1
Samuel
BOOK
: 1
Samuel
Description
:
historical book telling of the period moving from judges to rule by
kings, Saul the first king and David in preparation to take over.
Author:
Possibly a combination
of Samuel, Nathan and Gad
Date
written : somewhere about
the turn of the first millennium BC
Chapters
:
31
Brief
Synopsis:
Gets its name from Samuel the last of
the judges, a prophet instrumental in making Saul king and setting up
David for later kingship.
At the beginning of the book old Eli is
a poor chief priest who eventually dies and Samuel is left as –judge-prophet-leader.
The people demand a king to be like other
nations and eventually Saul becomes first king.
However Saul is self-centred rather than
God-centred and the Lord tells Samuel to anoint David, a shepherd boy,
in readiness to become the next king when Saul eventually dies.
Saul eventually seeks to kill David and
David thus embarks on a life on the run until someone will kill Saul.
This happens at the end of the book in
a battle.
Outline
:
Ch.1-7
From Judges to a desire for a King
Ch.1-3
Samuel's birth, his youth, and his call to be a prophet
Ch.4-7
Defeat, the Ark taken, and restored
Ch.8-16
The first king: Saul
Ch.8
The people want a king
Ch.9-12
Saul becomes king
Ch.13-16
Saul's failure as king
Ch.16-27
The preparation of David
Ch.28-31
The end of Saul's reign
For
a sense of continuity we also give an outline here of 2 Samuel:
Ch.1-20
David established as Israel 's second king
Ch.1
David's lament over Saul & Jonathan
Ch.2-4
David as king over Judah
Ch.5
David as king over all Israel
Ch.6-9
Blessing on David
Ch.10-12
David's failure
Ch.13-20
David's punishment
Ch.21-24
Final reflections on David's reign
The
following is a suggested timescale covering some of these events:
1105BC.
|
Birth
of Samuel (1Sa 1:20) |
1080
|
Birth
of Saul |
1050
|
Saul
anointed to be king (1Sa 10:1) |
1040
|
Birth
of David |
1025
|
David
anointed to be Saul's successor (1Sa 16:1-13) |
1010
|
Death
of Saul and beginning of David's reign over Judah in Hebron
(1Sa 31:4-6; 2Sa 2:1,4,11) |
1003
|
Beginning
of David's reign over all Israel and capture of Jerusalem (2Sa
5) |
997-992
|
David's
wars (2Sa 8:1-14) |
991
|
Birth
of Solomon (2Sa 12:24) |
980
|
David's
census (2Sa 24:1-9) |
970
|
End
of David's reign (2Sa 5:4-5; 1Ki 2:10-11) |
Key
Verses :
Birth
of Samuel, end of Eli's family
1:10,11
Hannah
… made a vow, saying, "O LORD Almighty, if you will only look upon
your servant's misery and remember me, and not forget your servant but
give her a son, then I will give him to the LORD for all the days of
his life
1:20
So
in the course of time Hannah conceived and gave birth to a son. She
named him Samuel, saying, "Because I asked the LORD for him."
(Samuel sounds like the Hebrew
for ‘heard of God'. Also a good name for a prophet!)
2:27-35
A
man of God came to Eli and said to him, "This is what the LORD
says: …..Why do you honor your sons more than me by fattening yourselves
on the choice parts of every offering made by my people Israel?' …..
Those who honor me I will honor, but those who despise me will be disdained.
The time is coming when I will cut short your strength and the strength
of your father's house, so that there will not be an old man in your
family line….. `And what happens to your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas,
will be a sign to you--they will both die on the same day. I will raise
up for myself 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.
3:10-12
The
LORD came and stood there, calling as at the other times, "Samuel!
Samuel!" Then Samuel said, "Speak, for your servant is listening."
And the LORD said to Samuel: "See, I am about to do something in
Israel that will make the ears of everyone who hears of it tingle. At
that time I will carry out against Eli everything I spoke against his
family--from beginning to end.
4:14-18
The
man hurried over to Eli….He told Eli, "I have just come from the
battle line; I fled from it this very day." Eli asked, "What
happened, my son?" The man who brought the news replied, "
Israel fled before the Philistines, and the army has suffered heavy
losses. Also your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead, and the ark
of God has been captured." When he mentioned the ark of God, Eli
fell backward off his chair by the side of the gate. His neck was broken
and he died, for he was an old man and heavy.”
3:19-21
“ The LORD
was with Samuel as he grew up, and he let none of his words fall to
the ground. And all Israel from Dan to Beersheba recognized that Samuel
was attested as a prophet of the LORD. The LORD continued to appear
at Shiloh , and there he revealed himself to Samuel through his word.”
