1 Samuel 6-14 Recap | OT Ep 34

This episode discusses the journey of the Ark of the Covenant back to Israel, the leadership of Samuel, and the transition to kingship in Israel with the introduction of Saul. It discusses the challenges faced by Saul, including his disobedience to God's commands and the consequences that followed, as well as the faith of Jonathan in contrast to Saul's rash decisions. The overarching themes include the importance of obedience to God, the nature of leadership, and the consequences of rejecting divine guidance.

Reading Plan - Old Testament in One Year
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Transcript

Hey everyone,

My name is Austin. And my name is Ashley. Welcome to the Clean Slate Podcast. Where we're finding Jesus in the Old Testament.

Hey friends, welcome into episode 34. Today we're going to be recapping 1 Samuel chapter 6 through 14.

So picking up where we left off last time, remember that the Ark of the Lord has been captured by the Philistines, and they took it back to their city

and Yahweh defeated their god Dagon, which is so funny to say because like he's the living God. Of course he defeats the dead statue, but he does.

And so the Lord plagues the city that the Ark is in with tumors and mice.

So chapter six picks up with the five lords of the Philistines calling for their priests and diviners

say, we've learned our lesson from the Egyptians and we need to send this back. Their religious professionals conduct an experiment to see if this was the hand of the Lord or just a coincidence. They said, make five golden tumors and five golden mice for each of the five cities and give glory to the God of Israel. Then perhaps he will lighten his load from your hand. And I love that because they didn't presume that

this would work. They just said, perhaps that'll do it.

So they put the ark on a cart and put that cart on two untrained milk cows, but take their calves home away from them. the golden mice and tumors in a box by its side. Sounds like they had enough sense at least not to open the ark.

Now untrained milk cows would not have been able to pull a cart together very well. And even if they went anywhere, it would have been home to their calves. So if they pulled the cart up the hill toward Israel, it had to be the work of the Lord. And so it was. The cows ended up going straight all the way to a field in Beth Shemesh and the people rejoiced to see the Ark of the Lord.

They used the wood from the cart and offered a burnt offering to the Lord with the cows and then the same with the golden figures. The Philistines witnessed all of this and returned home.

But then some of the Israelites decide to open the ark and look into it. Bad call, my dudes. And the Lord struck all that looked upon the ark down.

So they quickly realized that they're in over their heads here.

So they sent messengers for some Levites in Kiriath-Jerim to come pick up the ark. And in chapter seven,

we see that they charged Eliezer to have charge of the Ark of the Lord. From that day, the Ark was kept there for some 20 years.

So Samuel says to all the house of Israel, if you are returning to the Lord with all your heart, then put away the foreign gods and direct your heart to the Lord and serve him only. And the people did so and served the Lord only. That day, Samuel prayed for the people and they drew water and poured it out before the Lord and fasted and confessed their sin against the Lord. The Philistines heard that they were all gathered together. So they drew near to attack.

But that was a bad idea. I guess they didn't learn from the Egyptians after all, did they?

So the Lord takes care of Israel, so far as to push the Philistines back and out of cities that belong to Israel. And you get this picture that there was security and stability under Samuel's time as a Through Samuel's annual rounds, he gave the people confidence and trust in God and in his leadership.

Moving into chapter 8, it tells us that when Samuel became old, he made his sons judges over Israel. But his sons did not walk in his ways. They took bribes and perverted justice. Now, keep in mind, this is not the way this was normally done.

God himself raises up judges for Israel. It wasn't a hereditary position. But nonetheless, this is a turning point in Israel's history. The elders of Israel gathered together and said to Samuel, behold, you are old and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now appoint for us a king to judge us

like all the nations. Now listen to the Lord's response back to Samuel obey the voice of the people and all that they say to you for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them. According to all the deeds that they have done from the day I brought them up out of Egypt.

even to this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are doing to you. Now then, obey their voice, only you shall solemnly warn them and show them the ways of the king who shall reign over them. So Samuel does,

He warns them of all the things a king would take, using his power to take the best for himself. And verse 18 says, and in that day you will cry out because of your king whom you have chosen for yourselves, but the Lord will not answer you in that day. the people refused to listen. They wanted a king to rule over them because the Lord's kingship wasn't sufficient for them.

