I can't help it / My words fell to the ground

From I Samuel 1-3:

1. I may have mentioned this fact before, but I have noticed that whenever a man had more than one wife, he had family problems. It seems that the family Hannah was a wife in was no exception, as the other wife had a serious problem with her, and must have seen her as a rival. This is illustrated in Ch. 1:6 when it talks about how the other wife provoked her.

2. I wonder why Eli thought that Hannah was drunk. Was that common in the temple area? I would have assumed that they were praying if I saw their lips moving but they were not saying anything out loud. Perhaps that came from seeing his sons drunk one too many times, or something.

3. I wonder at what age the boy Samuel was considered weaned. I mean, if Eli did such a poor job of training up his own sons, how did he succeed with Samuel? Or was Samuel a little older than my perception used to be as a child. I always assumed that he was 3 years old or so when he went to live at the temple. But in reality he could have been as old as six or seven. Then this would explain his clinging to God while Eli's sons went the way of wickedness. On the other hand, the bible states in Ch. 1:24, "After he was weaned, she took the boy with her, young as he was..."

4. The bible records that Eli rebuked his sons, but they ignored him. It also says that it was the Lord's will to put them to death. The way it states this, it seems that the Lord made the sons of Eli to ignore him, but in reality, they chose to ignore, so God chose to put them to death. I hate it when people say that God has full control and man has no control even over his own actions. The reason I hate this is because there are many who use it as a cop-out. "I can't help it. God made me do it." NOT TRUE! God gave man free will, and man chooses what man does. And man having free will in no way takes away from the authority of God, or the fact that God is in overall control.

5. In chapter 2:35 it states that God will raise up a faithful priest who will serve and "minister before my anointed one always." I wonder who this "anointed one" is. Is it Jesus? Is he saying that Samuel would serve before Jesus in heaven? Or is he talking about Jesus in a present tense type of way, foreshadowing that Jesus is the anointed and all who serve serve before Him?

6. Samuel is told that Eli and his entire family will be punished because Eli failed to restrain his sons. It seems to me that people in our society today do not realize that their children are their responsibility to control. This verse illustrates that God expects us to train up our children properly and discipline them when they do wrong. Otherwise it is very possible that we will be punished by God along with them.

7. Wow! Chapter 3:19 states "The Lord was with Samuel as he grew up, and he let none of his words fall to the ground." Can you imagine God being with you like that! That is what I long for, not just because whatever he said went, but also because one can only imagine how close he was to God. Cool!