Corrupt Environment

Corrupt Environment

Hannah

Read: 1 Samuel 2:12-19

Melanie waved and watched the school bus until it turned the corner. He seems so young to be in school all day, she thought for the hundredth time that week. She and her husband had done all they could to give Christopher the best possible start in life. They had made sure that he had a safe place to play and explore and plenty of opportunities for intellectual stimulation. But how could she protect him from the influences at school—bad language, fighting, or worse? She worried about sending him into an unknown environment.

Hannah had good reason to be concerned about the environment she was sending her son into at the Tabernacle. Although Eli was the high priest, his sons showed a total lack of respect for God. Hophni and Phinehas forced people who were making offerings to give them more than their lawfully prescribed share. They even seduced young women who served in the Tabernacle. Hannah must have worried about putting her three-year-old son under Eli’s training and about his living around Eli’s sons. Yet her steadfast faith in God gave her strength to trust in the power of prayer to overcome the evil influences that Samuel would be exposed to.

The Bible advises us to run from evil influences whenever possible. Since “the world around us is under the control of the evil one” (1 John 5:19), we all live in a corrupt environment. We will never be able to protect our loved ones or ourselves from the temptations and pressures exerted by ungodly people. In spite of Samuel’s growing up around such evil influences, he grew into a godly man who influenced his nation for good. Hannah’s visits with her son were few and brief, but she must have prayed for him continually. Her example shows the power of prayer for protection from a corrupt environment.

[Jesus said,] “My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one.”

John 17:15 (NIV)