1 Samuel

1
1 Samuel

• Covenant Box
• Saul

2
1 Samuel

• Elis sons scoundrels
• Eli does not act on Gods warning
• War with the Philistines
• Capture of the covenant box
• Follow the covenant box
• What is all this brightness and glory about?
• Saul Israels first king

3
The covenant box

• At that time the Philistines gathered to go to
  war against Israel, so the Israelites set out to
  fight them. The Israelites set up their camp at
  Ebenezer and the Philistines at Aphek. The
  Philistines attacked, and after fierce fighting
  they defeated the Israelites and killed about
  four thousand men on the battlefield. When the
  survivors came back to camp, the leaders of
  Israel said, Why did the LORD let the
  Philistines defeat us today? Lets go and bring
  the LORD's Covenant Box from Shiloh, so that he
  will go with us and save us from our enemies. So
  they sent messengers to Shiloh and got the
  Covenant Box of the LORD Almighty, who is
  enthroned above the winged creatures. And Eli's
  two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, came along with
  the Covenant Box. When the Covenant Box arrived,
  the Israelites gave such a loud shout of joy that
  the earth shook.

4
The covenant box

• The Philistines heard the shouting and said,
  Listen to all that shouting in the Hebrew camp!
  What does it mean? When they found out that the
  LORD's Covenant Box had arrived in the Hebrew
  camp, they were afraid, and said, A god has come
  into their camp! We're lost! Nothing like this
  has ever happened to us before! Who can save us
  from those powerful gods? They are the gods who
  slaughtered the Egyptians in the desert! Be
  brave, Philistines! Fight like men, or we will
  become slaves to the Hebrews, just as they were
  our slaves. So fight like men! The Philistines
  fought hard and defeated the Israelites, who went
  running to their homes. There was a great
  slaughter thirty thousand Israelite soldiers
  were killed. (1 Samuel 41-10 GN)

5
The covenant box

• The messenger answered, Israel ran away from
  the Philistines it was a terrible defeat for us!
  Besides that, your sons Hophni and Phinehas were
  killed, and Gods Covenant Box was captured!
  When the man mentioned the Covenant Box, Eli fell
  backward from his seat beside the gate. He was so
  old and fat that the fall broke his neck, and he
  died. He had been a leader in Israel for forty
  years. (1 Samuel 417-18 GN)
• Is the covenant box a good luck charm with innate
  powers?

6
The covenant box

• After the Philistines captured the Covenant Box,
  they carried it from Ebenezer to their city of
  Ashdod, took it into the temple of their god
  Dagon, and set it up beside his statue. Early the
  next morning the people of Ashdod saw that the
  statue of Dagon had fallen face downward on the
  ground in front of the LORDs Covenant Box. So
  they lifted it up and put it back in its place.
  Early the following morning they saw that the
  statue had again fallen down in front of the
  Covenant Box. This time its head and both its
  arms were broken off and were lying in the
  doorway only the body was left. (That is why
  even today the priests of Dagon and all his
  worshipers in Ashdod step over that place and do
  not walk on it.) (1 Samuel 51-5 GN)

7
The covenant box

• The LORD punished the people of Ashdod severely
  and terrified them. He punished them and the
  people in the surrounding territory by causing
  them to have tumors. When they saw what was
  happening, they said, The God of Israel is
  punishing us and our god Dagon. We cant let the
  Covenant Box stay here any longer. So they sent
  messengers and called together all five of the
  Philistine kings and asked them, What shall we
  do with the Covenant Box of the God of Israel?
  Take it over to Gath, they answered so they
  took it to Gath, another Philistine city. But
  after it arrived there, the LORD punished that
  city too and caused a great panic. He punished
  them with tumors which developed in all the
  people of the city, young and old alike. So they
  sent the Covenant Box to Ekron, another
  Philistine city but when it arrived there, the
  people cried out, They have brought the Covenant
  Box of the God of Israel here, in order to kill
  us all! So again they sent for all the
  Philistine kings and said, Send the Covenant Box
  of Israel back to its own place, so that it wont
  kill us and our families. There was panic
  throughout the city because God was punishing
  them so severely. Even those who did not die
  developed tumors and the people cried out to
  their gods for help. (1 Samuel 56-12 GN)

8
The covenant box

• The advice of the priests and magicians send a
  gift and return the covenant box
• You must make these models of the tumors and of
  the mice that are ravaging your country, and you
  must give honor to the God of Israel. Perhaps he
  will stop punishing you, your gods, and your
  land. Why should you be stubborn, as the king of
  Egypt and the Egyptians were? Dont forget how
  God made fools of them until they let the
  Israelites leave Egypt. So prepare a new wagon
  and two cows that have never been yoked hitch
  them to the wagon and drive their calves back to
  the barn. (1 Samuel 65-7 GN)
• Similar to the plagues of Egypt
• How does God speak with his friends?

