In short
A prophet (1Sa 3:20) and effectively the last judge* of Israel (Acts 13:20). He appoints the first king of Israel… then condemns him as unfaithful to God. Then Samuel appoints the successor in waiting.
Side note: he dies near the end of the book of 1 Samuel. So… “2 Samuel” is maybe not the best name for the next book, eh?
Why he is important
He embodies this pivotal moment in Israel’s history.
- His life is dedicated to the LORD (1Sa 1:11, 20)
- His sons are failures (1Sa 8:3)
- The people give up on them (the sons) and the whole idea of judges (1Sa 8:5)
- Samuel takes it to heart (1Sa 8:6)
- He mentors Saul (the first king) and David (the next one)
Stories about Samuel
Aside from those stories I just mentioned, he has a rather humorous part in the story of Saul and the Amalekites, which we will cover on Thursday.
The other big story that comes to mind is when Saul visits the witch at Endor (1 Samuel 28). In the story, “Saul inquired of the LORD, the LORD did not answer him” (1Sa 28:6), so he turns to a medium (not a wise move). They have a séance and she conjures up the ghost of Samuel. I thought about bringing this story up for last Monday’s lesson (“The Bible does not always tell you when something is right or wrong”). It will put all of your knowledge to the test.
Theology and doctrine
It’s funny, he doesn’t get mentioned much at all in the rest of the Bible. But he makes it into speeches of Peter (Acts 3:24), Paul (Acts 13:20) and the Hall of Faith (Heb 11:32)
Footnote
* Samuel is perhaps not THE last judge. 1 Samuel 8:1-5, “When Samuel became old, he made his sons judges over Israel.” But then they were roundly rejected by the elders of Israel. I kind of get the sense that the sons never even got the chance to take office in the first place.
No responses yet