WEBVTT 00:00:01.870 --> 00:00:04.110 So for our introduction, I don't have a whole 00:00:04.110 --> 00:00:07.690 lot to say. We just went through judges. And 00:00:07.690 --> 00:00:10.349 hopefully we haven't forgotten everything we 00:00:10.349 --> 00:00:12.429 learned about judges. And one of the main things 00:00:12.429 --> 00:00:15.630 we learned was just the general state of chaos 00:00:15.630 --> 00:00:19.609 in Israel that was a summation, really, of the 00:00:19.609 --> 00:00:23.309 whole book in those last three chapters. That 00:00:23.309 --> 00:00:27.449 continues on. That same type of condition is 00:00:27.449 --> 00:00:32.079 the condition in which We're introduced to Samuel 00:00:32.079 --> 00:00:34.700 in the first part of First Samuel and then to 00:00:34.700 --> 00:00:38.520 Saul and then to David and Saul and then in Second 00:00:38.520 --> 00:00:41.479 Samuel, David. And then at the end of Second 00:00:41.479 --> 00:00:45.100 Samuel we have a similar type of summation to 00:00:45.100 --> 00:00:47.299 the entire book. Originally it was just one book. 00:00:47.780 --> 00:00:50.299 We're studying the first half of that book, First 00:00:50.299 --> 00:00:54.140 Samuel, without any guarantees of studying the 00:00:54.140 --> 00:00:57.349 second one. We'll see what the Lord has. But 00:00:57.349 --> 00:01:04.069 in judges, we had what? We had judges. God mediated 00:01:04.069 --> 00:01:06.590 his rule of his people through judges. And in 00:01:06.590 --> 00:01:11.629 the first part of 1 Samuel, we have two judges. 00:01:11.769 --> 00:01:16.450 Does anybody know who those two judges are? Eli 00:01:16.450 --> 00:01:23.430 and Samuel. So we have this. transitional period 00:01:23.430 --> 00:01:25.689 then, even at the beginning of 1 Samuel, where 00:01:25.689 --> 00:01:36.530 we go from judges to kings. God is going to establish 00:01:36.530 --> 00:01:41.290 a monarchy in Israel. And the question at the 00:01:41.290 --> 00:01:44.709 beginning of the book, really in probably until 00:01:44.709 --> 00:01:51.590 what the 12th chapter or something, is that Israel 00:01:51.739 --> 00:01:55.540 wants a king like all the other nations. And 00:01:55.540 --> 00:01:59.359 we don't necessarily need to take extra biblical 00:01:59.359 --> 00:02:04.420 information on what those kings look like. But 00:02:04.420 --> 00:02:11.080 Saul fits the bill. And he doesn't obey the Lord. 00:02:11.159 --> 00:02:16.020 He doesn't follow the Lord. And he does other 00:02:16.020 --> 00:02:21.060 things like talking to Samuel when he's dead. 00:02:23.449 --> 00:02:26.669 and offering sacrifice. Those were all common 00:02:26.669 --> 00:02:30.830 practices in Canaan. He does not only that, but 00:02:30.830 --> 00:02:32.810 he does all the things that Samuel told him he 00:02:32.810 --> 00:02:36.909 was going to do. So my position is that it wasn't 00:02:36.909 --> 00:02:39.990 wrong. God had always planned on having a king 00:02:39.990 --> 00:02:42.530 in Israel. We know that from Deuteronomy. That's 00:02:42.530 --> 00:02:46.650 my position. The question is what type of king 00:02:46.650 --> 00:02:49.650 and how is that king going to execute his God 00:02:49.650 --> 00:02:52.780 -given responsibilities in Israel? and Samuel 00:02:52.780 --> 00:02:57.599 lays out for us in chapter 12 how that works 00:02:57.599 --> 00:03:01.280 that monarchy is not necessarily a bad thing 00:03:01.280 --> 00:03:03.539 as long as what two things are going on when 00:03:03.539 --> 00:03:06.199 what are those two things the king is following 00:03:06.199 --> 00:03:09.439 God and then the people are following God and 00:03:09.439 --> 00:03:13.639 under that scenario monarchy works pretty well 00:03:13.639 --> 00:03:16.479 we might say if we wanted to look at our own 00:03:16.479 --> 00:03:20.870 day and age that If your leader is following 00:03:20.870 --> 00:03:23.050 the Lord and all the people are following the 00:03:23.050 --> 00:03:26.490 Lord, there's probably not a whole lot of political 00:03:26.490 --> 00:03:30.370 systems that wouldn't function perfectly well. 00:03:31.250 --> 00:03:34.389 The problem is always sin. The problem is always 00:03:34.389 --> 00:03:39.469 that some political systems do better than others 00:03:39.469 --> 00:03:44.729 at mitigating the effect of sin in society. And 00:03:44.729 --> 00:03:49.699 so, in Israel, A king following God along with 00:03:49.699 --> 00:03:57.740 the people following God works very well. We 00:03:57.740 --> 00:04:01.439 don't see it much, but when it happens, it does 00:04:01.439 --> 00:04:04.340 work. And that's the way that God's design is. 00:04:06.020 --> 00:04:09.360 Alright, as far as themes in the book, there's 00:04:09.360 --> 00:04:12.680 three main themes. And two of these themes run 00:04:12.680 --> 00:04:15.180 through the entire Bible, so they're not unique. 00:04:15.389 --> 00:04:18.350 to First Samuel, but we will see them. And that 00:04:18.350 --> 00:04:22.149 is God's perfect, righteous, holy, sovereign 00:04:22.149 --> 00:04:26.410 reign through providence and wonder. In other 00:04:26.410 --> 00:04:31.189 words, sometimes God directly overrules the so 00:04:31.189 --> 00:04:36.290 -called laws of nature. In the time of judges, 00:04:36.509 --> 00:04:39.689 remember, he caused great confusion in the armies 00:04:39.689 --> 00:04:43.790 and Israel was victorious over them in spite 00:04:43.790 --> 00:04:47.870 of their outnumbered, you know, ten or a hundred 00:04:47.870 --> 00:04:51.470 to one, whatever it was. And through providence, 00:04:51.990 --> 00:04:55.149 sometimes, God works. And we'll see that here 00:04:55.149 --> 00:04:56.949 at the very beginning. So what are we saying 00:04:56.949 --> 00:05:00.069 in that then? If God works through wonders and 00:05:00.069 --> 00:05:02.709 providence to accomplish His purpose in the world, 00:05:02.829 --> 00:05:05.769 then who is He or what is He? And the answer 00:05:05.769 --> 00:05:09.430 is that He's King. And that is a theme that runs 00:05:09.430 --> 00:05:12.569 throughout the Bible, but we ought to pay particular 00:05:12.569 --> 00:05:15.629 attention to it here in Samuel because what? 00:05:16.449 --> 00:05:19.689 David was a king after God's own heart. Saul 00:05:19.689 --> 00:05:22.930 was not a king after God's own heart. So, what's 00:05:22.930 --> 00:05:28.949 the lesson there? The lesson is that God will 00:05:28.949 --> 00:05:35.550 execute His kingship