The Life and Lessons of Samuel

Well, thank you, Mr. Graham. Very beautiful. I particularly loved the ending. Very dramatic, and very inspirational. Thank you for adding that to our worship services today. Well, good afternoon once again. Occasionally, I believe it's really good for us to look into scriptures and review biographies of important biblical characters. In the past, we've looked at the lives of individuals like James and John and Peter and Mary Magdalene and Stephen and Hezekiah, Jacob and Laban. A lot of these are on our site. If you type in a search engine, biography of or life of, you will see individual sermons on each and every one of those individuals. Also, a two-part series on the great women in scriptures. Today, I'd like to look at the life and the times of a remarkable character in the Old Testament and see what we can learn from his example at the conclusion of the sermon. It's the life and times of the prophet Samuel. There are many things that we can learn from this very dramatic prophet of God. He was a remarkable man in that the Eternal used him at a time of great transition for Israel, at a time when Israel would no longer have judges and would actually have a monarchy. And so he was involved in all of that. He's truly unique among God's servants. You do not find other individuals who were the last judge, the first kingmaker, a priest, and a prophet all within one lifetime, as outlined in the book of 1 Samuel. He was there. He was the one who linked the period of the judges to the monarchy of Israel. So again, he's a very powerful and unique individual. There's a lot that we can learn from him. So we're going to spend most of the sermon today in 1 Samuel. We're not going to be turning to a whole lot of other books within the scriptures. So let's be introduced to 1 Samuel chapter 1 and verse 1. And today I'm only going to have time to cover some of the highlights of his life. And again, after we take a look and survey some of the highlights of his life, then we'll wrap up the sermon today by looking at some things that perhaps we can learn from his example.

1 Samuel chapter 1 and verse 1. Now there was a certain man of Ramothium Zophim in the mountains of Ephraim, and his name was Elkanah, the son of Jeram, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuf in Ephraimite. Now in reality he lived in Ephraim. That's why he's called an Ephraimite. According to 1 Chronicles chapter 6, his lineage shows he was actually a Levite. And you may remember the Levite was not given a property. The Levites were actually scattered throughout all of the other tribes of Israel. So his lineage is that of a Levite in his living in Ephraim. Verse 2, and he had two wives, and the name of the one was Hannah, and the name of the other was Penanah. And Penanah had children, but Hannah had no children. This man went from his city yearly to worship and sacrifice to the Lord of Host at Shiloh. This is about 30 miles north of Jerusalem. This is where the tabernacle was residing. Most likely this may have been the Feast of Tabernacles. It certainly was one of the three pilgrimage times of the year, as instructed in the book of the law, and he would go to worship and to sacrifice at that time. So let's pick it up here and continuing. Also, the two sons of Eli, Eli, was the high priest at this time who guarded and took care of all the ceremonies at the tabernacle. And the two sons of Eli, Hopni and Phineas, the priests of the Lord, were there. And whenever the time came for Elkanah to make an offering, he would give portions to Penanah, his wife, and to all her sons and daughters. But to Hannah, he would give a double portion, for he loved Hannah, although the Lord had closed her womb. In other words, she wasn't bearing children. Verse 6, and her rival, which was the other woman in the relationship, also provoked her severely to make her miserable, because the Lord had closed her womb. So it was, year by year, when she went up to the house of the Lord, that she provoked her. So the other wife would provoke and kind of mock Hannah, because Hannah was not able to have any children, and provoked her. Therefore, she wept and did not eat. And of course, what this reminds us is that polygamy is a very dysfunctional marital condition. It's ripe for having people competing against one another. It's enough of a challenge to be a man and a wife. There are enough challenges in your life and in your marriage as you go through your differences in the way that you were different, and your background, and the baggage you carry into that relationship. There are enough challenges. That's why we do premarital counseling, so that people are prepared and kind of know what to expect from their spouse as the marriage goes on. But you add another person to this kind of a relationship, and that adds a whole different layer of complexity. So Hannah, obviously, is weeping. She's not eating. She's really broken up over this. It says here in verse 8, and then Al-Qana, her husband, said to her, Hannah, why do you weep? Why do you not eat? And why is your heart grieved? Am I not better to you than 10 sons? The answer to that question is no. You're not. You don't even solely have me as your wife.

So her answer is the next verse. She didn't say no. I said no for her. But here's her answer.

So Hannah arose after they had finished eating and drinking in Shiloh. Now Eli, the priest, the high priest, was sitting on the seat of the doorpost of the tabernacle of the Lord, and she was in bitterness of soul, and prayed to the Lord, and wept in anguish, and she made a vow. And here it is. This is a Nazarite vow, the vow of the Nazarite. She made a vow, O Lord of Hosts. If you will indeed look on the affliction of your maidservant, and remember me and not forget your maidservant, but will give your maidservant a male child, then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life. From the moment he's born, he'll be dedicated to your service, God, and no razor shall come upon his head. Again, this is the instruction of a Nazarite vow that's mentioned in Numbers chapter 6. In that vow, a person was going to give extra dedication towards God. They were to become holy, as Numbers 6 mentions. They were literally to dedicate their lives and put extra effort into worshiping God and being a follower of Yahweh.

