The books of Samuel were originally one book. They were separated into two documents when translated into Greek in the third century B.C. That separation continued into our English Bibles. The Hebrew Bible kept them united until the appearance of the first printed edition about 500 years ago. In the Greek translation, Samuel was known as First and Second Kingdoms, a designation that continued until the Latin Bible of the 4th century AD (and can be seen in the King James Bible’s title: “The First Book of Samuel, otherwise called The First Book of Kings). The Hebrew Bible kept the designation Samuel.

The most crucial question to ask when studying the books of Samuel, Kings, and Chronicles is: “Why were these books written?” It is, however, the question most often left unasked. The books are normally read and taught as books of history chronicling the period of the Israelite monarchy. The procedure leaves us to draw whatever conclusions we see fit from the stories presented, and causes us to miss any central theme God may have intended.

Samuel is named for the central character at the beginning of the book. In the list of the judges of Israel, Samuel is the last. He is also the means by which God anoints the first two kings, Saul and David. Samuel may be outlined as follows:
I) Samuel (1 Samuel 1-7)
II) Saul (1 Samuel 8 - 15)
III) Saul and David (1 Samuel 16 - 31)
IV) David (2 Samuel)

David was considered the greatest King of Israel. In fact, the writer of the book of Chronicles evaluates the Kings of Judah by comparing them with David. Yet Samuel does not present to us a flattering picture of David nor his predecessor Saul.

Samuel opens with the failure of Eli (Israel’s 14th Judge) to lead his own house and Israel. Samuel, Eli’s successor, begins with great promise, but his story ends in a similar way, with an inability to lead either God’s people or his own family. The story of Saul begins with great promise, but ends in failure. In fact, most of the account of Saul’s reign deals with his rebellion against God. The story of David likewise begins with great promise, but his reign is checkered with failure. In fact, the largest single section of Samuel tells of David’s adultery (unmentioned by the writer of Chronicles) and the resultant rebellion in his family. Like Eli and Samuel before him, David failed as a leader in his own house. Like Saul, David failed often as a leader of Israel. But unlike Saul, Samuel or Eli, David is presented as a “man after God’s own heart.” What was the difference?

The great comparison is between David and Saul, and the difference has to do with their relationship with God. Three stories occupy the bulk of Saul’s reign: his war with the Philistines, the near murder of his son, and his war with the Amalekites (1 Samuel 13-15). In each story, Saul is either unconcerned with the will of God, or blatantly disobedient. The longest section of David’s reign likewise tells a story of failure and disobedience, but the difference between Saul and David is that David cares what God thinks about him, and ultimately always seeks forgiveness and God’s approval. In the long story of David’s rebelling family there is this heart-warming assessment of God: “Like water spilled on the ground, which cannot be recovered, so we must die. But God does not take away life; instead, he devises a way so that a banished person may not remain estranged from Him (2 Samuel 14:14).

Judges described the darkest part of Israel’s history. It calls for a King to lead the people. But Samuel points out that a King is not the answer, for the darkness of the days does not disappear with the rule of a King. What is needed is a changed heart. This will be the key to blessing and the approval of God.

After the occupation of the Promised Land, Israel existed as a very loose confederation of tribes. Her scandalous disunity is one of the themes of the book of Judges. Reading that story, no one can doubt that these were the darkest days of Israel’s history. Throughout Judges, a specific cycle of events repeats itself twelve times:

1) God causes Israel to prosper.
2) Israel, in her prosperity, turns from God to find acceptance from the pagan people around her. Interestingly, God had warned her about this: “Be careful that you do not forget the Lord your God . . . otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down, and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, then your heart will become proud and you will forget the Lord your God . . . You may say to yourself, “My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.” But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your forefathers, as it is today” (Deuteronomy 8:11-19). Not much has changed along this line since the days of the Judges.
3) God, punishing Israel for her unfaithfulness to Him, causes her to be oppressed so that she will return to God.
4) Israel does repent and turn to God.
5) God raises up a Judge - a leader - who delivers Israel and restores peace.

Judges may be outlined as follows:

I) Introduction to the times – chapters 1-2
II) The oppressions of God’s people – chapters 3-16
III) Social collapse and the call for leadership – chapters 17-21

Note the last section in this outline. The writer’s ultimate point is the need for leadership among the people of God, and it must be righteous leadership. Four times in the last section, the writer points out that there was no King in Israel, and everyone did what was right in his own eyes. God had always wanted to be Israel’s king, but she would not submit to Him and her success became checkered at best.

