Outline
Introduction
A. Purpose of the Bible: To glorify God and to save mankind
B. Samuel reveals our dependence upon God and examples of proper behavior towards God
Discussion
I. Passages which glorify God
__A. The value of revelation (3:1 and 28:8-25)
__B. Hannah’s desire for a son (chapter 1)
__C. God’s help needed in battle
____1. Samuel’s Ebenezer (chapter 7)
____2. Jonathan (chapter 14)
____3. David and Goliath (chapter 17)
II. Passages illustrating proper behavior
__A. Eli’s failure as a father (chapters 2 and 3)
__B. Saul’s failure in obedience
____1. Jealousy of David (chapter 18)
____2. Contrasted with Jonathan and David (chapters 23 and 24)
____3. Saul’s disobedience and arrogance (chapters 13 and 15)
III. Passages foreshadowing Christ in Samuel
__A. Birth, growth, and character
__B. Work
Introduction
The theme of this lectureship is to point out that the great message of the Bible is to glorify God and to reveal salvation through Jesus Christ. Although the book of 1 Samuel is an Old Testament book, classified as historical in nature; yet this same message may be seen upon its pages. As it recounts historical acts of the people of God 3,000 years ago, over and over again it points out our need for and our dependence upon God in obedience to His will. And within the life of the great man of God whose name the book bears, we see prophetic pictures of the one who will come to be known as the Christ. Perhaps few books in the Old Testament contain more stories familiar to more people than this book, and each story illustrates in graphic terms messages that are fresh and vital to us today.
Discussion
Passages which Glorify God
Revelations from God
The call of the boy Samuel at night in the tabernacle is a story familiar to most of us from childhood. The historian tells us that “the word of Jehovah was precious (or rare) in those days; there was no frequent vision” (1 Samuel 3:1). It should not be necessary for us to be deprived of the message for it to mean something to us. While we might think that a message directly from God in a vision would be more thrilling than the written word, the writer of Hebrews glorifies our revelation today “spoken to us in his Son” as being so much greater than the revelation in times past “by various portions and in different manners” (Hebrews 1:1-2; see also 2:1-4).
In every age, though, there should be the same attitude expressed by young Samuel in the tabernacle, ‘Speak, Jehovah; for your servant is listening” (1 Samuel 3:9). If today we have more light from Him who said, “I am the light of the world” (John 8:12) than Samuel may have had from the flickering light of the candlestick (1 Samuel 3:3), then we have that much more responsibility and opportunity of glorifying God. And we should have no fear in proclaiming this word to the lost, condemning sin where we find it. The words of old Eli to young Samuel should be etched upon the heart of every preacher and teacher, “What is the thing that Jehovah has spoken to you? I pray you, hide it not from me; God do so to you, and more also, if you hide anything from me of all the things that He spake to you” (1 Samuel 3:17). We, like Samuel, must speak “all” (verse 18), and we need to encourage more people to accept it as graciously as did Eli, though it must have cut him deeply. “‘It is Jehovah’, he said, ‘Let Him do what seems to Him good” (verse 18).
In bold contrast to this frank and open reception of God’s word, we find Saul in later years resorting to a spiritualist, a woman [who knew how to conjure up] spirits, in an effort to receive a message from God (1 Samuel 28). Saul’s own attitude, as we shall point out later in our study, shut off the word of God to his life through the normal means of revelation (see verse 6; note also Isaiah 59:1-2). Today there are those who would disdain God’s written message, but loudly profess their willingness to follow some mysteriously received word from God.
The fact that God permitted Samuel to talk directly with Saul on this occasion does not justify the use of mediums today to receive a message from the dead. The message which Samuel brings to Saul is not a new and different revelation, but is basically the same message Samuel told Saul when he last spoke to him (compare 1 Samuel 28:16-19 with 15:19-28).
Hannah’s desire for a son
The account of 1 Samuel opens with a story weighted with human weakness and divine power. Hannah had no children, and her heart was heavy because of this, and her appetite vanished (1 Samuel 1:1-8). As human experience has since abundantly proven, this condition is often hopeless from a human standpoint. Only divine intervention could help, and Hannah goes directly to God with her problem. Her prayer for a son is not unique among women desiring children in every age, but it was certainly most special in her unselfishness. “If you will indeed look up on the affliction of your handmade, and remember me, . . . but will give to your handmade a man-child, then I will give him to Jehovah all the days of his life” (verse 11).
