ROUTE 66 1 SAMUEL Dr. Jon McNeff, Senior Pastor November 7, 2012 Note: The following are the pastor s notes used in teaching this message. This is not a complete, word-for-word transcription of what was taught. These notes serve as a companion to the complete message, which is available by listening to the audio version. I. TITLE 1 Samuel is named after the first major person in the book Samuel serves as a transitional judge and prophet between the time of the judges and the first king of Israel - 1 and 2 Samuel were one book in Hebrew manuscripts divided into two books later on in the Septuagint followed by Vulgate, English translations, and modern Hebrew Bibles the Septuagint called these books 1 and 2 Kings and titled our 1 and 2 Kings as 3 and 4 Kings (1, 2, 3, 4, Reigns which means Kings; there was no 1 and 2 Samuel in this version). II. AUTHOR Jewish tradition said the author was Samuel, Nathan, or Gad 1 Chronicles 29:29 reveals that all three of these men recorded information used in the historical books of the time Now the acts of King David, from first to last, are written in the chronicles of Samuel the seer, in the chronicles of Nathan the prophet and in the chronicles of Gad the seer But Samuel could not have been the author of the book since he died in 1 Samuel 25:1 this was before David s reign even began and Nathan and Gad were later prophets who served during David s life and wouldn t have been alive when Samuel was written Thus the human author is unknown though the records of Samuel, Nathan, and Gad may have been used by the author III. DATE OF WRITING No clear indication of date of the writing of the book: Samuel was born around 1105 B.C. David was born around 1040 B.C. and died in 970 B.C. David had consolidated his rule over both the northern tribes of Israel (c. 1003 B.C.) and the southern tribes of Judah (c. 1010 B.C.) 1 1 Samuel was written after Israel and Judah divided in 931 B.C. since there are many references to Israel and Judah as distinct nations (1 Samuel 11:8; 17:52; 18:16; 2 Samuel 5:5; 11:11; 12:8; 19:42 43; 24:1, 9) 1 Samuel 27:6 states Ziklag has belonged to the kings of Judah to this day. indicates it was written after the time of Solomon who ruled from 971 B.C. to 931 B.C. if it had been written before this time, any reference to kings would not have included kings of Judah Samuel has a different literary style than Kings so it was most likely written before the exile during the period of the divided kingdom which would place the time of writing sometime between 931 B.C. when the kingdom was divided and 722 B.C. when Assyria conquered the northern kingdom of Israel IV. THE SETTING The events of 1 and 2 Samuel 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. 1 Luder G. Whitlock, R. C. Sproul, Bruce K. Waltke and Moisés Silva, The Reformation Study Bible: Bringing the Light of the Reformation to Scripture: New King James Version (Nashville: T. Nelson, 1995), 1 Sa 1:1. 1
V. HISTORICAL THEMES The central theme of both books of Samuel is the establishment of the Davidic dynasty this is necessary in the biblical scheme of bringing the Messiah to earth through the house of David to serve as a literal King over Israel forever (2 Samuel 7:12-17) Psalm 89:3,4 I have made a covenant with My chosen; I have sworn to David My servant, I will establish your seed forever And build up your throne to all generations. NASB David s family became the vehicle through which God brought the Messiah and will establish His millennial rule on earth through David s seed, Jesus, ruling in perfection the Davidic Covenant was well-known to the Jews of Jesus time the first words of the New Testament are Matthew s linkage of Jesus to David The record of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham... (Matthew 1:1) NASB A. The establishment of the monarchy The central theme of the book can be broken down to two major events: first, the establishment of the monarchy in Israel (1 Samuel 8 12); and second, the preparation of David to sit on the royal throne after Saul (1 Samuel 16 31). Saul was rejected by the Lord in favor of David (1 Samuel 15 16) even though, humanly speaking, he stayed on the throne until his death at Mount Gilboa (1 Samuel 31). 