through a human king, but 00:05:35.550 --> 00:05:43.100 only on God's terms. So, that is why it is particularly 00:05:43.100 --> 00:05:46.120 important that we see that in Samuel, because 00:05:46.120 --> 00:05:48.759 this is the establishing of the monarchy. So, 00:05:49.220 --> 00:05:51.379 what was Israel supposed to look for? How were 00:05:51.379 --> 00:05:53.079 they supposed to know if they should follow the 00:05:53.079 --> 00:05:57.240 king? How did they know if the king was exceeding 00:05:57.240 --> 00:06:02.800 his authority? This is probably a theme that 00:06:02.800 --> 00:06:06.319 is throughout the entire Bible. In fact, it is. 00:06:06.519 --> 00:06:10.139 And that is God's unexpected use of unlikely 00:06:10.139 --> 00:06:16.680 people. I mean, how many times in Judges do we 00:06:16.680 --> 00:06:21.579 say that this person is totally unlikely to grow 00:06:21.579 --> 00:06:24.959 up to be a judge in Israel? This person in their 00:06:24.959 --> 00:06:27.480 background is unlikely to be used of God. This 00:06:27.480 --> 00:06:29.500 person, because of their weakness, is unlikely 00:06:29.500 --> 00:06:32.740 to be used of God. And yet God brings salvation 00:06:32.740 --> 00:06:35.339 to His people and preserves His people. through 00:06:35.339 --> 00:06:38.480 these very unlikely people. These people, what 00:06:38.480 --> 00:06:42.959 else is it about the people that God uses? You 00:06:42.959 --> 00:06:45.060 think about Saul. He stood a head taller than 00:06:45.060 --> 00:06:47.019 everybody else. He was just what everybody wanted. 00:06:47.139 --> 00:06:51.279 This great, handsome, strong king. David is just 00:06:51.279 --> 00:06:54.319 this scrawny guy that tends sheep out in the 00:06:54.319 --> 00:06:57.920 pasture. Nobody wants that guy for a king. And 00:06:57.920 --> 00:07:04.040 yet, God does. So, where did Samuel come from? 00:07:04.459 --> 00:07:07.160 What was Hannah's position here? She's just a 00:07:07.160 --> 00:07:11.240 barren woman in misery and yet God through her 00:07:11.240 --> 00:07:16.259 brings to Israel the great kingmaker. Obama thinks 00:07:16.259 --> 00:07:19.100 he thought he was the president maker, but Samuel 00:07:19.100 --> 00:07:23.180 is the kingmaker. He's the one who anoints both 00:07:23.180 --> 00:07:26.000 Saul and announces Saul's end. Saul was king 00:07:26.000 --> 00:07:30.519 for two years. Samuel announces the end of his 00:07:30.519 --> 00:07:34.500 monarchy and that David is God's anointed. and 00:07:34.500 --> 00:07:37.100 David some years later finally takes the throne. 00:07:37.920 --> 00:07:40.800 But it's Samuel that's involved in both of those 00:07:40.800 --> 00:07:46.399 men to anoint them as God's chosen person. So 00:07:46.399 --> 00:07:53.019 God sees what men don't see. How does the world 00:07:53.019 --> 00:07:59.279 see? Only with their eyes. And so they're limited 00:07:59.279 --> 00:08:02.740 then in what they can see. What can I see with 00:08:02.740 --> 00:08:07.509 my eyes? I can see the surface, the surface level. 00:08:07.750 --> 00:08:10.850 That's all I can see. And sometimes I can't even 00:08:10.850 --> 00:08:13.810 trust my eyes. Because the further away I look 00:08:13.810 --> 00:08:17.110 or the older I get, the less clearly I see. But 00:08:17.110 --> 00:08:20.930 even if I am young and have perfect 20 -20 vision, 00:08:21.529 --> 00:08:24.290 there are certain things that look like they're 00:08:24.290 --> 00:08:26.170 straight lines, but they aren't. Or they look 00:08:26.170 --> 00:08:30.889 like they're straight, but they aren't. So my 00:08:30.889 --> 00:08:34.399 eyes... only function in the physical world to 00:08:34.399 --> 00:08:37.779 see the surface sometimes clearly and sometimes 00:08:37.779 --> 00:08:39.980 not. But how does God see? And what does God 00:08:39.980 --> 00:08:44.279 see? God sees all that. He knows all that. But 00:08:44.279 --> 00:08:46.720 what does God also see? God sees within the heart. 00:08:46.899 --> 00:08:49.320 In other words, God sees at the center of a person. 00:08:49.879 --> 00:08:53.059 He knows what our thoughts are. He knows what 00:08:53.059 --> 00:08:56.159 we're going to do before we do it. And He knows 00:08:56.159 --> 00:08:58.240 what the intention and the motives are in our 00:08:58.240 --> 00:09:01.049 heart. Why is it that I'm doing what I'm doing? 00:09:01.090 --> 00:09:05.590 God knows. No matter what Joel Osteen may say, 00:09:06.309 --> 00:09:09.309 man's responsibility and obligation is to serve 00:09:09.309 --> 00:09:12.629 his Creator according to God's terms. Serve me 00:09:12.629 --> 00:09:17.730 this way. Do this. For my glory and for my good. 00:09:17.909 --> 00:09:20.210 Not because you want to and not because it makes 00:09:20.210 --> 00:09:25.509 you feel happy. The Christian's life is a life 00:09:25.509 --> 00:09:28.769 of self -sacrifice. And that's what's expected 00:09:28.769 --> 00:09:31.990 of God's leaders. Of His King in Israel. Was 00:09:31.990 --> 00:09:35.149 expected to do the same types of things that 00:09:35.149 --> 00:09:39.230 God did for His people. Rescue them. Serve them. 00:09:40.070 --> 00:09:43.710 Declare to them God's Word. And then what else 00:09:43.710 --> 00:09:48.230 do we see throughout Samuel? 1 and 2 Samuel. 00:09:48.309 --> 00:09:51.250 We see a certain relationship between what? The 00:09:51.250 --> 00:09:56.980 King and the priest. between the king and the 00:09:56.980 --> 00:10:04.500 prophet. Now what's the prophet's job? To declare 00:10:04.500 --> 00:10:09.659 his inclinations. Is that what God's prophets 00:10:09.659 --> 00:10:15.519 do? What do God's prophets declare? The Word 00:10:15.519 --> 00:10:19.100 of God. And every time they declare the Word 00:10:19.100 --> 00:10:23.389 of God, what? It's perfect and it's right. And 00:10:23.389 --> 00:10:26.429 in the case of Saul, he didn't hear the word 00:10:26.429 --> 00:10:29.909 of God from Samuel. He ignored it. He didn't 00:10:29.909 --> 00:10:35.210 trust it. It didn't find fertile ground in his 00:10:35.210 --> 00:10:38.129 heart. He rebelled against it. He went his own 00:10:38.129 --> 00:10:43.409 way and did his own thing. The exact opposite 00:10:43.409 --> 00:10:45.450 is what we see with David. David did terrible 00:10:45.450 --> 00:10:49.029 things. But when Nathan comes to him and corrects 00:10:49.029 --> 00:10:52.289 him and reproves him in harsh words, what happens? 