They didn't want the plan the Lord laid out. They wanted to choose the worldly path and be just like the other nations. Friends, the Lord made provisions in the law for a king. His issue is not a king per se, but that the people rejected him and his plan and appointed first who was right in their eyes to be king. When in fact, the Lord had a second, better king in mind. So without further delay, let's jump into chapter nine and see how we meet Israel's first king.

In chapter 9, we're introduced to a man named Saul. The Bible tells us that Saul was a head taller than all the other people in Israel, and that he was the most handsome man in all of Israel.

So if you're thinking how the Israelites are thinking, they want a king like all the other nations. They want a big, strong guy to be their king. So in that way, Saul fits that description.

We meet Saul as he is trying to go and find his father's lost donkeys.

Saul takes a very long trip along with one of his servants to find these donkeys and they travel all the hill country of Ephraim and actually back into the country of Benjamin.

Toward the end of this the men realize that they're not finding these donkeys. They haven't found them. It's been days and days. And at some point, Saul's father is going to become worried about them being gone.

they get close to home, Saul's servant realizes they are really close to where Samuel lives, and he thinks, hey, let's go and see if the man of God can give us some insight into where these donkeys are.

Saul likes the idea, but then remembers that he doesn't have anything to give the man of God, the prophet. And in those times, it would have been customary for them to give what they would call the seer or the prophet

some kind of token for his help.

Samuel lives they run into some ladies who give them help trying to find Samuel.

Saul and his servant run into Samuel, but little did they know Samuel was actually expecting to see them.

this way. ⁓

invites Saul to go up and eat at this feast that Samuel is heading to.

Saul is taken back because he knows Samuel is the judge and is the prophet over Israel at this time.

When Saul responded to the invite, he actually sounds a lot like Gideon here. In verse 21 he says,

Nevertheless, Samuel takes Saul up to the feast and eats with him.

That night, takes him and his servant back to his home, and he provides them a place to stay.

Samuel had already told Saul that the donkeys had been found. There was nothing to worry about. The next morning when he sent them on his way, he sends the servant on ahead of him because Samuel wants to talk to Saul for a few minutes.

that Samuel wanted to talk to about. He actually wanted to anoint Saul as king over Israel. Saul a couple of things, a couple of signs that will happen to confirm this for him.

One of those signs was him prophesying with a group of

chapter 10, there's a phrase that says, and be turned into another man.

What that phrase is referring to is the Spirit was going to come upon Saul and help him to prophesy. What's not happening is that it's not that Samuel is saying that you're going also be future prophet as well as king.

then goes ahead and sends Saul on and tells him that he'll be coming there in seven days and for him to wait for him there.

Verse 9 tells us that God gave him, talking about Saul, another heart, and everything Samuel foretold came to pass on that day.

we fast forward to Saul making his way back and Saul was talking to his uncle and his uncle wanted to know what had happened with Samuel and all Saul remarked on was that Samuel told him the donkeys were found. He completely left out the whole future king stuff. So a really important note is that right here, you may get the idea that Saul seems like a really humble young guy.

who was still trying to figure life out. Maybe a guy with no ambition of his own,

But we see in different verses that let us know that when these things were happening, Saul was probably between 30 and 40 years old. He was a grown man with children of his own at this time in his life.

The story goes on and we get to the congregation being gathered together at MISPA. Let me read verse 18 and 19 to you.

And this is Samuel talking here in verse 18 says, And he said to the people of Israel, Thus says the LORD, the God of brought Israel out of Egypt, and I delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians and from the hand of all the kingdoms that were oppressing you. But today you have rejected your God, who saves you from all your calamities and your distress.

And you have said to him, Set a king over us. Now therefore present yourselves before the Lord by tribes and by your thousands.

Samuel was reminding them that it was God who delivered them from all the sticky spots they found themselves in and they didn't need an earthly king for that to happen. But since they're asking for this earthly king, They're rejecting God and His kingship over the people.

Samuel had the people draw lots, or straws, in a way to confirm in front of the people that it was indeed Saul who was to be king of Israel.

So please notice God's absolute control here. There would have been no way for Samuel to rig this drawing and he wasn't worried in the slightest that Saul would be selected as king in the process.

when the selection process was over

They couldn't find Saul, so the people went and inquired the Lord.

