HEARD OF GOD
The book starts with a man called Elkanah who every year went up to Shiloh to worship and sacrifice to the Lord. He had two wives and sadly the one, Peninnah, who had many sons and daughters, used to provoke (v6) the other one, Hannah, who was childless. In one particular year Hannah, in much brokenness, was weeping and praying to the Lord and vowed that if God gave her a son she would give him (v11) to the Lord all the days of his life. Eli, the priest, seeing her strange demeanour, criticised her for he thought she was drunk but he later prayed for her (v17) when he heard her speak of her desperation.
GROWING UP IN THE PRESENCE OF GOD
God, of course, blessed her with a son Samuel who was to change the course of a backsliding nation. Samuel means “heard of God” because she asked the Lord for him (v20). She fulfilled her side of the bargain and (v28) he lived a life of worship in the temple from a very early age. Hannah’s prayer, in chapter 2, is one of the great declarations of God’s greatness and she was blessed with three further sons and two daughters (v21).
YOUR SERVANT IS LISTENING
Israel, we know from the book of Judges, was in a sorry state at the time. Sadly Eli’s sons, despite being priests, had no regard for the Lord and were wicked men (2v12-17). Eli’s sons treated God with contempt, despite the rebuke of their father, but Samuel, in contrast, grew up, significantly (v21), in the presence of the Lord and (v26) grew “in stature and in favour with the Lord and men”. A man of God (v27) prophesied that there would be sadness in Eli’s family line and his two wayward sons would both die on the same day.
THE GLORY HAD DEPARTED
God would honour those that honour Him (v30) and he was determined to raise up a faithful priest who (v35) would “do according to what is in God’s heart and mind”. This would eventually be fulfilled In Jesus, our great high priest, but Samuel proved from a boy to be very receptive to God’s word (chapter3) and Eli taught him to say “speak for your servant is listening” (v9). All Israel was to recognise that Samuel was a true prophet through whom God revealed himself (v21) and was with him as he grew up (v19) “and he let none of his words fall to the ground”. Israel was in a state of backsliding, the word of the Lord had become rare (3v1) and the Philistines (4v1-11) were allowed to defeat Israel in battle. Eli’s two sons were killed, as prophesied, and when Eli heard the news that, even, the ark of the Lord had been captured he (v18) just fell backwards off his chair and died from a broken neck. The wife of Phinehas, dying in childbirth, aptly named her son Ichabod (v21); a name which means “the glory has departed from Israel”.
Israel reached rock bottom when the ark, the place of God’s manifest presence, was captured. The ark was to find its way back to Israel through a fascinating series of events in chapters 5 and 6. When placed next to the false god Dagon in Ashdod, the idol fell on its face every time (5v3). Trouble came to every place where it stayed until (chapter 6) it returned back to Israel on a cart pulled and guided by two young cows who had never been yoked before. Once again Israel had to learn the lesson that the place of God’s presence should be treated with honour and respect (6v19). In the next 20 years under Samuels guidance the people of Israel turned back to the lord, put aside their Baals and Ashtoreths, and (7v6) recognised Samuel as their national leader at Mizpah. The Philistines, annoyed at this display of unity, attacked but the Lord answered Samuel’s cries and threw the enemy (7v10) into panic with some extra loud thunder. Samuel set up a stone calling it Ebenezer, meaning “thus far has the Lord helped us” (v12). This was a good time in Israel with continued deliverance from the power of their enemies. Samuel judged on a circuit of cities (7 v 15-17)–Bethel, Gilgal, Mizpah and his home Ramah.
GOD REJECTED AS KING
In chapter 8 we read that Samuel appointed his sons as judges but, sadly, they did not follow in the integrity of their father and accepted bribes (v3). The people, during the period of the Judges, had fallen so far from God that they no longer knew the way back and called out for a king (v5) to rule them, just like the other nations. This displeased Samuel and he prayed to God who assured him that it was he, God, who was being rejected as their king (v7) and not him. Samuel was asked to warn them of the downsides of having a king but faced with their insistence, the Lord said (v22) “listen to them and give them a king”.
