OT Survey I

1. OT Survey I 1 Samuel

2. Purpose of OT Survey • “This class is designed to survey the Hebrew Scriptures so as to give the student a good framework for understanding God’s plan and character as He deals with the nation of Israel. The Old Testament will be studied according to the division of the English canon: Pentateuch, historical books, wisdom literature, and prophets. Emphasis will be placed on understanding the broad sweep of this portion of divine revelation, and particularly on how later revelation builds on earlier revelation. OT Survey I covers Genesis through Chronicles.”

3. Purpose of OT Survey • “This class is designed to survey the Hebrew Scriptures so as to give the student a good framework for understanding God’s plan and character as He deals with the nation of Israel. The Old Testament will be studied according to the division of the English canon: Pentateuch, historical books, wisdom literature, and prophets. Emphasis will be placed on understanding the broad sweep of this portion of divine revelation, and particularly on how later revelation builds on earlier revelation. OT Survey I covers Genesis through Chronicles.”

4. Purpose of OT Survey (cont.) Exodus 20 Hosea 4:1-2 1) … no other gods before Me (v. 3) Listen to the word of the LORD, O sons of Israel, for the LORD has a case against the inhabitants of the land, because there is no faithfulness or kindness or knowledge of God in the land. There is swearing, deception, murder, stealing, and adultery. They employ violence, so that bloodshed follows bloodshed 2) … not make for yourself an idol (v. 4) 3) … not take the name of the LORD your God in vain (v. 7) 4) Remember the sabbath day (v. 8) 5) Honor your father and mother (v. 12) 6) You shall not murder (v. 13) 7) You shall not commit adultery (v. 14) 8) You shall not steal (v. 15) 9) You shall not bear false witness (v. 16) 10) You shall not covet … (v. 17)

5. Purpose of OT Survey (cont.) 2 Samuel 7:12-16 Psalm 89:29-35 When your days are complete and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your descendant after you ... I will be a father to him and he will be a son to Me; when he commits iniquity, I will correct him with the rod of men and the strokes of the sons of men, but My lovingkindness shall not depart from him, as I took it away from Saul, whom I removed from before you. And your house and your kingdom shall endure before Me forever; your throne shall be established forever. So I will establish his descendants forever, and his throne as the days of heaven. If his sons forsake My law, and do not walk in My judgments, if they violate My statutes, and do not keep My commandments, then I will visit their transgression with the rod, and their iniquity with stripes. But I will not break off My lovingkindness from him, Nor deal falsely in My faithfulness. My covenant I will not violate, nor will I alter the utterance of My lips. Once I have sworn by My holiness; I will not lie to David.

6. Location of Samuel in Canon English Hebrew • Joshua • Judges • Ruth • Samuel • Kings • Chronicles • Ezra/Neh/Est [Historical Books] [Former Prophets] • Joshua • Judges • Samuel • Kings [Writings] • . . . Proverbs • Ruth . . .

7. Hebrew [Former Prophets] • Joshua • Judges • Samuel • Kings [Writings] • . . . Proverbs • Ruth . . . Location of Samuel in Canon English • Joshua • Judges • Ruth • Samuel • Kings • Chronicles • Ezra/Neh/Est [Historical Books] • During the time of the judges… (Ruth 1:1) • Salmon was the father of Boaz, Boaz was the father of Obed. Obed was the father of Jesse, and Jesse was the father of David (Ruth 4:21-22)

8. Location of Samuel in Canon English Hebrew [Historical Books] • Joshua • Judges • Ruth • Samuel • Kings • Chronicles • Ezra/Neh/Est [Former Prophets] • Joshua • Judges • Samuel • Kings • Men worshipping elsewhere while “House of God” is at Shiloh (Judg 18:31) [Writings] • Men instead going to Shiloh because they need to steal wives (Judg 21:19ff) • . . . Proverbs • Ruth . . . • Man with two wives going to Shiloh to worship; he did it year after year! (1 Sam 1:1ff)

