Old Testament Lesson 22 – “The Lord Looketh on the Heart”

Lesson 22 (1 Sam 9-11, 13, 15, 16, 17)

OT Gospel Doctrine Class #22 - The Lord Looketh Upon the Heart
Originally, 1 and 2 Samuel were one book in the Hebrew Bible. The division into two separate books probably occurred when this book of Samuel was translated into Greek, which necessitated putting the book on two scrolls instead of one. The death of Saul became the artificial dividing point between the two books (1 Sam 31). (Jehovah and the World of the Old Testament, Holzapfel, et al)

1 Samuel 9-17

Saul Rejected by Samuelhttp://witzend.files.wordpress.com/2009/07/king_saul006.jpg?w=300&h=248
Background: Samuel was the last of the Judges and the first of the prophets who would be a counter-balance to the kings of Israel. For the righteous kings, Samuel and the later prophets would be a great counsel. For wicked kings, they would be a thorn in the king’s side. The prophets would make and break kings and their desire to reign for generations. With the desire of Israel to have an earthly king, they have chosen to remove themselves further from God’s power and glory, just as they did when they refused to see God at Mt Sinai. Instead of having Moses and Judges as their go-between with God, Israel would add a new layer of bureaucracy with an earthly king, distancing themselves even more from God.
Who is Saul?
1 Sam 9-10
Israel wanted a king, just like all the nations around them. They were tired of the endless of cycle of invasion, servitude, God sending a Judge, deliverance, and then invasion again. They saw the value of having a king, who could build, train and maintain an army. No longer would Israel have to defend itself with shepherds and farmers against iron chariots. Other nations would fear Israel and its king, realizing they were no longer a band of loosely confederated tribes with no real earthly leader. A king would allow them to conquer their enemies, establish trade and peace treaties, and perhaps allow the nation to have a long period of peace and safety.
Because of an Israelite Civil War during the time of the Judges, the tribe of Benjamin was almost wiped out. There were but 600 men from the tribe of Benjamin who survived the war caused by their protection of those who followed Belial and supported rape and lawlessness. Saul came from this small tribe.
We get an interesting description of Saul,
² And he had a son, whose name was Saul, a choice young man, and a goodly: and there was not among the children of Israel a goodlier person than he: from his shoulders and upward he was higher than any of the people.
This description could technically have both a literal and a figurative part. The term “goodly” seems to be tied to his physical stature. Why? Because a big and strong man seems more king-like than a short, squat one. What a great thing to literally have to look up to one’s king, because he is simply so tall.
While Saul in his early years was also humble, we find that one’s beginning does not mean they end up the same way. Saul searches for lost animals, and in his journey comes across Samuel, who anoints him king and tells him he will come across strange events on the way home.
These events include Saul prophesying with the “sons of the prophets” a group of young men who were in training for the calling. It is likely that this group followed Samuel, and perhaps were even started by him. It will be common in Israel’s history for groups of young men to follow a prophet in a “school”: Elisha and others following Elijah, John and Andrew following John the Baptist, Peter and the disciples following Jesus.

Saul is anointed Captain of the Host
1 Samuel 10
As Samuel anoints Saul with oil, he asks,
Is it not because the Lord hath anointed thee to be captain over his inheritance?
² When thou art departed from me to day, then thou shalt find two men by Rachel's sepulchre in the border of Benjamin at Zelzah; and they will say unto thee, The asses which thou wentest to seek are found: and, lo, thy father hath left the care of the asses, and sorroweth for you, saying, What shall I do for my son?
The Captain of God’s host is Jehovah, the Angel of God’s Presence.
This Angel is the captain over the heavenly host, and Saul will now symbolically be the captain of God’s earthly host of Israel.
In other word’s, the earthly king of Israel becomes the Son of God, a mortal version of the deity of Israel.
In a previous lesson, we discussed how Elohim gave Israel to his divine Son Jehovah as his inheritance. Jehovah’s earthly inheritance is now given to Saul as his mortal counterpart.



The concept of earthly king symbolizing God, or even being viewed as God is a common motif in the ancient Middle East.
For Egyptians, the Pharaoh represented Horus, the divine son of Osiris. Pharaoh was often viewed as the divine son standing before Osiris. In fact, in later Egyptian hieroglyphs, others were often portrayed standing before Osiris as if they were the son of Osiris! And in Facsimile 3 of the Joseph Smith Papyrus, Joseph interprets it as Abraham sitting on the throne teaching others - Abraham represent Osiris, or the chief God of the Judgment!

