In the time of peace ushered in by Samson, there was a man named Elkenah who had two wives, Hannah and Peninnah. Though Peninnah had given him many children, he loved Hannah more and pitied her because she had no children. This stirred up jealousy in Peninnah, who harassed Hannah so badly that she would become so miserable she would be unable to even eat. When he would see her in this state, Elkenah would ask, “Why are you so sad? Don’t cry. Please, eat something. Is not my love for you greater than ten sons?”
Every year, Elkenah traveled with his family to the town of Shiloh to worship God there. The high priest in that time was Eli, a descendant of Ithamar, the youngest son of Aaron. Hannah, in her deep anguish, prayed silently, “Yahweh, look upon my misery and bless me with a son. If you do, I will dedicate him to your service for his entire life.”
Because she was moving her lips while she silently prayed, it appeared to Eli that she was drunk, so he said to her, “How long are you going to drunkenly mutter to yourself? Get rid of your wine.”
But she replied, “No sir, I am not drunk, I am pouring out my heart to Yahweh to take away my torment.”
Eli was touched, and replied, “Go in peace, then, and may God give you what you asked for.” Then Hannah left with hope in her heart.
Yahweh had indeed heard Hannah’s prayer and soon she had a baby boy, whom she named Samuel because God had heard her. After the baby was old enough to eat solid foods she took him back to Shiloh and showed him to Eli, saying, “Sir, I am the woman who stood before you and prayed for this child. Now I give him to you that he might serve Yahweh for his entire life.” Then they left the boy under the care of Eli and went on their way. And though she had given up what was most dear to her because Yahweh had answered her prayers, her heart overflowed with joy as she offered up a song of praise:
My heart rejoices in Yahweh.
My head is lifted up by Yahweh.
My lips rejoice in Yahweh’s salvation.
My mouth boasts over my enemies.
Do not speak of other gods;
There is none but Yahweh.
Do not let arrogance come out of your mouth,
for Yahweh weighs our actions.
The bows of mighty men are broken,
And those that stumble are filled with strength.
Those who were full now must beg for bread;
And those that were hungry, hunger no more.
Yahweh gives one life and sends another to the grave.
Yahweh makes people rich and poor,
Bringing some low, and lifting some up.
Giving to them a throne of glory as their inheritance.
The adversaries of Yahweh will be broken to pieces;
And thunder from heaven will be upon them:
Yahweh will judge all of the earth;
and lift the head of the anointed one.
Every year when they returned to Shiloh to offer sacrifices they would visit Samuel and give him a new robe. Eli would bless the parents, saying, “May Yahweh give you more children as a gift for the one you have dedicated here.” And while Samuel grew up in the temple with Eli, Hannah eventually was blessed with three more sons and two daughters.
Though Eli was raising Samuel in the love and knowledge of Yahweh, his own sons, Phineas and Hophni had grown up to be wicked men with no regard for their priestly responsibilities. Instead of letting the people offer their best sacrifices to Yahweh and then take what was leftover to meet their needs, these priests would take the first and best for themselves, using threats if need be, and making a mockery of this sacred rite.
When Eli learned of this, he said to them, “I’ve heard about this horrible thing you are doing. If you do evil against another person, Yahweh may forgive you. But when you mock your duties as priest and betray God, what hope is there for you?” But his sons refused to listen and Eli could not bring himself to restrain them.
One day a man came to Eli and delivered these words from Yahweh, “I revealed myself to your ancestors in Egypt and chose the line of Aaron to be my priests. When I created the law I made sure that all of your needs would be met. Why do you scorn the priesthood by favoring your sons over me? I promised that members of your family would serve as my priests forever, but you have turned from me. Now I declare that those who honor me will be honored and those who despise me will be despised. Here is what will happen, you will be the last of your family to see old age. The fate of your sons will be the proof of this, for they will both die on the same day. The line of priests will pass out of your family and I will raise up for myself a new and faithful priest who will know and follow my heart and mind.” Then the prophet left Eli alone to ponder these dire words.
Samuel grew up continuing in his duties alongside Eli. In those days, hearing the voice of Yahweh or seeing visions was rare, so when Yahweh called to Samuel one night, he thought it was Eli calling him from his nearby tent, so he ran over to him and said, “Here I am. You called for me?”
“I did not call you. Go back and lie down.”
When Yahweh called him a second and then a third time he again went to Eli and said, “Here I am. You called for me?”
After the third time, Eli realized it was Yahweh calling Samuel so he said, “Go back and lie down, but if you hear someone calling you again say, ‘Speak, Yahweh, for your servant is listening.’”
After he returned, Yahweh again called Samuel, who this time replied, “Speak, Yahweh, for your servant is listening.”
Yahweh said to Samuel, “I am about to do something which will grab the attention of everyone who hears about it. The time is near when I will do what I have foretold concerning Eli’s family, judging his sons for the evil that they did and that Eli willingly tolerated.”
