“But Sh’mu’el ministered in the presence of Adonai, wearing a linen ritual vest even though he was only a child. Each year his mother would make him a little coat and bring it when she came up with her husband to offer the annual sacrifice.”-1 Samuel 2:18-19
We know that Samuel began serving as a priest from a young age because we’re told he was wearing a “linen ritual vest“…
The Hebrew word is EPHOD.
Now you may be thinking…
Wasn’t only the High Priest allowed to wear an EPHOD?
Yes, that’s true.
But here’s the thing.
Over time, the outer garment a regular priest wore also came to be called an EPHOD.
So what we have here is little Samuel donning miniature High Priest garments.
Another point we shouldn’t forget is that Samuel was BOTH a Levite and a Nazarite for life.
Those are some mighty impressive credentials if you think about it.
While your average priest or Levite didn’t normally start service until they were at least 25 years old, we can see that Samuel was quite the exception.
The only problem is since he was a young child, every year he kept outgrowing his priestly garb.
That’s why it says…
“Each year his mother
would make him a little coat
and bring it when she came
up with her husband
to offer the annual sacrifice.”
Of course whenever Samuel’s parents visited for the annual pilgrimage, Samuel would spend time with them.
And during this time Eli would say a blessing over Elkanah and Hannah that they’d be blessed with more children.
Apparently, his blessing worked.
Because we’re told Hannah gave birth to 3 more sons and 2 daughters…
So including Samuel that was a total of 6 children.
However, let’s not think it was Eli’s blessings that enabled Hannah to have more children.
Take a good look at verse 21:
“So Adonai took notice of Hannah,
and she conceived and bore three
more sons and two daughters.
Meanwhile, the boy Sh’mu’el
grew in the presence of Adonai.”
Notice it says Adonai took notice of Hannah.
In other words, it was God Himself who enabled Hannah to conceive and not some mystical blessing that Eli pronounced.
I think that’s an important point to mention…
Because I think we have this tendency to idolize objects and things outside of God.
For instance, some folks use crucifixes as magic talismans thinking they have supernatural power to ward off demons like they’re in some Dracula movie or something…
Other folks put faith in the power of repeating positive prayers and affirmations over and over and over again thinking they can manipulate reality…
New Agers love to do this.
However, you should know this is pure sorcery.
Unfortunately, this practice has become quite commonplace influenced by the teachings of Napoleon Hill and Norman Vincent Peale.
Anyways, let’s get this straight.
There never was any inherent power in any of the holy objects that appear in Scripture…
Whether it was the Tabernacle, the Ephod, Moses’ staff, anointing oil, the blood of the sacrifices (including Yeshua’s blood) or whatever.
Those things only had power because God has ascribed power to them…
So let’s make sure we don’t get the cart before the horse in the matter.
It is God and GOD ALONE who has the power to manipulate reality on our behalf…
Ya feel me?
Over and out.
I have to share this funny story…
A man was visiting israel and one night, as he slept in his hotel room with the patio door open, a bat flies in.
The man awakes, and in shock sees the bat turn into a man- it was a vampire!
Quickly, the man reaches into the table next to him and pulls out a crucifix, holding it up in front of him.
The vampire stops in his tracks, then smiles and says,
“Nichts gehelpin.”
Thanks Steven…
I finally understood after reading the exchange on Facebook.
And for those who don’t know, “Nichts gehelpin” means “That won’t work”.