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December 27 - 1 Samuel 2 · A Chapter a Day Bible Reading

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  Hello friends, Sean here. Great to have your company on
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  today, the Wednesday the middle of the week.
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  It is the 27th of December and I'm so grateful that you have
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  found some time in today, which is probably a rather unusual
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  Wednesday that probably doesn't fit into the normal Wednesday
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  mold for you as you may well be enjoying a little bit of well
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  earned R&R. Today we continue hearing the
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  story of Hannah and her prayer of rejoicing that God finally
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  heard her prayer. And then and then it will turn
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  to the wicked family of the priest Eli.
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  So join me as we read together the beginnings of this wonderful
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  story in First Samuel Chapter 2. Then Hannah prayed.
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  My heart rejoices in the Lord. The Lord has made me strong.
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  Now I have an answer for my enemies.
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  I rejoice because you rescued me.
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  No one is wholly like the Lord. There is no one besides you.
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  There is no rock like our God. Stop acting so proud and
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  haughty. Don't speak with such arrogance,
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  for the Lord is a God who knows what you have done.
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  He will judge your actions. The bow of the mighty is now
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  broken, and those who stumbled are now strong.
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  Those who were well fed are now starving, and those who were
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  starving are now full. The childless woman now has
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  seven children, and the woman with many children wastes away.
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  The Lord gives both death and life.
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  He brings some down to the grave, but raises others up.
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  The Lord makes some poor and others rich.
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  He brings some down and lifts others up.
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  He lifts the poor from the dust and the needy from the garbage
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  dump. He sets them among Princess,
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  placing them in seats of honor for all.
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  The earth is the Lord's, and he has set the world in order.
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  He will protect his faithful ones.
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  But the wicked will disappear in darkness.
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  No one will succeed by strength alone.
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  Those who fight against the Lord will be shattered.
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  He thunders against them from heaven.
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  The Lord judges throughout the earth.
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  He gives power to his king. He increases the strength of his
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  anointed one. Then Elkanah returned home to
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  Rama without Samuel, and the boys served the Lord by
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  assisting Eli the priest. Now the sons of Eli were
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  scoundrels who had no respect for the Lord or for their duties
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  as priests. Whenever anyone offered a
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  sacrifice, Eli's sons would send over a servant with A3 pronged
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  fork. While the meat of the sacrificed
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  animal was still boiling, the servant would stick the fork
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  into the pot and demand that whatever it brought up be given
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  to Eli's sons. All the Israelites who came to
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  worship at Shiloh were treated this way.
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  Sometimes the servant would come even before the animal's fat had
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  been burned on the altar. He would demand raw meat before
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  it had been boiled, so that it could be used for roasting.
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  The man offering the sacrifice might reply, take as much as you
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  want, but the fat must be burned first.
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  Then the servant would demand no give it to me now, or I'll take
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  it by force. So the sin of these young men
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  was very serious in the Lord's sight, for they treated the
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  Lord's offerings with contempt. But Samuel, though he was only a
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  boy, served the Lord. He wore a linen garment like
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  that of a priest. Each year his mother made a
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  small coat for him and brought it to him when she came with her
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  husband for the sacrifice. Before they returned home, Eli
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  would bless Elkanah and his wife and say, May the Lord give you
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  other children to take the place of this son she gave to the
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  Lord. And the Lord blessed Hannah, and
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  she conceived and gave birth to three sons and two daughters.
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  Meanwhile, Samuel grew up in the presence of the Lord.
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  Now Eli was very old, but he was aware of what his sons were
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  doing to the people of Israel. He knew, for instance, that his
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  sons were seducing the young women who assisted at the
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  entrance of the Tabernacle, Eli said to them.
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  I have been hearing reports from all the people about the wicked
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  things you are doing. Why do you keep sinning?
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  You must stop my sons. The reports I hear among the
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  Lord's people are not good. If someone sins against another
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  person, God can mediate for the guilty party.
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  But if someone sins against the Lord, who can intercede?
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  But Eli's sons wouldn't listen to their father, for the Lord
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  was already planning to put them to death.
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  Meanwhile, the boy Samuel grew taller and grew in favor with
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  the Lord and with the people. One day a man from God came to
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  Eli and gave him this message from the Lord.
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  I revealed myself to your ancestors when they were
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  Pharaoh's slaves in Egypt. I chose your ancestor Aaron,
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  from among all the tribes of Israel, to be my priest, to
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  offer sacrifices on my altar, to burn incense, and to wear the
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  priestly vest as he served me and I assigned the sacrificial
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  offerings to your priests. So why do you scorn my
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  sacrifices and offerings? Why do you give your sons more
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  honor than you give me for you? And they have become fat from
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  the best offerings of my people. Israel, therefore, the Lord, the
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  God of Israel, says, I promised that your branch of the tribe of
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  Levi would always be my priests. But I will honor those who honor
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  me, and I will despise those who think lightly of me.
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  The time is coming when I will put an end to your family so it
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  will no longer serve as my priests.
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  All the members of your family will die before their time.
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  None will reach old age. You will watch with envy as I
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  pour out prosperity on the people of Israel.
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  But no members of your family will ever live out their days.
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  The few not cut off from serving at my altar will survive, but
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  only so their eyes can go blind and their hearts break and their
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  children will die of violent death.
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  And to prove that what I have said will come true, I will
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  cause your two sons, Hofny and Phineas, to die on the same day.
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  Then I will raise up a faithful priest who will serve me and do
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  what I desire. I will establish his family, and
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  they will be priests to my anointed kings forever.
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  Then all of your surviving family will bow before him,
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  begging for money and food. Please, they will say, give U.S.
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  jobs among the priests, so we will have enough to eat.
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  Jesus, give us rest. Give us rest as we rest in you
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  during this time of the year, as all things draw to a close, may
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  we find ourselves resting in the palm of your hand, covered by
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  your grace and your provision. Thank you that you love us and
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  that your story of engagement and revelation with people
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  stretches back so many thousands of years.
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  As we have the privilege of hearing this part of your story,
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  you establishing what your kingship looks like.
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  Bless us as we read these chapters.
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  Reveal yourself to us so that we can know you and love you more
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  fully.