Week 9

5/11/2025

Spring 2025

• Central Passage: 1 Samuel 1-3.

• Check out the Middle School Sunday School Resources page for other books of the Bible resources. 

• Note:

  • Note: click here for the Judges handout.

  • The 1 Samuel-2 Kings handout will be available eventually.

CONTENTS

• Context: Judges 17-21
• Dare I Say, “A New Hope?” (1 Samuel 1-3)
• Concluding Thoughts
• Sources

Context (Judges 17-21)

Though Ruth serves as a redemption interlude between Judges and 1 Samuel, returning to the closing chapters of Judges establishes the context for 1 Samuel. Remember the downward spiral of spiritual apostasy and rebellion demonstrated in both Israel and the judges (Judges 2:18-19). As the story continues, God reduces His explicit presence. Samson’s opportunistic, self-serving folly becomes endemic for God’s people. From Samson onward, Israel’s paganization seems complete—they now look and act just like the Canaanites.

Micah

Samson is the last judge recorded in the book of Judges. However, a new story sets the stage for the book’s bleak ending. Judges 17 begins in the hill country of Ephraim with a man named Micah. Micah creates household gods and idols from his mother’s gift. As if the flagrant disregard for the prohibition of idolatry were not already apparent, the narrator inserts the ominous and infamous words, “In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes” (Judges 17:6).

Micah then meets a Levite, ordains him, and hires him to be his household priest, saying, “Now I know the LORD will prosper me, because I have a Levite as priest” (17:13), as if the God of Creation and Exodus were easily coerced and impressed by such trivial gestures. However, the Danites had never received their allotted land (Josh 19:40-48) since the Amorites pressed them back into the hill country (Judges 1:34). Now, the opportunistic Danites come through this hill country to spy out the land they wish to take (a common Israelite strategy at this point; cf. Num 13-14; Josh 2). While staying at Micah’s house, the hired Levite carelessly informs them that Micah had purchased his services and God’s (alleged) resulting blessing. Thus, the Danites return with an army to steal his carved image, ephod, household gods, and metal image. As if they weren’t already emboldened enough from accumulating such powerful (in their minds) idols, they effortlessly convince the Levite to forsake Micah and join them.[1]

Next, the Danites slaughter and burn Laish. Readers are almost forced to feel sympathy for the Canaanites in Laish. Though Canaanites were part of the herem ban/warfare, the Danite intrusion into their quiet, unsuspecting, defenseless city seems unsettling (Judges 18:28), compounded by the fact that Israel is now behaving as wickedly as the Canaanites. The Danites do not slaughter and burn Laish in obedience to the Deuteronomy 7 commands for herem warfare. Instead, they are merely opportunistic and self-serving. The narrator twists the knife of narrative tension further by revealing that this Levite was descended from Moses himself (Judges 18:30). The descendant of the man revered as the archetypal faithful prophet is no better than a temple prostitute.

The Danites seem to construct some form of temple/house of God[2] at Shiloh (Judges 18:31), which was no doubt used to paganly worship God. Furthermore, they do not care to wait for the LORD to choose the place where He will make His name dwell (Deut 12:5).[3] This story provides background for an opportunistic Israel who demands a king like the nations in 1 Samuel 8, seeking their pragmatic way over God’s way. For Judges, however, this story merely sets the stage for the atrocities to follow.

Worthless Men of Gibeah

The next narrative formulaically links itself to the previous by restating, “In those days, when there was no king in Israel…” (Judges 17:6; 18:1; 19:1), lest we forget the reason for Israel’s paganization. Furthermore, once again, the story begins in the hill country of Ephraim (Judges 19:1). However, when traveling to Gibeah, a city in Benjamin, an old man hospitably receives a Levite and his concubine (a brief display of virtue in this vice-ridden story). The men of Gibeah, however, are worthless fellows (or, more woodenly, sons of worthlessness[4]). This worthlessness (belial) is the same word Paul uses in 2 Corinthians 6:15 to refer to Satan: “What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever?” This worthlessness is the Satan-inspired, destructive folly of Israel, whose newly acquired Canaanite ethics are overwhelming Israel’s national identity as Yahweh-worshippers.