Let me read verse 22 for you. ⁓

people go and they find him and they see for themselves that he is taller than any man in Israel. In verse 24, Samuel says to them, Do you see him who the Lord has chosen? There is none like him among the people. And all the people shouted, Long live the king.

So, a lot has happened in the last two chapters. I think it's fair to say that Saul has been the main character as he is the newly appointed king.

Let's take an inventory of Israel's new king. We meet Saul and we're told right away that he was the tallest and most handsome man in all of Israel. And from a worldly perspective, seems like things are off to good start, right?

The very next thing we see is that Saul couldn't find his father's donkeys. Then he goes to meet a prophet, but he has no gift for him. He doesn't recognize the prophet when he's face to face with him. He's then anointed at the command of God

to be king and when it's confirmed among the people that he's supposed to lead into battle

Remember, that was a big deal to people that he lead them into battle.

And they have to pray to find out where it's hiding and the man that they wanted to lead them into battle is hiding amongst the baggage.

On top of things not looking super promising for Saul, there is Israel to consider too. Let me sum that up by reading part of a blog post by an author named Jared Longshore.

Imagine the Israelite family journeying home from MISPA. Dad is deep in thought. Mom is in the front seat, a little nervous. Kids are a bit confused. Well, honey, what did you think about the gathering? Says mom. Not what I expected, dad replies. Why was the king hiding in the luggage? The littlest You know, I'm not quite sure dear, mom comforts. He sure was tall and handsome,

the young child exclaims. Yes, and I heard he has even prophesied, another kid says. How did he do that? God sent the Spirit upon him. Dad encourages.

to which the oldest child hesitatingly asked, but didn't Samuel say that we were rejecting God, and the family was silent for many miles?

I think that little illustration sums up well how this whole thing has transpired and how it should have been obvious to the people of Israel what they were doing.

From a Christ Center point of view, Ashley already mentioned that the people got ahead of God. And we do that too, don't we?

Saul serves as sort of a mirror to show how things go when we try to solve things for ourselves.

Unlike Saul, King Jesus doesn't need anything from us. We truly have nothing to offer Him, and it's precisely because that is true that He is well able to supply all of our needs.

our sins were the very thing that made it necessary for Him to come and rescue us.

He was the suffering servant who rather than taking our grain and cattle came to give us bread and wine.

Moving into chapter 11, Nahash the Ammonite attacks Jabesh-Gilead and the circumstances for the Israelites in that city get bad quickly. They tried making peace with Nahash because they knew that their defenses wouldn't hold out for long,

but the offer of peace they received back from Nahash, including all the men in the city having their wrought out.

much of a peaceful offer.

They sent out messengers to see if anyone would come to their rescue. It's important to note here that Saul, while being named king twice, once in private and once in public, wasn't a galvanizing king just yet.

And on top of that, Israel had a history of their anointed leaders pulling off some incredible feats, which Saul hadn't done yet. So these folks weren't necessarily sending out for Saul, just more like any one of their brothers who could muster a force to come and save them.

Saul does hear of this, the text tells us that the Spirit of the LORD rushed upon Saul, and Saul sent out messengers to all Israel and mustered an army of 300,000 men.

Saul led the men of into battle with Nahash and crushed his forces, saving the people of Jabesh-gilead. This cemented Saul as king in the eyes of the people.

victory, Samuel is going go into a semi-retired status. It's pretty obvious when you read chapter 12 that he'll still be around, but he's also stepping out of that judge role and more into the prophet's role.

He starts out by asking the people who he has wronged or defrauded and the people answer unanimously that he has never wronged any of them.

Samuel goes on to recount many of the Lord's deeds that he has done for Israel going all the way back to Jacob

when they walked away from the Lord, they were sold into the hands of the Philistines, and how whenever they cried out to God, He raised up a judge to save them.

But now when Nahash had come, they wanted the king to save them. And God says in verse 13, Behold, king whom you have chosen, for who you asked. Behold, the Lord has set a king over you.

to serve Him. If they do, it will go well for and the land. But if they don't, the Lord will be against them and their king.

Again, y'all, if you haven't read Deuteronomy chapter 27 through 30, please do that and go check out the episode on those chapters. It really is critical to understand why Samuel is saying this sort of thing here.

upon the Lord and God sent thunder and rain and it was such that it terrified the people says that the people feared the Lord and Samuel. But the people for the first time saw their sin them trying to pick a king to lead them.