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. NASB 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 The establishment of a king over His people is key to God s eternal plan to establish His kingdom on earth and rule in complete righteousness In Genesis 17:6 God promised Abraham that kings shall come from you. Deuteronomy 17:14-15 When you enter the land which the Lord your God gives you, and you possess it and live in it, and you say, I will set a king over me like all the nations who are around me, you shall surely set a king over you whom the Lord your God chooses, one from among your countrymen you shall set as king over yourselves; you may not put a foreigner over yourselves who is not your countryman. NASB But God s requirement for a king was to be righteous and obey God 1 Samuel 12:13-14 Now therefore, here is the king whom you have chosen, whom you have asked for, and behold, the Lord has set a king over you. If you will fear the Lord and serve Him, and listen to His voice and not rebel against the command of the Lord, then both you and also the king who reigns over you will follow the Lord your God. B. The preparation of David to sit on the throne The story of the rise of David in the second half of 1 Samuel prepares for the full-scale kingship of David in 2 Samuel. David is chosen as the youngest of Jesse s sons 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. NASB 1 Samuel 16:13 The Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon David from that day forward... NASB David kills Goliath 1 Samuel 17:26 For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should taunt the armies of the living God? NASB 1 Samuel 17:37 The Lord who delivered me from the paw of 2
the lion and from the paw of the bear, He will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine. And Saul said to David, Go, and may the Lord be with you. NASB 1 Samuel 17:45-47 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 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. NASB David runs from Saul but finds friendship in Jonathan 1 Samuel 8-26 David does what is right and accepts the results he doesn t get bitter he proves his allegiance to Saul in cutting off portion of Saul s garment and taking his spear without killing him David inquired of the Lord before he went up to fight the Philistines in 1 Samuel 23:2 did it again in 1 Samuel 23:4 when the people questioned him probably did this via the Urim and Thummin (Exodus 28:30) that was brought by Abiathar the priest (1 Samuel 23:9) who had the ephod of a priest with him David was willing to go by the prescribed method of inquiring of God through a priest rather than impatiently acting like a priest like Saul did in 1 Samuel 13 In contrast, when Saul inquired of the Lord in 1 Samuel 28:6 the Lord did not answer him, either by dreams or by Urim or by prophets. NASB C. The change in spiritual climate 1 Samuel sees the mood of Israel change from a spiritual morass to the anger of the Lord abating as the plague was averted (2 Samuel 24:25) during this time: The priesthood was corrupt 1 Samuel 2:12-17 the sons of Eli were worthless men The Philistines stole the Ark regarded it as a superstitious symbol of power 1 Samuel 4:3 Idolatry became rampant (1 Samuel 7:3-4) The sons of Samuel did not walk in his ways, but turned aside after dishonest gain and took bribes and perverted justice. Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah; and they said to him, Behold, you have grown old, and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now appoint a king for us to judge us like all the nations. (1 Samuel 8:3-5) D. The weakness of world empires Egypt, Babylon, and Assyria were not threats to Israel at this time worst opposition came from the Philistines (1 Samuel 4; 7; 13, 14; 17; 23; 31; 2 Samuel 5) and the Ammonites (1 Samuel 11; 2 Samuel 10 12) Philistines had migrated from the Aegean Islands and Asia Minor in the 12 century B.C. they were denied access to Egypt and settled among other Philistines along the coast of Palestine they developed use of iron which gave them tremendous military advantage (1 Samuel 13:19 22) Ammonites were descendants of Lot (Genesis 19:38) David conquered the Philistines (2 Samuel 8:1) and the Ammonites (2 Samuel 12:29 31) as well as other nations surrounding Israel (2 Samuel 8:2 14). IV. THEOLOGICAL THEMES A. The Davidic Covenant The prayer of Hannah in 1 Samuel 2:10 is a prelude to the Davidic Covenant And He will give strength to His king, And will exalt the horn of His anointed. NASB it is fleshed out in 2 Samuel 7:12-16 I will raise up your descendant after you, who will come forth from you, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. NASB B. The sovereignty of God The birth of Samuel in response to Hannah s prayer (1 Samuel 9:17; 16:12, 13) David s ascension to the throne is also evidence of God s sovereign plan to take the youngest of Jesse s sons and elevate him to the throne (1 Samuel 24:20) 3
