9. Jesus In 1 Samuel

9/29/2024

Introduction

This morning we will be partaking of communion together. In 1 Corinthians 11:24 we are told to do it in remembrance of Jesus. As we prepare for communion then, we are going to consider a few aspects of how the book of 1 Samuel points us to Jesus and His work of redemption. In the past we have looked at Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, and Ruth doing this. So we are continuing on to see how different books of the Bible help us remember Christ and our salvation.

Overview

To begin with, it would be helpful to have an overview of what is going on in the 31 chapters of 1 Samuel. That will help us better understand how it leads us to Christ. It will also help us have a better point of reference for the allusions and connections that occur within the New Testament. If you have not read the book, or have not read it in a while hopefully this will inspire you to read it and get an even fuller picture of what was going on.

However, before we get to that overview it would be good to briefly understand where we are at in history with God’s dealing with Israel in this book. It would also be helpful to have a broad understanding of who is being focused on in the book in its different sections.

After Israel was set free from their slavery in Egypt by the miraculous plagues and Red Sea crossing they received God’s law at Mount Sinai. Then they wandered for forty years in the wilderness. This happened because of their disobedience to enter into the land of Canaan and take it by faith. After that generation passed away God led Israel into Canaan under Joshua. Many of the Canaanites were driven out and Israel settled into the land. During Joshua’s time they followed the Lord. But the coming generations got worse and worse as the people repeatedly strayed from the Lord and everyone did what was right in their own eyes. This is recorded in the book of Judges. For 300 years Israel went in worsening cycles of idolatry. They went from being disciplined by God through the nations, crying out to the Lord, being rescued by judges sent by God, and then relapsing into sin. It is at the end of this 300 year period that the book of 1 Samuel occurs. Samuel is the final judge of Israel as it transitions to a monarchy.

Three individuals make up the main focus of the book: Samuel (the prophet of God and final judge), Saul (the self-focused first king over all Israel), and David (the man of faith who was anointed to be the second king).

The first 7 chapters primarily deal with the rise and life of Samuel. Chapter 8 deals with the people’s request for a king and then the next 7 chapters deal with Saul becoming king and reigning. Chapters 16-27 move to focusing on David. Then the last four chapters detail Saul’s final defeat by the Philistines alongside of David’s victory over the marauding Amalekites. With that backdrop, our overview should now make more sense with where we are at in Israel’s history.

The book of 1 Samuel begins with a barren woman named Hannah desperately praying to God for a son and promising to give him to the Lord. When God does give her a son, Samuel, she fulfills her word and brings him for service at the tabernacle under the high priest Eli. Sadly, Eli’s own sons were quite wicked. Because he did not stop their sin God warned Eli that judgment would come upon their family. As a boy Samuel also received a word directly from God about this judgment. It began to come true when the two sons of Eli end up dying in battle with the Philistines. The Ark of the Covenant itself was also captured. Upon hearing the news the aged Eli fell back off his chair and died too.

Meanwhile, because of the Ark of the Covenant the Philistines received the chastisement of God in their cities. In fear they eventually sent the Ark back with a guilt offering. As he grew Samuel became known throughout Israel as a true prophet of God. Through him God miraculously brought victory over the Philistines. He then judged Israel for many years on a regular travelling circuit.

In chapter 8 a shift occurs. When Samuel was old the people asked for a king to replace him, since his sons judged corruptly. He strongly warned Israel what having a king would be like. In the end, God had Samuel anoint Saul as king. Saul’s first major test came with the Ammonite siege of Jabesh-Gilead. He rallied the people and defeated the Ammonites. Samuel then renewed the kingship of Saul before the people. He again warned the people. He reviewed his own blamelessness as judge and prophet, Israel’s past unfaithfulness, and rebuked them for pursuing a king in God’s place. In a sobering warning to fear the Lord and to truly serve Him with all their heart Samuel prayed and the Lord sent thunder and rain on their wheat harvest (which would have ruined it).

Though it started well, Saul’s kingship went downhill from there. When Samuel was delayed in coming to offer a sacrifice before a battle with the Philistines he took priestly responsibilities into his own hands and made the sacrifice. His judgment from God was the loss of a lasting kingship. God would give it to a man after His own heart. In future battles other people took the initiative that he should have and he made foolish decisions. Then when God sent him to wipe out the wicked Amalekites and all their animals he did not obey God completely. When Samuel arrived and discovered what happened the famous line was uttered that “to obey is better than sacrifice.” God’s rejection of Saul as king was reiterated.