The circumstances surrounding her praying were noted by Eli, and as she explains her request, the priest extends His blessings to her that her prayer may be granted. She departs from the tabernacle in absolute confidence that God has heard her prayer, and her faith was well-placed. A child is born, and so completely does she believe that he is the answer to her prayers, that she names him “Samuel, saying because I have asked him of Jehovah” (verse 20). To her everlasting credit, it may be said that Hannah did not falter on her pledge. In perfect submission she declares, “For this child I prayed, and Jehovah has given me my petition which I asked of Him; therefore, also I have granted him to Jehovah, as long as he lives he is granted to Jehovah” (verse 28).
God’s help needed in battle
At least three stories from the pages of 1 Samuel suggest to us the dependence of God’s people upon Him for help in times of crisis. Historically, we passed rapidly over the years from the birth of Samuel to the time when he was grown. The condition of the Israelites was pathetic. Eli, the former judge was dead; there is no military leader; the people are untrained in warfare, and their last battle ended in an ignominious defeat, with 30,000 slain, and the Ark of the Covenant had been captured (4:10-11). But Samuel tells the people, “Jehovah will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines” (1 Samuel 7:3).
How can Samuel deliver the people from such a condition? Samuel’s military service training program consists in an old-fashioned revival. “If you do return unto Jehovah with all your heart”, cries Samuel to the people at Mizpah, “then put away the foreign gods and the Ashtaroth from among you, and direct your hearts unto Jehovah, and serve Him only” (1 Samuel 7:3). Samuel urges upon the people a “heartfelt religion”, but it was the kind of expressions of the heart that would lead away from idolatry to the worship of God. He urged repentance, including a reformation from idolatry and a returning to God.
Upon conviction of sin (verse 6), the people cried to Samuel and to God to save them from the Philistines, who were then marching in battle array against the helpless Israelites. While Samuel busies himself — not with sword, but with sacrificial knife – “Jehovah thundered with a great thunder on that day upon the Philistines, and discomfited them, and they were smitten down before Israel” (verse 10). So significantly was this a victory of God that Samuel raised a stone monument on the battlefield and called it “Ebenezer, saying, hitherto has Jehovah helped us” (verse 12), which thought is incorporated in our hymn to God, “O You Fountain of Every Blessing” (A. Nettleton).
From another battle story we see a further illustration of this power of God to help when man is weak. Saul is king of Israel at this time, and Jonathan, his son, accompanied by his armor bearer, overcome 20 in a well-fortified guardhouse (1 Samuel 14:6-15). Jonathan’s comment is a striking display of faith in God, “Let us go over to the garrison of these uncircumcised; it may be that Jehovah will work for us, for there is no restraint to Jehovah to save by many or by few” (verse 6). This is not to disparage numbers, but it is to say that God is not dependent upon numbers to accomplish His will. As Jonathan found out, God can take a dedicated life and accomplish much for His cause.
Later in the same battle we see another lesson. Jonathan ate some wild honey that he found along the way, and it strengthened him, and enabled him to fight better (1 Samuel 14:29-30). Saul had forbidden such, thinking it would hinder the progress of the battle. Jonathan replied, “How much more, if happily the people had eaten freely today of the spoil of their enemies which they found? For now there has been no great slaughter among the Philistines” (verse 30). God gave Jonathan a victory over odds of at least ten to one, but Saul and the people failed to take advantage of the initial victory because they were weakened by the lack of food. When man dedicated their energies to God, He abundantly blessed them; when they foolishly withheld their energies, God did not intervene, and the initial results were lost.
The third story illustrating God’s power in man’s weakness is the most familiar of the entire book–the slaying of the giant Goliath by David with his slingshot (chapter 17). The story itself is so familiar that we may have overlooked the lesson. Every child knows that David did not depend upon his sling, but upon God. To Saul and to Goliath, David confidently affirmed, “Jehovah that delivered me out of the paw of the lion and out of the paw of the bear, He will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine . . . this day will Jehovah deliver You into my hand” (1 Samuel 17:37, 45, 46).
David did not use a sword because he knew “that Jehovah saves not with sword and spear for the battle is Jehovah’s” (verse 47). Yet when the time came to kill the giant, after he had been stunned by the stone from the sling, David didn’t stand helplessly and say, “I don’t know what to do now.” He “ran, an stood over to the Philistine, and took his sword (the one belonging to Goliath, and . . . cut off his head therewith.” While it is certainly true that David used what he had, that with which he was familiar (verse 40), yet he did not hesitate to pick up any needed supplies from any source and use them when needed to complete the victory God had given him. And we would not want to leave this story without observing that while David was calling upon God to deliver this giant into his hands, that “David hastened and ran toward the army to meet the Philistine (verse 48). May we never cease to call upon God to help us, but may we follow David closely enough that we can see him running to take care of his end of the battle.