Verse 12, and it happened as she continued praying before the Lord that Eli watched her mouth, and Hannah spoke in her heart. Only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard. Therefore, Eli thought she was drunk, and he said to her, How long will you be drunk? Put your wine away from you. And Hannah answered and said, No, my Lord, I'm a woman of sorrowful spirit. I've drunk neither wine nor intoxicating drink, but have poured out my soul before the Lord. Do not consider your maidservant a wicked woman, for out of the abundance of my complaint and grief I have spoken until now. And Eli, the high priest, answered and said, Go in peace, and the God of Israel grant your petition which you asked of him. She said, Let your maidservant find favor in your sight. So the woman went away and ate, and her face was no longer sad. She had been fasting, actually, this period of time at the tabernacle, and now she was encouraged, and encouraged by what Eli told her, and she went back and ate and was no longer sad. So we're going to see that God heard her prayer. Samuel was born as an answer to Hannah's very tearful prayer, and here we see that Samuel was dedicated to the Lord for a lifetime even before he was born. His birth was a miracle, and his birth was an answer to prayer according to God's will. Let's take a look now at verse 19. We'll drop down there. And they rose early in the morning and worshiped before the Lord, and returned and came to their house at Ramah. And Elkanah knew Hannah, his wife, and the Lord remembered her. So it came to pass in the process of time that Hannah conceived and bore a son, and called his name Samuel. Now the name Samuel means the name is God, or it can also mean that God heard relating to her prayer and her asking for God to provide her a son. So she named him Samuel, saying, because I have asked for him from the Lord, now the man Elkanah and all the house went up to offer to the Lord the yearly sacrifice and his vows. So the next year comes, again, most likely the Feast of Tabernacles. So one whole year has gone by. By now the child is a few months old. It says in verse 22, but Hannah did not go up, for she said to her husband, not until the child is weaned, then I will take him, that he may appear before the Lord and remain there forever. So this is the birth of Samuel, the individual, the character that the Bible calls Samuel.

Now he was born about 1066 BC, and I say that because no one really knows. All people can do is try to create chronologies from major events that they read in 1 Samuel, and the chronologies are all different. I'm just giving you something so that you can kind of pin it on a historical map. Born about 1066 BC and probably lived about 1000 BC, so he may have been in his mid-60s when he died. There are others who shift these dates 20 or 30 years one way or another, but again, I just want to give you kind of a target, something to look at. And as his mother intended, the high priest Eli raised Samuel in Shiloh at the sanctuary. So he was literally raised by Eli in the tabernacle, left his family, left his father, left his mother, and was raised by the high priest in the tabernacle. Hannah also went on to have other children, so when God healed her, she was able to have other children aside from Samuel. Let's take a look now at chapter 2 and verse 26. Eli is the second to last Israelite judge before the rule of the kings of Israel and Judah. At the very last, he was succeeded by Samuel, who was the very last of the Israelite judges. Chapter 2 and verse 26. And the child Samuel grew in stature and in favor both with the Lord and men. Then a man of God came to Eli and said to him, this is a prophet, we don't know his name, but he shows up one day and this is what he says to the high priest Eli. Thus says the Lord, did I not clearly reveal myself to the house of your father when they were in Egypt in Pharaoh's house? Of course, his father would have been in his lineage would have been Levi. Did I not choose him out of all the tribes of Israel to be my priest, to offer upon mine altar, to burn incense and to wear an ephod before me? And did I not give to the house of your father all the offerings of the children of Israel made by fire? Considering God has done all of this, then he has some other questions. Why do you kick at my sacrifice and my offering which I have commanded in my dwelling place and honor your sons more than me? In a minute we'll discuss what his sons were doing and it wasn't good. To make yourselves fat with the best of all the offerings of Israel, my people.

Therefore, the Lord God of Israel says, I said indeed that your house and the house of your father would walk before me forever. God says, but I'm going to have a little alteration from that. Your family lineage is going to continue forever, but God says, far be it from me for those who honor me and will honor and those who will despise me shall be lightly esteemed. Behold, the days are coming that will cut off your arm and the arm of your father's house so that there will not be an old man in your house. God said, I made a promise that your lineage is going to go on forever, but I'm going to alter that a little bit in that your descendants are going to die prematurely and they are not going to have the upper levels of the priesthood. They're not going to be in positions of respect. They are always going to be subservient to others. So this was the prophecy that this man of God gave to Eli. And as a child, Samuel grew both in stature and favor with God and with men. And eventually, God spoke to this young Samuel according to Josephus. He was about 11 years old and God reinforces to Samuel. He tells Samuel the same thing that this man of God told Eli a little bit earlier. And this was a prophecy. He said Eli's two sons were committing adultery with sanctuary attendance. God didn't like that. That really bothered God because of a lack of integrity, lack of moral integrity. They were taking the best cuts of the raw meat even before the sacrifice. So instead of doing it according to God's law, where while the animals were being sacrificed, the priests were allowed to put in like a fork and pull out some meat for themselves. Even before the sacrifice occurred, they were showing up and saying, we want the best cut and we want it raw and we want it now. So they were doing this to the people of Israel and obviously it was violating God's standards and what God had instructed for sacrifices. And so this was a curse that was being put upon Eli's male descendants before they reached old age. They would all be placed in subservient positions to prophets and other lineages and other, including other priestly families. So when that's done, Eli says, okay, tell me what this discussion was about or else.

