1 Samuel

In the history of Israel, Samuel bridges the gap between the time of the Judges and the time of the Kings. Samuel was the last of the judges, and he was succeeded by Saul, the first king in Israel. And Samuel was also the first prophet since the days of Moses.

1 Samuel is the story of the life of David prior to his rising to sit on the throne as the second King of Israel. It is largely the story of the fugitive David. A story in which Saul persistently chased….while David successfully eluded.

In the Bible, Samuel was a man chosen for God, from his miraculous birth until his death. His parents Elkanah and Hannah dedicated him to the Lord, giving the child to the priest Eli to be raised in the temple. He served in several important positions during his life, earning God’s favor because he knew how to obey. Few people in the Bible were as obedient to God as Samuel.

However, while Samuel was spotless in his own life, he did not raise his two sons, Joel and Abijah, to follow his example. They took bribes and were dishonest rulers.

Samuel had appointed his sons as judges, but the elders of Israel told Samuel that because he was too old and his sons did not walk in his ways, they wanted Samuel to appoint a king to rule like other nations had (1 Samuel 8:1–5). Samuel’s initial reaction to their demand was one of great displeasure, and he prayed to God about the matter. God told Samuel that they had not rejected him, but had rejected God as their king.

A key verse in the life of Samuel relates his words to King Saul: “But Samuel replied: ‘Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the Lord? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams’” (1 Samuel 15:22). Obedience to God’s Word was Samuel’s top priority and must always be ours as well.