1 Samuel 3

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

A discussion in charismatics could lead to an argument that the lord is the same yesterday, today, and forever- implying that there is no difference in how God operates today and in the past. That just as God spoke to people then, he would now, and will continue to do. There are plenty of stories of people speaking for God when God did not speak, times when great things happened and no recorded Word was mentioned (re: Esther) and here we have a recorded period where the Word of God was uncommon, visions were not the norm. To say that now is a time where the spirit has been silent, in terms of Word and Visions, is not unprecedented.

He absolutely still is orchestrating and speaking to our hearts, molding and giving us decisions. And to some he still visits and gives visions to convert. Perhaps, though, it is not like we see in the Exodus or the portions of 2 Kings with Elijah and Elisha, but perhaps we live in a time like the times of Eli and Esther or Nehemiah.

But Hannah did not go up, for she said to her husband, “I will not go up until the child is weaned; then I will bring him, that he may appear before the Lord and stay there forever" (1 Samuel 1:22).

A child was weaned when he was transitioned from his mother's milk to other foods. A casual search on the internet revealed that Hebrew boys were weaned at around two years of age. This could mean that Hannah gave up Samuel to Eli and the LORD's service from the age of two. 

How hard it must have been for her to let her child, and at the time, her only child, go from her side. But she considered Samuel the answer to her prayers, and she had taken an oath to give him to the LORD (1 Samuel 2:20). 

Now, after this, we discover that God opened Hannah's womb to have other children. What is more, we learn,

And the boy Samuel grew before the LORD" (1 Samuel 2:21).

Again, in contrast to the unfaithful sons of Eli, we learn this about Samuel:

Now the boy Samuel was growing in stature and in favor both with the Lord and with men (1 Samuel 2:26).

And as Samuel continued to grow in stature, we get this witness about him:

Thus Samuel grew and the Lord was with him and let none of his words fail (1 Samuel 3:19).

Although we hear no more of Hannah beyond the record of her having other children after Samuel, I can't help but think of a mother's pride in knowing that her firstborn had such character and stature before the LORD and before the nation. Would this be your greatest joy for your child? That your child would be known for their faithfulness to the LORD and their integrity?

Friends, I encourage you to read my former comments (sharing from Yujin on April 5, 2012), where I touch on the true priority of Christian parenting. Today, I reiterate the point I made a year ago by asking, "What is your priority in raising your children?" As I have shared elsewhere, there is only one overarching command that God gives to parents in the New Testament:

Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord (Ephesians 6:4).

As the expression "man" is often inclusive of men and women, the expression "fathers" is probably also inclusive of fathers and mothers and so may be simply translated as "parents". In this command there is something NOT to do and something TO DO.

Parents are NOT to exasperate their children. Some translations interpret this as "do not provoke your children to anger." The word for "exasperate" or "provoke to anger" is used only in Ephesians 6:4, so it makes it difficult to determine the exact meaning; however, the immediate context suggests that the meaning is closer to "exasperate," with the connotation of "frustrate" or "over burden" as it stands in contrast to the positive instruction to "bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord." This is very parallel to a similar instruction in the Old Testament (cf. Deuteronomy 6:4-9), where parents are instructed to guide their children in a singular and exclusive devotion to God and an immersive training in the Word of God.

Today, as I see parents trying to get their children exposed to this or that sport, instrument, or other extracurricular activity, they may be exasperating their children. This would be particularly true if there is not an equal or greater attention given to their spiritual and moral instruction. Now, if your child is very young, it is understandable that such instruction may be difficult; however, if they are older and can comprehend these things, then the emphasis for them should be on these spiritual and moral principles rather than on worldly education and pursuits. 

The command for Christian parents is not to neglect other training and education for their children but to FOCUS their time, energy, and attention on the training and instruction of the Lord. In other words, if your children are too busy with other things, so that they do not have time to learn God's Word, then they are too busy. You may be guilty of "exaxperating" them with secondary things when only one thing is really important. 

I know that when parents load their kids with lots of school and extra-curricular activities, they do so because they want what's best for their kids, but I believe this arises out of an ignorance of what God has said in His Word.

If we only take a moment to reflect on our own lives, we might see how we are simply projecting our own busy and exasperated lives onto our children. We complain again and again of not being focused on the Lord, of how we need to spend more time in His Word, of how we need to seek Him above all things and to not worry about things. Yet, here we are, filling our kids' lives with the very same attitude and experiences that take God and His Word and His mission out of focus. 

Friends, join me in beginning to change this self-destructive pattern in our generation. Let us obey God's command and make as our focus for our children to raise them in the training and instruction of the Lord. 

I have just recently started making time to read and study the Bible and the readings that are posted.  This is an example of God always knowing what is on your mind and what you are struggling with.  Daily I struggle with putting God first and my family second.  I grew up in a Missionary Baptist home always watching my grandmaw read the Bible and a lot of times listening to her read to me out of the Bible.  But as I grew and had children of my own I have lost some of the knowledge of the Bible.  To me this lesson is not only about putting God first but to me it is also a lesson on discipline, and sometimes how our lack of discipline on our children can effect, not only the parents and the child, but our relationship with God.  Eli did talk to his sons and told them that they were sinning against God, he even told them that they needed to stop what they were doing.  Did Eli not teach them while they were young to respect God and keep his commandments?  Did Eli fail to discipline and teach his children about God and His wrath?  This makes me reflect on my children.  Do I teach them enough about God to have a good understanding?  Do I show them everyday that I put God first?  Do I set a good example for them to follow?  Will my children learn from my mistakes or will my mistakes hinder them?  The Bible brings my faults to light and He lets me know the things in my life that I need to work on not only within myself but with my children as well. 