And Samuel boldly tells Eli that God has spoken to him about Eli's upcoming punishment. Let's read about that here in chapter 3 and verse 18. Again, this is pretty bold. At this time, according to Josephus, Samuel was only about an 11-year-old boy when this vision occurred, when God spoke to him and he had to tell Eli what God had said. You would be pretty intimidated at 11 years old to say something like this to an adult, especially someone who had the status of the high priest. Chapter 3 and verse 18. Then Samuel told him, Eli, everything and hid nothing from him. And he said, it is of the Lord. Let him do what seems good to him. So Samuel grew and the Lord was with him. None of his words fall to the ground. Now, this is a very powerful statement. We're going to see over and over again that when Samuel says something, it happens.

Samuel has a relationship with God, and when Samuel states that something is going to happen, it's not just talk, it's not babble, it's not filler, it's absolutely positively going to occur.

So continuing here in verse 20, and all Israel from Dan to Beersheba from north to south knew that Samuel had been established as the prophet of the Lord. Then the Lord appeared again in Silo, and the Lord revealed himself to Samuel in Silo by the word of the Lord. So now begins, he's entering adulthood, now begins the career, we could say, of Samuel. How remarkable was he? Well, here are some reasons that he was remarkable. In Psalm chapter 99 and verse 6, it states that God spoke with Samuel from the pillar of fire. Well, that's the same thing that God had previously done with Moses and Aaron, so that's rather remarkable. Here in verse 19, it said that God was with him, and he let none of his words fall to the ground, meaning that everything he said would come to pass. In Jeremiah chapter 15 and verse 1, he regards Samuel and Moses as the two greatest intercessors of Israel, according to the prophet Jeremiah. So that's quite a compliment when Jeremiah says that both Samuel and Moses are the two greatest intercessors for the people of Israel.

Well, a few years later, Samuel is now an adult, and Eli is still the judge, and as recorded in chapter 4, unfortunately we don't have the time to go in there today, Israel went out to the battle of Philistines, and they said, aha, I know how we'll win this battle. We'll take the Ark of the Covenant with us in the battle, and we'll have a special blessing from God. And the two sons, because the two tons sons of Eli decide to accompany the Ark of the Covenant, because they're a priest, and that's their role when the Ark is usually at its home base, usually where it's located. So they're there with the Ark, and they take the Ark to go out to battle against the Philistines. However, the Ark was captured by the Philistines, and the two sons of Eli were killed. And when the news got back to Eli, he was so stunned that he fell backward in the chair he was sitting in, and he broke his neck.

And that prophecy was fulfilled that had been spoken. We read about a few minutes ago in chapter 2 in verse 31, that there shall not be an old man in your house. Eli's dead, his two younger sons are dead. There's an infant that's born about this time. He's certainly not an old man. So the prophecy is beginning to be fulfilled. Let's take a look now in chapter 7 and verse 17. Now the Ark was returned in seven months because there were plagues in the Philistines. They regretted ever taking the Ark. They were certainly sorry they did it, and they sent it back after seven months. But Israel went to a period of oppression for 20 years, and this was the continuing cycle that you see throughout the Judges. Now when the Philistines heard that the children of Israel had gathered together at Mizpah, the lords of the Philistines went up against Israel. Again, this is 20 years after the event that we had just read where the Ark had been captured. When the children of Israel heard of it, they were afraid of the Philistines. So the children of Israel said to Samuel, do not cease to cry out to the Lord our God for us, that He may save us. And again, this is part of that cycle that they're going through. From the hand of the Philistines, and Samuel took a suckling lamb and offered it as a whole-burn offering to the Lord. Then Samuel cried out to the Lord for Israel, and God answered Him. Remember whatever the words that Samuel says, do not fall to the ground. They are honored, and they were respected, including by God. Now, Samuel was offering up the burned offering. The Philistines drew near to battle against Israel, but the Lord thundered, allowed thunder upon the Philistines that day, and confused them. So they were kind of in shock and startled, and that they were overcome before Israel. And the men of Israel went out of Mitzpah, pursued the Philistines, drove them back as far as below Bethkar. Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mitzpah and Shen, and called it Ebenezer. The word Ebenezer means a stone of help, saying thus far the Lord has helped us. Let's take a look now at verse 13.

And the Philistines were subdued. Again, this is after 20 years of oppression by the Philistines. They had taken a lot of the cities of the Israelites. They had been a real problem, and now they've been delivered because of the prayer of Samuel. The Philistines were subdued. They did not come anymore into the territory of Israel. And the hand of the Lord was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel. Then the cities which the Philistines had taken from Israel were restored to Israel. From Ekron to Gath, and Israel recovered its territory from the hands of the Philistines. Also, there was peace between Israel and the Amorites. And Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life. So he sees a powerful judge. He's actually the last judge there will be in Israel. In verse 16, to administer justice, here in verse 16, and he went from year to year on a circuit to Bethel, Gilgal, and Mizpah, and judged Israel in all those places. But he always returned to Ramah, for his home was there. There he judged Israel, and there he built an altar to the Lord. So we're seeing it's not only a priest, but now he's emerged in the role of a judge, calling Israel to repentance, praying for Israel that they could be delivered from the Philistines. And indeed, they were. But he's growing older, and things are going too well. So it's time for some problems to be brewing. Let's see what those problems are, and how he handles them. Chapter 8, beginning in verse 1. Chapter 8, beginning in verse 1. Now it came to pass when Samuel was old. By the way, he's probably in his 40s at this time. They didn't have life expectancies as long as we do today, so that would have been considered quite old. When he was old, he made his sons judges over Israel. The name of the firstborn was Joel, the name of the second Abijah, and they were judges in Beersheba, but the sons did not walk in his ways. They turned aside after dishonest gain. They took bribes, and they perverted justice. Think about what a disappointment. This must have been for Samuel. First of all, he was the father. He wanted to set a sterling example. He knew what had happened to the sons of Eli, and here the cycle is being repeated over again. We don't know anything of his married life. We don't know anything about what their relationship were between father and son, but this is not a good thing. In verse 4, then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah and said to him, look, you are old. And thank you for reminding me, you are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways. There's no succession plan here is what they're saying.