7:2-4
It
was a long time, twenty years in all, that the ark remained at Kiriath
Jearim, and all the people of Israel mourned and sought after the LORD.
And Samuel said to the whole house of Israel , "If you are returning
to the LORD with all your hearts, then rid yourselves of the foreign
gods and the Ashtoreths and commit yourselves to the LORD and serve
him only, and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines."
So the Israelites put away their Baals and Ashtoreths, and served the
LORD only.
7:7-13
When
the Philistines heard that Israel had assembled at Mizpah, the rulers
of the Philistines came up to attack them. And when the Israelites heard
of it, they were afraid because of the Philistines. They said to Samuel,
"Do not stop crying out to the LORD our God for us, that he may
rescue us from the hand of the Philistines." Then Samuel took a
suckling lamb and offered it up as a whole burnt offering to the LORD.
He cried out to the LORD on Israel 's behalf, and the LORD answered
him. While Samuel was sacrificing the burnt offering, the Philistines
drew near to engage Israel in battle. But that day the LORD thundered
with loud thunder against the Philistines and threw them into such a
panic that they were routed before the Israelites. The men of Israel
rushed out of Mizpah and pursued the Philistines, slaughtering them
along the way to a point below Beth Car. Then Samuel took a stone and
set it up between Mizpah and Shen. He named it Ebenezer, saying, "Thus
far has the LORD helped us." So the Philistines were subdued and
did not invade Israelite territory again. Throughout Samuel's lifetime,
the hand of the LORD was against the Philistines.
7:15-17
Samuel
continued as judge over Israel all the days of his life. From year to
year he went on a circuit from Bethel to Gilgal to Mizpah, judging Israel
in all those places. But he always went back to Ramah, where his home
was, and there he also judged Israel . And he built an altar there to
the LORD.
12:2-4
Now
you have a king as your leader. As for me, I am old and gray, and my
sons are here with you. I have been your leader from my youth until
this day. Here I stand. Testify against me in the presence of the LORD
and his anointed. Whose ox have I taken? Whose donkey have I taken?
Whom have I cheated? Whom have I oppressed? From whose hand have I accepted
a bribe to make me shut my eyes? If I have done any of these, I will
make it right." "You have not cheated or oppressed us,"
they replied. "You have not taken anything from anyone's hand."
12:13-15
Now
here is the king you have chosen, the one you asked for; see, the LORD
has set a king over you. If you fear the LORD and serve and obey him
and do not rebel against his commands, and if both you and the king
who reigns over you follow the LORD your God--good! But if you do not
obey the LORD, and if you rebel against his commands, his hand will
be against you, as it was against your fathers.
8:4-9
all the elders of Israel gathered together
and came to Samuel at Ramah. They said to him, "You are old, and
your sons do not walk in your ways; now appoint a king to lead us, such
as all the other nations have." But when they said, "Give
us a king to lead us," this displeased Samuel; so he prayed to
the LORD. And the LORD told him: "Listen to all that the people
are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected
me as their king. As they have done from the day I brought them up out
of Egypt until this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they
are doing to you. Now listen to them; but warn them solemnly and let
them know what the king who will reign over them will do."
9:15,16
Now the day before Saul came, the LORD
had revealed this to Samuel: "About this time tomorrow I will send
you a man from the land of Benjamin . Anoint him leader over my people
Israel ; he will deliver my people from the hand of the Philistines.
I have looked upon my people, for their cry has reached me."
10:1
Then
Samuel took a flask of oil and poured it on Saul's head and kissed him,
saying, "Has not the LORD anointed you leader over his inheritance?
11:15
So
all the people went to Gilgal and confirmed Saul as king in the presence
of the LORD. There they sacrificed fellowship offerings before the LORD,
and Saul and all the Israelites held a great celebration.
12:20-25
Samuel
replied. "You have done all this evil; yet do not turn away from
the LORD, but serve the LORD with all your heart. Do not turn away after
useless idols. They can do you no good, nor can they rescue you, because
they are useless. For the sake of his great name the LORD will not reject
his people, because the LORD was pleased to make you his own. As for
me, far be it from me that I should sin against the LORD by failing
to pray for you. And I will teach you the way that is good and right.
But be sure to fear the LORD and serve him faithfully with all your
heart; consider what great things he has done for you. Yet if you persist
in doing evil, both you and your king will be swept away."
