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- What attributes of God’s character does this passage reveal?
- How does the passage point to Jesus?
- How should the truth of this passage change me?
- How do the events of today’s reading help you better understand the grand narrative of Scripture?
1 Sam. 1
The more I learn about the Bible, the more I see that there is purpose in how it is put together. It is God’s purpose in laying out His plan for our redemption. I have no idea if the humans involved in putting the various books of the Bible together into one work were aware of all the little nuances or not, but regardless, the Bible shows us God’s plan in so many different ways.
One of those things that is coming together for me this morning is the flow through the past few books. The book of Judges took us through the descending spiral of Israel’s fall away from faithfulness to God. It ended in a rather desperate state of despair. The last line in the book is, “In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did whatever seemed right to him.” (Jud. 21:25). I’d say that pretty well established humanity’s need.
The very next thing we read is a lovely little story that occurred in the midst of this spiraling despair. Ruth’s story is the sprouting of the seed of hope God planted when mankind first fell. It is a story of faithfulness, love, and redemption in a time where there just wasn’t much of any of that to be found. More than that, though, it is a story of God’s promise to enter into our own despair with His saving grace. Boaz’s redemption of Ruth led directly to the birth of King David and ultimately to the birth of Jesus, our Savior and the answer to our deepest need.
Then, after reading about King David’s beginning, we arrive at Samuel’s story. Samuel was another significant piece in the puzzle of God’s redemptive road map. These stories are flickers of light in the darkness of the time. So, getting back to my original statement, the message I see in all of this is the truth that God is at work even in our darkest hour. Maybe especially in our darkest hour. Thus, when we acknowledge our need, He is right there, offering His hope to meet that need. He is more than willing and more than able.
1 Sam. 2
It is amazing to me how often God uses barren women in His story. How very appropriate, though, as His story is all about bringing life out of death.
Another thing that caught my attention here is 1 Samuel 2:21, where it says, “The LORD paid attention to Hannah’s need”. Was having children a need? I don’t know, but I do see all kinds of correlation in it. Hannah was barren, so she cried out to God and He gave her a child. She then gave that child back to God. So in essence, she was once again childless. Because she willingly gave, however, God did not leave her in her low position. So it is with us. When we realize we are dead inside, we cry out to God and He gives us life. When we then give that life back to Him, He gives it to us even more abundantly. “For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of me will find it.” (Matt. 16:25).
1 Sam. 3
“Now Samuel did not yet know the LORD, because the word of the LORD had not yet been revealed to him.” (1 Sam. 3:7). This verse still stands out to me. How could anyone serving in God’s Temple not know the LORD? It is sad to think that among all those so-called servants of the LORD, not one was able to reveal God to Samuel. Because Samuel did not really know God, he did not recognize God’s voice.
That leads me to two thoughts. The first is how this same sad situation existed when Jesus arrived on the scene. Most of those in supposed service to God failed to recognize Him as God. The second is Jesus’ speech about being the Good Shepherd in John 10. He said that the Shepherd calls His sheep by name and they follow Him because they know His voice. Jesus is God’s Word, revealed to us through the Bible so that we might know God, recognize His call, and follow Him.