1 Samuel 4-4

Defeat the Isrealites:  

Who: Philistines-a member of a non-Semitic people of ancient southern Palestine, who came into conflict with the Israelites during the 12th and 11th centuries BC.

When: Period-  11th century from 1001 to 1100 Julian calendar;  12th century from 1101 to 1200

Where:  Ebenezer(Israle camped here before the attacks)

What:  The Philistines attacked Isreal;

How was Israel defeated: 4K men were killed and Israel was defeated.  

Quotes:  

"Why has the LORD permitted us to be defeated today by the Philistines?  Let us fetch the ark of the LORD from Shiloh that it may go into battle among us and save us from the grasp of our enemies."

Ark of the LORD: This was a chest made of acacia wood, about four feet long, two and a half feet wide, and two and a half feet high. It was overlaid with gold inside and out (Ex 25:11) and a ring of gold at each corner or foot through which poles were passed to carry it.

LOSS OF THE ARK:  people sent to SHILOH and brought from there the ark of the LORD of hosts, who is enthroned upon the cherubim

https://bible.org/question/what-was-ark-covenant-and-was-it-real

God is represented seated upon a throne borne through the heavents by cherubim, creatures party human being, partly beast.*

*It was built by Moses (Deut 10:5), or actually by Bezaleel (Ex 31:2, 6–7; 37:1–9), at Sinai

Ark of the Lord arrived in the camp, all Israel shouted so loudly that the Earth shook

Because of this, the Philistines were frightened, they thought their GODs were against them otherwise they will become slaves like the HEBREWS.  The Philistines fought valiantly  and killed 30K Israel foot soldiers.  

Hophni and Phinehas both died. 1Samuel 4; 11

Death of Eli

When Eli was sitting in his chair beside the gate and troubled at heart about the ark of God.  Eli was 90 years old, and his eyes could not focus or see.

Summary from man:

1. Israel fled from the Philistines
2. heavy troop losses
3. two sons dead: Hophni and Phineas
4. Ark of God has been captured

Eli fell backwards and broke his neck.  He judged Israel fro forty years.

His daughter-in-law, the wife of Phinehas birthed a son after hearing about everything that happened.  She was about to die and gave birth to a son named Ichabod

Gone is the glory from Israel," because the ark of God had been captured.

Chapter 5:

The Philistines having captured the ark of GOD

Where: Ashdod

Chapter 5

Temple of Dagon:  In the Hebrew Bible, Dagon is particularly the god of the Philistines with temples at Beth-dagon in the tribe of Asher (Joshua 19.27), in Gaza (Judges 16.23, which tells soon after how the temple is destroyed by Samson as his last act).

What:  The Ark of God was transferred from Ebenezer to Ashdod.  

Dagon was lay face down on the ground before the ark of the Lord, the hands and head were broken off and lying on the threhold, the trunk alone intact.

The Ark is carried About:  The Lord judged Ashdod and inflicted tumors on them*

* mice, suggestive of the bubonic plague, infested their field.

The Philistines moved the Ark to Gath  

"The hand of the lord was against the city, resulting in utter turmoil"

1 Samuel 5: 8-9

The ark was then moved to Ekron;  "Why have they brought the ark of the GOD of Israel here to kill us and our kindred?"

"Send away the ark of the God of Israel.  Send it back to its place so it does not kill us and our kidnred."  

-Those who escaped death were afflicted with tumors; outcry form the city went up to the heavens.  

1 Samuel 5: 10-12

CHAPTER 6:

The Ark is Returned:

"What shall we do with the ark of the LORD?  Tell us what we should send back with it"

They can't send it back alone, they have to make amends to God.

