The Book of 1 Samuel
The book of 1 Samuel, a part of the Old Testament, sparks the dawn of the United Kingdom of Israel by telling of its first king, Saul. Samuel is one of the first talked about pre-literary prophets in the bible perhaps because he anointed the first king of the United Kingdom. He is a prophet by definition because he possessed the ability to converse with the almighty Yahweh. Samuel and Saul are key players to the rise of the kingdom but Saul runs into trouble and disobeys God, which leads him to his own inevitable demise. In 1 Samuel 28: 1-25 Yahweh guides Saul to his death because he has outright deceived and disobeyed God. This passage sets an example to obey Yahweh; otherwise he will inflict punishment
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Saul had previously wiped out all of the mediums and wizards from the land because they were evil in the eyes of Yahweh. Because of his realized hypocrisy, he disguised himself and visited the medium his servants had sought out in Endor. He told the medium to call upon Samuel and so she immediately suspected that he is Saul. She knew that her work was extremely illegal by Saul's court, so she became afraid until he reassured her that he was permitting the act in that occasion. She then called upon Samuel. Samuel apparently took over the medium's body or appears in some other way to Saul. So Saul did what he came there for and asked for advise on his latest predicament. The irritated and disturbed Samuel explained that Yahweh is taking away his kingdom and giving it to David because of his disobedience of not carrying out the Lord's punishment against the Amalekites (according to Mc Carter the dead had some way of knowing God's plans and had access to them). So, Saul fell to the ground in anguish from the news and lack of energy caused by fasting. The medium quickly attended to him and forced him to eat. Saul and his servants then left. And there the chapter ends. Yahweh took the kingdom from Saul because Saul did not
Saul’s séance with the witch of Endor in 1 Samuel 28 is regarded as the starting of the coup de grâce of his tragic ending of being King Israel. The first anointed to be king, being first inst always what is suppose to be. Here in Saul’s case he was the first and now it’s going to end in mess. In his life the Israelite king has gone from the top of the mountain to the bottom of the valley of moral.
He shows he is weak and not ready to lead. (1 Samuel 9:21). Saul even hides when he is supposed to show himself to the Israelites as the chosen King (1 Samuel 11: 22). Although Saul knows that he cannot lead, he has no choice, he has to follow the Lord’s order. At last, God realizes that Saul was indeed not a leader-type person and chooses another person. God must have known that people are not forced to be leaders, but they themselves should be aware of the ability to be leaders.
The attitudes that was brought into war is different between the Hebrews and Greeks, where Hebrews enter with uncertainty about their success and turnouts, while Greeks proceed with passion and excitement for honor. After Lord’s forsaken, Saul desperately “inquired of the Lord, but the Lord did not answer him” (I Samuel 28:6) when he saw Philistine’s force. This led him to resort to consulting Samuel’s ghost, which is a practice of necromancy, something
We first met Saul in chapter 7:58 as the one at whose feet the robes of those who stoned Stephen were laid. Acts 8:1, he consented to Stephen’s death. 8:3, he began to destroy the church by entering the homes of the believers, and dragging off men and women to prison. Saul greatly persecuted the early church and caused the believers to be scattered. We would see in 9:1 Saul was breathing threats and murder against the Lord’s disciples. Chapter 9:1-2 he sought warrants from the Jewish authorities to arrest and bring back to Jerusalem anyone who is following Jesus. We learn more about Saul in his personal testimony. In 26:9, He did many things hostile to the name of Jesus. Acts 26:10, he voted for the execution of believers. Verse 11, he punished the believers in their synagogues and forced them to blaspheme the Lord. It’s obvious that Saul hated Jesus and all who followed Him as hated the gospel. He was a murderer and zealous for the law but on the path to hell because he did not have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Saul believed that his actions met the God’s approval because he faithfully maintained the beliefs of the Jewish religion. However, in this text we will see the transformation of his life and his name would later change to Paul. After Jesus he would become the greatest theologian, missionary, teacher and pastor and God would use him to start churches all over the world. He would
In Samuel’s prophecy, Samuel and the Israelite’s separate viewpoints on appointing a king are similar to the contemporary debate between liberal and conservative beliefs. In this passage of the Old Testament, the people of Israel demanded to be appointed a king to have a superior rule over them and to fight their battles for them; this desire for a king is similar to liberal beliefs today. Liberalists emphasize the need for government to solve their problems and allow them human rights. Samuel, however, had faith that God was all that the people needed to protect them. His viewpoint would be more similar to modern conservative belief that personal responsibility overpowers government.
