First and Second Samuel

First Samuel is a continuation of the historic account of Judges, with the book of Ruth forming an important link between the two. In Ruth, we have introduced the royal lineage descending from the tribe of Judah according to Jacob’s prophecy (Gen. 49:10). The books of Samuel take us to the establishment of the kingdom in David. These two books originally formed a single volume; the Greek translators introduced a division at the death of Saul.
Before David, we have a transitional period. In Eli and his sons, the priesthood fails (1 Sam. 2:12-36). The priesthood had been the immediate link between the people and God. With the sacrifice, the basis of approach unto God, trampled upon (1 Sam. 2:29) and the ark taken by the Philistines (1 Sam. 4), there is a total breach. God must come in, in His own sovereign way, and the prophet is introduced (1 Sam. 3:19-21). Samuel is the first in a long list of prophets continuing until John the Baptist, the forerunner of Christ, even as Samuel introduces David.
While the people’s cry of “Make us a king to judge us like all the nations” (1 Sam. 8:5) was a rejection of Jehovah and His reign, God turned their sin into an occasion for bringing out His purpose in royalty to be accomplished in Christ. Saul, their first king, was the people’s choice (1 Sam. 12:13). However, God’s kingdom cannot be established on the ground of the flesh, and man and his choice are unable to stand before the enemy. While Saul reigns, David, a man after God’s own heart (1 Sam. 13:14), is rejected. Gathered to him in his rejection, we find those that the world despised but whom God honored—“the excellent of this earth” (1 Sam. 22:1-2; Ps. 16:3; Heb. 11:38). Sadly, the ties of nature prove too strong for Jonathan, Saul’s son, a valiant man of faith, and he falls with Saul (1 Sam. 31:2). In all, Saul reigned for 40 years. In type, he prefigures the willful king, the antichrist (Dan. 11:36).
In the second book of Samuel, we have David’s kingdom established in power, first in Hebron over Judah for seven and a half years (2 Sam. 1-4), and then over all Israel (2 Sam. 5). In all, David reigned 40 years (1 Ki. 2:11). “Now there was long war between the house of Saul and the house of David: but David waxed stronger and stronger, and the house of Saul waxed weaker and weaker” (2 Sam. 3:1). Not man’s choice or his doings, this is the sovereign election of God. “Moreover he refused the tabernacle of Joseph, and chose not the tribe of Ephraim: But chose the tribe of Judah, the mount Zion which he loved” (Ps. 78:67-68). David’s life and reign presents in type Christ, and the establishment of His kingdom.
In the books of Samuel, we have man in responsibility, and as always, he fails. At ease in Jerusalem, David falls into sin with Bathsheba (2 Sam. 11). To cover his sin, he caused the death of Uriah, Bathsheba’s husband and numbered amongst his mighty men (2 Sam. 23:39). David’s confession is beautifully recorded in Psalm 51, but God’s government must take its course and David bows to this. “Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap” (Gal. 6:7), is an abiding principle. Sin, death, and rebellion follow in David’s house. How sad to read his last words, “Although my house be not so with God” (2 Sam. 23:5).
Second Samuel closes with judgment upon Israel from Dan even to Beersheba (2 Sam. 24:15). Jehovah, acting in mercy, stays the hand of the angel from destroying Jerusalem, while David intercedes for the people, owning the sin as his own—“Lo, I have sinned, and I have done wickedly: but these sheep, what have they done? let thine hand, I pray thee, be against me, and against my father’s house” (2 Sam. 24:17). Sacrifice must be offered, and there on Moriah (where Abraham offered up Isaac) atonement is made.
As we observe current world events, we have peace knowing that the future of Zion rests with God, not man. The books of Samuel present a vivid, prophetic picture of God’s dealings with Israel and of their restoration in a coming day.