Alrighty, let’s get our bearings of where we’re at on God’s timeline.
So the books of Samuel are the bridge that takes us from the period of the Shophetim (Judges) to the creation of Israel’s earthly kingdom.
Recall the era of the Shophetim actually began at the end of the book of Joshua.
It goes through all the books of Judges and even includes Ruth.
We’re talking about a period of about 140 years or so.
Now if I was to breakdown the first book of Samuel in an easy-to-digest manner, I’d break it down as follows:
FIRST, we have the anointing of Samuel.
To be honest, Samuel’s a bit of a difficult character to categorize.
I mean is he a judge or a prophet?
Or some mysterious combination of both?
Anyways, moving on…
NEXT, we have Saul being crowned as Israel’s first ever king…
And then his tragic rejection by the Lord Himself.
FINALLY…
And this is where things start to really heat up like an overcooked meatloaf that’s about to explode in the oven.
We have the brewing tension between Saul and David that ends with David replacing Saul.
And boy is that a roller coaster ride of a story with so many ups and downs it’ll make your head spin.
Before closing, I wanna share a quick little secret with you that’ll enable you to get so much more out of your study of the books of Samuel.
You know how we’re told in the end times we’re going to see the anti-Christ come to power followed by the real Messiah?
Well, the rise and fall of Saul and him eventually being replaced by David is the Biblical pattern for how everything’s gonna unfold in the end times.
That’s right.
Saul, right down to his character attributes and how he thumbed his nose at God’s commands, is the pattern of the anti-Christ.
And King David is the pattern of Messiah.
So when you look at things from that perspective, boy reading the book of Samuel gets a lot more exciting!
I know I’m getting waaaay ahead of myself here…
But just want to share this thought with you to whet your appetite for what’s to come.
Stay frosty.
I can see where you are going with this, but I do not agree Shaul is a valid model of the Anti-Christ.
Shaul didn’t really thumb his nose at God, he simply didn”t have the chutzpah to stand up for what was right.
From the very beginning, Shaul did not want to be king- remember how he hid when Shmu’el wanted to anoint him in public?
The Anti-Christ wants to be God and take over God’s kingdom, whereas Shaul didn’t want anything to do with it, from the start.
I can go along, to a degree, with David as a messianic image: a leader who was a God-fearing man, just and true, faithful and obedient to God, but Shaul was not, in my opinion, an accurate model for the Anti-Christ because, as I’ve stated, the Anti-Christ wants to rule and take over God’s kingdom, but Shaul just wanted to be left alone.
His failure to obey God wasn’t a rebellion, but a sign of his spiritual and emotional weakness.
The Anti-Christ will be many things, but weak and unsure of himself is NOT on that list.
If you ask me, the best image or precussor to the Messiah in the Tanakh is Moses. He was king, prophet, and judge- the way messiah will be once the End Times (Acharim HaYamim) are over. Shmu’el was close- he acted as judge and prophet, as you point out, but there was no king during the time of the Judges. That’s because God was all the king they needed, but the people rejected him as such. Oy!
You and I are spiritual Ivory soap- 99.9% purely in agreement, but this time I need to “drash” it out with you, my friend.
But continue on this course- maybe you will make a point or two I haven’t considered?
Thanks. As I mentioned on the Facebook, while Shaul may not be a perfect picture portrait of the anti-Christ, there’s definitely elements of rebellion in his life and character that overlap with the coming beast. Looking forward to fleshing this out as I move forward. Shalom!
With you in prayer all the way, everyday. Keep the commentary rolling Richoka!
The Antichrist will be empowered by Satan, but I believe will be just a man. A man with all the failings, longings, hopes, and dreams like all men. But once he is possessed by Satan, he will be aggressive in his desire to rule