God is certainly the One who providentially and individually guided the lives of chosen individuals such as Hannah, Samuel, and David; even the life of Saul was in God s providential care (see 1 Samuel 9:16). The course of life is different for each individual, but the same God, not fate, consistently and graciously guides one s life. Though it is often not recognized by his human agents, God s timing is always perfect (see 1 Samuel 9 and the end of 1 Samuel 23), for He is the Lord of history. God s saving plan is fulfilled in the ongoing day-to-day lives of human beings. For example, Hannah s difficult relationship with Peninnah leads to the birth of Samuel (1 Samuel 1); Saul s donkey-searching journey leads to the encounter with the prophet Samuel (1 Samuel 9); David s chore of bringing food to his brothers enables him to see Goliath (1 Samuel 17). Ordinary situations are the most meaningful in human life, and it is in these that God works for good. Are these events mere accidents? C. Does God change His mind? Problem 1 Samuel 15:29 And also the Glory of Israel will not lie or have regret, for he is not a man, that he should have regret. but 1 Samuel 15:11 and 35 say, I regret that I have made Saul king and the Lord regretted that He had made Saul king over Israel Numbers 23:19 also says, God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind the term for have regret is nakham can be translated as relent or change one s mind (e.g., Exodus 32:12, 14; Num. 23:19; 1 Samuel 24:16 [1 Chronicles 21:15]; Ps. 106:45; Jer. 15:6; 18:8, 10; 26:3, 13, 19; 42:10; Ezek. 24:14; Joel 2:13 14; Amos 7:3, 6; Jonah 3:9 10; 4:2) or have pity or compassion (Deuteronomy 32:36; Judg. 2:18; Ps. 90:13; 135:14) as well as be sorry or have regret (cf. Genesis 6:6 7) thus, the term in 1 Samuel 15:11 and 35 God s own feeling of sorrow or regret that Saul had turned out as he did (and does not even address the question whether God knew of it beforehand), while in 1 Samuel 15:29 God will not regret or change his mind concerning a decision once he has made it. 2 D. The work of the Holy Spirit The most explicit evidence of the Old Testament to this point is seen in the Spirit s coming on Saul and David as they came to the throne (1 Samuel 10:10; 16:13) the power of the Holy Spirit brought prophecy (1 Samuel 10:6) and victory in battle (1 Samuel 11:6) The ministry of the Holy Spirit in 1 Samuel 10:6-10; 11:16; 16:13, 14; 19:20, 23; 2 Samuel 23:2 was not describing the effects of salvation in the New Testament sense instead it seems to be referring to an overpowering by the Lord for a specific service (see also Judges 3:10; 6:34; 11:29; 13:25; 14:6, 19; 15:14) after David sinned with Bathsheba (2 Samuel 11, 12), he prayed,...do not take your Holy Spirit from me. (Psalm 51:11) NASB E. The effects of sin Beginning with the sins of the sons of Eli which resulted in their deaths (1 Samuel 2:12 17, 22 25; 3:10 14; 4:17, 18) the mistreatment for the Ark of the Covenant led to the death of many of the Israelites (1 Samuel 6:19; 2 Samuel 6:6, 7) Saul s incurred the Lord s judgment and the Lord rejected him as King (1 Samuel 13:9, 13, 14; 15:8, 9, 20 23) David s sin with Bathsheba in 2 Samuel also evidence the same theme (2 Samuel 12:13, 14) V. INTERPRETIVE CHALLENGES A. Manuscript questions Questions exist regarding the original autographs the standard Hebrew text (Masoretic text 900 A.D.) has been poorly preserved the Septuagint (150-200 B.C.) often differs from it thus, a couple of passages are hard to discern for example, 1 Samuel 13:1 in ESV and NKJV reads, Saul lived for one year and then became king, and when he had reigned for two years over Israel obvious problem because Saul did not become King at one year old and he did not rule for only two years NASB and NIV Saul was thirty years old when he began to reign, 2 Crossway Bibles, The ESV Study Bible (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2008), 516-17. 4
and he reigned forty two years over Israel. why the difference? best explanation is that some numbers were lost from the text very early on most LXX manuscripts don t even have this verse Acts 13:21 says that Saul reigned for forty years. Josephus, Jewish Antiquities 6.378, says the same thing The solution? given the information received elsewhere regarding the number of years Saul served, one possible translation could be Saul was one and (perhaps) thirty years old when he began to reign, and when he had reigned two years over Israel, then Saul chose for himself three thousand men of Israel 3 another possibility is, Saul was years old when he began to reign, and he reigned and two years over Israel. 4 B. The medium at En-dor (1 Samuel 28) Saul was desperate and scared when confronted with the Philistines since God would not answer him (1 Samuel 28:6), he sought a medium, which he had outlawed in 1 Samuel 28:3, in Philistine territory thus, the disguise he feared for his life 1 Samuel 28:10 swore by the Lord as a means of assuring his credibility with someone God had forbidden Israelites to seek Lev. 20:27 said she was to be stoned! 