13:7-14
Saul remained
at Gilgal, and all the troops with him were quaking with fear. He waited
seven days, the time set by Samuel; but Samuel did not come to Gilgal,
and Saul's men began to scatter. So he said, "Bring me the burnt
offering and the fellowship offerings." And Saul offered up the
burnt offering. Just as he finished making the offering, Samuel arrived,
and Saul went out to greet him. "What have you done?" asked
Samuel. Saul replied, "When I saw that the men were scattering,
and that you did not come at the set time, and that the Philistines
were assembling at Micmash, I thought, `Now the Philistines will come
down against me at Gilgal, and I have not sought the LORD's favor.'
So I felt compelled to offer the burnt offering." "You acted
foolishly," Samuel said. "You have not kept the command the
LORD your God gave you; if you had, he would have established your kingdom
over Israel for all time. But now your kingdom will not endure; the
LORD has sought out a man after his own heart and appointed him leader
of his people, because you have not kept the LORD's command."
(NB,
Saul was not a priest but acted like one using ‘religion' to support
him)
15:1-3
Samuel
said to Saul, "I am the one the LORD sent to anoint you king over
his people Israel ; so listen now to the message from the LORD. This
is what the LORD Almighty says: `I will punish the Amalekites for what
they did to Israel when they waylaid them as they came up from Egypt
. Now go, attack the Amalekites and totally destroy everything that
belongs to them. Do not spare them; put to death men and women, children
and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys.' "
15:7-11
Then
Saul attacked the Amalekites all the way from Havilah to Shur, to the
east of Egypt . He took Agag king of the Amalekites alive, and all his
people he totally destroyed with the sword. But Saul and the army spared
Agag and the best of the sheep and cattle, the fat calves and lambs--everything
that was good. These they were unwilling to destroy completely, but
everything that was despised and weak they totally destroyed. Then the
word of the LORD came to Samuel: "I am grieved that I have made
Saul king, because he has turned away from me and has not carried out
my instructions." Samuel was troubled, and he cried out to the
LORD all that night.
15:22,23,26-29
Then
Saul attacked the Amalekites all the way from Havilah to Shur, to the
east of Egypt . He took Agag king of the Amalekites alive, and all his
people he totally destroyed with the sword. But Saul and the army spared
Agag and the best of the sheep and cattle, the fat calves and lambs--everything
that was good. These they were unwilling to destroy completely, but
everything that was despised and weak they totally destroyed….. But
Samuel said to him, "I will not go back with you. You have rejected
the word of the LORD, and the LORD has rejected you as king over Israel
!"
As
Samuel turned to leave, Saul caught hold of the hem of his robe, and
it tore. Samuel said to him, "The LORD has torn the kingdom of
Israel from you today and has given it to one of your neighbors--to
one better than you. He who is the Glory of Israel does not lie or change
his mind; for he is not a man, that he should change his mind."
The
Lord sets up David for future Kingship
16:1
The
LORD said to Samuel, "How long will you mourn for Saul, since I
have rejected him as king over Israel ? Fill your horn with oil and
be on your way; I am sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem. I have chosen
one of his sons to be king."
16:6,7
When
they arrived, Samuel saw Eliab and thought, "Surely the LORD's
anointed stands here before the LORD." But the LORD said to Samuel,
"Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected
him. The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at
the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart."
16:12,13
Then
the LORD said, "Rise and anoint him; he is the one." So Samuel
took the horn of oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers,
and from that day on the Spirit of the LORD came upon David in power.
David
serves Saul but eventually has to flee
16:19-23
Then
Saul sent messengers to Jesse and said, "Send me your son David….
David came to Saul and entered his service. Saul liked him very much,
and David became one of his armor-bearers… Whenever the spirit from
God came upon Saul, David would take his harp and play. Then relief
would come to Saul; he would feel better, and the evil spirit would
leave him
17:4,8,9
A
champion named Goliath, who was from Gath , came out of the Philistine
camp. He was over nine feet tall……Goliath stood and shouted to the ranks
of Israel , "Why do you come out and line up for battle? Am I not
a Philistine, and are you not the servants of Saul? Choose a man and
have him come down to me. If he is able to fight and kill me, we will
become your subjects; but if I overcome him and kill him, you will become
our subjects and serve us.
17:26,37,45,46,50
David
asked the men standing near him, "What will be done for the man
who kills this Philistine and removes this disgrace from Israel ? Who
is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the
living God?" ….. The LORD who delivered me from the paw of the
lion and the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine."
….. David said to the Philistine, "You come against me with sword
and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LORD
Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel , whom you have defied. This
day the LORD will hand you over to me, and I'll strike you down and
cut off your head….. So David triumphed over the Philistine with a sling
and a stone; without a sword in his hand he struck down the Philistine
and killed him.