9
The covenant box

• The people of Beth Shemesh were reaping wheat in
  the valley, when suddenly they looked up and saw
  the Covenant Box. They were overjoyed at the
  sight. (1 Samuel 613 GN)
• The LORD killed seventy of the men of Beth
  Shemesh because they looked inside the Covenant
  Box. And the people mourned because the LORD had
  caused such a great slaughter among them. So the
  men of Beth Shemesh said, Who can stand before
  the LORD, this holy God? Where can we send him to
  get him away from us? They sent messengers to
  the people of Kiriath Jearim to say, The
  Philistines have returned the LORD's Covenant
  Box. Come down and get it. (1 Samuel 619-21
  GN)
• Why kill them for peaking?

10
(No Transcript)
11
The covenant box

• David becomes king
• Then we will go and get Gods Covenant Box,
  which was ignored while Saul was king. The
  people were pleased with the suggestion and
  agreed to it. So David assembled the people of
  Israel from all over the country, from the
  Egyptian border in the south to Hamath Pass in
  the north, in order to bring the Covenant Box
  from Kiriath Jearim to Jerusalem. (1 Chronicles
  133-5 GN)
• As they came to the threshing place of Chidon,
  the oxen stumbled, and Uzzah reached out and took
  hold of the Covenant Box. At once the LORD became
  angry with Uzzah and killed him for touching the
  Box. He died there in Gods presence, and so that
  place has been called Perez Uzzah ever since.
  David was furious because the LORD had punished
  Uzzah in anger. Then David was afraid of God and
  said, How can I take the Covenant Box with me
  now? (1 Chronicles 139-12 GN)
• Then he said, Only Levites should carry the
  Covenant Box, because they are the ones the LORD
  chose to carry it and to serve him
  foreverBecause you were not there to carry it
  the first time, the LORD our God punished us for
  not worshiping him as we should have done. (1
  Chronicles 152,15 GN)

12
The covenant box

• Then King Solomon summoned all the leaders of
  the tribes and clans of Israel to assemble in
  Jerusalem, in order to take the LORD's Covenant
  Box from Zion, David's City, to the Temple. They
  all assembled at the time of the Festival of
  Shelters. When all the leaders had gathered, then
  the Levites lifted the Covenant Box and carried
  it to the Temple. The priests and the Levites
  also moved the Tent of the LORDs presence and
  all its equipment to the Temple. King Solomon and
  all the people of Israel assembled in front of
  the Covenant Box and sacrificed a large number of
  sheep and cattle---too many to count. Then the
  priests carried the Covenant Box of the LORD into
  the Temple and put it in the Most Holy Place,
  beneath the winged creatures. (2 Chronicles 52-7
  GN)
• Praise the LORD, because he is good, And his
  love is eternal. As the priests were leaving the
  Temple, it was suddenly filled with a cloud
  shining with the dazzling light of the LORDs
  presence, and they could not continue the service
  of worship. (2 Chronicles 511-14 GN)

13
The covenant box

• Solomons prayer
• Now, O my God, look on us and listen to the
  prayers offered in this place. Rise up now, LORD
  God, and with the Covenant Box, the symbol of
  your power, enter the Temple and stay here
  forever. Bless your priests in all they do, and
  may all your people be happy because of your
  goodness to them. LORD God, do not reject the
  king you have chosen. Remember the love you had
  for your servant David. When King Solomon
  finished his prayer, fire came down from heaven
  and burned up the sacrifices that had been
  offered, and the dazzling light of the LORDs
  presence filled the Temple. (2 Chronicles
  640-42 71 GN)

14
The covenant box

• Why so much display of power associated with the
  covenant box?
• The fear of the LORD is the beginning of
  knowledge. (Proverbs 17 GODS WORD)
• What does this mean?
• There is no fear in love perfect love drives
  our all fear (1 John 417 GN)
• To have knowledge, you must first have reverence
  for the LORD. (Proverbs 17 GN)
• Like a teacher with a rebellious class, God
  needed their respect and reverence so that they
  would listen.maybe even a little fear at times
• They were on the brink of disaster

