A map is so different from your satnav. It shows what you are passing en route, not just what the next junction is going to look like. How the landscape connects, not just the route you are following.
Living in a city such as Norwich with as much evidence of medieval, Tudor and later history in its centre as any I know (the illustration is from a 1558 map of Norwich), I have created an informal walking tour around a dozen key places to show visitors – along with the salient facts which make them important. Many are linked in the case of Norwich with the influence of Christian believers here in centuries past. “How Christ changes lives” is the common thread.
Preaching through a book of the Bible it helps those we pastor if the preacher frequently points out the key landmarks as we go along. It helps even more to point out the common thread that holds them together. In certain circles this is referred to as “listening for the melodic line”, the repeated melody created by the writer, as one might in a piece of music. I think I first heard this phrase listening to Dick Lucas back in the 1990s.
It could be argued that we should be asking the question more widely than in relation just to 1 Samuel: “Does the Deuteronomistic history (Joshua-2 Kings) have a melodic line?” and that is a valid question, I think. There is a thread following Israel’s need for godly kingship all the way through those seven books. But ancient tradition recognised the pairing of the two books of Samuel and of Kings, as well as the individual books in this series, and it seems right to expect each to have unique “variations” on the overall “tune” of the collection.
What is 1 Samuel about?
The book of 1 Samuel is one of the most significant in the Old Testament for Christians. It tells the story of God’s people in their search for a king, moving from rule by judges to rule by monarchs, and from the ark at Shiloh to the ark on the brink of its resting place in Jerusalem. Along the way we encounter three great men of the Bible (Samuel, Saul and David) with all their faith – and failings. The book starts with rule by judges and ends in the rule of David.
The book begins with one of the Bible’s great women – Hannah – and a story of miraculous birth that finds its echo in the Christmas story surrounding Elizabeth and Mary in Luke 1-2. 1 Samuel is about the perfect King who will come one day, and the perils of pinning our hopes on anyone else to lead and save us.
Why Preach and Teach 1 Samuel?
- Enriching faith in Christ. The Old Testament is often unfamiliar to our church members and there are few sections as important in pointing to Christ as this one. It is eye-opening for Christians to see redemptive history playing out and patterns from all of Scripture fulfilled in Christ unfolding under the surface of these historical events
- Equipping believers to read the Old Testament. 1 Samuel teaches us how to read the whole Bible with reference to Christ its key. This is true of any Old Testament book, of course, but 1 Samuel is especially helpful in teaching us not to jump straight from “that was then” to “this is now” without asking what difference Christ makes to interpretation of the Old Testament (Luke 24:44)
- Proclaiming God’s sovereignty. It speaks to the Church in dark times, offering hope in the coming King, and reminding us that the dark is often at its worst before the coming of the light. God may withdraw his Word in judgment and discipline, but He is merciful to send his messengers preparing the way for His King. He has spoken fully and finally to us in Christ (Hebrews 1:1-4). His work may be hidden but its reality need not be in doubt. He may appear to be defeated at Aphek and his presence may be temporarily in ‘exile’ in Ashdod, but within months the Ark is returned and is en route to its final destination in David’s City (cf 2 Samuel 6)
- Promoting repentance. It reveals our sinfulness and unbelief in the Church and reminds us that decline in the Church in our nation, and the absence of the vital work of God from many churches, are usually the result of taking the LORD lightly and the consequent departure of His blessing. The characters in the narrative such as Eli and Saul remind us of the fall of mankind in the first Adam, in which we all share
- Dethroning idols. 1 Samuel dismantles false hopes that we so easily place in ministers (the messiah complex), magisteria (government), mechanisms (the latest big idea), or manmade mission plans to bring restoration and revival. Only a recovery of love for the Word will lead to reconciliation between us and God and renewal of our hearts and lives to His glory.
The Message of 1 Samuel
God is sovereign. This is evident from the beginning in the closing/opening of Hannah’s womb, in the enacting of judgment upon the house of Eli in the defeat at Ebenezer in chapter 4, and in the coincidence of Saul being led to Samuel in his search for his father’s donkeys in chapter 9, and in numerous other incidents.