You're a great judge. We love you. You have a relationship with God. But what happens when you die, Samuel? We can't trust your kids. They take bribes. They pervert justice. So what's the succession plan? What happens to this nation after you die? And they said, we don't like that option. Now make us a king to judge us like all the nations. We want to be like all the other nations on the earth. All the other nations on the earth have a king who has civil control. And they have all kinds of little children. And there's always somebody to replace the king after he's murdered by one of his sons. There's always someone to replace. There's always a succession plan. There's something going on. It's not like you have to wait for God to choose a judge from somewhere. We like the system that worldly nations have. And we want to be just like them. Verse 6, but this thing displeased Samuel when they said, give us a king to judge us. So Samuel prayed to the Lord, and the Lord said to him, heed the voice of the people in what they say to you. For they haven't rejected you, but they have rejected me. Just don't take it personally. Samuel, it's me they're rejected. They don't have faith in me. They don't have faith that I'm going to provide them the leadership that they need.

They've rejected me that I should not reign over them. So we see here that the sins of Samuel's sons and the constant fear of a Philistine threat led the elders of Israel to go to Samuel to where he lived, to his hometown, and ask for a king like the other nations. And Samuel rightly understood this call for a king was a rejection of God's rule. Later in the chapter, Samuel warned Israel, what's going to happen when you start having bureaucratic governments? He says there's going to be forced labor. He says there's going to be taxation. The federal government's going to seize your property, and he's going to build a military and start spending all kinds of money on a military to protect his status. That's what's going to happen when you have a king and want to be like other nations. You're going to create this bureaucracy that's just going to suck up all kinds of national resources. The people didn't want to hear it because they still wanted a king. But God first decided to give the people the kind of king that they deserved. Have you ever heard the saying that you get the kind of leadership you deserve? Well, God's going to give them. He's making the choice. He's God. It's his choice. But he says, okay, I'm going to give them the kind of leader they want. I'm going to give them the kind of leader that they deserve. Let's find out who this is. Chapter 9, beginning in verse 1. He's going to give them the kind of king they wanted, and his name is Saul. Chapter 9, verse 1, it was a man of Benjamin, so from the tribe of Benjamin, whose name was Kish, the son of Abrael, the son of Zior, and the son of Bechorath, the son of Elphiah, a Benjamin, a mighty man of power. And he had a choice, and handsome son whose name was Saul. There was not a more handsome person than he among the children of Israel. From his shoulders upward, he was taller than any of the people. But you know people today, they aren't any different. Many people today, they pull the lever in the ballot box, depending on how good-looking one of the candidates is. The tall one, I mean, statistics have shown, even in business, that it's the taller people that tend to get promotions to the higher levels of most businesses. In politics, it tends to be the person that is deemed most attractive, who oftentimes receives the most votes. Many individuals vote for politicians because they're less uglier than their opponent. Or they vote for someone because they're charismatic. All the words are so smooth and gooey, and he or she says exactly what I want to hear. And oh yeah, that's what people do. Again, that's human nature. It's human to look on the outside and not on the inside. See, on the inside resides the character of a human being, not the way they look on the outside. Okay, chapter 12 and verse 13. Now therefore, here's the king whom you have chosen. This is what we would call an inauguration. Here's the king that you have chosen and whom you have desired. And take note, the Lord has set a king over you. He said, I don't want you to forget that God chose this man for you. He is God. He raises up kings. He has the right to dispose of kings. So Samuel says, don't ever forget that. Verse 14. If you fear the Lord and serve him and obey his voice and do not rebel against the commandments of the Lord, then both you and the king who reigns over you will continue following the Lord your God. So he says, it'll all go well with you. You've got to be moral and responsible and obedient. Your king has to be moral and responsible and obedient to my law.

However, he says here in verse 15, if you do not obey the voice of the Lord but rebel against the commandment of the Lord, then the hand of the Lord will be against you as it was against your fathers. Things just aren't going to be very good for you. So here Samuel instructs the nation on the importance of having a sincere awe towards God and observing God's commandments, observing the law which the nation had agreed to back in the wilderness to keep and to observe. Samuel here is serving as the model for future prophets. In the future, prophets oftentimes would have to confront the kings of either Israel or Judah because they were doing something wrong. It takes a lot of courage because the king had the authority to take your life if he was having a bad day.