SAUL-MAN’S CHOICE
In chapter 9 we are introduced to a 30 year old Benjaminite, Saul, who being a head taller than any other young man, was the sort of impressive material that the people wanted in a king. He was looking for his father’s donkeys but God had heard his peoples cry (v16) and was looking for someone to deliver His people from the Philistines. It was Samuel’s job to pour the anointing oil on Saul’s head to make him leader over God’s inheritance (10v1). Saul then met a procession of prophets at Gibeah and the Spirit of the Lord came upon him in power (v10). Most, but not all, people accepted his appointment (v27) but Saul, in his humility and shyness, kept a low profile at first.
The people of Jabesh Gilead found themselves in terrible difficulty (chapter11) when an Ammonite king, called Nahash, was besieging them and he specialised in gouging out right eyes (v2). When Saul heard about this “the Spirit of God came upon him in power” (v6) and he mustered an army of 370,000 to rescue the city. This affirmed Saul’s position as king (v14). In Samuels’s farewell speech of chapter 12 we read that, although God was not happy with the appointment of a king, there was still hope for Israel if the people and their king were to follow the Lord (v14). God would be unwilling (v22) to cast away His people for he wanted a people for Himself but if they persisted in doing evil they would have to be swept away (v25).
A MAN AFTER HIS OWN HEART
Saul started off well but it was not long before he showed his true colours when he looked at the circumstances of the occasion (a Philistine army at Michmash) and chose his own way rather than obey God’s command. The circumstances were (13v12) that he hurriedly made a sacrifice which should have waited for Samuel. From this point in time, God was then looking for a man after his own heart (13v14) to lead his people. God still used Saul as king for 40 years and, with the help of his son Jonathan, successfully kept Israel’s oppressive enemies at bay (14v47-48), even though there was still constant trouble with the Philistines (v52). It was the battle against the Amalekites (chapter 15) where Saul really came undone. God is angry with those who hinder the progress of His people, as the Amalekites had done on the journey out of Egypt (v2). Their destruction had to be complete but Saul decided that it was a better idea to keep the best sheep, cattle and lambs. God grieved making Saul king because he had not, fully, carried out His commands (v11) and declared that obedience was far better than sacrifice (v22). Sadly, Saul thought (v13) that he had carried out the Lord’s command. The fact was that, by his partial obedience, he had rejected the word of the Lord who then, consequently, had to reject him as king of Israel (v26). Samuel never went to see Saul again, but as the channel of God’s word, he was soon asked to anoint the future king David, the son of Jesse (chapter 16).
DAVID-God’s choice
In the choice of David, we are reminded that (v7) “man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart”. Remember he was looking for a man after his own heart and, from that day (v13), “the Spirit of the Lord came on David in power”. From this time until the end of the book, which ends in Saul’s death, we are enthralled by the fascinating relationship between David, Saul and his son Jonathan. Saul and his servants were immediately attracted to the anointing within David (v18-22); his music, his bravery, his looks, his speech and the fact that the Lord was with him. Instead of the Spirit of God within him, Saul now had an evil spirit which David’s worship songs would temporarily dislodge (v23). David, with his sling in hand, made that magnificent spectacle of Goliath because he knew that the battle was the Lord’s (17v47) and, eventually, he was appointed to be Saul’s armour bearer. David, successfully, served Saul (18v5) but a root of jealousy grew up within Saul as he became jealous of David’s success. The evil spirit urged Saul to throw spears at him (v10,11) but David continued to have great success as troop leader in various battles (v14) because “the Lord was with him”. Saul’s jealousy turned to fear. He even engineered a marriage to his daughter Michal (v21) to make David more vulnerable to attack from the Philistines but (v28) he realised the Lord was with him and also, to his dismay, Michal actually loved him.