15
The covenant box

• Jerusalem and the temple burned down by the
  Babylonians 586/587 BC
• After the captivity, the Jews returned to rebuild
  Jerusalem and the temple
• The future glory of this Temple will be greater
  than its past glory (Haggai 29, NLT).
• Did bright lights from God ever fill the temple
  again?
• When the foundation of the new temple was laid
• Many of the older priests, Levites, and heads of
  clans had seen the first Temple, and as they
  watched the foundation of this Temple being laid,
  they cried and wailed (Ezra 312 GN)
• Destroyed in 70 AD by the Romans
• How did this later temple exceed Solomons temple
  in glory?

16
What is Gods glory?

• I glorified you on earth by completing down to
  the last detail what you assigned me to do.
• How?
• I spelled out your character in detail to the
  men and women you gave me. (John 171-6 The
  Message)
• God has revealed power and bright lights when we
  needed it
• Even in the OT, power and might is not the
  greatest ideal
• Not by strength and not by power, but by my
  Spirit (Zechariah 46 RSV)
• Elijah
• Then the Lord passed by and sent a furious wind
  that split the hills and shattered the rocksbut
  the Lord was not in the wind. The wind stopped
  blowing, and then there was an earthquakebut the
  Lord was not in the earthquake. After the
  earthquake there was a firebut the Lord was not
  in the fire. And after the fire there was the
  soft whisper of a voice. (1 Kings 1910-13 GN)
  

17
SAUL
18
Saul

• When Samuel grew old, he made his sons judges in
  Israel. The older son was named Joel and the
  younger one Abijah they were judges in
  Beersheba. But they did not follow their fathers
  example they were interested only in making
  money, so they accepted bribes and did not decide
  cases honestly. Then all the leaders of Israel
  met together, went to Samuel in Ramah, and said
  to him, Look, you are getting old and your sons
  dont follow your example. So then, appoint a
  king to rule over us, so that we will have a
  king, as other countries have.
• Samuel was displeased with their request for a
  king so he prayed to the LORD, and the LORD
  said, Listen to everything the people say to
  you. You are not the one they have rejected I am
  the one they have rejected as their king. Ever
  since I brought them out of Egypt, they have
  turned away from me and worshiped other gods and
  now they are doing to you what they have always
  done to me. So then, listen to them, but give
  them strict warnings and explain how their kings
  will treat them.

19
Saul

• Samuel told the people who were asking him for a
  king everything that the LORD had said to him.
  This is how your king will treat you, Samuel
  explained. He will make soldiers of your sons
  some of them will serve in his war chariots,
  others in his cavalry, and others will run before
  his chariots. He will make some of them officers
  in charge of a thousand men, and others in charge
  of fifty men. Your sons will have to plow his
  fields, harvest his crops, and make his weapons
  and the equipment for his chariots. Your
  daughters will have to make perfumes for him and
  work as his cooks and his bakers. He will take
  your best fields, vineyards, and olive groves,
  and give them to his officials. He will take a
  tenth of your grain and of your grapes for his
  court officers and other officials. He will take
  your servants and your best cattle and donkeys,
  and make them work for him. He will take a tenth
  of your flocks. And you yourselves will become
  his slaves. When that time comes, you will
  complain bitterly because of your king, whom you
  yourselves chose, but the LORD will not listen to
  your complaints. The people paid no attention to
  Samuel, but said, No! We want a king, so that we
  will be like other nations, with our own king to
  rule us and to lead us out to war and to fight
  our battles.

20
Saul

• What should God do?
• Does God sometimes give us what we want, even if
  he knows its less than the ideal?
• Samuel listened to everything they said and then
  went and told it to the LORD. The LORD answered,
  Do what they want and give them a king. Then
  Samuel told all the men of Israel to go back
  home. (1 Samuel 81-22 GN)

21
God gives in

• Law
• Clean unclean meats
• Fighting
• Divorce
• Intercession
• .Real life parenting.
• .Real life medicine.

