Samuel Annoints Saul (1 Samuel 9-10):

The chapter begins with a genealogy of Saul. Saul's father was the named Kish and Kish was the son of Abiel who was the son of Zeror, son of Becorath, son of Aphiah. Saul was an Benjaminite and also an Israelite. It is said that Saul was the most handsome of all the Israelites.

Saul lost his donkeys and he went with servants to find them. The servants said that they should go see a man of God in the city. Saul decided that he will go see the man. They decided to pay the man in silver

Saul goes and reaches the outskirts of town. He speaks to young women who tell him that he must hurry because the seer is only here for one day because they are sacrificing an animal.

Samuel spoke with God beforehand and God said that Samuel with meet a Benjaminite. When Samuel caught sight of Saul, he knew God chose that man. Samuel was told to tell Saul his donkeys have been found.

Saul was then given a special portion of food to eat and was given a place to sleep. He was treated like royalty.

The next day, Samuel calls Saul up to the high place. He grabs oil from a flask and pours it on Saul. Samuel kisses his forehead and is blessed.

Samuel Anoints David (1 Samuel 16:1-16:13):

The LORD said to Samuel: How long will you grieve for Saul, whom I have rejected as king of Israel? Fill your horn with oil, and be on your way. I am sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem, for from among his sons I have decided on a king. But Samuel replied: “How can I go? Saul will hear of it and kill me.” To this the LORD answered: Take a heifer along and say, “I have come to sacrifice to the LORD.” Invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I myself will tell you what to do; you are to anoint for me the one I point out to you.

Samuel did as the LORD had commanded him. When he entered Bethlehem, the elders of the city came trembling to meet him and asked, “Is your visit peaceful, O seer?” He replied: “Yes! I have come to sacrifice to the LORD. So purify yourselves and celebrate with me today.” He also had Jesse and his sons purify themselves and invited them to the sacrifice. As they came, he looked at Eliab and thought, “Surely the anointed is here before the LORD.” But the LORD said to Samuel: Do not judge from his appearance or from his lofty stature, because I have rejected him. God does not see as a mortal, who sees the appearance. The LORD looks into the heart. Then Jesse called Abinadab and presented him before Samuel, who said, “The LORD has not chosen him.” Next Jesse presented Shammah, but Samuel said, “The LORD has not chosen this one either.” In the same way Jesse presented seven sons before Samuel, but Samuel said to Jesse, “The LORD has not chosen any one of these.” Then Samuel asked Jesse, “Are these all the sons you have?” Jesse replied, “There is still the youngest, but he is tending the sheep.” Samuel said to Jesse, “Send for him; we will not sit down to eat until he arrives here.” Jesse had the young man brought to them. He was ruddy, a youth with beautiful eyes, and good looking. The LORD said: There—anoint him, for this is the one!

David and Saul's Service (1 Samuel 16:14-16:23):

The spirit of the LORD had departed from Saul, and he was tormented by an evil spirit from the LORD. So the servants of Saul said to him: “Look! An evil spirit from God is tormenting you.16If your lordship will order it, we, your servants here attending to you, will look for a man skilled in playing the harp. When the evil spirit from God comes upon you, he will play and you will feel better.” Saul then told his servants, “Find me a good harpist and bring him to me.” One of the servants spoke up: “I have observed that a son of Jesse of Bethlehem is a skillful harpist. He is also a brave warrior, an able speaker, and a handsome young man. The LORD is certainly with him.”

David Made Armor-Bearer. Accordingly, Saul dispatched messengers to ask Jesse to send him his son David, who was with the flock. Then Jesse took five loaves of bread, a skin of wine, and a young goat, and sent them to Saul with his son David. Thus David came to Saul and entered his service. Saul became very fond of him and made him his armor-bearer. Saul sent Jesse the message, “Let David stay in my service, for he meets with my approval.” Whenever the spirit from God came upon Saul, David would take the harp and play, and Saul would be relieved and feel better, for the evil spirit would leave him.

David and Goliath (1 Sammuel 17)

David and the Israelites met the philistines and were on opposite hills. There was one giant man named Goliath. He said that if one of their men went and fought him and won, the philistines would become their slaves. If Goliath won, the Israelites would become their slaves. Then struck fear among the Israelites because Goliath was a whopping 9 foot 9 inches.

David's father Jesse ordered David to bring grains and cheese to the battle field because the Israelites were at war and David's 3 older brothers were apart of it. As David showed up, he heard Goliath's taunts and became angered by it. David also heard of the award for killing Goliath and defeating the philistines. As David's brother hears him speaking out, his brother becomes enraged and tells David to be quiet and to just leave.