THE GROWING ROOT
The problem with a root of sin is that it grows and what started as jealousy became a fear and, finally, had murderous intent. Saul asked Jonathan and all his attendants to kill David (ch 19 v1) but Jonathan brokered a reconciliation with his father. However, one day, when David was playing his harp to Saul, an evil spirit came upon Saul and he tried to pin David to the wall with his spear (v10). The root of sin was still there and, just as Saul’s men were closing in to kill him, Michal helped David to escape by letting him down through a window (v12). David fled to Samuel at Ramah and we read of how Saul attempted to capture him (v20) but when he sent his men, and finally went himself, the Spirit of God was so powerful that they all ended up prophesying just like Samuel and his group of prophets. Sadly, Jonathan (ch20) realised the intent of his father and that he would have to be separated from David, his closest friend. David, now on the run (ch21), fled to Ahimelech, the priest at Nob. Unfortunately, Saul’s head shepherd, Doeg the Edomite, was there at the time and when back at Gibeah he recounted to Saul how Ahimelech had supplied David with provisions. This led to a sickening low in Saul’s life, when he commanded his servants to kill the priests of the Lord. Never a wise thing to disobey the king but none of them moved so Saul asked Doeg to do the job himself. Doeg, dutifully, then went on to kill 85 priests and destroy the whole town of the priests with its men, women, children and infants. Only Abiathar, one of the priest sons, survived by escaping to join David (v20).
DAVID’S BAND
Davids family and various other discontents (22v1,2), meanwhile, joined David in the cave of Adullam and he became leader of a band of about 400 men who, in fleeing from Saul, moved from place to place. It is clear that David constantly sought direction from the Lord (chapter 23v2 etc) and, with His protection, always managed to evade Saul (see 23v26-29). On two occasions (ch24 and ch26) David passed by the opportunity to kill Saul, choosing instead to try to win back his favour rather than lift his hand against the Lord’s anointed. In chapter 25v1 the great man Samuel died and the whole nation mourned, but as we know, times had changed, the era of the judges was now past and that of the kings had begun.
If God is with a person, it is dangerous to stand in his way and in chapter 25 we read of a wealthy but mean old chap, Nabal, who refused to help David at his time of great need, even though David had previously protected his own shepherds. Only an intervention by his intelligent and beautiful wife Abigail (v3) prevented a disaster and Nabal went on to live only a few days (v38). David, surprisingly, sought refuge with king Achish of Gath (ch27), the home town of Goliath, and somehow gained enough respect to become his bodyguard.
SAUL KNOWS THAT HE IS IN TROUBLE
Meanwhile, maybe Saul was missing David’s warrior anointing and he was filled with fear (28v5) when the Philistines assembled at Gilboa against Israel. Still worse he knew he was in trouble when he enquired of the Lord but received no answer (v6). In panic and desperation he sought the assistance of a witch at Endor and, even the evil spirits, did not give him any comfort. In contrast we hear of the amazing divine protection of
David’s family and followers who lived at Ziklag and had been captured by Amalekite raiders (ch30).
The final chapter then ends with the inevitable; the Israelites suffered a disastrous defeat at Gilboa when Saul and his three sons were killed; Saul himself was wounded by archers and chose to fall on his own sword. The chapter ends with a moving moment as the people from Jabesh Gilead (thankful for their two eyes), bravely, recovered the bodies of Saul and his sons and buried them under a tamarisk tree (v12,13).
THE FRAGILITY OF ANOINTING
And so ends 1 Samuel, where we saw the contrast between those who honoured and obeyed God and walked in their anointing and those who compromised. Saul who showed so much potential but, effectively, by his disobedience, rejected God who in turn had to set him aside and look for a man after His own heart, David. Eli, in the matter of his sons, compromised his priestly anointing and God found another person, Samuel, who never waivered, always walked the true way and never let God’s words fall to the ground. Even Samuel’s sons, though, were corrupt and they may well have contributed to Israel’s pressing demand for a king. God saw this as a rejection of Himself as their king and not Samuel. But such are God’s purposes that he still had a heart for His people and the new kingly lineage of David would eventually lead to the King of Kings, Jesus, himself.