22
Saul

• What kind of a king did God give them?
• When Saul turned to leave Samuel, God gave Saul
  a new nature. (1 Samuel 109 GN)
• Samuel called the people together for a
  religious gathering at Mizpah and said to them,
  "The LORD, the God of Israel, says, I brought
  you out of Egypt and rescued you from the
  Egyptians and all the other peoples who were
  oppressing you. I am your God, the one who
  rescues you from all your troubles and
  difficulties, but today you have rejected me and
  have asked me to give you a king. Very well,
  then, gather yourselves before the LORD by tribes
  and by clans. Then Samuel had each tribe come
  forward, and the LORD picked the tribe of
  Benjamin. Then Samuel had the families of the
  tribe of Benjamin come forward, and the family of
  Matri was picked out. Then the men of the family
  of Matri came forward, and Saul son of Kish was
  picked out. They looked for him, but when they
  could not find him, they asked the LORD, Is
  there still someone else?

23
Saul

• The LORD answered, Saul is over there, hiding
  behind the supplies. So they ran and brought
  Saul out to the people, and they could see that
  he was a foot taller than anyone else. Samuel
  said to the people, Here is the man the LORD has
  chosen! There is no one else among us like him.
  All the people shouted, Long live the king!
  Samuel explained to the people the rights and
  duties of a king, and then wrote them in a book,
  which he deposited in a holy place. Then he sent
  everyone home. Saul also went back home to
  Gibeah. Some powerful men, whose hearts God had
  touched, went with him. (1 Samuel 1017-26 GN)
• Did God chose a good king?
• Did God help them, even though having a king was
  a bad idea?

24
Saul what went wrong

• He did not trust God by waiting 7 days for Samuel
• Fighting the Philistines
• Saul Theres no time to consult the LORD! (1
  Samuel 1420 GN)
• Priest Lets consult God first (1 Samuel 1436
  GN)
• Saul The Israelites were weak with hunger that
  day, because Saul, with a solemn oath, had given
  the order A curse be on anyone who eats any
  food today before I take revenge on my enemies.
  So nobody had eaten anything all day. (1 Samuel
  1424 GN)
• Jonathan unknowingly breaks the oath May God
  strike me dead if you are not put to death! (1
  Samuel 1444 GN)
• But the people said to Saul, Will Jonathan, who
  won this great victory for Israel, be put to
  death? No! We promise by the living LORD that he
  will not lose even a hair from his head. What he
  did today was done with God's help. So the
  people saved Jonathan from being put to death.
  (1 Samuel 1445 GN)

25
Saul what went wrong?

• Saul was told to destroy the Amalekites
  completely, instead he kept the loot
• Samuel arrives He (Samuel) heard that Saul had
  gone to the town of Carmel, where he had built a
  monument to himself (1 Samuel 1512 GN)
• The LORD bless you, Samuel! I have obeyed the
  LORDs command. Samuel asked, Why, then, do I
  hear cattle mooing and sheep bleating? Saul
  answered, My men took them from the Amalekites.
  They kept the best sheep and cattle to offer as a
  sacrifice to the LORD your God, and the rest we
  have destroyed completely. (1 Samuel 1513-15
  GN)
• Why, then did you not obey him? Why did you rush
  to grab the loot, and so do what displeases the
  LORD (1 Samuel 1519 GN)

26
Saul what went wrong?

• But Samuel replied, What is more pleasing to
  the Lord your burnt offerings and sacrifices or
  your obedience to his voice?
• Obedience is far better than sacrifice. Listening
  to him is much better than offering the fat of
  rams. (1 Samuel 1522 NLT)

27
Saul what went wrong?

• Sauls jealousy of David
• Saul persecutes David
• When the priest helped David
• The king said, Ahimelech, you and all your
  relatives must die. Then he said to the guards
  standing near him, Kill the LORDs
  priests!Saul also had all the other inhabitants
  of Nob, the city priests, put to death men and
  women, children and babies, cattle, donkeys, and
  sheep they were all killed. (1 Samuel 2217,19
  GN)

28
The witch of Endor

• Now Samuel had died, and all the Israelites had
  mourned for him and had buried him in his
  hometown of Ramah. Saul had forced all the
  fortunetellers and mediums to leave Israel. The
  Philistine troops assembled and camped near the
  town of Shunem Saul gathered the Israelites and
  camped at Mount Gilboa. When Saul saw the
  Philistine army, he was terrified, and so he
  asked the LORD what to do. But the LORD did not
  answer him at all, either by dreams or by the use
  of Urim and Thummim or by prophets. Then Saul
  ordered his officials, Find me a woman who is a
  medium, and I will go and consult her. There is
  one in Endor, they answered. So Saul disguised
  himself he put on different clothes, and after
  dark he went with two of his men to see the
  woman. Consult the spirits for me and tell me
  what is going to happen, he said to her. Call
  up the spirit of the man I name. The woman
  answered, Surely you know what King Saul has
  done, how he forced the fortunetellers and
  mediums to leave Israel. Why, then, are you
  trying to trap me and get me killed?