Samuel was afraid to tell Eli what Yahweh had told him. But Eli called him over in the morning and said, “What did Yahweh say to you last night? Do not keep anything hidden from me.” Samuel told him the truth, and upon hearing these troubling words, Eli only responded with, “He is Yahweh and so will do what is right.”
Yahweh was with Samuel as he continued to grow. All of his words carried weight to those who heard them and soon all of Israel recognized him as Yahweh’s prophet.
Roused at the news that Samson had inflicted heavy losses on the Philistines, the Israelites went out in battle hoping to finish their enemies off, but they were instead badly defeated. Back at their camp, the survivors asked each other, “Why did Yahweh allow us to be defeated? Let’s get the ark of the covenant from Shiloh. Then we will defeat our enemies because we will carry Yahweh with us.”
So they sent men to Shiloh who returned with the ark of the covenant as well as Phineas and Hophni. When the ark arrived everyone let out such a yell that the ground shook and the Philistines asked themselves, “What’s all that shouting in the Hebrew camp?” When they learned what had happened they said, “No! A god is present in their camp. Nothing like this has ever happened. This is the god who defeated the Egyptians. Who can save us? We’re doomed!”
But some among the Philistines replied, “Be strong, Philistines, or we will be made the slaves of the Hebrews. Be strong and fight.”
At that their army desperately rushed into battle with Israelites, not realizing that Yahweh was not with the Israelites who had presumed to wield their God like a dust-coated sword that, once it had served its purpose, would be tossed aside again and forgotten as it had been in the generations after Joshua. But Yahweh, creator of all things, cannot be controlled by the will of men. The Philistines killed 30,000 Israelites that day, including Phineas and Hophni, and stole the ark of the covenant from them.
Some soldiers escaped the massacre and one of them went to Shiloh where Eli was watching and waiting, knowing in his heart that this use of the ark was wrong and fearing the worst. The man told Eli, “I just escaped the battle. Israel has suffered heavy losses. Your sons are both dead and the ark has been stolen.” At this mention of the ark, he fell backward off his chair in shock and died.
The Philistines carried the ark of the covenant back to one of their cities and placed it in their temple in front of a statue to Dagon. But the next morning when they entered the temple they found the statue had fallen face down in front of the ark. They picked the statue back up, but the next morning they found it had fallen again, this time breaking off the head and hands. Yahweh then cursed the Philistines of that town and they soon said, “The ark of the god of Israel can’t stay here. We are being cursed and so is our god Dagon. So they moved the ark to a different city. But soon that city was cursed so they moved it to a third city. When the people of that city saw it approaching they said, “They’ve brought the ark here to kill us. We need to send the ark back where it came from.”
After seven months of these curses, the leaders of the Philistines decided to send back the ark along with a gift of gold to try and pay for their wrongdoing and stop the curse. But they wanted to be sure that it was really the Israelite God, the God who had plagued their neighbors the Egyptians in ages past, who had cursed them so they sent the ark and their golden offering back on a cart pulled by two cows who had recently had calves. They kept the calves separated from their mothers and then said, “If the cows travel all the way back to the Israelites then we know this curse is from the Israelite god. But if they turn back to be with their calves then we know it was not a god that cursed us.”
The cows walked straight back to the Israelites without stopping. When the Israelites saw the ark returning they rejoiced and used the wood of the cart and cows who had pulled it to make a sacrifice of thanks to Yahweh. Then the ark was taken to the town of Kiriath Jearim on the border between Benjamin and Judah to the house of Abinadab where it was guarded for the next 20 years.
Then all of Israel re-committed themselves to God. Samuel told them, “If you truly love Yahweh then get rid of your idols to Baal and Ashtoreth, serve the one true God only and you will defeat your enemies the Philistines. Now, have everyone assemble and I will pray to Yahweh for you.” So they rid themselves of their false gods and then gathered together to confess their sins to Yahweh.
When the Philistines learned that all of Israel had amassed they assumed they were preparing for war so they sent their army against them. The Israelites were scared and said to Samuel, “Do not stop praying that Yahweh would rescue us from the Philistines.” And God soon answered this prayer. Yahweh spoke like thunder, terrifying the Philistines and throwing them into a panic so that the Israelites were able to easily defeat them. With this loss, the Philistines didn’t dare attack Israel for the rest of Samuel’s life as a judge.
When Samuel was old he appointed his sons as the next generation of judges over Israel, but they did not follow their father’s example, being unjust and corrupt. So the leaders of Israel gathered before Samuel and said, “You are old and your sons have abused their authority. Appoint a king to rule over us so we will be like every other nation.”
But in Samuel’s heart, he knew that Yahweh was the only true king of Israel, indeed of all the world, and that Israel was called to be a nation set apart from every other nation, as a beacon of holiness to lead all nations back to their God. He remembered the words of Moses who said, “I know you, so I can say with confidence that the day will come when the presence of Yahweh will no longer satisfy you as a nation and you will desire a king from among the people to rule over you as other nations have.”
