I Samuel 3

[JLG]

Who did Samuel think called him the night the lamp of God went out? (I Samuel 3:5)

- He thought it is Eli because he is the only one present !

- And he has never been in contact with God !

- He is but a child !

 

[JLG]

Looking for Samuel

1 Samuel 1
One day when Elkanah offers a sacrifice, he gives portions to his wife Peninnah as well as to all her sons and her daughters, but to Hannah he gives a special portion, because Hannah is the one he loves; but God has not given her children. Moreover, her rival wife taunted her relentlessly in order to upset her because God has not given her children.

- Yeah, yeah, yeah: Elkannah loves Hannah so there is a competition or a fight between the two women: that’s not a good way to educate children!

- And Peninnah has children and Hannah doesn’t: it means more troubles!

- I should say endless troubles!

- Apparently, God has favored Peninnah and not Hannah to counterbalance the situation!

- It reminds us of many situations due to man’s behavior: he always wants more and it is never enough!

 

[JLG]

Looking for Samuel

1 Samuel 1
At this Hannah answers: “No, my lord! I am a woman under great stress; I have not drunk wine or anything alcoholic, but I am pouring out my soul before God. Do not take your servant for a worthless woman, for I have been speaking until now out of my great anguish and distress.”

- One word to summarize: HUMILITY!

- Samuel will have a really good mother!

- And she defends herself in front of Eli!

- When she speaks about her great anguish and distress, even if there is no comparison, it reminds me of Job expressing his great anguish and distress to God!

 

[JLG]

Looking for Samuel

1 Samuel 3
One day Eli is lying down in his usual place, and his eyes have grown dim; he is not able to see. The lamp of God has not yet been extinguished, and Samuel is lying in the temple of God, where the Ark of God is. God then calls Samuel. He answers: “Here I am?” He runs to Eli and says: “Here I am, for you have called me.” But he says: “I haven’t called you. Lie down again.” So he goes and lie down. God calls once again: “Samuel!” At this Samuel gets up and goes to Eli and says: “here I am, for you have called me.” But he says: I haven’t called you, my son. Lie down again. (Now Samuel has not yet come to know God, and the word of god has not yet been revealed to him.) So God calls him again, a third time: “Samuel!” At that he gets up and goes to Eli and says: “here I am, for you have called me.” Eli then realizes that it is God who is calling the boy. So Eli says to Samuel: “Go, lie down, and if he calls you, you will say, “Speak, God, for your servant is listening.” And Samuel goes and lie down in his place.

- Here we have something exceptional!

- Samuel is sent at the House of God to serve him and this when he has just been weaned!

- In fact, he doesn’t know anything about God!

- But God will lead his path since the beginning!

- And he gets directly in contact with him since the beginning!

- What an incredible experience!

- Thus he will be taught directly by God from the beginning!

 

[JLG]

Looking for Samuel

1 Samuel 3
But Eli calls for Samuel: “Samuel, my son!” At this he says: “Here I am.” He asks: “What message did he speak to you? Please, do not hide it from me. May God do to you and add to it if you hide from me a single word of all that he said to you.”

- Once again it is really interesting!

- God hasn’t spoken to anyone in Israel for a long time!

- And now he speaks to a child!

- Eli knows what Samuel is going to tell him!

- Because he knows he is wrong!

- Do you remember Job: he knew he was right!

- Do you understand the similitude?

- So he warns Samuel!

- He wants to know each word!

- Because each word is important!

- Do you see the difference between God’s word and man’s tradition?

- Do you understand why they oppose?

- Do you understand that if you follow one you reject the other?

- You can’t serve two masters!

- You must choose one!

 

[JLG]

Looking for Samuel

1 Samuel 4
A man of Benjamin runs from the battle line and arrives at Shiloh on that day with his garments ripped apart and dirt on his head. When the man arrives, Eli is sitting on the seat by the roadside watching, because his heart is trembling over the Ark of the true God. The man goes into the city to report the news, and the whole city begins crying out; When Eli hears the sound of the outcry, he asks: “What does the sound of this turmoil mean? The same man hurries in and reports the news to Eli. (Now Eli is 98 years old, and his eyes stares straight ahead and he can not see.) Then the man says to Eli: “I am the one who comes from the battle line.” Just today I fled from the battle line.” At this he asks: “What happened, my son? So the bearer of the news relates: “Israel has fled from the philistines, and there was a great defeat among the people; also your own two sons, Hophni and Phineas, have died, and the Ark of the true God has been captured. At the moment he mentions the Ark of the true God, Eli falls backward from his seat beside the gate, and his neck is broken and he dies, for he is old and heavy. He has been judging Israel for 40 years.

