Fulfilling the Will of the Father

“But Samuel ministered before the LORD, being a child, girded with a linen ephod.  Moreover his mother made him a little coat, and brought it to him, from year to year, when she came up with her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice.  And Eli blessed Elkanah and his wife, and said, The LORD give thee seed of this woman for the loan which is lent to the LORD.  And they went unto their own home.  And the LORD visited Hannah, so that she conceived, and bare three sons and two daughters.  And the child Samuel grew before the LORD.”  I Samuel 2:18-21

In I Samuel 1, we find a married couple, Elkanah and Hannah, who were very conscientious to make their yearly sacrifice to the LORD.  Elkanah also had another wife named Penninah who had been able to conceive and give Elkanah several sons and daughters.  In ancient days, large families were a blessing unlike today when babies are seen as not worth their lives by some.  Hannah had not been able to conceive, and this grieved her greatly.  Penninah flaunted her ability to have children before Hannah which only grieved her that much more.  On one visit to the temple, she prayed that if God would give her a son, she would give him unto the LORD all the days of his life.  God granted her petition, and she and Elkanah were blessed with a baby boy.  Hannah followed through with her vow and brought young Samuel to the temple to be mentored by Eli, the priest.

Eli had two grown sons who were evil.  Their father had failed at disciplining them, and they became an embarrassment and a shame to him.  We might wonder how Samuel was able to maintain his godly integrity considering the caustic atmosphere in which he resided as he grew into manhood, but we know that the LORD was with him. Samuel’s family was a godly family, and even though Samuel was no longer in their home, he still remembered the things that his mother taught him as a young child much like Moses who was taken into the Egyptian Pharoah’s home but was actually cared for by his own mother as a child and was taught about the God of Israel.  He never forgot what his mother had taught him, eventually becoming a great leader among the Hebrew people.  How important it is for parents to bring their children up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.

Perhaps, in teaching and caring for Samuel, Eli had been given a second chance to influence a son to become a godly servant.  Even as a child, Samuel was dressed in a linen ephod, the priestly garment.  This indicated that Eli was confident as to Samuel’s future as a great man of God.  He didn’t feel that way about his own two sons.  Samuel was able to see his parents at least once a year when they came to offer their sacrifice.  They were setting a good example before their son in following God’s commandment to worship, sacrifice, and celebrate in the feast each year.  I would suppose that it would have given Samuel the sense that what he was doing was what God had planned for his life.  God has a plan for everyone’s life, but not everyone is willing to follow God’s plan.

Hannah brought him a new coat every year.  She likely asked God to bless her son as she sewed each stitch.  It is not always the “great” things we do in serving the LORD, but sometimes it is the small and seemingly insignificant things that make a difference in the lives of others.  It is not the size or quantity of the service that counts, but rather our willingness to do whatever we are asked to do by the Lord.

During one of their yearly visits to the temple, Elkanah and Hannah were blessed by Eli as he called upon the LORD to give them more children since they had been generous and obedient to “lend” Samuel to the LORD in order for him to serve the LORD.  It is interesting to note that Eli used the term “lend” because God owns everything.  When couples have children, the children are really only being “loaned” to the parents with the intention of rearing and nurturing them to love and serve the LORD.  However, we know that in the majority of families, this is not the case.  Some even go as far as murdering their offspring even before they are born.  As desperately as Hannah wanted a child (and many women today as well), it would have been unthinkable to her to even consider that a woman would murder her own unborn baby.  Satan has so deceived people into believing that abortion is the answer to their “problem”.  To him, one less baby born is one less individual who potentially could become a believer in Christ.

God did grant Eli’s petition for Elkanah and Hannah in that she had three more sons and two daughters.  God is generous to those who are generous.  These children certainly kept her busy, but she never forgot about her firstborn son Samuel.  She likely thought about him every day and wondered how he was getting along, but she knew that he was being watched over and cared for by the LORD Himself.  Under the watchful eye of God, Samuel grew into manhood, a righteous man of integrity and spiritual insight, fulfilling God’s plan for his life as a highly effective judge over Israel.