Seeing Samuel’s worried heart, Yahweh said to him, “Listen to the voice of the people. They have not rejected you. They have rejected me as their king as they have done since the day that I brought them out of Egypt. From that day to this they have turned their backs on me and served other gods. They have shown that will not be governed as I have intended. So do as they ask of you, but solemnly warn them of the cost of setting an earthly king over them.”
Samuel told the leaders everything Yahweh had said, adding, “A king will take your sons and require them to be in his army, or harvest his crops, or be his craftsmen. He will take your daughters and require them to be his cooks and his perfumers. He will take a portion of everything you produce for himself. You will become like his slaves and you will cry out to God for relief, but you will hear no answer because you have made this the fate of our nation.”
But the leaders called out, “We accept all this. We want a king over us so we will be like other nations.” So Samuel sent them away and began his search, not yet knowing that Israel’s future king was a Benjaminite donkey herder named Saul, the son of Kish.
One day Kish’s donkeys ran off and he sent his son Saul along with one of his servants to search the countryside for them. They traveled far and wide and after they had been gone for many days without success Saul said, “We need to go back or my father is going to be more worried about us than the donkeys.”
But the servant replied, “We are near the town where Samuel the prophet lives. Maybe he can tell us where the donkeys are.”
At this exact moment, Yahweh spoke to Samuel, telling him, “You will soon meet a Benjaminite who you will anoint the king of Israel. I have heard the wishes of the people and this man will lead them.”
As Saul approached, Yahweh said to Samuel, “This is the man I spoke to you about.”
Samuel said to Saul, “I am who you are looking for. Spend the day with me and tomorrow I will tell you everything you need to know. In fact, all of Israel is interested in your future. Don’t worry about the donkeys you have been searching for, they have already been found.”
Saul said, “I am from the weakest clan of the weakest tribe in all of Israel. Why are you treating me as though I am important?” but Samuel would not answer him.
That night they ate together and the next morning as Saul was preparing to leave Samuel took out a flask of the finest oil and poured it over Saul’s head as a sign of Yahweh’s blessing, saying, “God has made you king over all Israel. When you leave this place you will meet two men who will tell you that the donkeys you were looking for have been returned to your father and that he is worried about you. On your way home you will meet three other men. One will have three goats, another three loaves of bread, and the third will have wine. After this you will see a line of prophets coming out of a nearby town, singing and prophesying. The Spirit of God will come upon you and you will prophesy too. On that day you will become a different person. After this, whatever you choose to do, Yahweh will be with you.”
And so all of these things soon came to pass exactly as Samuel had laid them out and the people that looked upon Saul said, “What has happened to Saul? Is he a prophet too?”
Samuel then summoned all of Israel and said to them, “Yahweh has been our king since the beginning, saving us from every disaster or enemy that came upon us. But you have rejected that kingship and instead demanded an earthly ruler. So now, present yourselves by tribe and by clan and by family and Yahweh will show us who among you has been chosen.” Samuel called forward the tribe of Benjamin, then clan of Matri, and finally the family of Kish, but when he called for Saul they could not find him.
Yahweh told Samuel, “He is hiding among their supplies.”
When his family found him and presented him to the assembly they were amazed to see that he was taller than any other Israelite and they said, “Look whom Yahweh has chosen. There is no one else like him in all our land. Long live the king!” Samuel explained the privileges and responsibilities of being king to Saul and all the people and then sent them all back to their homes.
Saul’s first test as king came when the Ammonites besieged a Hebrew town. The townsfolk begged the Ammonites for a treaty, but the Ammonites would only agree if they humiliated themselves by having one of their eyes gouged out. They were given seven days to make their decision. When Saul learned of this he became very angry. He butchered two cows and sent the pieces to every part of Israel with a message. “This will be the fate of anyone who does not follow Saul and Samuel into battle against the Ammonites.” More than 300,000 men assembled for battle. He sent word to the besieged town, “Tomorrow you will be rescued.” And so early in the morning, Saul split his men into three groups who surrounded and destroyed the Ammonites.
If this victory marked the beginning of Saul’s 42-year reign over Israel, then it was his war with the Philistines that signified the beginning of his end. As the conflict dragged on, Saul found himself overwhelmed and retreating into some nearby caves, hiding and waiting for Samuel to arrive to offer sacrifices to Yahweh and ask for help. But as his men began to abandon him, Saul became impatient and in an attempt to force Yahweh to appear, violated the law by performing the priestly responsibilities himself. It was at that moment that Samuel arrived and said, “What have you done?”
“My men were abandoning me, my enemies surround me, and you were nowhere to be found. What other choice did I have?”
“Your choice was a foolish one. You knowingly violated the law of Yahweh. If you had stayed humble and faithful to your God then your line would have ruled Israel for all time. But now, your kingship ends with you, for Yahweh has already chosen another king.”
