Samuel - NIV

Samuel Came along When the Time of the Judges was Nearly over and the Kings Were Beginning. He was a Miracle Child, a Gift from God to a Mother Who Badly Wanted a Child, but Had Not Been Able Thus Far. After His Mother Weaned Him and Brought Him to Eli, the High Priest Who Did a Better Job Raising Him than He Had Done with His Own Sons. Samuel's Mother Said, I Have Lent Him to the Lord as Long as He Lives.

1. Hannah Loved the Lord and She Loved Her Husband. But This was Not Enough for Her. She Wanted a Child.

1 Samuel 1:1-2 There was a certain man from ________________, 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 __________________. [2] He had two wives; one was called Hannah and the other Peninnah. Peninnah had ______________, but Hannah had none.

1 Samuel 1:3-5 Year after year this man went up from his town to worship and sacrifice to the LORD Almighty at Shiloh, where Hophni and ______________, the two sons of Eli, were priests of the LORD. [4] ______________ the day came for Elkanah to sacrifice, he would give portions of the meat to his wife ______________ and to all her sons and ________________. [5] But to Hannah he gave a double portion ____________ he loved her, and the LORD had closed her womb.

1 Samuel 1:6-7 And because the LORD had closed her womb, her rival kept ________________ her in order to irritate her. [7] This went on year after year. ______________ Hannah went up to the house of the LORD, her rival ______________ her till she wept and would not eat.

1 Samuel 1:8 Elkanah her husband would say to her, "Hannah, why are you ____________? Why don't you eat? Why are you ___________________? Don't I mean more to you than ten sons?"

1) Why was Hannah so sad? _______________________________

2) Elkanah said to Hannah, why do you _________? Am I not better to you than _______ sons?

2. God Answers Hannah's Prayer.

1 Samuel 1:9-12 Once when they had ______________ eating and ______________ in Shiloh, Hannah stood up. Now Eli the priest was sitting on a chair by the ______________ of the LORD's temple. [10] In bitterness of soul Hannah wept much and prayed to the LORD. [11] And she made a vow, saying, "O LORD Almighty, if you will only look upon your servant's misery and ______________ 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." [12] As she kept on ____________ to the LORD, Eli ______________ her mouth.

1 Samuel 1:13-15 Hannah was praying in her heart, and her lips were moving but her voice was not heard. Eli thought she was drunk [14] and said to her, "How long will you keep on getting drunk? Get rid of your wine." [15] "Not so, my lord," Hannah ____________, "I am a woman who is deeply ______________. I have not been ______________ wine or beer; I was ____________ out my soul to the LORD.

1 Samuel 1:17-18 Eli answered, "Go in peace, and may the God of Israel grant you what you have asked of him." [18] She said, "May your ____________ find favor in your eyes." Then she went her way and ate ________________, and her face was no longer ______________.

1 Samuel 1:19-20 Early the next morning they arose and ________________ before the LORD and then went back to their home at Ramah. Elkanah lay with Hannah his wife, and the LORD __________________ her. [20] So in the course of time Hannah ________________ and gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel, saying, "Because I asked the LORD for him."

1) What did Eli the priest think as he watched Hannah's lips move without making any sound? _____________________________

2) What was the vow Hannah made to the Lord if He would give her a son? ____________________________

3) Did Hannah have a son? _____________

4) What did she name him? _________________

3. Hannah Took Samuel to Stay with Eli the High Priest. As She Had Said She Would, She Gave Him to Serve the Lord.

1 Samuel 1:21-22 When the man Elkanah went up with all his family to offer the annual ________________ to the LORD and to fulfill his vow, [22] Hannah did not go. She said to her ____________, "After the boy is weaned, I will take him and ____________ him before the LORD, and he will live there always."

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 __________. [25] When they had ___________________ the bull, they brought the boy to Eli, [26] and she said to him, "As __________ as you live, my lord, I am the woman who stood here beside you ____________ to the LORD. [27] I __________ for this child, and the LORD has ____________ me what I asked of him. [28] So now I give him to the LORD. For his whole life he will be given over to the LORD." And he ________________ the LORD there.