18:6-16
When
the men were returning home after David had killed the Philistine, the
women came out from all the towns of Israel to meet King Saul with singing
and dancing, with joyful songs and with tambourines and lutes. As they
danced, they sang: "Saul has slain his thousands, and David his
tens of thousands." Saul was very angry; this refrain galled him.
"They have credited David with tens of thousands," he thought,
"but me with only thousands. What more can he get but the kingdom?"
And from that time on Saul kept a jealous eye on David. The next
day an evil spirit from God came forcefully upon Saul. He was prophesying
in his house, while David was playing the harp, as he usually did. Saul
had a spear in his hand and he hurled it, saying to himself, "I'll
pin David to the wall." But David eluded him twice. Saul was
afraid of David, because the LORD was with David but had left Saul.
So he sent David away from him and gave him command over a thousand
men, and David led the troops in their campaigns. In everything he did
he had great success, because the LORD was with him. When Saul saw
how successful he was, he was afraid of him. But all Israel and
Judah loved David, because he led them in their campaigns.
18:28-30
When
Saul realized that the LORD was with David and that his daughter Michal
loved David, Saul became still more afraid of him, and he
remained his enemy the rest of his days. The Philistine commanders
continued to go out to battle, and as often as they did, David met with
more success than the rest of Saul's officers, and his name became well
known
19:1,9,10,18
Saul
told his son Jonathan and all the attendants to kill David….But an evil
spirit from the LORD came upon Saul as he was sitting in his house with
his spear in his hand. While David was playing the harp, Saul tried
to pin him to the wall with his spear, but David eluded him as Saul
drove the spear into the wall. That night David made good his escape…...When
David had fled and made his escape, he went to Samuel at Ramah and told
him all that Saul had done to him. Then he and Samuel went to Naioth
and stayed there.
20:1
Then
David fled from Naioth at Ramah and went to Jonathan and asked, "What
have I done? What is my crime? How have I wronged your father, that
he is trying to take my life?"
21:1
David
went to Nob, to Ahimelech the priest
21:10
That day David fled from Saul and went to Achish king of Gath .
22:1
David
left Gath and escaped to the cave of Adullam
22:3-5
From
there David went to Mizpah in Moab and said to the king of Moab , "Would
you let my father and mother come and stay with you until I learn what
God will do for me?" So he left them with the king of Moab , and
they stayed with him as long as David was in the stronghold. But the
prophet Gad said to David, "Do not stay in the stronghold. Go into
the land of Judah." So David left and went to the forest of Hereth
.
23:5
So
David and his men went to Keilah, fought the Philistines and carried
off their livestock. He inflicted heavy losses on the Philistines and
saved the people of Keilah.
23:13,14
So
David and his men, about six hundred in number, left Keilah and kept
moving from place to place. When Saul was told that David had escaped
from Keilah, he did not go there. David stayed in the desert strongholds
and in the hills of the Desert of Ziph . Day after day Saul searched
for him, but God did not give David into his hands.
27:1,2
But
David thought to himself, "One of these days I will be destroyed
by the hand of Saul. The best thing I can do is to escape to the land
of the Philistines. Then Saul will give up searching for me anywhere
in Israel, and I will slip out of his hand." So David and the six
hundred men with him left and went over to Achish son of Maoch king
of Gath.
31:1-6
Now
the Philistines fought against Israel; the Israelites fled before them,
and many fell slain on Mount Gilboa. The Philistines pressed hard after
Saul and his sons, and they killed his sons Jonathan, Abinadab and Malki-Shua.
The fighting grew fierce around Saul, and when the archers overtook
him, they wounded him critically. Saul said to his armor-bearer, "Draw
your sword and run me through, or these uncircumcised fellows will come
and run me through and abuse me." But his armor-bearer was terrified
and would not do it; so Saul took his own sword and fell on it. When
the armor-bearer saw that Saul was dead, he too fell on his sword and
died with him. So Saul and his three sons and his armor-bearer and all
his men died together that same day.
A
Book of Lessons
We
have already with the brief synopsis and the ‘key verses' sought to
portray something of this book, but because it is so action packed we
want to include some more of the highlights, the things we can learn
from the people in this book – and there are so many!
A.
Hannah
Here we have (Ch.1) this wife unable,
apparently, to conceive. Year by year she struggles with the jibes of
the other wife. An unpleasant situation.
Eventually, on a trip to Shiloh where
the Tabernacle was established, she cried out to God and committed any
future child to God. He hears and honours her and she conceives and
Samuel is born, a special man!