And so in the future, they would be required by God to go to the king and say, you're doing something wrong. You've upset God. You're bringing a curse upon yourself and a curse upon the nation. And you know what? This was God's form of balance of power. The kingly line would never come from the tribe of Levi. The tribe of Levi had a power base. That was religious. That was the priesthood. God was going to make sure that there wasn't too much power given to the priesthood, so the monarchies would be from the line of Benjamin or the line of David, the descendants of David. And then the prophets were wild cards. They could come from any of the tribes. But this was God's purposeful balance of power to make sure that neither religiously or in the civil law, no one family, one tribe, one group could gain too much control. Unfortunately, as time went on, Saul became a disappointment to Samuel and to God. He disobeyed God, and in time, God decided to replace him with someone else. Let's read about these episodes and how God came to this conclusion. Chapter 13, beginning in verse 5. If you'll turn there with me, Chapter 13, beginning in verse 5. I'll give you a little context here, getting ready for a big battle against the Philistines.

They want to, of course, have an offering before the Philistines arrive and before the battle begins.

And Samuel told Saul, I'll be there in seven days to perform. After all, he is the priest. I'll be there in seven days to perform, to sacrifice, and then God will be with us, and then we'll win the battle. So that's the context. Then the Philistines gather together to fight with Israel. 30,000 chariots and 6,000 horsemen. That's a lot. And people, as the sand which is on the seashore in multitudes of the number of foot soldiers, were so many you couldn't even count them. And they came up and encamped in Nickmash, the east of Beth-Avon. Verse 6. When the men of Israel saw that they were in danger, for the people were distressed. Because that's a lot of people, a lot of firepower. The people hid in caves and thickets and rocks and holes and in pits. And some of the Hebrews crossed over the Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead. As for Saul, he was still in Gilgal and all the people followed him, trembling. Rumor got out about the Philistines, where they were, how many they were, and how powerful they were. Verse 8. Then he, Saul, waited seven days according to the time set by Samuel. But Samuel did not come to Gilgal, and the people were scattered from him. And Saul said, Bring a burnt offering and a peace offering here to me.

And he offered the burnt offering. Now this was a violation of God's law. He was not of the tribe of Levi. He was a Benjamite. He had no right to sacrifice animals like a priest could sacrifice an animal a burnt offering in order to beseech God for your request. And sure enough, verse 10, now it happened as soon as he had finished presenting the burnt offering. In other words, if he had only been patient and waited another hour or two, or maybe even only 30 minutes, if he had only been patient and not impetuous, this wouldn't have happened. And as soon as he had finished presenting the burnt offering, that Samuel came, Saul went out to meet him, that he might greet him, and Samuel said, What have you done? And Saul said, When I saw that the people were scattered from me, and that you did not come within the days appointed, and the Philistines gathered together at Micmash, then I said, The Philistines will now come down to me at Gilgal, and I have not made supplication to the Lord. Therefore, I felt compelled and offered a burnt offering. And Samuel said to Saul, You have done foolishly, and have not kept the commandment of the Lord your God, which he commanded you. You can't do that. You cannot break God's law. And it's obvious from his words that Saul's not broken up over this. He's not repentant. He's not feeling a sense of shame. As a matter of fact, again, he's implying to Samuel that this is your fault, because you weren't here within the seven days that you said you'd be here. Continuing here, he says, You've done foolishly. You've not kept the commandment of the Lord your God, which he commanded you. For now the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever, but now your kingdom shall not continue. The Lord has sought for himself a man after his own heart, and the Lord has commanded him to be commander over his people, because you have not kept what the Lord commanded you. So what we're seeing here is this tall, good-looking, vibrant man was really good looking on the outside, but in the inside he had some serious character flaws. First of all, he lacked patience. He was too impetuous. Number two, he lacked faith that God was in charge and could support Israel. If there is a God, can he delay the Philistines another hour or a day if necessary, if there really is a God? So he lacks faith.

Number three, he fears the Philistines more than he fears breaking God's commandments. That's not a healthy position to be in the life that's a compromiser. Number four, he was a people pleaser. He was worried about what people were doing and what people were saying, much like many of our politicians today, you know, take a poll to see where the wind is blowing and what my values are today, what I should believe according to the will of the people. That's a very common characteristic in many of our politicians. Number five, he took upon himself the duties given only to priests, and he had no authority to do that. Number six, when he was caught in a sin, he made excuses rather than immediately repenting. So now we see this event. This wasn't good. He disobeyed God. And we're going to see another event now that is literally the straw that breaks the camel's back. Chapter 16, and verse 15, Saul was told to go and completely destroy the Amalekites. And I know in our 21st century sensitivities, this just seems so cruel that God would say, I want you to go to these peoples and I want you to destroy their property, to destroy their wife, to destroy their children, to destroy everything and obliterate those peoples. We might call that ethnic cleansing today. Well, first of all, it's God making this request. And we are not even depraved enough to know how dysfunctional those cultures are with the incest and the levels of depravity and sin that existed in these pagan cultures. Even we are not in a level yet that we could appreciate how disgusting and how deviant they were. Also, the fact that they're going to lose their lives, God is going to raise them again in a much better world where they're going to be able to live lives that are positive and according to a kingdom that's established in which their lives will be productive and they'll reach the fulfillment that God intended for every human being rather than the kind of cultures that they live in at that time. So Saul's told to go and completely destroy and wipe out the Amalekites. All right, chapter 15 and verse 18. If you'll drop there with me.

