Bwebbservant
Sunday Evening Bible Study
April 8, 2001
I. Introduction
a. Goals of this study
* Study 1 and 2 Samuel in their entirety as a single message
* Better understand the line of Messiah through types and prophecy
* Analyze the Shift from stoic to epicurean in society
* Examine Life and Times of the people 1000 years before Christ
b. How we will do this
* Use maps, charts and graphs to understand relationships in certain areas
* Consider 1 & 2 Samuel as one book as the Hebrews did
* Evaluate civil, secular and religious life in 1000 BC from ancient literature
II. Previous Study
a. Sorrow
b. Supplication
c. Son
d. Sacrifice
III. This weeks study
a. Hebrew Poetry
b. Song
i. Hannah’s Prayer
c. Situation
i. Eli’s wicked sons
IV. A Word on Hebrew Poetry
a. The definition of Poetry we will use will be: “Poetry is verbal composition, imaginative and concrete in matter, and emotional and rhythmic in form.” This definition recognizes two aspects of poetry, the 1formal and the 2material.
i. External or 1Formal
1. Vocabulary
2. Grammar
3. Rhythm
4. Parallelisms
5. Literary Devices
6. Meter
ii. Internal or 2Material
1. Themes of poetry
a. Love Songs (Canticles)
b. Wedding Song in Psalms 45
c. Harvest Song in Psalm 65
d. Ditties on New Wells in Nu. 21:17ff
e. Drinking wine
f. Numerous War songs in Nu. 21:14, Josh 10:13, 2 Sam 1:18.
2. Species of poetry
a. Folklore
b. Prophetical
c. Speculative
d. Lyrical
b. kÖŒônaôh strophe:
i. Poem in which each verse consists of two parallel members, each member having five words divided into three and then two. The best example of this is to be found in Ps 19:7-9
c. There is no hard or fast rule as to what makes the distinction between poetry and prose.
d. Poetry in the Bible was almost completely ignored until the 18th century
i. Reason One: as a product of the divine mind method of delivery was largely neglected
ii. Reason Two: the poet did not give any major indications of poetic intent and followed no specific rules like rhyme or meter.
V. Song 1 Samuel 2:1-10
a. Interesting Words In Hannah’s Prayer
i. V. 1 ‘Horn’ is qeren in Hebrew and is alternately translated hill, might strength
ii. V. 2 ‘rock’ in Hebrew is tsur and is alternately translated strength and cliff or figuratively as refuge
iii. V. 6 ‘Sheol’ is a transliteration of the Hebrew word loowaV which is the place of the dead or to be understood as the grave JFB states, “This was the lowest state of degradation and misery; but the Lord not only brings man down, he also restores man to prosperity and happiness, or more literally, brings man from life to death and back again; both extremes are ascribable to him.”
iv. V. 10 ‘anointed’ in Hebrew is jyvm and JFB comments, “This is the first place in Scripture where the word “anointed,” or “Messiah,” occurs applied to an individual. Since at the time there was no king in Israel to whose successor the “anointed one” could point, it certainly could point to the coming of Christ (Davis). However, some who were not Israelites, such as King Cyrus (Isa. 45:1), are called God’s anointed; this simply meant that they were divinely commissioned for a task. Certainly this was true of Samuel.”
b. Elements of Prayer Included
i. Praise
1. Throughout
ii. Confession
1. Not in the traditional sense but an acknowledgement of a humble state
iii. Thanks
1. Throughout
iv. Intercession
1. An early request for a king and a blessing upon him
v. Petition
1. Not any, though this is a conclusion to a strong petition
vi. Listening
1. Not visible
vii. Consecration
1. Not any, though the ‘mouth speaking boldly against my enemies’ shows a clear intent on vocalization of praise to those around her.
c. Theme of Hannah’s Prayer
i. The joy expressed is not for Samuel per se’ but for God’s blessing and answering of prayer and removal of reproach and bitterness
ii. Reversals of situations
1. v. 4-8
iii. Strength triumphs over weakness & Joy over Bitterness
iv. ‘Horn’ in v. 1 and v. 10 has a unifying theme in pointing towards Messiah.
v. It is interesting to me that a woman is the first to have prayed specifically for a Messiah who would be born to a woman.
