FROM TODAY’S RECAP: - Video: 1 Samuel Overview - Numbers 15:30-31 - Genesis 30:1 Note: We provide links to specific resources; this is not an endorsement of the entire website, author, organization, etc. Their views may not represent our own. SHOW NOTES: - Follow The Bible Recap: Instagram | Facebook | TikTok | YouTube - Follow Tara-Leigh Cobble: Instagram - Read/listen on the Bible App or Dwell App - Learn more at our Start Page - Become a RECAPtain - Shop the TBR Store - Credits PARTNER MINISTRIES: D-Group International Israelux The God Shot TLC Writing & Speaking DISCLAIMER: The Bible Recap, Tara-Leigh Cobble, and affiliates are not a church, pastor, spiritual authority, or counseling service. Listeners and viewers consume this content on a voluntary basis and assume all responsibility for the resulting consequences and impact.
Full Episode
Hey Bible Readers, I'm Tara Lee Cobble and I'm your host for the Bible Recap. Today we start our 10th book of the Bible, and this book contains some of the most beloved stories in the whole Old Testament. To backtrack a bit on how we got here, Israel started out as just Abraham. God promised him offspring and land.
God gave him the offspring little by little, but his descendants really multiplied during the 400 years they were enslaved in Egypt. God used Moses to lead them out of slavery and followed that with 40 years of testing in the wilderness to train their hearts to know that he is the one true God. Then God brought them into the land He promised Abraham all those years ago.
They spread out in that land, but it was so nice not to be in slavery or in the wilderness that this new life of luxury and ease made them forget God. They did whatever they wanted. God raised up judges as military leaders to drive out the enemies who were leading them astray, but this didn't deal with the problem of their hearts leading them astray.
They did whatever they wanted and things grew continually worse in the promised land. The Israelites were sure their problem would be solved if only they had a king. And that's where we find ourselves today. It's approximately 1050 BC, and we open with a couple, Elkanah and Hannah. They're Levites, the tribe of priests living in Ephraim, the tribe who love to fight. And Hannah is barren.
Elkanah has a second wife who is not barren, but the text seems to indicate that he loves Hannah more. That probably makes Peninnah, the second wife, jealous. Every year when they go to Shiloh and offer sacrifices, which you may recall they're required to do since that's where the tabernacle currently is, Peninnah would bully Hannah all the more.
In ancient times, it was customary for each wife to have a separate tent, so these trips may have been a rare occasion of them having to interact with each other. Hannah's crushed by Peninnah's taunting, and Elkanah notices, and he makes a statement that goes against everything their culture values. This would have been better than a dozen roses and a diamond ring.
He says, Am I not more to you than ten sons? Ten sons would have been super valuable and prestigious, especially for him. So to indicate that what he and Hannah have together is more valuable than that, that's pretty remarkable. Elkanah wins the award for best ancient pickup line. That is, until we get to Solomon. But his sentiments don't comfort Hannah, unfortunately.
After dinner, she goes to the tabernacle to cry out to God. She makes a vow to God that if he'll give her a son, she'll set him apart as a lifelong Nazarite, just like Samson. This was such a passionate prayer that the priest Eli thought she was drunk. But she explains her situation and Eli leaves her with some words of encouragement that cheer her up.
He blesses her and sort of maybe prophesies that God will answer her prayer with a yes. And not long after that, Hannah becomes pregnant. She names him Samuel. And true to her vow, she takes him back to the house of God, offers an extravagant sacrifice, then seeks out Eli the priest and basically says, Hey, remember me? I'm the one you thought was drunk when I was asking God for a child.
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