David challenges Goliath by comparing him to a bear and a lion. He is ready to fight Goliath. Saul gave David his armor but David said it was too bulky so he took it off. Wearing just his tunic, he went into battle. He brought along 5 smooth stones with him in his bag.

Goliath finds it amusing that such a young boy came to fight him. He begins speaking to him and David replies with that he is fighting in the name of the Lord and that he will cut Goliath's head off and feed it to the birds. David then grabs his sling and hurls a rock and it hits Goliath straight in the forehead. Goliath perishes immediately.

As the army of the philistines sees their hero perish, the flee but the Israelites capture them. David takes Goliath's head as a prize. Saul asks David whose son he is and David says his father's name.

Saul Tries to Kill David (1 Sammuel 19)

Saul has become jealous of David. He tells his son he plans on killing David. His son is very fond of David so he warns David of the inpending doom. Jonathan says he will speak to Saul about David and relay any information he receives

Saul then decided to attack David but David escapes safely. Then he went to his house but his wife was there and said Saul was setting guards up to kill him so his wife made him leave. And so David left.

David ran to Sammuel. They went to a place called Naioth. There, David was protected. Once Saul found out about where David was, he sent 3 sets of guards to get David but they all fell into a hypnotized state. Then Saul went and fell for the state also.

David Spares Saul's Life (1 Samuel 24, 1 Sammuel 26)

David went into a cave to use the bathroom and was told Saul was in the cave also. Stealthily, he went up to Saul and cut off a piece of his robe. David felt very guilty. After Saul left the cave, David came out and said he couldn't kill Saul because Saul was anointed by God. He said he took pity on Saul and doesn't want to cause Saul any harm.

Saul then breaks down and cries saying how David is right and has been treated unfairly. Saul knows David will become king of Jerusalem

Saul and the Witch of Endor (2 Samuel 28:4-28:25)

The Philistines rallied and, coming to Shunem, they encamped. Saul, too, mustered all Israel; they camped on Gilboa.When Saul saw the Philistine camp, he grew afraid and lost heart completely. He consulted the LORD; but the LORD gave no answer, neither in dreams nor by Urim nor through prophets. Then Saul said to his servants, “Find me a medium* through whom I can seek counsel.” His servants answered him, “There is a woman in Endor who is a medium.”

So he disguised himself, putting on other clothes, and set out with two companions. They came to the woman at night, and Saul said to her, “Divine for me; conjure up the spirit I tell you.” But the woman answered him, “You know what Saul has done, how he expelled the mediums and diviners from the land. Then why are you trying to entrap me and get me killed?”10But Saul swore to her by the LORD, “As the LORD lives, you shall incur no blame for this.” “Whom do you want me to conjure up?” the woman asked him. “Conjure up Samuel for me,” he replied.

When the woman saw Samuel, she shrieked at the top of her voice and said to Saul, “Why have you deceived me? You are Saul!”But the king said to her, “Do not be afraid. What do you see?” “I see a god rising from the earth,” she replied. “What does he look like?” asked Saul. “An old man is coming up wrapped in a robe,” she replied. Saul knew that it was Samuel, and so he bowed his face to the ground in homage.

Samuel then said to Saul, “Why do you disturb me by conjuring me up?” Saul replied: “I am in great distress, for the Philistines are waging war against me and God has turned away from me. Since God no longer answers me through prophets or in dreams, I have called upon you to tell me what I should do.” To this Samuel said: “But why do you ask me, if the LORD has abandoned you for your neighbor? The LORD has done to you what he declared through me: he has torn the kingdom from your hand and has given it to your neighbor David.

“Because you disobeyed the LORD’s directive and would not carry out his fierce anger against Amalek, the LORD has done this to you today. Moreover, the LORD will deliver Israel, and you as well, into the hands of the Philistines. By tomorrow you and your sons will be with me, and the LORD will have delivered the army of Israel into the hands of the Philistines.”

Immediately Saul fell full length on the ground, in great fear because of Samuel’s message. He had no strength left, since he had eaten nothing all that day and night. Then the woman came to Saul and, seeing that he was quite terror-stricken, said to him: “Remember, your maidservant obeyed you: I took my life in my hands and carried out the request you made of me. Now you, in turn, please listen to your maidservant. Let me set out a bit of food for you to eat, so that you are strong enough to go on your way.” But he refused, saying, “I will not eat.” However, when his servants joined the woman in urging him, he listened to their entreaties, got up from the ground, and sat on a couch. The woman had a stall-fed calf in the house, which she now quickly slaughtered. Then taking flour, she kneaded it and baked unleavened bread. She set the meal before Saul and his servants, and they ate. Then they got up and left the same night.

