 Last week we did the historical, we started the historical books. We covered Joshua, Judges and Ruth and this week we will look at the books of Samuel and Kings. Now like we had discussed in the introductory class in the Hebrew Bible, in the original Hebrew Bible, they had not divided Samuel into first Samuel and second Samuel. So it was all just one single book of Samuel and you had one single book of Kings. So we will try to cover whatever we can of Samuel in the first session after the break. Maybe we can look at Kings. So these are the two books that we will be covering today. So coming to the structure of first Samuel if you're not taking down notes, you can write down these things. So the first seven chapters they focus on Samuel. They talk about his miraculous birth. They talk about the historical events that took place during the early years of Samuel because at that time the Philistines were almost constantly attacking the Israelites. So the event where you have the Ark being taken into the battle and then the Ark is taken off by the Philistines, all of those things are recorded in chapters 1 to 7. When the Ark is taken away by the Philistines and placed in their temple, the Lord brings plagues upon them. So then they choose to return the Ark to the Israelites. So all of those events are recorded in our chapters 1 to 7. The next section, chapters 8 to 15 focuses on Saul. Okay, so while you have the first seven chapters focusing on Samuel, chapters 8 to 15 focus on Saul and we learn how God anoints him, appoints him to be the King, promises that he will make an eternal covenant with him if he chooses to be obedient. So God gives him the same privileges which were later on extended to David. So the Lord does all that for him, but we see that Saul is not faithful to the Lord until and then finally, you know, Samuel tells Saul that the Lord has rejected him as King. So all that would be in your chapters 8 to 15. Chapter 16 to 31 focuses on David. Here is where we get to know how David is anointed to be the future King. We also get to know that Saul begins to attack David. David has to flee for his life to the wilderness where he's hiding. So he gets two opportunities while he's in the wilderness to kill Saul, but he refuses to do it because you know, Saul is the anointed King of God. So David does not harm him in any way. All those details will be found in your chapters 16 to 31. So we have three sections, chapters 1 to 7, focusing on Samuel, chapters 8 to 15 focusing on Saul and we have chapters 16 to 31 focusing on David. So this would be the structure of first Samuel. Coming to second Samuel and the structure of that book, we can basically divide second Samuel into three sections. The middle section, you would say is basically one single chapter, chapter 11 because that's like the midpoint of David's life. In chapters 1 to 10, we look at how David is following the Lord with all his heart. He's blessed. He has many victories. He's you know, he successfully succeeds in many battles. So chapters 1 to 10 are wonderful. They talk about all the blessings that he enjoyed because he was obedient to the Lord, honored the Lord. And then in chapter 11, that is the chapter in which he chooses to sin against the Lord. And then now chapter 12, up to the end of the book, we see the consequences of chapter 11 because he chooses not to honor the Lord because he chooses to sin against God. Everything that happens chapter 12 onwards, we see the decline where a man who rose to the heights of triumph is now slowly coming down, down, down, his own son rebels against him. All kinds of terrible things happen in his household. And so we see him suffering the consequences of all his sins. So chapters 1 to 10 talk about his triumphs, his blessings, his success. Chapter 11 is where he chooses not to honor the Lord and the rest of the chapters are basically a description of how he suffered because of his own foolishness and sinfulness. So that would be the structure of 2 Samuel. So having very briefly looked at the structure of these two books, first and second Samuel, maybe we'll try to look at some of the details involved in these two books. These are historical books. There's a lot of history mentioned. It is impossible for us to cover all of that. So we will just maybe highlight a few events, a few incidents and see what spiritual lessons we can get out of that. So the first thing that maybe we can look at is the desire of the people for a king where they come to Samuel and they say we would like to have a king and the Lord is very angry. The Lord is very displeased. He is not happy when they ask for a king. Why was the Lord not pleased? In Genesis did the Lord not say that he's going to give them kings? The Lord himself says that they will be kings. So when the people ask for a king, why is he so displeased? We will look at the details of that. So we can begin by looking at some scriptures in Genesis and Deuteronomy which talk about God discussing kingship and what he would like them to do regarding their king. So maybe we can begin by looking at Genesis chapter 17 verse 6. So if we can have someone here in the class read out Genesis 17 verse 6. Those of us who are online if you know if we can just follow in our Bibles Genesis 17 6. I will make actually I should accidentally faithful and I will make nations for you and kings shall come from you. A promise that God makes to Abraham is that he will be fruitful and the Lord says kings will come from your lineage. So God already declared that there will be kings in Abraham's lineage. And then let's look at Deuteronomy chapter 17 verses 14 and 15. Deuteronomy 17 14 