Ruth 4:9-10

Then Boaz announced to the elders and all the people, "Today you are witnesses that I have bought from Naomi all the property of Elimelech, Kilion and Mahlon. I have also acquired Ruth the Moabitess, Mahlon's widow, as my wife, in order to maintain the name of the dead with his property, so that his name will not disappear from among his family or from the town records. Today you are witnesses!"

Elimelech, Killion, and Mahlon are the husbands and children of Naomi.

So Boaz is a kinsman-redeemer. That’s what a kinsman-redeemer did.

Ruth 4:11-12

Then the elders and all those at the gate said, "We are witnesses. May the LORD make the woman who is coming into your home like Rachel and Leah, who together built up the house of Israel. May you have standing in Ephrathah and be famous in Bethlehem. Through the offspring the LORD gives you by this young woman, may your family be like that of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah."

It’s interesting that they reference Tamar. You all remember about Tamar and that story.

Ruth 4:13-18a

So Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife. Then he went to her, and the LORD enabled her to conceive, and she gave birth to a son. The women said to Naomi: "Praise be to the LORD, who this day has not left you without a kinsman-redeemer. May he become famous throughout Israel! He will renew your life and sustain you in your old age. For your daughter-in-law, who loves you and who is better to you than seven sons, has given him birth." Then Naomi took the child, laid him in her lap and cared for him. The women living there said, "Naomi has a son." And they named him Obed. He was the father of Jesse, the father of David. This, then, is the family line of Perez.

The reason the book of Ruth is very critical in the Bible is for this very reason. It is a love story. It occurs during Judges. You can read about kinsman-redeemers. But if we didn’t have the book of Ruth, we wouldn’t know about David’s father and grandfather or where they came from. This explains it and completes the lineage from Judah to David (and eventually to Christ) with Obed and Jesse, the father of David.

1 Samuel 1:1-2

There was a certain man from Ramathaim, a Zuphite from the hill country of Ephraim, whose name was Elkanah son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephraimite. He had two wives; one was called Hannah and the other Peninnah. Peninnah had children, but Hannah had none.

This is just introducing Hannah.

1 Samuel 1:10-11

In bitterness of soul Hannah wept much and prayed to the LORD. And she made a vow, saying, "O LORD Almighty, if you will only look upon your servant's misery and remember me, and not forget your servant but give her a son, then I will give him to the LORD for all the days of his life, and no razor will ever be used on his head."

We’ve heard this before, haven’t we? We saw it with Samson. We’ve seen it in the past. If you go back to Numbers and read about the Nazarite vow.

Here’s a woman, a wife, who hasn’t had any children and makes a vow to the Lord and says, "Lord, if you give me a child, I’ll give him to you." One of the interesting things that you’re going to see as we read is the impact of the parents on their children. For those of you who are married and have children, this study is probably going to impact you. God, through His Holy Spirit, is going to show you some things that will make you say, "Wait a minute. What am I doing (or not doing) to my kids?" Here is a woman saying, "If you give me a child, I will give him to the Lord."

If we said this today, what would be in your mind if you said, "I am giving my child to the Lord." What would you think? "Well, I’ll take him to church every Sunday. I’ll take him to Sunday School. I’ll read the Bible to him every day." Is that your idea of giving him to the Lord? We’re going to see what Hannah does.

1 Samuel 1:20

So in the course of time Hannah conceived and gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel, saying, "Because I asked the LORD for him."

Here is Samuel.

1 Samuel 1:24-28

After he was weaned, she took the boy with her, young as he was, along with a three-year-old bull, an ephah of flour and a skin of wine, and brought him to the house of the LORD at Shiloh. When they had slaughtered the bull, they brought the boy to Eli, and she said to him, "As surely as you live, my lord, I am the woman who stood here beside you praying to the LORD. I prayed for this child, and the LORD has granted me what I asked of him. So now I give him to the LORD. For his whole life he will be given over to the LORD." And he worshiped the LORD there.