In chapter 16 another shift occurs. Samuel secretly anointed David and we begin learning about this future king. He was a faithful and courageous shepherd who ended up skillfully playing the harp for king Saul to help calm him down during his troubled spirit episodes. Most famously, in chapter 17 David killed Goliath by faith, using his sling. Thus he enabled Israel to overcome the Philistines in battle. In chapter 18 we see him becoming a general for Saul, befriending Saul’s son Jonathan, and marrying one of Saul’s daughters. Unfortunately, with all David’s successes Saul became jealous and began targeting him. The following chapters unveil a whirlwind of trials, dangers, and adventures for David.

In chapter 19 Saul throws a spear at David and he escapes to Samuel. When they come to get him all the messengers and even Saul end up being overcome and prophesying.

In chapter 20 Saul throws a spear at Jonathan when he stands up for David. Jonathan secretly covenants with David and sends him away to safety.

In chapter 21 David flees to the priests at Nob, lies, and gets food and the sword of Goliath. Then he escapes to the Philistine city of Gath. After being recognized there he pretends insanity to get away.

In chapter 22 David goes to the cave of Adullam and collects a small riff-raff army while Saul has the priests of Nob and their families (descendants of Eli) slaughtered for helping David.

In chapter 23 David rescues the city of Keilah from the Philistines and the Lord protects him from Saul’s attempts to corner and kill him.

In chapter 24 Saul pursues David to En Gedi. When Saul goes to relieve himself in a cave David, hiding farther back in the cave, cuts off the corner of his robe instead of killing him. He shows his loyalty to God’s anointed.

In chapter 25, after Samuel’s death, David was spurned by a rich man named Nabal, whose shepherds David had helped. David was protected from foolishly taking vengeance into his own hands by Nabal’s wise wife Abigail. After God Himself judged Nabal and he died David married Abigail.

In chapter 26 Saul again tried to kill David, but he snuck to where Saul slept, took his water jug and spear, and then from a distance confronted Saul and declared his innocence in plotting against him.

In chapter 27 David ended up fleeing with his men to the Philistine Achish, king of Gath. Achish gave them a city, Ziklag, to live in. From there he secretly raided other Canaanite enemies of Israel.

Finally in the last four chapters we have Saul’s judgment and David’s protection. When the Philistines again gathered to fight King Saul resorts to a medium and witchcraft to find out God’s will. Israel was resoundingly defeated by the Philistines and Saul and his sons died. Meanwhile David’s hometown of Ziklag was burned to the ground by the Amalekites and their families were taken captive. Unlike Saul, whom God had deserted, God was with David. With God’s guidance they were able to track down the Amalekites, defeat them, take great spoils, and rescue all their families. After all that the first book of Samuel ends.

Now, it is worth noting that in Hebrew 1 and 2 Samuel are combined into one book. So the division here is a little bit artificial. 2 Samuel picks up right here with another account of Saul’s death and with David finding out about it. But because we have it divided in English into two books, and because so much happens in the two books we are limiting our focus to 1 Samuel.

As we come to communion, there are two main questions that we want to investigate as we consider this book. The first is:

How Does The Book Of 1 Samuel Point Forward To Christ And Help Us Remember His Sacrifice?

The book of 1 Samuel sets the stage for the arrival of King David through whom the promised Messiah would come. Genesis 49:10 had foretold this:

Genesis 49:10 “The scepter shall not depart from Judah, Nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, Until Shiloh comes, And to him shall be the obedience of the peoples.

The One whose right to rule it is, Shiloh, would come from a line of kings from Judah and eventually receive the obedience of all peoples. David is the fulfillment of the beginning of this line of Judean kings, and Jesus is the coming one who will be the fulfillment of the second part of this prophecy when He comes at His second coming. David’s coming and fulfilling the first part of this prophecy points forward to Jesus’ coming and fulfilling the rest. Jesus coming and bringing salvation from sins likewise points forward to His second coming when He will directly reign and rule over all of creation. People’s hearts have to be changed before they will all obey Him.

This book helps us see what was special about David. It also continues to help us see why the Messiah was needed. It does both of these things by its ongoing way of contrasting the focus of people’s hearts in the book.

The problem back in the book of Judges was that everyone did what was right in their own eyes instead of following God through His Word. In Judges it was partially blamed on there being no king in Israel to unite them and push them in the right direction. What we see here in the book of 1 Samuel, though, is that the real issue was the heart. Those whose heart wholeheartedly followed the Lord received His blessing, favor, and help. Those who did not brought suffering, ruin, enslavement, and destruction upon themselves and the nation.