9. Pentateuch (esp. Deuteronomy) Joshua Judges Samuel Story of 1 Samuel

10. Story of 1 Samuel (Cont.) • Deuteronomy – Great and precious promises! • Joshua • Faithfulness of God giving land • Faithlessness of Israel • Joshua’s Charge (As for me and my house…) • Judges • 7 cycles, downward spiral • Dreadful Appendix • In those days . . . Judg 17:6 • Micah’s idol, Dan migration, Gibeah’s wickedness • In those days . . . Judg 21:25

11. Story of 1 Samuel (Cont.) Another judge? Another Samson? • 1 Samuel 1 - • 1 Samuel 2 - (Hannah’s Prayer) Divine reversal based on godliness Mention of a king! • 1 Samuel 2-3 - Eli’s family down; Samuel up • 1 Samuel 4-6 - A Battle! But, where’s the judge? • 1 Samuel 7 - The judge leads in repentance, not battle, but the battle is won • 1 Samuel 8 - The lesson has been taught, but has it been learned? The test! They failed!

12. Structure • 1 Samuel 1- 7 – The Ministry of Samuel • 1 Samuel 8 – Israel Rejects God • 1 Samuel 9-11– Saul becomes king • 1 Samuel 12 – God’s Promise of Grace • 1 Samuel 13-15 – Saul rejected as king • 1 Samuel 16 – David Chosen as king • 1 Samuel 17 – David defeats Philistines • 1 Samuel 18-27 – David flees from Saul • 1 Samuel 28-31 – Saul defeated by Philistines

13. Purpose Statement • God responds in grace to Israel’s wicked request for a king and demonstrates the righteousness He desires in a king by contrasting Saul and David. Notes: • As in Judges, Israel rebels as the judge passes of the scene. • Here, their rebellion is not disciplined by another nation but rather by God (in anger, cf. Hosea 13:11) granting their request! (cf. Rom 1) • As with Joseph, God uses the evil intent of the Israelites to work His own purposes which He had already foreordained (cf. 1 Sam 2 et. al.) • Purpose statement highlights three key chapters: Ch. 8 – Israel’s wicked request; ch. 12 – God’s grace; ch. 16 – David’s righteousness

14. Major Themes • Kingship • God is the true king over Israel • Israel wants to be like the other nations • God uses kingship for His own glory • God had already foreordained kingship • Divine Reversal • Prophesied by Hannah (Peninnah & Hannah) • House of Eli, Samuel • The Philistines, The Ark • Saul, David

15. Major Characters • Samuel • Last and greatest judge • Prophet (3:19-4:1a) • Priest (3:1) • Blameless (12:1-5) • David and Saul • David won’t strike the Lord’s anointed; Saul will. • David can defeat Philistines; Saul can’t. • David’s modest in stature; Saul magnificent. • David’s heart seeks God; Saul’s doesn’t. • David inquires of God through ephod; Saul inquires of Samuel through medium. • David turns to God in fear of people (29:6); Saul turns away from God in fear of people (15:24).

16. Major Characters (cont…) • The Philistines • Nemesis of Israel at end of 2nd Millennium • Exodus 13:17 – Reason for Israel’s detour • Joshua 13:2 – People still needing to be conquered • 1 Samuel 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 13, 14, 17, 18, 19, 23, 24, 28, 29, 31 – A perpetual enemy in the time of Samuel • 1 Samuel 13:19-22 – An unfair advantage • 2 Samuel 2:8 – Fully inhabiting the hill country • Cf. 1 Kings 20:28 – God of the hills?

17. Time Period • Solomon ruled from 970 BC onwards (to be discussed later) • David ruled for 40 years (2 Sam 5:5). Therefore, his reign was from 1010 BC until 970 BC. • Saul ruled for 40 years according to Acts 13:21 (but see interpretive issue below). Therefore, his reign was from 1050 BC until 1010 BC. • Samuel was born sometime before that, perhaps around 1100 BC.

