September 16, 2019: Day 2 – I Samuel 2

We have a couple things happening here.  First of  all Samuel’s mom, Hannah, is a great comparison to Mary.  Look at her prayer of thanksgiving in this chapter and compare it to the Magnificat in Luke 1:46-55 and you can see a similar story of two women praising the Lord for His mighty acts.  

That story of Hannah is interrupted to give us an update on the sons of the high priest who were “scoundrels”.  Not only did they steal the sacrifices that the people brought to the Lord but they also slept with the attendants as they worked in the temple.  It had become a real cesspool of activity and Eli knows it.  He speaks harshly against his now grown children but they would not listen to him.  As a result at the end of this chapter we read that God is going to destroy the house of Eli and the lineage of priests which He had established while they were wandering the wilderness, and set up a new priestly family through Samuel.

In the meantime, Hannah remains faithful and comes every year to visit Samuel and even makes him a tiny little robe so that he would be comfortable as he worked and learned in the temple.  As a result of their gift of Samuel and their faithfulness to the Lord we see that they are in turn blessed with even more children.  Wife #2 disappears out of the picture as Hannah takes center stage in these first two chapters.  

The scene is set for Samuel to grow up and for the sons of Eli to recognize that he is favored among the Lord.  This is bound to create some violent tension.