At the very beginning of the book we see the issue of the heart with Hannah. Hannah’s heart was downcast in her barrenness, so she poured out her heart to the Lord when they went to the tabernacle for the yearly sacrifices. Then, after God answered her prayers and gave her a son she went to the Lord in her exultation and gave Him thanks from her heart (1 Samuel 1:8, 13, and 2:1). Notice, that in both her trials and joys she went to the Lord. She wholeheartedly followed the Lord, and He blessed her.

That, however was not the case with Eli and his wicked sons. In rejecting Eli and his family for their unfaithfulness God specifically declared that He would raise up a faithful priest who would do according to what was in His heart and soul (1 Samuel 2:35). The problem with Eli and his sons was that their hearts were not truly following the Lord. It brought a ruinous time upon Israel with the capture of the Ark of the Covenant.

Samuel, though, must have caught at the reality of what the people truly needed, because the heart was at the core of two of his addresses to all the people. Early on in his career as Israel’s prophet and judge, Samuel called the people to return to the Lord with their whole heart when the Philistines were attacking (1 Samuel 7:3). They did repent, and God delivered them miraculously. Much later on Samuel again called the people to serve the Lord with all their heart after they had wickedly sought out having an earthly king in God’s place (1 Samuel 12:20, 24).

Interestingly enough, in a continuation of this theme, right alongside the anointing of Saul as king God declared that He would change Saul’s heart, and then it records that He did (1 Samuel 10:6, 9). But as he lived his life, Saul went against God’s commands in the matter of making the priestly sacrifice himself and in not fully obeying God’s commands concerning the Amalekites. God’s followers are continually faced with the question each and every day on whether we will guard our hearts and keep following Him, or whether we will let our hearts stray away from complete obedience into sin.

In rejecting Saul God also specifically declared He would seek someone who was a man after His own heart and would obey what the Lord commanded (1 Samuel 13:14). Do you get the idea that this is important to God? David’s anointing as king was fully in line with this. In seeking out which son of Jesse Samuel was to anoint as the next king God rejected David’s handsome older brother and reminded Samuel that “God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7). That is what matters to God. That is why we are to have communion regularly. God wants our hearts, not just our routine actions in some areas of our lives. He wants us to live holy lives. He wants us to live for what matters. He wants us to have the lives that He designed for us in creating us.

Continuing on, we see another snapshot of this issue of the heart with a rich man named Nabal. In 1 Samuel 25 Nabal is the one who had despised David’s help to his shepherds. Initially he is described as having a merry heart during his drunken feast. But then when he sobered up the next day and his wife told him what had happened and how narrowly he had escaped David’s vengeance for his foolish, disrespectful behavior it says that “his heart died within him” and “became as a stone” (1 Samuel 25:36-37). Ultimately he died under God’s judgment. As Proverbs 14:12 (and Proverbs 16:25) says:

Proverbs 14:12 There is a way which seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death.

We can deceive ourselves about right and wrong and go our merry way, but when our hearts go after sin instead of wholeheartedly following God it leads to death. That is what our sin has earned. We are separated from God and after our physical death we will reap His eternal justice.

As the book of 1 Samuel comes to a close we see a final reference to the heart. When the Philistines gathered together against Saul that last time it says his heart trembled greatly (1 Samuel 28:5). Right after that, when the Lord did not respond to his inquiries by other methods, he turned to the witch of En-dor to find out what to do. God’s Spirit had long before departed from him because he had not followed God wholeheartedly. God had utterly deserted him, and all that reality finally and fully hit him when this great crisis occurred and God would not respond. What a sad way to die.

Meanwhile, with David we see a great contrast to all that. What we see with him is that God had picked him because of his heart in truly following and trusting God. While he did have failures here—like his lies to the priests, and his pursuit of vengeance against Nabal—he acknowledged his sins, repented, learned from them, and turned back to following God.

His reliance on God is repeatedly seen throughout the book. His trust was in God during the battle with Goliath—as was vividly seen in his strong words to the people and to Goliath himself. When he first fled from Saul, where did he go? He went to Samuel the prophet of God. When he fled again later on he went to the priests at Nob. When he was gently rebuked by Abigail for his making steps to bring vengeance upon Nabal he humbled himself and listened to God’s wisdom through her. When he had opportunities on two separate occasions to kill Saul while Saul was wickedly trying to kill him he would not do it. Why? His respect for Saul as God’s anointed king kept him from doing it. When his city was destroyed and their families captured He went to the Lord first and asked Him what He should do. He trusted and obeyed God.

