1 Samuel 2

1 Samuel 2

As seen at the end of 1 Samuel 1, we must never forget to praise God. Again, we are great at asking God for help in a variety of situations, but many times we fall short in praising Him. We should be grateful that the God of the universe would be willing to listen to us. We should be grateful that He would even help us in our life, offering to be by our side through the good times and the bad. Hannah could not help but praise God for all He had done in her life. He had made her dreams come true, and she was careful not to think that it was anything she had done. She knew that it was God at work within her.


After Hannah’s prayer of thanksgiving, 1 Samuel 2 tells the story of Eli’s sons, and their story stands in contrast to Samuel’s. Whereas Samuel came from a humble woman whose desire was for him to serve God, Eli’s sons came from a line of priests and stepped into their position by birth. Samuel worked hard to do his job correctly in order to honor God. Eli’s sons took advantage of their position in order to satisfy themselves.

Eli then rebuked his sons after hearing about all they were doing. He warned them of the consequences, explaining that they were sinning against God, breaking His commands. But his two sons would not listen to his advice, and they continued to go about their disobedient ways. What is interesting is that immediately after explaining their disobedience, the writer of 1 Samuel chose to once again counter that with what Samuel was doing. Samuel continued to grow in the Lord, doing as he was supposed to, and he found favor in God’s sight. Whereas God was displeased with Eli’s two sons and was ready to punish them (with death), He was pleased with Samuel and ready to use Samuel in great ways. The same is true for anyone who chooses to follow God. While we may not think that the tasks God gives us are great from a human perspective, we must never compare our assignments with others. God uses those who trust and follow Him, and we should be honored that He would even choose to use us to accomplish His work.

The chapter concludes with God sending a message to Eli. Because of his son’s disobedience, God was choosing to remove the blessing from their house. Although they had been God’s priests for quite some time, God was ready to move that privilege to someone else, someone who was more trustworthy. He explained to Eli that his sons would die because of their sins and that his entire house would eventually be killed as well. Then, God would raise up a new priest to take over that role, and that man’s house would take over from that point on.

This passage like so many others we have come across points back to the importance of obedience. God did not give Israel the Book of Law just to give them some suggestions to try to live by. He did not give them the option to choose whether they wanted to obey Him or not. He required it of them. If they were going to be His people and were going to receive His blessings, then they had no choice but to follow His commands and remain holy before Him. Anyone who chose to turn away from God and wander off into their own desires would be forfeiting those blessings. Time and time again, we have seen this happen from Genesis all the way to 1 Samuel. Yet at the same time, there have also been countless examples of men and women who have obeyed God’s commands, and they were blessed for it. 1 Samuel 2 provides yet another example by contrasting the lives of Eli’s sons and Samuel. It may not always be easy to follow God, and we may not see the “benefits” right away (or they may not be what we expect). We may suffer for His sake and find life to still be hard, but the alternative is far worse. God will always be with His children, walking beside them, providing for their needs. Even if life is hard, having God by our side makes all the difference.

Matt