CHAPTER XII

SAMUEL THE PROPHET

THE list of judges drew to an end. The people were growing tired of a system under which men of various tribes came to power; there was no continuity in it, and it had led to one of the greatest oppressions in the history of Israel. The last but one of the Judges was Eli.

Though himself a good man, he had failed to control his sons, and their unseemly conduct caused men to “abhor the offering of the Lord.”

The birth of Samuel

During his judgeship Samuel was born. His mother, Hannah, had longed for a child for many years. Her husband, who was a Levite, went every year to Shiloh to sacrifice to the Lord. On one occasion when Hannah accompanied him, she went into the tabernacle enclosure and prayed earnestly for a son. Her lips moved, but no sounds came from them, and Eli accused her of being drunk. Hannah answered, “I am a woman of a sorrowful spirit. . . . count not thy handmaiden for a daughter of Belial, for out of the abundance of my complaint and my provocation have I spoken.” Eli realised her sincerity, “Go in peace,” he said, “and the God of Israel grant thy petition that thou hast asked of Him.”

In due time a child was born, and a few years afterwards Hannah went to Shiloh, taking the child Samuel with her. When she saw Eli she said, “Oh my Lord, I am the woman that stood by thee praying unto the Lord. For this child I prayed. Therefore I also have granted him to the Lord.” Thus Samuel entered on a service which lasted until his death.
Hannah’s song of praise is a beautiful example of thanksgiving, and expresses deeply felt religious ideas.

My heart exalteth in the Lord;
Mine horn is exalted in the Lord. . .
There is none holy as the Lord;
For there is none beside Thee,
Neither is there any rock like our God. . .
The Lord killeth and maketh alive,
He bringeth down to the grave and bringeth up. . .
The Lord shall judge the ends of the earth;
And He shall give strength unto His king,
And exalt the horn of His Anointed.

This is the first occasion in the Story that any allusion has been made to the Lord’s Anointed. Other allusions will occur later until they finally focus attention on Jesus Christ, for Christ is the Greek form of the Hebrew word Messiah, the Anointed.

Some years passed by and then in the quietness of the night, while the tabernacle lamps were still burning, the call came that was to mean so much to Samuel and to Israel. As he lay down to sleep, Samuel heard a Voice calling him. He ran to Eli, thinking that he had called, but Eli told him he had not done so. This happened three times; then Eli realised that the Lord had called Samuel. He told him to lie down again, and if he heard the voice he was to say, “Speak Lord, for Thy servant heareth.” When next the Voice called, he answered as Eli had told him. It was a hard message that came, it announced the doom of Eli’s sons, with the terrible addition that the iniquity of Eli’s house should never be purged. Next morning Eli asked what message had been given; when Samuel repeated it he only said, “ It is the Lord, let Him do what seemeth Him good.”

The news of the call of Samuel became known far beyond Shiloh, and all Israel knew that he was established to be a prophet of the Lord. The allusion here to “all Israel” is an indication of the fact that the consolidation of the people into one nation was going on; they were no longer a collection of tribes, but a nation.

Battles with the Philistines

The prophecy that had been given was fulfilled by means of the Philistines. Israel endeavoured to regain their freedom, and in a battle they were defeated. In despair the leaders of the army sent for the ark of the covenant, so that, as they said, it might save them from their enemies. Eli let it go in the custody of his two sons, Hophni and Phinehas. For a moment the Philistines wavered, then with a shout of encouragement they renewed their attack, and Israel fled. The defeat became a rout; the ark was captured and Eli’s two sons were slain.

News of the disaster reached Shiloh where Eli was waiting to know what happened. When he heard of the death of his sons and the capture of the ark, he fell from his seat and was taken up dead. Soon the Philistines reached Shiloh, where they massacred the priests and destroyed the city, reducing it to a waste from which it did not recover for centuries. But before they reached Shiloh the tabernacle was hurriedly removed to Gilgal, prob­ably under the direction of Samuel.