1 Samuel 28:11-14 Then the woman said, Whom shall I bring up for you? And he said, Bring up Samuel for me. When the woman saw Samuel, she cried out with a loud voice; and the woman spoke to Saul, saying, Why have you deceived me? For you are Saul. (she was amazed because she knew she couldn t do this!) The king said to her, Do not be afraid; but what do you see? And the woman said to Saul, I see a divine being (lit. gods, angel, ruler, or judge can also be used to represent a likeness of one of these Scripture never records a miracle like this anywhere else this is a rare, one- time event) coming up out of the earth. He said to her, What is his form? And she said, An old man is coming up, and he is wrapped with a robe. NASB another problem what does this say about the condition of the dead in the Old Testament? age and clothing wouldn t seem to matter in the realm of the dead God must have given this form so that Saul would understand this was really Samuel 1 Samuel 28:14 And Saul knew that it was Samuel, and he bowed with his face to the ground and did homage. What does this say about all believers after death? is this the state of all dead bodies before the resurrection? will believers continue to exist in the form in which they died? we are not told anything of the intermediate state that exists between when we die and the resurrection 2 Corinthians 5:8 indicates that being absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. God was allowing this so His message to Saul would be re-informed 1 Samuel 28:15 Saul s inquiry was temporal and selfish and desperate it wasn t how to seek forgiveness or be right with God he was fearful of being defeated by the Philistines! Samuel answers 1 Samuel 28:17-19 The Lord has done accordingly as He spoke through me; for the Lord has torn the kingdom out of your hand and given it to your neighbor, to David. As you did not obey the Lord and did not execute His fierce wrath on Amalek, so the Lord has done this thing to you this day. Moreover the Lord will also give over Israel along with you into the hands of the Philistines, therefore tomorrow you and your sons will be with me. Indeed the Lord will give over the army of Israel into the hands of the Philistines! NASB 3 The MacArthur Study Bible, ed. John MacArthur, Jr., electronic ed. (Nashville, TN: Word Pub., 1997), 1 Sa 13:1. 4 Charles Caldwell Ryrie, Ryrie Study Bible: New American Standard Bible, 1995 Update, Expanded ed. (Chicago: Moody Press, 1995), 441. 5
Outline I. Samuel: Prophet and Judge (1:1 7:17) A. Samuel the Prophet (1:1 4:1a) 1. The birth of Samuel (1:1 28) 2. The prayer of Hannah (2:1 10) 1 Samuel 1:2 two wives not God s plan Genesis 2 1 Samuel 1:5 But to Hannah he gave a double portion, because he loved her, though the Lord had closed her womb. both Sarah (Genesis 11:30) and Rebekah (Genesis 25:21) were barren until the Lord opened their womb God also closed the wombs of all the household of Abimelech in response to his unknown sin of taking Sarah as his wife (Genesis 20:18) we also see God s control of the womb in Leah and Rachel Genesis 29:31 Now the Lord saw that Leah was unloved, and He opened her womb, but Rachel was barren. NASB Genesis 30:2 Then Jacob s anger burned against Rachel, and he said, Am I in the place of God, who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb? Genesis 30:22 Then God remembered Rachel, and God gave heed to her and opened her womb. NASB The birth of Samuel is God s answer to the prayer of a childless woman; he is also the answer to Israel s need for a prophet who will give God s guidance to his people in their transition from the period of the judges to the period of the kings. The first unit relates the birth of Samuel and his call to be a prophet (1 Samuel 1 3). In a famous song, Hannah praises God for the birth of Samuel (1 Samuel 2:1 10). Her song introduces basic theological themes of the books the sovereignty and holiness of God, divine reversal of human fortune, divine deliverance, and the futility of trusting human strength. Kingship is anticipated in a reference to the Lord s anointed, His king (1 Samuel 2:10). The story of the downfall of the priestly house of Eli introduces the theme of divine rejection and its causes. 