As they continued to hide the hillside caves, Saul’s son Jonathan, a warrior like his father, snuck out of their cave along with his young armor-bearer, saying, “Let us go to the Philistine outpost. Perhaps Yahweh will be with us. Whether through an army or only a few people, Yahweh is able to rescue our people.”
“I’m with you, heart and soul,” his servant replied.
“Alright, when they see us coming they will try to capture us. If they come down to us, we will allow ourselves to be captured, but if they taunt us to come up and fight them then we know that Yahweh is with us and that they will be defeated.”
As they approached the outpost one of the soldiers said, “Look the Hebrews have crawled out of their holes. Come on up here and we’ll teach you a lesson!”
As the two approached the outpost they suddenly launched into an attack and through the power of Yahweh, killed twenty of the Philistines. At this moment Yahweh sent a panic on the entire Philistine army. Saul’s lookouts saw the army in disarray and so Saul mustered what remaining men he had and attacked. But in the Philistine camp, the soldiers had fallen into confusion, confusing each other for the enemy, and so their Israelites prisoners were able to escape and join Saul’s army. At this same moment, soldiers who had fled Saul’s army and had hidden in the hills descended upon the Philistines and with their combined forces delivered a major defeat to the Philistines.
But Saul would not be satisfied until this enemy, who had previously humiliated his forces, was utterly destroyed. He swore an oath to Yahweh that no one in his army would eat until the Philistines were obliterated. By the end of the day, after hours of ceaseless combat, his men were nearly overcome by their hunger. But Jonathan, who had been separated from the rest of the army since before the fighting began, had not heard his father’s oath and so ate some honey he found as they marched, immediately giving him renewed energy.
The soldiers warned him of the oath they were all under, but Jonathan replied, “My father is making your lives unnecessarily difficult. Look at how much better I feel after just a little bit of honey. It would have been so much better if you all had eaten some food, the defeat of our enemies would have been even greater.
After defeating even more Philistine camps, Saul decided to allow his men to eat. As night came, Saul said, “Let’s continue our march against the Philistines into the night.”
But Samuel said, “Let’s find out what Yahweh wants us to do.” But they received no answer that day.
Saul then said, “I want all the leaders of my army to gather here. Yahweh did not answer us so now we will find out who is at fault. Even if it is my own son, whoever is guilty will die.”
Saul called out to Yahweh, “Why haven’t you answered us? If either Jonathan or I have done something wrong,, tell me.”
Yahweh identified that Jonathan was the reason for the silence, so Saul asked his son, “What have you done?”
“I ate some honey and violated the oath you made before Yahweh so now I must die.”
But Saul’s men came to Jonathan’s defense, saying, “Why should he die? His efforts led to our victory over our enemies. No, by God, you must not harm him in the least. What he did he did with Yahweh’s help.”
So, in the presence of Yahweh, Saul dissolved his oath, spared his son, and ended his pursuit of the Philistines, who withdrew to their own lands. During his rule, he defended Israel on every side from its enemies: the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Amalekites, and Philistines. But in his fervor to rid Israel of any perceived enemy, he hunted down and killed many of the Gibeonites, who had made peace with Joshua, and destroyed their city. All the days of his reign were filled with warfare and whenever he saw a powerful or brave man in Israel he added him to his army.
These calls to war were often precipitated by Samuel delivering Yahweh’s words to Saul. On one occasion he said to the king, “The Amalekites are beyond redemption. Yahweh’s judgment has finally come upon them for their unprovoked attack against your ancestors in the wilderness. Let none of them survive your attack, not even their animals.”
So Saul led his army in an attack against the Amalekites, but in his hubris he allowed some of them to escape and took Agag their king as his captive along with the best of their animals.
As this happened God said to Samuel, “I regret having made Saul king, for he listens to only his own counsel.”
So Samuel quickly set off to find Saul. As he approached, Saul said to him, “Come and see, I have carried out Yahweh’s instructions.”
“Really?” Samuel replied, “Then why do I hear the bleating of sheep and mooing of cows?”
“We took the best animals from the Amalekites because we intend to sacrifice them to Yahweh.”
“Enough! Hear the word of God! Although you once thought yourself unimportant, Yahweh made you king of all of Israel. And that same God sent you with a mission to destroy the Amalekites completely, including their animals. Why didn’t you obey? Why did you take this plunder for yourself?”
Saul replied, “But I did obey! I destroyed the Amalekites and brought back Agag as my prisoner. We brought back these animals as a sacrifice.”
“Does Yahweh desire sacrifices more than obedience? Your arrogance has made you like a god in your own eyes. Because you have rejected Yahweh commands, so you are now rejected as king.”
Saul replied, “I was afraid of what my soldiers would do if I refused to them the spoils of war. I understand that I’ve disobeyed God’s command. Forgive me and let’s go back together to worship God.”
But Samuel said, “I will not go back with you.” Then, as Samuel turned to leave, Saul grabbed his robe to stop him, but it tore in his hand. So Samuel said, “So to will this kingdom be torn from you and given to another whose heart is like Yahweh’s.” Then he said to one of the soldiers, “Bring Agag to me,” and then Samuel put him to death.
