1 Samuel 5
English Standard Version

The Philistines and the Ark
5 When the Philistines captured the ark of God, they brought it from Ebenezer to Ashdod. 2 Then the Philistines took the ark of God and brought it into the house of Dagon and set it up beside Dagon. 3 And when the people of Ashdod rose early the next day, behold, Dagon had fallen face downward on the ground before the ark of the LORD. So they took Dagon and put him back in his place. 4 But when they rose early on the next morning, behold, Dagon had fallen face downward on the ground before the ark of the LORD, and the head of Dagon and both his hands were lying cut off on the threshold. Only the trunk of Dagon was left to him. 5 This is why the priests of Dagon and all who enter the house of Dagon do not tread on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod to this day.

​6 The hand of the LORD was heavy against the people of Ashdod, and he terrified and afflicted them with tumors, both Ashdod and its territory. 7 And when the men of Ashdod saw how things were, they said, “The ark of the God of Israel must not remain with us, for his hand is hard against us and against Dagon our god.” 8 So they sent and gathered together all the lords of the Philistines and said, “What shall we do with the ark of the God of Israel?” They answered, “Let the ark of the God of Israel be brought around to Gath.” So they brought the ark of the God of Israel there. 9 But after they had brought it around, the hand of the LORD was against the city, causing a very great panic, and he afflicted the men of the city, both young and old, so that tumors broke out on them. 10 So they sent the ark of God to Ekron. But as soon as the ark of God came to Ekron, the people of Ekron cried out, “They have brought around to us the ark of the God of Israel to kill us and our people.” 11 They sent therefore and gathered together all the lords of the Philistines and said, “Send away the ark of the God of Israel, and let it return to its own place, that it may not kill us and our people.” For there was a deathly panic throughout the whole city. The hand of God was very heavy there. 12 The men who did not die were struck with tumors, and the cry of the city went up to heaven.

It was typical practice for the pagans like the Philistines to take a captured idol and put it in the temple of their god (in this case Dago, the god with the head of a fish and the body of a man) so that they could show that their god was more powerful than the god they had captured.  They believed that the Ark of the Covenant was "the LORD" that the Israelites worshiped and that He was simply an idol like their idols and so they took the Ark of the Covenant and put it in the temple of Dagon that was in Ashdod, though, to their surprise, the idol of Dagon fell face down as if it were bowing in worship before the presence of the LORD.  They put the idol back in its place, but the next morning it had again fallen face down in front of the Ark of the Covenant.  So the priests of the temple of Dagon became afraid of walking in front of the idol of Dagon thinking that it might fall on them and crush them.

Since the Philistines did not understand this sign that the LORD was superior to Dagon and that even Dagon had to bow down and worship Him, then the LORD brought all kinds of plagues upon the people of that city.  The people knew that none of this happened before the Ark of the Covenant, which they call the Ark of the LORD, came to them and so they knew that they needed to move it to some other place so that the plagues would stop (though they were not concerned about the plagues affecting other Philistines where they would move the Ark to).

So, they moved the Ark to the city of Gath in the region of Gaza.  Again, the hand of the LORD was against the people of that city so that there was great panic because all the men of the city, both young and old, had tumors break out on them.  So, Gath decided to take a hint from the people of Ashdod and they sent the Ark onto the city of Ekron, but the residents of Ekron already head about what happened in Ashdod and Gath and said, "They have brought around to us the ark of the God of Israel to kill us and our people."

The lords of the Philistines were then called and were urged to take the Ark back to the Israelites so that it would stop killing the Philistines.  For the hand of the LORD was very heavy on the city and those who did not die were also struck by tumors and there was a cry of fear (and probably anguish) that the LORD heard in heaven.  So it is that we will see the Ark returned to Israel in Chapter 6 (what we'll look at next time).