Facsimile 3: Is this Osiris or Abraham judging from the throne? Both are correct!http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b9/Abraham_Facsimile_3.png
Anointing
The practice of anointing was widespread in ancient Israel and throughout the ancient world. In Israel individuals called to three specific offices were anointed: prophets (1 Kgs 19:16), priests (Exod 29:7-9; Lev 8:10-12), and kings (1 Sam 10:1).
The ritual of anointing, performed by pouring or smearing oil on the head of the individual to be anointed, was often done in conjunction with washing and clothing in new clothes and was accompanied by blood sacrifice.
Anointing was done with olive oil, which was sometimes mixed with perfumes and spices. Olive oil was associated with prosperity, wealth, cleansing, healing, and purity and symbolized the Spirit.
One who was anointed was called meshiah, “anointed one,” which derives from the Hebrew verb mashah, “to anoint.” Thus the prophets, priests, and kings could all be properly referred to as messiahs. King David as the “anointed one” was a type of the future Davidic king who is referred to as the Messiah (see Detail: David As a Type of the Messiah, page 204, and Detail: Messianic Psalms, page 235). (Holzapfel)

Between chapter 10-11
MT / KJV:
Something happens here where some who do NOT follow Saul are speaking…
1 Samuel 10:27 But the children of Belial said, How shall this man save us? And they despised him, and brought him no presents. But he held his peace.
11:1 Then Nahash the Ammonite came up, and encamped against Jabesh-gilead. . . .
4QSama:
1 Samuel 10:27 But certain worthless men s[aid, “How will this man save us?” And] they despise[d] him and brought him no gift.
11:0 [Na]hash king of the [A]mmonites oppressed the Gadites and the Reubenites viciously. He put out the right [ey]e of a[ll] of them and brought fe[ar and trembling] on [Is]rael. Not one of the Israelites in the region be[yond the Jordan] remained [whose] right eye Nahash king of the Ammonites did n[ot pu]t out, except seven thousand men [who escaped from] the Ammonites and went to [Ja]besh-gilead.
11:1 Then after about a month, Nahash the Ammonite went up and besieged Jabesh-[gilead]. . . . (DSSB)
Scholars accept this reading in 4QSama as original, concluding that it somehow dropped out of the Hebrew text that became the basis for the Masoretic Text. Similar information is also mentioned by Josephus, the Jewish historian writing at the end of the first century a.d., but is not preserved in the Masoretic Text or the Septuagint. Some modern translations of the Bible, such as the New Revised Standard Version, now include this additional text from 4QSama.
So if you go to the NRSV and go to 1 Sam 10:27 you will see the NRSV at verse 27 continues on with this text from 4Qsama. Here is a link that shows the NRSV version parellel with the KJV.
Explain three major ancient versions of the Old Testament
1. The biblical texts of the DSS (Dead Sea Scrolls)
2.The Hebrew Bible (called the Masoretic Text, or MT)
3. Old Greek Bible (called the Septuagint, or LXX).
Using the DSS Biblical Texts in Modern English Translations (with link)
Contemporary translation committees of the Bible hold the DSS in high regard. On a number of occasions the committees have departed from traditional readings of 1 Samuel in favor of new readings. The New International Version has preferred the readings of the DSS texts of 1 Samuel on fifteen occasions over the readings of the traditional Hebrew text; the New American Bible has shown even more loyalty to the DSS by choosing 230 readings from the DSS (and LXX) over the traditional text. The other versions, as shown on the list below, have used variant readings from the DSS to varying degrees. The following list features six prominent English translations:⁴⁹
Translation   Use of Variant Readings
New International Version  15
Today's English Version    51
Revised Standard Version ~60
New Revised Standard Version ~110
New English Bible                 160
New American Bible              230
The New King James Version (NKJV) (1982), which is not listed above, does not share the same devotion to the DSS texts. Only on one occasion does it prefer a variant reading from the DSS book of 1 Samuel; in fact, it relies on the DSS on only six occasions in the entire Old Testament (Deuteronomy 32:43; 1 Samuel 1:24; Isaiah 10:16, 22:8, 38:14, 49:5).⁵⁰
According to Harold Scanlin, a translation adviser for the United Bible Societies, "every major Bible translation published since 1950 has claimed to have taken into account the textual evidence of the DSS."⁵¹ Many of these recent English translations have gone through subsequent revisions to incorporate the variant readings from the DSS. For instance, the Revised Standard Version (1952) is now the New Revised Standard Version (1990), the New English Bible (1970) was revised to the Revised English Bible (1989), the Jerusalem Bible (1966) is now the New Jerusalem Bible (1985), and the New American Bible (1970) is going through a major revision at the present time.

