Hannah was in despair because she could not have children. She cried out to the Lord and he answered her prayer so she responded in faith and gave her firstborn son to the Lord to serve Him as he was destined to in the law. (Num 3:40-51) Hannah and her husband were Levites from the clan of Kohath (1 Chron 6:16-28) so it was only right that Samuel should live and help in the temple (Num 3:5-13, 27-32).
But the current High Priest Eli and his sons were corrupt so the Lord rejected them and the ark was captured by the Philistines. The Lord vowed to replace them with a faithful priest (Samuel becomes the interim priest, then the line of Zadok takes over in David’s time (1 Chron 24:1-5), but this is also a prophecy of Christ, the everlasting high priest)
Chapters 4, 5 and 6 tell of the loss of the ark and it’s return and the judgement of Eli and his family. In 7 and 8 Samuel and then his sons judge the people but Samuel’s sons prove to be no better than Eli’s and the people demand a king. Samuel reminds them of the warnings in Duet. 17:14-20 but they insist and the Lord agrees.
Samuel is sent to the tribe of Benjamin? Huh?? Them? (read last chapters of judges…) The Lord chose a very unlikely candidate (spot a pattern here anyone?) and yet chooses a man who looks just like the other nation’s kings. A man the people asked for. Saul is tall, and handsome but! not courageous before the people (10:22-23). He is however, a great warrior (ch.11, 14:47-48)) and Samuel hands over leadership of the people to Saul in ch. 12. Saul was victorious in many of his battles and finished the job given to Joshua (??).
But the cracks in Saul’s faith show quickly. He won his battle against the Philistines but was too impatient to wait for Samuel to offer the sacrifice to the Lord and did it himself! So the Lord removed his kingship (13:13). In the next battle Saul’s son Jonathan defeated the Philistines but Saul almost had him killed due to a rash vow (14, echoes of Jephthah). In chapter 15 Saul disobeyed the Lord again!! And Samuel reaffirmed his rejection as king (vs28). Saul is sad, but he does not turn to the Lord. Saul’s rejection is due to his over-stepping his bounds from kingship into priesthood and this was forbidden for he was not from the family of Aaron.
And so the Lord sends Samuel out to find the next king. This time from the tribe of Judah. It is another unlikely candidate: the youngest son from a regular farming family. He is handsome but doesn’t particularly look like a king (16:7-8), but he is a man after God’s own heart (he has faith) .
Saul “happened” to choose David to play for him in the palace and through this David learned about being a king of Israel. His encounter with Goliath showed his faith in the Lord (17:26). David was so successful that Saul became wildly jealous (ch18) and from this time on became more and more obsessed with killing David. In his efforts to destroy David Saul even killed the priests of the Lord (ch. 21-22) . A shocking sin! David by contrast showed more and more his faith in the Lord’s promises to him and his honour toward those the Lord had chosen [Saul] (ch. 24)
The rest of the book of 1 Samuel is a continued cat and mouse game between Saul and David. Saul’s trajectory into unbelief (ch28 calling on mediums) and David’s trajectory into faith (ch 30:6-8, 23-24). The book ends with Saul and Jonathan’s tragic deaths. Saul’s at his own hand. There does not seem to be much hope for Israel's kingdom except that David has survived…
Takeaway: Saul was a complicated figure. He was a good king to the people (fought off their enemies, captured new territory) but an unfaithful servant to the Lord and a persecutor of the Lord’s servants, the priests. His successor [David] was not always the best leader to his men but was a faithful servant to the Lord. The Lord does not choose as we do, He does not judge as we do. Man looks at the outward appearance but God looks at the heart (1 Sam 16:7). Jesus, the everlasting king did not behave as a king. He was born in a manger, rode into the city before his people on a donkey, had nowhere to lay his head and he will lead all his people into his glorious kingdom through his sacrificial death.
Cast your eyes to the New Testament for a moment to look at another Saul. He was a Pharisee of Pharisees, from the tribe of Benjamin (Rom 11:1) and he ruthlessly persecuted the people of God. But when God called out to him he repented and responded in faith (Acts 9). He became the fulfillment of Saul the king, where the law could not save OT Saul, the Gospel of Christ could save Saul and make him a Paul. Good news for all of us!
Further Reading: Samuel is a book of transition. From the Judges to the kings. But also showing the division of the prophets, priests and kings. Samuel was a prophet (3-19-21), a priest (7:7-9) but not a king (9). He was a transitional figure. Saul and David were kings but not prophets or priests and Saul was rejected for his attempt at priesthood. However there was a king who was a priest in the Old Testament—Melchizedek. He blessed Abraham and the book of Hebrews (ch. 4-9) explains how Jesus fulfills this older covenant (before the law given to Moses) by being a prophet, priest AND king. Jesus brings the division back together again by being everything his people need.
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