From Prophets to Kings: The Hidden Thread in 1 Samuel

*** Editor's note *** The time span for the material in 1 Samuel is closer to 100 years. In the podcast 150 years was used as a time marker. That would entail both 1 and 2 Samuel. Woopsi... LoL ... but we caught it before you did... LoL.

Stories have power. They captivate our imagination, preserve our history, and shape our understanding in ways nothing else can. In this deep dive into the book of 1 Samuel, we explore the rich tapestry of narratives that chronicle Israel's pivotal transition from being governed by prophets and judges to being ruled by kings.

What prompted Israel to demand a king "like the other nations"? And how did God use this seemingly misguided desire to unfold His perfect plan through history? The establishment of David's kingdom wasn't just a historical footnote—it laid the groundwork for Jesus Christ, the ultimate King who will one day return to rule on David's throne and bring an end to all evil. We're witnessing the restoration of the tabernacle of David in our time, with God's presence and power manifesting on earth in unprecedented ways as we approach Christ's return.

We also tackle questions about biblical authorship, exploring how 1 Samuel—which spans approximately 100 years—came together through a divinely guided process involving eyewitness accounts, meticulous oral tradition, various written sources, and the Holy Spirit's inspiration. Through personal stories about Finnish storytelling traditions, we see how ancient cultures preserved their histories with remarkable accuracy before committing them to writing. The collaborative nature of Scripture's development doesn't diminish its authority—rather, it demonstrates God's sovereign hand working through human processes to reveal Jesus, the scarlet thread woven throughout all biblical narrative.

Whether you're a longtime Bible reader or just beginning to explore Scripture, this episode will deepen your appreciation for how God preserves His truth and reveals His Son through stories that have endured for millennia. Join us around the fire as we discover Jesus in the pages of 1 Samuel and prepare our hearts for His coming kingdom. Have questions or thoughts? Connect with us at lifearoundthefire@gmail.com.

Chapters

• 0:00 Why 1 Samuel's Stories Matter
• 3:49 Israel's Transition to Kingship
• 6:02 Jesus' Return and David's Throne
• 8:10 Authorship of 1 Samuel Explained
• 13:57 Oral Tradition in Scripture Formation
• 19:12 Divine Inspiration in Biblical Writing
• 21:54 Closing Prayer and Contact Information

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:43

I think one of the main reasons why I love reading the book of 1 Samuel is because it contains so many stories, and I love stories. I love learning from stories and the art of storytelling man. I'm saying that for real. It is a real enjoyable thing to listen to someone who's a good storyteller. It's captivating because it pulls on our imagination in a way that almost nothing else can.

Speaker 1: 1:25

So the book of 1 Samuel has within it many stories, and one of the chief stories is how a nation went from having a rulership of prophets and judges to a nation that was ruled by a king. They didn't want to have their lives typified by being a nation that was ruled by prophets and judges, because none of the other nations were like that. They wanted to be like all the other nations, and so they demanded. Israel demanded that they would have a king, and so God gave them what they desired desired and he actually used their desires to mold things throughout history to bring about the birth of the Savior of the world, the Messiah Jesus, god's anointed one, the deliverer, my savior, my Lord, king of kings and Lord of lords. He came through a lineage that involved a king. That king's time of rule and reign. God established something in Israel that we are beginning to see unfold in a very profound way today. It involves the tabernacle of David. It involves all the things that took place during the time in which David was king, and it was said of his kingdom that there would be someone that would rule forever as king, and that, ultimately, is Jesus.

Speaker 1: 3:43

And we are living in a day and an hour right now, in which the soon return of Jesus is in a place in history that we've never been before, and I know we could say that I mean, of course, we haven't. It's never been this day, this time previously, so we've never been here before, but there have never been times that are equal to this before, and we're just getting a real taste of it now, and it's going to increase. It's going to continue to increase, and that increase is going to continue to increase, and that increase is going to involve the manifestation of God's presence. His power, his kingdom is going to be displayed on planet Earth, leading up to the return of Jesus, like we've never seen before. And so this king is going to return and he's going to rule on the very throne of David, and his rulership is going to bring an end to all evil. Eventually, hallelujah.