The prophet says, now the Lord sent you on a mission and said go and utterly destroy the sinners the Amalekites and fight against them until they are consumed. A little earlier when he first meets Saul, I believe Saul says, I've completed the mission of the Lord, mission accomplished. And sarcastically the prophet says, well what's the bleeding of the sheep that I hear in my ears? That's all the sheep that were taken from. The Amalekites said, instead of being killed like they were instructed, they were keeping. Verse 19, why then did you not obey the voice of the Lord? Why did you swoop down on the spoil, in other words to secure it and keep it, and do evil in the sight of the Lord? Because their instruction was to kill all the sheep and everything, all the meritorial possessions were to be wiped out. And instead they basically stole it and they took anything they thought was of worth, including the animals. And I'm sure other spoiled and they kept it. And do evil in the sight of the Lord. And Saul said to Samuel, but I have obeyed the voice of the Lord and have gone on the mission of which the Lord sent me, and brought back Agag the king of Amalek. I have utterly destroyed the Amalekites.

Now do you see a contradiction there? I can't believe that he even said this with a straight face. He says, I brought back the king of Amalek. I have utterly destroyed the Amalekites.

Well, what's Agag doing alive, then? What's the king doing alive? I mean, this is absolutely incredible. This man could be a member of the House of Representatives. He's able to contradict himself in one sentence to say two different things and get away with it. So this is an utter lie. Verse 21, let's see who gets the blame, rather than saying, well, you know what, I messed up. Yeah, I just really messed up and I shouldn't have done that.

Verse 21, but the people took the plunder, sheep and oxen, and the best of the things which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice the God, your God and Gil got saved. They don't intend to keep it. They just grabbed all that stuff so they could sacrifice it to God. Verse 22, then Samuel said, Has the Lord a great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice.

God would rather have you obey Him than sacrifice 10,000 animals. By the way, if you do obey Him, you have to form a lot less sacrifices. So he says, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed, to listen to what God says is better than burning the fat of rams, as if somehow you're honoring God by this sacrifice. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. He says, you're stubborn is what he's telling Saul. Instead of acknowledging your problem, instead of acknowledging the mistakes that you make, you're stubborn. You always have an answer for everything. You've got an excuse for everything. You have someone to blame for everything, rather than taking accountability for your own decisions. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, he also has rejected you from being king. And Saul said to Samuel, I have sinned, for I have transgressed the commandment of the Lord, and your words, because I feared the people.

Well, that's not much of a repentance. Yeah, I'm sorry I did this, because... no, that's not what repentance is. If it hadn't been for my wife, I wouldn't have said those things.

Repentance is when we accept accountability for who and what we are, and we leave others out of it, and we leave excuses out of the reason we made a mistake. Continuing here, I've sinned, I've transgressed the commandment of the Lord, and your words, because I feared the people. He obviously feared them more than he feared God, and obeyed their voice. Now therefore, please pardon my sin, and return with me, that I may worship the Lord. And Samuel said to Saul, I will not return with you, for you have rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord has rejected you from being king over Israel. And as Samuel turned around to go away, Saul seized the edge of his robe, and he tore it, and Samuel said to him, the Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today, and has given it to a neighbor of yours who is better than you. No, he's not as tall as you are, but you know he's got something you don't have, and it's called character. And that's someone I'm going to choose to replace you, he says. Verse 29, and also the strength of Israel, which is a reference to God, will not lie nor relent or change his mind, is what the word relent here means. God is not going to change his mind. He's made a decision two dramatic times you've revealed yourself as being disobedient. That's it. For he, speaking of God, is not a man that he should relent or change his mind. So again, sadly, Saul doesn't obey God, and instead of repenting, he blatantly attempts here to lie to Samuel, and then he doesn't work. He blames others for his lack of character and qualities, and near the end of the discussion, he begins saying the right words, but God can read the heart, and the heart isn't loyal to God or his commandments.

Samuel himself killed Agag, the king of Amalek. Now let's drop down to verse 35 here in chapter 15.

And Samuel went no more to see Saul until the day of his death. He experienced tremendous disappointment. He had so many hopes for Saul that Saul would be a good king, that Saul would be the answer to stability, and would be able to provide leadership for the nation of Israel. He was mourning and broken up over the fact that Saul was such a disappointment. Nevertheless, Samuel mourned for Saul, and the Lord regretted that he had made Saul king over Israel. Now the Lord said to Samuel, how long will you mourn for Saul, seeing that I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? Fill your horn with oil and go. I'm sending you the Jesse, the Bethlehemite, for I have provided myself a king among his sons. This time, I'm not going to give the people the kind of leader they deserve, the kind of leader that they want, who's really good-looking on the outside, but inside is full of dead men's bones. This time, I myself am choosing someone I can trust, someone who will love me. Verse 2, and Samuel said, how can I go if Saul hears it? He will kill me. Saul's not going to be real happy to hear that Samuel's running around anointing other people as his replacement. And the Lord said, take a heifer with you and say, I have come to sacrifice to the Lord, then invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you shall do. You shall anoint for me the one that I name to you. So these verses here remind us that he took no pleasure in the downfall of Saul. He takes no pleasure in anointing Saul's replacement. He's heartbroken. He's mourning. He is deeply disappointed in how Saul turned out as the first king. He's also afraid for his life we see in these verses. All right, let's go to chapter 16 and see the anointing here of young David. Chapter 16 verse 11. He'll turn there with me.