Then Samuel left Saul, never returning to him as long as he lived, ever mourning the man he once was and the king he had become.
Every year, Elkenah traveled with his family to the town of Shiloh to worship God there. The high priest in that time was Eli, a descendant of Ithamar, the youngest son of Aaron. Hannah, in her deep anguish, prayed silently, “Yahweh, look upon my misery and bless me with a son. If you do, I will dedicate him to your service for his entire life.”
Because she was moving her lips while she silently prayed, it appeared to Eli that she was drunk, so he said to her, “How long are you going to drunkenly mutter to yourself? Get rid of your wine.”
But she replied, “No sir, I am not drunk, I am pouring out my heart to Yahweh to take away my torment.”
Eli was touched, and replied, “Go in peace, then, and may God give you what you asked for.” Then Hannah left with hope in her heart.
Yahweh had indeed heard Hannah’s prayer and soon she had a baby boy, whom she named Samuel because God had heard her. After the baby was old enough to eat solid foods she took him back to Shiloh and showed him to Eli, saying, “Sir, I am the woman who stood before you and prayed for this child. Now I give him to you that he might serve Yahweh for his entire life.” Then they left the boy under the care of Eli and went on their way. And though she had given up what was most dear to her because Yahweh had answered her prayers, her heart overflowed with joy as she offered up a song of praise:
My heart rejoices in Yahweh.
My head is lifted up by Yahweh.
My lips rejoice in Yahweh’s salvation.
My mouth boasts over my enemies.
Do not speak of other gods;
There is none but Yahweh.
Do not let arrogance come out of your mouth,
for Yahweh weighs our actions.
The bows of mighty men are broken,
And those that stumble are filled with strength.
Those who were full now must beg for bread;
And those that were hungry, hunger no more.
Yahweh gives one life and sends another to the grave.
Yahweh makes people rich and poor,
Bringing some low, and lifting some up.
Giving to them a throne of glory as their inheritance.
The adversaries of Yahweh will be broken to pieces;
And thunder from heaven will be upon them:
Yahweh will judge all of the earth;
and lift the head of the anointed one.
Every year when they returned to Shiloh to offer sacrifices they would visit Samuel and give him a new robe. Eli would bless the parents, saying, “May Yahweh give you more children as a gift for the one you have dedicated here.” And while Samuel grew up in the temple with Eli, Hannah eventually was blessed with three more sons and two daughters.
Though Eli was raising Samuel in the love and knowledge of Yahweh, his own sons, Phineas and Hophni had grown up to be wicked men with no regard for their priestly responsibilities. Instead of letting the people offer their best sacrifices to Yahweh and then take what was leftover to meet their needs, these priests would take the first and best for themselves, using threats if need be, and making a mockery of this sacred rite.
When Eli learned of this, he said to them, “I’ve heard about this horrible thing you are doing. If you do evil against another person, Yahweh may forgive you. But when you mock your duties as priest and betray God, what hope is there for you?” But his sons refused to listen and Eli could not bring himself to restrain them.
One day a man came to Eli and delivered these words from Yahweh, “I revealed myself to your ancestors in Egypt and chose the line of Aaron to be my priests. When I created the law I made sure that all of your needs would be met. Why do you scorn the priesthood by favoring your sons over me? I promised that members of your family would serve as my priests forever, but you have turned from me. Now I declare that those who honor me will be honored and those who despise me will be despised. Here is what will happen, you will be the last of your family to see old age. The fate of your sons will be the proof of this, for they will both die on the same day. The line of priests will pass out of your family and I will raise up for myself a new and faithful priest who will know and follow my heart and mind.” Then the prophet left Eli alone to ponder these dire words.
Samuel grew up continuing in his duties alongside Eli. In those days, hearing the voice of Yahweh or seeing visions was rare, so when Yahweh called to Samuel one night, he thought it was Eli calling him from his nearby tent, so he ran over to him and said, “Here I am. You called for me?”
“I did not call you. Go back and lie down.”
When Yahweh called him a second and then a third time he again went to Eli and said, “Here I am. You called for me?”
After the third time, Eli realized it was Yahweh calling Samuel so he said, “Go back and lie down, but if you hear someone calling you again say, ‘Speak, Yahweh, for your servant is listening.’”
After he returned, Yahweh again called Samuel, who this time replied, “Speak, Yahweh, for your servant is listening.”
Yahweh said to Samuel, “I am about to do something which will grab the attention of everyone who hears about it. The time is near when I will do what I have foretold concerning Eli’s family, judging his sons for the evil that they did and that Eli willingly tolerated.”
Samuel was afraid to tell Eli what Yahweh had told him. But Eli called him over in the morning and said, “What did Yahweh say to you last night? Do not keep anything hidden from me.” Samuel told him the truth, and upon hearing these troubling words, Eli only responded with, “He is Yahweh and so will do what is right.”
