...Samuel & Eli
There are a few lessons strewn throughout the historical books of the Bible following the story of Moses before we ever get to Samuel, about the unorthodox ways of God to empower His people, as seen in the conquest of the Promised Land of Canaan, particularly its great city Jericho, and how God has His people everywhere, even among the enemies of His people, as seen in Rahab, also showing that He apparently thinks differently about professions men and women choose, since she was a prostitute.
There are lessons on honesty, integrity here and there, and that it pays to obey God, or one might bring a curse over their own kind. God will even make the earth stand still for us, if the situation warrants it, and many a boy has been inspired by the awesome tales of Samson, showing that it's better to keep a secret, sometimes, and that God gets some of His greatest victories out of seeming defeat.
Then there is the tale of Gideon, who put together an army of 33.000 men but God told him to send all but 300 men home, with whom he went on to win the battle in an unconventional way. God's way. We also find tales of how God used different women, like Jael and Deborah, to defeat the enemies of His people, and how He will gladly accept one of another race as pure in heart as Ruth among His own, even in the lineage of His own Son.
But since it would be more of a task than the one I've decided to take on with this project to compile every single lesson one can glean from the Bible, I'll fast-forward to a man who has been a source of wisdom, awe and inspiration to me, personally, Samuel the prophet.

Once again, as with Abraham's wife Sarah, God shows that He bring forth fruit where there was no fruit, when Hannah, a woman without children implores the Lord so vehemently for a child that Eli the priest suspects that she must be drunk. But when he finds out that she was only desperate, he blesses her, and the Lord finally grants her heart's desire and gives her a miracle son, Samuel.
Hannah does not keep the desire of her heart selfishly for herself, though, but gives back to the Lord what He gave her in the first place (what a lesson for all of us!). She takes the young boy Samuel back to Eli and chooses the best possible destiny and profession for her son that any truly wise and loving mother could: to become a servant of God Almighty.
Most mothers nowadays would prefer their sons to find a profession that rakes in a good amount of money so they can show off with their offspring before all the other mothers. Hannah wasn't like that. And perhaps because Hannah had so willingly given that child back to the Giver, the Lord also gave a special gift to Samuel, at a very early age: the gift of hearing His voice.
At first Samuel is perplexed and thinks it's Eli calling him, but when it happens repeatedly that this voice calls Samuel in the middle of the night, Eli finally teaches young Samuel and attitude that would make each of us so much richer. He tells him to say, "Speak, Lord. Thy servant heareth" (1Sam.3:9). Most of us have the attitude, "Hear, Lord; Thy servant speaketh."
And thus we find in Samuel the "child prophet," who, at an early age, has God revealing things to him that He isn't even able to tell His priest. Maybe there are some things God would like to tell us that we don't want to hear. We all have our touchy and taboo areas in our lives that we don't want anybody - not even God - to mess with. But then again, God often won't get around dealing with those issues, if we're His children, and if we won't listen to what He has to tell us about it, He'll raise up someone else, even a child, if need be, to convey to us His message.
In Eli's case, his Achilles' heel is his two sons who "knew not the Lord" (2:12). If you're having trouble with your offspring, find comfort in the fact that there have been others before you, like Eli. It is hard for us sometimes to accept just what has become of our "own flesh and blood," when we see our children turn away and stray so far from all that we know to be right.
Maybe God was already hinting here at a truth that He was going to proclaim openly through His Son: "It is the Spirit that brings life. The flesh profiteth nothing" (John 6:63). We would like to take pride and glory in our flesh, our carnal off-spring, and some of us are blessed with children we can be proud of. But if you're not, this doesn't always necessarily mean that God has forsaken you. It's true that Jesus said, "By their fruits ye shall know them," and to some extent, our children help us to come to conclusions about what manner of person we are. But when you sincerely want to bring forth good fruit for God and don't seem to manage to do so in the physical, there is still the option of bringing forth god fruit in the spirit. You can share your knowledge of God with someone and let your words become seeds that bud in their hearts and bring forth the fruit of a new convert, a new believer, a new child of God.
And so, even if Eli was never able to pride in his flesh and blood sons, he was certainly instrumental in rearing Samuel, the prophet-to-be who would anoint Israel's first king, as well as their second king, doubtlessly the greatest they ever would have.



                       next:
David & Saul