vi. Some scholars note the similarities between this and Mary’s prayer in Luke 1:46-55
VI. Situation 1 Samuel 2:11-26
a. Similarities between Hannah’s and Penniah’s rivalry up against the sons of Eli and Samuel as occurring typologically
i. God Elkanah Eli
1. This is the Head Level
ii. Priests Hannah H & P
1. This is the Leader Level
iii. People Peninnah Samuel
1. This is the Successor Level
iv. Priests Hannah H & P
1. This is the Conflict Level
v. God Samuel The King
1. This is the Resolution Level
b. Function of the Priesthood
i. To stand between God and man to offer specific sacrifices in a specific way
ii. Teach the people holiness and sacrifice
iii. Represent God to the other nations
* There are many others but these three will help reveal the inadequacies of Hophni and Phinehas in this role
c. Corruption in the Priesthood verses 12-17
i. God says they are: (v. 12-13)
1. Worthless men
2. Lost men
3. Ignorant men (duty wise)
4. Despisers of God’s offering v.17
ii. They corrupted their underlings
1. The priests servants helped in the violation
a. Primary Corruption
i. Gehazi, Elisha and Elijah are a similar motif in how corruption takes hold
ii. Judas Iscariot, a thief and a liar John calls him
b. Secondary corruption
i. Ananias and Sapphira
ii. Followers of the Judizers
iii. Jude talks about unjust teachers and their results
iii. They took the Lord’s fat
1. The fat or delicious part was to be completely for God (Lev. 3:16)
iv. They took the peoples offering raw
1. No provision is made for uncooked food to be partaken of by the priests
2. Raw meat still had the blood in it and is a picture of why leaders lives should be above reproach since the nation was not to eat blood so the priests should take every precaution to not eat blood.
v. They took the role of tyrants
1. They threatened force against those who were humbly there, honestly seeking to worship much like the Pharisees and Scribes will do later on in Jesus’ time.
d. A new shining face verses 18-21
i. Samuel is a shining example of how Eli’s sons should have appeared
ii. Eli’s blessing must have been in conjunction with how well Samuel served, Eli does not pray for more sons himself or his sons!
iii. Samuel was, “growing in stature and in favor both with the Lord and with man.” (v. 26)
iv. Take just a moment and ponder coming to sacrifice and the list of priest included Hopi, Phineas and Samuel, who would you choose? Why?
e. The final point of stress verses 22-26
We will examine this section more thoroughly yet we need to see some things to better understand the rivalry theme in chapters 1 and 2…
i. Eli confronts his sons
1. He recognized what they were doing for what it was: EVIL
2. This is not an isolated event but something that was recurring
3. I think Eli was sick of making reparations to people who were unhappy with what had happened
a. Some people went along with what happened because they were preists
b. Some people hated what was done but did not speak up
c. Some people hated what was done and gossiped to other people
d. Some people took the problem to Eli for correction
4. There will be no mediation for intentional sin against God in this dispensation. Notice how this is phrased in the Bible
a. Leviticus 4:2 & 5:1-4
b. Numbers 15:30
c. Yet we see then the wonderful provision in Christ according to 2 Corinthians 5:21. While the sacrifices in the OT went from year to year, Jesus’ sacrifice goes from eternity to eternity for all sins in all times.
ii. Eli’s sons would not listen
1. This is true for two reasons:
a. God had hardened their hearts
b. They had hardened their own hearts
iii. Eli’s sons could not follow a well-reasoned argument. (We will look at this more next week as well)
iv. Eli’s sons were marked for death, not yet, but next time we will see God’s next step.
VII. Conclusion
a. This week we have seen:
i. Hebrew Poetry is interesting yet slow trudging
ii. God is a God of Holiness
iii. Hannah prays for king and a Messiah
iv. Eli’s sons are a sorry lot
v. Samuel is going to be the next leader and why
vi. The rivalry theme in Chapters 1 and 2 helps us see what God is going to do next in the Land of Israel and lays the foundation for a King.
b. Next week we will see:
i. Read 1 Samuel 2:22-36
ii. “A Situation and A Sign”
Any Questions? Contact the Webbservant at… stephen.mack.howard@juno.com