and 15 please. Deuteronomy 17 14 and 15. When you come to the land which the Lord you God is giving you and process it and dwell in it and say I will set a king over me like all the nations that are around me. You say surely set a king over you whom the Lord your God chooses. From among your brethren you shall set a king over you. You may not set a foreigner over you who is not you brother. All right so here the Lord himself is saying when you go into the land and when you say we would like to have a king the Lord says please make sure that you appoint a king whom the Lord himself has chosen. So again over here in this scripture we see that God has already anticipating that there will be kings and God does not seem to be very angry or upset with the idea of kings being there. In fact he is saying when you choose the king you are please choose a godly king you know one whom God himself has appointed. So that's just the instruction that is given. Let's look at one more scripture which talks about kingship verse Samuel chapter 2 verse 10 verse Samuel chapter 2 verse 10 the advices of the Lord shall be broken in peace from the form heaven he will thunder against them the Lord will judge the end of the earth he will give strength to his king and exalt the horn of his anointed. In verse Samuel chapter 2 10 it talks about how the Lord will give strength to his king so this is a king which whom God himself has appointed God himself wanted this particular person to be king and it says about him that his horn will be exalted now that's just an Old Testament metaphor whenever it talks about the horn being raised whenever it talks about the horn being exalted that's just terminology which talks about victory a bull when it fights with another bull the one which gains victory it raises up its horns you know as in it's you know it's it's declaring that I am superior so when you have two bulls fighting with each other and they know they try to you know attack each other with their horns the one which comes out victorious it raises up its head so that's just a term which has been picked up from that image so in the Old Testament wherever it says your horn will be raised it's just talking about how you will gain victory so here the God is not only appointing a king but in fact he is so happy with the idea of this king that he says your horn will be exalted so from all of these verses we get the impression that the Lord is in favour of having a king so why is the Lord so displeased when the people request Samuel for a king and by the way this first Samuel chapter 2 verse 10 it's not talking about any ordinary king it's in fact talking about the messiah king the Lord Jesus who will be king so throughout we see that God always had the idea of kings in his mind and through that kingly lineage the messiah king will one day come forth so why is the Lord displeased here in first Samuel chapter 8 when the people request for a king let's look at the verses alright so even as someone reads out for us if we can concentrate on what is being said in these two passages we will catch why God was not happy alright so even as we are looking at those verses try to analyze in your mind and think what is there in this verses which give me an indication and hint about why God was not happy with the idea of the people asking for a king so the first passage that we would look at is first Samuel chapter 8 verses 5 to 8 first Samuel chapter 8 verses 5 to 8 and say to him look you are old and your son do not walk in your ways now make us king to judge us like all nation all the nations what the things the displaced displaced Samuel when they said give us a king to judge us so Samuel played to the Lord prayed to the Lord and the Lord said to Samuel heed the voice of the proff people and in all the day said to you for they have not rejected you but they have rejected me that I should not region over them according to all the work which they have done since since they did that brought them up of Egypt even to his day with which they have forsaken me and saved other gods serve other gods so they are doing to you also okay if we were following in our Bibles here the Lord is so upset that he says these people are asking for a king you know it's not just you that they are rejecting the Lord says to Samuel by asking for this king they are not just rejecting you Samuel in fact they're rejecting me it's my kingship that they are rejecting so the Lord is very angry with them let's also look at first Samuel chapter 8 verses 19 and 20 first Samuel 8 19 and 20 nevertheless the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel and they said no but we will have a king over us that we also may be like a like all the nations and that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles all right if we look at these two passages we observe that the motive with which they are asking for a king is wrong God always wanted Israel to have kings God had already planned that the messiah would come and rule as a king through this godly lineage of kings God always was in favor of kingship but the motive with which these people asked for a king was very wrong let's look at the details if we look at first Samuel chapter 8 verse 5 this is what we see there this is what the people are saying to Samuel they're saying you're old and your sons do not follow your ways now appoint a king to lead us such as all the other nations have when God first chose to choose the Israelite people as his nation and he promised them that he will come and live among them it was you know established that God will be their king and they will be his people so they will be living under