A FIRST LOOK. 1st Samuel At the beginning of the book of Judges, the children of Israel gradually became more complacent regarding the idol-worshipping people around them. They soon found the nation in a downward cycle of departure from God. For over two hundred years, the Lord had raised up judges from Othniel to Samson, who led them into infrequent periods of partial recovery. By the time of Eli's leadership, spiritual darkness had settled upon Israel to the extent that his own sons, who were priests, "knew not the Lord." Those two men also took for themselves that which belonged to God and immorally slept with the women who had duties at the Tabernacle. We would naturally think the people of Israel had gone well past the point of no return. However, in approximately 120 years, God brought Israel from the lowest point of its national identity to the highest period of Israel's glory. And it began with one heartbroken woman praying for a son to deliver God's people.
The book's main characters, Samuel, Saul, and David, were notable men who made mistakes that cost them dearly. Samuel had problems with his sons. Saul had the problems of what an undeveloped character and poor self-image can do to a person. David was a man of violence, and bloodshed had become commonplace to him. The book of first Samuel has a number of good beginnings and bad endings that teach us the importance of not getting smugly complacent and self-centered.
God established a political system in Israel in response to the complaints and requests of the people, changing a theocracy into a monarchy. For two hundred years, the people of Israel demonstrated that they could not or would not consistently live by faith under God’s rule. The first three chapters remind us that the word of God and the Spirit of God are His chosen ways to identify those He wants to lead His people. They were blessed when they obeyed God and followed the path of righteousness. But the temptations of idolatry and all it produced were more attractive to those who wanted to please the flesh instead of God.
Chapters four through seven teach us of the mighty power of God over idols, kings, and nations. The narratives about the ark are given before the establishment of kingship, putting the desire of the Israelites to have a king in perspective. No matter who rules a nation or how the people perceive leadership, God is the sovereign ruler over all nations and leaders. Chapters eight through twelve describe the people's request for a king and how it happened. Their request was a denial of Israel's covenant relationship with the Lord, their real King. He had provided, protected, led, and demonstrated His power on their behalf for many generations. How could they keep their covenant with God when they had a human king to rule over them?
Saul was not willing to submit to the spiritual demands of his leadership in chapters thirteen through fifteen. Because he rejected divine directions, he was rejected as being king. From chapter sixteen to the end of the book, the narrative is an account of David being established as the king of Israel, the consolidation of his kingship, and the outcome of a ruler following the Supreme Ruler.
In every part of our personal, marriage, family, business, social, and religious life, we need to be conscious of God's interest in everything. One of the features of First Samuel is the practice of prayer. It began with Hannah praying for a son, and the answer was Samuel. In his days as a judge in Israel, Samuel was also a man who prayed for the people of God, both as an intercessor and a supplicant. He recognized that not praying was a sin against the Lord.
The title "Lord of hosts" is first mentioned in this book and gives the God of Israel His supreme title as Lord over all the hosts of heaven and earth. This title impresses us that our Gracious Heavenly Father, whom we can address as "Abba Father," is not some Person to be casually spoken of or taken for granted. "All power in heaven and earth" is His. The title "Messiah" ("His anointed") is first spoken of in the Bible in the words of one of Hannah's prayers [2:10]. The first of five "precious" things in the Old Testament is in this book, where we are told, "The Word of the Lord was precious (rare) in those days [1Sam.3:1]." Other "precious" things are redemption [Ps.49:8; the death of the saints [Ps.72:14; 116:15; lips of knowledge [Pro.20:15; and the thoughts of God [Ps.134:17]. Names and phrases we know today were first mentioned in first Samuel - "God save the king," "Ichabod," and "Ebenezer." Also, we learn that prophets were first called "seers," indicating they had special perception, discernment, and vision from God.
In this book, teaching about the Holy Spirit is important for our learning. He gives us a new heart that would speak to us of the regenerating power of the Spirit in the new birth we experienced when God saved us. The Holy Spirit produces and controls righteous anger against sin, as First Samuel teaches. He gives us the courage and wisdom to speak appropriately or "prudently" and also preserves us from evil, as it is taught in this book. In those days, the Holy Spirit actively came upon God's people to accomplish a work that needed to be done. By God's grace and gifting, the Holy Spirit now resides in us today, enabling us to be ready for all life activities.
The book of First Samuel gives warnings to us in a number of areas of life in which we live. We have a warning regarding marriage that isn't according to God's original mind and will. Having more than one wife increases family problems and interpersonal relationships. Eli, the priest-judge, was an indulgent father sitting down on the job when he should have been standing as a priest doing his work. Besides this, he overlooked the sins of his sons. Those sons who did not know the Lord were involved in a work that should have been holy and inspiring but instead was ritualistic and formal. The dangers of impatience and partial obedience, along with formalism and ritualism, show the end of a thing may be seriously wrong even though the beginning was the way it should have been.