Speaker 1: 5:04

And then time will be no more, which is a profound thought. The realm of time and space will be no more, and eternity will be the measurement of all things, of all things. And we will be in that state, with God and with one another, in an environment of love that it's been written, that our eyes haven't seen, our ears haven't even heard of the things that God has in store for those of us who love him, who are called by his name, those of us who are born again of his spirit, are going to experience something so profound, so radical, so dynamic that words escape us, just like time and space will be no more. Well, our words can't reach what's in store for us, but we have some living to do right now, and we're given a call to occupy until he comes. In fact, we're to continue to be taking dominion on planet Earth and see the kingdom of God advance. And so what we're doing in our review of 1 Samuel is we're taking a look at some of these stories, man, because they have within them this scarlet thread that speaks of Jesus. We find Jesus in all these stories and we're going to unfold that, but before we do, it's good to have a little bit of background.

Speaker 1: 6:59

Concerning the book of 1 Samuel, like I said, I love it because it's got stories and when I first read it I had the assumption that, well, it says 1 Samuel. Like I said, I love it because it's got stories and when I first read it I had the assumption that, well, it says 1 Samuel. That means that Samuel wrote it. It's got his name on it. He wrote it. Well, let's take a look a little bit. We said we're going to do a little bit of a deeper dive. Well, let's take a moment and dive into just the preliminaries.

Speaker 1: 7:29

Concerning the book of 1 Samuel, I asked a question recently. I said how could the writer of the book known as 1 Samuel have had the knowledge to write about events that spanned at least 150 years? Right Now, it takes only about two hours two and a half hours give or take to read 1 Samuel out loud. If you were to take the book of 1 Samuel and read it out loud, it'd take you about two and a half hours and that's not all that long. But it spans 150 years and when you read it it doesn't seem like it. It seems like, oh yeah, a couple of years here, a couple of years there, up 150 years of time. And so the prophet Samuel, the book's namesake, right 1 Samuel, could not have written the entire book alone because no-transcript Huh, his death is recorded in the book of 1 Samuel. So if he died, how could he write about things beyond his death?

Speaker 1: 9:07

Right, the name of the book, 1 Samuel, so that we can kind of dispel any arguments that might arise that criticize us for being gullible, right or ignorant about how we handle the scriptures. You know, like people say well, if Samuel, it's written Samuel on the book, it means that Samuel must have written it. Well, it's kind of like saying, if Moses, jesus and Paul used the King James Version, then it's good enough for me, even though the first version of the King James Bible wasn't available until the year 1611 AD, right? So just because the name Samuel is on the book doesn't mean that he wrote it. While the book is attributed or in essence dedicated in honor of Samuel the prophet, it's crucial to understand that Samuel alone could not have written the entire book. So of course, we're not gullible and we're not ignorant. We live in the that.

