4 Boys Who Had an "In" with God: Samuel

Samuel; the only nazarite in the Bible with a perm

Samuel

This is the second post in the series 4 Boys Who Had an "In" with God

First a little background.

Elkanah, was an Ephraimite who had two wives; Peninnah and Hannah. This is known as polygyny (when a man has 2 or more wives) , and is a common familial arrangement throughout scripture (more on this later).

In this particular instance Peninnah was able to bear children, while Hannah was not (1 Samuel 1:1-2). In spite of this, Elkanah loved Hannah more than Peninnah. As you can easily guess, jealousy became somewhat of an issue in this family. Peninnah would "provoke" Hannah in order to irritate her (1 Samuel 1:6-7), Hannah would "weep bitterly and not eat".

Out of desperation Hannah went to the temple and promised God that if He would give her a son, she would dedicate him to the Lord forever. She prayed so fanatically that the priest, Eli thought she was wasted. (1 Samuel 1:9-12)

Hannah insisted that she had not had anything to drink, but she had been pouring out her soul to God in anguish and grief. Satisfied, Eli blessed her and sent her off.

When Hannah got home God opened her womb and Samuel was born (1 Samuel 1:19-20).

Once little Samuel was weaned (which I'm pretty sure means he no longer needed his mother to clean his face with her spit on a napkin), Hannah kept her promise to God and brought him to the temple. From then on he was raised by Eli the high priest as someone dedicated to the service of the Lord; a nazarite, as described in Numbers 15:8-10.

Now that you have a little context, here's that phrase again...

1 Samuel 2:26 Now the boy Samuel was growing in stature and in favor both with the LORD and with men


So, the more he grew physically, the more he was liked by people and by God. Kind of the opposite of Justin Bieber.

Sorry Justin.

1 Samuel 3:19 19 Thus Samuel grew and the LORD was with him and let none of his words fail.

This passage comes immediately after Samuel predicted the death of Eli and his two sons, all of whom were making a mockery of the priesthood. His words came true; thus confirming that he was a prophet (1 Samuel 3:20-21)

Chair fail

The phrase "the Lord was with him" is similar to God's promise to Abraham in Genesis 28:15. In it He promised Jacob that He would not leave until all that He had promised was fulfilled.

Sounds like a good deal for Samuel.

A couple of interesting notes:

• Like Samson, Samuel's mother, Hannah was infertile (1 Samuel 1:1-2)
• Hannah's audacious request was driven by sorrow at her inability to bear children, not because she wanted to be a spiritual superhero
• Like Samson, Samuel was dedicated to the Lord at birth as a nazarite

Up next: John the Baptist