Bible Gem 2154 – The Examples of Faith: Samuel

How much more do I need to say? It would take too long to recount the stories of the faith of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel and all the prophets. 

Hebrews 11:32

Now we come to the last one mentioned in this series of notable examples of faith in this one verse. Samuel is the last in this series and I won’t say the most interesting because they have all been interesting in some way. But Samuel’s inclusion is curious in regard to what exploits or actions he performed by faith that were notable. Added to that, why he was placed at the end of the list and not before David in accord with the historical order in which they appear in Scripture. For each of these six characters I am sure it is clear to you that I have gone back to re-read their stories in total once again to refresh my mind of their actions taken by faith. Again I say that Samuel is interesting; what actions did he take or what deeds did he perform that were notable and evidenced steps taken in faith?

We have another birth narrative for the story of Samuel (1 Samuel 1 and 2) which contain some interesting elements. I will let you read those chapters for yourself but I will highlight two things. Hannah named the child Samuel, for she said, “I asked the LORD for him.” (1 Sam 1:20). But Samuel’s name can also be derived from “heard of (from) God”. Isn’t that what a prophet is supposed to do? The second thing to note concerns what Hannah did with Samuel after he was weaned.

“I asked the LORD to give me this boy, and he has granted my request. Now I am giving him to the LORD, and he will belong to the LORD his whole life.” 

1 Samuel 1:27-28

Then Elkanah returned home to Ramah without Samuel. And the boy served the LORD by assisting Eli the priest.

1 Samuel 2:11

Samuel was a judge (1 Sam 7:15-17) and he even undertook a priestly role at times but essentially he was a prophet (1 Sam 3:20) who proclaimed the Word of the Lord. Samuel came to the fore at a time when messages and visions from God were rare (1 Sam 3:1). Read the full account of Samuel’s early training to hear God’s voice if you are not familiar with the story (1 Samuel 3:1-18). Under Eli’s tutelage Samuel learnt to hear the voice of the LORD in accord with the meaning of his name. He learnt to recognise when the LORD was speaking to him and he learnt to discern His voice. Isn’t that what a prophet should do? This part of the story closes with the statement:- As Samuel grew up, the LORD was with him, and everything Samuel said proved to be reliable (19). Let’s add the most important element again for emphasis, everything Samuel said proved to be reliable. [See also 1 Sam 9:6]

There you have a statement which summarises the “actions” or “deeds” of Samuel by faith. I have gone through the story of Samuel with a fine toothed comb and picked out anything I found which indicated evidence of Samuel acting by faith. All of his story makes it clear that Samuel’s faith deeds were connected to faithfully delivering the Word of the LORD to those who needed to hear it. Notice how the story above related to Eli concluded. Samuel, the boy, the trainee prophet delivered the words which pronounced the end of Eli’s ministry as prophet and exposed the deeds of his sons. Samuel continued in this way all the days of his life.

As Samuel grew old, he appointed his sons to be judges over Israel. Joel and Abijah, his oldest sons, held court in Beersheba. But they were not like their father, for they were greedy for money. They accepted bribes and perverted justice. Finally, all the elders of Israel met at Ramah to discuss the matter with Samuel. “Look,” they told him, “you are now old, and your sons are not like you. Give us a king to judge us like all the other nations have.”

1 Samuel 8:1-5

Following that we have Samuel’s pronouncement of what would happen when the Israelites got a king in order to be like all the nations around them. There are numbers of prophetic statements made by Samuel recorded in the book of Samuel, but the one above is perhaps the most significant as it lays out clearly, exactly what would happen as a result of the Israelites’ demand for a king. In just the same way the period of the Judges was like a roller coaster, so too the times of the monarchy. Samuel, the seer (9:6, 9:11), heard what God whispered to him and told the people what was to come in the future. As the Scripture records, he did this all the days of his life and his words proved reliable. Is that not a great example of living by faith? To bring Words from the Lord which were always reliable? The true test of a prophet is whether what they said comes to pass. Samuel it seems fulfilled that task perfectly and therefore was a great example of walking and speaking by faith.

I have one final Samuel story to share with you which has always disturbed me. But I think I finally understand the point of it after having read the whole account of Samuel again for this Gem. That story is Samuel’s summons from the dead by Saul. You have to admit in anyone’s thinking this story is a strange, if not a disturbing one. You will find the story in 1 Samuel 28 – Saul and Medium of Endor. Do you want another little tantalising tidbit? Saul’s name means something similar to Samuel’s, “asked for” or “heard”.

Meanwhile, Samuel had died, and all Israel had mourned for him. He was buried in Ramah, his hometown. And Saul had banned from the land of Israel all mediums and those who consult the spirits of the dead.

1 Samuel 28:3

Then we have this very strange story about Saul demanding the medium (witch) at Endor to call Samuel forth from the dead to give him (Saul) a word from the LORD. So Samuel comes back from the dead in accord with Saul’s request only to give the former king the same message again but with the prediction of his death (1 Samuel 28:15-19). Yes, I know it seems a little weird; ok a lot weird. I think it is a subtle little dig from God to the one who could have ‘heard from God’ like Samuel had done all his life, so He allowed Saul to hear again from Samuel after his death, only to be told the same message. Samuel was always faithful to reliably proclaim the Word of God like all the prophets. Remember the closing words of this verse in Hebrews are “Samuel and all the prophets”.

I am thinking there is a two-fold reason for these words and also for the switch in order. Samuel was the forerunner of the judges and the prophets, from which all the other prophets came in the same mould. Closing with Samuel rather than David is a nice lead in or segue to the practice of all the prophets, leading us to the conclusion that all the prophets acted by faith like Samuel. But there’s more I believe; I can’t help but think that the switch in the order of David and Samuel ought to lead us to the conclusion that the prophet of the LORD holds us all accountable to the Truth of God, about life and about ourselves. After all it was the role of the prophet to call out the error in the ways of the judges, the kings, the priest and the fellow prophets as well as the people. Thus Nathan in the later story calls out David saying “You are that man!” after David had taken Bathsheba and had Uriah killed. (2 Samuel 12:7)

There are little linkages all over the Bible which remind us of elements which point to the bigger picture. Not only were the prophets supposed to call out injustices and sin but we also have the repetitive theme of error in the lives of those who were chosen to lead. We have seen that in each of the above six examples. “Excuse me Ian, why do you say six. What was Samuel’s sin?” Yes perhaps you are right, there is nothing recorded of Samuel which points out his sin. But look at what is written about the sons of Samuel in 1 Samuel 8:1-3, included in the wider quote I have given you above. Yes it is true that Samuel was not recorded as sinning in the way Eli and David did, but you have to admit we have a recurring theme there. Especially when Proverbs records:

Train up a child in the way that (s)he should go and when they are old they will not depart from it.

Proverbs 22:6

If nothing else, you have to admit the layers, the themes and the motifs are all very interesting.

By confining truth to a small verbal part of our lives we condemn ourselves to being fragmented and full of internal contradictions, which is to say we condemn ourselves to being untrue.

Art Katz

Truth becomes impotent the moment the believer refuses to act upon it.

Robb Thompson

A man is never more truthful than when he acknowledges himself a liar.

Mark Twain

Trust and belief in Jesus is very personal. It is not something that occurs in a group. Every soul must work through their faith and decide for themselves whether they can trust Jesus or not.

Ian