Now Eli was very old, but he was aware of what his sons were doing to the people of Israel... Eli said to them, “I have been hearing reports from all the people about the wicked things you are doing. Why do you keep sinning? You must stop, my sons!... But Eli’s sons wouldn’t listen to their father, for the Lord was already planning to put them to death (1 Samuel 2:22-25).

Eli was aware of his son's wickedness, and he warned them, but he did not discipline them. Consider God's assessment:

So why do you scorn my sacrifices and offerings? Why do you give your sons more honor than you give me—for you and they have become fat from the best offerings of my people Israel! (1 Samuel 2:29).

The LORD says that Eli gave his sons greater honor than he gave the LORD. It appear's Eli's verbal rebuke was both late and insufficient.

What should Eli have done? After all, he was old and his sons were grown up. And he had no other sons to replace them. Certainly more than he did.

I bring this to the attention of our dailyqt.org community, which to date has 225 members, because it raises an important question. Are you honoring your children more than you are honoring God? 

First, this is not a uniquely Old Testament principle. For even in the NT, Jesus teaches believers to "seek first God's kingdom and righteousness" (Matthew 6:33) and again,

If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even life itself—such a person cannot be my disciple (Luke 14:26).

Therefore, whether from the OT or from the NT, the principle is that no one and nothing should compete with our love for God. So, I ask again, Are you honoring your children more than you are honoring God?

When your focus is in grooming your children for worldly success, are you not honoring them more than God? When you prioritize academic and athletic events over worship and Bible study, are you not honoring them over God? The culture teaches parents to spend more time with their kids, but when you do this at the expense of your own spiritual health, are you not honoring them more than God? When you are more concerned with your kids being your friends rather than disciplining them to fear and obey God, are you not honoring them more than God? 

Did you know that in the Old Testament if a child cursed God, they were to stone the child to death (Leviticus 24:10-16)? They were even to do this for children that stubbornly disobeyed their parents (Deuteronomy 21:18-21). Filial ties were not to supercede the parents' duty to honor and obey God. 

Moms and dads, I know how deeply you love your children. I too deeply love my daughter. However, be careful, that this parental affection does not sidetrack your devotion to the LORD. 

A number of dads have told me that having become fathers themselves, they can now understand God's Fatherly love for them. As quaint as this sounds, I really wonder what they mean by this. Do they really understand the nature of God's love for His children? 

God's love for the children of Israel was based on His covenant with Abraham. God's love for us is based on the New Covenant in Christ. It is not based on sentiment or affection. Even a cursory review of biblical history reveals that God was hardly gentle with His children when they disobeyed Him. Their discipline was no mere spanking. They were killed, and sometimes in a horrible way. And oftentimes, God's discipline touched not only them but generations after them. Just consider the judgment on Eli's posterity:

The time is coming when I will put an end to your family, so it will no longer serve as my priests. All the members of your family will die before their time. None will reach old age. You will watch with envy as I pour out prosperity on the people of Israel. But no members of your family will ever live out their days. Those who survive will live in sadness and grief, and their children will die a violent death (1 Samuel 2:31-34).

Doesn't that cause you to clear your throat a bit? Even generations yet unborn would be judged for the sins of Eli and his sons. 

Do these dads really understand the nature of God's love? Do they realize that if it were not for God's unswerving faithfulness to His New Covenant promises, every "child of God" too would be thrust into hell forever? 

Where does this idea come from that associates God with sentimental "affection"? Perhaps it is the fault of some translators, who would do better to translate "love" as "faithfulness to His covenant" in the Old Testament and translate "affection" as "kindness" in the New Testament.

Perhaps they have drawn this conclusion from numerous messages arising out of the Parable of the Prodigal Son, where the father is equated with God, who is eagerly awaiting his prodigal son to come home. Yet, this parable has no interpretation by Christ; therefore, any modern interpretation borders on conjecture. And in keeping with the context of the parable, which occurs only in Luke 15, the primary message is not the love of the father but rather the repentance of the son. 

I really do question the notion that dads can better understand the nature of God's love because they have children. It may be just the opposite. Why? Consider this. Paul says that a married person has a divided interest and that a single person has a better chance of undivided devotion to the Lord (1 Corinthians 7:32-35). The logic is that part of their interest is in being concerned with the interets of their spouse. Couldn't the same thing be said with respect to children? So, the person with both spouse and children have an even greater division of interest. And they must be even more vigilant about keeping themselves and their families focused on the Lord.

Friends, we live in a time, where the Bible is little known and even less understood. Pastors and speakers, conditioned more by commentaries than diligent meditation on the Scriptures, regurgitate the same errors with each passing generation. Christians today measure their qualifications to convey truth accurately based on how long they've served in a church or what experiences they've amassed over time rather than how well they know and have studied the Word of God. This lies at the root of skewed notions like what I've just written about with respect to the perspective of dads on God's love. 

Therefore, let us be all the more diligent to study God's Word for ourselves. And parents, take care to keep the Lord as the priority for yourselves and your families. 

Samuel is a book of great beginnings and tragic endings.  It begins with Eli as High Priest during the time of Judges.  As a religious leader, Eli certainly must have begun his life with a close relationship to God.  In his communication with Hannah, and in his training of her son Samuel, he demonstrated a clear understanding of God's purposes and call.  Eli & Samuel are the last of the judges