Political and religious forces in Samuel's era and Near Eastern monarchy development

Book Of Samuel

Establishing a Monarchy

The Book of Samuel holds a plethora of information and history concerning the ancient Israelites and Canaan. "Jewish tradition, the Book of Samuel is a single volume; the SEPTUAGINT and the Latin translation, the Vulgate, divided it into two parts and that division was followed in printed Hebrew Bibles from the early 16th century" (Wigoder, Skolnik & Himelstein, 2002). The writings themselves comprise some of the oldest Hebrew manuscripts. The social and political climate discussed in the Book of Samuel was that of a young nation, establishment of monarchy, and a desire for stability. The Book of Samuel begins with Samuel's birth and after weaning, his life with priests. It is mentioned in the Book he assisted with religious services and heard three times the voice of the Lord. This prompted him to tell Eli of the words he listened to and enabled the first instance of his connection to God. From there he became a leader, helped the Israelites through victories, and was eventually given the title of the kingmaker. Through his actions, Saul became the first king of Israel. From there David took his place as king and the book ends with David's reign over Israel and Judah.

Body

The narrative of the development of the monarchy is offered through the life and action of three main characters. They are Samuel, the last judge, Saul, the first king, and David, Saul's successor. Each character's lives directly linked to one another, showing the various ways religion, politics and social forces shaped the development of the nations in the Arab Spring. For instance, although Saul was king and acted so, Samuel saw early on the kind of person the new king was. Samuel knew Saul would be replaced as king because of his impatience and selfish actions with the Philistines. This is mentioned in 1 Samuel. "Samuel said to him, "The LORD has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today and has given it to one of your neighbors -- to one better than you" (NIV, 1 Samuel 15:28). From a religious standpoint, Saul did not follow the word of God. God ultimately serves as king, ruling in the kingdom of heaven. Saul did things that led to his ruin and David's succession as king by going against the word and rules of God. Even kings must respect God's sovereignty. "A thread that runs through all the discussions of kingship and of the effects of sin, as well as through the stories of David's exploits, is that of God's sovereignty. In the end it is He who is in control of all" (Howard, 2007, p. 188).

God said unto Samuel that a new kind must be chosen and David would eventually inherit the throne after the Philistines killed Saul. By David uniting the tribes and establishing the capital city of Jerusalem, he fulfills the social needs of being a good king. Religiously, he brought the Ark of the Covenant to importance in Jerusalem. Speaking from a social perspective, four factors led to the formation of a monarchy in the Book of Samuel. First, added pressure from the Philistines over Israelite territories generated a need for better leadership. The Philistines during the time of Samuel were advanced and had garrisons and territory along the coastal plains. They too wanted Canaan for their own nation. Second, judgeship leadership not enough to organize and centralize the resources in order to fight back the Philistines. Third, the Israelites lacked religious stability. People lacked morals and were weak against sinful behaviors. The fourth came from the people wanting a king. "Appoint a king to lead us such as all the other nations have" (NIV 1 Sam 8:5).

The Deuteronomistic idea of land and covenant (seen in both Joshua and Judges) applies to political events and in explicit ways. Traditional prophetic doctrine and preaching turn around the pattern of condemnation of sins, declaration of judgment for sin, a request to repentance, and a promise of salvation. During the period of late judges and early monarchy, the announcements of the prophets start to take form following this arrangement. Theologically speaking, God is meant to be the true king. During this time, the Israelites had some tension between the rules of man and the rules of God. When Saul disobeyed the prophet and Judge Samuel's injunction to completely terminate the Amalekites, this was a clear instance in the story showing the battle between obeying the word of God and obeying the word of man. Although God shows Samuel the need to anoint a king as God did with naming David as Saul's successor, it was also important to obey God's word in order to avoid the chaos experienced during the period of Judges. When David took on the role of king, he made sure to unite his people through the Ark of the Covenant and by establishing a capital city.