One woman, Hannah, was a success. One rich businessman, Nabal, was a failure. One spiritual leader, Eli, was a failure. Another spiritual leader, Samuel, was a success. One king, Saul, was a failure. Another man anointed to be king, David, was a success. What was the difference between all of these? The difference was their hearts and their faithfulness in following God. Unless hearts are changed and stay following God people are going to go astray into sin and lead others astray.

See, the real issue with Israel was not whether they had a king or not. The issue was whether the people truly followed God from their hearts or not. What was truly needed was the redemption of hearts and inner change. People need to place their faith in God’s way of redemption and life. Once their trust is truly in Him, then it will change their lives. It will change their focus. It will change their pursuits. Having a physical king was not going to save Israel. Trusting in God and His promised messiah would.

The issue in our country is the same. While we all have preferences on the two main candidates in the upcoming election for who we think will better help our nation, and while we have strong convictions as Christians about voting against the slaughter of babies being enshrined into our state constitution the ultimate reality is that regardless of the outcome of the election what is needed is the change of the hearts of the people of our nation, state, and county. None of the candidates running for office will change the sin problem that we have in our hearts. Neither outcome on abortion in our state is going change the self-seeking, murderous, sinful realities in the hearts of people. People will find a way to do evil, and it will grow unless hearts change. What people truly need and what our nation needs is a true savior who transforms their hearts and mind.

Therefore, what we need to be doing is making disciples of Jesus. What we need is to be Christians who are guarding our hearts from evil and truly following Jesus whole-heartedly and unreservedly. What we need is to be Christians who are loving our enemies. What we need is to be Christians who are using our gifts and abilities to build up other believers in truly following Jesus.

1 Samuel thus shows us the vanity, emptiness, uselessness, and hopelessness that comes with half-heartedly following God. It shows us our need for the Messiah to truly deliver us. It shows us that only in truly surrendering to and following God is there going to be true success, peace, and the blessing of God.

Having seen this important theme in the book of 1 Samuel which pushes us to examine where our hearts are at in following Jesus the second main question before us as we come to communion is:

How Is 1 Samuel Used In The New Testament And In Jesus’ Work Of Redemption?

In the New Testament the first book of Samuel is quoted or referred to in five main ways.

First, in Matthew 12:3 (cf. also Mark 2:25-26 and Luke 6:3-4) Jesus was being questioned on why the disciples plucked grain from the field they were passing by on the Sabbath. Jesus answered by referring back to David eating the showbread in 1 Samuel 21:6 when he was fleeing from Saul’s attempts to kill him. The Sabbath was not made to hurt people, or to prevent good things. Rather, it was designed to help people. In times of need things like this were allowed to be done to alleviate suffering and protect lives. As Lord of the Sabbath Jesus confirmed that both of these actions were permissible.

The kind and gracious act of the high priest to provide food to David and his men illustrates God’s goodness and kindness. This consecrated bread was a life-giving sustenance to David in his dire need. In an infinitely greater way, Jesus, as the Bread of Life whom we remember today in communion, brings life to all those who trust in Him as Lord and Savior. There is hope for salvation from sin nowhere else than in Jesus Christ. David had nowhere else to turn than to God, and God provided what He needed. The same is true for us as we turn to God in faith. In Jesus God has provided what we need for salvation from sin. He will give His eternal life to those who come to Him by faith.

Have you seen the reality of your situation before God because of your sin and seen your need for rescue? Have you seen your inability to remove your own sin and be reconciled to God on your own? Turn to Jesus in your time of need. Trust His provision of salvation in Jesus Christ. This is what we remember and give thanks for with communion. It pictures this reality.

Secondly, in Mark 12:33 we have what may be a partial reference to 1 Samuel 15:22. When Jesus was asked by a scribe about what was the greatest command of the law Jesus had summarized that it was to love the Lord with all one’s heart, soul, mind, and strength, as well as to love one’s neighbor as oneself. In replying back to this the scribe agreed and said that that was much more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices. This is very similar to Samuel’s declaration to king Saul that “to obey is better than sacrifice.”

God does not just want some sacrifices from us—to show up on Sundays and Wednesdays or to give of some of our hard-earned money—no, He wants us, every part of us. He wants our hearts. He wants us to follow Him, love Him, serve Him, and obey Him in every area of our lives. He wants us to be people who have hearts that are not held back in some area from Him. He wants us to actually love Him with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength. He wants us to depend on what He did for us, not on something that we supposedly do for Him.