Yahweh was with Samuel as he continued to grow. All of his words carried weight to those who heard them and soon all of Israel recognized him as Yahweh’s prophet.
Roused at the news that Samson had inflicted heavy losses on the Philistines, the Israelites went out in battle hoping to finish their enemies off, but they were instead badly defeated. Back at their camp, the survivors asked each other, “Why did Yahweh allow us to be defeated? Let’s get the ark of the covenant from Shiloh. Then we will defeat our enemies because we will carry Yahweh with us.”
So they sent men to Shiloh who returned with the ark of the covenant as well as Phineas and Hophni. When the ark arrived everyone let out such a yell that the ground shook and the Philistines asked themselves, “What’s all that shouting in the Hebrew camp?” When they learned what had happened they said, “No! A god is present in their camp. Nothing like this has ever happened. This is the god who defeated the Egyptians. Who can save us? We’re doomed!”
But some among the Philistines replied, “Be strong, Philistines, or we will be made the slaves of the Hebrews. Be strong and fight.”
At that their army desperately rushed into battle with Israelites, not realizing that Yahweh was not with the Israelites who had presumed to wield their God like a dust-coated sword that, once it had served its purpose, would be tossed aside again and forgotten as it had been in the generations after Joshua. But Yahweh, creator of all things, cannot be controlled by the will of men. The Philistines killed 30,000 Israelites that day, including Phineas and Hophni, and stole the ark of the covenant from them.
Some soldiers escaped the massacre and one of them went to Shiloh where Eli was watching and waiting, knowing in his heart that this use of the ark was wrong and fearing the worst. The man told Eli, “I just escaped the battle. Israel has suffered heavy losses. Your sons are both dead and the ark has been stolen.” At this mention of the ark, he fell backward off his chair in shock and died.
The Philistines carried the ark of the covenant back to one of their cities and placed it in their temple in front of a statue to Dagon. But the next morning when they entered the temple they found the statue had fallen face down in front of the ark. They picked the statue back up, but the next morning they found it had fallen again, this time breaking off the head and hands. Yahweh then cursed the Philistines of that town and they soon said, “The ark of the god of Israel can’t stay here. We are being cursed and so is our god Dagon. So they moved the ark to a different city. But soon that city was cursed so they moved it to a third city. When the people of that city saw it approaching they said, “They’ve brought the ark here to kill us. We need to send the ark back where it came from.”
After seven months of these curses, the leaders of the Philistines decided to send back the ark along with a gift of gold to try and pay for their wrongdoing and stop the curse. But they wanted to be sure that it was really the Israelite God, the God who had plagued their neighbors the Egyptians in ages past, who had cursed them so they sent the ark and their golden offering back on a cart pulled by two cows who had recently had calves. They kept the calves separated from their mothers and then said, “If the cows travel all the way back to the Israelites then we know this curse is from the Israelite god. But if they turn back to be with their calves then we know it was not a god that cursed us.”
The cows walked straight back to the Israelites without stopping. When the Israelites saw the ark returning they rejoiced and used the wood of the cart and cows who had pulled it to make a sacrifice of thanks to Yahweh. Then the ark was taken to the town of Kiriath Jearim on the border between Benjamin and Judah to the house of Abinadab where it was guarded for the next 20 years.
Then all of Israel re-committed themselves to God. Samuel told them, “If you truly love Yahweh then get rid of your idols to Baal and Ashtoreth, serve the one true God only and you will defeat your enemies the Philistines. Now, have everyone assemble and I will pray to Yahweh for you.” So they rid themselves of their false gods and then gathered together to confess their sins to Yahweh.
When the Philistines learned that all of Israel had amassed they assumed they were preparing for war so they sent their army against them. The Israelites were scared and said to Samuel, “Do not stop praying that Yahweh would rescue us from the Philistines.” And God soon answered this prayer. Yahweh spoke like thunder, terrifying the Philistines and throwing them into a panic so that the Israelites were able to easily defeat them. With this loss, the Philistines didn’t dare attack Israel for the rest of Samuel’s life as a judge.
When Samuel was old he appointed his sons as the next generation of judges over Israel, but they did not follow their father’s example, being unjust and corrupt. So the leaders of Israel gathered before Samuel and said, “You are old and your sons have abused their authority. Appoint a king to rule over us so we will be like every other nation.”
But in Samuel’s heart, he knew that Yahweh was the only true king of Israel, indeed of all the world, and that Israel was called to be a nation set apart from every other nation, as a beacon of holiness to lead all nations back to their God. He remembered the words of Moses who said, “I know you, so I can say with confidence that the day will come when the presence of Yahweh will no longer satisfy you as a nation and you will desire a king from among the people to rule over you as other nations have.”
Seeing Samuel’s worried heart, Yahweh said to him, “Listen to the voice of the people. They have not rejected you. They have rejected me as their king as they have done since the day that I brought them out of Egypt. From that day to this they have turned their backs on me and served other gods. They have shown that will not be governed as I have intended. So do as they ask of you, but solemnly warn them of the cost of setting an earthly king over them.”
