Book is about three men Samuel (ca B.C.) Saul reigned ca B.C., - David who was king of the united monarchy ca B.C.

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1 HERE COME THE KINGS The book of 1 Samuel Dr. Jon McNeff, Senior Pastor March 12, 2017 Note: The following are the pastor s notes used in preaching this message. This is not a complete, word-for-word transcription of what was preached. These notes serve as a companion to the complete message, which is available by listening to the audio version. Bible quotes are primarily from NASB and ESV, respectively. DURING THE TIME OF THE DIVIDED KINGDOM: 1 Samuel Saul and David 2 Samuel David s rise and fall 1 Kings Solomon and divided kingdom 2 Kings 29 combined kings fall of the nation AFTER THE RETURN FROM EXILE: 1 Chronicles post exile renewed focus on Davidic covenant (2 Samuel) 2 Chronicles post exile 1 and 2 Kings The events of 1 and 2 Samuel introduce the times of the kings of Judah and Israel first two were Saul and David took place between 1105 B.C., the birth of Samuel, and 971 B.C., the last words of David (2 Samuel 23:1-7) thus, the events in these books spanned 135 years during this time Israel was transformed from a loosely knit group of clans and tribes under the judges to a united nation under the rule of a centralized king. Book is about three men Samuel (ca B.C.) Saul reigned ca B.C., - David who was king of the united monarchy ca B.C. The central theme of the book can be broken down to two major events: 1) the establishment of the monarchy in Israel (1 Samuel 8 12); and 2) the preparation of David to sit on the royal throne after Saul (1 Samuel 16 31) in 1 Samuel Saul was rejected by the Lord in favor of David though he stayed on the throne until his death at Mount Gilboa (1 Samuel 31). I. SAMUEL A servant s heart (1 Samuel 1:1-7:17) A. Samuel the Prophet (1 Samuel 1:1 4:1a) The birth of Samuel is noteworthy 1 Samuel 1:1 28) Man named Elkanah had two wives Peninnah and Hannah Peninnah had sons and daughters Hannah was barren 1 Samuel 1:5, 6 the Lord had closed her womb. Same with Sarah and Rachel but Peninnah rubbed it in seen as a curse from God teaches God s providence in family planning He is in control! Samuel s birth was gift from providential God Hannah prayed God answered Samuel born (1 Samuel 1) Hannah s prayer of thanks 1 Samuel 2:1-10 Eli s wicked sons Contrasted with Samuel what kind of man was he? Weaned and brought to temple 1 Samuel 1:28 So I have also dedicated him to the Lord; as long as he lives he is dedicated to the Lord. And he worshiped the Lord there. 1 Samuel 2: Samuel 2:26 Now the boy Samuel was growing in stature and in favor both with the Lord and with men. 1 Samuel 2:35 But I will raise up for Myself a faithful priest who will do according to what is in My heart and in My soul; and I will build him an enduring house, and he will walk before My anointed always. Samuel was that man 1 Samuel 3:1-19 Two things happen: 1) Samuel is called Here I am. available for service; 2) judged Eli for letting his sons bring shame on priesthood and he didn t rebuke them 1 Samuel 3:20 All Israel from Dan even to Beersheba knew that Samuel was confirmed as a prophet of the Lord. 1