- After the two sons of Eli, Eli dies too!

- Think about that he has been judging Israel for 40 years!

- And what happened at the end: he let his two sons behave badly in front of God!

- He didn’t anything against them!

- He was too weak!

- That’s why we must be careful not to take the wrong way!

- Pride doesn’t help!

- It only brings disappointment!

- And when it’s too late, it’s too late!

- We can cry as much as we want!

- But if we don’t act when it is time, then forget it!

- God warned Israel repeatedly and they never listened!

- They paid the price!

- End of the story!

 

[JLG]

Looking for Samuel

1 Samuel 8
When Samuel is old, he appoints his sons as judges for Israel. But they are corrupted and they pervert justice. So because of such a situation the Israelites want a king. But it displeases Samuel who prays God to know what to do. And God tells Samuel to do as they want but it means once again they have rejected him but it is the very nature of Israel to constantly reject God and serve other gods and they started doing in right at the beginning when they left Egypt. But the Israelites are warned because the king will ask for their sons for his army and Israel will work for the king. And he will take the best of what they have. And they will become his servants. And they will cry out But God will not answer them. But as usual, the people don’t listen to Samuel. And they want to become like the other nations.

- End of the story!

- The Israelites will become a nation like the other nations!

- They will have to pay a high price for that!

- Because a human king won’t behave like God!

- And God warns them!

- But they never listen!

- What a chosen people!

- What a stupid people!

- They could have had everything and they lost everything!

- Is it possible to be more stupid!

- But the majority of humanity has been doing the same!

 

[JLG]

Looking for Samuel

1 Samuel 13
Jonathan, Saul’s son, strikes a garrison of the Philistines and Saul let the people know about it and they are told to follow Saul against the philistines. So the philistines go against Israel and the people are trembling. And they keep wating for Samuel to come. But the people begin to leave Saul so he decides to make a sacrifice. But as soon as he has done it, Samuel arrives and tells him that he has acted foolishly. And because of that, his kingdom won’t last and somebody will take it from him because he didn’t obey what God commanded him. And Israel doesn’t have many weapons because it was forbidden by the Philistines.

- Once again we are warned!

- Only the High Priest could offer sacrifices to God!

- The king couldn’t do it himself!

- But Saul did it!

- As a consequence he will lose everything!

- And humanity never understands!

- And God warns again and again!

- It happened with Israel!

- It has been happening with humanity!

- The price will be very but very high to pay!

- A question of life and death!

 

[JLG]

Looking for Samuel

1 Samuel 17

Israel and the Philistines are going to fight again. Then Goliath a giant from the Philistines provokes the soldiers and tell them to sent their champion to fight against him. And David has come to bring food to his brothers. When he hears about Goliath, he wants to fight him. So he tells it to Saul and god will help him win. And David will use his staff and stones. And David kills the Philistine striking him with a stone in the forehead and he cut his head. Thus the Philistines flee and they are pursued by the Israelites.

- David follows God and he is rewarded!

- He will keep following God till he becomes king!

- Then with the time and because of power he will act stupidly!

- And he will pay for it the rest of his life!

- We must remember this example!

- Being faithful doesn’t mean we will keep being so!

- It is a warning!

- Being faithful requires strong efforts and humility to stay faithful!

- it is easy for man to forget and start behaving foolishly!

 

[JLG]

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- Get away from this old world of Chaos and prepare for the New World!
- don’t do like the Israelites who stayed in the old world and died!
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Looking for Samuel

1 Samuel 21
David goes to Ahimelech the priest who is afraid because David is alone. David explain Saul gave him a mission but nobody must know. Then David asks the priest for bread or whatever he has. There is only holy bread and they can have it if David’s men didn’t go with women. David answers it is the case. Then David also asks for a sword and the priest gives him Goliath’s sword. And david goes to king Achish of Gath and acts as if he is insane.

