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Introduction
to 1 Samuel
Both Judges and Ruth set the stage
for the two books of Samuel, which are one book in
the Hebrew manuscripts. Judges presented the history
of Israel in the Promised Land, where Israel was
spiralling downward following an endless cycle of
sin, punishment and deliverance. The two key expressions
in Judges were "everyone did what was right
in their own eyes" and "there was no king
in Israel." These two expressions share a related
idea, namely, that Israel was a lawless bunch, following
no moral authority. Ruth provides a contrastive foil
to this picture of dark depravity in Judges. The
faithfulness of Ruth and Boaz, who consequently provide
the lineage of David, are a glimmer of hope in this
darkness.
The books of Samuel are likely the compiled writings
of Samuel (Note: Samuel's death is recorded in 1
Sam 25:1), Nathan and Gad (cf. 1 Chron 29:29). Samuel
was the last "judge" before the monarachy
(i.e. the time of the kings). He, Saul and David
are the three main characters of this first book
of Samuel. Two sets of contrasts are detailed in
the narrative. The faithful and wise Samuel is a
foil against the disobedient and foolish sons of
Eli. The godly and humble David, whom God chooses
to be king, is a foil against the disobedient and
proud Saul, whom God rejects as king.
1 Samuel chronicles Israel's growth as a nation.
As children naively clamor for things they want before
the proper time, so Israel clamors for a king before
the proper time. God gives them what they want in
Saul. But Israel discovers that just having a leader
does not make for a strong and righteous nation.
Soon Saul's disobedience reflect the same kind of
disobedience of Israel in the time of the judges,
namely, a failure to completely obey God. Saul does
not completely destroy the Amalekites as God commanded,
even as Israel failed to completely wipe out the
peoples they confronted in the Promised Land as God
commanded them. So Israel and their king would spiral
downward toward the same destructive fate depicted
in the Book of Judges.
However, as Ruth was the glimmer of hope for Judges,
so David, "a man after God's own heart," is
the glimmer of hope in 1 Samuel. His story, which
constitutes the second half of 1 Samuel, reads like
an extended commercial against conventional wisdom.
He is and does nothing that is expected. He didn't
look like a king. He was young, small and ruddy in
appearance. Even Samuel didn't recognize him as kingly
material. He didn't fight like a king. He cited his
shepherding credentials to the king as qualification
to fight against Goliath. And then he fought the
giant with simply a slingshot. He didn't easily embrace
the privileges of a king. When King Saul presented
the prospect of David becoming his son-in-law, David
only grudgingly accepted after doing some great task,
namely, obtaining 100 Philistine foreskins, of which
he obtains 200. Finally, he does not take fast track
to be king. When David twice has ample opportunity
to kill Saul, who sought numerous times to kill David,
he does not do so. But as we learn throughout the
book of 1 Samuel, it is not simply that David is
and does what people don't expect; rather, the important
message is that David is consumed with honoring and
obeying the LORD, and it is the LORD, who constantely
watches over him in the hard and long years leading
up to his coronation as king. Therefore, we learn
that David's greatness is not so much measured in
the greatness of his power but rather the depth of
his devotion to the LORD.
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