Samuel the Prophet
Last of the judges, first of the prophets — who anointed two kings and taught that obedience matters more than sacrifice
Born of Prayer
Samuel was born to Hannah, a woman who had been barren for years and had cried her petition to God at the tabernacle in Shiloh with such intensity that Eli the priest thought she was drunk. God answered her prayer and she conceived. She named the child Samuel — “heard of God” — and brought him to Shiloh when he was weaned, presenting him to serve in the tabernacle as she had vowed. Samuel grew up in the house of God, ministering before the Lord under the old priest Eli, in a time when “the word of the Lord was precious in those days; there was no open vision” (1 Samuel 3:1).
The Night Call
One night, the young Samuel heard a voice call his name. He ran to Eli, who had not called him. The voice came again. Again Samuel went to Eli. A third time it came, and Eli understood: it was the Lord speaking. He told Samuel: if the voice calls again, say, “Speak, Lord; for thy servant heareth” (1 Samuel 3:9). The voice came a fourth time, and Samuel answered with the words Eli had given him.
The message that followed was hard — a judgment against Eli’s household for his sons’ wickedness, which Eli had refused to restrain. Samuel lay still until morning, afraid to tell Eli what he had heard. When Eli pressed him, Samuel told him everything. Eli received it: “It is the Lord: let him do what seemeth him good” (1 Samuel 3:18).
Samuel grew, and the Lord was with him and let none of his words fall to the ground. All Israel from Dan to Beersheba knew that Samuel was established as a prophet of the Lord. The word began to flow again through a child who had answered: thy servant heareth.
Give Us a King
Samuel judged Israel for years, but when he grew old and his sons proved corrupt judges, the elders of Israel gathered and made a request that cut him deeply: “Give us a king to judge us like all the nations” (1 Samuel 8:5). Samuel prayed, and God told him not to take it personally — the people were not rejecting Samuel, they were rejecting God, as they had been doing since Egypt.
God told Samuel to give them the king they wanted, but to warn them plainly what a king would cost: the sons drafted into armies, the daughters taken as servants, the fields and vineyards taxed, the people made servants. Samuel delivered the warning exactly. The people said: “Nevertheless… we will have a king over us; that we also may be like all the nations” (1 Samuel 8:19–20). The longing to be like everyone else overrode every warning. God said: give them a king. Samuel did.
To Obey Is Better Than Sacrifice
God directed Saul to destroy the Amalekites completely. Saul defeated them but kept the Amalekite king Agag alive and preserved the best of the livestock — ostensibly to sacrifice to God. When Samuel came to meet him, Saul said: “Blessed be thou of the Lord: I have performed the commandment of the Lord.” Samuel asked why he could hear sheep and cattle if the commandment had been performed. Saul blamed the soldiers. Samuel answered with one of the most quoted verses in the Old Testament:
1 Samuel 15:22–23
“Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, he hath also rejected thee from being king.”
The principle cuts to the heart of religious formalism in every generation: religious performance — even costly, public, elaborate religious performance — cannot substitute for simple obedience to what God has actually asked. Saul had performed the ritual while disobeying the instruction. Samuel called it what it was.
The Lord Looketh on the Heart
God sent Samuel to Bethlehem to anoint the next king from among the sons of Jesse. When the eldest son Eliab appeared — tall, impressive, the obvious choice — Samuel thought: surely this is the Lord’s anointed. God stopped him:
1 Samuel 16:7
“Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.”
Seven sons passed before Samuel and none was chosen. The youngest was out keeping the sheep and had not even been brought to the feast. When David arrived — ruddy and bright-eyed, the overlooked son — the Lord said: arise, anoint him. Samuel did, and the Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward. The man who had heard God call his name in the night had spent his life helping Israel hear that same voice. In his final act as prophet, he anointed the king whose line would produce the Messiah.
Key Scriptures
- 1 Samuel 3 — The night call; “Speak, Lord; for thy servant heareth”
- 1 Samuel 8 — The request for a king; Samuel’s warning
- 1 Samuel 15 — Saul’s disobedience; “to obey is better than sacrifice”
- 1 Samuel 16 — The anointing of David; “the Lord looketh on the heart”