The Books of Samuel….The Last Judge of Israel,
and God’s Establishment of the Hebrew Monarchy
Introduction
If we remember nothing else from the two books of Samuel it should be the above title and the names of the three main characters in these books: Samuel, Saul, and David….though, hopefully, you’ll remember more than that!
I and II Samuel received their name in connection with the prophet who was also Israel’s last judge, and who was the dominant character throughout the first half of I Samuel. Yet Samuel’s influence would extended throughout the rest of I Samuel, as well as through II Samuel.
The name Samuel, means “asked of God” and refers to the answered prayer of his mother, Hannah. Incidentally, “prayer” is one of the key elements of this book….a point upon which we shall elaborate many times throughout our study of this book.
Originally, in the Hebrew Bible, Samuel was a single book, which is why we are going to treat both books as one unit. The Greek translation of the Old Testament (known as “the Septuagint,” or “the 70″) first divided the book of Samuel into the two parts that today we know as I Samuel and II Samuel. Interestingly, the Septuagint was translated approximately 200 years before the birth of Christ, and was the dominant Old Testament translation of the early Christian Church.
At that time, as well as through the Middle Ages, I and II Samuel were referred to as the First and the Second Book of the Kings (see the heading in the KJV), while our books of I and II Kings were called Third and Fourth Kings. The over-riding purpose of all four books is to describe the providential control which the Lord exercised over the affairs of His people, always achieving His purposes….and particularly of furthering His plan to eventually send the promised Savior into the world.
The Historical Setting For I Samuel
No one is ready to study the books of Samuel, until after a study of the book of Judges has been completed. The days of the judges were very dark days for the nation of Israel. God had delivered the Israelites from the slavery in Egypt. However, due to their unbelief and disobedience, God refused to permit the first generation of Israelites to enter the Promised Land. After 40 years’ of divine disciplinary wandering and waiting in the wilderness, their children and grandchildren were allowed to enter the land of Canaan under the leadership of Joshua. But soon after the death of Joshua, things began to fall apart Spiritually-speaking. For the next 300 years the people of Israel experienced self-inflicted, repetitive cycles of blessing and discipline…all because of their obedience or rebellion. When Israel would disobey the Lord, He would allow an oppressive enemy to overcome them, often occupying their land. Whenever the Israelites repented and cried out to God for mercy, He would send a “judge” to deliver them. However, whenever that judge died, the people of Israel would return to their sins and the cycle would start all over again.
A person might conclude from reading the Book of Judges that Israel’s main problem was the absence of a king in Israel: “In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes” (Judges 21:25). During the period of time covered by I Samuel, Israel will get its king: Saul. As Israel’s first king, he will be the kind of royal leader that the people want…..and Saul will be the kind of king that Israel deserves. Because of Saul’s disobedience and arrogance, the Lord will replace Saul with David. As Israel’s second king, David is God’s kind of king….a man after God’s own heart. In I Samuel we also find the stories of fascinating people like Hannah and Samuel, as well as Saul, Jonathan (Saul’s son) and David. One might say that there’s never a dull moment throughout this masterfully well-written history. I Samuel closes with the tragic death of Saul, and thus ends David’s period of misery at the hand of Saul, who jealously sought to kill him as his enemy….which was so far from the truth.
While the people and events of I Samuel occurred long ago and from far away, the struggles the men and women faced, who are prominent in this book, are very similar to the challenges of life that we face today as we endeavor to live in a fallen world in the ways that are pleasing to our God. Consequently, there are a number of ways through which we can identify with these ancient Israelites, and there are many lessons that we can learn from their successes and failures. As we embark upon this study of God’s Word, let’s do so with a sense of expectation…..asking that God the Holy Spirit will powerfully and productively work in our hearts and lives as He worked in the lives of these people who lived so long ago, that He might make us more into men and women who are individuals after the Lord’s own heart.
Date These two books named after Sameul cover approximately 100 years, extending from his birth through the closing years of David’s reign. Internal evidence seems to suggest that both books were (again, actually one book, was) written after the united kingdom of Israel was divided by civil war into the two, competing kingdoms of Judah and Israel. (See I Kings 15:4 and 27:6.)