The worthless men of Gibeah come to the man’s house, seeking to stamp out the old man’s hospitality when they demand the Levite be sent out to them so that they can rape him. The old man refuses and offers the Levite’s concubine and his young daughter (also not a good solution). After sending the concubine to the men of Gibeah, they rape her all night. The text is unclear as to whether their actions led to her death. The Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Old Testament) indicates that they raped her to death, but the Hebrew text (known as the Masoretic Text) leaves the story more ambiguous, portraying the Levite as insensitively demanding the weakened, abused woman to get moving before killing her and dismembering (desecrating) her body. He then sends her body parts throughout the tribes of Israel to show them that the worst case of Canaanite syncretism was to be found in Gibeah. Though Israel had been so thoroughly paganized, even these actions were enough to provoke moral outrage. Thus, the rest of Israel gathers against Gibeah and the tribe of Benjamin for warfare. The paganization of Israel entailed that Israel must now devote one of their own tribes to destruction (herem) by purging the evil from their midst (just as God commanded Israel through Moses to do to the Canaanites).

The other tribes had angrily vowed not to let the Benjamites marry their daughters. So, not wishing for all of Benjamin to be wiped out but realizing that they have no women with which to reproduce, the elders of Israel instruct them to steal women for themselves from Shiloh.[5] Though it initially appears that Gibeah’s atrocity and the war with Benjamin caused Israel to repent and follow Yahweh, these final verses return to spiritual blindness. The Israelites had returned to consulting and leaning upon Yahweh in their battle against Benjamin (Judges 20:18, 23, 26-28), but now, the elders of Israel stop consulting Yahweh for how to preserve Benjamin. They return to their own reasoning that leads them to advise kidnapping Canaanite women for repopulating Benjamin. Thus, the book soberingly concludes with one final repetition: “In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes” (21:25). Within these king-less, lawless, godless circumstance, 1 Samuel begins God’s rescue story anew.

Dare I Say, “A New Hope?” (1 Samuel 1-3)

Once again, the story begins in the hill country of Ephraim. A familiar feeling of dread ought to befall the reader at this point at the mention of the hill country of Ephraim. A childless woman receives a child of dedication,[6] drawing our attention back to the last Nazirite from birth: Samson. Hannah also negates the title of “daughter of worthlessness” (1 Sam 1:16), reminding us of the sons of worthlessness in Gibeah. Furthermore, these events take place at Shiloh, where the Tabernacle appears to be a more permanent structure of worship, reminding us of the Judges episode with the Danites. The wickedness of the Judges era persists in Eli’s sons as well. These factors remind the reader that this is still the era of the Judges. The opening chapters may reek of the same pessimism, but the narrator skillfully redirects us into a redemption story.

In contrast to his fruitful wife, Peninnah, the man from Ephraim, Elkanah, had borne no children with his other wife, Hannah, whom he loves. Peninnah became a rival/adversary to Hannah, mockingly irritating her (literally “thundering against her,” cf. 1 Sam 2:10). Her faithful year-by-year pilgrimage to Shiloh for the festival (probably the Feast of Tabernacles) was met only by year-by-year mockery. By ancient Near Eastern standards, her marriage to Elkanah is a failure to ridicule. Though Elkanah loves Hannah, giving her a double portion,[7] Hannah responds to her received derision and destitution with fasting and grief. Elkanah attempts to console her, asking whether he is worth more than children (1 Sam 1:9). Though this question seems normal to our context, this is a bizarre question in an ancient Near Eastern context. Without a child, no one would carry on her lineage. Furthermore, children cared for the elderly parents, being responsible for ensuring an honorable burial. A patriarchal husband of multiple wives would not have been her reliable caretaker due to his divided attention and equally elderly status. Thus, children were necessary to her, so much so that she refers to receiving a child as salvation (1 Sam 2:1).

Thus, Hannah goes to the house of the LORD (where Peninnah, her rival, has a son, Eli, serving as priest), praying and making vows of consecration, Having already been questioned and her shame trivialized once by her husband (1 Sam 1:8), now Eli scorns Hannah by assuming she is a drunkard. In their context, ancient Israelites almost always prayed vocally and audibly, and most temple prayer would have included payment to the priest to perform a sacrifice. However, Hannah, seemingly not even acknowledging the priest in her vicinity, prays nonverbally, which would have appeared as odd, drunken behavior one would expect from those participating in a feast. However, after Hannah convinces Eli of her sober vexation, he tells her to go in peace. This was a common Hebrew farewell, but peace (shalom) is far more than just an absence of conflict. This was a pronouncement from God’s mediating priest (though a poor excuse for a priest) that shalom blessing would come to Hannah. Regardless of the priest's flippancy toward Hannah (and not necessarily understanding what Hannah had been asking from God), she receives despair-crushing assurance from him.

