cares on him for he cares for you.
[00:16:34] And so Hannah weeps bitterly, prays before the Lord and in this moment of prayer she said the thing that God was desiring for her to say.
[00:16:45] Verse 11, and she vowed a vow and said,
[00:16:49] Oh Lord of hosts, if you will indeed look on the affliction of your servant and remember me and not forget your servant,
[00:16:58] but will give to your servant a son, then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life and no razor shall touch his head.
[00:17:10] This vow was the thing that God was waiting for inside of Hannah.
[00:17:13] He wanted to give her a child only after she made this covenant with God.
[00:17:20] Now she's basically making what we would refer to as a Nazarite vow for her future son.
[00:17:28] This is alluded to when she says no razor shall touch his head.
[00:17:33] That's one part of the Nazarite vow from Numbers chapter 6.
[00:17:37] The rest of it is that they would obtain, abstain from the use of grapes in any form, especially and including wine.
[00:17:45] And they would also avoid dead bodies in all their forms.
[00:17:51] This was part of that Nazarite vow.
[00:17:53] And so she's saying listen he'll be set apart for you.
[00:17:57] I will give him back to you.
[00:17:59] He can be used by you.
[00:18:02] He'll belong to you.
[00:18:03] He'll serve you in the temple.
[00:18:05] I will give him to the Lord.
[00:18:08] And that's the exact thing God longed for her to say.
[00:18:12] Now as she continued praying before the Lord verse 12, Eli observed her mouth.
[00:18:19] Hannah was speaking in her heart.
[00:18:22] Only her lips moved and her voice was not heard.
[00:18:26] Therefore Eli took her to be a drunken woman and Eli said to her,
[00:18:31] How long will you go on being drunk?
[00:18:34] Put your wine away from you.
[00:18:37] Now this is interesting for a couple of reasons.
[00:18:40] First of all, it's interesting for a sad reason in that here is Eli,
[00:18:45] a man of God, a priest in the house of God.
[00:18:49] He sees a woman praying silently in his first ascetic prayer.
[00:18:53] He sees a woman praying silently and his first assumption is not that she is praying with a bitter spirit,
[00:19:00] but that she is a drunken woman.
[00:19:03] It says something rather low and poor about Eli
[00:19:07] and something rather disgraceful I think also about the state of the nation at that present time.
[00:19:15] That would be the first reaction of the high priest and seeing a woman praying silently before the Lord.
[00:19:21] Thinking that she must be drunk.
[00:19:24] It's a referendum on the sad state of the nation of Israel at that moment in time.
[00:19:31] But it also is a wonderful thing for us to consider when we consider prayer in and of itself.
[00:19:39] Her prayer was silent, but her lips moved.
[00:19:43] Her prayer was silent, but she was verse 13 speaking in her heart.
[00:19:49] She was saying her prayer where it truly counts in her heart.
[00:19:55] Even though her words were silent before the Lord, she was truly praying before God.
[00:20:01] I love to pray out loud.
[00:20:04] It's just been helpful to me over the years,
[00:20:07] but it's not the verbalization out loud of a prayer that makes it effective.
[00:20:13] It's that it's truly there being spoken from the heart.
[00:20:16] I love what I heard one person say.
[00:20:19] They said, you know, you need to pray until you've prayed as a praying man.
[00:20:25] I understand exactly what that means.
[00:20:28] There's the form and the function of prayer, but then there's that moment where you're carried along by the spirit of God
[00:20:35] and you are praying in line with what God desires for you to pray.
[00:20:39] You're being led by the spirit even as you are crying out to the Lord.
[00:20:46] Hannah responded to Eli's accusation in verse 15 and answered,
[00:20:52] No, my Lord, I am a woman troubled in spirit.
[00:20:56] I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but I have been pouring out my soul before the Lord.
[00:21:03] Do not regard your servant as a worthless woman.
[00:21:06] That's her definition of a drunkard.
[00:21:09] For verse 16 all along I have been speaking out of my great anxiety and vexation.
[00:21:17] A beautiful thing that she actually says it's actually quite clever what she's saying because she says,
[00:21:24] Listen, I'm not drunk off of spirits.
[00:21:26] I'm troubled in spirit.
[00:21:28] I haven't consumed and had wine and strong drink poured into me.
[00:21:33] I've been pouring out.
[00:21:35] She says my soul before the Lord.
[00:21:39] What a beautiful description of prayer.
[00:21:42] And Eli answered her in verse 17 and said,
[00:21:45] Go in peace and the God of Israel grant your petition that you have made to him.
[00:21:54] And she said, Let your servant find favor in your eyes.
[00:21:58] Then the woman went her way and here's what tells us that she believed the word of Eli when he said,
[00:22:07] The God of Israel grant your petition.
[00:22:11] It says that when she went her way she verse 18 eight for one she broke her fast and her face was no longer sad.