Author The writer of Samuel is unknown to us. Obviously it could not have been Samuel, since his death is recorded at the midpoint (I Samuel 25:1). As will be the case with the combined books of Kings and Chronicles, the inspired writer of I and II Samuel used a variety of outside sources in his effort to write his record of the early Israelite monarchy, such as the Book of Jashar (II Sam 1:18). We’ll also want to make note of the fact that II Samuel 8-25 is almost identical, word for word, with I Chronicles 11-20…..whose author says he drew his information from the books of Samuel, Nathan, and Gad (I Chronicles 29:29).
A Note about the Schools of the Prophets
I Samuel 3:19-21 indicates that Samuel founded a school at Ramah. About a century later there were also schools of the prophets that were established at Jericho, Gilgal, and Bethel. We are told that both Elijah and Elisha were involved with various schools of the prophets during their ministries. According to I Samuel 10:10-12 and II Kings 2:3, these schools were under the supervision of an elder prophet who would instruct younger men in the interpretation of the law, in music, and in sacred poetry (I Sam 10:5). After “graduation” they were expected to discharge their office by becoming religious teachers among the people. And so, to a certain extent, one could say that in this school at Ramah we have the first “Old Testament Seminary.”
A Suggested Outline
I. Samuel (I Samuel 1-7)
II. Saul (I Samuel 8-15)
III. David before officially assuming the kingship (I Samuel 16-31)
IV. David’s triumphs as King (II Samuel 1-10)
V. David’s troubles as King (II Samuel 11-24)
Lesson One
Hannah’s Special Son and Her Psalm
1 Samuel 1:1-2:10
When the Olympic Games were in Atlanta, Georgia in 1988, the whole world became familiar with the name and face of a young girl, Kerri Strug. She was a key member of the USA’s women’s gymnastic team that earned the team gold medal. Winning, or losing that medal came down to whether or not Strugg could successfully perform the vault. Unfortunately, her first vault was not good, and she sprained her ankle in the process. The had one more chance, but had to perform an excellent vault to secure the gold medal. As Kerri limped back to her starting position, everyone watching wondered if she would even try to perform her vault, let alone that she would ace it.
And what additional injury would she incur in the process of attempting such a dangerous exercise. Of course, you probably know the story. It had a truly storybook ending. Not only did Strugg perform the vault, it was excellent. The result was a gold medal for Team USA, and her picture adorned the front page of nearly every newspaper in the world the next day. She became an instant celebrity, not just because she preformed her vault, or that she helped secure the gold medal for her team, but because she performed so well in the midst of such great adversity. Because of her injury and commitment to her teammates, its quite likely that Kerri Strug will long be remembered for her courage and skill in the face of such challenging circumstances.
The story of Hannah bears some striking similarities to Kerri Strug’s. Hannah was an ordinary individual who is remembered 3000 years later as great woman of faith, as well as the mother of Samuel, one of Israel’s most outstanding leaders and prophets. Had it not been for the adversity she faced in her life, the remarkable birth of her first child probably would not be remembered today. But Hannah’s years of agony and her painful tears make the birth of her son Samuel an incident to be remembered. Her difficulties and God’s deliverance also form the backdrop for her psalm of praise, which has served to comfort and inspire believers down through the ages. In fact, Mary, the mother of our Lord, was especially mindful of Hannah’s situation, as we can see in her own psalm of praise to the Lord in Luke 1:46-55. So, let’s give our attention now to the birth of Hannah’s son and her psalm of praise to the Lord….since there’s much we can learn from it and much that we can apply to our lives today.
The Setting
In our English Bibles, the Book of 1 Samuel follows the Book of Ruth. However, in the Hebrew Old Testament manuscripts, the book of Samuel immediately follows the Book of Judges. And so, in the Hebrew Bible the last words written before I Samuel begins are these: “In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” (Judges 21:25).
