Prophet Samuel

Prophet Samuel

The story of how Moses led the children of Israel out of Egypt is a long one, and is full of adventures.  Even after the people had reached the land of their ancestors, they could not live in peace, for they had to fight to gain control of their country.  Gradually, they managed to spread our over the land of Canaan, building homes and farms for themselves.  Even so, their neighbors, especially a group of people called the Philistines, were always a problem. But God was with the people, and in order to help them, He sent Samuel.  This is the story of that man named Samuel.

In Ramah, not far from Jerusalem, there lived a man named Elkanah.  He had two wives, which was not uncommon in those days; one named Peninnah, had children, but the other named Hannah, had none.

Each year the whole family went up to Shiloh, where the Tabernacle was placed, to offer sacrifices; and each year Hannah felt sadder and sadder because she had no children to take with her.  Penninah was not kind about it and used to tease her, so much so that Hannah often wept.

One year Hannah went unhappily into the house of the Lord of Shiloh, and prayed to God that He would send her a son, “I will dedicate him to You for his whole life,” she said.

Eli, the old priest there, saw her distress and her lips moving, and thought at first that she must be drunk.  But when he went up to her, Hannah told him of her trouble.  “Go in peace,” said Eli, “and may God answer your prayer.”

God did.  In due course Hannah had a fined baby boy, whom she named Samuel.  As soon as he was old enough, Hannah fulfilled her promise and took him to the house of the Lord at Shiloh.  “Do you still remember me, Eli?” Hannah asked Eli.  “This is the child whom God sent to me in answer to my prayer.  I have brought him here to dedicate him to the Lord.”

So Samuel became a helper to old Eli, and Eli was very glad of his aid.  He did have two sons of his own, but they were worthless and dishonest men who had no respect for God or His house.

Every year Hannah came and saw Samuel, and brought him a new robe; and God blessed her further by sending here three more sons and two daughters.

Time passed and Eli grew old and was almost blind.  He slept in his own room in the Lord’s house, while Samuel slept near the Covenant Box in the Sanctuary.

One night, after Samuel had fallen asleep, he was suddenly awakened by a voice calling, “Samuel! Samuel!”

Thinking it was Eli, Samuel got up and ran to the old man.  “Here I am,” Samuel said.  “You called me.”

“No, I did not call you Samuel”.  Eli said. “My son, just go back to bed and sleep again.”

Samuel obeyed, but before long he heard the voice again, “Samuel!”

Again he got up and ran to Eli, but Eli said, “I did not call, my son; go and lie down again.”

Samuel did so, and the voice called him a third time, and Samuel, feeling puzzled, went again to Eli.  By now, Eli had begun to understand that it was the voice of God who was calling Samuel.  So he said to the boy, “Go back and if you hear the voice again, say, “Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening’.”

Samuel returned to bed, and sure enough, the voice called again, “Samuel! Samuel!”, and Samuel replied as Eli had told him.  Then God gave Samuel a sad message.  He told him that Eli’s family would have to suffer punishment because of the wickedness of Eli’s sons.

Samuel stayed in bed until morning, when he got up and opened the doors of the house of the Lord.  At first he was afraid to tell Eli of God’s message, but Eli asked him, and Samuel told him everything.

Eli looked sad, but said, “He is the Lord, He will do what He knows is best.”

Samuel grew up to be a prophet, a fine man who preached God’s word.  Not everyone listened, however; there were still many who worshipped idols and refused to obey God’s Laws.

One day, when Samuel as an old man, the people went to him and asked him to appoint a king over them.  Samuel prayed to God for help.

Now, there lived a rich man named Kish, who was of the tribe of Benjamin, and he had a handsome son named Saul.  Saul was a head taller than most other people, so he was easily noticed in a crowd.  It so happened that Kish’s donkeys had wandered away and were lost; so Kish said to Saul, “Take one of the servants and go and look for those donkeys.”

Saul and the servant set off, and walked from about three days, but still they did not find the animals.  Finally Saul said, “Let’s go back, or my father will worry about us, as well as the donkey.”

“Wait a moment,” said the servant.  “There is a holy man living in this area; let us just see if he can help us.”  So they set off for the town in which the holy man lived.

The holy man was none other than Samuel, and on the day before, God had told him that he would send a man whom Samuel was to anoint King of Israel.  When Samuel saw Saul coming towards him, God said to him.  “This is the man I am referring to.”

Saul went up to Samuel and asked where the holy man lived.  “I am he,” said Samuel.  “Come and eat with me; and don’t worry about the donkeys, for they have been found.  The man the people of Israel had wanted so much are you?”

