Samuel is Saul’s Stumbling Block Prior to the time of the prophet Samuel, Israel had no king; instead, there were various religious/military leaders such as: Moses, Joshua, the twelve Judges, Eli, and Samuel. According to “The New American Bible” (TNAB), revised 09/10/1991, page 217; “Eli and Samuel seem to have ruled the entire nation of Israel just before the institution of the monarchy.” At this time, Samuel is the religious leader, judge and ruler of the nation of Israel and when he becomes old in age, he appoints his two sons, Joel and Abijah as judges over Israel (1Sm 8:1-2). However, Samuel’s sons did not follow his example; instead, they are corrupt by accepting bribes and perverting justice (1Sm 8:3). Samuel accepts this injustice because he doesn’t do anything to stop the wickedness of his sons. Seeing this corruption and Samuel’s old age, the elders ask him for a king to govern them fairly and to protect them by fighting their battles like the kings of other successful nations (1Sm 8:4-5). The passage in 1Sm that reveals Samuel’s attitude towards any king, other than the Lord and himself is 8:6-7, “But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, ‘Give us a king to govern us.’ Samuel prayed to the Lord and the Lord said to him, ‘Listen to the voice of the people in all that they say to you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being their king.’” This passage shows me that Samuel was displeased and must have felt rejected by the nation of Israel because the Lord knows that he feels rejected in his heart. Samuel tells the elders only the negative aspects of a king and He tries to convince them that they shouldn’t ask for one (1Sm 8:11-18). However, the elders are persistent in their demand for a king (1Sm 8:19-20) and the Lord tells Samuel to “grant their request and appoint a king to rule them” (1Sm 8:22). Later, the Lord tells Samuel to anoint a man from the tribe of Benjamin, Saul who is very tall and most handsome, as the ruler over Israel (1Sm 9:15-17). Samuel is reluctant to do as the Lord instructed him because he didn’t anoint Saul at the appropriate time when he seats him at the head of the table in the temple’s dining hall and serves him the thigh (1Sm 9:22-24), which according to The New Oxford Annotated Bible is reserved only for someone who is divine or is a priest. This is the perfect time because the thirty some guests, most likely the elders who had earlier asked Samuel for a king, would all be witnesses to Saul’s anointing as king with authority over the nation of Israel. Think how happy and self-reliant Saul would have been at this time if Samuel had anointed him and proclaimed at the banquet before all the guests that he is the king that the Lord has chosen for Israel. This would have given Saul a high self-esteem. Also think that the guests when getting home after the banquet could have told the people that God has given them Saul to be their king, which could have caused a great celebration of rejoicing among the people. Instead, Samuel waits to anoint Saul until early dawn of the next day after the banquet, in secret when the people would still be sleeping, at the edge of the town’s border with absolutely no witnesses not even Saul’s servant-boy companion who was sent off ahead at Samuel’s request. Saul must have questioned in his mind why Samuel anointed him in this manner instead of at the banquet table before all of the important elders on the previous day. Saul must have felt that something was wrong and that he had little confidence of being a king because of Samuel’s actions. Because of this, I believe Samuel sets up Saul to fail as a king. Samuel’s sin is his reluctance to anoint Saul at the appropriate time and this becomes Saul’s stumbling block (Rom 14:13), which causes Saul to doubt himself, which is evidenced by Saul not telling his uncle that Samuel made him king of Israel (1Sm 10:16) and when he hides among the baggage (1Sm10:22). Who would have believed that Saul was the king at this time when there was no one to give testimony not even his servant-boy companion? When a person doubts himself he condemns himself (Rom 14:22-23) and I believe this mental impediment causes Saul to make poor judgments as in sinning in the eyes of Samuel and the Lord (1Sm 13:9-10; 14:24; and 15:20-24). After Saul is anointed king, Samuel throws a huge stumbling block at him when he punishes the people for asking for a king by calling on the Lord for thunder and rain on the day of the wheat harvest (1Sm 12:16-18), which ruins most of the wheat and the people’s livelihood who depended on this crop. This was not at the Lords request but Samuel’s. Because of this harm done to the all the people, I believe that Saul feels that it’s bad to be a king; especially, when Samuel anointed him in secrecy with no witnesses. This lowly, unsuitable anointing, itself, implies that something is wrong with being a king. All these negative things doomed Saul’s kingship. It appears to me that Samuel is somewhat jealous of Saul and probably feels that he will be demoted because he will be losing some of his authority to a king. Given human nature, Samuel, being the religious leader must have been deeply hurt when Saul conducts the burnt offering (1Sm 13:9-10), which in Samuel’s eyes should have been reserved for him. I wonder if Samuel speaks the true words of the Lord when he instructs Saul to attack the Amalekites in 1Sm 15:3, “Now go and attack Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have; do not spare them, but kill both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.” Would the Lord speak such words? I don’t believe that God could want this horrific slaughter of life, part of His creations. I say this even though the author of Samuel proves otherwise in 1Sm 15:11-12, “Then the Lord spoke to Samuel: ‘I regret having made Saul king, for he has turned from me and has not kept my command’”. In closing, Samuel was no help to Saul’s kingship because he doomed it from the beginning. Samuel even takes advantage of the low self-esteem, which he helps to create for Saul. In passage 1Sm 15:17, he makes Saul aware of his knowledge, “Samuel then said: ‘Though little in your own esteem, are you not leader of the tribes of Israel? The Lord anointed you king of Israel.’” It’s no wonder that Samuel grieves a long time over Saul being rejected by the Lord (1Sm 15:35 & 16:1), knowing that he is the main reason why Saul has failed. Saul could have been more successful if Samuel helped him as a true servant would have. Samuel didn’t serve anyone other than the Lord and himself. This is my understanding of the Holy Scripture. Andrew T Petrella July 5, 2006
Posted on: Wed, 28 Aug 2013 02:15:52 +0000
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