2 As 1 Samuel begins, Israel was at a low point spiritually. The priesthood was corrupt (1 Samuel 2:12 17, 22 26), the ark of the covenant was not at the tabernacle (1 Samuel 4:3 7:2), idolatry was practiced (1 Samuel 7:3, 4), and the judges were dishonest (1 Samuel 8:2, 3) Samuel and David reversed this (1 Samuel 12:23; 13:14) 2 Samuel concludes with the anger of the Lord being withdrawn from Israel (2 Samuel 24:25). 1 Samuel was critical in this transition from judges to a king: He called and anointed Saul as God s choice to be the first king (1 Samuel 9:15-17) He gave Saul guidance from the Lord (1 Samuel 15:1) He also was the one who told Saul that the role of king was being taken away from him because of his disobedience 1 Samuel 15:26-28 He was the one God used to anoint His new choice of David as king 1 Samuel 16:1 Now the Lord said to Samuel, How long will you grieve over Saul, since I have rejected him from being king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil and go; I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have selected a king for Myself among his sons. Saul functions as the model of what a king should not be God provided this pattern first so the people would respond to David s godly rule B. Samuel the judge (1 Samuel 4:1b 7:17) The integrity of Samuel s life is seen 1 Samuel 4:1 Thus the word of Samuel came to all Israel. Samuel s word is now God s word but he isn t mentioned again until 1 Samuel 7:3 after a number of events: Israel treats ark of the covenant like a magic charm bring it down from Shiloh to warn off Philistines defeated Philistines took the ark and put it in the temple of Dagon showed inferiority next morning Dagon had fallen over head and arms knocked off scared Philistines sent from Ashdod to Gath to Ekron God strikes them with tumors want to send it back to Israel hitch it to cart which returns ark to Israel in Joshua s field some of the men looked into it in defiance of Numbers 4:20 God strikes them dead section ends with 1 Samuel 6:20 Who is able to stand before the Lord, this holy God? And to whom shall He go up from us? The ark of the Lord stayed at Kiriath-jearim for next 20 years until David brought it to Jerusalem in 2 Samuel 6 1 Samuel 7:3 Then Samuel spoke to all the house of Israel, saying, If you return to the Lord with all your heart, remove the foreign gods and the Ashtaroth from among you and direct your hearts to the Lord and serve Him alone; and He will deliver you from the hand of the Philistines. The people obey Samuel gathers them at Mizpah they confessed sin Philistines hear they are gathered and come up to fight them people afraid 1 Samuel 7:9 Samuel cried out to the Lord and the Lord answered him. God delivered them all the territory taken from them was returned by Philistines who feared their God 1 Samuel 7:15 Now Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life. II. SAUL A Half-Heart (1 Samuel 8:1-15:35) A. The rise of Saul (1 Samuel 8:1 12:25) Transition in 1 Samuel 8:3 His sons, however, did not walk in his ways, but turned aside after dishonest gain and took bribes and perverted justice. Elders approached Samuel expressed desire for a king tired of the judges thing Real reason for a king 1 Samuel 8:20 that we also may be like all the nations, that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles. Problem wasn t in wanting a king it was why they wanted one: When they entered Canaan the city-states had kings 1 John MacArthur Jr., ed., The MacArthur Study Bible, electronic ed. (Nashville, TN: Word Pub., 1997),

