Samuel's '1 Samuel 9: 2'

The surrounding nations had an influence on the people of Israel and this was not pleasing to God. They wanted a king. They wanted to be like other nations and have a leaded. A king they could see.

Although Saul met all qualifications of what the ideal king should resemble, he lacked the most important trait, obedience to God. Saul was identical to the rest of the people of Israel and wanted to reign his way. Saul’s disobedience caused his fall, “For example, his usurpation of priestly functions while awaiting Samuel to offer the sacrifices at Gilgal before the battle with the Philistines caused God to vow that he would remove the kingdom from Saul (Hindson 165).” God rejected Saul as king because of his blatant disobedience of God’s commands, and God chose David as the forthcoming king.

Bonnie and sherry both good post. Solomon shows us that even if you’re the wisest person in the world if you are not abiding in the Lord then the vines of the world are going to choke you out. God allowed Solomon to make this choice to disobey as he does with us. “So the Lord said to Solomon, “Because you have done this, and you have not kept My covenant and My statutes, which I have commanded you, I will surely tear the kingdom from you, and will give it to your servant.’” (1 Kings 11:11 NASB). God displayed mercy to Solomon for David’s sake “Nevertheless I will not do it in your days for the sake of your father David, but I will tear it out of the hand of your son.” (1 Kings 11:12 NASB). How faithful and patients God is with us is just amazing.

As we examine the heroes of the faith outlined for us in the Old Testament, we would be hard pressed to find a more faithful man that King David. After the death of King Saul, David became the King of the Hebrew people. David, who was meek and pious, steadfastly believed in the true God and tried to do His will. He had endured much persecution from Saul and other enemies but did not become bitter, did not lift his hand against Saul, as he was the Lord’s anointed, but placed all his hope in God, and the Lord delivered him from all his enemies.

As Samuel grew in age he intended to appoint one of his sons as the king of Israel. His sons however did not follow the ways of their father or God. “They turned aside after dishonest gain and accepted bribes and perverted justice” (I Samuel 8:3). The people of Israel desired a king, “a king like all the other nations” (Hindson and Yates, 2012. P.164). The people had grown tired of oppression and felt that “the lack of a strong human leader as the cause and did not realize that the reason for the oppression was a spiritual on-their failure to serve God” (Harbin, 2005, p.219). Saul was not God’s choice for the throne but “he was the people’s choice” (Hindson and Yates, 2012. P.164). Saul’s appointment as king was against the “old

1 Kings 1-14 – At this point in Scripture, David is very old and the debate over who will succeed him as king over Israel is at the fore. In a cunning move, Bathsheba and Nathan collaborate to convince David to appoint his son Solomon over Israel and not Adonijah. After Solomon establishes his new kingdom, Israel experiences a golden age with the building of the Temple for YHWH, as well as the peace that they experience in the land, along with the accumulation of wealth on the part of Solomon. Peace and prosperity do not last for Solomon, however, because some of the women that he has joined himself to turn him away from following YHWH wholeheartedly. As a punishment, YHWH strips the throne from Solomon’s son, Rehoboam, and leaves him with

Solomon may have introduced foreign trade and increased the nation income, but he increased an oppressive policy and grew heavy of the people. Many of the issues that Solomon had were economic such as, building projects, military fortifications, ship construction, and foreign trade which needed men. Different foreigners were used for labor as well as Israelites as military service. Solomon’s pride and selfishness contributed to his issues. He added tax to supply for his “wasteful court.” He wanted to be a king that was admired by all the other kings. Samuel prophecy concerning kingship and was fulfilled in Solomon. Now this wasn’t necessarily a good thing, He put burdensome taxes on the people, he took over the basic sources of wealth and more. The people of the northern tribes wanted to

In 1 Samuel 9:2 It states: “Kish had a son named Saul, as handsome a young man as could be found anywhere in Israel, and he was a head taller than anyone else.” Saul by all accounts was a charismatic and liked man, and the people of Israel seemed to be smitten by him. Saul was chosen to be the first king of Israel, being anointed by Samuel (1 Samuel 10:1) and his kingship was established after the Israelites victory at Jabesh-Gilead. Saul though was a disobedient man, as Hindson and Yates wrote “The people seemed to focus on Saul’s outward appearance rather than heart.” Saul started to make foolish, disobedient, and strange decisions.

King David proved to be a wise and effective leader for Israel. However, it can be said that his son, Solomon, made several mistakes during his reign. Many of his problems originated from his Temple, a stucture that was conceptualized by his father to be a deterrent against the paganism, which infested the land. Yet, it seemed as if several of Solomon’s policies actually encouraged paganism rather than deter it.

Saul was tall, good looking and a warrior, however, as Hindson and Yates put it, “The people seemed to focus on Saul’s outward appearance (9:2) rather than his heart (16:7)” (Hindson and Yates 2012, 164). Despite his early successes as king, Saul’s arrogance and pride caused him to start disobeying God. Samuel warned Saul repeatedly about his covenant disobedience. So when he offered priestly

Saul had a proper start, and what looked to be a promising future. But Saul differed from the Lord’s plan, calling for the whole reason to appoint David. Saul directly disobeyed Samuel, not putting his trust in the Lord and focusing on his people, and constantly thinking he could do better than the

Though the New Testament is essential to developing one’s Christian faith, the Old Testament is full of godly men and women whose examples Christians should follow, as well as not-so-obedient individuals who serve as warnings of what not to do. Among the most famous of Old Testament characters are Joshua, son of Nun, and Saul, the first king of Israel. Both men were chosen by God to lead His people and succeeded godly leaders, Moses and Samuel, respectively. Yet where one man fell so far from God that his kingdom was taken away from him, the other provided such excellent leadership that Israel followed God his entire life and was able to seize the Promised Land.

Solomon had many strengths and weaknesses as a king. Solomon was considered to be a very knowledgeable man (Tullock & McEntire, 2012). He was known to be a scientist, as well as an excellent speaker and acquirer for truth and advice (Tullock & McEntire, 2012). Solomon was also known to be quite the city planner and builder, as he transformed Israel’s landscape by building great structures within the city (Tullock & McEntire, 2012). Although he formed many unions that allowed for peace and wealth for Israel, his downfall came about through his marriages with pagan women and his self-indulgence. Solomon allowed his wives to worship their pagan gods. He also taxed his people unreasonably and basically enslaved them to satisfy his own indulgences.

Although, Solomon loved God, he did not follow the Ten Commandments because he lusted after woman. Therefore, his commitments unto God were not without flaws but a bit tarnished due to his vulnerability. He would lust after

Saul was the son of Kish, and a member of the Benjamin Tribe. Saul was appointed the first king of Israel by the prophet, Samuel. Saul was ordained by God because he had good favor with God and the people of Israel. It was said that Saul was chosen by the people of Israel because he was very good looking, well built, and tall. In fact, he was the best looking man in Israel (1 Samuel 9:2). The people of Israel also chose King Saul to rule over their land because he had defeated a group of the Ammonites (11:1-15). During the first few years of his reign he won many wars, such as the Philistines. The Philistines were trying to enslave the Israelites, but Saul defeated them. Although Saul was highly favored by God and did great things, he became