1 Samuel 4:12-22
English Standard Version
​
The Death of Eli
12 A man of Benjamin ran from the battle line and came to Shiloh the same day, with his clothes torn and with dirt on his head. 13 When he arrived, Eli was sitting on his seat by the road watching, for his heart trembled for the ark of God. And when the man came into the city and told the news, all the city cried out. 14 When Eli heard the sound of the outcry, he said, “What is this uproar?” Then the man hurried and came and told Eli. 15 Now Eli was ninety-eight years old and his eyes were set so that he could not see. 16 And the man said to Eli, “I am he who has come from the battle; I fled from the battle today.” And he said, “How did it go, my son?” 17 He who brought the news answered and said, “Israel has fled before the Philistines, and there has also been a great defeat among the people. Your two sons also, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead, and the ark of God has been captured.” 18 As soon as he mentioned the ark of God, Eli fell over backward from his seat by the side of the gate, and his neck was broken and he died, for the man was old and heavy. He had judged Israel forty years.

19 Now his daughter-in-law, the wife of Phinehas, was pregnant, about to give birth. And when she heard the news that the ark of God was captured, and that her father-in-law and her husband were dead, she bowed and gave birth, for her pains came upon her. 20 And about the time of her death the women attending her said to her, “Do not be afraid, for you have borne a son.” But she did not answer or pay attention. 21 And she named the child Ichabod, saying, “The glory has departed from Israel!” because the ark of God had been captured and because of her father-in-law and her husband. 22 And she said, “The glory has departed from Israel, for the ark of God has been captured.”

We have one more part of the LORD's prophecy to see come true (it truly has been more terrible than we expected, as the Ark of the LORD has been stolen away from the battlefield).  Eli knew by how the men approached him that it was bad news.  He was once again sitting in his chair (there was not supposed to be a chair for the priests to sit down, for there was too much work to always be doing, but Eli was old and tired).  When Eli heard the news that his sons had died and that the Philistines had taken the Ark of the LORD, he fell out of his chair and broke his neck.  So it was that the LORD's prophecy had been fulfilled that the house of Eli would be no more and that judgment would come upon Eli, his sons, and the priesthood in such a way that all Israel would start to pay attention to the LORD and what He had to say.

Phinehas's daughter-in-law was pregnant and almost full-term though when she heard the news that her father-in-law and husband had died, she gave birth prematurely, and she died during childbirth, yet her son was allowed to live.  They named him Ichabod because at this time they saw the glory of the LORD (that is His divine presence in the pillar of cloud and pillar of fire) leave the people. They imagined that the LORD's presence was contained within the Ark (like the pagans thought of their gods) and so when they lost the Ark, they thought that God was no longer present with them (though they were correct that the LORD's blessing had been removed from them).  This name was also in part due to the damage to the priesthood with the loss of Eli and his sons and the other members of his family.

1 Samuel 4:1-11
English Standard Version

The Philistines Capture the Ark
4 And the word of Samuel came to all Israel.

Now Israel went out to battle against the Philistines. They encamped at Ebenezer, and the Philistines encamped at Aphek. 2 The Philistines drew up in line against Israel, and when the battle spread, Israel was defeated before the Philistines, who killed about four thousand men on the field of battle. 3 And when the people came to the camp, the elders of Israel said, “Why has the LORD defeated us today before the Philistines? Let us bring the ark of the covenant of the LORD here from Shiloh, that it may come among us and save us from the power of our enemies.” 4 So the people sent to Shiloh and brought from there the ark of the covenant of the LORD of hosts, who is enthroned on the cherubim. And the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God.

5 As soon as the ark of the covenant of the LORD came into the camp, all Israel gave a mighty shout, so that the earth resounded. 6 And when the Philistines heard the noise of the shouting, they said, “What does this great shouting in the camp of the Hebrews mean?” And when they learned that the ark of the LORD had come to the camp, 7 the Philistines were afraid, for they said, “A god has come into the camp.” And they said, “Woe to us! For nothing like this has happened before. 8 Woe to us! Who can deliver us from the power of these mighty gods? These are the gods who struck the Egyptians with every sort of plague in the wilderness. 9 Take courage, and be men, O Philistines, lest you become slaves to the Hebrews as they have been to you; be men and fight.”

