Transcript The Biblical Covenants:

OT Survey I
1 Samuel
Purpose of OT Survey
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“This class is designed to survey the Hebrew
Scriptures so as to give the student a good
framework for understanding God’s plan and
character as He deals with the nation of Israel.
The Old Testament will be studied according to
the division of the English canon: Pentateuch,
historical books, wisdom literature, and prophets.
Emphasis will be placed on understanding
the broad sweep of this portion of divine
revelation, and particularly on how later
revelation builds on earlier revelation.
OT Survey I covers Genesis through Chronicles.”
Purpose of OT Survey

“This class is designed to survey the Hebrew
Scriptures so as to give the student a good
framework for understanding God’s plan and
character as He deals with the nation of Israel.
The Old Testament will be studied according to
the division of the English canon: Pentateuch,
historical books, wisdom literature, and prophets.
Emphasis will be placed on understanding
the broad sweep of this portion of divine
revelation, and particularly on how later
revelation builds on earlier revelation.
OT Survey I covers Genesis through Chronicles.”
Purpose of OT Survey (cont.)
Exodus 20
1) … no other gods before Me (v. 3)
2) … not make for yourself an idol (v. 4)
3) … not take the name of the LORD
your God in vain (v. 7)
4) Remember the sabbath day (v. 8)
5) Honor your father and mother (v. 12)
6) You shall not murder (v. 13)
7) You shall not commit adultery (v. 14)
8) You shall not steal (v. 15)
9) You shall not bear false witness (v. 16)
10) You shall not covet … (v. 17)
Hosea 4:1-2
Listen to the word of the LORD, O
sons of Israel, for the LORD has a
case against the inhabitants of
the land, because there is no
faithfulness or kindness or
knowledge of God in the land.
There is
swearing,
deception,
murder,
stealing,
and adultery.
They employ violence, so that
bloodshed follows bloodshed
Purpose of OT Survey (cont.)
2 Samuel 7:12-16
Psalm 89:29-35
When your days are complete
and you lie down with your
fathers, I will raise up your
descendant after you ... I will be
a father to him and he will be a
son to Me; when he commits
iniquity, I will correct him with
the rod of men and the strokes
of the sons of men, but My
lovingkindness shall not depart
from him, as I took it away from
Saul, whom I removed from
before you. And your house and
your kingdom shall endure before
Me forever; your throne shall be
established forever.
So I will establish his descendants
forever, and his throne as the days of
heaven. If his sons forsake My law,
and do not walk in My judgments, if
they violate My statutes, and do not
keep My commandments, then I will
visit their transgression with the rod,
and their iniquity with stripes. But I
will not break off My lovingkindness
from him, Nor deal falsely in My
faithfulness. My covenant I will not
violate, nor will I alter the utterance
of My lips. Once I have sworn by My
holiness; I will not lie to David.
Location of Samuel in Canon
English
[Historical Books]
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Joshua
Judges
Ruth
Samuel
Kings
Chronicles
Ezra/Neh/Est
Hebrew
[Former Prophets]
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Joshua
Judges
Samuel
Kings
[Writings]
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. . . Proverbs
Ruth . . .
Location of Samuel in Canon
English
[Historical Books]
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Joshua
Judges
Ruth
Samuel
Kings
Chronicles
Ezra/Neh/Est
Hebrew
[Former Prophets]
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Joshua
Judges
Samuel
Kings
[Writings]
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. . . Proverbs
Ruth . . .
• During the time of the judges… (Ruth 1:1)
• Salmon was the father of Boaz, Boaz was the
father of Obed. Obed was the father of Jesse, and
Jesse was the father of David (Ruth 4:21-22)
Location of Samuel in Canon
English
Hebrew
[Historical Books]
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Joshua
Judges
Ruth
Samuel
Kings
Chronicles
Ezra/Neh/Est
• Men worshipping elsewhere while
“House of God” is at Shiloh (Judg 18:31)
• Men instead going to Shiloh because
they need to steal wives (Judg 21:19ff)
• Man with two wives going to Shiloh
to worship; he did it year after year!
(1 Sam 1:1ff)
[Former Prophets]
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Joshua
Judges
Samuel
Kings
[Writings]
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. . . Proverbs
Ruth . . .
Story of 1 Samuel
Pentateuch (esp. Deuteronomy)
Joshua
Judges
Samuel
Story of 1 Samuel (Cont.)
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Deuteronomy – Great and precious promises!