Passages illustrating proper behavior to God
While many illustrative principles have been set forth in the preceding passages, there are certain others that are pregnant with meaning for us today
Eli’s failure as a father
Not too much is known of the character of Eli, the priest and judge immediately before Samuel, but the one factor which stands out as a gruesome warning to us is that while he may faithfully have discharged his religious duties, he miserably failed as a father. The historian relates several incidents of sin in the lives of his two boys, and concludes by saying, “And the sin of the young men was very great before Jehovah” (1 Samuel 2:17).
Several reasons for such conduct seem to be indicated. In the first place, he appears to have largely ignored them while he was tending to other duties. There is the statement that Eli “heard all that his sons did unto all Israel” (verse 22). When a father has to “hear” the evil doings of his sons, he is not watching over them very effectively. The same verse also states that “Eli was very old”. This indicates that he missed the best years to train them. He spent his time doing many good things, but all at once he was brought face-to-face with their sin. When they were young, and he was younger, he might have been able to correct them, but now it is too late.
It is true that he remonstrates with them, but only to ask, “Why are you doing such things?” (1 Samuel 2:23). It is true that he indicates they are doing wrong, or stated more accurately, he mildly suggests, “It is no good report that I hear” of you (verse 24). There are undoubtedly times when a lenient attitude should be taken towards sins, but this time was long past with Eli’s sons. Though he logically argued that they should not so act, “Notwithstanding, they hearkened not to the voice of their father” (verse 25). And like so many modern parents, Eli appears to just throw up his hands and say, “There’s nothing I can do with these boys; I can’t make them do right.”
One other passage throws light upon his failure as a father. God said, “I will judge this house forever, for the iniquity which he knew, because his sons did bring a curse upon themselves, and he restrained them not” (1 Samuel 3:13). Here is the divine indictment against Eli, “He restrained them not”, literally (weaken, humble, reduce to powerlessness). He may have been negligent in their training in younger years; he may not have known all their sins until they became big sins; but when he did learn of this, he did not restrain them. He rebuked them, he argued with them, but “he restrained them not”.
One of the most tragic aftermaths of this story is that Samuel failed to learn a lesson from Eli. Although he grew up in the same house with the boys, although he personally received the message of God against the boys, and although he must have personally seen or known of their divine punishment, he followed closely in the steps of Eli in his responsibilities as father. The only blot recorded against the enviable record of Samuel is that “his sons walked not in his ways, but turned aside after money . . .” (1 Samuel 8 3; see also 12:5 for the people’s opinion of Samuel personally).
Samuel’s sons may not have been as wicked, religiously and morally, as the sons of Eli, but their sins provided the motivating circumstances in the Israelites asking for a king (1 Samuel 8:5). Although God told Samuel that “the people have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me, that I should not be king over them” (1 Samuel 8:7), yet their asking for a king was an indictment against Samuel as a father. May parents learn a lesson from these religious leaders and realize that we may serve everybody but our own family. Preachers in particular need to feel a sense of responsibility toward their children. And all parents need to see that often more is involved in child training than to ask, “Why did you do that?” If restraint is needed, it should be given, or we shall be held responsible for our failure.
Saul’s failure after a bright beginning
Saul’s disobedience toward the Amalekites has often been preached in sermons, but a few preliminary considerations will serve to point out the tragedy of this sin. Saul began with every promise of success, including “another heart” from God (1 Samuel 10:9). He was humble, as his hiding among the baggage when the time came to select him as king indicates (1 Samuel 10:20-23). He demonstrates a wonderful spirit of forgiveness early in his reign, and twice refusing to punish those who opposed him as king (1 Samuel 10:27; 11:12-13); but a lack of this spirit becomes most noticeable in his later years of endeavoring to kill David.
His attitude toward David points out most of his chief sins in his later life. He was insanely jealous of him from the moment that the people said, “‘Saul has slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands” (1 Samuel 18:7-9). From then on he adopts the spirit of Cain in an attempt to remove his competition by killing him (1 Samuel 18:11; 19:10, and others verses). This spirit is greatly contrasted with that of his own son, Jonathan, and with the kind way in which David returned Saul’s efforts to slay him.
Jonathan formed a deep and lasting friendship with David, openly defending him before his father (1 Samuel 20:32), at great danger to his own life (verse 33). The beautiful friendship of these two boys has often been noted, and it is climaxed by Jonathan’s statement, “And you shall be king over Israel, and I shall be next to you” (1 Samuel 23:17). Not many apparent heirs to the throne would as graciously speak to his rival.