Chapter 16 verse 11. And Samuel said to Jesse, are all the young men here? Jesse paraded all the sons. No, God says, not that one. No, not that one. Nope, not that one. They're running out of sons.

And Samuel says, are all your sons here? And he said, there remains yet the youngest.

We call him Runt. He's out there keeping the sheep. And there he is keeping the sheep. And Samuel said to Jesse, send and bring him, for we will not sit down until he comes here. So in other words, we're all going to stand up on our feet, and we're not going to get comfortable until you get this kid here so I can see him. Continuing in verse 12. So he sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, kind of reddish complexion, bright eyes and good looking. And the Lord said, arise, anoint him, for this is the one. And Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers, and the Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward. So Samuel arose and went to Rama.

He was kind of going into semi-retirement. He didn't want to be out and about. He was fearful for his life. Continuing in verse 14. But the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and a distressing spirit from the Lord troubled him, though he fell into despondency and times a very deep depression. Saul's servant said to him, Surely a distressing spirit from God is troubling you. Let our master now command your servants who are before you, and seek out a man who is a skillful player on the harp, and it shall be that he will play it with his hands when the distressing spirit from God is upon you, and you shall be well. Now, in other words, you'll feel better. Verse 17. So Saul said to his servants, Provide me with a man who can play well, and bring him to me. Then one of the servants answered and said, Look, I have seen a son of Jesse, the Bethlehemite, who is skillful at playing a mighty man of valor, a man of war. He's really good with a sling, prudent in speech, and a handsome person, and the Lord is with him. Therefore Saul sent messengers to Jesse, and said, Send me your son David, who is with the sheep. Now, according to Josephus, David was only 10 years old when he was anointed. That's pretty young.

And the period between David being anointed and when he actually began to officially rule in Judah is about 20 years. So think how long he had to wait. What if you were told you were going to get a particular reward or a particular duty or particular responsibility from God, and then you waited around 20 years for it to happen? In contrast to the impatience of Saul, who was impetuous and everything has to be done now, David showed himself to be very, very patient, knowing that God is in charge, and having faith that God had a plan. David went from being a favored member of the royal family to being considered a treasonous enemy by Saul. It was a gradual but very sad situation. First, he's a favored member of Saul's royal family so much that Saul even gives him one of his daughters as a wife for David. And he's there at all of the feast, and he's highly respected, and Saul literally loves him. Then that turns to envy. David starts getting accolades. He's very talented, and people start acknowledging his talents and his abilities. Saul is beginning to look upon David as a competitor, and then he went from envy to raw hate. And for years and years, David escaped Saul's efforts to capture and kill him. It was a game of cat and mouse that went on for well over a decade for many, many years.

As Samuel was now getting older and he slowed down, he went into a kind of semi-retirement, primarily staying in his hometown and rarely leaving Ramah. He died when Saul was still king, and David was still being chased by Saul. Samuel didn't live long enough to see David crowned as the king of Israel. One of the last times we ever hear of Samuel in this book is in 1 Samuel, chapter 19, around verse 18, and it says here that David, one of the times he was being chased, he actually went and stayed with Samuel for a while. And that's one of the last times we ever hear of Samuel at all. And here in chapter 25 and verse 1, it says, and Samuel died, and the Israelites gathered together and lamented for him, and buried him at his home in Ramah, and David arose and went down to the wilderness of Piran. So the national mourning by Israel was great. Saul became desperate because he now had lost all potential contact with God. So he did something that he knew was against God's law. As I told you, he was a man of very low character. He decided to go to a medium, and the medium, the spiritualist, raised up an evil spirit who pretended to be Samuel, and he went there to try to get information from Samuel. It really wasn't Samuel. It was an evil spirit who was there to manipulate him, and unfortunately that's one of the things that Saul did.

Samuel has come to be known and acknowledged as a second Moses, who also was a deliverer and a guide during a time of national crisis. That national crisis was the Philistines and Israel changing from judges into having a monarchy. All right, that's the brief biography of Samuel. So what are some of the lessons we can learn from the life of Samuel? Some of the lessons that we can learn from his life?

All right, here's number one. Samuel's physical life and priesthood was the result of God's will, and it was an absolute miracle. In a similar way, we have been called, spiritually speaking, and we're the result of God's will. We're training to become priests, priests in the kingdom of God.

Your individual life and your calling is a miracle, and let me assure you that when God decided to call you, compared to all the other billions and billions who exist in this world, say, I'll give you the gift of my Holy Spirit upon repentance, that absolutely was a miracle.

Just like the birth of Samuel, your new birth was a miracle, and it also was part of God's will. Another thing, a lesson that we can learn from birth, Samuel was dedicated by his mother to live as a Nazarite, also sometimes called a Nazarite vow. And again, these were individuals who were especially devoted to God, more than the average Israelite. The name itself means consecrated. It means devotion and separation. Numbers, chapter 6 and verse 5, says that they were set apart to be holy. Now, even though we don't perform the physical requirements, because we are a spiritual people, and all of those things are part of a different covenant, we are indeed new creatures in Christ, meaning that we have been called to be devoted to God.

