Just like in the last 2 books
that we have examined (Judges and Ruth), currently there was no real leader in
Israel. The last judge to have risen in Israel had been the longhaired Nazarite
named Sam; Samson. This chapter introduces to us the next (and last) judge who
would also be a longhaired Nazarite named Sam; Samuel - see I Samuel 1:11.
Samuel wasn't just a judge though. Samuel would also become a great prophet of
God and would be the one to anoint the first 2 kings of Israel (Saul and
David).
This is the story of Samuel's
conception and dedication. Samuel's father had 2 wives. Prior to Samuel's
birth, his mother had been childless. And, his step mother had been cruel in
her mockery of Samuel's mother-to-be. It's easy to see why Samuel, in writing
this book, called his stepmother the "adversary" of his own mother.
My, what a dysfunctional home he would have had to endure if he hadn't been
reared at the tabernacle of God.
Now,
perhaps you have noticed the great emphasis on Mount Ephraim in the Bible in the
passages leading up to this point. This was Samuel's hometown area. If Samuel
was the author/editor of Judges, Ruth and the 2 books bearing his own name,
then (from a human standpoint) the emphasis on the events of that region would
certainly make a lot of sense. That and many other elements of this chapter
seem incidental, unless you are familiar with the overall context of this
little story. Something very significant was indeed happening. God was
preparing the nation for a developmental mountain peak in their history... a
political and spiritual climax that they would never forget.
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