Let’s talk about Samuel, The Priestly Prophet and Israel’s Last Judge

I should confess to you guys that I have read much further down the Old Testament since I wrote my last article. I could not help but notice that the further down the story I read, the more dirge-like and sad it started to become.

The Israelites were on a race to the grimy bottom from the moment they left Egypt and it was largely caused by their inability to trust only in Yahweh and keep his commandments.

Even at their best, they were in a constant losing battle with the evil desires of their hearts. They had an inordinate need to look like the pagan nations they were surrounded by.

We see this dynamic play out in Samuel’s story and how he came to be the last man to stand as a Judge of Israel.

Samuel’s mother was a woman named Hannah. She was barren despite being married to a man who loved her very much. He affirmed her when she was distressed about her childlessness. In ancient Israel, despite having a second wife who bore him children, that was a big deal. But Hannah trusted Yahweh and soon, He gave her a son whom she dedicated to Him as a Nazarene and other children, too.

This dedicated son was called Samuel. He was from the tribe of Levi and this qualified him to become a temple boy like all the other Levites. He served under a priest called Eli who had fallen out of favour with God. He was the priest commissioned by God to take Eli’s place because he found favour with God, who made sure that all of his words came true and he soon became an established prophet as well as judge in Israel.

Samuel did some exploits in Israel like defeating Philistines by the power of God. But Samuel’s sons were not as noble as he was. They perverted justice as rulers and took bribes. So, as soon as Samuel started to grow old, Israel wanted a king.

1 Samuel 8:5

‘They said to him, “You are old, and your sons do not follow your ways; now appoint a king to lead us, such as all the other nations have.” ‘

Within the narrow context of the elders of Israel seeing that Samuel’s sons were unfit to be judges, this seems entirely reasonable, and it even starts to look like Samuel was overreacting when he gave these series of responses in verse 6

1 Samuel 8:6–9

‘But when they said, “Give us a king to lead us,” this displeased Samuel; so he prayed to the Lord .

And the Lord told him: “Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king.

As they have done from the day I brought them up out of Egypt until this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are doing to you.

Now listen to them; but warn them solemnly and let them know what the king who will reign over them will claim as his rights.” ‘

But when you consider the event within the larger context of their deliverance by God from the rule of their Egyptian overlords to a promised land where God already appointed priests and elders to govern them in His ways, you would see that Samuel was right to have dissuaded them from getting a King.

Still, the Israelites were relentless. They wanted an idol they could serve in the form of a king. They wanted to belong to someone who was not Yahweh. But God who works all things according to his counsel had something in the works and He was going to by Israel’s disobedience bring it to pass. So he told Samuel to let them have their king.

Samuel, led by God, anointed a young Benjamite named Saul who eventually became Israel’s first king. But this was not the end of Samuel’s run as an appointed prophet in Israel.

He lived to a ripe old age and even got to anoint King David, Saul’s successor.

A desire for conformity with the cultures around them pushed them to demand a King. But God who is rich in mercy did not hold this against them. Instead, he redirected the new turn of events to conform to an age-long counsel of his. We would get to see this counsel revealed in the course of this series, but for our next article, we have The Life and Times of Saul, Israel’s First King.