David’s attitude of non-retaliation to Saul, when on at least two occasions he had direct opportunity to kill him (1 Samuel 24:4; 26:10-11), is one of the best Old Testament examples of the Christian principle of overcoming evil with good (Romans 12:19-21). Indeed, Saul’s praise of David’s action expresses the spirit of Christ as clearly as any passage from the New Testament, “And he said to David, ‘You are more righteous than I, for you have rendered to me good, whereas I have rendered to you evil’” (1 Samuel 24:17). We often complain today that we cannot live up to the example of Jesus and admonition of Paul on non-retaliation, but David did it under the most trying circumstances imaginable.
Returning to a consideration of Saul, we know that while Saul began his reign as king demonstrating the most promising personal traits, it is not long until he asked most “foolishly”, using the very words of Samuel (1 Samuel 13:13). Saul was instructed to wait for Samuel to come in order that a sacrifice might be offered to God, but Saul, impatient with Samuel’s delay, offered the sacrifice himself (verse 9). This presumption on his part was sin enough, but his attitude toward Samuel’s reproof indicates more of his sin. He makes excuses because of what others were doing (verse 11), and then tries to defend himself by saying, “I forced myself” (verse 12). But Samuel replies, “You have not kept the commandment of Jehovah your God.” Saul sinned, and because of this, he was to lose his kingdom.
The more familiar story of Saul’s later disobedience in connection with the Amalekites only points out his spirit of rebellion manifested earlier. God gave Saul specific Instructions to utterly destroy all of the Amalekites (1 Samuel 15:3). But Saul “spared Agag and the best of the sheep, and of the oxen, . . . and would not utterly destroy them, but everything that was vile and refuse, that they destroyed utterly” (verse 9). This reads as if they destroyed what they did not want anyway, but kept all that they wanted.
Thus they did not obey at all; they did what they wanted to do; although it is true that they did most of the things which God commanded. God did not accept such partial obedience, but rather regarded it all as disobedience, since there was no submission of the will. God said of Saul, “He has turned back from following Me, and has not performed my commandments” (verse 11), and Samuel spells it out, “Wherefore then did you not obey the voice of Jehovah?” (verse 19). Twice Saul claims obedience (verses 13 and 20); once brazenly lying about it, and then blaming the people for the discrepancy in obedience, proposing a substitute for God’s command in that they wanted to offer a big sacrifice (verse 21). Samuel’s reply has become a classic, “Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to harken than the fat of rams” (verse 22). One good deed will not atone for flagrant rebellion.
Saul not only was disobedient but also he was arrogant and tried to force Samuel to remain with him, even tearing the garment as the prophet leaves (1 Samuel 15:7). Although he admits he sinned (verse 29), he shows no penitence, but rather wants to be honored before the people (verse 30). The rest of his life is largely spent in a vindicative, undignified chasing of David, climaxing with his death by suicide on the battlefield against the Philistines (1 Samuel 31:4).
Passages foreshadowing Christ in Samuel
In order not to leave this subject with such a dismal picture, let’s return to the picture of Samuel and note in his life certain parallels with that of Christ. While no New Testament application is drawn from Samuel’s life, a few points are obvious and serve to heighten our impression of Samuel. We only mentioned them without elaboration.
The birth of both Samuel and Jesus was foretold to their mothers (1 Samuel 1:17, Luke 1:31). Both of them were early found in the House of the Lord (1 Samuel 1:24, Luke 1:31). Almost identical expressions describe their growth as a boy (1 Samuel 2:26; Luke 2:52). Both were faultless in the eyes of their fellowmen (1 Samuel 12: 5; Luke 23:42, 1 Peter 2: 22). Both spoke the Word of God (1 Samuel 3:10; John 12:49) and were great men of prayer (1 Samuel 7: 5, 12:23; Luke 6:12). Both trained others to follow in their steps (1 Samuel 19:20; Mark 3:14), Samuel in his school of the prophets and Jesus with His apostles. As few other men in either Testament, Samuel typified Christ’s work as prophet (1 Samuel 9:19, Acts 3:22-24), priest (1 Samuel 10:8; Hebrews 8:1), and judge (1 Samuel 7:15; acts 17:31).
Conclusion
May we learn to depend more upon God, may we resolve to allow God to use our abilities, however meager they may be for His glory, and may we profit by the mistakes of others, so that we may live closer to Him who was prefigured by Samuel.
Questions for Class Discussion
- What was the attitude of Samuel and Eli to the revelation from God?
- How does Samuel’s name show the faith of his mother?
- Discuss the significance of “Ebenezer”.
- How does Jonathan recognize the need of divine power plus the use of human energy?
- How does David’s victory over Goliath combine the divine and the human?
- What warning do Eli and Samuel give to church leaders today?
- Contrast the attitude of Saul and of Jonathan toward David.
- Did Saul obey, some, none, of all of God’s command to destroy the Amalekites? Defend your answer.
- How does Samuel prefigure Christ?