18. Interpretive Issues • 1 Samuel 13:1 • [Literal] “Saul was one year old when he began to reign, and he ruled over Israel two years” • Acts 13:21 – And then they asked for a king, and God gave them Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years. • [NAS] Saul was forty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned thirty-two years over Israel. • [NAU] Saul was thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty two years over Israel. • [ESV] Saul was ... years old when he began to reign, and he reigned ... and two years over Israel. • [KJV] Saul reigned one year; and when he had reigned two years over Israel,

19. Interpretive Issues • 1 Samuel 13:1 (cont.) • “In an effort to remain congruent with the Hebrew text, a targum stated, ‘Like a one-year-old who has no sins was Saul when he became king’ (Bergen, 1 Samuel, NAC) • “Especially in light of Acts 13:21, it is best to regard the extant Hebrew text as corrupted at this point and avoid speculation regarding Saul’s age at the time of his ascension to Israel’s throne” (Bergen, 1 Samuel, NAC).

20. Interpretive Issues • 1 Samuel 16:2-3 • “Samuel recognizes the ominous nature of the venture (v. 2a). It is hazardous to anoint a king when there already is a king! There is no vacancy in the office. Samuel by now is surely identified as a traitorous enemy of Saul, and he knows any overture toward a new king is high risk. Yahweh does not blink at Samuel’s fear but instructs him precisely on how to skirt the problem. Samuel is to say that he is on a mission to offer a sacrifice (vv. 2b-3).

21. Interpretive Issues • 1 Samuel 16:2-3 (cont.) • This may not be a blatant lie authorized by Yahweh, for Samuel does take an animal for the occasion, but this is clearly an authorized deception. Yahweh will lie, if necessary, in order to move the kingship toward David. We have read in 15:21 that the God of Israel will not ‘lie’. Here Yahweh is very close to falsehood for the sake of David.” Walter Brueggemann, First and Second Samuel, Interpretation (Louisville, Ky.: John Knox Press, 1990), 121.

22. Interpretive Issues • 1 Samuel 16:2-3 (cont.) • “[T]he Lord gave Samuel an additional task that would help mask the central purpose of his trip to Bethlehem” (Bergen, 1 Samuel, NAC) • See W. C. Kaiser, Jr., Toward Old Testament Ethics (Grand Rapids: Academie, 1983), 225–27.

23. Interpretive Issues • 1 Samuel 28:8ff • “Questions naturally arise at this point: Did the medium actually make contact with a living spirit-being, and if so, was it really the prophet Samuel? While this matter is not likely to be settled to everyone’s satisfaction, the following observations can be made.

24. Interpretive Issues • 1 Samuel 28:8ff (cont.) • First, the plain statement of the Hebrew text is that she did in fact see Samuel. Second, the medium reacted to Samuel’s appearance as though it was a genuine—and terrifying—experience: she ‘cried out at the top of her voice.’ Her strong reaction also suggests that Samuel’s appearance was unexpected; perhaps this was the first time she had ever actually succeeded in contacting the dead.

25. Interpretive Issues • 1 Samuel 28:8ff (cont.) • Third, the speeches attributed to Samuel contained allusions to a prior interchange between the two, allusions that would have been appropriate only for the real Samuel to have made. Fourth, Samuel’s role and message as a prophet, so much a part of his ministry in life, was unchanged in his encounter with Saul here.

26. Interpretive Issues • 1 Samuel 28:8ff (cont.) • Indeed, a straightforward reading of the biblical account suggests the possibility that mediums may possess the capacity to contact dead persons and establish lines of communication between the living and the dead. This view is not explicitly rejected elsewhere in Scripture; the Torah prohibits necromancy not because it is a hoax but because it promotes reliance on supernatural guidance from some source other than the Lord.

27. Interpretive Issues • 1 Samuel 28:8ff (cont.) • An alternative reading of this passage suggests that it was not the skill of the medium but rather a unique act of God that brought Saul into contact with Samuel. The medium did not possess the capacity to disturb a dead saint; but God, as “a sign of his grace,” permitted Saul to have one last encounter with the prophet who had played such a determinative role in the king’s career.” (Bergen, 1 Samuel, NAC)

28. Next Week 2 Samuel