1 Samuel 2:11 Then ____________ went home to Ramah, but the boy __________________ before the LORD under Eli the priest.

1) Hannah said she would not go with her husband to the yearly sacrifice until what happened? __________________________ (verse 22)

2) Hannah said that she had dedicated Samuel to the Lord for as long as he __________. (Verse 28).

4. Samuel Lived with Eli and Learned from Him.

1 Samuel 3:1-4 The boy Samuel __________________ before the LORD under Eli. In those days the word of the LORD was rare; there were not many ____________. [2] One night Eli, whose eyes were ______________ so weak that he could barely see, was lying down in his usual place. [3] The lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the __________ of the LORD, where the ark of God was. [4] Then the LORD __________ Samuel. Samuel answered, "Here I am."

1 Samuel 3:5-6 And he _____ to Eli and said, "Here I am; you called me." But Eli said, "I did not call; go back and lie down." So he went and _____ down. [6] Again the _______ called, "Samuel!" And Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, "Here I am; you called me." "My _____," Eli said, "I did not call; go back and lie down."

1 Samuel 3:7-9 Now Samuel did not yet know the LORD: The word of the LORD had not yet been ______________ to him. [8] The LORD called Samuel a third time, and Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, "Here I am; you called me." Then Eli ______________ that the LORD was ____________ the boy. [9] So Eli told Samuel, "Go and lie down, and if he calls you, say, 'Speak, LORD, for your ____________ is ________________.' " So Samuel went and lay down in his place.

1 Samuel 3:10-14 The LORD came and stood there, calling as at the other times, "Samuel! Samuel!" Then Samuel said, "Speak, for your servant is ________________." [11] And the LORD said to Samuel: "See, I am about to do ________________ in Israel that will make the ears of everyone who hears of it tingle. [12] At that time I will carry out against Eli __________________ I spoke against his family--from ________________ to end. [13] For I told him that I would judge his family forever because of the sin he knew about; his sons made themselves _____________________, and he failed to restrain them. [14] ________________, I swore to the house of Eli, 'The guilt of Eli's house will never be atoned for by ________________ or offering.' "

1) When Eli had lain down for the night and Samuel had too, he heard a voice. Whose voice was it? ________

2) When Eli realized that God was talking to Samuel, he told Samuel to answer the Lord by saying: Speak Lord, for your ____________ hears You.

3) God said that He was putting a curse on Eli and his sons because they had sinned and Eli had not _____________ them.

5. Samuel Had to Tell Eli the Message the Lord Had Given Him.

1 Samuel 3:15 Samuel lay down until ____________ and then opened the doors of the house of the LORD. He was afraid to tell Eli the __________,

1 Samuel 3:16-18 But Eli called him and said, "Samuel, my son." Samuel answered, "Here I am." [17] "What was it he said to you?" Eli asked. "Do not hide it from me. May God deal with you, be it ever so ______________, if you hide from me ______________ he told you." [18] So Samuel told him __________________, hiding ____________ from him. Then Eli said, "He is the LORD; let him do what is good in his eyes."

1 Samuel 3:19-20 The LORD was with Samuel as he grew up, and he let none of his words fall to the ground. [20] And all Israel from Dan to ________________ __________________ that Samuel was attested as a prophet of the LORD.

1) Samuel afraid to tell Eli what the Lord had told him? __________

2) Did Eli accept the message as from the Lord? __________

3) Did all of Israel come to understand that Samuel was God's prophet with messages from God? _______________.

Samuel was a judge and a prophet. Judges had ruled Israel for about four hundred years since the time of Moses. When the people asked for a king, Samuel felt rejected. God said to him, the people have not rejected you, but Me. As the time of the judges was closing, kings replaced judges as rulers of Israel. Samuel anointed the first two kings, Saul and David.

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