What we’ll find out, if you read very carefully, is that Hannah handed the child over to Eli after he was weaned and he lived in the temple from then on. He lived right there. He did not live with Hannah. That what she said she would do in her vow. She said, "I dedicate him to the Lord. I give you to the Lord."

Has anybody participated in a "baby dedication" here recently? What are you doing when you dedicate your child to the Lord? It’s not that he or she is saved. You are the one making the commitment to what you’re going to do for that child while they are growing. It’s part of the dedication you are making. Hannah did almost the same thing except that it’s like she handed her son to the pastor and said, "OK, Bob, keep him. I’ll come visit him every now and then, but you’ve got him."

She made a vow and carried through with it after she expressed such a desire to have children. She was willing to give him up.

1 Samuel 2:9b-10

"It is not by strength that one prevails; those who oppose the LORD will be shattered. He will thunder against them from heaven; the LORD will judge the ends of the earth. "He will give strength to his king and exalt the horn of his anointed."

This is a prayer of Hannah. One of the significant things about opening up this period of time in 1^st Samuel is that it is actually bathed in prayer. There is prayer all over the place—Hannah praying for her child, Hannah praying to the Lord, and now Hannah’s prayer/song of thankfulness to the Lord. So it’s full of prayer.

If you were a scholar, Jewish or non-Jewish, this would be one of the verses that tells you that Messiah is coming. The word, "anointed," is "Messiah." In Greek, the word, "anointed" would be translated, "Christos." Christos is who we know as Christ. "You are the Christ. You are the Messiah. You are the one who was promised in the Old Testament." This is one of those very specific verses in the Old Testament that any scholar would describe as, "Here is where God is promising an ‘anointed one,’ a Messiah for the people." You need all the other verses to have the full picture of the Messiah, but this is one of them. It came through Hannah and her prayer.

When you read this, "He will thunder against them from heaven; the Lord will judge the ends of the earth," it sounds like the end times. As a matter of fact, that’s what He’s talking about here. In the end times, God is going to judge the whole earth. No one will go without judgment.

"He will give strength to his king." We refer to Jesus as the King. He is the King of the kingdom God is going to bring about. The Israelite Nation is a kingdom. Jesus Christ is the eternal King.

"He will exalt the horn." "Horn," here means, "strength." He will give Him strength. He will be endowed with strength. Of course, that’s what we know will happen at the end times.

1 Samuel 2:11

Then Elkanah went home to Ramah, but the boy ministered before the LORD under Eli the priest.

There’s where Hannah left Samuel with the priest.

1 Samuel 2:12

Eli's sons were wicked men; they had no regard for the LORD.

I didn’t tell you about them, but they are Hophni and Phinehas. They were introduced over in chapter 1. They are the sons of Eli. Eli is the priest. He is supposed to pass along what he’s doing to his sons, Hophni and Phinehas. It says here that they were wicked and had no regard for the Lord. Remember that because of the father-son relationship. We’re going to see what happens.

You can read some of what Hophni and Phinehas do but here’s the result of it:

1 Samuel 2:17

This sin of the young men was very great in the LORD's sight, for they were treating the LORD's offering with contempt.

This is Hophni and Phinehas, Eli’s sons.

1 Samuel 2:18-19

But Samuel was ministering before the LORD--a boy wearing a linen ephod. Each year his mother made him a little robe and took it to him when she went up with her husband to offer the annual sacrifice.

Isn’t that sweet? She made him a little robe.

So she went and visited her son, Samuel, every year.

1 Samuel 2:20-21

Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife, saying, "May the LORD give you children by this woman to take the place of the one she prayed for and gave to the LORD." Then they would go home. And the LORD was gracious to Hannah; she conceived and gave birth to three sons and two daughters. Meanwhile, the boy Samuel grew up in the presence of the LORD.

How about that? Five for one, or one for five.

So Samuel is growing up in the presence of the priest and the temple.

1 Samuel 2:22

Now Eli, who was very old, heard about everything his sons were doing to all Israel and how they slept with the women who served at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting.