his kingship yes they would be spiritual leaders yes they would be administrators who would be looking after various details but the king will always be God himself because they are supposed to be his people that was God's original plan for the nation and so in his time the Lord will appoint a human king but up to that time he himself is supposed to be their king but it looks you know when we when we look at the what these people are saying over here we get the impression that actually the people were never really trusting the Lord or relying upon him they were relying upon the human leader Samuel never called himself a king the people also never gave the gave him the title of king but they were looking to him as if he is their king they were following him their security was in him and so as long as Samuel was their wise you know disciplined godly Samuel they felt so secure under his leadership maybe you could almost say his kingship and then when they looked at the sons of Samuel and they saw that the sons are not very godly are not able to give any kind of leadership then they became very worried they were they started thinking oh my now we don't have any leader so they say to Samuel I think it's time that you appoint a king so you see their eyes were never upon the Lord the Lord was supposed to be their king not the human leader and that is where they failed in fact they explained to Samuel and they say in first Samuel chapter 8 verses 19 and 20 they say you know we really need a king like all the other nations because how do we go into battle when we go into the battle we need a human king leading us over there how will we manage otherwise they are not willing to trust an invisible god to lead them into battle so their eyes are very much focused on human leaders they are not looking to the Lord as their king and that is what displeases God so the Lord says you know they are rejecting me they're not just rejecting you Samuel in fact they are rejecting me and they are not trusting in my kingship they think that I will not be able to give them victory in battle I mean I'm the you know he says in verse 8 first Samuel chapter 8 verse 8 the Lord says from the time of Egypt this is what they this has been their attitude even though I am the one who delivered them even though I am the one who destroyed the you know Pharaoh's army even though I am the one who has successfully provided for them in the wilderness in spite of all of that they still do not trust my kingship and so you know we can sit over here and we can say to ourselves really these people were so foolish you know they did not trust in Almighty God but the same lesson needs to be applied by us in our own lives as well are we looking to humans for our security are we looking to humans for guidance or are we looking to the Lord you know I'm in every week I have people ringing me up and they ring me up because they want me to give them guidance of course I can give advice I mean it's always good you know for us to go to others other believers you know who have more experience and we can take their advice but to ask a human to make your decisions for you that would be very wrong so just like those Israelites in olden times even today a lot of us are setting our eyes on humans human leaders for our security for our guidance which is not good the Lord wants us to set our eyes on him we go into his presence we learn how to hear his voice and we ask him to guide us we don't go to humans for guidance we only go for advice so you see we also make the same mistake even in our lives today the people were setting their hope on Samuel and then they tried to set their hope on Samuel's sons and the sons were not up to the mark and so they got worried they should have been setting their eyes on God Samuel was just a human leader Samuel's sons of course were unfit to be leaders but their eyes the people's eyes should have been on the Lord throughout he should have always been their king their guide the one who is you know you know leading them into the into the battles of their life so when you are facing a time of crisis in your personal life what is your first response do you immediately think okay whom can I ring up and ask for prayer whom can I go to for advice if you are still at that stage then it means that you God has not become your primary source of sustenance okay so in a time of deep crisis what comes to your mind first do immediately start thinking okay whom can I approach whom can I go to for help or does the first thought which come into your mind is it let me go into the Lord's presence he will take care of this and he will tell me whom to go to you know to receive the help he will tell me whom to approach for godly advice I will go to him I will have an appointment with him and discuss this with him if that is your response it shows that you are beginning to mature and your eyes are no longer on human leaders but on the Lord himself this is one very important lesson that comes out from this particular passage so moving on to another thing that we can touch upon David how did he become king of Israel okay so we will look at some of the events which was surrounding this particular you know this kingship so and we see how David conducted himself most honorably throughout all the events which led to his kingship he conducted himself in a most honorable manner the first thing that we notice is after Saul dies the Palestinians you know are attacking have come and to wage war I think it was a Jezebel and Saul and his sons they they died in the battle the very next day David does not say oh yes finally my enemy is dead now I can be king no he