David Becomes King Over Israel (2 Sammuel 5:1-5:12)

All the tribes of Israel came to David in Hebron, and they said: “Look! We are your bone and your flesh. In days past, when Saul was still our king, you were the one who led Israel out in all its battles and brought it back. And the LORD said to you: You shall shepherd my people Israel; you shall be ruler over Israel.” Then all the elders of Israel came to the king in Hebron, and at Hebron King David made a covenant with them in the presence of the LORD; and they anointed David king over Israel. David was thirty years old when he became king, and he reigned forty years:in Hebron he was king over Judah seven years and six months, and in Jerusalem he was king thirty-three years over all Israel and Judah.

David and Bathsheba (2 Samuel 11)

David saw Bathsheba bathing and was attracted to her. He then slept with her knowing that she was the wife of one of his men. Then he had Uriah sent to the front ranks and left for dead. Uriah died and David took Bathsheba as his wife who then bore him a son as she was mourning her late husband. 

Nathan Rebukes David (2 Samuel 12:1-12:15)

The LORD sent Nathan to David, and when he came to him, he said: “Tell me how you judge this case: In a certain town there were two men, one rich, the other poor. The rich man had flocks and herds in great numbers. But the poor man had nothing at all except one little ewe lamb that he had bought. He nourished her, and she grew up with him and his children. Of what little he had she ate; from his own cup she drank; in his bosom she slept; she was like a daughter to him. Now, a visitor came to the rich man, but he spared his own flocks and herds to prepare a meal for the traveler who had come to him: he took the poor man’s ewe lamb and prepared it for the one who had come to him.” David grew very angry with that man and said to Nathan: “As the LORD lives, the man who has done this deserves death! He shall make fourfold restitution* for the lamb because he has done this and was unsparing.” Then Nathan said to David: “You are the man!

“Thus says the LORD God of Israel: I anointed you king over Israel. I delivered you from the hand of Saul gave you your lord’s house and your lord’s wives for your own. I gave you the house of Israel and of Judah. And if this were not enough, I could count up for you still more. Why have you despised the LORD and done what is evil in his sight? You have cut down Uriah the Hittite with the sword; his wife you took as your own, and him you killed with the sword of the Ammonites. Now, therefore, the sword shall never depart from your house, because you have despised me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife. Thus says the LORD: I will bring evil upon you out of your own house. I will take your wives before your very eyes, and will give them to your neighbor: he shall lie with your wives in broad daylight.* You have acted in secret, but I will do this in the presence of all Israel, in the presence of the sun itself.”

Then David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the LORD.” Nathan answered David: “For his part, the LORD has removed your sin. You shall not die, but since you have utterly spurned the LORD by this deed, the child born to you will surely die.” Then Nathan returned to his house.

Absalom's Death (2 Sammuel 18)

The people were preparing for battle. The Kings says be careful of Absalom. The king tells all the people this. The battle then commenced in the forest near Mahanaim. As Absalom was riding his mule, his hair got caught in a tree and he hung from the tree by his hair. No one helped him because they weren't supposed to touch him. The king eventually found out about Absalom.

David Makes Solomon King (1 Kings 1:11-1:40)

Bathsheba heard of David crowning his son Adonijah. Bathsheba then went to David and spoke to him saying that he promised the the name of the lord that he would make Solomon king. David then made full of his promise and made Solomon king.

A Wise Ruling (1 Kings 3:16-3:28)

Later, two prostitutes came to the king and stood before him. One woman said: “By your leave, my lord, this woman and I live in the same house, and I gave birth in the house while she was present. On the third day after I gave birth, this woman also gave birth. We were alone; no one else was in the house with us; only the two of us were in the house. This woman’s son died during the night when she lay on top of him. So in the middle of the night she got up and took my son from my side, as your servant was sleeping. Then she laid him in her bosom and laid her dead son in my bosom. I rose in the morning to nurse my son, and he was dead! But when I examined him in the morning light, I saw it was not the son I had borne.” The other woman answered, “No! The living one is my son, the dead one is yours.” But the first kept saying, “No! the dead one is your son, the living one is mine!” Thus they argued before the king. Then the king said: “One woman claims, ‘This, the living one, is my son, the dead one is yours.’ The other answers, ‘No! The dead one is your son, the living one is mine.’” The king continued, “Get me a sword.” When they brought the sword before the king, he said, “Cut the living child in two, and give half to one woman and half to the other.” The woman whose son was alive, because she was stirred with compassion for her son, said to the king, “Please, my lord, give her the living baby—do not kill it!” But the other said, “It shall be neither mine nor yours. Cut it in two!”The king then answered, “Give her the living baby! Do not kill it! She is the mother.”When all Israel heard the judgment the king had given, they were in awe of him, because they saw that the king had in him the wisdom of God for giving right judgment.

