FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL

Continued

For the text of the Bible Study below please scroll down to another post

CHAPTER   8 – 10

The following Chapters in First Samuel are most interesting. For they proclaim the story of the anointing of the first king of Israel – Saul – by the great Judge ( seer, prophet, judge ) Samuel.

And yet there is a marked contrast between Chapters 8 and 9. In Chapter 8 it is the People of Israel who demand ‘ a king, like all the other nations.’ Samuel presents this to God and a king is given. And yet with this king there are a multitude of warnings and prophecies of what will happen.

This is compared to Chapter 9. This is quite a ‘ different ‘ version. Here God states – in verse 16  "Tomorrow about this time I will send to you a man from the land of Benjamin, and you shall anoint him to be prince over my people Israel. He shall save my people from the hand of the Philistines; for I have seen the affliction of my people, because their cry has come to me."

Many theologians and spiritual writers see in this two versions or two truths of how Saul became king. We even note the different ways in which Saul is chosen – in one ‘ version ’ Saul meets Samuel by the journey to find his father’s donkeys while in chapter 10 verse 7 Saul is chosen by lots ( the roll of the dice)

I find this most interesting in that this, the Word of God, speaks of two versions of the kingship of King Saul. Each in their own way, with their own ‘ truth’ speaks differing messages of faith of the same event.

The Israelites had pressed their leaders for a king at least twice in their past history.

The first time was during Gideon's judgeship (Judg. 8:22), and the second was during

Abimelech's conspiracy (Judg. 9:2). Now in Samuel's judgeship they demanded one

again.

CHAPTER 8 

Verse 1

Just as Eli’s two sons, Jewish priests became corrupt, we here see that Samuel’s two sons Joel and Abiah likewise becoming corrupt and sinful ( poor parents in the Bible eh )

Verse 2

They were judges in Beer-sheba

Beersheba means "well of the oath". The southern limit of the Holy Land, as in "from Dan to Beersheba" comprehends the whole. Called so from the oath of peace between Abraham and Abimelech, king of the Philistines (Genesis 21:31), else from the seven (sheba' ) ewe lambs slain there: indeed sheba', an oath, is from the custom of binding one's self by seven things, as Abraham made the seven ewe lambs a pledge of his covenant with Abimelech.

It is this special place of the oath that the two sons ruled.

Verse 5

The People of Israel cry out to Samuel not only for a king but ‘ a king like all of the other nations.’ They did not even seek to desire a king UNLIKE the other pagan nations.

Verse 7

God ALLOWS the People’s desire. He reminds Samuel that the People are not rejecting Samuel or even his corrupt sons but they are rejecting God and His Kingdom and Rule.

Verse 8

God states how the People have continually rejected Him from the time they left Egypt until the present when they still did not believe even when God overcame Dagon, the false god of the last chapter.

Verse 10 – 17

The warnings from God, through Samuel, of the hardships that the People will face under a king. The honours to God will be overwhelmed by the forced tribute to the king. Even the tithing of the 10% will first be to the king and not to God. They would ‘take’ their ‘best’. These words are most often repeated. 

Verse 19

Even with these grave warnings the People of Israel still demand a king.

CHAPTER 9

Verse 1

The first king of Israel would come from the Tribe of Benjamin, known as the least amongst the Tribes of Israel. Recall that the Benjamites were the smallest of all the tribes at this time, because of the war that took place against the Benjamites by all the other tribes of Israel. This was discussed in the Book of Judges chapters nineteen and twenty, when the Levite was passing through the Bethlehem-judah with his concubine, and stopped in Gibeah for the night. While in the home of an old man that took them in, the entire population of men from the town came and wanted to sodomize the Levite priest. Instead of giving the Levite to the men of Gibeah, they gave the old man's daughter and the Levites concubine, who had their way with the women, and left the concubine dead on the door step.
When the Levite returned home, he parted the remains of the concubine into twelve parts, and sent those parts to all the tribes of Israel, and this created hatred for the town of Gibeah, to where all Israel went to war against the sodomites of Gibeah. When the rest of the tribe of Benjamin heard of the action taken against their brothers in Gibeah, they sided with the men of Gibeah, and from that war there remained only six hundred men left of the tribe of Benjamin left alive.
It was from this war that the rest of the tribes decided that they would have to rebuild their brother's tribe [the Benjamites], or Benjamin would just not exist any more. There was an annual dance that took place, and the advise to the Benjamites was to lie in the bushes, and when the families came to the dance, the men of Benjamin would jump out of the bushes, take a daughter to themselves, and whisk her off to the land of the Benjamites to be his wife. It was from these six hundred men that the stock of Benjamin grew to the point that it was at the time of Samuel, some four or five generations later.
This is why the tribe of Benjamin was looked at as the least, and why their numbers were so few, as compared to the rest of the tribes. Just as Saul was a Benjamite, so was the Apostle Paul, as recorded in Acts 13:21. It was from the tribe of Benjamin that Israel would have their first king.