1 Samuel Chapter 2

Chapter 2: 1 Samuel 2

Who:  Hannah

"my heart exults in the LORD; my horn is exalted by my GOD." (1 Samuel 2: 1)

Speak Boastfully no longer, do not let arrogance issue from your mouths*

The bows of the mighty are broken, while the tottering gird on strength.(1 Samuel 2: 3-4)

The Lord puts to death and gives life, casts down to Sheol and brings up again(1 Samuel 2: 6)

The LORD makes poor and makes rich, humbles, and also exalts.  He raises the needy from the dust; from the as heap lifts up the poor, To seat them with nobles and makes their glorious throne their heritage  "For the pillars of the earth are the LORD's and he has set the world upon them (1 Samuel 2: 7-8)

He guards the footsteps of his faithful ones, but the wicked shall perish in the darkness; for not by strength does one prevail

The LORD'S foes shall be shattered;  the Most High in heaven thunders; the LORD judges the ends of the earth.  May he give strength to this king, and exalt the horn of his anointed!"
(1 Samuel 2: 9-10)

When Elkanah returned home to Ramah, the child remained in the service of the LORD under the priest Eli. (1 Samuel 2: 11)

What do these definitions mean:  
Horn:  "means a salvation of strength, or a strong Saviour"(Orr, Johnson)

Exalts: "to lift up," "to be or become high." (Orr, Johnson)

Speak Boastfully no longer, do not let arrogance issue from your mouths*

Sheol: the invisible world of departed souls(Salem Blog)

Pillar:  a person or thing regarded as reliably providing essential support for something.(Google Definition)

My Interpretation: God lets people overcome obstacles, if you shall seek you shall find and when you go through GOD all things are possible.  When Elkanah asked God to let her have a baby so that she feels no more hurt and toil from Peninnah God made her dreams come true.

With God Elkanah overcame the hurt of Peninnah's boasting and her horn was exulted.  When people boast about a sensitive topic such as not being able to have babies it not only makes the boaster person look like a fool, but it hurts the victim on a deeper level.  

Imagine yourself in her situation and someone is boasting about accomplishing one of your dreams and telling you that you'll never achieve it.  Don't believe them, there's hope, there's beauty in the LORD and salvation with hard work, effort, and prayer.  The only question is what will sacrifice to get there.  Elkanah sacrificed her baby to GOD in passage 1 Samuel 2:11, now what will you give up?  Will it be playing games, will it be not going to that party on Saturday to work on your goal.  Arnold, although not a perfect person by any means, said we have 24 Hours a day, we sleep 6 hours a day, that leaves us with 18 hours, we work 8-10 hours.  What do we do with those 8 hours and keep looking at your goal and if you get down, get up and dust yourself off.


Wickedness of Eli's Sons

Who:Sons of Eli(wicked); Priests' servant (fork)

Where:  Shiloh (they treated all the Isrealites who came to the sanctuary at Shiloh this way) (1 Samuel 2: 14)

What: They had no respect for the LORD nor for the priests' duties toward the people

Priest would only allow there to be sacrifice of raw meat, and wouldn't accept boiled meat.  The priest's servant would stick a three-pronged fork in a boiling pot and whatever the food would be the priest's.

Why:  Why were the sons of Eli wicked?  because they would give disdain to the offerings of The LORD which was a sin.  They would protest " No, give it to me now, or else I will take it by force." (1 Samuel 2: 16 - 17)







http://www.womeninthescriptures.com/2010/10/hannahs-birth-story-my-horn-is-exalted.html



Sources:

Johnson, Orr, M.A., D.D. "Horn." Bible Study Tools. International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, 1915. Web. 2 Dec. 2016.

Orr, James, M.A., D.D. General Editor. "Entry for 'EXALT'". "International Standard Bible Encyclopedia". 1915.

"1 Samuel 2 Bible Commentary." Christianity. Salem Blog Network, 2016. Web. 2 Dec. 2016.

1 Samuel

Chapter 1:  1 Samuel Chapter 1

Elkanah and his family at Shiloh

Language:  there was a certain man from Ramathaim( the birthplace of Samuel and the seat of his authority )

Hill Country of Ephraim: one of the Tribes of Israel. The Tribe of Manasseh together with Ephraim also formed the House of Joseph


Name: Elkanah   (son of Elkanah, son of Tohu, son of Zuph, an Ephramite) 

Wives:  (Hannah & Peninnah);  Peninnah had children, Hanna had none

Description: Elkanah went upt to Shiloh to give sacrifice where his two sons(priests) ministered to the lord.  He would give Peninnah portions with her sons and daughters and would give Hannah double that because he loved her.

Hannah couldn't have any children God closed her womb and Peninnah torment and harass her for this.  Hannah would cry and wouldn't eat; Elkanah would try to mitigate it the pain that Hannah would endure.