[00:22:21] The faith of Hannah is astounding to me.
[00:22:25] She gets one word from this priest and she believes fully that God has heard her prayer,
[00:22:32] That God has received her sacrifice.
[00:22:35] I don't even know if Eli was serious or not but she received it as a deep promise from God himself.
[00:22:44] And she rejoiced.
[00:22:45] They rose early in the morning verse 19 and worshiped before the Lord.
[00:22:51] Then they went back to their house at Ramah and Elkana knew romantically, of course,
[00:22:58] Hannah his wife and the Lord remembered her and in due time Hannah conceived and bore a son.
[00:23:06] And she called his name Samuel for she said I have asked for him from the Lord.
[00:23:12] Now the name Samuel sounds a lot like in Hebrew the phrase heard of God.
[00:23:22] Technically it the name simply means his name is God or something similar to that,
[00:23:29] But it came to mean asked of God and that was Hannah's understanding of Samuel's name.
[00:23:35] I asked God for him and God heard me his name will be called Samuel.
[00:23:40] Heard of God asked of God and I've often seen married couples who have not been able to have a child
[00:23:50] or have experienced miscarriages or the death of a child.
[00:23:55] And when they have a son, they name him Samuel asked of God.
[00:23:59] The Lord opened our womb.
[00:24:01] The Lord blessed us.
[00:24:03] She said I have asked for him from the Lord.
[00:24:05] So often this is the key.
[00:24:08] We just need to ask the Lord and Hannah had asked of the Lord.
[00:24:13] Now the man Elkana in all his house verse 21 went up to offer to the Lord the yearly sacrifice.
[00:24:21] So again, the time has come for the sacrifice to be given and to pay his vow.
[00:24:26] But Hannah verse 22 did not go up for she said to her husband as soon as the child is weaned
[00:24:33] I will bring him so that he may appear in the presence of the Lord and dwell there forever.
[00:24:40] So Hannah says, listen, you know it's no use giving them a baby.
[00:24:45] That wouldn't really be a gift of any kind.
[00:24:48] Let's wean the child and once he's grown then he'll appear in the presence of the Lord and dwell there forever.
[00:24:55] And Elkana her husband wonderfully said in verse 23 do what seems best to you wait until you have weaned him only may the Lord establish his word.
[00:25:09] Elkana wanted to make sure that this really occurred so the woman remained and nursed her son until she weaned him.
[00:25:17] So he would grow up a little bit and you know it wasn't going to be 37 years old or anything like that.
[00:25:25] He'd still be a very young child and you know he would eventually grow and it wouldn't take that long but he would be then dedicated to the service of the Lord.
[00:25:36] Which I think speaks to the truth that Paul communicated in 2 Timothy concerning the requirement or 1 Timothy I should say concerning the requirements
[00:25:46] of pastors one of them being that they should not be a novice lest they be puffed up in their own minds.
[00:25:54] They need to be weaned.
[00:25:56] They need to be men who have grown past the milk and are able to handle the meat of God's word faithful mature kind of men.
[00:26:07] And so she gives plans on giving Samuel to the Lord permanently once he has been weaned.
[00:26:14] Then in verse 24 it says that when she had weaned him she took him up with her along with a three year old bull and Epha of flower
[00:26:25] and a skin of wine and she brought him to the house of the Lord at Shiloh and the child was young.
[00:26:33] The age really isn't given the bull is three years old so some have suspected that Samuel was three years old as well
[00:26:42] and that this bull was a type of replacement for the years that he wasn't present or wasn't there.
[00:26:51] The child was young though and they slaughtered verse 25 the bull and they brought the child to Eli
[00:26:58] and she said, oh my Lord as you live my Lord I am the woman who was standing here in your presence praying to the Lord.
[00:27:05] She's reminding him.
[00:27:07] Verse 27, for this child I prayed and the Lord has granted me my petition that I made to him.
[00:27:14] Therefore I have lent him to the Lord as long as he lives he is lent to the Lord and he worshiped the Lord there.
[00:27:24] I love the way Hannah thinks about this particular handoff she says I'm lending him to the Lord even though she also confesses
[00:27:31] really as long as he's alive he is lent to the Lord.
[00:27:37] She is giving her son to the Lord.
[00:27:41] I think in one sense this is a great reality for every parent of any child who is in the faith, any parent in the faith
[00:27:50] should have this same perspective to realize my children do not belong to me they belong to the Lord.
[00:27:58] I've got to give them the gospel.
[00:28:01] I need to teach them concerning their heart and what is off in their heart and their deep need for the gospel.
[00:28:10] I want to shape them as weapons in the hands of the Lord but ultimately they belong to the Lord.
[00:28:18] Hannah took her child and gave him to the Lord.
[00:28:23] God bless you.
[00:28:25] Thank you for listening.
[00:28:27] For additional resources and teachings or to contact us please visit us at NateHoldridge.com