Posted by Lisa Laree to Beer Lahai Roi
Our perusal through the Bible looking at occurrences of 'Heart/ Hearts' has wandered through Joshua, but, despite the prevailing thought that Ruth is a romantic story...there isn't a single mention of heart/hearts in the entire 4 chapters. It's all about the inheritance, not romance. So that brings us to the book of 1 Samuel, which has a surprising number of mentions. I debated trying to look at the references thematically, but decided the best thing is probably to just follow the narrative, so today we're looking at the first 4 chapters (all references today, per usual, are from the NIV 84).
1 Samuel opens with the story of Hannah, the favored but childless second wife of one Elkanah, who was an Ephraimite. Up to this time, the spiritual leaders of Israel had been the priests descended from Aaron, with the current leaders being Hophni and Phineas, sons of Eli of the house of Aaron. These were corrupt leaders, who pursued their own agenda and abused their position, as we find in chapter 2, and Eli, their father, did nothing to correct them. But this was all peripheral to Hannah, who was desperate to have a son. When Elkanah's family were in Shiloh for a time of sacrifice and worship, Hannah made her way to the tabernacle to bring her pain and hope to God; Eli was sitting in a chair at the entrance.
As she kept on praying to the LORD, Eli observed her mouth. Hannah was praying in her heart, and her lips were moving but her voice was not heard. Eli thought she was drunk and said to her, "How long will you keep on getting drunk? Get rid of your wine." -- 1 Sam 1:13 [Heart: Strong's H3820]
Would all my private pray-ers wave at me? I can pray with others, in front of others, for common concerns but if it comes to praying for me or mine...I wanna keep that between me and God. This verse is extremely comforting to me...it is the second one we've encountered that indicates that God hears the prayers spoken only in the heart. Those burdens or concerns that should not be spoken to others can be spoken to God. He hears. And there's something else that this passage says, kind of tangentially, about Hannah's heart. She didn't react to Eli's judgmental rebuke with offense. She replied with humility, and Eli blessed her....although he didn't apologize. She was comforted all the same...she left, she ate, and she received the answer she sought. And, as she had vowed, she brought her son Samuel back to Shiloh to serve God as soon as he was weaned, which I am sure was extremely difficult for her, but she rejoiced that God had heard her and blessed her even then.
Then Hannah prayed and said: "My heart rejoices in the LORD; in the LORD my horn is lifted high. My mouth boasts over my enemies, for I delight in your deliverance" -- 1 Sam 2:1, Strong's H3820.
Hannah's song goes on through verse 10; it's pretty amazing. And they do, indeed, leave Samuel with Eli to be raised to serve God. Hannah had 5 more kids...two daughters and three sons. Hannah saw Samuel when they came to Shiloh for worship, about once a year, and she would bring him a coat she'd made. Her heart was brought from pain and despair to contentment.
But Eli and his family were under judgement. You know how you think you know something and then suddenly realize it wasn't what you knew? Yeah, that happened. I thought Samuel was the one who prophesied the downfall of Eli's house...and he did, but he wasn't the first. An unnamed 'man of God' (1 Sam 2:27) came to Eli, apparently while Samuel was still very young, and gave him a blistering prophecy, which includes
"Every one of you that I do not cut off from my altar will be spared only to blind your eyes with tears and to grieve your heart, and all your descendants will die in the prime of life." -- 1 Sam 2:33. 'Heart' here is a different Hebrew word - nepes (Strong's H5315), which is more commonly translated 'soul', having distinct implications of 'breath' . Why it was translated 'heart' here instead of 'soul' I cannot guess...because 'grieve your soul' would make just as much sense. In both cases, the implication is the seat of emotion.
The man of God goes on to proclaim that, to prove his word true, both Hophni and Phineas would die on the same day, and that God said, "I will raise up for my self a faithful priest, who will do according to what is in my heart and mind. I will firmly establish his house, and he will minister before my anointed one always." - 1 Sam. 2:35. (Strong's H3824) As I typed that, I am reminded of something we'll see later, when God rejects Saul with almost the same language. And, if I'm not mistaken, this is the first time we have encountered a reference to God's heart since the very first post, which looked at God's heart being grieved, and God making a promise in his heart. In this case, he's referring to a man who does what is in his (God's) heart. Which implies that humans can know the heart of God...or at least, know it enough to know his character and order their lives in accordance with the character of God. Which is both an encouragement and a challenge.
In chapter 4, we come to the fulfillment of the prophecy of both the unknown 'man of God' and young Samuel. I don't know how old Samuel is at this time; the chronology is a little vague, but the Israelites are battling the Philistines and try to use the Ark of the Covenant as a magic weapon of some sort, thinking God would act to protect it, which fails utterly. Hophni and Phineas are killed and the Ark is captured. News travels...
That same day, a Benjamite ran from the battle line and went to Shiloh, his clothes torn and dust on his head. When he arrived, there was Eli sitting on his chair by the side of the road, watching, because his heart feared for the ark of God. When the man entered the town and told what had happened, the whole town sent up a cry. -- 1 Sam 4:13 (Strong's H3820 again).
Eli, with a premonition of doom, probably related to the prophecies he had heard, was worried about the Ark and seated where he could get news. I also wonder if Eli had counseled against taking the Ark to battle. It was a bad idea...especially since they had had no word of God to do so (remember Ai?). God did, of course, protect the Ark, but not how the Israelites had expected. They were soundly defeated for their presumption. Not once in the account of the fighting is there any indication the Israelites did what God had demonstrated to them over and over was necessary...seek His counsel for the coming battle. Eli's heart knew. And when he got word, he fell backwards from his chair...stricken? Fainted? Hard to say, because he broke his neck. So even if he had a stroke or a heart attack, the fall killed him.
God hears our hearts...and God's heart can be known. That's a good place to start if one is honestly seeking God.
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