​10 So the Philistines fought, and Israel was defeated, and they fled, every man to his home. And there was a very great slaughter, for thirty thousand foot soldiers of Israel fell. 11 And the ark of God was captured, and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, died.

It is important to today's story to notice that nowhere did the Israelites consult the LORD before going to battle as they were supposed to, and they did not take the Ark of the Covenant with them to battle as they were supposed to.  Only after they started to lose did they think to go get it and bring it out to the battlefront as a talisman or good luck charm of some kind that might change the tides of the battle.  This is because the hearts of the people were far from the LORD and they did what was right in their own eyes as we saw in the book of Judges.

The Israelites camped at Ebenezer (meaning stone of help).  This will be a bit of foreshadowing because there will be a naming ceremony for this place after this battle in chapter 7, but all who read this history written by Samuel would know this place by this name.  The Philistines encamped at a place named Aphek.  To the surprise of all of Israel that day, the LORD allowed Israel to be defeated by the Philistines and 4,000 Israelites were killed that day.  As I mentioned earlier, it was only at this point that they even thought about the LORD and why He might allow this to happen to them, and they thought to bring the Ark of the Covenant to the battlefront (bad idea, since the people had not sought the LORD's instruction or blessing for this war).

When the Ark of the Covenant arrived, the Israelites gave a rallying cry that the Philistines understood to mean that a god had arrived in the camp of the Israelites, and they knew this must be the same god that was mighty enough to deliver them from the Egyptians and helped them survive forty years of wandering through the wilderness (and helped them defeat the Canaanites, though they don't mention that).  They know their options are to take the Ark of the Covenant away from the Israelites or to at best be enslaved to the Israelites forever (possibly to have their kingdom completely decimated and destroyed like what happened to Egypt).  So they commanded their men to take courage and the Philistines fought like their life, freedom and the existence of their entire nation depended on it, and they were again victorious killing another 30,000 Israelites, including Hophni and Phineas, the sons of Eli, and the LORD also allowed them to capture the Ark of the Covenant.

This was devastating to the Israelites and we'll see that when Eli hears these words, not only that his sons were killed in battle, but that the Ark of the Covenant was captured, it will kill him to complete the judgment that the LORD had prophesied that all these things would happen on a single day and it would get the attention of the entire nation.  They had presumed that the LORD must bless them in everything they do and protect them no matter what bad decision they made, but He has made it clear to them that they need to correct course and now the people will be ready to listen to the words of the LORD spoken through His prophet Samuel.

1 Samuel 3
English Standard Version

The LORD Calls Samuel
3 Now the boy Samuel was ministering to the LORD in the presence of Eli. And the word of the LORD was rare in those days; there was no frequent vision.

2 At that time Eli, whose eyesight had begun to grow dim so that he could not see, was lying down in his own place. 3 The lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the temple of the LORD, where the ark of God was.

4 Then the LORD called Samuel, and he said, “Here I am!” 5 and ran to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But he said, “I did not call; lie down again.” So he went and lay down.

6 And the LORD called again, “Samuel!” and Samuel arose and went to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But he said, “I did not call, my son; lie down again.” 7 Now Samuel did not yet know the LORD, and the word of the LORD had not yet been revealed to him.

8 And the LORD called Samuel again the third time. And he arose and went to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” Then Eli perceived that the LORD was calling the boy. 9 Therefore Eli said to Samuel, “Go, lie down, and if he calls you, you shall say, ‘Speak, LORD, for your servant hears.’” So Samuel went and lay down in his place.

10 And the LORD came and stood, calling as at other times, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant hears.” 11 Then the LORD said to Samuel, “Behold, I am about to do a thing in Israel at which the two ears of everyone who hears it will tingle. 12 On that day I will fulfill against Eli all that I have spoken concerning his house, from beginning to end. 13 And I declare to him that I am about to punish his house forever, for the iniquity that he knew, because his sons were blaspheming God, and he did not restrain them. 14 Therefore I swear to the house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli's house shall not be atoned for by sacrifice or offering forever.”