Joshua
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Faithfulness of God giving land
Faithlessness of Israel
Joshua’s Charge (As for me and my house…)
Judges
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7 cycles, downward spiral
Dreadful Appendix, the bottom
In those days . . . Judg 17:6
 Micah’s idol, Dan migration, Gibeah’s wickedness
 In those days . . . Judg 21:25
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Samuel and Samson
[Judges 13]
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“There was a certain man
from Ramathaim-zophim,
whose name was Manoah.”
“…his wife was barren and
had borne no children”
“…the woman gave birth
to a son and named him
Samson” (Shimson)
Nazirite vow – No cutting
of hair, no strong drink
[1 Samuel 1]
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“There was a certain man
from Zorah, and his name
was Elkanah.”
“Hannah had no children”
“…she gave birth to a son
and she named him
Samuel” (Shimuel)
Hannah’s vow – Hannah
has not been drinking!
Structure
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1 Samuel
1 Samuel
1- 7 – Samuel as judge
8 – Israel Rejects God
Saul and the Period of the Judges
[Judges 17-21]
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Search for land through hill
country of Ephraim.
Inquiry to a “man of God”
The wickedness of the
Benjamites in Gibeah.
Assembling at Mizpah,
casting lots, inquiring of
Yahweh.
A call to arms based on
the cutting up of a
concubine.
Attack of Jabesh Gilead.
[1 Samuel 9-11]
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Search for donkeys
through hill country of
Ephraim. Inquiry to a man
of God.
Saul’s is a Benjamite from
Gibeah.
Assembling at Mizpah,
casting lots, inquiring of
Yahweh.
A call to arms based on
the cutting up of an ox.
Defense of Jabesh Gilead.
Structure
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1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
Samuel
Samuel
Samuel
Samuel
Samuel
Samuel
Samuel
Samuel
Samuel
1- 7 – Samuel as judge
8 – Israel Rejects God
9-11 – Saul becomes king
12 – God’s Promise of Grace
13-15 – Saul rejected as king
16 – David Chosen as king
17 – David defeats Philistines
18-27 – David flees from Saul
28-31 – Saul defeated by Philistines
Purpose Statement
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God responds in grace to Israel’s wicked
request for a king and marks David as the
one through whom He will continue to
pour out his blessing.
Notes:
• As in Judges, Israel rebels as the judge passes of the scene.
• Here, their rebellion is not disciplined by another nation but rather by
God (in anger, cf. Hosea 13:11) granting their request! (cf. Rom 1)
• As with Joseph, God uses the evil intent of the Israelites to work His
own purposes which He had already foreordained (cf. 1 Sam 2 et. al.)
• Purpose statement highlights three key chapters: Ch. 8 – Israel’s
wicked request; ch. 12 – God’s grace; ch. 16 – David’s anointing
Major Themes
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Kingship
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God is the true king over Israel
Israel wants to be like the other nations
God uses kingship for His own glory
God had already foreordained kingship
Divine Reversal
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Prophesied by Hannah (Peninnah & Hannah)
Saul, David
Trend of Judges, Samuel
Trend of Israel, … (2 Samuel)
Major Characters
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Samuel
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Last and greatest judge
Prophet (3:19-4:1a)
Priest (3:1)
Blameless (12:1-5)
David and Saul
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David won’t strike the Lord’s anointed; Saul will.
David can defeat Philistines; Saul can’t.
David’s modest in stature; Saul magnificent.
David’s heart seeks God; Saul’s doesn’t.
David inquires of God through ephod; Saul inquires of
Samuel through medium.
David turns to God in fear of people (29:6); Saul
turns away from God in fear of people (15:24).
Major Characters (cont…)
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The Philistines
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Nemesis of Israel at end of 2nd Millennium
Exodus 13:17 – Reason for Israel’s detour
Joshua 13:2 – People still needing to be
conquered
1 Samuel 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 13, 14, 17, 18, 19,
23, 24, 28, 29, 31 – A perpetual enemy in the
time of Samuel
1 Samuel 13:19-22 – An unfair advantage
2 Samuel 2:8 – Fully inhabiting the hill country
Cf. 1 Kings 20:28 – God of the hills?
Time Period
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Solomon ruled from 970 BC onwards (to
be discussed later)
David ruled for 40 years (2 Sam 5:5).
Therefore, his reign was from 1010 BC
until 970 BC.
Saul ruled for 40 years according to Acts
13:21 (but see interpretive issue below).
Therefore, his reign was from 1050 BC
until 1010 BC.
Samuel was born sometime before that,
perhaps around 1100 BC.
