V. Gilbert Beers - David and Goliath

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ISBN 978-0-7396-0384-0

CONT

E N T S

annah was so happy with her new son. For a long time she could not have children. Then she had prayed, asking God

to give her a son. If You do, I will give him back to You, to serve You all his life, Hannah promised.

Now Hannah had her son. And she remembered her promise to God. The year after Samuel was born, Hannahs husband, Elkanah, went back to Shiloh to worship at the tabernacle, Gods house. His other wife, Peninnah, went too, with her children. But Hannah did not go.

Lets wait until Samuel is weaned, she told her husband. Then I will take him to Gods house and leave him there with Eli to serve God.

We will do what you think is best, Elkanah told her. Let Gods will be done.

So Hannah stayed home at Ramah until Samuel was weaned. Then she and Elkanah

took him to Shiloh, to leave him with Eli to serve at Gods house. Samuel was still just a little boy.

Do you remember who I am? Hannah asked Eli. I prayed here at Gods house that He would give me a son. He answered my prayer, and gave me Samuel. Now I am giving him to the Lord to serve Him the rest of his life.

Hannah left Samuel at the tabernacle to serve God. Then Hannah prayed a beautiful prayer. I am filled with joy because God answered my prayer, Hannah prayed. No one is as holy as God. He feeds the starving people and gives children to those who cannot have them.

After that, Hannah returned home to Ramah with her family. But the boy Samuel stayed there at the tabernacle with Eli to help Eli do Gods work.

hen Samuel was still a little boy, his mother, Hannah, gave him to the Lord. She brought him to the tabernacle,

Gods house. Samuel became Gods helper, and a helper for old Eli, the priest, the man in charge of the tabernacle.

God did not speak often to people in those days, so what happened one night to the boy Samuel was quite unusual. This is the way it happened. Eli, whose eyes were getting dim, had gone to bed. So had Samuel, who slept in the holy inner room of the tabernacle where the ark of God was kept. Suddenly God called to Samuel.

Samuel! Samuel! He said. Samuel thought Eli had called, so he ran to see what he wanted.

Go back to bed, Eli said. I did not call you. This happened three times.

If God calls you again, say that you are

listening, Eli told Samuel.

When Samuel went back to bed, God did call again. Im listening, Samuel said to God. Then God told Samuel what He was going to do to Eli and his sons.

I will punish them all, He said. I have warned them about this.

Samuel stayed in bed all night. In the morning he opened the tabernacle doors as he always did. He was afraid to tell Eli what God had said. You must tell me all that God said to you, Eli told Samuel. So Samuel told Eli what God had said. God must do what He thinks is best, said Eli.

As the boy Samuel grew to be a man, people could see that God was with him. So they listened to Samuel. They knew that he would be Gods prophet. God did give Samuel more messages. And Samuel told the people what God said.

n a war between Israel and the Philistines, the Israelites were losing. So they retreated to talk. Lets carry the ark of the covenant

into battle, they decided. The ark was at the tabernacle at Shiloh.

So it was brought to the army camp at Ebenezer. Hophni and Phinehas, sons of Eli the priest, came with it and helped take it into battle. The Israelite soldiers shouted so loud when they saw the ark that they frightened the Philistines.

The Israelite God has come to their camp, the Philistines said. Fight harder than you have ever fought!

The Philistines did fight harder. And they won. They even killed 30,000 Israelites and captured the ark.

One man escaped and ran to tell the old priest Eli the bad news. He was ninety-eight years old, blind, and fat. When he heard that

the ark was captured and his sons killed in battle, Eli fell backward, broke his neck, and died.

The Philistines took the ark back to the temple of their god Dagon in Ashdod. The next morning they found Dagons statue fallen down, with his face bowing to the ark. The next night the same thing happened, but this time Dagons head and hands were broken off. Then a plague broke out in Ashdod.

The Philistines knew they were in trouble because of the ark. They decided to send the ark to Gath. When they did, the people there got the plague. They then sent it to Ekron, but the people there cried out against it.

At last the mayors of the five Philistine cities got together and urged the people to send the ark back to Israel. They were afraid of what might happen next.

or seven months the Philistines kept the ark of the covenant in their land. They had captured it from the Israelites, but it had

brought them much trouble. Each city where the ark was taken had a bad plague.

At last the Philistine people were too afraid to keep the ark any longer. They called for their priests and sorcerers. How should we return the ark to Israel? they asked. What gift should we send with it?

Send five golden tumors, like those we got in the plague, they answered. And send five golden rats, like those that brought the plague. Put the ark in a new cart and hitch it to two cows that have new calves. Put their calves in a barn and these golden things next to the ark in the cart. Let the cows go. If they go to the Israelite city Beth Shemesh, you will know all this trouble came because we took the ark. If they stay here, you will know the