The Early Life of Samuel

The time of the Judges was a turbulent cycle of paganism, judgment from God, repentance, and a return to paganism. Samuel was the man that the Lord used to stabilize Israel and return the nation back to true worship. His conception was miraculous as Hannah was unable to conceive.

It was a joyous day when she was finally able to fulfill her promise to the Lord and bring young Samuel to the tabernacle at Shiloh. Samuel was raised under the tutelage of Eli and he witnessed the iniquity of Hophni and Phinehas and how they were sexual predators to the women that came to worship at the tabernacle.

Eventually Jesus activated Samuel with a message of impending judgment for Eli and his sons and Samuel’s showed his character when he boldly spoke as a prophet of the Lord. God used the Philistines to carry out the foreseen judgment.

The conflict became so desperate that the Israelites tried to use the Ark of the Covenant as a good luck charm. Thirty four thousand men died, among them were Hophni and Phineas, and Eli broke his neck upon hearing the bad news, but Samuel was firmly established in the eyes of the Israelites as a man of God.