Verse 2

To human eyes Saul truly looks like a king. He towers over all the People, is handsome and goodly ( versus godly ) “Saul” translates as “Asked of God”.

Verse 3

Saul was a keeper of donkeys. Although an important animal it was not the cleanest. Compare this to King David, the keeper of Sheep. We see Saul wandering around the countryside looking for the lost donkeys and cannot easily find them. Is this the kind of king you want ?

T o his credit – Saul's concern for his father's peace of mind was commendable. It shows a sensitivity that would have been an asset in a king (verse 5). Likewise his desire to give Samuel a present for his help was praiseworthy (verse 7; cf. 1 Kings 14:3; 2 Kings 8:8-9). Saul had some

appreciation for social propriety. He was also humble enough to ask directions from a

woman (verses 11-14). Years later, at the end of the story of Saul's reign, the king asked directions from another women, but she was a forbidden witch (ch. 28).

Verse 6 – 10

The meeting of Saul and Samuel. Take note that it is the SERVANT who appears to be more knowledgeable of the Seer of Judge Samuel. It is the Servant that suggests to see Samuel. The Servant and not Saul knows the faith of such a Seer.

Verse 11 – 14

God sets up the meeting of Samuel and Saul. As Judge Samuel had to travel through all the lands of Israel. It was a ‘coincidence’ that Samuel was in the Land of Zuph and this city when Saul was searching.

Verse 15

Samuel knew that God had set up the meeting with Saul.

Verse 16 – 24

Saul is invited to dine with Samuel. During the meal the choicest portion is set before Saul. There is a lot said in this verse that must be understood. The portion that is left for the Levitical priest, and their families portion is the shoulder of the animal, and a brisket. This is the rightful portion for the priest is the portion that Samuel saved for Saul to eat. In this statement that Samuel is showing these leaders of the community, is that the Judgeship is passing on from the priest to the next king of Israel. Israel is about to enter into a monarchy, and Saul will be the first king of all Israel. Saul will be the next Judge of Israel once his is made king. The one thing is Saul's favour is that Saul would always listen to Samuel and try to keep him happy.

CHAPTER 10

Verse 1

Samuel anoints Saul as the first King of Israel.

Anointing with oil was a symbolic act in Israel that pictured consecration to service. The

only things anointed with oil before this anointing were the priests and the tabernacle.

The oil symbolized God's Spirit, and anointing with oil represented endowment with that

Spirit for enablement (cf. 1 John 2:27). In the ancient Near East, a representative of a

nation's god customarily anointed the king, whom the people viewed from then on as the

representative of that god on earth. Thus Saul would have understood that Samuel was

setting him apart as God's vice-regent and endowing him with God's power to serve

effectively. Beginning with Saul, kings were similar to priests in Israel as far as

representing God and experiencing divine enablement. Samuel's kiss was a sign of

affection and respect since now Saul was God's special representative on the earth.

Samuel reminded Saul that the Israelites were the Lord's inheritance, another comment

that Saul unfortunately did not take to heart ( Verse 9:13).

QUESTIONS

1. The People of Israel wanted a king like all other nations. Why ?
      What did they think they would ' gain '?  What did they think that they would ' lose ' ?
      With our choices as to the Kingship of God in our lives when we choose Him what do we gain ?
      When we fail to choose Him what do we lose ?

2. Okay this is a tricky question or not ! What is the role of the separation of ' church and state' ?
    Do these chapters speak to this question ?
    On one side the 'portion' is passed on from Samuel the Judge fully to Saul the King
    The dinner scene states this. On the other side spiritual and temporal disaster awaits .