The Book of Samuel Prophet of the O.T.ppt

Samuel the Prophet

1. NEEMA LUTHERAN SCHOOL - MATONGO
SEMINARY 2025\2 Dr. Elton Fischer
THE BOOK OF SAMUEL

2. BACKGROUND
AUTHOR : The author or author of 1 and 2 Samuel are
not known. These books recount the stories of Samuel, Saul,
and David. Saul’s reign began between 1050–1030 B.C. and
ended in 1010. David then reigned until 971. The books were
probably written soon after the end of his reign. Originally,
the books of 1 and 2 Samuel were one book. The translators
of the Septuagint separated them, and we have retained
that separation ever since. The events of 1 Samuel span
approximately 100 years, from c. 1100 B.C. to c. 1000 B.C.
The events of 2 Samuel cover another 40 years.

3. DATE\PLACE\LOCAL of Writing:
The date of writing, then, would be sometime
after 960 B.C. Since Samuel is part of the
Deuteronomic History, most scholars view the final
stages of its composition as the work of editors-
authors during the period of the exile. However, it is
all but impossible to recover the compositional history
of the book, and it may well have been produced in
essentially its present form at a much earlier date.

4. NORMAL - UNDERSTANDING THE WORDS OF SCRIPTURE IN
THEIR COMMON USAGE UNLESS OTHERWISE INDICATED BY THE
CONTEXT.
LITERAL - UNDERSTANDING THE MEANING OF SCRIPTURE IN ITS
ORDINARY SENSE UNLESS THE CONTEXT REQUIRES A FIGURATIVE
INTERPRETATION.
GRAMMATICAL - USING THE RECOGNIZED RULES OF GRAMMAR
TO INTERPRET THE TEXT.
HISTORICAL - UNDERSTANDING THE WORDS OF SCRIPTURE IN
THE CONTEXT OF THE TIMES IN WHICH THEY WERE WRITTEN.
SYSTEMATIC - CATEGORIZING AND COMPARING THE TEACHING
OF THE SCRIPTURES WITH THE WHOLE OF SCRIPTURE IN VIEW.
SCRIPTURE INTERPRETATION

5. The 1 Samuel
The Story of Samuel (1:1–7:17)
Transition to the Monarchy (8:1–22)
The Story of Saul (9:1–15:35)
The Story of Saul and David (16:1–31:13)
2 Samuel
Story of King David (1:1–20:26)
Epilogue (21:1–24:25)
STRUCTURE OF THE BOOK/OUTLINE

6. PURPOSE
The purpose of 1 Samuel is to highlight two major events:
1. the establishment of the monarchy in Israel (chs. 8–12);
2. and the rise of David to be king after Saul (chs. 16–31). After
ruling for a while, Saul was rejected by the Lord in favor of David (chs. 
15–16), though Saul stayed on the throne until his death at Mount Gilboa
(ch. 31). The book of 1 Samuel establishes the principle that obedience to
the word of God is the necessary condition for a king to be acceptable to
the God of Israel.
First and Second Samuel deal with a TRANSITIONAL PERIOD in the
history of ancient Israel. There is a transition of leadership first from the
priest Eli to the judge Samuel, then from the judge Samuel to the king
Saul, and then from Saul to David. Samuel thus is the link between the
judgeship and the kingship in Israel.

7. CENTRAL THEME
The central theme of the books of Samuel is how the Lord:
(1) established a dynasty (“house”) in Israel for David rather
than Saul and;
(2) how he chose Jerusalem as the place where David’s
successor would establish the temple (“house”) for the worship of
the divine King Yahweh. First Samuel records the history of Israel
in the land of Canaan as they move from the rule of judges to
being a unified nation under kings. Samuel emerges as the last
judge, and he anoints the first two kings, Saul and David.

8. LAW THEMES\ 3 GOSPEL
THEMES
I.Barreness;
II.Covetouness;
III.Unfaithfulness;
IV.Rejection of
God’s rules;
V.Rash vows.
I.The Lord
provides leaders;
II.The Lord’s
promisses;
III.Victory in the
Lord’s name;
IV.Blessings.

9. I SAMUEL KEY THEMES
1.God’s kingship. God is King of the universe and always
has been. No human king can assume kingship except as a
deputy of the divine King.
2.God’s providential guidance. God providentially and
individually guided the lives of chosen people such as Hannah,
Samuel, and David. Even the life of Saul was in God’s providential
care (see 1 Sam. 9:16). God’s timing is always perfect (see 
1 Sam.9;1 Sam. 23), for he is the Lord of history.
3.God’s sovereign will and power. God chooses or rejects
people according to his absolute sovereign will and purpose. He
may change his way of dealing with individuals according to his
plan and purpose, but his decision is always just and right. At the
same time, he is merciful and gracious.

10. II SAMUEL KEY THEMES
The themes of 1 Samuel are related to the themes of 2
Samuel:
the sovereign God, who has guided David’s life, chooses David as the
ruler of God’s people. God pledges to David an eternal covenant.
1. David thus becomes the prototype of the future Messiah,
Jesus Christ.
2. Messianic promise. Second Samuel 7 is a turning point in
the history of salvation. God chose David to be the beginning of an
enduring dynasty, from which the ultimate Ruler, Jesus, would come.
God used David to fulfill his eternal plan of salvation, not
because he was perfect from a human viewpoint, but
because the Lord was “with him” and showed grace to him.

11. APPLICATION(S) OR CONNECTION(S) FOR TODAY
I.Tension between the grace and law of God is extended by its
application to the question of monarchy;
II.Possession of the land is now tied to kingship (2 Sam. 7:10–11). Will
kingship help Israel to hold the land?
III.God authorizes and selects Israel’s first two kings (Saul and David),
but the request for a king is also simultaneously in some sense
rejection of God’s own rule;
IV.God makes an irrevocable promise to David that he will never lack a
descendant sitting on his throne (2 Sam. 7:16, 29), but by the end of
the story in Kings, both land and kingship have been lost through
disobedience;
V.This very paradox, the tension between God’s promises and his
justice, is in fact the tension that drives the entire narrative forward.

12. APPLICATION(S) OR CONNECTION(S) FOR TODAY
One of the recurring themes in the book of Samuel is
reference to the “Lord’s anointed” (1 Sam. 16:3, 6, 12–13; 24:6; 26:9,
11, 16, 23; 2 Sam. 1:14, 16; 3:39; 19:21).
The Hebrew term messiah means “anointed one,” and the idea
of a Messiah for Israel grows out of her ideology about a righteous
king, one who would be like David.
The Messiah as a figure is integrally involved in Israel’s unique
understanding of her place in history: their awareness from the
beginning that God had made them a chosen people to bring
blessing to the nations. God had raised up great leaders and
deliverers for Israel during her history, and he would do so again in
the person of a Messiah. ( Second coming of Jesus)