Now how about that? These are the priests of the nation sleeping with women at the entrance to the tabernacle!

1 Samuel 2:23-25

So he said to them, "Why do you do such things? I hear from all the people about these wicked deeds of yours. No, my sons; it is not a good report that I hear spreading among the LORD's people. If a man sins against another man, God may mediate for him; but if a man sins against the LORD, who will intercede for him?" His sons, however, did not listen to their father's rebuke, for it was the LORD's will to put them to death.

This is a father disciplining his children.

Tell me about the relationship between Hophni and Phinehas and their father, Eli. What was it like? Can you picture what Eli was doing? This is probably not the first time. He’s probably talked to them several times, "I hope you change." What was Eli doing? He’s saying, "I’m busy about my job. Let’s sit down and talk because you should see the wisdom of what I say to you." But the boys went off and did their own thing. We’re going to see that over and over (the relationship between parents and their children) as we read 1&2 Samuel and 1&2 Kings.

1 Samuel 2:26

And the boy Samuel continued to grow in stature and in favor with the LORD and with men.

Don’t miss that Samuel was there with Hophni and Phinehas. They were ‘pal’ing around together. Well, they weren’t ‘pal’ing around together. Samuel said, "That’s wrong and I’m not going to do it." Hophni and Phinehas were doing whatever they wanted to do. I don’t know how old they were, but they sound like a couple of high-school-age hooligans, don’t they?

1 Samuel 3:1

The boy Samuel ministered before the LORD under Eli. In those days the word of the LORD was rare; there were not many visions.

That’s key. We’re coming out of a period of Judges. What was Judges like? What were the people doing? What does this tell you about the Word of the Lord? What does it mean by "rare"? If you suddenly wanted to go to a Sunday School class, you couldn’t find one. That’s what it meant. It was rare. You could not find copies of the Bible anywhere. You couldn’t read the Old Testament. You couldn’t get with people who wanted to talk about it. What were people doing? They were doing what was right in their own eyes. Reading God’s Word was not one of them. Visions were rare. God was not introducing Himself or working with people.

1 Samuel 3:11-12

And the LORD said to Samuel: "See, I am about to do something in Israel that will make the ears of everyone who hears of it tingle. At that time I will carry out against Eli everything I spoke against his family--from beginning to end.

This is the Lord calling Samuel.

This is a prophecy that Hophni and Phinehas do not have long to live.

1 Samuel 3:13

For I told him that I would judge his family forever because of the sin he knew about; his sons made themselves contemptible, and he failed to restrain them.

What does this say about Eli as a father? What was we? He was a failure. He was milk toast. He did not discipline them. He did not say, "You cannot cross this line. I’m going to discipline you." It’s not one time. It was constant, over and over, giving in and compromising. He was talking to his sons but not doing anything else.

Now my son will tell you that my discipline was talking to him also—but it was for two straight days! He would sit there and listen. <Dad, just spank me and get it over with.>

1 Samuel 3:14-15

Therefore, I swore to the house of Eli, `The guilt of Eli's house will never be atoned for by sacrifice or offering.'" Samuel lay down until morning and then opened the doors of the house of the LORD. He was afraid to tell Eli the vision,

Wouldn’t you be afraid? Eli is his mentor. God just said, "I’m going to pronounce judgment on Eli and his family." Samuel didn’t want to tell him.

1 Samuel 3:16-17a

but Eli called him and said, "Samuel, my son." Samuel answered, "Here I am." "What was it he said to you?" Eli asked.

If you read the story, God called Samuel three or four times. Samuel thought it was Eli calling him. Finally Samuel realized it was God calling him and showing him these things.

1 Samuel 3:17b-18

"Do not hide it from me. May God deal with you, be it ever so severely, if you hide from me anything he told you." So Samuel told him everything, hiding nothing from him. Then Eli said, "He is the LORD; let him do what is good in his eyes."

Whoa! Eli accepted the judgment. He said, "It’s going to happen. I understand."