Yahweh remembered her, giving her a son, whom she would name Samuel.[8] After weaning the child (probably around age 2-3), she fulfills her vow by presenting him to the LORD to remain at the Shiloh temple. Though Samuel was the child for whom she had earnestly prayed, she responded reverentially toward Yahweh, the giver of all life and blessing, by fulfilling her vow to present him to the LORD for his whole life. It takes nothing short of a faithful woman to give up her beloved child in pursuit of her vow. Hannah is, thus, a refreshing reminder that God still works in the hearts of stiff-necked Israel.

Hannah completes her thankfulness by sharing the wonderful salvation news with Eli. She commits herself to a fellowship/peace offering as part of her vow fulfillment (Lev 7:11-36; Num 15:8-12). This offering was a voluntary offering to express thanksgiving in the presence of others. The thanksgiving sacrifice often involved one bull, and some translations affirm that Hannah provided one bull (1 Sam 1:24). However, the Septuagint clarifies the ambiguity of the Hebrew phrase, claiming that they actually presented three bulls, not one three-year-old bull. Furthermore, the amount of flour and wine was also three times more than the required amount, so three bulls would be the best correspondence. The point is that Hannah displayed proper, discerning, God-honoring thankfulness that goes above and beyond the bare minimum requirements. Even Eli can’t help but worship (1 Sam 1:28).

As Hannah prays against the prideful wickedness that characterized the era of the Judges (1 Sam 2:3), God sets his plans in motion in chapter 2. Though Israel trusted in her own strength apart from God in the final chapter of Judges, Hannah relocates real strength (her exalted horn) in God (1 Sam 2:1, 10). Eli’s worthless sons (as worthless as the men of Gibeah) had been greedily exploiting the offerings of others for their own strength/gain. While Samuel ministers to the LORD, his sons serve themselves, even engaging in the pagan worship practice of temple prostitution (1 Sam 2:22). Eli finally rebukes them, but it remains ineffective, for his sons had become herem, joining the ranks of items/people devoted to destruction. They would, therefore, be irrevocably put to death. Furthermore, God sends word by a prophet that Eli’s sons will die soon, and his household will be forever rejected from the priesthood (cf. 1 Kings 2:26-27). It is difficult to comprehend why Eli is being punished for his sons’ wickedness, but the prophet accuses Eli of honoring his sons above God due to his complicity in their actions. Eli is not morally neutral; he had, just like his sons, also shown contempt for God by not training up his children with discipline. Thus, Eli will be the last old man in his family line.

However, one final time, the narrator mentions that Samuel is ministering to the LORD. The repeated insertion of this information (1 Sam 2:11, 18; 3:1. cf. 1 Sam 2:26) divides the narrative into separate units, taking a break from the wickedness of others to contrast with Samuel’s faithfulness. These repeated phrases provide relief and assurance in a troubled setting. Thus, chapter 3 begins a new story at this phrase, detailing Samuel’s calling when he came to know Yahweh.

The narrator notes that God’s words were rare at the time (1 Sam 3:1). Once again, just as God’s voice was rare toward the end of the book of Judges, his voice remains rare when Samuel was a child. Refusing to hear God’s word results in famine, whether physically (Deut 28:15-19) or spiritually, as is the case for his infrequent word. But on his fourth call to Samuel, God speaks an oracle to His new prophet. He plans to do a thing that will cause ears to tingle (1 Sam 3:11). This word, translated as “tingle,” is exclusively used for messages of judgment. The beginning stages of Israel’s monarchy begin with a tingling message of judgment, just as the final days of Judah’s monarchy received a tingling message of judgment concerning the Babylonian attack on Jerusalem and exile (2 Kings 21:12; Jer 19:3).