continues living wherever he has been staying and then when the Lord's timing has come he asks the Lord for permission in 2 Samuel chapter 2 verse 1 it says you know in the course of time he waits he waits until he feels the Lord leading him to the throne and so in the course of time David inquired of the Lord shall I go up to one of the towns of Judah and the Lord says yes please go and then he's again again he asks where exactly shall I go is what he asks you know and then the Lord says you go to Hebron so then with the Lord's permission only then he goes to Hebron and he becomes the king of only one single tribe tribe of Judah only and he stays as king of of Judah for seven years this is not a man who is greedy for power and position he wants to please the Lord he wants to honor the Lord so he asks the Lord Lord do you want me to go do you want me to be ruler and king over this particular tribe only with the Lord's permission he goes and he takes up the kingship there's no greed at all for the position there's no desperation at all for the power this is again a very very valuable principle that we can apply in our own Christian walk are we desperate for positions in ministry are we hungry for you know approval and fame you know in which of a secular field that we are working in or are we is our main concern honoring the Lord so if we have the heart which David did we would first ask the Lord Lord do you want me to take up leadership in so-and-so organization Lord do you want me to be you know doing this particular ministry in that particular town we first ask him where do you want me to go Lord what do you want me to do Lord that will be the attitude where we want to please the Lord and here we see David not desperate for the kingship but rather more concerned with honoring the Lord and he waits for Lord for the Lord's permission so while David is serving as king over the tribe of Judah for seven years what about the other tribes who is ruling over them so for those seven years it is Ishbo Sheth the one of the surviving sons of Saul he is the one who is ruling and Ishbo Sheth is placed on the throne by Saul's commander okay the commander in chief of the army a man named Abner he appoints Ishbo Sheth as the king over the other tribes so the other 11 tribes are basically under Ishbo Sheth's control now Abner does not appoint Ishbo Sheth because he has deep love and loyalty towards Saul he actually has another scheme a conspiracy up his sleeve his idea is that if he appoints Ishbo Sheth as the king when the time is correct he can do a small you know conspiracy and take over the throne that was his original idea so even though he appoints Ishbo Sheth as the king he is he sometime after that he chooses to sleep with one of Saul's concubines now in their culture in the political scenario of those times if somebody goes to the concubines of the king and takes those concubines for himself it's like a direct declaration saying I am now you know contending for the throne and I'm willing to go into battle so it's almost like a declaration saying I have you know decided to take this throne so concubines had no value in themselves they were probably not even thought about as people they were just used as political pawns it's very sad you know in biblical times women were not given any respect they were like property so a man who wants to sit on the throne he will first try to take over all the concubines because then he can declare and say see now all your wives are actually mine now the throne is also mine so it's like an indirect declaration so what does Abner do he goes to a concubine of king Saul and he takes her so it is his indirect declaration that he is now contending for the throne and Ishbo Sheth is very upset with this and he says how could you do this why were you so disloyal you have placed me on the throne I am supposed to be king but now you're going and taking my father's concubine you are now trying to take the throne from me why this disloyalty and Abner crooked man that he is he says ah no no I didn't do anything wrong now because you're putting false allegations on me I will make David king so now you have somebody a crooked man who is willing to make David king of all the tribes and what is David's response you see very happy that now some crooked guys you know helping him to climb onto the throne and become king over all the tribes David is not interested in such things at all we look at how David you know handles the situation he condemns Abner for what he has done and we see that we see that in in second Samuel chapters three four you know in these chapters we see that David does not in any way you know it's not happy with the actions of Abner and then there's another conspiracy which takes place you know Joab he the commander of David he murders Abner so that problem gets resolved in the sense Abner is now gone he is dead another thing is another conspiracy that takes place is in second Samuel chapter four where some army captains they murder Ishpo Sheth so now suddenly Abner is gone Ishpo the Ishpo Sheth is gone now there is absolutely nobody contending for the throne of the 11 tribes so now the you know the entire field is now free for David to go and sit on the throne but we see that he you know he approaches this whole thing with a godly attitude and he has the assassins the ones who murdered Ishpo Sheth he has them killed he doesn't say good you helped clear the pathway to the throne that is not his attitude rather he says what you have done is dishonorable and so he condemns Abner you know Abner's murder which is done by Joab he also condemns the assassination which has been