3 During time of judges Israel was enslaved by surrounding nations ruled by kings No king in Israel during time of judges anarchy! Deuteronomy 17:14 God said He would give them a king but one of His choosing, not theirs The real reason they wanted a king peer pressure wanted to be like everyone else and they wanted him to fight their battles for them how? Magic dust? That would require troops them! Deepest reason they didn t trust God He had delivered them time after time now they wanted a king 1 Samuel 8:7 for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me from being king over them. 1 Samuel 8:11-18 this is what a king will be like led King James to reject Geneva Bible because of Reformer s notes on this passage 1 Samuel 9:2 Samuel searches and finds Saul a choice and handsome man, and there was not a more handsome person than he among the sons of Israel; from his shoulders and up he was taller than any of the people. Dad loses donkeys sends Saul to look for them 1 Samuel 9:16 God reveals to Samuel that Saul is to be the appointed King Samuel installs Saul as king 1 Samuel 10: 1 Samuel 10:1 Has not the Lord anointed you a ruler over His inheritance? 1 Samuel 10:9 God changed his heart to prepare him for service 1 Samuel 10:10 a group of prophets met him; and the Spirit of God came upon him mightily, so that he prophesied among them. Prophets spoke the word of God accompanied by music 1 Samuel 10:19 But you have today rejected your God, who delivers you from all your calamities and your distresses; yet you have said, No, but set a king over us! Now therefore, present yourselves before the Lord by your tribes and by your clans. 1 Samuel 10:20-22 Saul is chosen by the casting of lots tribe of Benjamin Matrite family Saul shy hid among the baggage came out foot taller looked like a king 1 Samuel 10:24 Samuel said to all the people, Do you see him whom the Lord has chosen? Surely there is no one like him among all the people. So all the people shouted and said, Long live the king! Samuel reminded the people of the ordinances of the king (Deuteronomy 17:14-20) 1 Samuel 11 Saul leads people to victory over Ammonites 1 Samuel 11:15 Saul made king over all the people Review God found him looking for his dad s lost donkeys tall, handsome God s Spirit was on him God changed his heart to serve Him anointed by Samuel victory in first battle B. The demise of Saul half-heart is like being half pregnant either Christian or not THE SHACK review heresy! 1. Impatience 1 Samuel 13:1-15 Saul s impatience fatal flaw in Saul s character Philistines come against Israel with 30,000 chariots and 6,000 horsemen Saul impatiently made an offering to the Lord before Samuel arrived 1 Samuel 13:13 You have acted foolishly, you have not kept the commandment of the Lord your God, which He commanded you, for now the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. But now your kingdom shall not endure. The Lord has sought out for Himself a man after His own heart, and the Lord has appointed him as ruler over His people, because you have not kept what the Lord commanded you. 2. Impetuous 1 Samuel 14:24-30 inept leadership son Jonathan goes on a secret ops mission behind enemy lines wins decisive victory of Philistines while his father Saul is sitting under a shade tree with 600 soldiers an earthquake causes confusion Philistines scatter fully defeated 3

4 Meanwhile 1 Samuel 14:24 Saul had put the people under oath, saying, Cursed be the man who eats food before evening, and until I have avenged myself on my enemies. So none of the people tasted food. False bravado in the face of Jonathan s accomplishments causes his troops to go hungry because of his impetuous oath son Jonathan eats without knowing of the ban men tell Jonathan of the ban 1 Samuel 14:29 My father has troubled the land. Everyone knew it 3. Insecure 1 Samuel 14:31-35 Things go from bad to worse people pursue Philistines plunder them and capture their spoil starved because of Saul s impetuous oath slaughter the animals and eat raw meat violates God s command not to eat raw meat someone points it out to Saul builds an altar in fake worship asks God if he should go down to take Philistines 1 Samuel 14:38 Draw near here, all you chiefs of the people, and investigate and see how this sin has happened today. Attempting to deflect guilt for impetuous oath given to his troops no one answers not even God In another wild stab at credibility he offers to cast lots between Jonathan and himself to see who has sinned lot falls on Jonathan Saul says he must die! He would kill his own son to preserve his false sense of honor later in 1 Samuel 20:30 Then Saul s anger burned against Jonathan and he said to him, You son of a perverse, rebellious woman! Do I not know that you are choosing the son of Jesse to your own shame and to the shame of your mother s nakedness? 4. Paranoid 1 Samuel 27:1 Then David said to himself, Now I will perish one day by the hand of Saul. There is nothing better for me than to escape into the land of the Philistines. Saul then will despair of searching for me anymore in all the territory of Israel, and I will escape from his hand. Made friends with Achish, King of Gath lived there for one year and four months 1 Samuel 28:3-5 Samuel is dead Saul continues to pursue David David is living with Philistines to prevent Saul from pursuing him Saul is desperate 1 Samuel 28:3 And Saul had removed from the land those who were mediums and spiritists. 1 Samuel 28:6 inquired of the Lord and He didn t answer Saul is now paranoid desperate and afraid of what will happen to him alienated his son no trusted advisor fears his successor David removed all the mediums God won t answer What to do? Saul commands servant to find a medium found one in En-dor Philistine territory Saul risks life by going behind enemy lines to consult a medium! Banned under Levitical law wants the witch to bring up Samuel this passage is an aberration for some reason God allows this 1 Samuel 28:15 Saul asks, therefore I have called you, that you may make known to me what I should do. Samuel s message You didn t listen to me before, why should you now. God has departed you. Israel will be defeated tomorrow and you will be killed. Saul falls on the floor in panic! This is what happens when you fear people and not God! What had happened to Saul 1 Samuel 16:14 Now the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord terrorized him. 5. Driven Constant warfare 1 Samuel 14:37-52 result of inept leadership he fought enemies on all sides also driven to kill David pursued him all over Israel became obsessed 1 Samuel 22 Saul heard the priest Ahimelech had harbored David brought him to accuse him Ahimelech defended David s character Saul ordered his guard to kill the priest and all those with him they wouldn t do it saw his chief shepherd, Doeg the Edomite standing nearby ordered him to do it Doeg killed 85 priests! Man s ego results in an unholy, paranoid drive that brings chaos! 4