00:10:53.230 --> 00:10:55.429 What does David do? Get out of here. I don't 00:10:55.429 --> 00:10:58.610 want anything. Don't you know I'm king? David, 00:10:58.610 --> 00:11:01.169 because his heart was with the Lord, was crushed 00:11:01.169 --> 00:11:05.730 because he knew that God knew his sin. And David 00:11:05.730 --> 00:11:12.029 falls down before his Lord in repentance. Now 00:11:12.029 --> 00:11:16.500 that's the relationship between the Word of God 00:11:16.500 --> 00:11:20.740 and the King. And it's unique, I think, to Samuel, 00:11:21.220 --> 00:11:24.340 although I won't say that, I think. So don't, 00:11:24.600 --> 00:11:27.200 if you can find an exception, please do. But 00:11:27.200 --> 00:11:33.399 Samuel is both prophet and what? Priest. And 00:11:33.399 --> 00:11:37.519 so we see prophet, priest, and king in Samuel 00:11:37.519 --> 00:11:42.740 and David working according to God's design. 00:11:42.970 --> 00:11:46.750 Where else do we see prophet, priest, and king 00:11:46.750 --> 00:11:51.230 working out perfectly according to God the Father's 00:11:51.230 --> 00:11:55.389 design? In the Old Testament? Or just in general? 00:11:56.110 --> 00:11:58.309 Just in general. Well, if you can find one in 00:11:58.309 --> 00:12:03.090 the Old Testament, that would be good. But in 00:12:03.090 --> 00:12:05.710 the New Testament is what I have in mind. Because 00:12:05.710 --> 00:12:08.769 all of the Bible points towards this prophet, 00:12:08.870 --> 00:12:14.039 priest, and king who is... The Christ the anointed 00:12:14.039 --> 00:12:19.000 one the one who was born Jesus of Nazareth by 00:12:19.000 --> 00:12:25.340 Mary So then in that way at least we can find 00:12:25.340 --> 00:12:29.980 this general Pointing and fulfillment in Christ 00:12:29.980 --> 00:12:33.200 and we ought to see that Remember that our Bibles 00:12:33.200 --> 00:12:37.120 are all about showing us Jesus. So we're never 00:12:37.120 --> 00:12:41.340 studying the Bible strictly to understand what 00:12:41.340 --> 00:12:45.360 was going on in this certain geographic area 00:12:45.360 --> 00:12:48.299 at this certain point in time or who are these 00:12:48.299 --> 00:12:50.320 characters. We don't study the Bible the way 00:12:50.320 --> 00:12:53.139 that we might study American history. It might 00:12:53.139 --> 00:12:55.320 be interesting for us to know something about 00:12:55.320 --> 00:12:58.139 George Washington. That's as far as we can go 00:12:58.139 --> 00:13:00.840 with that. But when we open our Bibles and we 00:13:00.840 --> 00:13:03.820 learn about Samuel, we learn about David, we 00:13:03.820 --> 00:13:06.659 learn about Saul, then what we're really learning 00:13:06.659 --> 00:13:11.019 about or should be learning about is God and 00:13:11.019 --> 00:13:14.639 Jesus. Because all the Bible points towards the 00:13:14.639 --> 00:13:17.620 time when God's Messiah will come into the world 00:13:17.620 --> 00:13:21.320 and of course that is Jesus. So I have a question. 00:13:21.440 --> 00:13:25.120 Please. So how can Samuel be a priest? Because 00:13:25.120 --> 00:13:27.779 I thought they were all supposed to be from the 00:13:27.779 --> 00:13:32.480 line of Aaron. Good question. I think you've 00:13:32.480 --> 00:13:35.860 just answered your question. What do you mean? 00:13:36.600 --> 00:13:39.740 Well he was a Levite. He's from the tribe of 00:13:39.740 --> 00:13:48.240 Levi. Who was? Samuel? Yeah. Well, we'll get 00:13:48.240 --> 00:14:05.539 into the text here in a minute. What? But thank 00:14:05.539 --> 00:14:12.710 you for the question. Okay, then the third theme 00:14:12.710 --> 00:14:15.230 is that, and we've already hit on this, but if 00:14:15.230 --> 00:14:16.850 you're taking notes you can write it down, how 00:14:16.850 --> 00:14:19.970 should an Israelite king execute his kingship? 00:14:20.590 --> 00:14:26.409 We see that from Samuel in chapter 12 when he 00:14:26.409 --> 00:14:31.029 reestablishes the monarchy and he tells people 00:14:31.029 --> 00:14:36.409 exactly how it should look. Now, we see all these 00:14:36.409 --> 00:14:41.000 themes somewhere and this is... Interesting to 00:14:41.000 --> 00:14:45.279 me. Hopefully it is to you. And we see it in 00:14:45.279 --> 00:14:56.519 the song. Where do we find that song? No. Chapter 00:14:56.519 --> 00:15:01.720 two. When Hannah delivers her praise to the Lord 00:15:01.720 --> 00:15:05.940 for what he's done. So when we get there, maybe 00:15:05.940 --> 00:15:09.720 next week. we will see these themes laid out. 00:15:09.840 --> 00:15:15.080 Now that's convenient for us, and it is a miracle 00:15:15.080 --> 00:15:18.700 of God that He's able to put together the Bible 00:15:18.700 --> 00:15:22.279 in such a way that it is eminently readable, 00:15:22.820 --> 00:15:25.539 that it is eminently understandable, and that 00:15:25.539 --> 00:15:29.899 it is eminently easy to find the point of His 00:15:29.899 --> 00:15:33.899 message to us. He has condescended to us in that 00:15:33.899 --> 00:15:37.759 way. to make His will and to make His Word accessible 00:15:37.759 --> 00:15:41.460 to all of us. All that is required of us, though, 00:15:41.460 --> 00:15:49.600 is what? Reading and faith. It's not by osmosis. 00:15:49.620 --> 00:15:52.940 Having your Bible on your desk, having it on 00:15:52.940 --> 00:15:56.659 the front seat of your car, is not going to accomplish 00:15:56.659 --> 00:15:59.240 any good unless you open it up, read it, and 00:15:59.240 --> 00:16:02.299 study it. But if you will do that, you will find 00:16:02.299 --> 00:16:06.509 within it just the glorious beauty of a God who 00:16:06.509 --> 00:16:09.850 has made himself known. So I'm encouraging us 00:16:09.850 --> 00:16:13.169 all that we ought to be those types of people. 00:16:15.850 --> 00:16:21.129 Alright, there are three stories in Samuel. What 00:16:21.129 --> 00:16:25.789 are they? The first one is the story of who? 00:16:28.830 --> 00:16:35.759 Samuel? That is correct. What's the second story? 