15 Samuel lay until morning; then he opened the doors of the house of the LORD. And Samuel was afraid to tell the vision to Eli. 16 But Eli called Samuel and said, “Samuel, my son.” And he said, “Here I am.” 17 And Eli said, “What was it that he told you? Do not hide it from me. May God do so to you and more also if you hide anything from me of all that he told you.” 18 So Samuel told him everything and hid nothing from him. And he said, “It is the LORD. Let him do what seems good to him.”

​19 And Samuel grew, and the LORD was with him and let none of his words fall to the ground. 20 And all Israel from Dan to Beersheba knew that Samuel was established as a prophet of the LORD. 21 And the LORD appeared again at Shiloh, for the LORD revealed himself to Samuel at Shiloh by the word of the LORD.

The stage has been set for us and we already anticipate that Samuel will be the one called to replace Eli's sons as priests and that the LORD has provided not only his miraculous birth, but put it in the heart of his mother Hannah to give him over to the LORD's service so that he would live among the priests and learn how to be a priest.  The LORD is now officially going to call Samuel, though to Samuel the voice of the high priest, Eli, and the voice of the LORD sound the same to him--isn't that interesting since the high priest was one of those that was supposed to mediate and speak to the people for the LORD?

When we start this narrative today, God wants us to know that the Word of the LORD had not visited His people frequently at that time, so that they did not know His voice.  We also see Eli being too old to serve anymore (I have a hard time believing that Eli was going blind and needing to sit down all the time if he was within the age range that the LORD provided in Numbers 8:24-26).


Numbers 8:24-26
English Standard Version
24 “This applies to the Levites: from twenty-five years old and upward they shall come to do duty in the service of the tent of meeting. 25 And from the age of fifty years they shall withdraw from the duty of the service and serve no more. 26 They minister to their brothers in the tent of meeting by keeping guard, but they shall do no service. Thus shall you do to the Levites in assigning their duties.”
Since the priests were also Levites, this would apply to them too.  Eli should have no longer been serving, but as we mentioned before, his sons were too wicked for him to let them take his place.  So the LORD is likely waiting for Samuel to reach the age of 25 before he enters the LORD's service, but we do not know exactly how old he was at this point when the LORD called him and Samuel would tell everything to Eli (which would be shameful to Eli that the LORD would not speak directly to him, since he was the high priest).

The LORD called out to Samuel and Samuel ran to Eli asking if Eli had called him, and Eli said “I did not call; lie down again.”  This happened a second time before Eli realized that the LORD was speaking to Samuel and he told Samuel that the next time that he heard the Word of the LORD call to him, he should say, "Speak, LORD, for your servant is listening."

The LORD informs Samuel of the judgment that is about to come on Eli and his entire house forever because Eli's sons blasphemed the LORD and Eli did nothing to stop them.  God said this thing that He was about to do would get the attention of all of Israel so that they would start to listen to what the LORD had to say to them (and it is implied that Samuel would be the LORD's prophet to speak to them).  I think there is some parallel here to what we read in 1 Peter 4:17


1 Peter 4:17
English Standard Version
17 For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God?

Certainly the LORD is going to use this to get the attention of all the Levites and all the Jews, but in the more immediate timetable, the LORD now has the attention of Eli, because He had revealed this same message and warning to Eli through another prophet already, and Eli did not seem to have acted on it.  Now the message is coming once again to him from Samuel, who is like an adopted son to Eli, and the LORD has apparently chosen Samuel to be His prophet and possibly to be the one to replace Eli as high priest.  Eli wants Samuel to tell him everything that the LORD said and not to hide anything because he knows that the LORD is speaking through Samuel.  It is now Eli's turn to say "Speak LORD, for your servant is [finally] listening."  Eli says this pretty plainly when he tells Samuel, "It is the LORD. Let him do what seems good to him." 