“Those days” of the Judges were far from the high water mark of Israel’s spiritual life as a nation. The Book of Judges described those days as chaotic ones in which the Israelites were often disciplined by God for their disobedience and idolatry through the oppression of the heathen nations that surrounded them. One they cried out in repentance to God, He would send a judge to deliver them, but their freedom typically lasted only as long as the judge lived. Besides, many of their judges were less than model saints. Samson, for example, was a man whose life was dominated by fleshly desires, rather than Spiritual priorities. The writer of Judges frequently links Israel’s spiritual decay and political chaos to the absence of a king. Consequently, the book of I Samuel records the process by which God provided His people with a king. Like Elizabeth in the New Testament whose son John would publicly designate Jesus as the Promised Messiah, Hannah became the mother of the prophet Samuel, by whom God would designate His chosen king for Israel. Saul would be anointed as Israel’s first king. Then after his rejection by God due to His arrogance and disobedience, David would be anointed as the head of Jewish royal dynasty that would stretch into eternity, since it culminated in the session of Jesus on heaven’s throne. In the midst of Israel’s Spiritual anemia, Hannah – as well as her husband, Elkanah – stand head and shoulders above their Hebrew peers.
Hannah’s Story
Elkanah was a God-fearing member of the tribe of Levi, who lived in the hill country of Ephraim. Because of his place of residence, however, he was referred to an Ephraimite, hough he was actually a Levite (see 1 Chronicles 6:33-38). Godly man that he was, Elkanah was still a sinner. That’s seen, among other matters, in the fact that he had two wives, Hannah and Peninnah. Peninnah was able to have children for Elkanah, but Hannah could not (1:2)…..because God had closed up her womb (1:6).
Every year, Elkanah, Peninnah and her children, and barren Hannah went up to Shiloh, approximately 20 miles north of Jerusalem, where the tabernacle is located. They went there, as other devout Israelites did, to observe one of three annual Hebrew religious feasts (1:3; see Exodus 23:14-17; Deuteronomy 16:16). It was supposed to be a special time of rejoicing for God’s people. (Deuteronomy 12:17-18).
For Hannah, and probably for Elkanah as well, it was difficult to rejoice before the Lord. First, the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, ministered there as priests (1:3), and their service before the LORD and to the Israelite people left a lot to be desired (2:12-17, 22-25). But, by far and away, the chief reason for Hannah’s pain during their annual treks to Shiloh was that Peninnah took full advantage of this occasion to harass Hannah year after year because she (Peninnah) had children, while Hannah was childless (1:4-7). Not only did Hannah shed many tears over this, but she was so troubled that she wouldn’t join in the festive meal at the tabernacle (1:7).
It is not that Elkanah, her husband, didn’t not try to comfort her. He went out of his way to assure Hannah of his love by giving her a double portion of the meat which has been sacrificed (1:5). He made sincere efforts to compensate for her barrenness, reminding her of what she meant to him as his wife (1:8). But in spite of all Elkanah’s efforts to support and encourage her, Hannah continued to dread the annual pilgrimage to Shiloh and the constant harassment of Peninnah.
During the year, Hannah and Peninnah probably lived in separate tents, sufficiently distant from each other that they didn’t associate much, let alone eat that the same table. Under those circumstances, Hannah could “survive” Peninnah’s persecution. But on the annual trek to Shiloh, the two rivals must have had to travel and eat together. And while, at the festival meal, when the sacrificial meat was eaten, Hannah received a double portion compared to what Peninnah received, Peninnah’s children also received similar portions…..which altogether added up to more meat than Hannah. Somehow Peninnah found a way of using that situation to further shame Hannah.
On the particular trip to Shiloh that the writer tells us about, Hannah barely made it through the meal. Somehow she fortified herself against Peninnah’s cruel remarks and actions. But after eating and drinking, she hurried away from the family to found her way into the tabernacle, where she poured out her heart in prayer to the LORD. As she silently prayed, Eli, the high priest, was watching. He saw her shoulders heave as she bitterly sobbed (1:10). Not hearing any words come from her mouth, Eli jumped to the wrong conclusion, assuming that she had been celebrating too much, and that her silence was due to her being drunk. And so he rebuked her for being drunk and ordered her to stop drinking (1:13-14).
Hannah immediately assured Eli she wasn’t drunk at all, but that she was pouring out her soul to the LORD (1:15). She begged him not to condemn her as a worthless woman (1:16). Ironically, the word Hannah uses (“worthless”) is the very term that the author used in chapter 2 (verse 12) to describe the two sons of Eli. Instead, she informed Eli that she had simply been pouring out to God the agonies within her soul.
