Day 77. 1 Samuel 1-3

Samuel is a transitional figure, standing between the period of the judges and the Israelite monarchy. He is born in the chaotic last days in the Israelite confederacy, he anoints Saul as king and watches his reign spiral into tragedy, and lives to anoint the young David as king. He is both a priest like Aaron and a prophet in the later tradition of Elijah and Elisha. He is one of the most remarkable characters in the Old Testament.
And he is born to remarkable parents; Hannah and Elkanah are devout people of the Israelite middle class. But at the time of Samuel's birth, their home life, as described in 1 Samuel 1:3-8 demonstrates the problems and pitfalls of polygamy. Elkanah's other wife, of whom he is less fond, has children, and she is making Hannah's life miserable because the LORD has "closed her womb" (1:6).
So she goes to the Tent of Meeting, which is then located at Shiloh, and prays so fervently that the old high priest, Eli, who sees her there, thinks she is drunk. But she makes a vow in his presence that if God gives her a son and takes away her shame and dishonor, she will dedicate the child to the LORD as a nazarite. "He shall drink neither wine nor intoxicants, and no razor shall touch his head" (1:11). (We remember the parallel example of Samson, whose mother also made a similar nazarite vow for him before his birth.)
So the LORD, moved by her plea, gives Hannah and Elkanah a son and they name him Samuel. As soon as he is weaned they bring him to Eli at Shiloh in obedience to the vow that Hannah has made. There is such pathos in that little sentence—"She left him there for the LORD" (1:28). It must have been wrenchingly painful to leave her child like that, but by her obedience Hannah becomes one of those examples of what faith is all about. And her song, found in chapter 2, is a model of the song of Mary, the Mother of Jesus, whom she so closely resembles. Both songs celebrate the LORD, who brings low the mighty and exalts the lowly (2:7) and who is ever faithful to the promises he makes.
The piety and obedience of Hannah and Elkanah are placed in stark contrast to perfidy of the sons of Eli, who brazenly and cynically use their priestly position to steal from the Lord, "treating the offerings of the LORD with contempt" (2:17). The elderly Eli tries to talk sense to his wayward sons, warning that that "if someone sins against the LORD who can make intercession" (2:25). But it was too late for admonitions, because it is already "the will of the LORD to kill them."
Through an unnamed "man of God"—a prophet--the LORD warns Eli that he is about to destroy his family and raise up for himself "a faithful priest, who shall do according to what is in my heart and in my mind" (2:35). That priest is, of course, Samuel, who at this point is still a boy. But the junior-sized linen ephod Samuel wears is sign that he already possesses a call to priestly ministry (2:18).
The favor of God rests upon him. He is a chosen one. We can compare 2:26—"the boy Samuel continued to grow both in stature and favor with the LORD and with the people"—with similar words spoken about Jesus in Luke 2:40.
The call of Samuel to the prophetic ministry, recorded in chapter 3, is one of the most beautiful and familiar passages in all the scriptures. Samuel is taught by Eli to recognize the voice of the LORD and to say—"Speak, LORD, for your servant is listening" (3:9). Already called to be a priest, he is now given the credentials and charisma of a prophet, together with a painful message to speak. But his words have the authority of truth. When Samuel reports the LORD's decision about his own wayward sons, a heartbroken Eli can only say, "It is the LORD; let him do what seems good to him" (3:18).
And as our reading ends, the writer gives us this description of the young prophet at the dawn of a long career—"As Samuel grew up, the LORD was with him and let none of his words fall to the ground" (3:19). The Books of 1 and 2 Samuel confirm this judgment.