So was the pattern of Samuel's life that Samuel spoke every word that the LORD told him.  He did not hide or waste any word that was spoken to him.  So it was that every in Israel from the northernmost part of Israel (Dan), where the tribe of Dan went when they left their ancestral land, to the southernmost part of Israel (Beersheba).  Everyone in the whole Land knew that the LORD was God and that Samuel was His prophet.  At this time, the Word of the LORD again visited at Shiloh (where the Tabernacle was, and where Samuel was ministering), and the Word of the LORD spoke directly to Samuel so that he could speak the LORD's words to the people in every part of the Land.

I would imagine that many years have passed in chapter 3 and by the end that Samuel is likely in his teens or early twenties (just a suspicion).  In the next chapter, we'll see the LORD bring about the promised judgment upon the house of Eli and the judgment will be even worse than we imagined for the LORD will use the Philistines not only to kill Eli's sons, but He will allow them to take the Ark of the Covenant.  This will be news that will make everyone far and wide see the judgment that the LORD has brought and make everyone listen to what is going on (yet, the Philistines will also be judged for taking the Ark of the Covenant).  This part of the story will be covered in the next several chapters.

1 Samuel 2:27-36
English Standard Version

The LORD Rejects Eli's Household
27 And there came a man of God to Eli and said to him, “Thus says the LORD, ‘Did I indeed reveal myself to the house of your father when they were in Egypt subject to the house of Pharaoh? 28 Did I choose him out of all the tribes of Israel to be my priest, to go up to my altar, to burn incense, to wear an ephod before me? I gave to the house of your father all my offerings by fire from the people of Israel. 29 Why then do you scorn my sacrifices and my offerings that I commanded for my dwelling, and honor your sons above me by fattening yourselves on the choicest parts of every offering of my people Israel?’ 30 Therefore the LORD, the God of Israel, declares: ‘I promised that your house and the house of your father should go in and out before me forever,’ but now the LORD declares: ‘Far be it from me, for those who honor me I will honor, and those who despise me shall be lightly esteemed. 31 Behold, the days are coming when I will cut off your strength and the strength of your father's house, so that there will not be an old man in your house. 32 Then in distress you will look with envious eye on all the prosperity that shall be bestowed on Israel, and there shall not be an old man in your house forever. 33 The only one of you whom I shall not cut off from my altar shall be spared to weep his eyes out to grieve his heart, and all the descendants of your house shall die by the sword of men. 34 And this that shall come upon your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, shall be the sign to you: both of them shall die on the same day. 35 And I will raise up for myself a faithful priest, who shall do according to what is in my heart and in my mind. And I will build him a sure house, and he shall go in and out before my anointed forever. 36 And everyone who is left in your house shall come to implore him for a piece of silver or a loaf of bread and shall say, “Please put me in one of the priests' places, that I may eat a morsel of bread.”’”

We saw Eli condemn and warn his sons last time, but it was too little, too late.  The LORD had already made up His mind that Eli's sons were to die for their sin and rebellion.  The LORD sends a prophet to Eli (probably not Samuel, as Samuel is not yet familiar with the voice of the LORD yet as we'll see soon), and the prophet told Eli that to make a mockery of the priesthood is to make a mockery of the LORD who chose the tribe of Levi by election to serve Him and minister before the people all the days of their lives.  The goal of the priesthood was not to make the priests rich and fat (that's what pagan priests did as they told people to offer sacrifices to their gods so that they could take the sacrifices for themselves).

The LORD then says that the time is coming when the tribe of Levi and specifically the household of Aaron will be judges and cut off so that there will be no old men who can serve as priest or high priest.  All of them will die by the sword and those that are left will look at the prosperity of all the other tribes of Israel and be envious of it, but it will be obvious that the LORD has judged them because it will be as if there is but one mature male left to weep for those that are lost (the LORD will not let the entire tribe die off, but he will execute judgment on even the priests for their wickedness and rebellion).