More than the average person walking on the street, we have accepted a commission, a calling. Our baptism was a vow in which we said, I'm putting my hand on the plow, and I'm going to follow Jesus Christ into the day that I die. And I'm not looking back, and I'm not quitting, I'm just going to continue to go forward.

Our baptism promise was a vow to God, just like the Nazarite vow. And our goal is to be holy, just like the Nazarites' goal was to be holy, as stated in Numbers 6, Jesus Christ dwelling in us through his Holy Spirit makes us holy in God's sight. So we have a spiritual calling that's a parallel to what they did in ancient Israel with the Nazarite vow, including what Samuel lived under. Another point is that Samuel kept his faith even when he experienced some major devastating disappointments in his life.

First of all, he's wrenched away from his home. We don't know how often his mother visited him, but he's wrenched away from his mother and father, and he sent to be a trainee in the tabernacle and to serve under a man whom he probably loved named Eli. Eli raised him. He came to the point where he realized that Eli had character issues. He knew his sons were doing certain things. His sons are committing adultery.

His sons are violating the law. They're taking the best pieces of meat raw before a sacrifice is even given, and he did nothing. This had to be a disappointment to Samuel. We don't know how close he was to Hopney and Phineas, but eventually he realized they were scoundrels, the two sons of Eli, and that had to be very disappointing. The fact that Saul, who was directly chosen by God, turned out to be a disappointment? That had to hurt. But you know what? None of these things shattered his faith. He saw human weaknesses in people who were appointed by God, and when he saw their failings, it didn't shake his faith.

He looked beyond human weaknesses towards the plan of God. And the reason this is important is I've known people in my lifetime who admired a religious leader, and when the leader's sins and flaws became evident, they gave up on God, they became agnostic. I'll never trust another church again. You've heard the stories. He wasn't like that. He looked beyond the human weaknesses that people have, even those who were appointed by God, and he knew that's their problem, and that's a problem between them and God.

I don't need to follow them. I don't need to idolize them, but on the other hand, I don't need to allow them to shake my faith. So again, he didn't allow these major disappointments to shatter his relationship or his faith with God. He probably was also disappointed when his own sons took bribes and denied people justice.

This would have been very discouraging to a father like he was, especially when you were a priest and people were looking up to you and saying to themselves, why did your sons turn out the way that they did? Their poor conduct prompted Israel to give up on judges and to ask for a king like other nations.

But he dealt with it, and again, he kept things in perspective. He didn't allow disappointments from religious leaders or the disappointments of the promises of politicians to shake his faith or his belief in God. Another thing about Samuel that we can learn from is that he lived and he thrived in a world of constant change.

First of all, you got the Philistines. They're controlling you for 20 years. Then you overcome them. Then you have the removal of the high priest and the next generation from serving Israel in the priesthood. Then you have the rejection of the people who say, we don't want judges anymore. We now want to have a king.

Then you anoint Saul. Then Saul has to be rejected. Then you anoint David. And you have Saul chasing David. But through all of these changes, dramatic changes of this nation going from oppression to freedom, from judges to a monarchy, and all the complications that all of that involves, he remained committed and adaptable to new situations. So that's something I think a very powerful lesson that we can learn from Samuel as well. There's some interesting parallels between Samuel and Jesus. Samuel's birth was a miracle, as was the birth of Jesus. Like Joseph and Mary, Samuel's parents made regular pilgrimages to worship God. They did it in 1 Samuel chapter 1. Jesus' parents did it in Luke chapter 2. Samuel, as a young boy, served under Eli the priest. That's in 1 Samuel chapter 2, while Jesus discussed aspects of the Torah with leaders in the temple when he was just 12 years old. That's also in Luke chapter 2. Luke seems to be emphasizing the connection between Jesus and Samuel. When he says this about Jesus in Luke chapter 2 and verse 52, Jesus grew in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and men. That's an apparent reference to what was said about Samuel in 1 Samuel chapter 2 and verse 26. So there are a number of parallels between Jesus Christ and Samuel. The final point I would like to bring out as we conclude the sermon today, back in chapter 2, you may remember, the man of God came to Eli and he told him of God's judgment on his family. And part of that judgment he also made an interesting statement. He said in 1 Samuel chapter 2 and verse 35, this is a prophecy, I will raise up for myself a faithful priest who shall do according to what is in my heart and in my mind and I will build a sure house and he shall walk before my anointed forever. That was a prophecy that was only partially fulfilled by Samuel but ultimately is fulfilled by Jesus Christ our high priest. For our final scripture today, Acts chapter 3 and verse 24, as we conclude the sermon, that prophecy that I just read from 1 Samuel chapter 2 leads us to this final scripture. As we appreciate and respect the role that Samuel played at a very crucial time in Israel's history, here's what's said here in Acts chapter 3 and verse 24. It says, yes, and all the prophets from Samuel and those who follow, as many have spoken, have also foretold these days. You are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant of which God has made with our fathers, saying to Abraham, and in your seed, meaning Jesus Christ in context here, and in your seed, all the families of the earth shall be blessed to you first, God, having raised up his servant Jesus, sent him to bless you and turning away every one of you from your iniquities. So we see there's a connection there between who and what Samuel was and Jesus Christ our Savior. So I hope today that we've learned a few things about the remarkable life of Samuel the prophet and the judge, and I hope we can take some of those lessons that we've learned today and apply them to our lives. Thank you and be sure to have a wonderful Sabbath day.