Jesus: From Genesis to Revelation

Week 31 Discussion Guide: The Rise of Samuel

Opening

Begin by reciting this week’s memory verse together:

“The LORD will judge the ends of the earth; he will give strength to his king and exalt the horn of his anointed.” – 1 Samuel 2:10 (ESV)

Think about a time when you received something you had desperately asked for – and then had to give it back, or give it away. What did that cost you? What did it reveal about what you truly valued? Hold that tension as we discuss a woman who begged God for a son and then walked him back to the temple.

Review: The Big Picture

This week we crossed from the collapse of the judges into the opening movement of the monarchy. The book of Judges ended with everyone doing what was right in his own eyes. First Samuel begins with a barren woman weeping in a temple where the priests have become the problem. Hannah’s desperate prayer produces Samuel – the boy whose name means “heard by God” – and her song of praise reaches beyond her personal deliverance into a vision of a king Israel does not yet have. We watched Eli’s sons profane the sacrifices, heard God call a boy in the night, saw the ark captured and returned, and stood with the elders as they demanded a king “like all the nations.” At every turn, the question intensifies: who will lead God’s people when every human institution has failed?

Hannah’s song provides the answer before the narrative does. The mashiach – the anointed one – is coming. But not on Israel’s terms.

Discussion Questions

Day 1: Hannah’s Barrenness, Her Prayer, and a Song That Sees the Future (1 Samuel 1:1-2:11)

  1. Pouring Out the Soul. The Hebrew says Hannah “poured out her soul” (shaphak nephesh) before the LORD – the same verb used for pouring out a drink offering on the altar. Her prayer is so intense that Eli mistakes her for a drunk. What does Hannah’s prayer reveal about the kind of communication God welcomes? How does her example challenge the way we approach prayer – particularly in seasons of deep need?

  2. The Logic of Giving Back. Hannah begs God for a son, then returns him to the temple as soon as he is weaned. She gives back the very thing she most desired. What does this act reveal about her understanding of God? Where in your own life has God asked you to release something he gave you – and what happened when you did?

  3. The Word Before the King. Hannah’s song ends with the word mashiach – “anointed” – spoken before Israel has a king. She sees past her personal circumstances into the sweep of redemptive history. What does it mean that prophetic vision often comes through the mouth of the marginalized – the barren, the poor, the overlooked – rather than through those in positions of power?

Day 2: Eli’s Sons, the Boy in the Temple, and “Speak, LORD” (1 Samuel 2:12-3:21)

  1. Corruption in the Holy Place. Eli’s sons treat the LORD’s offerings with contempt and exploit the women at the tabernacle entrance. The priesthood – the very institution designed to mediate between God and his people – has become the source of pollution. When the mediators become the problem, what options remain? How does this crisis anticipate the need for a priesthood that cannot be corrupted from within?

  2. Hearing in the Silence. The narrator tells us “the word of the LORD was rare in those days; there was no frequent vision” (1 Samuel 3:1). Into that silence, God speaks to a boy sleeping beside the ark. Samuel’s response – “Speak, LORD, for your servant hears” – is the opposite of Babel’s “let us make a name for ourselves.” What posture of heart does God require before he speaks? How do you cultivate that posture in a world saturated with noise?

Day 3: The Ark Captured, Returned, and Renewal at Mizpah (1 Samuel 4:1-7:17)

  1. Ichabod. When news of the ark’s capture reaches Shiloh, Eli falls and dies, and his daughter-in-law names her newborn Ichabod – “the glory has departed from Israel.” Yet the ark wreaks havoc among the Philistines and is returned. What does this episode reveal about God’s relationship to the institutions that claim to represent him? Can the glory truly be captured – or contained – by human hands?

  2. The Danger of Using God. Israel brought the ark into battle like a talisman, expecting God’s presence to guarantee victory on their terms. The Philistines captured it – but God destroyed their idol Dagon from the inside. How do we fall into the same pattern of treating God’s presence as something to be leveraged rather than submitted to?

Day 4: “Give Us a King” – Israel Rejects Divine Rule (1 Samuel 8:1-22)

  1. Like All the Nations. The Hebrew phrase ke-kol-haggoyim – “like all the nations” – is precisely the identity God called Israel out of Egypt to transcend. Their demand for a king is not merely political; it is theological. God tells Samuel, “They have not rejected you, but they have rejected me.” What drives the desire to look like everyone else? Where do you see the church today tempted to trade its distinct calling for the comfort of cultural normalcy?

  2. God Gives What They Ask For. God does not refuse Israel’s demand. He grants it – with a detailed warning about what a king will cost them (1 Samuel 8:11-18). What does it reveal about God that he allows his people to choose a path he knows will bring suffering? How does this pattern of divine permission illuminate the larger biblical story?

Day 5: Psalm 113 and Hannah’s Song – The God Who Reverses (Psalm 113; 1 Samuel 2:1-10)

  1. The Pattern of Reversal. Psalm 113 celebrates a God who “raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap, to make them sit with princes” (Psalm 113:7-8). Hannah sings the same theology. This is not occasional divine behavior – it is the consistent pattern of God’s work. Why does God choose to work through reversal? What does this pattern say about the kind of kingdom he is building?

  2. From Hannah to Mary. Mary’s Magnificat (Luke 1:46-55) echoes Hannah’s song almost word for word: “He has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate.” The barren woman’s prayer becomes the virgin’s hymn. What does it mean that the same theological pattern – the empty filled, the low exalted – connects these two women across a thousand years?

Synthesis

  1. The Anointed One Hannah Foresaw. Hannah’s mashiach has no referent in her own time. Israel will try Saul. They will crown David. Every dynasty will eventually fail. Yet the word hangs over the narrative like a prophecy waiting to be fulfilled. Peter will proclaim at Pentecost: “God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified” (Acts 2:36). How does reading Hannah’s song in light of Christ change the way you understand what she was actually saying? And how does Samuel’s posture – “Speak, LORD, for your servant hears” – anticipate the Son’s posture in Gethsemane: “Not my will, but yours, be done” (Luke 22:42)?

Going Deeper: Connections Across the Week

Application

Closing Prayer

Close your time together by praying through Hannah’s song. Praise the God who reverses – who fills the hungry, lifts the needy, and gives strength to his anointed. Thank him that he hears the desperate prayer, that he works through emptiness, that his plans do not depend on human power or position. Ask him to give your group the posture of Samuel – ears open, hearts willing, ready to hear whatever he speaks into the silence. And pray for the courage to give back to God whatever he has given you, trusting that the returning will multiply the gift.

Looking Ahead

Next week we meet Saul – the king Israel asked for. Tall, handsome, from a prominent family, standing head and shoulders above everyone else. For a moment, everything works. The Spirit rushes upon him. He wins a great victory. But the cracks appear almost immediately. We will watch a king seize priestly authority he was never given, obey selectively when full obedience was demanded, and hear Samuel deliver one of the most penetrating verdicts in the Old Testament: “To obey is better than sacrifice.” The king who looks right will prove wrong at the deepest level.