Samuel tells them not to be afraid. They have certainly sinned, but that if they would keep God's word and do what He commanded, things would go well for them and their king and that Samuel would continue to pray for them.

It's really important to note Samuel is clear that the if you do wickedly type statements also refer to the king and the punishment of the people would also involve the king himself. That's going to matter later in the story.

In chapter 13, Saul is put into his first real test after he and his son Jonathan defeated certain Philistine garrisons. The Philistines mustered an army to fight Israel and it was not only large, but well-armed. Israel, just really becoming free again for the first time in years, were not as well-armed or organized and the people were in great fear, to the point that they began hiding themselves in caves or even fled from the promised land itself.

Saul stayed and Samuel was going to come to him and offer sacrifice. When Samuel didn't arrive earlier in the week, the people started to flee and Saul decided to take matters into his own hands and he offered the sacrifice himself. Y'all, that is a really big problem. It is plain in the Torah that only the priests were to give these offerings.

Saul, this is the first time you really see it, was more worried about losing the people than following what God had said. listen, I know that I've been guilty of that, and I think we all have, but the consequences to hit him really hard because he is the king of Israel.

About the time he had finished this offering, Samuel came. Once Samuel had figured out what had happened, Saul offered his excuse, but Samuel told him that he had acted foolishly, and because of this, his kingdom, that would have been established forever, will not continue, and the LORD had sought out a man after his own heart.

This is a crushing blow, but especially looking at it from the future where we sit now. What Samuel is saying is that it would have been through Saul's lineage that the Messiah would have come.

ultimately made King David would have been Saul's

This chapter ends with Samuel leaving and the net beginning to tighten around Saul and his men.

swords or

This would have certainly been a low point in the book. God is going to have to do something in order for people to survive this ordeal.

Chapter 14 begins with Jonathan, and his armor bearer going over to the Philistine garrison.

trusts that God would work for them as he says, nothing can hinder the Lord from saving by many or by few. This really contrasts with his dad's concern about the numbers from the last chapter. the two go into the camp and strike the men then the Bible says a very great panic or literally translated a panic of God came upon the Philistines. So the watchmen of Saul see this happen.

and they count and realize who is missing. And by the time they look back, they realize that the chaos in the Philistine camp is rising. So Saul and all the people with him rallied and went into battle, and every sword was against the Philistines.

Israel's of course. Some of the Philistines even turned against their own due to the confusion. Some of the Hebrews who had defected in the Philistine camp fight with Israel. Even the men who had hidden themselves in the hill country of Ephraim turned to fight with Israel. And the Lord saved Israel that day.

So after this very long hard day, Saul laid a very rash and unreasonable vow on the men, saying, cursed be the man who eats food until it is evening.

Now, historically, Israel had not been great at following through with things, so a little motivation would have been good. But this was quite the opposite, and Jonathan didn't even hear it. So Jonathan ate some honey, and one of the people told him about his father's oath, and he responded, my father has the land. See how my eyes have become bright because I tasted a little of this honey. How much better if the people had eaten freely today of the spoils of their enemies that they found?

For now the defeat among the Philistines has not been great.

To Jonathan's point, when evening came and the men can eat, they were so famished and ate so fast they didn't even let the blood drain from the animal, which was strictly prohibited in multiple places in the law. At least Saul had the sense to have a stone brought in so they could slaughter their dinner and drain it properly.

But Saul then says, let's continue to plunder the Philistines. And the people say, do whatever seems good to you. But the priests say, let us draw near to God here. Then Saul asks the Lord for an endorsement of his plan, which he does not get right away. So rather than take God's silence for his answer, Saul assumes there must be some sin in the camp.

So much so that when he finds out that Jonathan has violated the oath he didn't know about, Saul is prepared to put him to death. But the soldiers step in to rescue Jonathan so that he does not die.

So Saul goes along with the army's action and gives up his pursuit on the Philistines. This chapter ends with a brief summary of Saul's reign, suggesting that though Saul continues to rule, in God's sight, his reign is already over. And we will see more of how that story plays out in the next episode. May his grace abound to you and to me as we study to find Jesus in the Old Testament.