00:16:36.440 --> 00:16:41.820 Saul. And what's the third story? David. And? 00:16:43.960 --> 00:16:48.240 Saul. Okay, and then in second Samuel we have 00:16:48.240 --> 00:16:51.100 the story of David. So we have the beginning 00:16:51.100 --> 00:16:53.720 of the book is the story of Samuel. Where did 00:16:53.720 --> 00:16:56.179 he come from? Who was his mom? And what were 00:16:56.179 --> 00:16:59.559 the circumstances under which he was born or 00:16:59.559 --> 00:17:03.379 into which he was born? Then we have the story 00:17:03.379 --> 00:17:07.019 of Saul and then we have this The longest segment 00:17:07.019 --> 00:17:10.559 which is the interaction between Saul and David 00:17:10.559 --> 00:17:15.680 at the end at the end of the book so I'm saying 00:17:15.680 --> 00:17:19.680 that it goes from Chapter 1 to chapter 8 is the 00:17:19.680 --> 00:17:23.720 story of Samuel 9 to 15 is the story of Saul 00:17:23.720 --> 00:17:28.279 and 16 to 31 Through the end of the book is the 00:17:28.279 --> 00:17:33.700 story of Saul and David If you want to get more 00:17:33.700 --> 00:17:38.019 technical of that, you can find links between 00:17:38.019 --> 00:17:41.500 the stories in certain places. There's also a 00:17:41.500 --> 00:17:49.019 story of what? It's a fairly big story. David 00:17:49.019 --> 00:17:58.019 and Jonathan? No. The story of the Ark. Right? 00:17:59.690 --> 00:18:03.890 That's a that's another interesting story to 00:18:03.890 --> 00:18:08.190 say the least and that's within the story of 00:18:08.190 --> 00:18:15.230 Samuel All right, so let's read These first 18 00:18:15.230 --> 00:18:18.509 verses of 1st Samuel now there was a certain 00:18:18.509 --> 00:18:23.549 man of Ramathiam Zophim of Mount Ephraim and 00:18:23.549 --> 00:18:28.210 his name was Elkanah the son of Geroham the son 00:18:28.210 --> 00:18:35.119 of Elihu the son of Tohu the son of Zuf and Ephrathite 00:18:35.119 --> 00:18:38.579 and he had two wives the name of the one was 00:18:38.579 --> 00:18:42.000 Hannah and the name of the other Panina and Panina 00:18:42.000 --> 00:18:45.960 had children but Hannah had no children and this 00:18:45.960 --> 00:18:50.299 man went up out of his city yearly to worship 00:18:50.299 --> 00:18:54.759 and to sacrifice unto the Lord of hosts in Shiloh 00:18:54.759 --> 00:18:58.789 and the two and the two sons of Eli Haphne and 00:18:58.789 --> 00:19:01.470 Phineas, the priests of the Lord, were there. 00:19:02.150 --> 00:19:05.769 We'll just stop there and talk about those three 00:19:05.769 --> 00:19:09.970 introductory verses first. So I guess you're 00:19:09.970 --> 00:19:13.490 thinking that because he's an Ephrathite, that 00:19:13.490 --> 00:19:17.069 that must mean that he is not a Levite. Is that 00:19:17.069 --> 00:19:21.009 right, Rebecca? Is that why you're... Yes. Okay. 00:19:22.029 --> 00:19:24.230 So you've misunderstood. And that's not, there 00:19:24.230 --> 00:19:30.859 is no tribe called Ephrathite. He was in Mount 00:19:30.859 --> 00:19:35.319 Ephraim. That doesn't say that he was from there, 00:19:35.380 --> 00:19:37.759 it just says that that's where he was living. 00:19:38.640 --> 00:19:46.599 He's of Mount Ephraim. What translation do you 00:19:46.599 --> 00:19:54.519 have? He's not from the tribe of Ephraim. No, 00:19:54.519 --> 00:20:07.299 he's not. Yes. My King James and all my commentaries. 00:20:09.619 --> 00:20:19.400 Yes, it does say that. Aphrodite. At the end 00:20:19.400 --> 00:20:27.259 of verse one is what you're asking me. You're 00:20:27.259 --> 00:20:30.619 saying it would just say Ephraim, because he's 00:20:30.619 --> 00:20:33.039 from Mount Ephraim. It can designate one of two 00:20:33.039 --> 00:20:34.960 things, but it doesn't have to designate that 00:20:34.960 --> 00:20:39.619 he's of the tribe of Ephraim. Remember, we already 00:20:39.619 --> 00:20:44.039 saw Levi that was what? He went down. There was 00:20:44.039 --> 00:20:48.680 a person from the tribe of Ephraim, and he was 00:20:48.680 --> 00:20:51.799 living down in Benjamin, remember, at the end 00:20:51.799 --> 00:20:56.170 of Judges. And he was there working. So just 00:20:56.170 --> 00:20:58.029 because a person lives somewhere doesn't mean 00:20:58.029 --> 00:21:00.430 that he's necessarily from that tribe. We tend 00:21:00.430 --> 00:21:05.190 to think of Israel as this well -organized machine 00:21:05.190 --> 00:21:08.630 that, according to God's word, they grabbed their 00:21:08.630 --> 00:21:12.150 inheritance. But what did we see in judges? They 00:21:12.150 --> 00:21:14.490 never did. They never did settle the land and 00:21:14.490 --> 00:21:18.470 settle in their God -given territories. It just 00:21:18.470 --> 00:21:21.710 didn't happen. It was chaos. So we saw the chaos 00:21:21.710 --> 00:21:25.109 on the religious side. We saw the chaos on the 00:21:25.109 --> 00:21:27.609 moral side. It shouldn't be surprising to us 00:21:27.609 --> 00:21:30.490 that we see that same type of chaos with people 00:21:30.490 --> 00:21:35.269 all over the place. Alright, he had two wives, 00:21:35.750 --> 00:21:39.529 Hannah and Penina. And Hannah had no children. 00:21:46.470 --> 00:21:50.309 Every year he went up to Shiloh. to worship where? 00:21:51.210 --> 00:21:56.009 At the temple. Not a temple like Solomon's temple, 00:21:56.049 --> 00:21:58.849 but in some kind of way. Remember, we saw Shiloh 00:21:58.849 --> 00:22:01.309 repeatedly throughout judges. There was some 00:22:01.309 --> 00:22:03.650 kind of tabernacle there, some kind of tent, 00:22:03.769 --> 00:22:07.269 some kind of permanent type structure there in 00:22:07.269 --> 00:22:10.289 Shiloh. And they had feasts there, and that's 00:22:10.289 --> 00:22:14.910 where several of the judges were. And that's 00:22:14.910 --> 00:22:19.859 where Eli is. There's some good things to be 00:22:19.859 --> 00:22:23.339 said about Elkanah. He was apparently interested 00:22:23.339 --> 00:22:26.259 in the Lord. He was interested in worshipping 00:22:26.259 --> 00:22:29.359 the Lord. He made it a point once a year to take 00:22:29.359 --> 00:22:32.819 his entire family up there to Shiloh to worship 00:22:32.819 --> 00:22:37.839 the Lord. Later on we see where he takes Hannah's 00:22:37.839 --> 00:22:41.500 vow as his own. That was up to the husband. If 00:22:41.500 --> 00:22:44.180 the wife made a vow it was the husband that decided 00:22:44.180 --> 00:22:47.660 whether or not he would take that. into the family 00:22:47.660 --> 00:22:53.099 and he did. So apparently he had money, he had 00:22:53.099 --> 00:22:58.799 enough money for two wives. Now we see the sacrifice 00:22:58.799 --> 00:23:02.680 that Hannah brought up was three young bullocks. 