Solomon Builds a Temple (1 Kings 6)

After the Israelites were out of Egypt and Solomon had been ruling for 4 years, Solomon decided to build a temple. The house of the Lord was very big. It was described as being 60 cubits long, 30 high, and 20 wide. That is impressive by the standards of even today. The Lord said that if they worship him in that house, he will stay and watch over the Israelites. Solomon put the Ark of the Covenenant in the innermost part of the temple. It took Solomon 7 years to build the grandiose temple of God.

The Queen of Sheba Visits Solomon (1 Kings 10:1-10:13)

The queen of Sheba,* having heard a report of Solomon’s fame, came to test him with subtle questions. She arrived in Jerusalem with a very numerous retinue, and with camels bearing spices, a large amount of gold, and precious stones. She came to Solomon and spoke to him about everything that she had on her mind. King Solomon explained everything she asked about, and there was nothing so obscure that the king could not explain it to her. When the queen of Sheba witnessed Solomon’s great wisdom, the house he had built,5the food at his table, the seating of his ministers, the attendance and dress of his waiters, his servers, and the burnt offerings he offered in the house of the LORD, it took her breath away. “The report I heard in my country about your deeds and your wisdom is true,” she told the king. “I did not believe the report until I came and saw with my own eyes that not even the half had been told me. Your wisdom and prosperity surpass the report I heard. Happy are your servants, happy these ministers of yours, who stand before you always and listen to your wisdom. Blessed be the LORD, your God, who has been pleased to place you on the throne of Israel. In his enduring love for Israel, the LORD has made you king to carry out judgment and justice.” Then she gave the king one hundred and twenty gold talents, a very large quantity of spices, and precious stones. Never again did anyone bring such an abundance of spices as the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.

Hiram’s fleet, which used to bring gold from Ophir, also brought from there a very large quantity of almug wood and precious stones.With this wood the king made supports for the house of the LORD and for the house of the king, and harps and lyres for the singers. Never again was any such almug wood brought or seen to the present day.

King Solomon gave the queen of Sheba everything she desired and asked for, besides what King Solomon gave her from Solomon’s royal bounty. Then she returned with her servants to her own country.

Israel Rebels Against Rehoboam (1 Kings 12-1-12:24)

The people do not like the king. They believe he is harsh and treats them like slaves. Jeroboam had heard of the new crowning. The people wanted Jeroboam to come to speak to the new king. They asked the new king Rehoboam to act justly. Rehoboam shooed them away and said to return in 3 days.

Rehoboam asked the elders what he should do and they all said to lighten the yoke and to serve them so that they may serve him. He then went to the young men he grew up with and asked their input and they gave the complete opposite of it. They said to make the yoke heavier and to be harsher. Rehoboam said the latter of the two to the people.

The people erupted in anger. They stoned the leader of Forced Labor and Rehoboam fled Jerusalem. The Israelites made Jeroboam king and none stayed faithful to the House of David except the tribe of Judah.

Rehoboam returned and wanted to wage war but the Lord came and said he brought all of this upon them. He did not want the Israelites to fight each other so he ordered them to all go home and they all obeyed. Jeroboam stayed king of Israel.

Questions related to the unit

Be able to distinguish the characters of Saul and David in 1 Sammuel. Highlight at least 2 good attributes/deeds of David. Saul: offers unlawful sacrifice, fails to keep ban, kills priests, tries to kill David out of jealousy, practices sorcery, and commits suicide. David: constantly expresses trust in the Lord, fierce in battle, practices respect for God's anointed kings and priests, and has mercy on Saul even though he tries killing him

What city does David make capital of Israel and use as the final resting place for the Ark of the Coevenant? Jerusalem

Describe the main elements if the Davidic Covenenant from 2 Sammuel and how it is different from previous covenants. The Davidic covenant is based on God's promise that God establishes the house of Davud to rule over Israel forever; no matter what Davud or his descendants do God will only punish them rather than take away David's line. This Coevenant has NO conditions for Israel, no Law, no circumcision, only promises from God.

What is Solomon's main achievement during his reign? The construction of the Temple of Jerusalem

Despite the achievements of Solomon, how does he displease God and eventually cause the breakup of Israel's kingdom into northern and southern tribes? Solomon has hundreds of foreign wives which is forbidden and how lead him to worship foreign gods; God's punishment for this sin is splitting of the Israelite kingdom.

What happens in 922BC to the Israelite Kingdom as a result of Solomon's sins in 1 Kings? The kingdom splits in two, a northern Israel and a southern Judah