- God keeps teaching David as he keeps fleeing from Saul to survive!

- Adversity is the best teacher!

- Because you have no choice but fight for survival!

- Then you get stronger or you die!

- The law of nature!

- When you don’t fight for survival, you don’t get stronger!

 

[JLG]

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- Get away from this old world of Chaos and prepare for the New World!
- don’t do like the Israelites who stayed in the old world and died!
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Looking for Samuel

1 Samuel 24

Once again Saul looks for David in the wilderness with 3,000 men. There there is a cave and Saul relieves himself whereas David and his men are inside the cave. David doesn’t kill Saul but cuts off the edge of Saul’s sleeveless coat. And David prevents his men to kill Saul. Then David calls out after Saul and tells him he could have killed him but he didn’t do it. Then Saul tells David that he knows he will become king of Israel so he asks David to swear that he won’t annihilate his descendants and Saul goes home.

- Once again God protects David!

- And Saul goes away!

- But he will try again to kill David!

- It is something stronger than him!

- Even if he knows it is against God’s will!

- But he has the power!

- Thus he only understands power and violence!

 

[JLG]

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Get away from this old world of Chaos and prepare for the New World!
don’t do like the Israelites who stayed in the old world and died!
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Looking for Samuel

1 Samuel 28

- The Philistines are going to fight against Israel!

- Achish wants David to be his body guard!

- Samuel has died!

- Saul has removed the spirit mediums and the fortune-tellers from Israel!

- When he sees the Philistines, Saul is afraid!

- And God never answers him!

- So he asks his servants to look for a spirit medium!

- So they tell him about a woman!

- Saul disguises himself and goes to see her at night with two of his men!

- But she tells him that she can’t do it as it is forbidden!

- But Saul tells her she won’t have any problems!

- He tells her to call Samuel’s spirit!

- Of course, it can’t be Samuel’s spirit!

- Because Samuel wouldn’t get into contact with Saul when he was alive!

- And God wouldn’t answer Saul either!

- The woman understands that king Saul is in front of her!

- But Saul tells her not to be afraid!

- The spirit asks him why he inquires him since God has departed from him and has become his adversary!

- The spirit then tells him that he will lose the battle!

- And Saul and his sons will die!

- And David will become king over Israel!

- According to man’s standards, God may take time to realize his decisions!

- But when the time has come, it happens!

- Thus time has come to put an end to Saul’s reign!

- Let’s David’s reign begins!

 

[JLG]

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Get away from this old world of Chaos and prepare for the New World!
don’t do like the Israelites who stayed in the old world and died!
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Looking for Samuel

2 Samuel 3

The houses of Saul and of David keep fighting with David’s house becoming stronger and stronger. Then David gets six sons, each one from one of his six wives. Abner becomes stronger in the house of Saul. Abner makes an agreement with David so he can become king over Israel. And Joab decides to kill Abner because he killed his brother. David doesn’t know it. And David organizes Abner’s funeral.

- The story of Israel is complicated from the beginning!

- There always have been problems among Israel!

- And it will be so all the time!

- They will keep going that way!

- They will never listen to God!

- They will go to exile!

- They will be slaves!

 

[JLG]

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Get away from this old world of Chaos and prepare for the New World!
don’t do like the Israelites who stayed in the old world and died!
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Looking for Samuel

2 Samuel 7

- When David is settled in his own house and God has given peace to him, he says to Nathan the prophet that it is not proper for God not to have a temple. But God tells him that his son will build God’s temple. God blesses David and he will do the same with his son forever!

- But there are limits to God’s patience and David will go too far and his son Solomon will do worse by worshiping other gods because of his numerous wives and concubines.

- Warnings everywhere but men are deaf and superficial!

- And the Israelites lost their privileges!

- In fact, they never took advantage of them!

- Because they didn’t care about God!

- And men keep following the same path!

- Good luck!

 

[JLG]

Looking for Samuel

2 Samuel 12

God sends Nathan to David. And Nathan tells him that God gave him everything and he could have given him much more. But because of what he did and thus despised God, God will bring calamity within his own house. God will take his wives and gives them to another man. And all Israel will see it and hear about it. David will not die but the son he has just had with Bathsheba will die. Later Bathsheba has a child called Solomon.