00:23:03.319 --> 00:23:07.519 That's no small gift and sacrifice to bring to 00:23:07.519 --> 00:23:11.140 the Lord. So presumably Elkanah was successful 00:23:11.140 --> 00:23:16.220 in his employment. whatever that was that's all 00:23:16.220 --> 00:23:21.079 that we know about anybody oh and and then we 00:23:21.079 --> 00:23:25.720 have this term here in verse three they were 00:23:25.720 --> 00:23:31.640 sacrificing to who the lord of hosts does everybody 00:23:31.640 --> 00:23:37.019 have that in their bible okay you don't have 00:23:37.019 --> 00:23:40.640 that in your new american standard verse three 00:23:40.640 --> 00:23:51.950 yeah it just says Thank goodness for that. So 00:23:51.950 --> 00:23:54.990 this is the first time in the Bible where that 00:23:54.990 --> 00:23:59.789 name is given to God, the Lord of hosts. And 00:23:59.789 --> 00:24:05.009 it's interesting because it does seem to change 00:24:05.009 --> 00:24:10.309 or to become more focused in one area, that is 00:24:10.309 --> 00:24:14.329 God as champion, God as conqueror in judgment. 00:24:14.509 --> 00:24:19.390 He's the God who controls the army and who defeats 00:24:19.390 --> 00:24:25.430 the enemy army by his strong arm. Back here though, 00:24:25.430 --> 00:24:28.910 I don't think we have that type of focus on that 00:24:28.910 --> 00:24:32.289 word. So what's the focus here on the Lord of 00:24:32.289 --> 00:24:36.450 Hosts? or Jehovah of hosts, Yahweh of hosts. 00:24:36.630 --> 00:24:44.809 It's God's personal name of hosts. Remember the 00:24:44.809 --> 00:24:51.069 theme. What's the theme of 1 Samuel? Who's king? 00:24:53.609 --> 00:25:01.549 God. And so, what does every king control? Huh? 00:25:05.409 --> 00:25:10.369 Every king controls a kingdom, right? And within 00:25:10.369 --> 00:25:13.930 this certain geographic area then, and speaking 00:25:13.930 --> 00:25:17.589 of earthly kings, he controls all the people 00:25:17.589 --> 00:25:19.630 that are within there and everything that is 00:25:19.630 --> 00:25:23.069 within that geographic area belongs to the king. 00:25:23.690 --> 00:25:26.009 There is no personal property in a monarchy. 00:25:27.109 --> 00:25:29.589 Everything belongs to the king. The king gives 00:25:29.589 --> 00:25:33.609 to whom he wills. and allows certain people to 00:25:33.609 --> 00:25:39.869 be stewards over what is his. And how does an 00:25:39.869 --> 00:25:44.130 earthly king come to be? How did the kings of 00:25:44.130 --> 00:25:48.849 Canaan come to be? By might, by their arm, by 00:25:48.849 --> 00:25:52.170 some kind of military victory. They took a territory, 00:25:52.769 --> 00:25:55.690 declared themselves king, and executed their 00:25:55.690 --> 00:25:57.789 kingship according to the power of their army. 00:25:58.549 --> 00:26:02.819 Remember in Proverbs where The king set in his 00:26:02.819 --> 00:26:06.480 army. That's the man of God. Who can stop? Who 00:26:06.480 --> 00:26:09.740 can resist that? A man in the middle of his host. 00:26:10.279 --> 00:26:12.380 That's who you are. That's who I am when we're 00:26:12.380 --> 00:26:18.339 in Christ. But the earthly king comes by his 00:26:18.339 --> 00:26:20.660 kingship in a totally different way than the 00:26:20.660 --> 00:26:23.500 way that God does. How does God come to be the 00:26:23.500 --> 00:26:32.079 Lord of hosts? By virtue of what? creation by 00:26:32.079 --> 00:26:35.759 his word all things that exist came into existence 00:26:35.759 --> 00:26:39.359 and by his word everything that is continues 00:26:39.359 --> 00:26:44.839 to exist upheld by the word of his power so God 00:26:44.839 --> 00:26:47.319 is king and so everybody in the world whether 00:26:47.319 --> 00:26:49.640 you're a Christian whether you're a Muslim whether 00:26:49.640 --> 00:26:52.859 you're a Buddhist or whatever else you may be 00:26:52.859 --> 00:26:56.960 you owe and are obligated to your Creator certain 00:26:56.960 --> 00:27:00.839 things Whether you acknowledge the existence 00:27:00.839 --> 00:27:04.680 of the God of the Bible or not, you owe to Him 00:27:04.680 --> 00:27:07.500 your very existence and your very continuance. 00:27:07.720 --> 00:27:11.640 And you owe Him not a portion of what He's given 00:27:11.640 --> 00:27:14.960 to you, but you owe Him everything that you are 00:27:14.960 --> 00:27:20.039 and everything that you have. You owe Him every 00:27:20.039 --> 00:27:23.039 good thought. You owe Him every thought. You 00:27:23.039 --> 00:27:27.680 owe Him every deed. That's why God is the Lord 00:27:27.680 --> 00:27:30.960 of hosts because whether it's things in heaven 00:27:30.960 --> 00:27:34.400 or things on earth all things have come into 00:27:34.400 --> 00:27:38.019 being because of his word and so he is the Lord 00:27:38.019 --> 00:27:41.680 or the King over all of those things. I read 00:27:41.680 --> 00:27:46.619 somewhere that in the Old Testament this term 00:27:46.619 --> 00:27:50.339 Lord of hosts is used most of the time when God 00:27:50.339 --> 00:27:52.720 is getting ready to do something spectacular 00:27:52.720 --> 00:27:58.849 and so It's not surprising then here in Samuel 00:27:58.849 --> 00:28:02.630 that God was about to do an amazing thing. He 00:28:02.630 --> 00:28:04.730 was about to do an amazing thing for Hannah. 00:28:05.089 --> 00:28:07.450 He was about to do an amazing thing for Samuel. 00:28:07.849 --> 00:28:11.390 He was going to do an amazing thing even for 00:28:11.390 --> 00:28:14.470 Saul, but especially then to establish his monarchy 00:28:14.470 --> 00:28:18.630 in Israel through David. So if that's interesting 00:28:18.630 --> 00:28:22.099 to you, you can see. Remember in Zephaniah, He's 00:28:22.099 --> 00:28:24.500 called the Lord of Hosts, and that's right before 00:28:24.500 --> 00:28:29.099 we talk about the promised new covenant, the 00:28:29.099 --> 00:28:31.140 promised kingdom that's going to be established 00:28:31.140 --> 00:28:34.279 by God through Messiah. Now that's, of course, 00:28:34.440 --> 00:28:37.220 an amazing and a powerful thing. So at least 00:28:37.220 --> 00:28:42.279 in these two instances, that theory works out. 00:28:42.720 --> 00:28:44.539 If someone's interested in that, they can report 00:28:44.539 --> 00:28:47.579 back to us and see whether or not it's true each 00:28:47.579 --> 00:28:51.759 time. But it's a big name. later on it does take 00:28:51.759 --> 00:28:54.640 its focus and the context is what will determine 00:28:54.640 --> 00:28:57.819 how you understand it. And here it's undoubtedly 00:28:57.819 --> 00:29:01.660 and without a question God, King over everything 00:29:01.660 --> 00:29:06.180 and everyone. So that's how the book opens with 00:29:06.180 --> 00:29:09.680 that kind of declaration. Now if you don't acknowledge 00:29:09.680 --> 00:29:12.640 that then you don't acknowledge anything else 00:29:12.640 --> 00:29:14.900 that's going to be in the book because everything 00:29:14.900 --> 00:29:18.109 else that's in this book of judges has that as 00:29:18.109 --> 00:29:20.630 its context. That is the thing that sets our 00:29:20.630 --> 00:29:25.130 focus. This is God at work in His creation and 00:29:25.130 --> 00:29:28.210 in His people. And it's God at work for a very 00:29:28.210 --> 00:29:34.890 specific purpose. We can never forget that. In 00:29:34.890 --> 00:29:38.309 Ephesians, Paul calls it God's ultimate purpose. 