The Whole Story: 1 Samuel Main Point: God is the King over his people. He establishes an anointed ruler to shepherd and guide his people. Payoff: By reading 1 Samuel, you will be able to compare good and bad leadership as it relates to spiritually guiding God’s people. As you see how events developed in Israel, you will grow in your trust of God’s leadership over you. Overview: 1 Samuel is a book about transitions. Samuel is the last of the “judges” in Israel. Samuel is also the prophet who anoints Israel’s first two kings. Israel first asked for a king because Eli’s sons and Samuel’s sons were bad leaders. They abused their position, took advantage of people, and disregarded laws about worshipping God. When Israel asked for a king, Samuel warned them that kings will oppress the people even more. Nevertheless, this transition is a hopeful one, because things were as bad as they could get at the end of Judges. Israel’s first king, Saul, started out as a humble and careful leader. At first, his personal insecurities led him to put faith in Samuel and God. God put his Spirit onto Saul, and he even prophesied at several points throughout the story. However, most of 1 Samuel shows the tragic descent of this king who started with so much promise. His insecurity later leads him to give in to the Israelites in their sinful tendencies and disregard God’s commandments. Saul continually approached his relationship to God in haphazard and sinful ways (see below). Thus, God chose a different king: a shepherd boy whose heart is different than Saul’s. Chapters 16-31 contain the long transition from Saul’s kingship to David’s. There are three major sections of 1 Samuel where these transitions take place: 1 Samuel 1-7- The Last Judge (Samuel) 1 Samuel 8-15- The First King (Saul) 1 Samuel 16-31- The Shepherd King (David) As the plot unfolds, some key theological themes emerge: 1. God is King. The end of Judges (17-25) repeats the mantra “there was no king in Israel.” 1 Samuel tells us that God was supposed to be their king, but they rejected his leadership (1 Samuel 8:7-9). Hannah’s speech in chapter 2 and the narrative about the Ark of the Covenant in chapters 4-7 show that God alone raises the lowly and brings down the mighty. God acquiesces to their request for a king. But, as Saul soon finds out, it is ultimately God’s choice of a king that matters. 2. Proper Worship. Those who worship God improperly, and those who disregard God altogether, end up on the wrong side of history in 1 Samuel. Eli’s sons get fat off the people’s sacrifices and they are rejected. The Philistines put the Ark of the Covenant in all the wrong places, and plagues befall them. Saul disobeys God, makes an unwise vow, and then performs an unlawful sacrifice, for which God rejects him as king. Later, Saul will continue to show his true colors by killing the priests and hiring a necromancer. These examples of improper worship are contrasted by Hannah’s piety, Samuel’s faithfulness and attentiveness, David’s proper sacrifices and ephod use, and David’s deference to God’s anointed king. David lets God fight his battles for him, and does not seek to take justice into his own hands. He is also an expert at singing and writing praise songs. 3. The Shepherd King. The people wanted a king in order to be like other nations. The first king, Saul, has everything that an Ancient civilization would want in a strong, successful king. However, God makes a better choice based on the heart. David started out as a shepherd, and lessons he learned during that period helped him become a good leader. He had a simple and courageous faith, where Saul was presumptuous. He had a capacity for friendship, where Saul dealt in treachery and distrust. Saul sought revenge, but David refused to repay evil for evil. David showed much more care for the Israelite people and rescued wives and children from their enemies. Advice for Reading: It is impossible to overestimate how much 1 Samuel relates and refers to other parts of Scripture. You will be helped in your reading of 1 Samuel to remember the lessons and stories from Judges, as well as the admonitions of Deuteronomy. Deuteronomy 17-18 provide a very specific backdrop for evaluating kings, and some of Saul’s sins fall right into the categories of those two chapters. The way Saul was examined and evaluated will become a staple of Kings and Chronicles. The institution of the kingship was a very important moment in the history of Israel, and 1 Samuel contains a high concentration of important Old Testament themes. One later passage in the Old Testament sums up the theological importance of 1 Samuel: Ezekiel 34. Ezekiel starts off by prophecy against bad shepherds that make themselves fat by exploiting the people (Eli’s sons). God declares judgment against such leaders, and then promises to become a shepherd to the Israelites (Ezekiel 34:11-31). In the middle of declaring how God is going to personally oversee his own sheep, God says that he will establish his servant, David, as their shepherd and prince. Ezekiel 34 confirms that David will become the standard for Israel in evaluating its leaders. All future leaders will be measured against the Lord’s anointed. Whoever will eventually fulfill this prophecy must both be in the genealogical line of David (Gen. 49) and exhibit many of his better qualities (Ez. 34:20-24, Jer. 23:5-6, Is. 9:1-7, 11:1-10). John 10 tells us that Jesus is this good shepherd king. Main Application: we must establish God as the king of our lives and learn what it means to live under his rule. When we have opportunities to lead, we should resemble what God approved in David’s leadership rather than Saul’s. .