1 samuel curiousities

Reading old testament books gives a glance into how the people in the past understood God.

Since C recommended me to read it this morning, I did.

Here are some of my thoughts:

1 Samuel 2:25
25 If one person sins against another, God[a] may mediate for the offender; but if anyone sins against the Lord, who will intercede for them?” His sons, however, did not listen to their father’s rebuke, for it was the Lord’s will to put them to death.

The way the words are phrased is curious here. There are like verses in other parts of the bible. Notice the author's reasoning of the death of Eli's sons: they'd die if they do not repent and they could not repent because God willed them to die because of their sins.
It's a stretch to say that God made them unable to repent. Mainstream theology understands that Man is fallen and incapable of repentance. So perhaps it is safer to say that God did not give them to means to repent because He somehow wanted their death. There's this age long question here, our Lord who does not wish any to perish but all to be saved (2 peter 3:9) is at this moment willing the demise of these 2 guys.


1 Samuel 3:14
14 Therefore I swore to the house of Eli, ‘The guilt of Eli’s house will never be atoned for by sacrifice or offering.’”
 What is the meaning of this? In doing bible overview we repeatedly discussed this. While the day of atonement exists to cleanse the sins of the people, there were tell tale signs that it was not sufficient.
1. An entire generation of Israelites were doomed to perish before they even saw the promise land. (12-13 numbers).
2. Despite cleansing, it remains that not everyone could enter the Holy of Holies.
3. Logic of Hebrews 8-10. If it were effectual, it'd only have to be done once.

Is this case in 1 sam 3:14 an explicit mention of God not allowing guilt to be atoned by sacrifice? Did the same thing happen to those who perished in the desert? Quite possibly so!


1 Samuel 3:19-20
19 The Lord was with Samuel as he grew up, and he let none of Samuel’s words fall to the ground. 20 And all Israel from Dan to Beersheba recognized that Samuel was attested as a prophet of the Lord.

Heard it often in sunday school class that a proof of a prophet was not in the few prophecies they got correct, but that they were correct 100% of the time. These verses here reveals how the Israelites saw the act of prophesying: God telling man, man pronouncing the prophecy and finally God actively acts to ensure the fulfillment of it.
I used to think of prophecy as like... a reading of the future. Here it seems that it is a little more. It is like a goal setting which is then divinely attained. It feels more than a "this will happen", it sounds like a "I will make this happen". In prophecy God is revealing a portion of the future... but more than that, He commits Himself to making it happen.