The Pastoral Heart of Samuel

Samuel’s Role in Israel

Without question, Samuel is one of the most important characters in Scripture, let alone the Old Testament. As we go through this series of looking at Prophet, Priest, and King, we come upon a man who was a Prophet, Priest, and Judge. Samuel was the last of the judges and the transitional leader that moved Israel from the time of the Judges (the Theocracy) to the time of the United Kingdom, ruled by David, Saul, and Solomon before the split Kingdom era of Israel in the North and Judah in the South.

A bit of background on Samuel. Many of us know the story, but Samuel was a miracle baby. His mother, Hannah, was unable to have children for most of her life, but begged God for a son. The cultural implications of not bearing children (and specifically not bearing sons) was of great shame. Hannah pleaded with God and promised to give Samuel into His service if He granted her a son. God did so and Samuel was born and raised under the tutelage of Eli the High Priest. While Eli the High Priest was an evil man and his sons were even worse than him, God blessed and kept Samuel for his role in leading the nation.

Samuel was primarily a prophet, but his role as priest was just as important and studying it does well in pointing us to the heart of Christ. Our text this morning is , the farewell address of Samuel to the people of Israel. He’s not saying goodbye to die or retire, but saying farewell to his role as leader/judge. He has anointed Saul as King and is moving more into the role of prophet and priest. Let’s read the text together and then consider together the reflection of Jesus in this message of Samuel.

1 Samuel 12:1–25 ESV

And Samuel said to all Israel, “Behold, I have obeyed your voice in all that you have said to me and have made a king over you. And now, behold, the king walks before you, and I am old and gray; and behold, my sons are with you. I have walked before you from my youth until this day. Here I am; testify against me before the Lord and before his anointed. Whose ox have I taken? Or whose donkey have I taken? Or whom have I defrauded? Whom have I oppressed? Or from whose hand have I taken a bribe to blind my eyes with it? Testify against me and I will restore it to you.” They said, “You have not defrauded us or oppressed us or taken anything from any man’s hand.” And he said to them, “The Lord is witness against you, and his anointed is witness this day, that you have not found anything in my hand.” And they said, “He is witness.” And Samuel said to the people, “The Lord is witness, who appointed Moses and Aaron and brought your fathers up out of the land of Egypt. Now therefore stand still that I may plead with you before the Lord concerning all the righteous deeds of the Lord that he performed for you and for your fathers. When Jacob went into Egypt, and the Egyptians oppressed them, then your fathers cried out to the Lord and the Lord sent Moses and Aaron, who brought your fathers out of Egypt and made them dwell in this place. But they forgot the Lord their God. And he sold them into the hand of Sisera, commander of the army of Hazor, and into the hand of the Philistines, and into the hand of the king of Moab. And they fought against them. And they cried out to the Lord and said, ‘We have sinned, because we have forsaken the Lord and have served the Baals and the Ashtaroth. But now deliver us out of the hand of our enemies, that we may serve you.’ And the Lord sent Jerubbaal and Barak and Jephthah and Samuel and delivered you out of the hand of your enemies on every side, and you lived in safety. And when you saw that Nahash the king of the Ammonites came against you, you said to me, ‘No, but a king shall reign over us,’ when the Lord your God was your king. And now behold the king whom you have chosen, for whom you have asked; behold, the Lord has set a king over you. If you will fear the Lord and serve him and obey his voice and not rebel against the commandment of the Lord, and if both you and the king who reigns over you will follow the Lord your God, it will be well. But if you will not obey the voice of the Lord, but rebel against the commandment of the Lord, then the hand of the Lord will be against you and your king. Now therefore stand still and see this great thing that the Lord will do before your eyes. Is it not wheat harvest today? I will call upon the Lord, that he may send thunder and rain. And you shall know and see that your wickedness is great, which you have done in the sight of the Lord, in asking for yourselves a king.” So Samuel called upon the Lord, and the Lord sent thunder and rain that day, and all the people greatly feared the Lord and Samuel. And all the people said to Samuel, “Pray for your servants to the Lord your God, that we may not die, for we have added to all our sins this evil, to ask for ourselves a king.” And Samuel said to the people, “Do not be afraid; you have done all this evil. Yet do not turn aside from following the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart. And do not turn aside after empty things that cannot profit or deliver, for they are empty. For the Lord will not forsake his people, for his great name’s sake, because it has pleased the Lord to make you a people for himself. Moreover, as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you, and I will instruct you in the good and the right way. Only fear the Lord and serve him faithfully with all your heart. For consider what great things he has done for you. But if you still do wickedly, you shall be swept away, both you and your king.”

There are quite a few things we are going to look at in this message

The Role of the Priest

Christ’s Priestly Heart Reflected in Samuel

Samuel reminds the people of the faithfulness of God in contrast with their own foolishness

1 Samuel 12:6–7 ESV

And Samuel said to the people, “The Lord is witness, who appointed Moses and Aaron and brought your fathers up out of the land of Egypt. Now therefore stand still that I may plead with you before the Lord concerning all the righteous deeds of the Lord that he performed for you and for your fathers.

This is a key part of the pastoral/priestly heart. His chastisement and almost sarcastic impatience with the people points to the love that he has for them. A parent that dearly loves his or her child will often get more upset when they see the child acting out of character or in a manner less than which they are capable. Samuel is frustrated with the people because of their insistence in having a king. Samuel has led the people well and is in direct communication with the Lord, something the king would not have. Samuel knows that a king would spell trouble for Israel as they would have a man on whom to take out their frustrations instead of fully placing their trust in God for provision, protection, and prosperity.

So this characteristic of the priestly message and pastoral heart is reflective of Christ and his time turning over the tables in the Temple. Jesus’ harsh, but true message in the Temple was done out of love. He acted out of righteous anger that was rooted in love. He loved His people and was angry that their house of worship was moving into a place of business. Reverence was lost and God was becoming a commodity. I can tell you, as one of the pastors here at ABC, we especially don’t want this to take place. We don’t want your relationship with God to become a transactional commodity. We want the power of God flowing through your hearts and minds as you move toward holiness and worship in all things. We desire that you will remember the faithfulness of God in the lives of those who have come before you as well as in the days gone by in your own life. God has been so good and so faithful, yet we are so quick to put God’s movement in a spiritual glass case with the words “break out in case of emergency” written on the front.

Samuel taking the time to remind them often and slowly is intentional. He’s making the point even further on how good God has been, but he’s doing that out of love. He knows the history of the people of Israel, who have so often fallen into that cycle. You know that cycle I mentioned last week that is so true in the Christian life? Blessing, Apathy, Rejection, Punishment, Repentance, Redemption. This cycle is what concerned Samuel, and it is the same cycle that concerns Jesus in your relationship with Him.

Samuel assures the people that their past mistakes are not determinative of God’s grace in their future

1 Samuel 12:20–23 ESV

And Samuel said to the people, “Do not be afraid; you have done all this evil. Yet do not turn aside from following the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart. And do not turn aside after empty things that cannot profit or deliver, for they are empty. For the Lord will not forsake his people, for his great name’s sake, because it has pleased the Lord to make you a people for himself. Moreover, as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you, and I will instruct you in the good and the right way.

This is perhaps the most Christlike aspect of Samuel’s farewell address. He takes care to encourage the people to holiness and obedience in the same way that Christ does to His disciples. When asked what the greatest commandment was, Jesus replied with “love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind.” This sounds very similar to Samuel’s charge to “serve the Lord with all your heart.”

The promise of Christ that God’s grace is free for all to receive

Communion