- How is it possible to behave in such a way!

- First David follows God with all his heart!

- Second, he despises him by acting like a man without brain!

- As a consequence, he will pay a high price and will have unrest till the end of his life!

- And all the kings will end in the same way!

- Samuel’s mind and warning seems to go around!

 

[JLG]

Looking for Samuel

2 Samuel 18

Then there is a battle between David’s men and Israel and Israel is defeated and 20,000 men of Israel die. And Joab kills Absalom despite David’s order not to harm him. And David weeps because of his son’s death.

- God favors David so his men are victorious!

- But his son is killed by Joab!

- Of course, Joab wants to be sure Absalom won’t have the possibility to rebel again against David!

- So he doesn’t follow David’s order!

- It is probably part of the price David has to pay for his bad actions!

 

[JLG]

Looking for Samuel

2 Samuel 22

-And David makes a song to God!

- He speaks about the protection against his enemies he got from God!

- But he doesn’t say anything about the high price he had to pay because he took somebody’s wife and he killed her husband!

- And he had to pay for the rest of his life!

- How Samuel was right when he said the price would be expensive for Israel to pay because they rejected God as their king to get human kings!

- And in fact Samuel was responsible for such a situation because of his sons’ corruption!

- But we don’t know why it was so!

- We don’t know if Samuel was too busy serving God!

- We remember what happened to Eli!

- But in this case we know Eli let his sons acting badly!

- We know Israel acted badly going after other gods all the time!

- And Jesus told the same after his death!

- His teaching would be corrupted by people mixing different beliefs from different religions!

- And religious leaders would be responsible for that!

- And what about normal people?

 

[JLG]

2) God and Samuel / Samuel and God

- Hannah did the best thing which could happen to Samuel!

- She gave him the opportunity to develop an incredible relationship to God!

- Only few men could develop such a relationship!

- But Samuel could have chosen the wrong way!

- Because Eli’s sons were corrupted!

- And he could see badness right in God’s house!

- But he could also see what happened to them!

- He could see God’s patience!

- But in time people must bear the consequences of their badness!

- And Eli’s sons died!

- And Eli died because he didn’t do anything against them!

 

[JLG]

6) God and Samuel / Samuel and God

- Then Samuel prays for Israel!

- And Samuel becomes judge over Israel!

When the Philistines heard that the Israelites had gathered together at Mizpah, the lords of the Philistines went up against Israel. When the Israelites heard of it, they were afraid because of the Philistines. So the Israelites said to Samuel: “Do not stop calling to God our God to help us and to save us from the hand of the Philistines.” Then Samuel took a suckling lamb and offered it up as a whole burnt offering to God; and Samuel called to God for help in behalf of Israel, and God answered him. As Samuel was offering up the burnt offering, the Philistines advanced for battle against Israel. God now caused it to thunder loudly on that day against the Philistines, and He threw them into confusion, and they were defeated before Israel. At that the men of Israel went out from Mizpah and pursued the Philistines, striking them down as far as south of Beth-car. Then Samuel took a stone and set it between Mizpah and Jeshanah and named it Ebenezer, for he said: “Until now God has helped us.”Thus the Philistines were subdued, and they did not come again into the territory of Israel; and the hand of God continued against the Philistines all the days of Samuel.

- SAMUEL makes a sacrifice to God!

- SAMUEL calls to God for help!

- Then God defeats the Philistines!

- Then SAMUEL takes a stone as a memorial!

- And the hand of God continued against the philistines ALL THE DAYS OF SAMUEL!

- SAMUEL IS DEFINITELY THE CHOSEN ONE!

 

[JLG]

10) God and Samuel / Samuel and God

- The day will come when you will cry out because of the king you have chosen for yourselves, but God will not answer you in that day.”

- And you call that a chosen people !

- A people who never listens to his God and as a consequence God never answers them !

- If it wasn’t for faithful men like SAMUEL, God could have destroyed Israel so many times, so hearing people saying that Israel is still God’s chosen people, I have no words to express the shame they should have !

- But to be ashamed, you need to know what is shame !

- And when you read the Bible, you understand why they are not ashamed !

- And they are not alone !

- Many people are in their case !

- But that’s human history !

- You can’t change a world of losers !

- You can only change it and clean it !

- But there is so much work to do !