Samuel, Kings And Chronicles Series

May 01, 2021

My Favorite thing about Samuel, Kings and Chronicles is a consistent theme from beginning to end ---- Our Choices Matter.

Each book shows, step by step, the failure of the Chosen People and their leaders to maintain their side of the covenant with God. Any political / military / economic achievements are completely over shadowed by spiritual choices: Samuel’s choices --- Israel’s choices --- Saul’s choices --- David’s choices --- Solomon’s Choices, etc., etc., etc.,

Samuel

The government of Israel was administered by the judges in the name of God and by His authority.

Samuel was the last Judge of Israel. By all accounts, he was a great judge and the nation prospered under his wise control, but he was a lousy father. He made choices regarding the training of his son’s which allowed for the cultivation of obvious character flaws. They disregarded the Laws of God. They lined their pockets in less than honorable ways, including the taking of bribes. They perverted the justice system.

1 Samuel 8:4-5 - So all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah. 5 They said to him, "You are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways; now appoint a king to lead us, such as all the other nations have."

Israel

The truth is Israel didn’t want to live under the authority of God anymore and they were looking for any excuse to get rid of the “judge” system. Unfortunately, Samuel’s parenting choices and the abuses of his sons gave them that excuse and they jumped at it --- “Give us a king!”

Samuel felt rejected, but God told him, “The people have not rejected you; they have rejected me, so give them what they do want, but first, tell them what having an earthly king is going to look like.” {1 Samuel 8:7-17}:

• He’ll take your sons to fight his battles and work in his fields

• He’ll take your daughters to work in his household

• He’ll take your best fields and vineyards and olive groves and give them to his favorite servants

• He’ll take a 10th of your seeds and vineyards and give those to his favorite servants too.

• He’ll take your male and female servants and your best young men and your donkeys and use them for HIS service.

• He’ll take a 10th of your flocks and herds and you, yourselves will become his servants

Israel made their choice and demanded a king anyway.

Saul

Saul had the qualities people value when considering a king --- he was tall and good looking, but he lacked character. After he was chosen king, the people went looking for him --- he was hiding in a pile of luggage. Not a great sign of things to come, but oh, well…. Here’s your king! Long live the king!

Here is a summary of Saul’s catastrophic choices:

Ch 13 – Saul makes an unlawful sacrifice.

Saul was told to wait for Samuel at Gilgal. When Samuel was late arriving, Saul chose to make the sacrifice in Samuel’s place, which was not lawful for him to do. When caught red handed, Saul made the excuse that the people were afraid, so he’d forced himself to offer the sacrifice. As a result, the days of his kingdom were numbered.

Ch 15 – Saul spares Agag

God gave Saul explicit instructions to completely destroy the Amalekites – leave nothing – because of their great sin. However, Saul chose to spare king Agag and the best of all the animals. He was so proud of what he had done that, before returning to Gilgal, he had a monument to his own awesomeness set up at Carmel. Things did not go well after Samuel arrived at Gilgal and Saul was rejected as king.

Ch 28 – Saul consults a medium.

The days of Saul’s reign were coming to an end. Israel and the Philistines were again at war. Saul was desperate because he was afraid and God had gone silent, so, he chose to seek instruction elsewhere. The night before the big battle he found a medium and consulted Satan {disguised as the “spirit” of Samuel} instead – once again violating a direct command of God:

Leviticus 19:31 - Do not turn to mediums or seek out spiritists, for you will be defiled by them. I am the LORD your God.

Leviticus 20:6 - I will set my face against the person who turns to mediums and spiritists to prostitute himself by following them, and I will cut him off from his people.

The next day, Saul and 3 of his sons were killed in battle on Mount Gilboa.

Choices Matter!! Saul’s visit to the Witch of Endor tells us all we need to know about choices. Saul had made a habit of making choices that moved him away from God and in the end, he switched allegiance altogether. What a sad and unnecessary end.