The Israelites wanted to chose their own leader and God let them; God knew it would fail and they would soon have to depend on who He had for them. The Israelites rushed into choosing Saul as their king. God even told them that none of the leaders they would pick would work out for them. 1 Samuel 16:7 states, “But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at.
Right away we are reminded of the setting here in the first chapter of II Samuel. David has just received word that Saul, the
Who exactly was Saul in the Old Testament? Many know him as the first King of Israel. Saul, Hebrew Shau’ul (flourished 11th century B.C., Israel), first king of Israel (c. 1046 B.C). According to the biblical account found mainly in 1 Samuel, Saul was chosen king by both the judge Samuel and by the league of 12 Israelite tribes. “Samuel marks the end of the period of Judges. Saul marks the beginning of the period of Kings. Their lives-along with the life of King David-are inextricably intertwined” (Wein 1). I hope to convey who Saul was and just what his strengths and weaknesses were, and what ultimately lead to his
In Samuel 9, King Saul was chosen to be the first king of this world. In The Magician’s Nephew, the cabby and his wife represent the King Saul. Their responsibility is to manage all the creatures in the Kingdom Nania and to make sure that the kingdom is orderliness.
However, Saul, Israel’s anointed king (1 Samuel 10:24, 1 Samuel 12:13), failed to lead Israel to victory – like his people, he was too afraid to step into battle on Israel’s behalf. But where Saul fails, David triumphs and brings Israel to victory as he defeats Goliath, the Philistine
Anointed in front his family now he is dead in front of his nation now being laughed at by his enemies. Saul’s journey that resulted ended with a tragic death, what changed the direction? Why the tragic death?
From the start of Judges, war is a prevalent theme. This theme is present in the first verse when the Israelites asked, “Who shall go… against the Canaanites to fight against them?” Time and time again the Lord raised up judges to deliver Israel from the oppression they faced. Even Gideon was referred to by God as a “mighty warrior’’ in chapter 6. Similar to the judges, Samuel was called by God to deliver the people. According to the New Oxford Annotated Bible, Samuel is depicted as a transitional figure leading up to the king the people asked for. Saul was appointed the king despite God’s warning that, “he will appoint for himself commanders of thousands…to make his implements of war and the equipment of his chariots” in chapter 8. Saul’s reign continued the theme of war present in Judges and 1 Samuel. The Philistines were still a strong force to be reckoned with. The Israelites were humbled when “defeated by the Philistines.” As a result, they went back to their roots, the Ark of the Covenant. God used the Ark to
Saul was the son of Kish, and a member of the Benjamin Tribe. Saul was appointed the first king of Israel by the prophet, Samuel. Saul was ordained by God because he had good favor with God and the people of Israel. It was said that Saul was chosen by the people of Israel because he was very good looking, well built, and tall. In fact, he was the best looking man in Israel (1 Samuel 9:2). The people of Israel also chose King Saul to rule over their land because he had defeated a group of the Ammonites (11:1-15). During the first few years of his reign he won many wars, such as the Philistines. The Philistines were trying to enslave the Israelites, but Saul defeated them. Although Saul was highly favored by God and did great things, he became
During the time of Israel the kings ruled by the favor and choice of God. Before that time the people political affairs were judged and taken care of by God through the prophets he assigned .The Prophets heard directly from God and delivered the message of God. The last administrative prophet the people had was Samuel. The people of Israel however were not happy there were no more comfortable with God overseeing there affairs they wanted man to do that for them the bible says that they wanted to be like other nations. The people out of a rebellious mind asked for a king. Therefore God asked Samuel to hear to their cry and appoint Saul. Saul was not Gods choice but the choice of a people that were carnally minded
In the book of 1 Samuel, we learn about the life of King Saul, who even though he started off very well, he didn’t finish very well. There is a cliche that sums up the life of King Saul, which says, “It’s not how you start, it’s how you finish.” However, Saul’s disobedient actions, unfortunately, derailed what possibly could have been a God honoring rule over Israel. In order to understand Saul, we need to take a look into his life and how he lived before he became king.