Included in Hannah’s pleadings was a vow, to God, promising that if He gave her a son, she would give him back to the LORD as an offering in the form of a Nazirite (1:11; see Numbers 6:1-21; Judges 13:2-7). Eli assured Hannah that God would grant her request and would bless her (1:17). After that comforting, encouraging assurance, Hannah was able to return to the family meal, her face radiating with joy rather than sorrow.
The entire family got up the next morning and worshiped the Lord before they returned to Ramah. Some time after that, Hannah became pregnant and eventually gave birth to the son that Eli had promised she would have. She named the boy Samuel, which means “asked of God.” She knows her son is God’s answer to her prayers. The boy’s name, then, will serve as a constant reminder to her and others, of this child’s origin and his destiny.
Although the child was still nursing, the time arrived for the family to make its annual trek to Shiloh. Elkanah took up the rest of his family, but Hannah remained behind with Samuel. She wasn’t trying to avoid keeping her vow to the LORD (see 1:21-23). Quite the contrary! From the exchange she had with her husband, Hannah made it clear that it was too early for Samuel to be left alone at Shiloh. So, she would continue to nurse him until he was weaned during the ensuing year, so that Samuel could be brought to the tabernacle in order to live there permanently…never to return to return home to Ramah again as a child.
Once Samuel was weaned, in keeping with her vow to the LORD, Hannah took her son to Shiloh and presented him to Eli the priest. He was still very young, but old enough to be cared for by someone other than his mother (see 1:24). The three-year-old bull they also took with them was slaughtered and given to Eli. Hannah reminded Eli that she was the woman who had stood beside him praying fervently, and that he had assured her that God would grant her petition. She told him that to fulfill her vow she had brought her child to him as an offering to the Lord. She would leave him in Eli’s care, but before Hannah left, she offered a prayer of praise to the Lord, a prayer by which Hannah will long be remembered.
Hannah’s Psalm (2 :1-10)
Hannah’s psalm contains a number of features of which we want to make note.
First, Hannah’s prayer is a psalm. Many contemporary translations indicate this by the way they format the text. It looks just like one of the psalms from the Book of Psalms. In addition, Hannah’s prayer employs the literary forms of parallelism and symbolism, which are typically found in psalms.
Second, Hannah’s psalm is a prayer…..a prayer of thanksgiving and praise that Hannah might – or might not – have prepared in advance. But it is clearly something that Hannah composed herself.
Third, Hannah’s psalm is now a part of Scripture for all of us to read, to repeat, and through which our souls can be edified.
Fourth, that makes Hannah’s psalm a product of God the Holy Spirit. After all, Paul reminds us in II Timothy 3:16, “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness . . .” And since this psalm is included in the Holy Scriptures, we know that the Holy Spirit inspired Hannah as she spoke it (I Corinthians 2:10-13; II Peter 1:21).
Fifth, Hannah’s psalm is the product of her own experiences and emotions. Let’s keep in mind that the Holy Spirit didn’t mechanically dictate the words of Scripture to those who recorded them for us. Instead, in miraculous and mysterious ways that go beyond our comprehension, God the Holy Spirit superintended what the human instruments wrote down, as they relied on their own words and personalities, as well as their unique backgrounds and experiences. And yet He made sure that they accurately and inerrantly conveyed the very word of God to us.
Sixth, Hannah’s psalm also reflects Israel’s past experiences with the LORD. It’s worth noting how often one portion of Scripture is linked to another portion. In her Psalm, Hannah’s words of praise seem to flow, in part, from Israel’s experiences of the past, particularly the exodus. For example, Hannah speaks about God as her “rock” (verse 2), just as God is described in Deuteronomy 32:30-31 as Israel’s “Rock.” Hannah also speaks of God as exalting her “horn” in verse 1. Moses uses similar symbolism in Deuteronomy 33:17. And when Hannah speaks about God elevating the weak and humble to positions of power and prominence, wasn’t that also true of what He did for Israel at the time of the exodus? What’s more, when she speaks of the powerful being humbled, wasn’t that also what happened to Egypt when the exodus occurred? Hannah’s perspective on her life was shaped by her knowledge of Israel’s previous, gracious experiences with God.