00:29:38.410 --> 00:29:44.049 Now what is God's ultimate purpose? Is it to 00:29:44.049 --> 00:29:48.039 establish? certain geographical area in the Middle 00:29:48.039 --> 00:29:51.380 East where people that are called today Jews 00:29:51.380 --> 00:29:55.819 live? Is that God's ultimate purpose? Is He going 00:29:55.819 --> 00:29:58.000 to bring all of history back to the place where 00:29:58.000 --> 00:30:01.480 there's this Jewish kingdom over there? And the 00:30:01.480 --> 00:30:03.900 answer is obviously no. What is God's ultimate 00:30:03.900 --> 00:30:07.859 purpose? To bring a people to Himself that will 00:30:07.859 --> 00:30:11.700 be like Him, that will acknowledge Him as their 00:30:11.700 --> 00:30:15.170 King and as their God. and will order their lives 00:30:15.170 --> 00:30:18.289 according to His will and He will do that in 00:30:18.289 --> 00:30:21.569 this world and He will secure it and finalize 00:30:21.569 --> 00:30:24.190 it in the world to come where there is no more 00:30:24.190 --> 00:30:26.369 problem of sin, there is no more sorrow, there's 00:30:26.369 --> 00:30:29.170 no more distraction. It's just God and His people 00:30:29.170 --> 00:30:32.769 living together in perfect harmony and perfect 00:30:32.769 --> 00:30:36.410 unity because of the work of His Son on behalf 00:30:36.410 --> 00:30:39.519 of His people. That's God's ultimate purpose. 00:30:39.819 --> 00:30:43.480 And so God is working towards that end way back 00:30:43.480 --> 00:30:47.200 here in 1 Samuel. And we see the end of that 00:30:47.200 --> 00:30:50.480 working when Jesus Christ bursts onto the scene 00:30:50.480 --> 00:30:54.880 there in the stable in Bethlehem. The King of 00:30:54.880 --> 00:30:57.660 kings and the Lord of hosts is at work. And we 00:30:57.660 --> 00:31:00.940 ought to pay good attention to it. And when the 00:31:00.940 --> 00:31:03.880 time was that Elkanah offered, he gave to Penina 00:31:03.880 --> 00:31:06.619 his wife and to all her sons and daughters portions. 00:31:07.240 --> 00:31:10.559 But unto Hannah he gave a worthy portion for 00:31:10.559 --> 00:31:14.440 he loved Hannah But the Lord had shut up her 00:31:14.440 --> 00:31:22.920 wound Now It wasn't that she had a defect in 00:31:22.920 --> 00:31:28.700 her body It wasn't that Her husband had a defect 00:31:28.700 --> 00:31:31.400 in her body and therefore they she was unable 00:31:31.400 --> 00:31:36.359 able to conceive God purposed that she would 00:31:36.359 --> 00:31:41.130 not bring forth a baby until his time. So he 00:31:41.130 --> 00:31:44.250 shut off her womb for this time. And it was the 00:31:44.250 --> 00:31:50.390 cause of great stress in Hannah's life. Undoubtedly, 00:31:50.650 --> 00:31:53.190 that's one of the reasons that Elkanah took himself 00:31:53.190 --> 00:31:56.089 a second wife. He wanted to have some kids. And 00:31:56.089 --> 00:31:57.789 he wasn't getting any kids from Hannah, so he 00:31:57.789 --> 00:31:59.930 took a second wife in Panina, who gave him all 00:31:59.930 --> 00:32:05.349 kinds of kids. But it was the Lord that was at 00:32:05.349 --> 00:32:16.009 work. It's easy for us to say, and it's obvious 00:32:16.009 --> 00:32:18.250 for us to acknowledge it, because that's what 00:32:18.250 --> 00:32:21.930 the Bible tells us. The Lord had shut up her 00:32:21.930 --> 00:32:27.309 womb. But when it comes to our lives, this is 00:32:27.309 --> 00:32:29.589 difficult. This is the difficult part of our 00:32:29.589 --> 00:32:33.710 lives. We have difficulties in our lives. And 00:32:33.710 --> 00:32:37.569 who are we going to blame for that? Remember 00:32:37.569 --> 00:32:41.789 the man that was born blind? And the Pharisees 00:32:41.789 --> 00:32:43.829 and the Jews all thought that he was born blind. 00:32:44.029 --> 00:32:45.569 Why? Well, it must have been something that his 00:32:45.569 --> 00:32:48.269 mom and dad did. Or it must have been something 00:32:48.269 --> 00:32:51.789 that he did. This was judgment in his life. But 00:32:51.789 --> 00:32:54.210 what did Jesus say? He's not blind because of 00:32:54.210 --> 00:32:56.430 his mom and dad did something or because he did 00:32:56.430 --> 00:33:02.190 something. He's blind because God wanted to manifest 00:33:02.190 --> 00:33:07.299 himself in me when I heal him. That man had to 00:33:07.299 --> 00:33:10.019 walk around blind his whole life until Jesus 00:33:10.019 --> 00:33:12.779 came on the scene and gave him his sight so that 00:33:12.779 --> 00:33:15.259 Jesus could come onto the scene and give him 00:33:15.259 --> 00:33:20.119 his sight. Hannah had to suffer at the hands 00:33:20.119 --> 00:33:24.660 of Panina. Later we're going to hear her. Her 00:33:24.660 --> 00:33:30.160 spirit was troubled. It was unbearable. She was 00:33:30.160 --> 00:33:33.099 miserable is the words that the Bible uses about 00:33:33.099 --> 00:33:37.000 her. This misery in her life was God working. 00:33:42.039 --> 00:33:46.160 Why do bad things happen to good people? Because 00:33:46.160 --> 00:33:50.759 God's at work. That's the answer. You live in 00:33:50.759 --> 00:33:54.440 a world full of sin. You live in a world that 00:33:54.440 --> 00:33:57.940 is damaged and scarred by sin everywhere that 00:33:57.940 --> 00:34:01.829 you turn. And when you look inward, Your own 00:34:01.829 --> 00:34:04.390 self is scarred by sin. You suffer the effects 00:34:04.390 --> 00:34:07.069 of it. You suffer the effects of it from other 00:34:07.069 --> 00:34:11.369 people, from yourself, and from everywhere that 00:34:11.369 --> 00:34:17.150 you turn. Sometimes it's real personal. Sometimes 00:34:17.150 --> 00:34:22.190 it's real bad. Sometimes it results in death. 