Archaeological dig of Samuel's house on the hill outside of Jerusalem, Ramah. Samuel's Tomb is here as well.
1 Samuel 8:4-7
Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah 5 and said to him, “Behold, you are old and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now appoint for us a king to judge us like all the nations.”
6 But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to judge us.”
And Samuel prayed to the Lord.
7 And the Lord said to Samuel, “Obey 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 king over them."
Samuel, how close was David, and Saul to The Book of Judges, the government after the Exodus created the Nation of Israel. Pretty close.
The Book of Judges has a passage that says, "All the people did what was right in their own eyes." Anarchy, more or less.
Jesus called John the Baptist, "Elijah, if you will." And...'
"Truly I tell you, among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet whoever is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he." The Gospels present holiness with calling and doubt at death from John the Baptist. Grappling with doubts and the difference with life and Heaven.
Samson was prophetically conceived and asked to be holy like a Nazarene. Yet, Samson basically married into pirates. Killed at will. Consorted with death in Delilah. And his last act was revenge. Samson is the failure of holiness. Jesus healed the Phoenician woman's child. By His honesty with her requests. Samson points out the wildness of revenge and hateful behavior but getting down on the same level. The Book of Judges is about war and not rising up to create a place for family and culture. The Book of Judges is about a season of waning.
Samuel is 1000 B.C. We thought we were so far from the Exodus, yet Samuel is the end of government from the aftermaths of the Exodus. The problem with the holiness Samuel faces is the same failure in Samson and in the era of tax collectors and Herod bowing down. Human frailty.
David grew up as one of the Shepherds, dreaming of his nation.
The oldest Philistine inscription describes
Goliath in his hometown
Museum of Israel
Appropriate Date B.C.
The Who sang about My Generation in 1965. We Begin Again.
Samuel was the Bronze area, yet Samuel knew when to pack it in. Not with plots and revenge. Churchill says revenge is expensive. Samuel had a clue and Samuel moves on to a new form of government. They weren't any happier with Saul or David or Solomon or Solomon's son.
Waiting on the Lord can be difficult. I'm sure Jesus felt His own family should have been able to catch on and do the right thing. Jesus, different from Samuel, forsakes revenge and waits for His Family to mature, understand and rise to better works.
Waiting on the Lord, isn't a bad idea. Samuel doesn't spend a lot of time blaming himself. Samuel isn't wearing rough clothing or tearing his clothes. Yet, in the New Covenant, we are the Easter people, Samuel doesn't pray and pray and pray for his sons. He doesn't tell the Lord of his disappointment. He doesn't believe that if His Father God was in bed resting, Samuel's prayers would stir the Lord to mercy.
Samuel was different from David. And Jesus is David's Son. I like Jesus!
Abba, Father,
For the director of music. A psalm of David.
May the Lord answer you when you are in distress;
may the name of the God of Jacob protect you.
May He send you help from the sanctuary
and grant you support from Zion.
May He remember all your sacrifices
and accept your burnt offerings.
May He give you the desire of your heart
and make all your plans succeed.
May we shout for joy over your victory
and lift up our banners in the name of our God.
May the Lord grant all your requests.
Now this I know:
The Lord gives victory to His anointed.
He answers him from His Heavenly Sanctuary
with the victorious power of His Right Hand.
Some trust in chariots and some in horses,
but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.
They are brought to their knees and fall,
but we rise up and stand firm.
Lord, give victory to the king!
Answer us when we call!
In the Name of Jesus we pray!
Amen!
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