Samuel

2022-04-22

Samuel the prophet was also considered one of Israel’s judges (1 Samuel 7:6, 15-17; Acts 13:20). His birth was the answer to prayer of his barren mother, Hannah. She promised to devote her first child to the Lord if she were to conceive; she fulfilled her oath.

Samuel grew up being mentored by Eli the priest. During a time when the Lord’s Word to His people was scarce, the young man heard from His God in the night. This first communication was the pronunciation of judgment against Eli and his descendants.

The prophet caused a revival of sorts among the people. After preaching for the people to repent, the Lord caused a great miracle of deliverance at Ebenezer, and many former cities were restored to Israel.

As an old man, Samuel made his sons Joel and Abiah judges like himself, but they were corrupt lovers of money. As a result, people wanted a king to rule over them. Samuel warned that though this may give the people more stability, it would come at a cost of liberty. Samuel anointed Saul as king.

Given that Samuel’s sons turned out differently from himself, we see a reminiscence of Eli’s sons in them. Samuel’s fathering was learned from Eli, who was likely more of a role model than his own father Elkanah, whom he likely saw only once a year. Samuel traveled a lot for his ministry circuit, and this likely impacted his sons also.

After Saul’s sins that caused his rejection as king, Samuel mourned for him. However, the Lord led him to anoint David instead. When David was in trouble and fled from Saul, he resorted to Samuel, the man who anointed him.

When Samuel died, Saul used a woman with a familiar spirit to call the prophet’s spirit back from the dead. Normally, this practice would not yield the expected result. However, it appears that Samuel was really brought back in this case to a degree, as the Lord allowed. His words meant doom for the rejected king.

Samuel was responsible for recording many of the events of David’s life: “Now the acts of David the king, first and last, behold, they are written in the book of Samuel the seer, and in the book of Nathan the prophet, and in the book of Gad the seer” (1 Chronicles 29:29). Passovers kept in his day were kept regularly and correctly (2 Chronicles 35:18). He is also mentioned in the “faith chapter” (Hebrews 11:32).

This is a part of the Judges of Israel series. To go back to the table of contents, proceed here.