We’ve had seven weeks in this series on the Life of David, studying the books of 1st and 2nd Samuel, and I’m guessing you’ve noticed that we haven’t met David yet. We’ve had to set the historical context learning about the prophet Samuel, who anointed Israel’s first king, Saul. We then watched as Saul repeatedly disobeyed God, and thus God rejected Saul as king. That’s where the story concluded in 1st Samuel 15.
Turn to 1st Samuel 16. Here’s what we read in verses 1-5:
“The Lord said to Samuel, ‘How long will you mourn for Saul, since I have rejected him as king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil and be on your way; I am sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem. I have chosen one of his sons to be king.’ But Samuel said, ‘How can I go? If Saul hears about it, he will kill me.’ The Lord said, ‘Take a heifer with you and say, “I have come to sacrifice to the Lord.” Invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what to do. You are to anoint for me the one I indicate.’ Samuel did what the Lord said. When he arrived at Bethlehem, the elders of the town trembled when they met him. They asked, ‘Do you come in peace?’ Samuel replied, ‘Yes, in peace; I have come to sacrifice to the Lord. Consecrate yourselves and come to the sacrifice with me.’ Then he consecrated Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice.”
Why is Samuel mourning for Saul? Did he like Saul? Did he feel some kind of responsibility for Saul? Did Samuel view himself as a mentor for Saul, and really want Saul to do well? Did he want God to give Saul more chances?
It can sometimes be difficult to know when to draw the line with someone. Maybe your personality resonates with Samuel’s. You might be thinking, “Sure Saul messed up, but we all mess up, and we need encouragement and hope and grace and forgiveness and mercy. We all need another chance. After all, isn’t God a God of second chances? Let’s keep giving Saul chances.”
Or maybe your personality leads you to take a different approach. You are willing to give chances and forgiveness, but if the person keeps screwing up like Saul did, you believe it is in the best interest of the company, of the church, of the organization, of the family, to draw a line, and to move on. You believe it is the most loving thing to do is to fire the person, to break the relationship, to let a person go.
Samuel doesn’t seem to be able to let go. God steps in, basically saying, “Samuel, let Saul go. Get out of bed. Get your prophet gear. I’m sending you on a mission. You’re going to Bethlehem to anoint the new king that I have chosen.”
What we don’t see in the New International Version which I pasted above, but it is there in the Hebrew, is something interesting about the phrase “the new king that I have chosen.” In the Hebrew God clearly says, “the new king I have chosen for myself.” That’s different from what God said about King Saul. In chapter 13, God chose King Saul for the people because they asked for a king. Now God is choosing the king he wants.
Samuel then says something ominous. Look above at verse 2. If Samuel goes to Bethlehem, he says to God, Saul will kill him. Where did that come from? Saul will kill him? Is Saul watching Samuel’s every move? Maybe. When we left Samuel and Saul in chapter 15, we learned that there was a major rift between the two of them. Samuel declared that God had rejected Saul and torn the Kingdom from Saul. Saul pleaded for Samuel to have a worship service with him.
Samuel absolutely did not want to lead a sham worship service. But Saul begged and begged, expressing his sorrow, and eventually Samuel said, “Fine, let’s do the worship service.” That worship service must have been a cold, sad affair. Samuel’s heart wasn’t in it. Afterward, Samuel never went to visit Saul again. You can imagine that Saul as a result could have grown colder and darker, especially toward Samuel.
Samuel was the former long-time leader of the people, and the current prophet-priest of God. Samuel was the one who anointed Saul king. Samuel has now declared that God has rejected Saul as king and torn the Kingdom from Saul. And now Samuel stops visiting Saul? I bet that drove Saul to an even darker place than he was already in. I can totally see Saul having Samuel watched. I can also see Samuel knowing full well that Saul is watching him.
Thus, when God tells Samuel to go to Bethlehem, Samuel knows that Saul will find out, and that Saul is in no condition to handle it well. Saul likely already assumes that Samuel is making plans to anoint a new king, to take power from Saul. When Samuel said that the kingdom would be given to one of Saul’s neighbors, that meant God was planning to not give the kingdom to Saul’s son, Jonathan. In other words, Saul knows that he has lost everything, and yet he is still currently on the throne. He is a lame duck. He has nothing to lose anymore.
Unless he can do something about it. He is still the king! He has power. He commands soldiers. Maybe, Saul thinks to himself, he can stay in power. If Samuel makes a move to anoint a new king, Saul could have Samuel killed. Samuel, in other words, is absolutely right to be concerned about being ambushed by Saul’s soldiers.
So God assures Samuel, instructing Samuel to take a heifer for a sacrifice. That would be seen by any watchers as a normal priestly duty, not suspicious. But when Samuel shows up at Bethlehem, it is not Saul that confronts him, but the elders of Bethlehem. Trembling, they ask him, “Do you come in peace?”
We might think, “Why would they be afraid of Samuel? He’s a priest.” Remember that he was also a prophet who spoke the word of the Lord. Sometimes prophets gave messages of confrontation. When a prophet showed up with a word from the Lord, it could easily bad news. Maybe these elders of Bethlehem have reason to be scared.
Also, Samuel was a fierce leader. Just glance back to chapter 15, verse 33 when Samuel killed Agag the king of the Amalekites. People knew that Samuel was close to God, and that Samuel was committed to obeying God. This likely made Samuel an intimidating figure in their minds. When he shows up unexpectedly, they are nervous.
But he says to then in verse 5, “I have come in peace to sacrifice to the Lord.” The people in the town can breathe much easier. The prophet has not come for judgement, but for blessing. Samuel consecrates them all, and he invites them to attend the sacrifice. We’re not used to animal sacrifices, so think of this in terms of a worship service.
Samuel is in Bethlehem, though, especially for one family. The family of Jesse. Just for a little refresher. Jesse has a famous grandmother. Her name was Ruth, the same woman that the book of Ruth is about. I’ve written about Ruth starting here. There are a couple factors that make Ruth a very interesting person. First, she was not a Jew, but a Moabite. Second, after her first husband, a Jew, died, she stayed committed to her Jewess mother-in-law, Naomi. Then Ruth found favor in the eyes of a Jew named Boaz. They married, and had a son named Obed, who is Jesse’s father. That’s the family Samuel goes to visit. There in Bethlehem Samuel consecrates Jesse and his sons, and invites them to the worship service.
That’s when things get interesting. We’ll find out how in the next post.
Engaging Scripture 
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