Then Eli is told that the LORD would give him a sign that this will surely happen for it will start in his own house when his two sons will die on the same day.  However, the LORD promises that he will raise up a faithful priest (Samuel) who will do according to all that is within the heart and mind of God.  I mentioned yesterday that this seems to point to Samuel, yet there are points of this prophecy that seem to point so someone even greater than Samuel.  For instance, the next line talks about a sure house where he (and probably referring to his descendants) would go in and out before the LORD's anointed forever.  We already mentioned that we know that Samuel's sons didn't follow in his footsteps (see 1 Samuel 8:1-3).  So it seems hard to believe that LORD is going to make Samuel's sons priests as they are not that different than the sons of Eli.  No, there must be someone even greater than Samuel that the LORD has in mind, probably a reference to Jesus Himself.  He would definitely do al within the heart and mind of God and His children (all the Christians) would definitely serve as priests for the LORD for we are holy priesthood that is "Holy unto the LORD."

Whoever this new priest is, all those left from the house of Eli will be beggars that will turn to this man for food and money and will try to once again become members of the priesthood so that they can once again take advantage of the benefits of being a priest to take their share of the sacrifices and the tithes.  We must watch out for any who use their ministry as a means for their own enrichment.  Paul also warns the Corinthian church and others about these kinds of men that cloak themselves in the guise of being shepherds, but they are out to fleece the sheep for themselves and to sacrifice the flock they are sworn to protect and serve for their own gain.  This is not to say that all people that take on the role of pastor or minister are to be distrusted, but examine them carefully and see if their primary interest is in glorifying the LORD, or in using the fruits of the ministry to satisfy their own lusts and make themselves wealthy according to the world's standards.  It should be fairly easy to spot such person who is a wolf in shepherd's clothing.

1 Samuel 2:22-26
English Standard Version

Eli Rebukes His Sons
22 Now Eli was very old, and he kept hearing all that his sons were doing to all Israel, and how they lay with the women who were serving at the entrance to the tent of meeting. 23 And he said to them, “Why do you do such things? For I hear of your evil dealings from all these people. 24 No, my sons; it is no good report that I hear the people of the LORD spreading abroad. 25 If someone sins against a man, God will mediate for him, but if someone sins against the LORD, who can intercede for him?” But they would not listen to the voice of their father, for it was the will of the LORD to put them to death.

26 Now the boy Samuel continued to grow both in stature and in favor with the LORD and also with man.

Eli saw all the evil things that his sons were doing, and he finally had enough and said something about it (it was too little, too late, but at least he said something).  Not only had Eli's sons been disobeying the LORD in what parts of the sacrifices belonged to them and how that meat was to be prepared and selected, but now we read that they are using their position as priests to commit sexual sin with the women who gathered at the Tabernacle to minister.  There were two things that it was obvious that the LORD hated and told his people to abstain from--idolatry and sexual sin, and the two are close companions with each other so if they are involved in sexual sin, it is because they have no fear of the LORD.

Eli tells his sons that he has heard from all the people about all the evil things they are doing.  They knew Eli was old and tired and spent much of his time sitting in his chair not able to do the work of a priest, but this doesn't mean that people didn't talk to him or that he didn't see things for himself.  He also knew his sons and knew their character and knew that the stories that he heard were most likely true because they did not believe in the LORD so they had no fear of the LORD.

Though their father tried to get them to repent and realize that they were in danger by sinning against the LORD, the LORD hardened their hearts so that they did not repent, because it was His will that they die and Samuel take their place.

Compare the last verse of this passage with this verse from the book of Luke:


Luke 2:52
English Standard Version
​52 And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man.


1 Samuel 2:26
English Standard Version
​26 Now the boy Samuel continued to grow both in stature and in favor with the LORD and also with man.

Verse 35 gives us some hint (if we read ahead) what the LORD is up to with Samuel, "35 And I will raise up for myself a faithful priest, who shall do according to what is in my heart and in my mind. And I will build him a sure house, and he shall go in and out before my anointed forever."

But is that prophecy about Samuel or is it about Jesus, or is maybe partially true about Samuel but more fully fulfilled in Jesus?  Do you see how Samuel helps point us to Jesus?  There are many other instance like this too in the Old Testament and we'll see several in the life of Samuel.  Keep an eye out for them.
 