B.
Eli
The aging priest overseeing the spiritual
welfare of Israel – but not doing a good job.
He misunderstands Hannah (1:14)
He doesn't control his sons (2:12-16)
and even though he chastises them (2:22-25) he fails to stop their wrong
behaviour and is himself chastised by the Lord (2:29)
3:1-3 is ironic with its picture language
matching Eli's spiritual state: “In
those days the word of the LORD was rare; there were not many
visions. One night Eli, whose eyes were becoming so weak that
he could barely see, was lying down in his usual place. The lamp
of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the temple
of the LORD, where the ark of God was.”
Reflect on those underlined words.
His failure and death is tragic.
C.
Samuel
As we've seen, an unusual birth which
results in him as a child serving with Eli.
Three times he hears a voice calling him
but doesn't realise it is God until Eli catches on and tells him. It
is the start of his prophetic ministry.
We have seen him leading Israel as a judge
and sadly when he grew old his sons were not following in his footsteps
which provides opportunity for the people to ask for a king to follow
him (8:4-9)
D.
Saul
Saul was described as “an
impressive young man without equal among the Israelites--a head taller
than any of the others,” (9:2) which made him the idea candidate
for the choice of first king by the people.
Intriguingly it is the Lord who chooses
him for the people, presumably knowing his disposition and propensity
for failure. Nevertheless free will leaves is Saul's responsibility
and guilt is still genuine for failure. He makes wrong choices!
Saul gets it wrong (as we have partly
noted above) by using sacrifice as a means to stabilize the situation
(Ch.13), his failure to kill the Amalekites (Ch.15) and by seeking out
the witch of Endor (Ch.28) to seek guidance instead of seeking the Lord.
We might also include here his hostility
against David. He was also foolish in binding the army in an oath (14:24-35)
not to eat until nightfall and putting Jonathan in a difficult place
and then threatening to kill him.
The fact that the Lord was able to use
an evil spirit to provoke him (16:14, 18:10) means he was vulnerable
to the enemy through disobedience (the only time then enemy is able
to come in such a manner).
E.
Jonathan
Shows himself to be an adventurer for
the Lord, going out against a Philistine outpost. (13:3- Also 14:1-14)
Became best friend of David (18:1-4)
F.
David
A good looking young man (16:12) who looked
after his father's sheep (16:11), the youngest of eight sons of Jesse
Was also a harpist (16:18)
Became one of Saul's armour bearers for
a while (16:21)
Took provisions to his brothers at the
battle front (17:17)
Was courageous in killing Goliath (17:26-)
Had killed lions and bears while looking
after the sheep (17:34-37) and had a strong relationship with the Lord
(17:45).
Had success and was promoted in the army
(18:5, also 18:13-16) but provoked fear in Saul which eventually ended
up in David having to flee the royal court (20:1)
Bizarrely, this anointed man of God while
on the run has to find protection from the enemy
To the king of Gath (Philistines 21:10)
To Moab for care of his family (22:3)
To the king of Gath (Philistines 27:1-)
Twice he refused to harm Saul (23:4-7,,
26:9)
G.
The Lord
We
should note here the number of times the Lord spoke into a variety of
situations in this book:
2:27-36 To Eli through a “man of God”
calling him to account for his sons.
3:11-14 About Eli through the child Samuel
Ch.5 & 6 To the Philistines through
His actions against the idol Dagon and then
through tumours and guiding the Ark home.
8:7- To Samuel about the people's rejection
of Him
9:17- To Samuel about Saul
10:9- By blessing Saul and enabling him
to prophesy.
11:16 By sending His Spirit on Saul to
deal with Nahash the Ammonite
15:1-3 He commanded the destruction of
the Amalekites
16:1- He directed Samuel to anoint a new
king
23:1- Brought guidance to David while
he was on the run
Concluding
Comments
As we have just noted, this is an action
packed book with a number of people standing out.
It is historically significant taking
us from the period of the Judges into the period of the Kings.
It shows us the first king, Saul, and
his failures, and the Lord's replacement, David.
It also shows us the ‘rough and tumble'
of those days when fighting enemies who threatened you was very common.
We see the development of David as a vanquisher of lions and bears
who goes on to defeat giants and become a famous army leader, and
then the leader of a rebel army on the run.
Perhaps one of the most remarkable things
about David, described as “a man after God's own heart” (1 Sam 13:14,
Acts 13:22), is his attitude towards Saul. Although Saul keeps trying
to kill David, David will not take the opportunities given him to
kill Saul, who he still sees as ‘the Lord's anointed'.
An
amazing book with many lessons.
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