5 6. Disobedient 1 Samuel 15 Samuel tells Saul to utterly destroy Amalekites descendants of Esau Deuteronomy 25:17-19 they attacked Israel when they left Egypt attacked the stragglers who were weak and sick in the rear of the procession Judges 6:3-5 when they stopped and planted crops they destroyed them and killed their sheep, donkeys, and oxen Saul took 200,000 soldiers and defeated the Amalekites but not all 1 Samuel 15:9 But Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep, the oxen, the fatlings, the lambs, and all that was good, and were not willing to destroy them utterly Samuel heard 1 Samuel 15:11 cried out to the Lord all night. Found Saul at Carmel 1 Samuel 15:13-14 Blessed are you of the Lord! I have carried out the command of the Lord. But Samuel said, What then is this bleating of the sheep in my ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear? 1 Samuel 15:15-33 made excuses 1 Samuel 15:22 Has the Lord as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice Saul wants Samuel to go worship with him false 1 Samuel 15:32-33 Samuel summons Agag comes in smiling and Samuel hewed Agag to pieces before the Lord at Gilgal. 1 Samuel 15:33 price of disobedience? Esther 3:1 Five centuries later, a man named Heman the Agagite attempted to exterminate the whole Jewish race until prevented by brave actions of Queen Esther God was finished with Saul 1 Samuel 15:35 Samuel did not see Saul again until the day of his death; for Samuel grieved over Saul. And the Lord regretted that He had made Saul king over Israel. III. DAVID A Whole Heart (1 Samuel 16:1-31:13) A. The rise of David (1 Samuel 16:1-17:58) 1. Pure heart Samuel found and anointed David rejected oldest brothers any more youngest in the field 1 Samuel 16:7 But the Lord said to Samuel, Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart. 1 Kings 15:5 David did what was right in the sight of the Lord, and had not turned aside from anything that He commanded him all the days of his life, except in the case of Uriah the Hittite. David s heart was right not perfect obeyed 2. Courageous David and Goliath 1 Samuel 17:1-58 Israel and Philistines gathered in Valley of Elah 1 Samuel 17:4 Then a champion came out from the armies of the Philistines named Goliath, from Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span mano a mano Goliath was 9 9 loaded with armor and weapons one man wrecking crew! Stood and yelled threats and challenges to Israel David was youngest of eight boys three older brothers were with Saul Dad tells David to take some food to them hears Goliaths taunts 1 Samuel 17:26 Then David spoke to the men who were standing by him, saying, What will be done for the man who kills this Philistine and takes away the reproach from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should taunt the armies of the living God? Brother is angry with him they tell Saul David reports on his exploits wants to fight Goliath put Saul s armor on too big! 1 Samuel 17:43, Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks? And the Philistine cursed David by his gods.then David said to the Philistine, You come to me with a sword, a spear, and a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have taunted. This day the Lord will deliver you up into my hands, and I will strike you down and remove your head from you. And I will give the dead bodies of the army of the Philistines this day to the birds of the sky and the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know 5