“But I belong to the smallest tribe in Israel---the tribe of Benjamin,” said Saul, “and my family is not very important.”

Samuel took Saul and his servant inside, where there were about thirty people, and they sat down to a meal.  After this, Saul was given a bed for the night---up on the roof where it was cooler.  Saul felt very puzzled.

Next morning, Saul and his servant were up early, ready to be on their way; Samuel went to the edge of the town with them.  There he said, “Tell you servant to go on ahead.”

When the servant had gone, Samuel took a jar of oil and poured in on Saul’s head saying, “The Lord has anointed you to be ruler of his people Israel.”  And he gave him a certain signs to prove it was true.

King Saul began his reign well, and although there were some people who did not at first respect him, when they found he was a good leader, they began to obey him.  Later on, however, he became self-willed and arrogant, and did not live up to the high hopes which people had of him.

Before long, the Philistines were again assembling to fight the Israelites.  They mustered a huge army of war chariots and horsemen and countless soldiers, and many of the Israelites were terrified and deserted Saul.

Samuel had told Saul to wait seven days for him to come, but Saul though he knew better and when he saw the people scattering from him, he began to offer a sacrifice without waiting for Samuel.  As soon as he had finished, Samuel arrived.  He was displeased and told Saul that this disobedience would cost him his kingship, and that God would find another man to become in his place.

The battles against the Philistines went on, but Saul did not continue to be a strong king, for he had disobeyed God’s commands.

Then God said to Samuel, “Take some oil and go to Bethlehem, to a man whose name is Jesse, for I have chosen one of his sons to be the next king.”

Samuel was rather worried about this.  “How can I go there, My Lord?” he asked.  If Saul hears about the message, he will surely kill me.”

“Take a calf with you,” said God, “and go there to offer sacrifice.  Then I will show you what best thing you should do.”

Samuel did as God had instructed, and when the elders of the town came out to meet him, he invited then to join in the sacrifice.

When he saw Jesse and his family, he particularly noticed his son Eliab, and thought to himself, “Surely this is the man whom the Lord has chosen.”

But God said to Samuel, “Do not just look at his appearance or his height, because is not the man.  I, the Lord, do not see as men see.  Men look at the outward appearance, but I look at a man’s heart.”

Then Jesse brought out his son Abinadab, but Samuel knew that he was not the chosen one either.

Seven of Jesse’s sons came out to Samuel, but the Lord did not choose any of them.  “Are all your sons already here? “Is there anyone else whom I have not seen?”” asked Samuel. 

“There is only the youngest,” said Jesse, “but he is out looking after the sheep.”

“Send and fetch him,” said Samuel, “for we won’t start the sacrifice until he comes.”

So Jesse’s youngest son, David was brought in.  He was a handsome youth, with beautiful eyes; and God said to Samuel, “This is the one I have chosen; anoint him.”

Samuel took a horn of oil and anointed David in front of his brothers who may have thought that this meant David would become Samuel’s follower, and in time became a prophet like himself.  God’s spirit came to David on that day, and Samuel then returned to Ramah.

Meanwhile, evil forces had taken charge of Saul, who often became depressed and even violent.  His servants thought it might help if he could be soothed with music, so they said, “give us the order, sir, and we will find someone who can play the harp.  Then when the evil spirit torments you, the musician can play his harp and you will be all right again.” Saul agreed, and asked for a musician to be brought to court.

One of the servants had an idea.  “There is a man named Jesse in Bethlehem,” he said, “and he has a son who is a good musician.  He is also brave and handsome.”

“Go and bring him,” Saul ordered.

Messengers went to Jesse, and Jesse sent David to the king’s court, with gifts of a young goat, a donkey laden with bread, and a leather skin full of wine.

Saul liked David, and sent a message to Jesse to say how pleased he was with his son.  From then on, whenever Saul felt tormented by the evil feelings, David was sent for and would bring his harp and play it; and Saul would soon feel better again.

 

 

 

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Elijah

 Prophet Elijah

Prophet Elijah

When David died, his son Solomon became King,  But after Solomon’s death, civil war broke out in Israel, and the country became divided in two kingdoms.  The tribes of Judah and Benjamin formed the Kingdom of Judah in the south, and the remaining ten tribes formed the Kingdom of Israel in the north.  The latter had a succession of kings, but none was very good;  these included one of the worst kings ever----Ahab of Israel.  He had a wife named Jezebel who was, if anything, worse than he was.  Both of them worshiped the Philistine god, Baal.