5 3. The growth of Samuel (2:11 26) 4. The oracle against Eli s house (2:27 36) 5. The Word of the Lord through Samuel (3:1 4:1a) B. Samuel the Judge (4:1b 7:17) 1. The stolen ark (4:1b 7:1) a. The ark is stolen (4:1b-22) b. The ark with the Philistines (5:1-12) c. Return of the ark (6:1-7:1) 2. Israel s victory over the Philistines and the judgeship of Samuel (7:2 17) II. Saul First King (8:1 15:35) A. The Rise of Saul (8:1 12:25) 1. Israel demands a king (8:1 22) 2. Saul s lost donkeys (9:1-14) 1 Samuel 9:2 Saul was 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. NASB 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! He was a farmer Went looking for lost donkeys encountered Samuel who appointed him king God was in his appointment 1 Samuel 9:15-16 Now a day before Saul s coming, the Lord had revealed this to Samuel saying, About this time tomorrow I will send you a man from the land of Benjamin, and you shall anoint him to be prince over My people Israel; and he will deliver My people from the hand of the Philistines. For I have regarded My people, because their cry has come 5 Luder G. Whitlock, R. C. Sproul, Bruce K. Waltke and Moisés Silva, The Reformation Study Bible: Bringing the Light of the Reformation to Scripture: New King James Version (Nashville: T. Nelson, 1995), 1 Sa 1:1. 6
to Me. NASB Reluctant didn t grasp his role Impulsive, impatient, petty, repulsed his son and daughter Knew that Spirit of God had left him yet didn t repent 3. God reveals Saul to Samuel (9:15-27) 4. Saul among the prophets (10:1-16) 5. Saul publicly chosen as king (10:17-27) 6. Saul defeats the Ammonites (11:1-15) 7. Samuel s exhortation to Israel concerning a king (12:1-25) B. The demise of Saul (13:1-15:35) 1. Saul s impatient offering (13:1 15) Saul s weaknesses become clear quickly the hype went to his head became impressed with himself twisted God s commands to suit him: 1 Samuel 13:8-14 he runs out of patience won t wait for Samuel to come and offer sacrifice takes on role of a priest and offers sacrifice 1 Samuel 15 disobeyed and lied blamed it on the people Samuel rebukes him and tells him that God will now choose someone else to be King 1 Samuel 13:13-14 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. NASB 2. Jonathan s victory (13:16 14:23) 3. Saul s foolish order (14:24-30) 4. Jonathan and Saul clash (14:31-46) 5. Constant warfare (14:37-52) 6. Saul s disobedience and rejection (15:1-35) III. David and Saul transfer of the Kingship (16:1 31:13) A. The Introduction of David (16:1 17:58) 1. The anointing of David (16:1 13) 2. David in the court of Saul (16:14 23) 3. David and Goliath (17:1 58) B. Saul fears David (18:1 20:42) 1. David and Jonathan (18:1-8) 2. Saul turns against David (18:9-30) 3. David protected by Jonathan and Michal (19:1 24) 4. David and Jonathan s covenant (20:1-42) C. David s Flight from Saul s Pursuit (21:1 28:2) 1. Saul s paranoia (22:1-10) 2. Saul kills 85 priests at Nob (21:1 22:23) 3. David flees Saul at Keilah and Ziph (23:1-29 4. David spares Saul s life at Engedi (24:1-22) 5. Samuel dies (25:1) 6. David and Abigail (25:2-44) 7. David spares Saul again at Hachilah (26:1-25) 8. David flees to Philistia to escape Saul (27:1 28:2) D. The Death of Saul (28:3 31:13) 1. Saul and the medium (28:3 25) 2. David expelled by Philistines (29:1 11) 3. David destroys the Amalekites (30:1 31) 7
LESSONS TO LEARN 4. Saul and sons killed by Philistines (31:1 13) 1. God is sovereign over all of history Samuel moved the nation from judges to a king bad king in contrast to the one whose heart was for God His sovereignty includes all things which might have been 1 Samuel 13:13-14 Samuel said to Saul, 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. 14 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. NASB God brought David to the throne flawed, but repentant est. Davidic Covenant 1 Samuel 7:12-16 He is also sovereign over individual lives God had closed the womb of Hannah (1:5) but He opened it for Samuel 2. God doesn t judge by outward appearance 1 Samuel 9:2 He had a son whose name was 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. NASB Saul sinned and revealed his many human flaws without genuine repentance this was different from David 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. NASB David s heart was different than Saul s Saul was impulsive in his foolish oath (1 Samuel 14:24) presumptive and impatient (taking on role of priest and offering an offering instead of waiting for Samuel to come 1 Samuel 13:9) disobedient (didn t kill Agag and took spoil in 1 Samuel 15:9) a liar (1 Samuel 15:13) insecure when he lost the devotion of Jonathan and saw his daughter loved David (1 Samuel 18:28) In contrast, the sins of David are also well documented he had eight sons from six different wives he murdered and committed adultery (2 Samuel 11-12) failed to take control of his family (2 Samuel 13-18) and foolishly numbered his troops to show his power (2 Samuel 24:1) yet David s heart was wholly devoted to the Lord his God (1 Kings 15:3) 3. The importance of following God not family 1 Samuel 14:1 Jonathan had the courage to take the battle to the Philistines and to call his father out when he made a silly oath (1 Samuel 14:24) he then defied his father in siding with David 4. Courage David and Goliath - 1 Samuel 17 8