I choose you Pikachu!

1^st Samuel & 2^nd Samuel

First impression: finding the context

What do you see in this book that tells you about the original reader?

The original readers lived in a kingdom that was divided (10 tribes were with Jeroboam, but Judah and Benjamin were with Rehoboam), most likely around 930BC (SourceView Bible p.343)

There’s idolatry across Israel and Israel is declining… (Class Notes: CN), proof of that is that the Empire is divided once again and they don’t either Judges or Kings now. I’m very curious about what’s the next step for their political and social arrangements.

What do you see in this book that tells you about the author?

According to Nelson’s Bible Maps and Charts (p.85) the author of 1^st and 2^nd Samuel is anonymous, but Jewish tradition claims that the prophet Samuel wrote the books that bear his name. Nelson’s also states that most likely, the book was composed by an unnamed prophet who compiled  written chronicles of other prophets such as Nathan and Gad the seer (p.97) This second theory is specially backed up by the fact that Samuel dies and the account of his funeral is recorded by someone else (1st Samuel 25:1)

What are the main themes, and repeated ideas in this book, and what is a one sentence summary of the “main idea”?

Transitions are all around in these books. First of all, there’s a transition from priest/judge to priest/judge [Eli to Samuel], then from the Judges political/social system into a monarchy (Samuel to Saul). And then, within the monarchy we have a change of power (Saul to David).

1^st Samuel 1-8:  Eli to Samuel

1^st Samuel 9-15: Samuel to Saul

1^st Samuel 16-31: Saul to David

What is the primary reason this book was written?

The main reason this book was written is to assure people that David is the right choice of a King for Israel. There’s a lot of comparison between Saul and David, specially in 1^st Samuel, but most of them refer to how respectful and righteous David was, as opposed to Saul who was trying to cling to the throne at any cost.

The book also goes into some other areas where the people of God had some issues (CN) and this account is trying to help them understand these issues, so they can work on them:

·      Rejection of God by asking for a king (1^st Samuel 8:7)

·      They are wicked people for asking for a king, rejecting God again (1^st Samuel 12:17)

·      Saul did not keep the Lord’s command, so God appointed another leader after His own heart [David] (1stSamuel 13:14)

·      God will honour those who honour Him, and despise those who think lightly of Him (1^st Samuel 2:30)

Theme tracing

What does this book show about the character and nature of God?

God is faithful to forgive when people call out to Him. Right after Israel came back to God, they prayed to God and He helped them to defeat the Philistines (1^st Samuel 7:10, 13)

God is called “Lord of Heaven’s Army” many times in Samuel because He is leading the army into victories left and right. He told David not to attack straight, and gave him a different strategy to defeat the Philistines (2^nd Samuel 5:23,24)

He is jealous and wants people to respect His laws, as He had told people that they should not touch the Ark, and Uzzah did it, so God struck him dead right next to the Ark (2^nd Samuel 6:6,7)

God is just. After David sinned by sleeping with Bathsheba and then sending her husband to war, so he would get killed, God “…was displeased with what David had done” (2^nd Samuel 11:27) And God causes David’s family to rebel against him and to publicly humiliate him because of that sin (2^nd Samuel 12:11,12), and we see the completion of this curse when his son Absalom decides to take over David’s kingdom and he has sex, publicly, with David’s concubines (2^nd Samuel 16:22)

What does this book show about God’s redemptive plan for mankind?

No matter what, God keeps rescuing the Israelites from their problems. And no matter what, the people of God always find the way to turn their backs to God, until they need Him again. On 1 Samuel chapter 8, I see an interesting interaction between Samuel (who was old at that point), the Elders of Israel and God: the people of Israel want a king “…like all the other nations have” (verse 5) and Samuel knows that’s not going to end up well for his people, so he consults God about and God says “Do everything they say to you, for it is me they are rejecting, not you. They don’t want me to be their king any longer. Ever since I brought them from Egypt they have continually abandoned me and followed other gods. And now they are giving you the same treatment. Do as they ask, but solemnly warn them about the way a king will reign over them.” (1^st Samuel 8:7-9) And even that little last part of God’s speech lets us know that he cared for them, we wanted Samuel to warn them! And even after Samuel lets them know how bad it is going to be for them to have a king, they “…still want a king, we want to be like the nations around us…” (1st Samuel8:19,20) And no matter what this looks like, God had a plan with the kingship of Israel… even when He did not want someone else to rule over His kingdom, He used the Kings to reunite the tribes of Israel and ultimately to bring Jesus into this world…

