SAMUEL, A SERVANT OF THE LORD
1 Samuel 3:19 -20
As Samuel grew up, the Lord was with him,
and everything Samuel said proved to be reliable.
And all Israel, from Dan in the north to Beersheba in the south,
knew that Samuel was confirmed as a prophet of the Lord.
Samuel was an answered prayer for his mom Hannah
Samuel grew up in the Tabernacle, trained by Eli
Samuel was called by the Lord as a boy
Samuel was a prophet
Samuel anoints the first 2 kings of Israel
OPPOSITES
Elis sons, Hophni & Phinehas, were priests in the Tabernacle, but unlike Samuel they did not obey the Lord
They abused their position as priests and took raw meat meant for offerings, by force
In 1 SAMUEL 2:34, the Lord told Eli that
Hophni & Phinehas will die on the same day violently
This is what the Lord told Samuel when He called him
1 SAMUEL 3:11-14
IN CHAPTER 4 WE READ WHAT HOPHNI AND PHINEHAS DID TO THE ARK OF THE COVENANT!
They used the Lord’s Ark as a lucky charm - disaster struck the Israelites!
The Lord let the enemy, the PHILISTINE beat them in battle
AND THE PHILISTINES STOLE THE ARK
AND ELI’s sons DIED
1 SAMUEL 4:11
The same day when Eli heard what his sons had done to the ark
ELI FELL OFF HIS CHAIR, BROKE HIS NECK AND DIED
1 SAMUEL 4:18
THE PHILISTINES PUT THE LORD’S ARK IN THEIR TEMPLE WHERE THEY WORSHIP DAGON - HALF MAN HALF FISH
THE LORD PUNISHED THE PHILISTINE WITH PLAGUES & AFTER 7 MONTHS THEY DID NOT WANT IT ANYMORE
1 SAMUEL 6:6-10
SO THEY TESTED UNTRAINED COWS TO SEE IF IT WAS PUNISHMENT FROM THE LORD
Take the ark of the Lord and put it on the cart, and in a chest beside it put the gold objects you are sending back to him as a guilt offering. Send it on its way, 9 but keep watching it. If it goes up to its own territory, toward Beth Shemesh, then the Lord has brought this great disaster on us. But if it does not, then we will know that it was not his hand that struck us but that it happened to us by chance.”