Samuel told the leaders everything Yahweh had said, adding, “A king will take your sons and require them to be in his army, or harvest his crops, or be his craftsmen. He will take your daughters and require them to be his cooks and his perfumers. He will take a portion of everything you produce for himself. You will become like his slaves and you will cry out to God for relief, but you will hear no answer because you have made this the fate of our nation.”
But the leaders called out, “We accept all this. We want a king over us so we will be like other nations.” So Samuel sent them away and began his search, not yet knowing that Israel’s future king was a Benjaminite donkey herder named Saul, the son of Kish.
One day Kish’s donkeys ran off and he sent his son Saul along with one of his servants to search the countryside for them. They traveled far and wide and after they had been gone for many days without success Saul said, “We need to go back or my father is going to be more worried about us than the donkeys.”
But the servant replied, “We are near the town where Samuel the prophet lives. Maybe he can tell us where the donkeys are.”
At this exact moment, Yahweh spoke to Samuel, telling him, “You will soon meet a Benjaminite who you will anoint the king of Israel. I have heard the wishes of the people and this man will lead them.”
As Saul approached, Yahweh said to Samuel, “This is the man I spoke to you about.”
Samuel said to Saul, “I am who you are looking for. Spend the day with me and tomorrow I will tell you everything you need to know. In fact, all of Israel is interested in your future. Don’t worry about the donkeys you have been searching for, they have already been found.”
Saul said, “I am from the weakest clan of the weakest tribe in all of Israel. Why are you treating me as though I am important?” but Samuel would not answer him.
That night they ate together and the next morning as Saul was preparing to leave Samuel took out a flask of the finest oil and poured it over Saul’s head as a sign of Yahweh’s blessing, saying, “God has made you king over all Israel. When you leave this place you will meet two men who will tell you that the donkeys you were looking for have been returned to your father and that he is worried about you. On your way home you will meet three other men. One will have three goats, another three loaves of bread, and the third will have wine. After this you will see a line of prophets coming out of a nearby town, singing and prophesying. The Spirit of God will come upon you and you will prophesy too. On that day you will become a different person. After this, whatever you choose to do, Yahweh will be with you.”
And so all of these things soon came to pass exactly as Samuel had laid them out and the people that looked upon Saul said, “What has happened to Saul? Is he a prophet too?”
Samuel then summoned all of Israel and said to them, “Yahweh has been our king since the beginning, saving us from every disaster or enemy that came upon us. But you have rejected that kingship and instead demanded an earthly ruler. So now, present yourselves by tribe and by clan and by family and Yahweh will show us who among you has been chosen.” Samuel called forward the tribe of Benjamin, then clan of Matri, and finally the family of Kish, but when he called for Saul they could not find him.
Yahweh told Samuel, “He is hiding among their supplies.”
When his family found him and presented him to the assembly they were amazed to see that he was taller than any other Israelite and they said, “Look whom Yahweh has chosen. There is no one else like him in all our land. Long live the king!” Samuel explained the privileges and responsibilities of being king to Saul and all the people and then sent them all back to their homes.
Saul’s first test as king came when the Ammonites besieged a Hebrew town. The townsfolk begged the Ammonites for a treaty, but the Ammonites would only agree if they humiliated themselves by having one of their eyes gouged out. They were given seven days to make their decision. When Saul learned of this he became very angry. He butchered two cows and sent the pieces to every part of Israel with a message. “This will be the fate of anyone who does not follow Saul and Samuel into battle against the Ammonites.” More than 300,000 men assembled for battle. He sent word to the besieged town, “Tomorrow you will be rescued.” And so early in the morning, Saul split his men into three groups who surrounded and destroyed the Ammonites.
If this victory marked the beginning of Saul’s 42-year reign over Israel, then it was his war with the Philistines that signified the beginning of his end. As the conflict dragged on, Saul found himself overwhelmed and retreating into some nearby caves, hiding and waiting for Samuel to arrive to offer sacrifices to Yahweh and ask for help. But as his men began to abandon him, Saul became impatient and in an attempt to force Yahweh to appear, violated the law by performing the priestly responsibilities himself. It was at that moment that Samuel arrived and said, “What have you done?”
“My men were abandoning me, my enemies surround me, and you were nowhere to be found. What other choice did I have?”
“Your choice was a foolish one. You knowingly violated the law of Yahweh. If you had stayed humble and faithful to your God then your line would have ruled Israel for all time. But now, your kingship ends with you, for Yahweh has already chosen another king.”
As they continued to hide the hillside caves, Saul’s son Jonathan, a warrior like his father, snuck out of their cave along with his young armor-bearer, saying, “Let us go to the Philistine outpost. Perhaps Yahweh will be with us. Whether through an army or only a few people, Yahweh is able to rescue our people.”
“I’m with you, heart and soul,” his servant replied.