Interpretive Issues
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1 Samuel 13:1
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[Literal] “Saul was one year old when he began to
reign, and he ruled over Israel two years”
Acts 13:21 – And then they asked for a king, and God
gave them Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of
Benjamin, for forty years.
[NAS] Saul was forty years old when he began to
reign, and he reigned thirty-two years over Israel.
[NAU] Saul was thirty years old when he began to
reign, and he reigned forty two years over Israel.
[ESV] Saul was ... years old when he began to reign,
and he reigned ... and two years over Israel.
[KJV] Saul reigned one year; and when he had
reigned two years over Israel,
Interpretive Issues
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1 Samuel 13:1 (cont.)
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“In an effort to remain congruent with the
Hebrew text, a targum stated, ‘Like a oneyear-old who has no sins was Saul when he
became king’ (Bergen, 1 Samuel, NAC)
“Especially in light of Acts 13:21, it is best to
regard the extant Hebrew text as corrupted at
this point and avoid speculation regarding
Saul’s age at the time of his ascension to
Israel’s throne” (Bergen, 1 Samuel, NAC).
Interpretive Issues
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1 Samuel 16:2-3
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“Samuel recognizes the ominous nature of the
venture (v. 2a). It is hazardous to anoint a
king when there already is a king! There is no
vacancy in the office. Samuel by now is surely
identified as a traitorous enemy of Saul, and
he knows any overture toward a new king is
high risk. Yahweh does not blink at Samuel’s
fear but instructs him precisely on how to
skirt the problem. Samuel is to say that he is
on a mission to offer a sacrifice (vv. 2b-3).
Interpretive Issues
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1 Samuel 16:2-3 (cont.)
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This may not be a blatant lie authorized by
Yahweh, for Samuel does take an animal for
the occasion, but this is clearly an authorized
deception. Yahweh will lie, if necessary, in
order to move the kingship toward David. We
have read in 15:21 that the God of Israel will
not ‘lie’. Here Yahweh is very close to
falsehood for the sake of David.”
Walter Brueggemann,
First and Second Samuel, Interpretation
(Louisville, Ky.: John Knox Press, 1990), 121.
Interpretive Issues
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1 Samuel 16:2-3 (cont.)
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“[T]he Lord gave Samuel an additional task
that would help mask the central purpose of
his trip to Bethlehem” (Bergen, 1 Samuel,
NAC)
See W. C. Kaiser, Jr., Toward Old Testament
Ethics (Grand Rapids: Academie, 1983), 225–
27.
Interpretive Issues
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1 Samuel 28:8ff
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“Questions naturally arise at this point: Did
the medium actually make contact with a
living spirit-being, and if so, was it really the
prophet Samuel?
While this matter is not
likely to be settled to everyone’s satisfaction,
the following observations can be made.
Interpretive Issues
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1 Samuel 28:8ff (cont.)
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First, the plain statement of the Hebrew text
is that she did in fact see Samuel. Second, the
medium reacted to Samuel’s appearance as
though it was a genuine—and terrifying—
experience: she ‘cried out at the top of her
voice.’ Her strong reaction also suggests that
Samuel’s appearance was unexpected;
perhaps this was the first time she had ever
actually succeeded in contacting the dead.
Interpretive Issues
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1 Samuel 28:8ff (cont.)
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Third, the speeches attributed to Samuel
contained allusions to a prior interchange
between the two, allusions that would have
been appropriate only for the real Samuel to
have made. Fourth, Samuel’s role and
message as a prophet, so much a part of his
ministry in life, was unchanged in his
encounter with Saul here.
Interpretive Issues
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1 Samuel 28:8ff (cont.)
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Indeed, a straightforward reading of the
biblical account suggests the possibility that
mediums may possess the capacity to contact
dead persons and establish lines of
communication between the living and the
dead. This view is not explicitly rejected
elsewhere in Scripture; the Torah prohibits
necromancy not because it is a hoax but
because it promotes reliance on supernatural
guidance from some source other than the
Lord.
Interpretive Issues
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1 Samuel 28:8ff (cont.)
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An alternative reading of this passage
suggests that it was not the skill of the
medium but rather a unique act of God that
brought Saul into contact with Samuel. The
medium did not possess the capacity to
disturb a dead saint; but God, as “a sign of
his grace,”
permitted Saul to have one last
encounter with the prophet who had played
such a determinative role in the king’s
career.”
(Bergen, 1 Samuel, NAC)
Next Week
2 Samuel