"AM I NOT BETTER FOR YOU THAN TEN SONS"

Hannah's prayer:

Who:  Hanna and God and ELI( the woman priest) 1 Samuel 1:13
Where: Shiloh and Ramah

Description:  Hannah made a vow while weeping:  "O Lord of hosts, if you look with pity on the hardship of your servant, if you remember me and do not forget me, if you give your handmaid a male child, I will give him to the LORD all the days of his life.  No razor shall ever touch his head."

Eli thought she was drunk, but Hannah was very miserable.  Eli said " Go in peace and may the God of Israel grant you what you have requested"

Hannah: "Let your servant find favor in your eyes"

Hannah and Eli worshipped the next day and left for Ramah, her home.

When they returned Elkanah had intercourse with his wife Hannah, and the Lord remembered her.


Hannah Bears a son:

What: She conceived and at the end of her pregnancy, bore a son whom she named Samuel.
"because I asked the Lord for him."

Going up to yearly worship, Hannah does not go up to worship, she waits to wean her Samuel.
"Once the child is weaned, I will take him to appear before the Lord and leave him there forever."

Hannah Presents Samuel to the Lord:

What: Once weaned, she brought Samuel up to the lord with:

• 3 year old bull
• ephah of flour
• skin of wine

to sacrifice.  Slaughtered the bull, they brought the child to Eli, and she talked to the LORD.  Samuel will be dedicated to the LORD.

Dedication is not a one time act.  It’s a habit.

https://mbgmennonite.wordpress.com/2011/10/26/an-ephah-of-flour-and-a-skin-of-wine/



    What this means to me is that the Lord's grace is with us.  Whenever we want something we must a) dedicate, b) keep persevering, and c) keep praying for it.  If we do this and consistently go through the rigors of studying, training, and have continual focus on the goal along with prayer we will eventually break bounds and get to the state of where want to go.
    In the section that Hannah was constantly provoked by her rival wife, Peninnah, over not being able to bear children Hannah was heart broken, distraught, and ultimately driven to do whatever it took to get what she wanted.  At Shiloh Hannah was yelling out to the Lord asking him to give her a baby boy that she would eventually sacrifice to the Lord as a Naziritie.  Eli, the woman priest, was there and she listened to Hannah's story, sympathizing, Eli prayed out to God with Hannah to wish that she had a baby boy.
    The next day when Hannah got back from the the pilgrimage Elkanah had intercourse with Hannah and she bore a baby boy.  The LORD answered Hannah's prayer and she had gone through with the sacrifice like she said she would.  She brought her son, Samuel, up to Shiloh and gave him up to the LORD, and Eli had prayed on it.  This story gives a sense of drive and sacrifice on the behalf of Hannah.  She was driven and she prayed upon her short fallings and asked the LORD to give her a baby boy.  She then followed through with her offerings and left him to Eli.  This shows great strength and shows every one who reads this passage that the impossible is possible as long as GOD is by your side.
    As a reference, there was a woman by the name of Lori.  This woman is what we call superwoman at our local Brookhaven Starbucks.  She has endured a lot in her years and through Facebook and working with her, I have learned a lot about life.  When you talk to Superwoman, she is perceived as a happy go lucky, caring, fun woman which doesn't even scratch the surface of what she is going through.  She has a lot of responsibilities: working full time at Starbucks, a mother of 2, and going through school and making it look easy.  Another woman who I worked with Kelly another superwoman at Starbucks, she is a single mother of two working two jobs, by day a barista at Starbucks and by night a barista at Cafe Intermezzo which is very impressive.  These two woman in my eyes have captured and gave me a strong sense of passion on how to live life.  No matter what you are going through these two women are persevering and working through every obstacle in life, they show us that working hard and getting through your challenges with a positive attitude and a smile can carry us to the finish line.
   


    In my opinion, Elkanah having two wives is a bit crazy, and I understand that back then that was common practice.  In today's American society, it is looked down to have two wives or two women that you have sexual relations with.  I understand God let the society have it's way and did not mess with the culture.  God was there to listen and to answer and to make sure that you did right.  Perspective is everything.  Also giving up your son, that is what the Roman's did with Spartans, that you had to serve as a warrior and what the certain other island cultures did for boys to become men.