29
The witch of Endor

• Then Saul made a sacred vow. By the living LORD
  I promise that you will not be punished for doing
  this, he told her. Whom shall I call up for
  you? the woman asked. Samuel, he answered.
  When the woman saw Samuel, she screamed and said
  to Saul, Why have you tricked me? You are King
  Saul! Dont be afraid! the king said to her.
  What do you see? I see a spirit coming up from
  the earth, she answered. What does it look
  like? he asked. Its an old man coming up, she
  answered. He is wearing a cloak. Then Saul knew
  that it was Samuel, and he bowed to the ground in
  respect. Samuel said to Saul, Why have you
  disturbed me? Why did you make me come back?
  Saul answered, I am in great trouble! The
  Philistines are at war with me, and God has
  abandoned me. He doesnt answer me any more,
  either by prophets or by dreams. And so I have
  called you, for you to tell me what I must do.

30
The witch of Endor

• Samuel said, Why do you call me when the LORD
  has abandoned you and become your enemy? The LORD
  has done to you what he told you through me he
  has taken the kingdom away from you and given it
  to David instead. You disobeyed the LORDs
  command and did not completely destroy the
  Amalekites and all they had. That is why the LORD
  is doing this to you now. He will give you and
  Israel over to the Philistines. Tomorrow you and
  your sons will join me, and the LORD will also
  give the army of Israel over to the Philistines.
  At once Saul fell down and lay stretched out on
  the ground, terrified by what Samuel had said. He
  was weak, because he had not eaten anything all
  day and all night. (1 Samuel 283-20 GN)

31
The witch of Endor

• Was that really Samuel?
• Can the dead speak to us?
• Would God use a forbidden practice to communicate
  with Saul?
• If any of you go for advice to people who
  consult the spirits of the dead, I will turn
  against you and will no longer consider you one
  of my people. (Leviticus 206 GN)
• Saul had them banned
• People will say to you, Ask for help from the
  mediums and the fortunetellers, who whisper and
  mutter. Shouldnt people ask their God for help
  instead? Why should they ask the dead to help the
  living? (Isaiah 819 GODS WORD)
• So Saul died because he was unfaithful to the
  Lord and did not obey the Lords instructions he
  even tried to conjure up underworld spirits. (1
  Chronicles 1013 NET Bible)

32
The witch of Endor

• Why have you disturbed me? Why did you make me
  come back?
• Does a witch have this kind of power?
• Tomorrow you and your sons will join me, and the
  LORD will also give the army of Israel over to
  the Philistines.
• True?

33
The witch of Endor

• Satans attempt to overwhelm and defeat Saul
• Satans attempt to lead the people to follow
  after spirits and mediums
• Prophets or interpreters of dreams may promise a
  miracle or a wonder, in order to lead you to
  worship and serve gods that you have not
  worshiped before. Even if what they promise comes
  true, do not pay any attention to them.
  (Deuteronomy 131-3 GN)

34
Summary

• Power
• God has reluctantly used power, but now we have
  seen his true power
• For I am not ashamed of the gospel it is the
  power of God for salvation to everyone who has
  faith, to the Jew first and also to the
  Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is
  revealed (Romans 116,17 NRSV)
• Miracles, signs, and wonders
• The Wicked One will come with the power of Satan
  and perform all kinds of false miracles and
  wonders, and use every kind of wicked deceit on
  those who will perish. They will perish because
  they did not welcome and love the truth so as to
  be saved (2 Thessalonians 29,10 GN).
• What truth?
• The dragon was furious with the woman and went
  off to fight against the rest of her descendants,
  all those who obey Gods commandments and are
  faithful to the truth revealed by Jesus
  (Revelation 1217).
• I am a servant together with you and with other
  believers, all those who hold to the truth that
  Jesus revealed. Worship God! For the truth that
  Jesus revealed is what inspires the prophets
  (Revelation 1910).
• I also saw the souls of those who had been
  executed because they had proclaimed the truth
  that Jesus revealed and the word of God
  (Revelation 204).