Seventh, Hannah’s prayer goes far beyond her own experience, focusing on the character of the one true God Whom she worships and to Whom she gives praise. Unlike Jonah’s “psalm” (Jonah 2), but very much like the psalms found in the Book of Psalms, Hannah’s psalm does not concentrate on her sorrow, her suffering, or even on her blessings. Instead, Hannah’s psalm focuses on her God. Out of both her suffering and eventual exaltation, she is able to see God more clearly, and as a result, she praises Him for Who and What He is. Her psalm refers to God as holy (verse 2), as faithful (“rock,” verse 2), as omniscient (all knowing, verse 3), as gracious (verse 8), as all powerful (verse 6), as sovereign, the great reverser of circumstances (verses 6-10). She says a considerable amount about God in a few short verses.
Eighth, Hannah’s prayer goes far beyond her own experiences, far beyond the past and present. She looks ahead to the future. And so Hannah’s psalm is prophetic. She’s looking forward to the time when Israel will have a king (verse 10). She might even be looking forward to the arrival of the ultimate “King,” our Lord Jesus Christ, Who is the ultimate fulfillment of all Messianic prophecy. Perhaps that’s why Mary’s “psalm” has a familiar ring to us (Luke 1:46-55).
Finally, ninth, we shouldn’t overlook the reality that while Hannah’s psalm is an expression of her great joy and praise to God for His gift to her of Samuel, she’s about to leave her son behind at Shiloh with Eli, never again to have Samuel in her home. Nevertheless, here Hannah expresses her joy and gratitude to God for her son, the answer to her prayers. She expresses her faith in God and her devotion to Him, even during this time when she is about to leave Samuel in Shiloh and return to Ramah. God’s faithfulness to her in the past is her assurance of His faithfulness to her and to her son in the future. And so, she can present her son to the Lord as an offering, confident that God will care for Samuel and use the boy to accomplish His gracious purposes.
Observations and Applications on this portion of Scripture
The opening portion of I Samuel reveals the godliness of both Hannah and Elkanah in contrast to the poor parenting of Eli and the worthlessness of his sons, Hophni and Phinehas. Elkanah is a godly husband, who truly cares about Hannah, and who is sensitive to the emotional pain his wife is going through. He tries as best he knows how to encourage her by his actions. He gives her a double portion of sacrificial meat and he speaks kind, gentle words of encouragement to her, He assures Hannah of his love for her, regardless of whether or not she bears any children. He also evangelically and gently reminds her that her spirit of sadness is inappropriate when she is supposed to be worshiping the LORD. He also allows her the freedom to worship alone, where she makes her vow to the LORD. And although he had the authority – as her husband and Spiritual head – to nullify her vow to give up her (but also his) son, he doesn’t do that. What’s more, he gives her the freedom to decide when she will go to Shiloh to turn Samuel over the the LORD.
Elkanah is also a godly man when it comes to his relationship with God. He is properly concerned that his wife will do the right thing in the sight of the LORD. He faithfully makes the annual journey to worship at Shiloh, even though he might have reasonable excuses for not doing so. He could have said that he didn’t have the time to go to Shiloh, or that it was too expensive to make the trip. He also could have pointed to how corrupt the priests, namely Hophni and Phinehas, were by saying that he didn’t want to expose his family to their hypocrisy, immorality, or brutality. He also had to realize that this annual journey was an occasion for Peninnah to make things difficult for Hannah and for him….which he could have used as a justification for not making the trek. But in spite of all these reasons for not going to worship God at Shiloh, Elkanah and his family nevertheless went to worship the LORD there year after year, because God expected him to do so, and because he wanted to do so.