The Philistines carried the ark in triumph to Ashdod, where it was placed in the temple of their god Dagon. Next morning the image of Dagon was found on the ground. It was replaced, and on the following morning it was again on the ground broken. The people of Ashdod could not bear to see their god treated in that way and sent the ark to Gath. There a plague broke out, and the ark was sent to Ekron, where the same thing happened. The Philis­tines then took counsel what they should do. They determined to impose a severe test to see whether their troubles were from the God of Israel, or were merely chance occurrences. They placed the ark on a new cart to which they attached two milch kine. They shut up their calves and waited to see what the cows would do. Unhesitatingly they took the way towards the land of the Israelites, leaving their calves behind them. It was a sure sign to the Philis­tines, and they were glad to be rid of the ark that had caused them so much distress.

The ark was taken to Beth-shemesh, where the people were gathering in their harvest. When the cows came to a standstill, the Levites who were in the place sacrificed the cows as a burnt offering, using the wood of the cart to make the fire. The God of Israel had vindicated Himself. But a great calamity fell upon the people of Beth-shemesh. Curiosity caused some of them to look inside the ark and a plague broke out among them. Then they too sent the ark away, and it was taken to Kirjath-jearim.

All this time the condition of the people of Israel bad; they needed a deliverer. Samuel stood forth as the saviour of the country. He summoned the people to Mizpeh, where he told them to put away their idols and serve the Lord; saying that if they did so they would find deliverance.

News of this gathering reached the Philistines, who marched to Mizpeh. A panic seized the Israelites, but Samuel quieted them and offered sacrifice and prayer for the nation. Just as the Philistines were about to attack a violent thunderstorm broke out and in the confusion that ensued they fled. It was a turning point; Samuel was regarded as the leader of the people, and hope began to revive.

A king for Israel

Yet the old trouble remained. Samuel’s sons were not like him, and looking to the future the people could see no settled peace under the exist­ing regime. All around them nations were ruled by kings; they were governed by a judge. A king’s sons would be educated in the arts of war and government; the sons of a Levite, such as those of Samuel, were trained as Levites, not as soldiers. At last the murmurs of the people came to a head, and the elders came to Samuel and put forward their case. They said, “Behold, thou art old, and thy sons walk not in thy ways; now make us a king to judge us like all the nations.” It was a great blow to Samuel. It affected him as a father, and as a prophet of the Lord, It must be remembered that Israel was the kingdom of God, a holy, or a separate, people. Now they wanted to be like the other nations. The request of the people struck at Samuel’s deepest loyalty, his loyalty to God as Israel’s king.

Samuel took his trouble to the Lord, and received the reply, “Hearken unto the voice of the people ... for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected Me that I should not be king over them.” That was the grievous fact. God had been their king, and they wanted a king they could see. They preferred sight to faith, temporal things to those that were eternal. They were not alone in this, it has been the mistake of almost all men. In spite of Samuel’s advice the people persisted in their request, “Nay, we will have a king over us,” they said.

An anxious time followed. A king requires certain qualifications, and there was no one who had been trained for such a position. It was necessary for God to indicate the one who was to be the king, and His choice was indicated by a series of strange incidents.

Saul, the son of Kish, a man of Benjamin, accom­panied by a servant, went to seek some asses that had strayed. He failed to find them, and as they were then near the home of Samuel, the servant suggested that they should enquire of him. They made their way cowards his house and met Samuel. Meanwhile it had been revealed to Samuel that the one who was to be king would visit him about that time. When the two met, Saul asked Samuel to direct him to the seer’s house. Samuel replied, “I am the seer.” He told him that his father’s asses had been found, and then said, “And on whom is all the desire of Israel? Is it not on thee, and on all thy father’s house?” Saul accompanied him to his home where he was treated with marked deference. Early the following morning Samuel called Saul to the top of the house, and there anointed him to be prince over the Lord’s inheritance. A number of signs that Samuel foretold gave Saul confidence in the career to which he had been called, and “the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him, and he prophesied among them.”

Another gathering of the people was called at Mizpeh so that the king might be seen by all the people. God’s choice was indicated by lot, which fell successively on the tribe of Benjamin, on the family, and on the person, of Saul. When the people sought for him he could not be found, he had hidden himself. When he was found he was seen to be a goodly young man, a head taller than the people generally. A great shout went up from the assembly, “Let the King live.” A number of men attached themselves to him-the monarchy had commenced. Yet there were some who grumbled. “How shall this man save us?” they said, and despised him. Saul was very tolerant, he held his peace, or, in more expressive words, “he was as though he had been deaf.”