We come now to our last formal name listed in the 32nd verse of Hebrews 11. This study will give to us the life of Samuel that exhibited a faith in God through some very difficult situations. What we need to notice is that Samuel is most often known as a prophet of God but he was much more than that. Samuel is often looked at as a judge, a military leader, a seer, a prophet, a priest and a great servant of God. Samuel’s life spreads from the ending of the time of Samson’s time as judge to just a year before David takes the throne as king in Israel. Samuel would be a part of many wars, many prophetic words towards Israel, the anointing of the first king of Israel, the destruction of Saul’s kingdom to David’s anointing and prospering.
All of what we will learn in this study will only touch the fringe of what his life entailed but what we will see is a man of God that continued to live his life for God in spite of the difficulties that came his way. For the purpose of our study let’s read Hebrews 11:32 that says And what more shall I say? For time will fail me if I recount Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, as well as David and Samuel and the prophets.
It is here that we look a little deeper into the original stories of these great men of faith listed in this verse. This brings us to now look at Samuel as we look now at our first point.
1.Samuel’s faith lived out in OBEDIENCE to God.
The story of Samuel starts before he was born in 1 Samuel 1 where we find his parents story. Here we find Samuel’s mother who was yet another woman that was barren and yet crying out to God to have a child. These are the words she spoke concerning this barrenness in 1 Samuel 1:11 And she made a vow and said, “O Yahweh of hosts, if You will indeed look on the affliction of Your maidservant and remember me and not forget Your maidservant, but will give Your maidservant a seed amongst men, then I will give him to Yahweh all the days of his life, and a razor shall never come on his head.”
As time went, her prayer would be answered not because of her faith, not because of the priest’s ability to speak to God in some certain way but because of God’s purpose and sovereignty. Eli says to Hannah in 1 Samuel 1:17 “Go in peace; and may the God of Israel grant your petition that you have asked of Him.”
This was not a promise but rather a statement of the fact that God would grant to her this very thing she was asking about. God’s plan was to have this prayer answered for the purpose of Samuel becoming the man of God he would become. This brings us to look at just a couple of situations of Samuel’s obedience to follow God as He led Samuel.
The first situation to look at will be in Samuel’s initial call from God. We look at this call from God as an unique experience that is not repeated anywhere in Scripture or in history. This was not the foundation of how God would call a prophet, priest, follower of any sort. As time went Hannah fulfilled the promise made to God that she would give her son to God to be used in whatever way He wants. Samuel was a very young boy when he went to live in the temple with Eli, probably anywhere between 3 to 9 years old. There is speculation on his age and we definitely can’t be dogmatic about it.
So that brings us to the timing of this call. Most people and even Josephus the ancient Jewish historian, said that Samuel was around 12 years old when this took place. Let’s look at Samuel’s obedience through this call.
As the story moves along we see in 1 Samuel 3:1-9 that Samuel hears a voice but thinks that it is Eli speaking to him. Eventually Eli tells Samuel to say as you can read in 1 Samuel 3:9 ‘Speak, Yahweh, for Your slave is listening.’”
Sure enough Samuel listens to Eli and does this very thing. It is the message that Samuel hears that we will notice his complete obedience even as a young boy. When Samuel hears the voice of God this time we will see what happens as we read 1 Samuel 3:10-14 Then Yahweh came and stood and called as at other times, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel said, “Speak, for Your slave is listening.” 11 And Yahweh said to Samuel, “Behold, I am about to do a thing in Israel at which both ears of everyone who hears it will tingle. 12 In that day I will establish against Eli all that I have spoken concerning his house, from beginning to end. 13 And I have told him that I am about to judge his house forever for the iniquity which he knew because his sons have been bringing a curse on themselves, but he did not rebuke them. 14 Now therefore I have sworn to the house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli’s house shall not be atoned for by sacrifice or offering forever.”
This news must have been tough to hear because I’m sure he had a love for Eli and his family. In fact 1 Samuel 3:15 says So Samuel lay down until morning. Then he opened the doors of the house of Yahweh. But Samuel was afraid to tell the vision to Eli.
Even though the news of the destruction of Eli and his family was just told to him, Samuel continued to do what he always did by opening the doors of the house of Yahweh. When questioned by Eli, Samuel did not hide from him what God had told him and with that his integrity really showed as a person that would follow God and not fear what man may do to him. He didn’t know how Eli would respond but he trusted God in this difficult situation. 1 Samuel 3:19:21 says Thus Samuel grew, and Yahweh was with him and let none of his words fall to the ground. 20 So all Israel from Dan even to Beersheba knew that Samuel was confirmed as a prophet of Yahweh. 21 And Yahweh appeared again at Shiloh, because Yahweh revealed Himself to Samuel at Shiloh by the word of Yahweh.