1 Samuel 3:19-21

The LORD was with Samuel as he grew up, and he let none of his words fall to the ground. And all Israel from Dan to Beersheba recognized that Samuel was attested as a prophet of the LORD. The LORD continued to appear at Shiloh, and there he revealed himself to Samuel through his word.

So you see the transition Samuel has had here from priest, judge, and now prophet. This is how God spoke to the people. Keep that in mind as we go through the Old Testament. Who does God talk to about affairs of state and what’s going on? You’ll find that He didn’t talk to the kings. He talked to prophets who talked to the kings. It’s like with David—David’s prophet was Nathan. Nathan came to David and said, "Here’s what the Lord has said…" Keep that in mind.

1 Samuel 4:1a

And Samuel's word came to all Israel.

Chapter 4 involves the Ark of the Covenant.

1 Samuel 4:10-11

So the Philistines fought, and the Israelites were defeated and every man fled to his tent. The slaughter was very great; Israel lost thirty thousand foot soldiers. The ark of God was captured, and Eli's two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, died.

They brought the Ark of the Covenant out to help them. It was captured by the Philistines. At the same time, God delivered His judgment on Hophni and Phinehas. Does everybody see that?

1 Samuel 4:17

The man who brought the news replied, "Israel fled before the Philistines, and the army has suffered heavy losses. Also your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead, and the ark of God has been captured."

Somebody came from the battle to tell everybody back home what had happened.

That’s not good news, is it? "My two sons are dead and the Ark of the Covenant has been captured."

1 Samuel 4:18

When he mentioned the ark of God, Eli fell backward off his chair by the side of the gate. His neck was broken and he died, for he was an old man and heavy. He had led Israel forty years.

Notice it wasn’t the news of the death of his sons but the ark of God that affected Eli.

Judgment has been pronounced on Hophni, Phineahas, and Eli.

1 Samuel 4:19-22

His daughter-in-law, the wife of Phinehas, was pregnant and near the time of delivery. When she heard the news that the ark of God had been captured and that her father-in-law and her husband were dead, she went into labor and gave birth, but was overcome by her labor pains. As she was dying, the women attending her said, "Don't despair; you have given birth to a son." But she did not respond or pay any attention. She named the boy Ichabod, saying, "The glory has departed from Israel"—because of the capture of the ark of God and the deaths of her father-in-law and her husband. She said, "The glory has departed from Israel, for the ark of God has been captured."

If you ever wondered where the name "Ichabod" came from, here it is.

That’s the importance they put on the Ark of the Covenant—God’s glory was there. They learned that starting in the wilderness. God told them to make these things and God would appear in the Holy of Holies in the Tent of Meeting. They were used to it. But they attached the significance to the Ark, itself, and not to God’s Presence. They said, "Well, whenever we see the Ark, God’s Presence is there." We know today that God is everywhere, not just in the Ark. But they assigned having the Ark with having God’s Presence.

Now, Chapter 5 is normally one that I skip or would want to skip because there isn’t a lot there. But it is a wonderful story of God working on other people. You definitely see God’s sense of humor. I believe God laughs and He laughs heartily sometimes.

1 Samuel 5:1-2

After the Philistines had captured the ark of God, they took it from Ebenezer to Ashdod. Then they carried the ark into Dagon's temple and set it beside Dagon.

Dagon was one of the idols. It was a big, tall thing. I think it had a bird head and the body of a goat or something.

1 Samuel 5:3a

When the people of Ashdod rose early the next day, there was Dagon, fallen on his face on the ground before the ark of the LORD!

Can everybody picture this? An idol has fallen face down in front of the Ark of the Covenant.

1 Samuel 5:3b-5

They took Dagon and put him back in his place. But the following morning when they rose, there was Dagon, fallen on his face on the ground before the ark of the LORD! His head and hands had been broken off and were lying on the threshold; only his body remained. That is why to this day neither the priests of Dagon nor any others who enter Dagon's temple at Ashdod step on the threshold.

It became superstitious to the Philistines.

