The Eighth Son -- An Exposition Of 1 Samuel 16:1-14

The Eighth Son

1 Samuel 16:1-14

One of Ancient Israel’s greatest backslidings was when the people of Israel came to the Prophet Samuel and asked for a king “just like all the other nations” (1 Samuel 8:5). The anarchy which characterized Israel during the reign of the judges was still in the memory of some of the leaders of Israel. Samuel had been a gift from God to the nation. Things had turned around for them as they had returned to the God of their fathers. But a problem came up as Samuel grew old. Samuel’s sons grew up to pervert judgment. The people did not want them to succeed Samuel lest they lead the nation back to what had happened before Samuel. Their request was in one way an honorable request, However, they had made a great miscalculation. It was always the intention of the LORD that He would be Israel’s king. The other nations were ruled by fallible and mortal men. If Israel were to settle for an earthly king, then they would eventually fail, just like all the nations eventually rot and fail. Samuel was offended at the request, not because Israel had rejected Samuel’s sons, but rather because they had rejected the kingship of Yahweh over them.

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The people prevailed over the objections, and the LORD told Samuel to get them an earthly king. At the same time, Israel was warned of the consequences of their wrong-headed decision. Saul was selected to be Israel’s first king. We must remember that it was the LORD who made Saul king and not the people. He was the Lord’s anointed, something which David respected all the days in which Saul lived and reigned (1 Samuel 24:6). Israel was to obey Saul. What made Saul attractive to men was that he was tall and good looking. By being head and shoulders taller than the people, this meant he must have been about six-and-a-half feet tall or so. He was no Goliath, but in a day where size and physical strength were important in leading armies into battle, he seemed like the perfect choice. But another trait needed in a good king was courage. When it became manifest by the casting of lots that Saul was selected, he could not be found as he was hiding (1 Samuel 10:22). But the Spirit of the LORD came upon Saul and made up for his want of courage. As long as Saul was obedient, the LORD brought victory to Israel over the Philistines and her other enemies. But then the most disqualifying of faults led to Saul’s downfall. He did not obey the LORD’s commands concerning sacrifices and in not finishing the slaughter of the Amalekites. Saul was rejected, and the LORD went to select one after his own heart.

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This morning’s text begins with Samuel mourning the rejection of Saul as king. Even though Samuel was personally opposed to Israel having an earthly king, he still was sad that Saul had so grievously failed. But the LORD told him to stop grieving and get up to anoint another king. He was told to go to the small village of Bethlehem of Judaea and anoint the new king from the sons of Jesse. Jesse was the grandson of Ruth the Moabitess and Boaz. What is interesting to note here is the text from Deuteronomy 23:3 which explicitly states than no descendant of a Moabite will ever enter the congregation of the LORD. So this would on the surface seem to disqualify Jesse and his sons from even being Israelites, no less being candidates to be Israel’s king. So we have to deal with what seems to be a contradiction. It is only if we have a different understanding of what makes one an Israelite other than physical descent. When Ruth makes her confession to her mother-in law, Naomi that the God of Israel was her God and Israel her people that she was no longer a Moabitess but a true Israelite, just like the harlot Rahab became a true Israelite. One becomes an Israelite by faith and not by physical descent. The LORD in Deuteronomy had cursed Moab and Ammon because they did not show hospitality to God’s chosen. This implies that if a physical descendant of Israel fails to show hospitality to His people that they would be accounted as a Moabite.

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God told Samuel that He had chosen a king from the sons of Jesse. But Samuel was afraid that if Saul heard about it, he would have his head. Samuel truly had nothing to fear, but the LORD accommodated to his fears and used it as the means of making things happen. He was to call for a public sacrifice at Bethlehem and specifically to call Jesse and his sons. As a sacrifice was a solemn occasion, there was the expectation that those who came would wash themselves and put on clean clothes, So Jesse came to the sacrifice with seven of his sons.