Then there’s Hannah, who is as good an example as Scripture provides us of a godly woman and wife. She endured years of silent suffering because of her barrenness, as well as the cruel harassment she endured at the hand of Peninnah. She faithfully accompanied her husband and family (including Peninnah) to Shiloh, knowing how painful it always would be. For the most part, Hannah suffered silently, and doesn’t give us any indication that she ever retaliated against her counterpart, Peninnah. She faithfully worshiped the LORD, to the extent that she poured out her tears and petitions to Him. And when God answered her prayers, Hannah not only kept her vow, she praised God in a manner that continues to inspire and encourage believers down through the 30 centuries since. And just as surely as Eli’s parental failures played a part in the shameful conduct of his sons as priests, even so the godliness of Hannah and her husband had to have positively influenced Samuel’s priesthood. What’s more, both Hannah and Elkanah serve us as positive examples of godly faith and action today.
Our story lays the foundation for the unfolding of the events depicted in 1 and 2 Samuel. The last verse of the Book of Judges speaks once again of the fact that Israel has no king at this time. Hannah’s prophetic psalm speaks of the coming of a king. Hannah and Elkanah, like their New Testament counterparts, Zechariah and Elizabeth (see Luke 1), are childless. Both barren wives become the mother of a prophet, who designates the coming king. As Samuel designates both Saul and David, so John the Baptist designates Jesus the Nazarene as God’s Messiah and King.
Hannah’s worship provides great insight into the role of women in worship in the Old Testament times. Her role is not a public or official one, yet she continues to have great spiritual impact on saints down through the ages. Conversely, Eli’s official status and public visibility does nothing for his spiritual life or the spiritual lives of his sons. Hannah, in her silent suffering, and in her quiet and unseen ministry to Samuel, has a great and lasting impact on her times and ours as well. Hannah’s prayer of petition, which expresses her vow to God, is silent, but the result of her prayer has national significance. Her prayer of praise is a part of Holy Scripture and the source of great instruction, comfort, and encouragement. While she had no official leadership position and her ministry was private, she still had great spiritual impact. Let those men or women who wish prominence, visibility, position, and status learn from the way God used Hannah and her ministry.
Hannah’s suffering and her psalm is a paradigm of the way God reveals Himself through the Scriptures. Hannah’s psalm, like all the rest of the Scriptures, is the product of human effort, superintended and divinely empowered by the Holy Spirit. It is both the product of human effort and the expression of a human personality, shaped by the things Hannah experienced. She could not have written this portion of Scripture without having suffered as she did at the hand of Peninnah, due to her barrenness. Neither could Hannah have written what she did about the future without divine inspiration. Her words which have been recorded for us are also the word of God.
Hannah’s psalm could not have been written without the suffering which precedes it. After all, it was God Who closed Hannah’s womb. It was God who allowed her to suffer at the hand of her cruel counterpart, Peninnah. It was God Who managed all of the painful and pleasant events in Hannah’s life, so that the psalm that she produced could become the masterpiece of Scripture that it is. And, while you and I dont write Scripture today, God still orchestrates our lives in all the ways that uniquely prepare and equip us for the ministry He has determined for us to carry out. Consequently, instead of seeing (particularly) the difficulties in our lives as impediments to our joy and service, we need to see them as opportunities to praise God and to faithfully serve Him even in challenging circumstances….so that in all things – the pleasant and the unpleasant – God might be glorified in us, as Hannah glorified God in her life. Similarly, Paul would acknowledge in II Corinthians 12:7-10 that what he initially perceived as “a thorn in the flesh…to torment” him, he ultimately recognized as God’s gift to bless him. Paul finally understood what God’s power and grace are often demonstrated in the weaknesses of His children, Who in our extreme circumstances grow in our faith by learning to trust even more on Him for everything in life….confident that He will always make everything work out for our earthly and eternal good. (Romans 8:28; Genesis 50:20)
Our motivation for glorifying God in every circumstance and situation in life is that our God has graciously made us His children through the righteous life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ in our place. And all of us, who in faith, embrace the good news of this Gospel know we were helplessly and hopelessly lost in their sins, worthy only of God’s eternal wrath. Yet we can rejoice in the fact that, while we could not do anything to earn God’s forgiveness and our salvation, Christ has graciously done everything necessary to save us for eternal life in heaven through His vicarious righteous life, sacrificial death and bodily resurrection for us. And so, like Hannah, we want to glorify the God of our salvation in whatever we experience in life….whether pleasant or unpleasant….whether easy or difficult.