When a righteous woman named Hannah had a baby after many years of prayer and hope, she named him Sam-u'el. ("sam" meant simply "name”; "El" meant “God.") So the name in Hebrew meant, "name is God." When he was weaned, she took him to the temple in Shiloh and dedicated him to God for whom he was named and asked the old priest, Eli, to raise him. The Bible has a long poem called "Hannah's Song" sung as she gave her little boy to God's holy man, Eli. Her song has some similarity to the "Magnificat" sung by Mary during her visit to Elizabeth after the angel's announcement to her. Every year Hannah would make the growing boy a new "linen priestly vest." She had three more sons and two daughters, but "the boy Samuel grew up in the Lord's service."
…show more content…
They took the Ark of the Covenant into battle so the Lord would win it for them, but God did not win the war. The Israelites lost ignominiously. . When old Eli heard that Israel's army had been defeated, his two sons had been killed, and the Philistines had captured the Ark of the Covenant, Eli died! (3:12-18) His daughter-in-law, learning of her husband's and Eli's deaths, suddenly went into labor and gave birth to a son she named "Ichabod" (means "God's glory is gone from Israel") {3:19-22} The Bible says that the Philistines ruled Israel forty years; (this probably means a generation).
The Ark of the Lord was in the Philistine country seven months. (6:1) The Philistines had an outbreak of "tumors" and their idol, Dagon, fell over in their temple. They "freaked out" and sent the Ark of the Covenant back to Israel by putting it on a wagon and turning two oxen loose to see where they went! The oxen, without driver, went home to Israel! (6:1-16).
There was no temple in Israel, not even a "holy city." So the Ark of the Covenant was taken to a private home. It stayed there "some twenty years." This was the lowest-ever ebb tide for Israel's religion. (7:1-2) "All the house of Israel lamented after the Lord." Samuel told them that if they really repented, they would have to put away their foreign gods and serve only the Lord. The people responded to his plea, repented of their sin, and "served the LORD
They took the Ark of the Covenant into battle so the Lord would win it for them, but God did not win the war. The Israelites lost ignominiously. . When old Eli heard that Israel's army had been defeated, his two sons had been killed, and the Philistines had captured the Ark of the Covenant, Eli died! (3:12-18) His daughter-in-law, learning of her husband's and Eli's deaths, suddenly went into labor and gave birth to a son she named "Ichabod" (means "God's glory is gone from Israel") {3:19-22} The Bible says that the Philistines ruled Israel forty years; (this probably means a generation).
The Ark of the Lord was in the Philistine country seven months. (6:1) The Philistines had an outbreak of "tumors" and their idol, Dagon, fell over in their temple. They "freaked out" and sent the Ark of the Covenant back to Israel by putting it on a wagon and turning two oxen loose to see where they went! The oxen, without driver, went home to Israel! (6:1-16).
There was no temple in Israel, not even a "holy city." So the Ark of the Covenant was taken to a private home. It stayed there "some twenty years." This was the lowest-ever ebb tide for Israel's religion. (7:1-2) "All the house of Israel lamented after the Lord." Samuel told them that if they really repented, they would have to put away their foreign gods and serve only the Lord. The people responded to his plea, repented of their sin, and "served the LORD