00:34:23.909 --> 00:34:27.010 Sometimes it's a lifetime of suffering. I don't 00:34:27.010 --> 00:34:29.010 know what Paul was suffering when he talked about 00:34:29.010 --> 00:34:31.670 his thorn in the flesh. But that was miserable 00:34:31.670 --> 00:34:35.670 to him. But God was at work in him. And it was 00:34:35.670 --> 00:34:38.690 there because God was going to accomplish His 00:34:38.690 --> 00:34:40.789 purpose and that was one of the means that He 00:34:40.789 --> 00:34:44.530 was using in the Apostle Paul. This was God's 00:34:44.530 --> 00:34:47.190 means to accomplish His purpose in Hannah. He 00:34:47.190 --> 00:34:49.789 shut up her womb and she had to suffer under 00:34:49.789 --> 00:34:56.690 the ridicule and the cruelty of her, I don't 00:34:56.690 --> 00:34:59.750 know what you call her sister wife, her co -wife. 00:35:00.740 --> 00:35:03.960 Panina, but it was according to God's purpose. 00:35:05.920 --> 00:35:16.340 Alright, anybody got any questions there? Verse 00:35:16.340 --> 00:35:19.320 6, and her adversary. That'd be something, wouldn't 00:35:19.320 --> 00:35:21.900 it? Your adversary, you live with your adversary. 00:35:22.340 --> 00:35:26.820 You share a husband with your adversary. Also, 00:35:27.019 --> 00:35:30.949 revoked her sore. for to make her fret because 00:35:30.949 --> 00:35:33.250 the Lord had shut up her womb. In other words, 00:35:33.309 --> 00:35:36.170 it was the Lord's working that was the cause 00:35:36.170 --> 00:35:39.010 of all the grief that Panina brought into Hannah's 00:35:39.010 --> 00:35:43.409 life. And as he did so year by year, that is 00:35:43.409 --> 00:35:46.550 Elkanah who goes up to the house. And when she 00:35:46.550 --> 00:35:49.449 went up to the house of the Lord, so she provoked 00:35:49.449 --> 00:35:53.789 her. Therefore she wept and did not eat. So it 00:35:53.789 --> 00:35:58.239 seems that when Elkanah was given her her special 00:35:58.239 --> 00:36:03.460 portion that was particularly troublesome to 00:36:03.460 --> 00:36:08.460 Panina. It seems that the emphasis of Alcana's 00:36:08.460 --> 00:36:11.320 love is placed on Hannah. He loved Hannah. Doesn't 00:36:11.320 --> 00:36:14.219 tell us that about Panina. So apparently there 00:36:14.219 --> 00:36:17.460 was this rivalry that even though Panina was 00:36:17.460 --> 00:36:20.159 the one that brought the children to Alcana and 00:36:20.159 --> 00:36:23.000 to the family, it was Hannah that still held 00:36:23.000 --> 00:36:26.820 the special place in Alcana's heart. And that 00:36:26.820 --> 00:36:31.940 drove Panina to cause Hannah to live in misery, 00:36:32.039 --> 00:36:34.340 and in particular when they went up to the house 00:36:34.340 --> 00:36:40.139 of the Lord. Then Elkanah her husband, then said 00:36:40.139 --> 00:36:42.619 Elkanah her husband to her in verse 8, Hannah, 00:36:43.159 --> 00:36:47.039 why weepest thou? And why eatest thou not? And 00:36:47.039 --> 00:36:50.199 why is thy heart grieved? Am I not better to 00:36:50.199 --> 00:36:55.440 thee than ten sons? Now there is some good help, 00:36:55.599 --> 00:36:58.300 isn't it? We all read that and we're like, wow, 00:36:58.500 --> 00:37:02.619 man, Elkanah is on the case. He understands what's 00:37:02.619 --> 00:37:05.940 going on, and he just delivers just the perfect, 00:37:06.300 --> 00:37:09.039 kind, encouraging word to Hannah. Is that what 00:37:09.039 --> 00:37:13.940 we think? I mean, the best thing we can say is 00:37:13.940 --> 00:37:20.539 he's trying, right? Maybe we could say that God 00:37:20.539 --> 00:37:23.610 is somehow implied in there. because it was God 00:37:23.610 --> 00:37:27.849 that put her and Elkanah together. But that's 00:37:27.849 --> 00:37:32.170 what's missing in all this hell. There is only 00:37:32.170 --> 00:37:36.289 one place from which encouragement comes. And 00:37:36.289 --> 00:37:40.849 what is that place or who is that place? It's 00:37:40.849 --> 00:37:43.829 from the Lord of hosts, the King of kings, the 00:37:43.829 --> 00:37:47.309 God over all. You want to know why the world 00:37:47.309 --> 00:37:49.769 is in despair? It's because this is the type 00:37:49.769 --> 00:37:53.599 of things that they say. surface level and meaningless. 00:37:56.079 --> 00:38:00.400 How is that supposed to encourage Hannah? God's 00:38:00.400 --> 00:38:03.219 nowhere in there. So if you're going to try to 00:38:03.219 --> 00:38:06.039 bring encouragement into someone's life, if you're 00:38:06.039 --> 00:38:10.000 going to try to answer someone's why questions, 00:38:10.420 --> 00:38:13.820 you better have a firm grasp, a firm grip, and 00:38:13.820 --> 00:38:17.199 a firm understanding on who God is. Because apart 00:38:17.199 --> 00:38:19.059 from that, you're not going to bring any wisdom. 00:38:19.360 --> 00:38:21.250 You're not going to bring any comfort. And you're 00:38:21.250 --> 00:38:23.170 not going to bring any encouragement to that 00:38:23.170 --> 00:38:26.429 person. And that's really what the person needs. 00:38:26.989 --> 00:38:29.550 That's what the whole world needs is God. And 00:38:29.550 --> 00:38:32.510 that's why the whole world is in despair. Because 00:38:32.510 --> 00:38:34.550 they don't have a purpose. Because they don't 00:38:34.550 --> 00:38:37.269 have a God. There is nothing in their life that 00:38:37.269 --> 00:38:41.070 brings them fulfillment. So let's not be like 00:38:41.070 --> 00:38:43.449 Elkanah here. Let's be like the Elkanah that 00:38:43.449 --> 00:38:46.590 takes his family yearly to go and worship the 00:38:46.590 --> 00:38:49.090 Lord. He takes good care of his children. And 00:38:49.090 --> 00:38:53.219 good care of his wives. I'm not throwing a can 00:38:53.219 --> 00:38:56.300 under the bus, but I am pointing out to us that 00:38:56.300 --> 00:39:00.820 good counsel comes from God's Word. Anybody want 00:39:00.820 --> 00:39:24.710 to say anything there? When you went up to sacrifice, 00:39:24.789 --> 00:39:28.070 you took your animals with you. When you sacrifice, 00:39:28.510 --> 00:39:31.969 then a certain portion of that went to the priests. 