Everyone knew that God was working through Samuel and it was his obedience that proved the faith that he had. This brings us to look at another point for this study of Samuel.
2.Samuel’s faith lived out in his OUTRAGE against Saul’s sin.
Look with me at 1 Samuel 15:10-11 that says Then the word of Yahweh came to Samuel, saying, 11 “I regret that I have made Saul king, for he has turned back from following Me and has not established My words.” And Samuel became angry and cried out to Yahweh all night.
So often we look at anger as a negative attribute and so often it is. Here in our text the anger or outrage of Samuel is seen as an act of worship for God. Psalm 69:9 says For zeal for Your house has consumed me, And the reproaches of those who reproach You have fallen on me.
We see our Lord Jesus in the New Testament cleanse the temple of those making money off of people in the house of God. We see the cleansing at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry recorded in John 2:13-16 that says And the Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14 And He found in the temple those who were selling oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers seated at their tables. 15 And He made a scourge of cords, and drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen; and He poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables; 16 and to those who were selling the doves He said, “Take these things away; stop making My Father’s house a place of business.”
Also to go along with that John, the writer of the Gospel of John includes this in John 2:17 His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for Your house will consume me.”
Both Matthew and Luke record a similar act of cleansing at the end of Jesus’ life where this same attitude is seen. This is not an outburst of personal vengeance or anger to show the power that He had but rather the seriousness of worship and obedience to our Lord and Father God.
It is this same attitude that we see in Samuel here in our text. There is so much we could talk about when it comes to the life of Samuel but this act has always stuck out to me as an act of faith in God, in spite of who it was that he faced. We see in our text that Samuel’s anger is in response to God telling Samuel of Saul’s disobedience to God’s commands. Samuel was the person that anointed Saul as King even though he tried his best to persuade the people of Israel from having an earthly king. Now this very king has utterly disobeyed God to the point of God now rejecting Saul as king.
Samuel obeys God to go and confront Saul with this disobedience. The command was clear and to the point. 1 Samuel 15:2-3 says Thus says Yahweh of hosts, ‘I will punish Amalek for what he did to Israel, how he set himself against him on the way while he was coming up from Egypt. 3 Now go and strike Amalek and devote to destruction all that he has, and do not spare him; but put to death both man and woman, infant and nursing baby, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.’”
But then we see what Saul and the people actually do in 1 Samuel 15:7-9 that says So Saul struck the Amalekites, from Havilah as you go to Shur, which is east of Egypt. 8 And he seized Agag the king of the Amalekites alive and devoted to destruction all the people with the edge of the sword. 9 But Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep, the oxen, the fatlings, the lambs, and all that was good, and they were not willing to devote them to destruction; but everything despised and worthless, that they utterly destroyed.
I want to point out that nowhere do we even see that all of the Amalekites were destroyed. The indication is that this was what they set out to do but it seems like this is not what happened. In fact later on David will face the Amalekites so they were not destroyed as commanded. Saul chose to do what he wanted and with that brought on himself judgement from God. This would lead him to not have the blessing of God on his life or kingdom. This would lead him to being rejected as king and this would lead him eventually into madness as he chases David for many, many years.
The point I want to make as I draw this study to a close is that *Samuel chose to be obedient and to have anger against all that sinned against God in such a deliberate fashion. Saul did not seek repentance but only wanted to look as if he was still blessed by God. Samuel did not fear the king because he knew that God had placed him in that position for a reason. As the story continues on Samuel’s outrage against this act of sin would be seen in one of the most graphic acts of zeal for God that has ever been seen. Read with me 1 Samuel 15:32-33 Then Samuel said, “Bring Agag near to me, the king of the Amalekites.” And Agag came to him in chains. And Agag said, “Surely the bitterness of death has departed.” 33 But Samuel said, “As your sword has made women childless, so shall your mother be childless among women.” And Samuel hacked Agag to pieces before Yahweh at Gilgal.
This act of disobedience led to Saul’s rejection as king but it places Samuel as a prophet that followed God by the faith that he had even as he faced the very king that he anointed. God’s righteousness was more important than his friendship or his own personal agenda. Samuel is an example of a man of faith that lived that out in every circumstance that he faced.*
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