It wasn’t just a lack of leadership. It was also Israel’s tendency to assimilate with the people of the world. She wanted to be accepted by the people around her, and she often sacrificed God’s holiness for the world’s approval. The message of Judges for us is that our leaders in the Church must be people dedicated to God, and we must stick together and follow them.

As the book of Judges draws to a close, the scenes of Israel’s collapse are gruesome and shocking. An Israelite creates his own religion. Priests are bought by individuals and tribes as good luck charms. Innocent and helpless people are murdered. A woman is gang raped and killed, and then dismembered by her husband and her body parts sent throughout Israel as a protest against those crimes. This is the destiny of every society that refuses to yield to God and chooses instead to allow every person to do what is right in his own eyes.

Everything looks hopeless.

But the book of Ruth picks up the story and shows how God can turn things around. An Israelite man and his family move in time of famine from Israel to Moab. His two sons married Moabite women (against the law of God - 1 Kings 11:2 - by the way). In time, the man and his sons died. His widow, Naomi, and one of her daughters-in-law (Ruth) return to the land of Israel (all in chapter 1). There Ruth meets an Israelite, Boaz, the descendant of a well known prostitute. Chapters 2-4 detail their courtship and marriage, but most important of all, they conclude with the note that these are the ancestors of Israel’s greatest King, David.

The point is, when things look the bleakest for God’s people, He is still working among them to bring about His purpose and blessing. As one more modern writer puts it: “God loves forever.”

Moses died on Mt. Nebo, and God buried him in Moab, “in the valley opposite Beth Peor.” Up to that time, Moses was the only leader the nation of Israel had ever known. God allowed Israel to grieve for thirty days, and then said to them all: “Moses is dead. It’s time to go.”

Joshua, Moses’ assistant, took his place and the book that bears his name covers his leadership in the invasion, conquest, and occupation of the land of Canaan.

The name “Joshua” means “The Lord is Salvation.” Richard Hess writes: “The book of Joshua is foremost the story of God, who works powerfully on behalf of Israel and Joshua, fulfilling His covenant promises. It is God who leads Israel across the Jordan, defeats Israel’s enemies and presides over the apportionment of the land. And so, in the final chapter, it is God who receives Israel’s worshipful re-commitment at Shechem.”

The book is called “Joshua,” and it says Joshua recorded the events in the “Book of the Law of God.” But I have wondered whether Joshua actually wrote the book of Joshua (no text actually says he did - he’s just the main character). There are things in it Joshua likely wouldn’t have written, like this passage in Joshua 24: “After these things, Joshua son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died at the age of a hundred and ten. And they buried him in the land of his inheritance, at Timnath Serah in the hill country of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash. Israel served the Lord throughout the lifetime of Joshua and of the elders who outlived him and who had experienced everything the Lord had done for Israel.”

Notice the last phrase. It points us to a time after Joshua’s death and after the death of the leading men of Joshua’s day. Additionally, the writer points to proofs confirming his story that remain to his own time (“to this day”- the phrase occurs 11 times in the book). This is an important point. The account found in Joshua is a true account, as evidenced by the author’s references to the “proofs” of the stories that the reader could “check out” for himself. Likely, the stories themselves were originally written by Joshua himself. But the final form of the book would have been prepared by someone other than Joshua.

More important however, than the author, is this question: why was the book written?

Everything from Genesis to Deuteronomy points to an unrealized promise of God - that he would give the descendants of Abraham a land of their own. This promise becomes a reality in the story of Joshua. Four hundred years before, Joseph had reminded his family of the promise, and made them commit to burying him in Shechem when the promise came true. Joshua ends with the story of Joseph’s burial at Shechem and with reminders that “not one of the Lord’s good promises to the house of Israel failed, every one was fulfilled” (21:45 and see 22:4; 23:14-15). The message for Israel in Joshua was that God is with His people, and He will keep His word to them. They, in turn, must be obedient.

It is a message every generation of God’s people would do well to hear and follow. Joshua can be outlined as follows:
I) Conquest of the land (Joshua 1-12)
II) Allotment of the land (Joshua 13-22)
III) A call to faithfulness (Joshua 23-24).