Now as often happened, God chose someone to pass on His message.  This was a prophet called Elijah, who was not afraid of speaking out for God.  He went to Ahad and said there would be no more rain until God (not Baal) said so.  God had decided to teach Ahad and his followers that only He had power over sun and rain.

Then God told Elijah to go to the brook called Cherith, where ravens would bring him food each day and he would be able to drink from the stream.  This Elijah did, but because there was no more rain after the brook dried up.

Elijah then went to stay with a widow and her young son.  They gave him food---though they had little enough for themselves.  But, because God was looking after them, the widow’s supply of food, small though it was, never ran out in the time Elijah was with her.

No rain fell upon the land for three years, and the drought and the famine grew very severe.  In the third year God said to Elijah, “Go to Ahab, and I will send rain.”

About this time Ahab was talking to a man named Obadiah, who was in charge of the palace household.  Obadiah was a good man who believed in God, and had even rescued some God’s prophets from the wicked Queen Jezebel when she was about to kill them.

Ahab said to Obadiah, “Go out and see if you can find enough grass anywhere to keep the animals alive.”

Obadiah was rather fearful.  “The king has been looking for you in every country,” he said, “as if I tell him you are here, and you have moved on by the time he gets to you, then he will surely kill me.”

“Go and tell him,” said Elijah, “I will see him today.”

So Obadiah went and told Ahab, and Ahab set off to meet Elijah.  When he saw then prophet he said, “There you are---the man who is causing all this trouble in Israel!”

“I’m not causing any,” said Elijah; “it is and your people who have disobeyed God’s commands and worshipping idols.”

Ahab could not deny this and he did not attempt to.  Elijah went on, “Order all the people of Israel to come to Mount Carmel.  Bring along the 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of Asherah whom the Queen Jezebel supports.”

Ahab had little choice.  He thought it possible that Elijah’s God would send rain, so he gathered the people together.

Elijah looked around at the crowd gathered upon Mount Carmel.  “How long are you going to dither between two ways?” he thundered.  “If the Lord is the true God, follow Him, but if Baal is god, follow him.”

There was silence all over the place.  The people did not know what to say. 

I am the only prophet of the Lord here,”  said Elijah, “but there are 450 prophets of Baal.  Now, bring two bulls for a sacrifice.  Let us take one and put it on the wood, but do not light the fire.  Then we shall each pray to our god to send fire and the one who answers, then he is God.”

The people agreed, and Elijah let the prophets of Baal go first as there were so many of them.  They took the bull and prepared it and put it on the wood.  Then they cried to Baal from morning until noon, calling “O Baal, answer us!”  They shouted and danced around, but there was no reply.

“Shout a bit louder,” teased Elijah.  “Perhaps you god has gone on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep. You must waken him.”  So the prophets of Baal cried louder and danced about in frenzy, cutting themselves with their knives and daggers, which was one of their customs.  But still there was no answering voice, and no fire.

When they had all worn themselves out, Elijah said, “Now it is my turn.”  The people gathered round him and watched while he repaired the altar which had been torn down.  He took twelve stones, one for each of the twelve tribes of tribes of Israel, and built it up, and then dug a trench around it.  He put the wood on the altar and the bull upon the wood.  Then he ordered water to be poured over the whole thing, not once, but three times, until the whole trench was full of water, and the wood was soaking wet.

Then he prayed, O Lord God, show that You are the true God, so that these people will know You want to bring them back to the true faith.”

Immediately, fire came down from heaven, and burnt up the bull and the wood and the stones and the dust; it even dried up the water that was in the trench.  When the people saw this, they were overawed and fell down on their faces crying, “The Lord He is God; the Lord, He is God.”

“Seize the prophets of Baal,” commanded Elijah,  “Let none of them escape!  They have led you wrongly.”  The prophets were seized and put to death, by which act the people really proved that they knew they had a new God.

Then Elijah turned to Ahab and said, “Go and eat, for I hear that rain is coming.”  While Ahab was going, Elijah and his servant climbed up to the top of Mount Carmel.  “Go and look towards the sea,” said Elijah, and the servant went.

“I see nothing,” he said

“Go again”, said Elijah, “seven times.”

At the seventh time, the servant returned and said, “I saw a cloud, no bigger than a man’s hand, rising up out of the sea.”

“Then go and tell King Ahab to get into his chariot and go home before the rain stops him,” said Elijah.

Soon the sky was covered with dark clouds and the wind began to blow, and great heavy raindrops started to fall.  Elijah fastened his robes about him, and ran ahead of Ahab’s chariot, all the way back to Jezreel where Ahab’s palace was.