Go ahead and read chapters 5 and 6 and see how the Philistines viewed the Ark of the Covenant. They got to the point where they said, "Send it back! We don’t want this thing." It’s something else. You can read that. It’s interesting.

1 Samuel 8:1-3a

When Samuel grew old, he appointed his sons as judges for Israel. The name of his firstborn was Joel and the name of his second was Abijah, and they served at Beersheba. But his sons did not walk in his ways.

Here’s another disappointing thing.

Why didn’t they walk in his ways? What was Samuel doing? Do you think he was busy with his "job"? You think he would have learned from Eli. Doesn’t this speak volumes for today? Today we get so busy with not just jobs and careers but yardwork, working on the cars, etc. When do we take time for the kids?

"Son, when I get through with changing the oil in the truck, I’ll play with you. When I get through mowing the yard, I’ll play with you. Son, I’m tired. I have to rest a little bit and watch TV. When I get through, I’ll play with you."

I hope that rings bells and you say, "Yeah, that’s me and I need to stop it," or "Yeah, I recognize that and I have stopped it already." That’s what was happening here. These are just a couple of examples. We’re going to see it throughout—where children walked in the ways of their father or didn’t walk in the ways of their father. We’re going to see both good and bad.

1 Samuel 8:3b-5

They turned aside after dishonest gain and accepted bribes and perverted justice. So all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah. They said to him, "You are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways; now appoint a king to lead us, such as all the other nations have."

They said, "Appoint us a king like all the other nations. We’re tired of this priest and prophet. We want something like all the other countries have. We want a king."

1 Samuel 8:6-7

But when they said, "Give us a king to lead us," this displeased Samuel; so he prayed to the LORD. And the LORD told him: "Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king.

God recognized it. He said, "This is what they’re doing. They will not listen to me. They will not follow me." Has God got a point here? Has he got a case? He does, doesn’t He? Over and over He delivered them. What did they do? They kept going back to idols and sin. He says, "OK, let them have their way."

Do you think God deals with you in your life the same way? He keeps bailing you out of things and helping you with things and you never recognize Him. You may say, "Thank you God for delivering me," and then go off and do your own thing again—just like the Nation of Israel. I told you that when you go through the Old Testament and see the Nation of Israel, just put your name in there and read it. It’s amazing how similar and appropriate it is.

1 Samuel 8:8-12

As they have done from the day I brought them up out of Egypt until this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are doing to you. Now listen to them; but warn them solemnly and let them know what the king who will reign over them will do." Samuel told all the words of the LORD to the people who were asking him for a king. He said, "This is what the king who will reign over you will do: He will take your sons and make them serve with his chariots and horses, and they will run in front of his chariots. Some he will assign to be commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and others to plow his ground and reap his harvest, and still others to make weapons of war and equipment for his chariots.

In other words, there is a lot of upkeep to have a king. He’s going to tax you, put you to work, hire government workers, make you pay their wages, etc. Wow! That sounds like today, doesn’t it?

1 Samuel 8:19-20

But the people refused to listen to Samuel. "No!" they said. "We want a king over us. Then we will be like all the other nations, with a king to lead us and to go out before us and fight our battles."

"We hear you, but we want a king over us!"

"We want a king and we’ll blame him for all the failures."

1 Samuel 8:21-22

When Samuel heard all that the people said, he repeated it before the LORD. The LORD answered, "Listen to them and give them a king." Then Samuel said to the men of Israel, "Everyone go back to his town."

1 Samuel 9:1

There was a Benjamite, a man of standing, whose name was Kish son of Abiel, the son of Zeror, the son of Becorath, the son of Aphiah of Benjamin.

You know, this is where they get the names of prescription drugs, by the way. If anybody ever wondered why the call drugs by those weird names, they get them out of the Bible. Trust me. I know I’ve taken "Becorath." It’s an inhalant, "Becorath." (Aside: Don’t put this on the web, OK?) <Ha Ha>

1 Samuel 9:2

He had a son named Saul, an impressive young man without equal among the Israelites--a head taller than any of the others.

I’m not going to read you the whole story of Saul. You can read it.