done to Ishpo Sheth he condemns all the wrong doings that have been done and he is in no way desperate to sit on that throne it's because God has arranged for him to sit on the throne now he goes the other tribes they themselves come to him and they request him and they say please can you come and be our king because they see that here is a man of integrity not interested in position and power he just wants to know what is right what is wrong and he condemns what is wrong he doesn't say oh good the clear pathway got cleared now I can sit on the throne no he's more interested in whether righteousness was done or not and so he publicly condemns the murder of Abner even though it cleared up the path he condemns the assassination of Ishpo Sheth even though that also worked in his favor and so in a very most honorable manner David climbs and sits on that throne and if you look at the stories of Solomon onwards how dishonorable they are in their conduct how greedy they are for power and position the attitude which David had those people you know they lacked that you know we see that later so another thing that we see once now now finally David has become the king of after seven years of you know patiently waiting for the Lord to act now he has finally become king of all the 12 tribes he is now the king of that entire Israelite nation and what do kings do once they come to power they make sure that all the sons of the previous lineage are wiped out killed so that they will not have you know they will not come and compete for the throne and so now only one son is left from entire sauce lineage grandson in fact Mephibosheth Mephibosheth is the son of Jonathan and he's the only competition which is now available for David and so David says bring Mephibosheth into my presence Mephibosheth is terrified he's scared to come into David's presence because he doesn't know what's going to be done to him will he be imprisoned will he be killed he doesn't know what the future holds and Mephibosheth we should understand is just a teenager when David says bring him into my presence the background story we learn is that when he was five years old that is basically when the Philistines come to fight against Saul and his grown-up sons in the battle at Jezreel and when that is going on you know and all the royal families being killed the lady who's looking after this child Mephibosheth was five years old she picks up the child she tries to run from there protect him in the process he falls down he breaks his legs and so now Mephibosheth becomes a cripple so now when David says when David sits on the throne of all the twelve tribes and he says bring Mephibosheth into my presence he's now a teenager maybe around 13 years 14 years he is scared to come into the into the king's presence because he doesn't know what the king will do the new king will do to him and so it says in where is it it says in second Samuel chapter 9 he literally comes over there he prostrates himself in front of the throne like literally lies down flat on the floor in front of the throne because he's you know he's hoping that the king will at least spare his life and not kill him but then David asks him to rise up and David treats him with great kindness with great respect and he says you know whenever you come to visit me you will sit at my table and eat it's an honor that is given to very few so Mephibosheth is given that privilege and moreover all the properties of Saul are returned back to him and he says you can have your property you can have your land you can be owner of your own place and so even in this David conducts himself so honorably what is the lesson that is coming across over here leadership is not about power leadership is not about you know the greed for fame and position leadership is true leadership is a person for whom righteousness is important each time something happened he would ask himself is this righteous or is this unrighteous and if it was unrighteous he condemned it he publicly condemned it he did not support it he did not use it to to lift himself up what an honorable way he conducted himself so indeed God chooses to you know say the Messiah will come from the lineage of David he was it is a good person from whose lineage the Messiah would come so you know the Lord lifts up the name of David because of the heart which he had to to honor the Lord but we also see one important mistake that David makes of course there are many mistakes that he makes but one of the you know earlier ones that we see that would be 2nd Samuel chapter 6 verses 6 to 8 way we see that David wants to bring the ark of God into the into Jerusalem you know where now the tabernacle has been placed the temple has not yet been built so you still have the tabernacle and he wants to bring the ark of the covenant into Jerusalem so that it can be established in the tabernacle and so he does it with great reverence he is very honored that God's presence is literally going to be there in Jerusalem with him and so with those good intentions he chooses to bring the ark of the covenant into Jerusalem but then we see that things don't go well as you know the up to that time the ark of the covenant had been resting in the house of Abin Nadab Abin Nadab was a priest he had two sons who were also priests Uzzah and Ahayyo so on the day when the ark of the covenant needs to be brought into Jerusalem with great reverence the ark is placed in a new in a brand new cart is what it says that would be in your 2nd Samuel chapter 6 verses 3 to 4 so in a in a in a most reverential manner the ark is being now transferred to Jerusalem maybe we can have one person read out 2nd Samuel