PROPHET SAMUEL: HE HEARD GOD AND FOLLOWED HIS WORD
Samuel
was a gift of God to Hannah and Elkanah as well as to the nation of Israel Israel
Samuel is often spoken of as a great
example of prayer and intercession on behalf of the people of God. His example
serves as an encouragement to each of us;
- a surrendered heart that readily obeyed when he heard God speak. God
taught him that true prayer is always based first on surrender to the will of
God, not on the need of man. Samuel shows us what it means to pray the (way God
wants, He shows us what it mean to seek God and His will.
Samuel ministered in Israel
As we study the life of Samuel, we
will not only learn about prayer, but also about walking in line with God’s
Word.
LESSON ONE: Samuel was given to the LORD in a day of
spiritual decline by his parent and he himself gave his life to God. (Type out
1 Samuel 1: and 3:)
Hannah brought her distress and her tears to the Lord at the
Tabernacle and vowed that if the Lord would give her a son, she would give him
to the Lord for His service. The Lord soon gave Elkanah and Hannah a son, and
they named him Samuel which means “name of God”. When Samuel was weaned,
probably around age 3, Hannah and Elkanah took him to serve in Shiloh
with Eli the priest.
The sons of Eli who lived and
ministered at the Tabernacle were labeled as “worthless men” – literally, “sons
of Belial” a term used to Satan in 2 Corinthians 6:15 and referring to
wickedness in nature and action.
From the
start Samuel “ministered to the Lord.” Wearing a linen ephod, the garment of
priest. As Samuel ministered before the Lord, he grew physically and
spiritually, in favor with the Lord and with men. His relationship with Eli and
those who lived in Shiloh , as well as those who came to
offer sacrifices at the Tabernacle, was ever growing. People could see the good
character of this young boy as he grew into a young man. “And the child
Samuel grew on, and increased in favor both with Jehovah, and also with men.” 1
Sam. 2:26)
LESSON TWO:
Samuel gave the Word of the LORD as prophet, priest and judge.
During the young boyhood of Samuel an unmanned “man of God”
brought God’s word to Eli. God knew the sinful way of Eli and his sons, Hophni
and Phinehas, and He promised to deal with them. In the midst of that
environment, Samuel “was growing in statute and in favor both with the LORD and
with men.” Then, God’s call came.
Samuel was now a boy about twelve or
thirteen years of age. Soon after the “man of God” delivered the message of the
Lord to Eli, the Lord came to Samuel in a vision telling him of the coming
judgment on Eli’s house. Samuel had seen the wickedness and ways of Eli’s sons,
but the Lord wanted Samuel to know His ways. Now he saw the consequences of sin
more clearly. God entrusted this truth to him as the first of many truths for
the good of Israel
As a man with a true servant’s
heart, Samuel listened carefully and attentively to all the Lord spoke to him.
He than faithfully told Eli that entire God had said and thus began his
ministry as a prophet to Israel
The LORD grouped Samuel with Moses and Aaron, men who were
marked by heart knowledge of God. They had fervently sought the LORD, heard His
Word, and sought to lead the people of God by that Word.
LESSON THREE:
Samuel gave the Will of the LORD
Though the Word of the Lord spread
throughout the land, Israel land
of Canaan
First Israel Shiloh and marched
into battle, the Philistines captured it, and 30,000 Israelites died –
including Eli’s sons Hophni and Phinehas. Trusting God was not their first
thought, but an afterthought.
At that tine Samuel called on the
people to turn to the Lord with all their hearts and remove the foreign gods
from their midst. They thought it was enough to worship the Lord some of the
time while at the same time worshiping some of the gods of the Canaanites.
Samuel called them to serve God alone.
The people did remove the Baal’s and
the images of Ashtarroth and chose to serve the Lord alone.
Samuel ministry as judge continued
for several years. He traveled annually as a circuit judge to Bethell, Gilgal
and Mizpah, judging Israel
LESSON FOUR: Samuel gave the ways of the LORD in his
choice of King.
When Samuel grew older he appointed
his two sons, Joel and Abijah, as judges. However, they did not judge as he did
but chose to accept bribes, thus preventing justice. The people came to Samuel
and confronted him with this issue. Not only that, but they also asked him to appoint
a king over them, to judge them and to fight their battles for them. They
wanted to be like the nation around them. The response of Samuel was not as the
people expected. Samuel was displeased because he saw evil in their request.
When he took it to the Lord, the Lord told him to listen the people because
they were rejecting God as King, not Samuel as judge. God instructed Samuel to
inform them of what it would be like to have a king, what it would mean, what
it would take to support a king. Samuel
again faithfully conveyed all the word of the Lord to the people, but yet they
refused to listen to his warning. Samuel listened to all the word of the people
and then went to the Lord and repeated to Him everything the people had said.
Since Samuel trusted God and His ways, he obeyed and began looking for the
Lord’s choice as king.
Saul finally became king over Israel
QUESTIONS
TO ANSWER:
-
Samuel was given to the Lord
before he was born, and as he grew it became evident he was given to the Word
of the Lord, to His will, and to His ways.
-
What about your life? Are you
marked by being “available” to the Lord?
-
Are you teachable? A disciple is
defined as a learner.”
-
Samuel also knew the word of God.
What about you, do you find time to study the Word of God?
-
Samuel was very faithful. Are you
faithful in service of God?
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