Communion should remind us of this. As we consider what He has done, is doing, and will do it should overflow our hearts with love for Him. By His death on the cross He rescued us from our sin and our eternal judgment in the lake of fire. He loves us so much that He took that punishment upon Himself and gave us His righteousness and His eternal love. He rescued us from our destructive, evil ways, and put us on His good, perfect redeemed way of life. Eternity with Him awaits us. Our hearts should overflow with thankfulness. We should delight to serve Him and follow Him knowing that every plan of His will be perfect and best for us even if we do not always understand it or see how. We should walk by faith and trust Him.

That is precisely what another one of the references to 1 Samuel points out. Thirdly, Hebrews 11:32 mentions David and Samuel as among those who by faith conquered kingdoms, performed acts of righteousness, obtained promises, escaped the edge of the sword, from weakness were made strong, became mighty in war, and put foreign armies to flight. They are presented as ones whose faith we should imitate as we set our eyes on Jesus and run the race personally set before us in this life. They both had many hardships and trials in their life. David was on the run from Saul for years and was often in peril of his life. Even his boyhood job of being a shepherd was not safe! Yet he trusted God, followed Him, saw Him work in His life, and looked to God’s eternal home and redemption. So should we.

Fourthly, in Romans 11:1-2 Paul declares that God has not rejected His people Israel whom He foreknew. That statement is fairly similar to what Samuel told Israel in 1 Samuel 12:22 when they worried that their having pursued a king might cause God to reject them and slay them. He said:

1 Samuel 12:22 “For the LORD will not abandon His people on account of His great name, because the LORD has been pleased to make you a people for Himself.

Samuel’s point in making the people see their great wickedness by having the Lord send thunder and rain on their wheat harvest was not to destroy them along with their crops. It was to humble them, to bring them to repentance, to cause them to fear the Lord, and to cause them to serve the Lord with all their heart (1 Samuel 12:20). Interestingly enough, in 1 Samuel 12:14 he exhorts them to fear the Lord and serve Him, but then in 1 Samuel 12:20 he tells them not to fear. Scripture has many commands not to fear, alongside the commands to fear the Lord. When we live in light of who God truly is—repenting, loving, and obeying Him, there is no need to fear His judgment. There is no need to fear that He would forsake us or has forgotten us. As we understand and live in light of His perfect love it casts out fear. We know that because of His redemption that He accomplished on the cross He truly loves us and will do what is best for us, whether that is discipline, rescue, trials that build holiness, or anything else.

Finally, we see the book of 1 Samuel most extensively referred to and quoted in Acts 13. There Paul recounts Israel’s history as he shares the gospel in the synagogue at Pisidian Antioch. He mentions the exodus, the wilderness wandering, the conquest of Canaan, the judges, Samuel and Saul, and finally God’s raising up of David, a man after His own heart. From him Paul then directly moves to declaring Jesus the Savior as a descendent of David and the fulfillment of the messianic promises which were given. This is what it says in Acts 13:22-24—

Acts 13:22-24 “After He had removed him [Saul], He raised up David to be their king, concerning whom He also testified and said, ‘I HAVE FOUND DAVID the son of Jesse, A MAN AFTER MY HEART, who will do all My will.’ 23 “From the descendants of this man, according to promise, God has brought to Israel a Savior, Jesus, 24 after John had proclaimed before His coming a baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel. [Bracketed text added]

Samuel, Saul, and David were all part of God’s plan in pointing to and leading to Jesus. Samuel repeatedly pointed to the need for people’s hearts—everything that makes up our actions with our emotions, desires, understanding, and decisions—being surrendered to God. Saul shows us what happens when we try to mix following God with really following our own desires. Outward change or appearance is not what is needed. An inward change of the heart and a true trust in God is essential. David shows us the nitty-gritty of what it means to be a man who follows God with their whole heart. He was not perfect, but he repented and followed God. He had hardships, but He trusted God with his life and death. When God told him to do something he did it.

On the basis of all this, what will we do with Jesus? Will we repent of our sin and follow Jesus as Paul urged? Will we guard our hearts and truly follow Jesus day by day as Samuel exhorted? Will we humble ourselves, confess our sin and turn back to Jesus when we fail as David illustrated? Will we obey Jesus no matter what He calls us to do? Will we trust Him and follow Him through the hard times and the good times? Will we remind ourselves of what He has saved us from, what He has in store for us in the future, and what His wisdom calls us to do day by day? May we indeed be wholehearted followers of God. God designed communion to help us do these things. So let’s partake of it together and continue remembering Him day by day.¹

© 2024, Kevin A. Dodge, All rights reserved.

Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations taken from the New American Standard Bible® (NASB),Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. www.Lockman.org

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