Hannah/Samuel
HANNAH/SAMUEL
Possible lesson plan:
- Open with prayer.
- Scripture Reference: I Kingdoms/I Samuel 1-4. Chapters 1-3 make a good children’s story, while not being as well known as Noah and the Ark or David and Goliath. As the teens read, have them decide on how they would present this story in flannelgraph form: what characters do they need, what background features to distinguish the places, how they would tell the story. Most teens babysit, even guys on occasion. If you want, get each teen a clean pizza box (pizza places will give you a few of these for church if you ask), cover the inside bottom of the box with light blue felt (buy by the yard at a fabric store), take some squares of felt of different colors (we have these), and have the teens each make a storybook box to carry with them when they babysit. Have them practice telling the story with their figures.
- Service References: “Hannah, the Prophetess of old, drawn near with contrite spirit to the mighty God of intelligences, by her prayer alone undid the bonds of the barren one’s womb, and the hard rebuke of her with children.” This is read in the matins of Ascension. Why would she be mentioned here?
- Discussion: Samuel is known as the last of the judges and the first of the prophets. Samuel is known as the last of the judges and the first of the prophets. What is a prophet? A
prophet is a person called by God to deliver His message to His people. Samuel was held in high esteem throughout Israel and anointed the first two kings of the nation, Saul and David. We’ll meet him again the lives of these kings.
But, here we deal mostly with his birth and childhood, remarkable enough in themselves. What did his mother Hannah pray for? Why? What did she promise the Lord? How did she fulfill her promise? How must she have felt as she took Samuel to the temple? Parallels abound in the Church – most notably in the life of Mary, the Theotokos, with her Nativity from “barren” Anna and her Entrance into the Temple at age three. Who else can you think of? (Samson, Elizabeth) Today, if a woman cannot conceive, what is the “normal” procedure? This is a good time to discuss test-tube babies, surrogate mothers, etc. How does this differ from the approach of these women in the Bible? Do you feel one approach is better? Why?
How did God speak to Samuel as a boy? How does He speak to us? Did Samuel know immediately that it was the Lord speaking? How did he learn this? How did Gideon ascertain that he was speaking with God? How can we? How did he answer the Lord? Who else in the Bible has answered the Lord in a similar manner? (Mary at the Annunciation?) What did the Lord tell Samuel? Did he want to tell Eli? How do you suppose Eli felt receiving such a prophecy? How was the prophecy fulfilled? What went into battle with them? Who were they fighting? What happened to Eli’s sons? Why? To the Ark? Who took Eli’s place as priest and judge?
- Close with prayer: Ask the Lord to speak to us daily and for us to learn to discern His voice.