chapter 6 verses 3 and 4 please 2nd Samuel 6 verses 3 and 4 so they set the ark of the corn on a new cart and brought it out of the house of Abin Nadab which was the which was on the hill and Uzzah and Ahayyo the son of Abin Nadab drove the new car and they brought it out of the house of Abin Ab which was on the hill accompanying the ark of God and Ahayyo went before the ark so the people they place the ark of God on a new cart and Ahayyo is leading from the front he's walking in front of the cart Uzzah is walking directly behind the cart the cart and they are moving towards Jerusalem and then we see in verses 6 to 8 is where we see that you know the the cart maybe it went over a few stones or something and so the the cart shakes when the cart shakes it looks like as if the ark of the covenant is going to slip out and fall so Uzzah immediately puts his hand out to support it to stop it from falling and the anger of the Lord is released against Uzzah and Uzzah drops down dead so it's a very shocking anti-climax you know in the sense David was very happy that God's presence is now going to come into Jerusalem and now the man who tried to help the ark of the covenant from falling he's dead and it says in first second Samuel chapter 6 verse 8 it says and David became angry because of the Lord's outbreak against Uzzah David is upset he thinks we were trying to do a good thing we were trying to do an honorable thing we wanted God's presence in um in in Jerusalem so in in a most reverential manner we have placed the ark in a in a new brand new cart and we are trying to bring it and Uzzah was trying to support the ark from falling why why was why is the Lord so angry David does not realize that God is even more angry because what he had instructed that was clearly completely ignored the Lord had made it very very clear how the ark should be carried by the priests nobody is allowed to touch it ever nobody should ever touch the ark simply because that brings out the holiness the purity of God no human you know God is God has given these people the privilege of having the living almighty one living among them and so they need to treat him with honor and respect so Exodus chapter 25 verses 14 to 16 explained to us how the ark should actually be you know carried by the priests over there it explains that on the two sides of the ark you have you know rings large rings have been molded and attached on the two sides of the ark and the priests are supposed to put pole a pole through the rings and lift it up so they would put a pole through the rings on this side they would insert a pole through the rings on the other side and together they would lift it up without touching the ark at all that is the way the Lord said that it arc should be transported because that arc is symbolizing his divine holy presence among them and what do these people do with their hands you know they have lifted up the ark they have put it in a cart why did they put it in a cart because that's what the Philistines used to do how are the Philistines honoring their pagan gods by putting them in a new cart and these people are doing the same thing with the ark of the covenant in a sense they are equating the almighty God with the pagan gods of the Philistines and the Lord is highly displeased with what they have done and so when David sees this when David finally understands what the mistake you know was he realizes how holy God is I mean that holy God lives inside you and me today literally he's the other temple of this holy God if they in the Old Testament were not allowed to even touch the ark how should we be living our lives today I mean we literally are containers of this holy God what deep honor and respect we should be showing in the way we behave you know in the way we talk to each other in the way we treat each other you know in the in the life choices that we make we should be so respectful because we are literally you know containers of a very holy God and you know David and the priests were careless about this you know in this particular event and that is why it says in 2 Samuel chapter 6 verse 9 when David understands you know how holy God is it says over there in 2 Samuel chapter 6 verse 9 David was afraid of the Lord that day and he said how can the ark of the Lord come to me if God is this holy if God is that clear about his instructions and if he break them you know death is the result if God is that unapproachable how can I possibly have this ark in Jerusalem you know what if I make a mistake what if my people make a mistake God would just wipe us out because he's that holy and so David is afraid to bring the ark into Jerusalem and so he decides you know in the earlier all these years the ark was staying in the house of Abinadab so now let's find another house for it so he decides this ark is now going to be there in the house of Obed Edom can you imagine the reaction of Obed Edom's family when they get to know that they are going to have the honor of having the ark of the covenant in their home you know a few hours after a priest died was killed by the Lord they would have been really scared the God who has just finished punishing Uzza now that God's ark is going to come inside their home and stay in their home I think he and his family would have sanctified themselves and led the most God or honoring lives that they could you know during the time that the ark was there because they would have they would have learned the fear of the Lord so after the break we look a little a little more at the details of what the fear of the Lord is and we'll also you know look at the rest of this event so yes you can go for your break