OLD TESTAMENT

THE books of Samuel (originally one document) bring today’s reader into familiar territory. There are stories about people, which enable us to see them as flesh and blood, fallible and real, with ample opportunity to reflect on their actions.

The narrative starts at the end of the judges’ period. The story of decline, oppression, rescue and recovery continues. Samuel, the last of the judges, and a prophet, pilots Israel’s tribal confederacy into calmer waters. In his old age, he is asked to appoint a king.

This is a watershed event in the Bible. Samuel, after much soul-searching, appoints Saul. But as the prophet warned, Saul abuses his power, becomes mentally unstable, and falls from grace. David is secretly anointed as heir apparent.

Saul becomes paranoid (and seethes with envy) of the young giant-killer and David spends the next decade an outlaw on the run, becoming a role model for future Robin Hoods. Eventually, when Saul dies, David is accepted as king.

Later to be hailed as the model for the Messiah, David nonetheless has feet of clay. Apart from his celebrated affair with Bathsheba and contract killing of her husband, he has a shambolic home life and for a while is forced into exile by his rebellious son Absalom.

But for all that, he loves God, and gives the nation a solid foundation on which his son Solomon built a never-to-be-repeated “golden age” of prosperity and peace (which is recounted in 1 Kings).

It is an absorbing story, written as a prophetic overview of a formative part of Israel’s development. Behind the exposed lives we see a righteous God who remains reliable and who continues to be his people’s rescuer.