Speaker 1: 10:33

There are other sources, resources that go into the development of this book, but just hold on a second, just bear with me. So here's a breakdown of how we perceive the information could have been acquired, and I say could have been One direct observation and firsthand account. It's very likely that Samuel himself, being a prophet and a judge during the early period covered in the book, recorded at least or was responsible for overseeing the writing of some of the material. He either recorded it or was at least responsible for overseeing the writing of some of the material, responsible for overseeing the writing of some of the material. Similarly, other individuals, such as Nathan and Gad, who served as prophets during David's reign as king, likely contributed to the historical record. So there were other men and other sources and resources that could have come into the development of this book that we have known as 1 Samuel Oral tradition and observation. This is important tradition and observation. This is important. In ancient cultures and as well as some modern ones, oral tradition was a powerful means of preserving and transmitting historical accounts and stories. The events and conservation of important deeds, of important figures like Samuel, saul and David would have been passed down through generations before written material was available. Before even writing them down, they were passed on in oral tradition. Thus storytelling, the ability to tell good stories, that was really true in ancient cultures Before books were readily available, even before paper was readily available. The ability to convey things orally, to tell stories, was a very important part of the culture and preserving the culture. But it wasn't just limited, and isn't just limited, to ancient times. I was born in 1959. And so I'm 66 years old, and even during my lifetime, oral tradition played a significant part of my upbringing. I was born in northern Minnesota where there was a large population of Finnish Americans, people that had come from Finland to America and established their homestead, their lifestyles, here in America and had children, and their children had children, and I am a byproduct of my grandparents immigrating from Finland to America, and so my ancestry is Finnish, and part of the Finnish culture is a storytelling culture, and I remember growing up as a kid being fascinated by the stories that were told by some of these old timers. They'd tell stories about hunting and I could wait to hear the stories. But the funny thing, they would tell the story but they'd tell them about hunting and I could wait to hear the stories. But funny thing, they would tell the story, but they'd tell them over and over again. But they wouldn't seem to get tired of telling them. They loved to tell them and, interestingly enough, also when they told them the first time I heard it, I said wow, that was really great. Second time I heard it it was the same story. They really didn't veer too far from what was being shared the first time. There might be a little bit of different color commentary, but basically it was the same story. So their recollection of things was incredible. Recollection of things was incredible and part of it was due to the fact that they didn't have the development of media radio, television. Some of these things that occupy our attention didn't have any part of their lives. It wasn't part of their lives. It didn't have any play in it. Their lives, it wasn't part of their lives, it didn't have any play in it. And so they used their imaginations and their memories were just like steel traps, man. They were just like they would lock in on things and hold them, and the ability to convey things through oral tradition was very, very important because they wanted to also carry on the culture, the tradition. They wanted me to know what it was like to be Finnish Interesting. So the same took place in ancient cultures. They would pass things along through oral tradition. So another factor that could have come into play concerning the writing of 1 Samuel is utilizing every credible written source. The writers of the book of 1 Samuel likely had access and incorporated various documents from that period, such as official registers or chronicles like the Chronicles of Samuel, the Chronicles of Nathan the prophet, and the Chronicles of Gad the seer, as mentioned in the book of 1 Chronicles 28-29. So there were outside sources, credible outside sources and resources, written resources that were used in the compilation of 1 Samuel and, last but not least, divine inspiration and guidance. From a theological perspective, the authors are believed to have been guided by the Holy Spirit in their selection, interpretation and presentation of the historical events that we're talking about. This suggests that, beyond human record-keeping, a divine element played a role in the accuracy and purpose of the narrative. Let me say that again. Let me say that again, this suggests that, beyond human record-keeping, a divine element played a role in the accuracy and purpose of the narrative, and I would say that divine element is none other than God, the Spirit. Holy Spirit breathed upon the writers and gave them inspiration as to how to go about putting these things together and that is absolutely the belief and conviction we hold dear and stand strong upon here at Life Around the Fire is that divine inspiration and guidance factored into the writing of the book of 1 Samuel. Therefore, the book of 1 Samuel is a God-breathed result of a collaborative process involving eyewitness accounts, oral traditions and existing sources, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. The final form of the text is a compiled narrative that contains the redemptive threat of Jesus as well as its reflection upon the history of Israel during that significant period in time. God-breed, guided by the Holy Spirit, put together from a variety of these sources. That's where we're coming from when we look at the book of these sources. That's where we're coming from when we look at the book of 1 Samuel, and so I would invite you to take these considerations and weigh them out, analyze them and come to your own conclusion. But that's where we're at right now. But that's where we're at right now, and that's where we're going to stay, and that's how we're going to present things when we look deeper into the book of 1 Samuel. But for now, let's pray. Father, I thank you, god, we thank you for who you are and we love you, we honor you and we value your word. You've given us something that is so powerful and we want to treat it properly. We want to rightly divide the word of truth because you, lord, you're worth that. You're worth us doing that with your word. So I think you would guide us, holy Spirit, direct us, impart to us truth that you want to say and that you'd reveal Jesus both to us and through us as we grow in him, individually and collectively, and we pray these things, standing here in the very name of Jesus, saying amen, amen, amen, amen. All right, folks, we love you and if you have any thoughts, questions, concerns, please feel free to drop us a line at lifearoundthefire, at gmailcom that's our email address or you can type in lifearoundthefire and look us up on the web see what's going on. We would love to hear from you In the meantime. God bless you. Adios amigos.