And as if this was not enough we get a little reminder from a woman from Tekoa who is speaking to David about a problem that she has, because one of her sons killed his brother, but she wants David to protect her remaining son from the rest of the family who want to kill him. After pleading for her son’s life she drops this couple of lines about God’s redemptive plan: ”All of us must die eventually. Our lives are like water spilled out on the ground, which cannot be gathered again. But God does not just sweep life away; instead, he devises ways to bring us back when we have been separated from Him.” (2^nd Samuel 14:14)

Personal application

Is there a timeless truth, or maybe a specific verse, or perhaps the main idea of the book you are studying that is challenging you in your life?

What area of your life is God encouraging you, convincing you or empowering you in through this book?

If there’s anything that made an impression on me about these books of Samuel and the teachings, was the fact that our staff Mark had a very big “U” turn in his life when he lost his baby daughter and a few months later his wife, yet he decided to continue believing in God’s goodness… that seemed to be a very deep valley to get out of, and he himself told us that his lacked purpose but he did not go away from God. And then, years later, God redeemed this by letting him meet another woman who he married and God gave mark another daughter! By no stretch of imagination I could imagine what he went through but I understand that when you lose purpose it is very easy to drift away from God and even blame Him! So, I admire Mark so much for his dedication to God and for not losing sight of the light at the end of the tunnel. I also was challenged to give the glory to God even in the deepest darkest moments like David did after the loss of his baby boy, he got up, got ready and went to the Tabernacle and… “worshiped the Lord” (2^nd Samuel 12:20)

Point of passion

Whether it is a people group or a sphere of society, God’s word can speak into all areas of life. Share in a paragraph or two how the message of this book, or a truth from this book relates to your  point of passion, and how your ministry to this area can use the message from this book to share Christ in your passion.

I know sometimes I talk about food too much… but I really like to cook and eat… and I believe that some of the best things in life happen around the table, with food and good conversation. So, I have two stories for you:
There is a story in 1^st Samuel 9 and it about three donkeys that got lost and this man, sent his son to look for them to the town nearby. Now, I don't know why this is important but the Bible mentions that he is "the most handsome man in Israel—head and shoulders taller than anyone else in the land." (1^st Samuel 9:2); now, that's not an important fact to my story but I believe my female friends might be more interested in this account and they will keep reading... anyway, so, the son goes out to search for these donkeys. In the meantime, God has spoken to Samuel to look for a man from the tribe of Benjamin in town, tomorrow at this same time, and when he finds him, Samuel is supposed to anoint him as the leader of God's people, who by the way will rescue them from the Philistines. So, as you may be imagining, the very next day at the exact time, here comes Saul, looking for a "seer" (a prophet) who could tell him where the donkeys were! Samuel sees Saul and God tells him that's the man he has chosen. Therefore, Samuel approaches the man and tells him that his donkeys have been found by his dad, and invites him to have dinner with him, gives him the best cut of meat and finally anoints him as the leader of Israel. But Saul's answer is key to my point of passion... he says "But I’m only from the tribe of Benjamin, the smallest tribe in Israel, and my family is the least important of all the families of that tribe!" (verse 21) And this is very important for me, because I feel like sometimes I overlook "the least" and Jesus himself said that whatever we do for "the least of these" we do for him! And the other thing I can extract from this story is that greatness is complete unexpected sometimes. This person who believes he is the least of his family, and his family is least of all the families of the tribe, and his tribe is the smallest tribe, yet turns out to be the king of a great nation! The homeless and the poor, are viewed as the least in our society, but could we be less than them actually? Think about it...

My second story:
Now, think about the account of Goliath for a moment. There’s food in there too! [exciting, huh?] In 1^st Samuel 17:17,18 Jesse [David’s dad] asked him to take some bread, roasted grain to his brothers and cheeses to their captain, who were in the front line, at the battle against the Philistines [which is like the millionth time these two nations went to battle, however is not the last time they do it]. Jesse also asked David to go, and bring back a report of how things are going. David did take the food to the battle… however, he got a little distracted and ended up killing a Giant and winning the war for Israel. Do you see the power of breakfast? Now I understand why they say, it is the most important meal of the day!