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[Music] [Applause] [Music] this is a story about a young boy named Samuel although he
came from humble beginnings Samuel would go on to become a powerful prophet and one of
the most important people in the whole Bible long ago in the land of Israel there lived
a man named elkenna alcata had two wives one called penina and one called Hannah elkana
and penina had children together but so far he and Hannah were not able to have a baby
together Hannah was very sad because of this as she wanted a child more than anything she
was very kind honest a holy woman and even though she could not give him a child she
was still elkana's favorite wife penina on the other hand was not so nice she constantly
made fun of Anna for not being able to have a child and thought that she was much better
than her whenever she could penina would make sure to bully Hannah for not having children
and this only made Hannah feel sadder [Music] elkana was a very religious man indeed he
would regularly take both Hannah panina and the children they had together on religious
pilgrimages to important holy sites the most important of these holy sites was a place
called Shiloh and this is where elkana would take his family most often at Shiloh there
was a very Holy Temple and this is where the precious Ark of the Covenant was kept a chest
of pure gold that God had instructed Moses to build in order to protect the two stone
tablets of the Ten Commandments children
one day when the family were making their way to the city of Shiloh on one of these
religious pilgrimages Hannah was feeling particularly sad about her childlessness and penina's rudeness
only made things worse we mustn't slow down we're almost about to arrive in Shiloh look
there it is the family had arrived at the Holy Temple in Shiloh and made their offerings
to God but Hannah was so sad that she stayed behind at the temple after the rest of the
family left to go to sleep
you may go but I wish to stay and spend further time with God Hannah longed for a child so
badly that she stayed behind pray and beg God to Grant her this wish to allow her to
Bear a child of her own with elkana oh please Lord how badly I wish to have a child I would
do anything to make this dream come true should you listen to my prayer and offer me a child
with elkana I would make sure the child's life is dedicated to serving you as Hannah
was mumbling her prayers a priest named Eli who was also at The Shrine could hear her
mumbling at first he thought that Hannah might be crazy are you okay young woman I can hear
you talking to yourself are you unwell but Hannah quickly explained herself no no certainly
not you see I [Music] have that is why I'm here praying to God that he may grant me a
son I've promised that if I do manage to have a child his life will be completely devoted
to God and will serve the Lord well Eli quickly saw that Hannah was in fact telling the truth
he was very impressed with Hannah's Devotion to God and he hoped that her prayer would
be answered he offered to bless her and she accepted are you unwell allow me to bless
you so that your prayers may be answered and you bear a child after this Hannah returned
back to her husband elkana and the rest of her family soon enough Hannah's Prayer was
answered I'm pregnant the couple were blessed with a son who they named Samuel when he was
born they never could have imagined the incredible life their little boy would go on to lead
as he eventually became one of the most holy prophets in the entire Bible after nursing
Samuel for the first few years of his life the family once again made their pilgrimage
to the holy city of Shiloh [Music] when they arrived at Shiloh they met the priest Eli
once again he was glad to see that God had answered Hannah's Prayer and granted her a
son Hannah how lovely it is to see you again after all these years and I see you have a
son what is his name his name is Samuel and he is now five years old I have brought him
here to stay true to my promise to God I prayed that he would give me a child and that this
child would then live to serve his word I am an honest woman and I intend to keep my
promise I have brought my beloved Samuel here so that you may raise him here at the temple
and show him how to devote his life to God Eli was very impressed with Hannah for staying
true to her word and honoring the promise she had made to God in exchange for this miracle
what marvelous news with parents as fine as you too I'm sure young Samuel here will make
an excellent servant to God I would be happy to take him in and raise him as a disciple
of the Lord mother if I live here does that mean I will never get to see you again don't
worry my dear Samuel I will come to visit you often and I am so excited to see you grow
up and become a valuable follower of God for without him you would never have come into
my life my beloved boy come here my boy and so Samuel went with Eli and began his new
life as a disciple of God living and studying in the temple under Eli's guidance several
years later when Samuel was 12 years old he began his special relationship with God that
would change Israel forever you see at this time God was not sending many messages to
his people in the past there had been many prophets and God often sent his word to man
however at the time of Eli and Samuel God had been unusually quiet for quite some time
however all this was soon about to change when one night Samuel headed to bed for the
night while in bed Samuel heard a voice calling his name Samuel Samuel Samuel could not understand
where the voice might be coming from so he assumed it was Eli calling out to him but
when he went to Eli Eli was just as confused as Samuel it wasn't me who called you you
must have imagined it just go back to bed Samuel did as he was told however two more
nights the same thing happened again and again after the third time that Samuel came to him
wondering about this mysterious voice that was calling out his name Eli realized that
the voice was the Lord and that the Lord was trying to reach out to Samuel with a message
Eli instructed Samuel on how to answer if he heard the voice calling to him if you want
God to reveal his message to you you must answer like this Speak Lord for your servant
hears
one night when the Lord again called out to Samuel he responded as Eli had instructed
him to Samuel Samuel Speak Lord for your servant hears and when Samuel replied the Lord revealed
himself Samuel I come to you with a message the sons of Eli your mentor are wicked in
their ways they have acted badly and this wickedness will result in the destruction
of their family the sons of Eli will not be the next great priest of Israel you will be
and then the voice stopped and God left Samuel with this shocking message [Music] the next
morning Samuel met his master at the temple but Samuel was confused God would said that
Eli's Sons would face destruction Samuel was nervous to relay God's message to Eli in case
he became upset video I could sense that Samuel had something to say Samuel my boy what is
it Samuel hesitated well God spoke to me last night once again this time I answered his
call I'm not sure I should repeat what he said but Eli was a man of God and would accept
God's word no matter what fear not whatever the message was I want to hear it and then
Samuel told Eli what God had said to him God warned me that your real sons face destruction
they have been Wicked throughout their lives and your family will suffer for this your
family line will not continue and your sons will not be the next great Priests of Israel
while this was sad news to Eli he was not entirely surprised before Samuel others had
told him of his son's wickedness he accepted Lord's word as Samuel had told it if this
is true so be it the Lord must do whatever seems right to him and so Samuel's time as
the prophet of Israel begun [Music]
as time went on Samuel's message from God was proven true Eli's Sons were killed defending
the Ark of the Covenant when he heard of his son's death Eli too collapsed and died marking
the end of Eli's family line just as the Lord had told Samuel Samuel however lived on and
became one of the most important prophets in the bible he played a big role in the religious
life of Israel at the time and brought about a new era of history of great Kings including
King Saul and even the great King David foreign
[Music] [Applause]