6 that there is a God in Israel, and that all this assembly may know that the Lord does not deliver by sword or by spear; for the battle is the Lord s and He will give you into our hands. Picked up five smooth stones from brook killed him and cut his head off! Same thing later done by Philistines to Saul! B. Conflict between Saul and David 1. Respectful After killing Goliath, Saul took David into his house became good friends with Saul s son Jonathan 1 Samuel 18:4 Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was on him and gave it to David, with his armor, including his sword and his bow and his belt. Jonathan was true worshipper of Jehovah recognized David was God s anointed for king gave him the symbols of his right to rule 1 Samuel18:7 David s exploits inspired songs women were singing The women sang as they played, and said, Saul has slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands. So God had told Saul he would not remain king God had sent Samuel to tell David he would be king David had accomplished a great national victory and the king s son had given up the symbols of his right to rule to David Saul even recognized David s appeal 1 Samuel 18:8 Now what more can he have but the kingdom? Time to take over?! No from that day on Saul mistrusted David wouldn t give up his throne tried to kill David several times threw a spear at him chased him all over the country 1 Samuel 24:1 Saul chased David to the wilderness of Engedi David and men were hidden in a cave Saul came in to relieve himself David cut corner of his robe off but didn t touch him 1 Samuel 24:5-7 It came about afterward that David s conscience bothered him because he had cut off the edge of Saul s robe. So he said to his men, Far be it from me because of the Lord that I should do this thing to my lord, the Lord s anointed, to stretch out my hand against him, since he is the Lord s anointed. David persuaded his men with these words and did not allow them to rise up against Saul. And Saul arose, left the cave, and went on his way. David followed him out of the cave 1 Samuel 24:10 Behold, this day your eyes have seen that the Lord had given you today into my hand in the cave, and some said to kill you, but my eye had pity on you; and I said, I will not stretch out my hand against my lord, for he is the Lord s anointed. Says this seven times in next four chapters! 2. Relational David builds trust with Jonathan king s son and rightful heir to the throne Jonathan aligns with David 1 Samuel 18:1-8 Saul turns against David 1 Samuel 18:9-30 Jonathan protects David 1 Samuel 19:1 24 Covenant of Jonathan and David 1 Samuel 20: Patient David s ongoing flight from Saul 1 Samuel 21:1 28:2 Saul s paranoia (1 Samuel 22:1-10) Saul kills 85 priests at Nob (1 Samuel 21:1 22:23) David flees Saul at Keilah and Ziph (1 Samuel 23:1-29) David spares Saul s life at Engedi (1 Samuel 24:1-22) Samuel dies (1 Samuel 25:1) David and Abigail (1 Samuel 25:2-44) David spares Saul again at Hachilah (1 Samuel 26:1-25) David flees to Philistia to escape Saul (1 Samuel 27:1 28:2) 6

7 David knows he is to be the king but only in God s time C. The death of Saul 1 Samuel 28:3-31:13) David s ploy with Philistines 1 Samuel 29:1-11 David destroys the Amalekites 1 Samuel 30:1-31 Saul killed by Philistines 1 Samuel 31:1-13 QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION 1. What are the functions of kings and presidents in the ruling of nations? 2. What do we learn about Samuel s call in 1 Samuel 3? 3. What do we learn about kings from 1 Samuel 8:1-22? 4. What do we learn about Saul s heart from 1 Samuel 13:8-14? 5. What do we learn about David from 1 Samuel 17:26? 6. Is your heart closer to Saul s or David s? In what ways? 7

Introduction. Saul and David. The People Reject God and Cry Out For A King. The People Reject God and Cry Out For A King.

Introduction. Saul and David. The People Reject God and Cry Out For A King. The People Reject God and Cry Out For A King. Introduction Saul and David An analysis of two different hearts After Joshua s death, Israel ruled by judges with Samuel the last judge Being dissatisfied with God s rule, the people cry out for a king