God is omnipotent. The comedic story of the toppling of Dagon image in chapter 5 is one of the supreme examples of the book teaching us that whatever our enemies, none can defeat the LORD. When the Israelites turn away from the LORD (or treat him as a mascot as in the incident with the ark in battle in chapter 4) disaster comes upon them and defeat is inevitable. Yet where the Philistines pose a major military menace to Israel throughout the book, when Israel turn to the LORD they need never fear defeat as exemplified in the felling of Goliath through David’s stone.
God is gracious. He sends Samuel the prophet and kingmaker through a relatively obscure and childless woman, Hannah. Samuel’s ministry When the people reject His kingship he graciously permits them to have Saul as king. David is introduced from obscurity as the man after God’s heart who will rescue Israel from the Philistines. Preserved from Saul’s jealous hatred, David is also saved from his own vengeful heart by grace in the cave and by Abigail at Carmel in order to keep the anointed King from bloodguilt.
God’s people are subject to sin within and evil without. The sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, typify the power-loving and self-centredness of Israel that is under the LORD’s holy judgment. Their demand for a king is met in Saul but this “king” is in part a rejection of the LORD’s reign over them. Saul is an impressive king at first but quickly reveals his moral feet of clay in cowardice and paranoia. In these ways the natural state of mankind in the first Adam is made clear and the longing for a new humanity, and a true saviour, is created. Israel is as a result of her sin not only godless but at the mercy of the Philistines and their impressive military might. These twin enemies, sin within and the sword without, are ever-present in the book and make connection for us with the spiritual enemies (sin, the world and the devil) made explicit in the New Testament
God sends saviours preparing us for the Saviour. We have all seen sermons or Sunday school lessons take the short cut from text to today without going through Christ in the whole of Scripture. But when we ask how the patterns of the events in 1 Samuel point to Christ, the difference that makes to interpretation, and hence application, and to how gospel-centred (as opposed to moralising) our teaching is, is enormous. This book needs to be read with Christ as its fulfilment. Samuel, Saul, even David and Jonathan, may be fallen heroes (first Adams) but they make us ask when the second Adam is coming to rescue humanity. The common patterns between this book and the gospels are striking. Samuel is John the Baptist, preparing the way for the king, before he is an example of “how to listen to God”. Saul is a typical example of the disappointing kings before the exile who led God’s people into sin and disaster, and of the later Jewish leaders plotting Jesus’ death. Jonathan, and supremely David, is first an anticipation of the perfect Messiah, Jesus, before he is an example for every believer today to follow. The Philistines (epitomised by Goliath) are the powers of evil , sin and death that Christ defeats on our behalf. The Israelites are believers today still needing a Saviour, rescued in Christ the second Adam and true Messiah, and called to follow God’s chosen king.
Outline of The Book
The commentaries broadly agree upon the following (although some see summaries and breaks at the end of chapter 12 and 14, for instance, the latter of which is quite compelling as an alternative, hence my bracketing below):
1-7 Samuel (and in 4-6, the Ark)
8- (14) 15 Saul and Samuel
(15) 16-31 Saul and David
The book is of course the first of a pair that conclude with the death of David and leave the ark no longer in a tabernacle but a temple, at the commencement of the books of Kings.
What is the melodic line of 1 Samuel?
Amidst the darkness of sin within and evil around His people, the LORD patiently and irresistibly works to raise up His chosen, perfect King to rescue and reign among them.
Or even more concisely,
God’s irresistible grace to flawed people in search of a perfect leader.
I make no claim to either being the best way to express the melodic line of the book, and have searched in vain online for the suggestions of others. Commentaries that most consistently approach 1 Samuel within the Christian canon, and as a book with multiple Christological connections, include those of Woodhouse, Brueggemann and Leithart, but I am not aware that they attempt to summarise its particular message in such a concise way.
Your suggestions and comments welcome!
Some To Be Pastors and Teachers 