1 Samuel 2:12-21
English Standard Version

Eli's Worthless Sons
12 Now the sons of Eli were worthless men. They did not know the LORD. 13 The custom of the priests with the people was that when any man offered sacrifice, the priest's servant would come, while the meat was boiling, with a three-pronged fork in his hand, 14 and he would thrust it into the pan or kettle or cauldron or pot. All that the fork brought up the priest would take for himself. This is what they did at Shiloh to all the Israelites who came there. 15 Moreover, before the fat was burned, the priest's servant would come and say to the man who was sacrificing, “Give meat for the priest to roast, for he will not accept boiled meat from you but only raw.” 16 And if the man said to him, “Let them burn the fat first, and then take as much as you wish,” he would say, “No, you must give it now, and if not, I will take it by force.” 17 Thus the sin of the young men was very great in the sight of the LORD, for the men treated the offering of the LORD with contempt.

18 Samuel was ministering before the LORD, a boy clothed with a linen ephod. 19 And his mother used to make for him a little robe and take it to him each year when she went up with her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice. 20 Then Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife, and say, “May the LORD give you children by this woman for the petition she asked of the LORD.” So then they would return to their home.

​21 Indeed the LORD visited Hannah, and she conceived and bore three sons and two daughters. And the boy Samuel grew in the presence of the LORD.

We start to see in this passage the LORD's greater purpose in the birth of Samuel.  As we saw in the book of Judges and even a bit in the book of Ruth, the people of Israel have become so corrupt that they are hard to distinguish from their pagan, Gentile neighbors, and the book of Judges ended with stories of how this corruption had even affected some of the Levites, and now we see that moral depravity even making its way into the family of the high priest of Israel.  These are strong words for the LORD to look at Eli's sons who are serving as priests and to call them "worthless" and "good for nothing."  They were such poor examples to the people that it would be better for the people to have no example than to have their bad example.  In fact, they were serving as priests, but they themselves did not know the LORD.  While it happens today, imagine a pastor trying to lead a church and preach the Word of God who is himself not a Christian.  That would be inconceivable!  In the same way that we would say that pastoral leadership from a non-Christian would be worthless and worse than no leadership, so it was here with the sons of Eli, and the LORD is not going to let them continue to lead the people, for the days of Eli are numbered and his sons will not be allowed to hold his office as high priest.

Samuel gives an example of how they used the priesthood to serve themselves instead of serving the LORD and His people.  They did not trust the LORD to provide for them by lot as they were supposed to and instead looked in the pot while the sacrifices were being cooked (boiling) to select the portions that looked best to them and they took the fatty portions that belonged to the LORD and were to be burned with fire for themselves and if the priest that was to prepare the food for them would try to refuse to give them the raw meat (for they said they would roast it themselves) then they would come and take it by force.  In this way, the text says that they showed contempt for the LORD and for the office of the priesthood, and their sin was very great.

The problem did not lie solely with Eli's sons though, for part of the issue here was the Eli was negligent in his duties both as high priest and as father.  He failed to discipline his children and he allowed his sons who did not even know the LORD to serve as priests.  The LORD would be faithful though and would provide Samuel as an adopted son to Eli and though he was not of the tribe of Levi, the LORD would allow him to serve as judge, prophet and high priest for the nation of Israel for a time.  The days of the house of Eli are numbered and judgment is about to come upon Eli's sons.

The text hints at this by telling us that Samuel wore the priestly garments (the ephod) and ministered before the LORD and the LORD accepted the work that he did before Him.  The text also tells us that his mother made clothes for him and brought them to him every year when she came to visit and that Eli would pray a blessing over Hannah and Elkanah every year, specifically to request that the LORD would give them even more children.  The LORD honored their request and the prayers of Eli and Hannah had three sons and two daughters born to her after Samuel, but Samuel remained at Shiloh serving in the Tabernacle and ministering before the presence of the LORD.