Eli forces these tingling words out of Samuel, but his resignation to God’s judgment on his household portrays him as a tragic figure at this point. He does not react angrily or foolishly—he merely consigns himself to God’s message of judgment. The text does not seem to inform us as to whether Eli himself ultimately stood eternally condemned before God, but God does love to show mercy to the worst of sinners, even Jephthah and Samson (Heb 11:32). Though this first oracle through Samson brings despair to Eli, it was the first of many oracles, for God would continue to let none of Samuel’s words fall to the ground, an affirmation that Samuel is a legitimate prophet like Moses (Deut 18:15-22, esp. Deut 18:21-22). As a result, all of Israel from Dan to Beersheba (from north to south) knows that God once again speaks through His prophet. The result spills over onto the first line of 1 Samuel 4:1: the word of the LORD came to all Israel. No longer was God’s word rare; it was widespread and frequent.

Concluding Thoughts

When reflecting on the promises God made to Abraham and reading through Judges, one might begin to question His character. God promised to make Abraham into a great nation, blessing those who bless him and cursing those who curse him so that all families of the earth shall be blessed (Gen 12:2-3). Furthermore, He promises to establish His covenant forever with his offspring (Gen 17:7-8) and multiply his offspring to be as numerous as the stars of heaven and the sand on the seashore (Gen 22:17). However, in contrast to our hopeful and triumphant expectations, the era of the Judges makes these promises look dead and lifeless. How can God seem so absent in Israel’s history and still be honoring these intimate promises made to Abraham? Similarly, as Protestants, how could God have permitted such widespread spiritual abuse by the Catholic church leading up to the Protestant Reformation if Jesus promised that the gates of hell will not prevail against his church (Matt 16:18)?[9] Though the LDS (Mormon) church believes there was a great apostasy shortly after the time of Jesus, enduring until Joseph’s Smith, we do not affirm that the gates of hell can stamp out the light of the gospel heralded by Christ’s church. In biblical history, as well as church history, the promises of endurance and blessing appear murky during eras of intense spiritual famine without indicating that God does not keep His promises. God never tires of a good rescue story.

Peninnah was a rival/adversary to Hannah (1 Sam 1:6) and to God (1 Sam 2:10). This story in 1 Samuel 1 is another story of God tending to the needs of the oppressed, just as he did for Naomi through Ruth and Boaz’s marriage. But even greater, the story begins the reversal of the notion that the wickedness of Judges is becoming Israel’s new status quo. Peninnah’s adversarial actions are turned on their head when her son’s lineage (Eli) is blotted out and Hannah’s lineage prospers under God’s providence through Samuel. The blessings of obedience to the covenant return to the land with God’s voice through His prophet. As the story of Israel’s history continues throughout the remainder of Samuel and Kings, spiritual drought and apostasy cyclically recur. This side of eternity, the church will likewise endure cycles of spiritual drought. Though Satan seems to tirelessly and continuously entice creation into living in the passions of the flesh (Eph 2:3), God never tires of beginning a new story of rescue to advance His story of salvation and call people to Himself.

I appeal to those who reject the doctrines of grace,[10] particularly that God’s effective predestined call is the only way for children of wrath, who love nothing more than sinning, to receive repentance-producing grace. The story of the Bible is replete with beautiful illustrations of people who are hopelessly dead in their trespasses, so much so that the promises and will of God to save a people for Himself seem impossible. Just as God never tires of making daisies and sending the sun’s rays,[11] he never tires of beginning new salvation stories that topple the best-laid plans of Satan. These stories do far more for us than simply give us a textbook of bullet-point information about God’s character and will and the meaning of life. God works in our history to picture His character and will for us, showing us that He is a God of gracious patience beyond measure. He is not just a God about whom we must just blindly accept brute facts. We worship Jesus, who was born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried.[12] Never grow weary of seeing God display His gracious calling of sinners in biblical history, church history, and your history.

Sources

Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible. Volume 2. New York: Fleming H. Revell Company. Access provided by Blue Letter Bible.

Walton, John H., Victor H. Matthews, and Mark W. Chavalas. The IVP Bible Background Commentary: Old Testament. Downers Grove: IVP Academic, 2000.

Youngblood, Ronald F. and Richard D. Patterson. 1 Samuel ~ 2 Kings. The Expositor's Bible Commentary. General Editors: Tremper Longman III and David E. Garland. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2009.