00:39:32.550 --> 00:39:35.289 Another portion of that went to the person that 00:39:35.289 --> 00:39:38.650 brought it. And they feasted then in the tabernacle 00:39:38.650 --> 00:39:43.230 of the Lord. So apparently, or obviously, each 00:39:43.230 --> 00:39:47.190 person in the family got a portion exactly what 00:39:47.190 --> 00:39:49.610 Hannah's portion was, whether it was especially 00:39:49.610 --> 00:39:52.500 worthy because it was more... or it was the choices 00:39:52.500 --> 00:39:55.639 parts, whatever it was, it was obvious to everybody 00:39:55.639 --> 00:40:09.219 there that she got a special portion. Okay? So 00:40:09.219 --> 00:40:11.780 Hannah rose up after they had eaten in Shiloh 00:40:11.780 --> 00:40:14.619 and after they had drunk. Now Eli the priest 00:40:14.619 --> 00:40:17.300 sat upon a seat by a post of the temple of the 00:40:17.300 --> 00:40:24.710 Lord. So again, that's a... Most people in the 00:40:24.710 --> 00:40:28.809 Middle East, where do they sit? Where do they 00:40:28.809 --> 00:40:32.590 sit? Well, have you ever eaten at a restaurant 00:40:32.590 --> 00:40:36.230 that's modeled after a Middle Eastern restaurant? 00:40:37.369 --> 00:40:42.150 Okay. Well, you sit on the ground. But you can't 00:40:42.150 --> 00:40:44.829 be old when you go to eat at a Middle Eastern 00:40:44.829 --> 00:40:46.590 restaurant unless you got somebody to help you 00:40:46.590 --> 00:40:48.889 get up, because you're sitting about this far 00:40:48.889 --> 00:40:50.829 off the ground on some kind of weird couch where 00:40:50.829 --> 00:41:01.949 you lounge. And I'll never go back. But Eli is 00:41:01.949 --> 00:41:07.070 sitting up. So probably is intended to show us, 00:41:07.070 --> 00:41:09.309 number one, that he's a judge, that he has some 00:41:09.309 --> 00:41:11.550 kind of authority. And it probably alludes to 00:41:11.550 --> 00:41:14.110 the fact that the king is coming. There is going 00:41:14.110 --> 00:41:16.309 to be a king that sits on a throne. It's not 00:41:16.309 --> 00:41:20.909 Eli. But there he is, sitting up on his seat. 00:41:21.130 --> 00:41:24.590 There at the temple of the Lord and she that 00:41:24.590 --> 00:41:27.289 is Hannah in verse 10 was in bitterness of soul 00:41:27.289 --> 00:41:35.409 and Prayed unto the Lord and wept sore Now if 00:41:35.409 --> 00:41:38.829 you can read that and not be moved then there's 00:41:38.829 --> 00:41:46.409 a problem Here's this woman who is beside herself 00:41:46.409 --> 00:41:50.059 in misery that has lived her entire marriage 00:41:50.059 --> 00:41:54.460 and her entire adult life under the constant 00:41:54.460 --> 00:42:02.880 criticism and haranguing and trouble -making 00:42:02.880 --> 00:42:07.199 adversary of Panina. Add that to the fact that 00:42:07.199 --> 00:42:11.039 undoubtedly she's frustrated. She's frustrated 00:42:11.039 --> 00:42:14.599 that she can't have kids. I'm sure growing up... 00:42:15.940 --> 00:42:19.199 her expectation was God's gonna have a husband 00:42:19.199 --> 00:42:21.519 for me and then I'm gonna have some kids and 00:42:21.519 --> 00:42:25.139 I'm gonna live in a family and None of those 00:42:25.139 --> 00:42:28.840 expectations had been met in her life and Somebody 00:42:28.840 --> 00:42:33.360 was there to keep pointing that out to her She's 00:42:33.360 --> 00:42:38.300 miserable And so what does she do go find a go 00:42:38.300 --> 00:42:42.119 find a tavern on the on the corner? She run to 00:42:42.119 --> 00:42:50.480 the nearest No comedy club to ease her pain. 00:42:53.659 --> 00:42:56.000 She's trying to find some kind of drug that will 00:42:56.000 --> 00:42:58.320 cloud her mind so she can forget about it all. 00:42:58.840 --> 00:43:00.900 Maybe she takes some sleeping pills so she can 00:43:00.900 --> 00:43:04.119 just sleep through her misery. Spend less time 00:43:04.119 --> 00:43:08.760 awake, less time miserable. She goes straight 00:43:08.760 --> 00:43:13.579 to the Lord. Now that's a word to you and to 00:43:13.579 --> 00:43:21.320 me. that our God, your Father, expects, encourages, 00:43:22.280 --> 00:43:27.619 and wants you to come to Him as you are. That 00:43:27.619 --> 00:43:31.000 He doesn't intend for you to have to bear all 00:43:31.000 --> 00:43:34.260 of your burdens by yourself. That He doesn't 00:43:34.260 --> 00:43:39.360 expect you to live in misery without the benefit 00:43:39.360 --> 00:43:44.980 of His encouragement. Not only did her misery 00:43:44.980 --> 00:43:50.260 not keep her from God. Now listen, when you're 00:43:50.260 --> 00:43:57.179 in that type of trial, you're in the fire, what 00:43:57.179 --> 00:43:59.940 is the devil going to be whispering in your ear? 00:44:02.960 --> 00:44:07.619 God doesn't love you. You think a loving God 00:44:07.619 --> 00:44:14.480 would let you burn like this? He whispers those 00:44:14.480 --> 00:44:18.139 things in your ear for what purpose? To drive 00:44:18.139 --> 00:44:23.960 a wedge between you and your father. The one 00:44:23.960 --> 00:44:26.820 place that you can go to find acceptance, to 00:44:26.820 --> 00:44:31.860 find love, to find encouragement. He wants to 00:44:31.860 --> 00:44:38.619 drive you away from that. Hannah... was not affected 00:44:38.619 --> 00:44:42.099 by that type of thinking. Undoubtedly, the devil 00:44:42.099 --> 00:44:45.699 was whispering in her ear. You think the devil 00:44:45.699 --> 00:44:50.059 has changed? He's done nothing but try to cause 00:44:50.059 --> 00:44:53.480 chaos and problems in the lives of God's people 00:44:53.480 --> 00:44:59.820 and in God's creation at large. But Hannah didn't 00:44:59.820 --> 00:45:03.940 give in to resentment. She didn't give in to 00:45:03.940 --> 00:45:09.139 living her life asking, why? Why me? Why me? 00:45:09.519 --> 00:45:15.480 Why can't I have kids? She went straight to the 00:45:15.480 --> 00:45:20.559 Lord. And she poured out her heart to the Lord. 00:45:22.039 --> 00:45:26.260 And he hurt her. Now we can't go any further, 00:45:26.679 --> 00:45:28.940 but so we'll stop there. We'll be here till night, 00:45:29.739 --> 00:45:39.219 which is OK. But let's make that a practice in 00:45:39.219 --> 00:45:41.719 our lives. You're going through a rough time. 00:45:41.860 --> 00:45:46.980 Where do you go? You go to the Lord. It's okay 00:45:46.980 --> 00:45:50.599 to be having a rough time. The Christian is not 00:45:50.599 --> 00:45:53.679 the one that tries to deny his present reality. 00:45:54.980 --> 00:45:57.960 We acknowledge it. It's a bad day for me. It's 00:45:57.960 --> 00:46:00.420 a disappointing day for me. It's this for me. 00:46:01.280 --> 00:46:05.280 But where do you go with that? You go to the 00:46:05.280 --> 00:46:08.619 one person who can help and that's the Lord and 00:46:08.619 --> 00:46:09.260 He hears you.