Hannah – Trained Samuel

Last week we took a look at one of the great women of the Bible.  Hannah.  We finished with her great prayer of praise that God recorded in His Word.  In that we saw what her attitude was and what was in her heart when she left Samuel at such a young age to serve the Lord.

Many believe that in those days the word weaning did not only encompass no longer breast feeding but it was used to mean weaning from the mother.  In other words the child was old enough to leave mom and go to work with Dad now and then.  Don’t confuse that with being of working age and working alongside dad.  But for example old enough to go with dad in the wagon to town to get supplies and be of at least some help.

We don’t know how old Samuel was exactly.  This could be 4 or 5 years old.  Give or take.

Before we move on back to Ezekiel I think it is worth taking a few min. and look at how did Samuel respond to being left.  I think how he responded speaks volumes about Hannah.

1 Sam 2:11 And Elkanah went to Ramah to his house. And the child did minister unto the LORD before Eli the priest.

The child did not throw a fit, he did not sit and cry and pout.  He did not rebel.  He did not fall down and melt.  He handled himself.  He started right away ministering unto the LORD.

So what does that tell us?  Hannah worked with him and taught him and worked with him and taught him some more.  She prepared him.  Samuel understood what was happening.  He knew his purpose and what was expected of him.

And catch this for Samuel to just start ministering unto the Lord before Eli, means that Samuel knew how to minister.

This was extremely important.  Hannah loved her son.  Think how horrible it would be if the child was not prepared and just left.  How traumatic that would be.  She could boast maybe that she kept her promise, but what good is that if the child is in trauma and cannot function.

Hannah loved her son more than that.  So she worked and worked and trained and explained and kept at it.  Most likely right up to the day that she left him in Shiloh.

Did Samuel miss his mom?  Of course.  But he was prepared for this.  And remember he is still very young.  That tells us that Hannah did not waste time.  She was teaching him right from the beginning.  Yes you can teach babies some things are wrong and some things are right before they even know how to talk.

And as soon as Samuel could talk she must have started educating him and preparing him.  This child is going to have to bear a load because of her promise.  Some women, especially in our fallen culture, would have not cared enough.

After all they are going to give him up and it will be someone else’s problem.  And I am not going to hardly ever see him.  Only once a year so I am not going to put myself out.  There are women like that today.  Richard can tell you story after story of self-centered women and how they act in Safeway.  Hannah was not like that at all.

She is a shining example of how a mother should care and be willing to work and invest effort in the education and training of her child so that they will do well.  So that they will be better adjusted and can handle the things that life throws at them.

Our country would be a much better place if we had more women like Hannah.  I really believe that.

Samuel was well prepared and hit the ground running as they say.  He started ministering to the Lord before Eli right away.  Before Eli.  That means under his supervision.  So Hannah had also trained Samuel about authority and respecting the office of the priest.

And Samuel had to immediately put up with some hard and terrible things.

1 Sam 2:12 Now the sons of Eli were sons of Belial; they knew not the LORD.

1 Sam 2:17 Wherefore the sin of the young men was very great before the LORD: for men abhorred the offering of the LORD.

The office of the priest had been totally corrupted.  This is taking place during the last years of the Judges.  Samuel will actually be the last judge, and Samuel will be the first of the big prophets.  Samuel was unique.  He was both.  It is a transitional period, from judges to prophets.

The period of the judges is summed up as everyman did that which was right in his own eyes.  And Eli and his sons were no exception.  They were terrible.

Having to minister under such conditions is, well, a hard thing.  It is a bad situation.  Frankly enough to make most people quit.  But not Samuel.

1 Sam 2:18 But Samuel ministered before the LORD, being a child, girded with a linen ephod.

He is still a child.  And he did not quit.  He could not change those horrible sons of Eli.  He accepted that and just concentrated on what he could do and that is serve the Lord and do that well.  And let God take care of Eli’s sons.

Where do you think such a young child learned that?  When I say that Hannah worked and trained and taught and did it again and again.  That is exactly what I mean.  It is obvious to me that Hannah went what we call above and beyond the call of duty here.

She prepared her son out of a deep love.

1 Sam 2:19 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 this went on for years.  And Samuel would just do right and serve.  Mom would make him a new coat every year and come see him.

1 Sam 2:20 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.

1 Sam 2:21 And the LORD visited Hannah, so that she conceived, and bare three sons and two daughters. And the child Samuel grew before the LORD.

So years pass.  And we get more details about how bad things were.  They did not get better.  Samuel was in a bad environment the whole time.  A good environment as far as Samuel ministering to the Lord.  That part is always good.  But bad as far as the example of Eli and his sons.

1 Sam 2:22 Now Eli was very old, and heard all that his sons did unto all Israel; and how they lay with the women that assembled at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.

1 Sam 2:23 And he said unto them, Why do ye such things? for I hear of your evil dealings by all this people.

1 Sam 2:24 Nay, my sons; for it is no good report that I hear: ye make the LORD’S people to transgress.

1 Sam 2:25 If one man sin against another, the judge shall judge him: but if a man sin against the LORD, who shall intreat for him? Notwithstanding they hearkened not unto the voice of their father, because the LORD would slay them.

So what won out?  The horrible example lived out before him every day by Eli and his sons, or the training at a very young age from Hannah.

1 Sam 2:26 And the child Samuel grew on, and was in favour both with the LORD, and also with men.

The training from Hannah won out.  She taught him to love God and love man.  And he grew into a man of God who had favor with both men and with the Lord.  And he did this growth in conditions that were not ideal.

We see a vivid example here of how powerful real love is of a mom for her child at a young age.  And how it can shape and form the child’s character for life.

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