“Alright, when they see us coming they will try to capture us. If they come down to us, we will allow ourselves to be captured, but if they taunt us to come up and fight them then we know that Yahweh is with us and that they will be defeated.”
As they approached the outpost one of the soldiers said, “Look the Hebrews have crawled out of their holes. Come on up here and we’ll teach you a lesson!”
As the two approached the outpost they suddenly launched into an attack and through the power of Yahweh, killed twenty of the Philistines. At this moment Yahweh sent a panic on the entire Philistine army. Saul’s lookouts saw the army in disarray and so Saul mustered what remaining men he had and attacked. But in the Philistine camp, the soldiers had fallen into confusion, confusing each other for the enemy, and so their Israelites prisoners were able to escape and join Saul’s army. At this same moment, soldiers who had fled Saul’s army and had hidden in the hills descended upon the Philistines and with their combined forces delivered a major defeat to the Philistines.
But Saul would not be satisfied until this enemy, who had previously humiliated his forces, was utterly destroyed. He swore an oath to Yahweh that no one in his army would eat until the Philistines were obliterated. By the end of the day, after hours of ceaseless combat, his men were nearly overcome by their hunger. But Jonathan, who had been separated from the rest of the army since before the fighting began, had not heard his father’s oath and so ate some honey he found as they marched, immediately giving him renewed energy.
The soldiers warned him of the oath they were all under, but Jonathan replied, “My father is making your lives unnecessarily difficult. Look at how much better I feel after just a little bit of honey. It would have been so much better if you all had eaten some food, the defeat of our enemies would have been even greater.
After defeating even more Philistine camps, Saul decided to allow his men to eat. As night came, Saul said, “Let’s continue our march against the Philistines into the night.”
But Samuel said, “Let’s find out what Yahweh wants us to do.” But they received no answer that day.
Saul then said, “I want all the leaders of my army to gather here. Yahweh did not answer us so now we will find out who is at fault. Even if it is my own son, whoever is guilty will die.”
Saul called out to Yahweh, “Why haven’t you answered us? If either Jonathan or I have done something wrong,, tell me.”
Yahweh identified that Jonathan was the reason for the silence, so Saul asked his son, “What have you done?”
“I ate some honey and violated the oath you made before Yahweh so now I must die.”
But Saul’s men came to Jonathan’s defense, saying, “Why should he die? His efforts led to our victory over our enemies. No, by God, you must not harm him in the least. What he did he did with Yahweh’s help.”
So, in the presence of Yahweh, Saul dissolved his oath, spared his son, and ended his pursuit of the Philistines, who withdrew to their own lands. During his rule, he defended Israel on every side from its enemies: the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Amalekites, and Philistines. But in his fervor to rid Israel of any perceived enemy, he hunted down and killed many of the Gibeonites, who had made peace with Joshua, and destroyed their city. All the days of his reign were filled with warfare and whenever he saw a powerful or brave man in Israel he added him to his army.
These calls to war were often precipitated by Samuel delivering Yahweh’s words to Saul. On one occasion he said to the king, “The Amalekites are beyond redemption. Yahweh’s judgment has finally come upon them for their unprovoked attack against your ancestors in the wilderness. Let none of them survive your attack, not even their animals.”
So Saul led his army in an attack against the Amalekites, but in his hubris he allowed some of them to escape and took Agag their king as his captive along with the best of their animals.
As this happened God said to Samuel, “I regret having made Saul king, for he listens to only his own counsel.”
So Samuel quickly set off to find Saul. As he approached, Saul said to him, “Come and see, I have carried out Yahweh’s instructions.”
“Really?” Samuel replied, “Then why do I hear the bleating of sheep and mooing of cows?”
“We took the best animals from the Amalekites because we intend to sacrifice them to Yahweh.”
“Enough! Hear the word of God! Although you once thought yourself unimportant, Yahweh made you king of all of Israel. And that same God sent you with a mission to destroy the Amalekites completely, including their animals. Why didn’t you obey? Why did you take this plunder for yourself?”
Saul replied, “But I did obey! I destroyed the Amalekites and brought back Agag as my prisoner. We brought back these animals as a sacrifice.”
“Does Yahweh desire sacrifices more than obedience? Your arrogance has made you like a god in your own eyes. Because you have rejected Yahweh commands, so you are now rejected as king.”
Saul replied, “I was afraid of what my soldiers would do if I refused to them the spoils of war. I understand that I’ve disobeyed God’s command. Forgive me and let’s go back together to worship God.”
But Samuel said, “I will not go back with you.” Then, as Samuel turned to leave, Saul grabbed his robe to stop him, but it tore in his hand. So Samuel said, “So to will this kingdom be torn from you and given to another whose heart is like Yahweh’s.” Then he said to one of the soldiers, “Bring Agag to me,” and then Samuel put him to death.
Then Samuel left Saul, never returning to him as long as he lived, ever mourning the man he once was and the king he had become.
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