Samuel Rejects Saul
1 Samuel 11-14
Saul quickly is victorious in battle against his enemies. The people quickly learn to love their king. But Samuel does not sit back on his laurels and rest. Samuel continues to warn the people and their king to follow the Lord and his commandments, or they will suffer for their disobedience.
In preparing to battle the Philistines, Saul divided his 3000 strong army between himself and his son, Jonathan. Saul awaited the arrival of Samuel, who would offer sacrifice to Jehovah prior to the battle.




















The Philistines were strong, and settled in the valley below the Israelites. Samuel had not shown up yet, and Saul could see his army was in disarray with some deserting out of fear.
Saul felt he could wait no longer, he had to move before his entire army ran out on him. He offered a burnt offering to God. Immediately, Samuel showed up.
Saul explained his reasoning to Samuel, “The Philistines will come down now upon me to Gilgal, and I have not made supplication unto the Lord: I forced myself therefore, and offered a burnt offering“ (1 Sam 13:12).
At this point we will begin seeing two overlapping stories regarding the rejection of Saul and the choosing of David. Here, Samuel proclaimed that Saul was rejected and the kingdom would be given to another. Later, we’ll see Samuel proclaim it again, but the second time Saul’s reaction is clearly greater.
Saul and his son Jonathan continue to have much success in destroying the Philistines and others around them. It does not seem to Saul nor Israel that the Lord has rejected him as king.
This time Samuel Really Rejects Saul
1 Samuel 15
“Samuel also said unto Saul, The Lord sent me to anoint thee to be king over his people, over Israel: now therefore hearken thou unto the voice of the words of the Lord” (1 Sam 15:1).
Suddenly, the rejection of Saul in chapter 13 seems forgotten. Saul is still God’s anointed king. This is evidence that portions of the Old Testament as we now have it were written by 2 authors (or more) who wrote differing versions, and then these were recombined into one story later on, perhaps by the great Redactor, Ezra.
The Lord wanted the Amalekites completely annihilated. “Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass” (vs 3).
They were not to leave alive anything, including men, women, children, nor animals. Israel went down to battle and slaughtered them.

Saul “took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword.
“But Saul and the people spared Agag, and the best of the sheep, and of the oxen, and of the fatlings, and the lambs, and all that was good, and would not utterly destroy them: but every thing that was vile and refuse, that they destroyed utterly”.(vs 8-9).

Saul claimed that he saved the animals to sacrifice before God. Agag, the Amalekite king, was spared because that was a common act done in war, sparing the king alive and having him sit as a prisoner in one’s castle as a reminder of the victory.
Neither Jehovah nor Samuel were amused. Saul tried to explain that Israel’s purpose was honorable, and that Samuel should be pleased with his battle. But the prophet would have nothing to do with it.

“Samuel said, 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” (vs 22-23).

Obedience requires a full commitment and exactness. If a little child was running into a busy street, would it be okay if when the parent shouted for the child to stop and return, the child were to delay a few moments to grab the ball in the street first? Saul was messing with Jehovah’s inheritance, not his own! The safety of the entire nation depended upon exact obedience, because Israel was surrounded by many enemies just waiting for Saul to slip up.
Saul was now, for the second time, rejected as king. This time, Saul took the news poorly. First he begged for another chance, and was turned down. As a witness of God’s rejection of Saul, Samuel hacked the Amalekite king Agag in pieces.
³² Then said Samuel, Bring ye hither to me Agag the king of the Amalekites. And Agag came unto him delicately. And Agag said, Surely the bitterness of death is past.
³³ And Samuel said, As thy sword hath made women childless, so shall thy mother be childless among women. And Samuel hewed Agag in pieces before the Lord in Gilgal.
³⁴ Then Samuel went to Ramah; and Saul went up to his house to Gibeah of Saul.
³⁵ And Samuel came no more to see Saul until the day of his death: nevertheless Samuel mourned for Saul: and the Lord repented that he had made Saul king over Israel.
JST 1 Sam. 15:35 … the Lord rent the kingdom from Saul whom he had made king over Israel.
As Agag was no longer king of Amalek, Saul would no longer be king of Israel. This is also foreshadowing Saul’s death.
Samuel calls David as King
1 Samuel 16

David Defeats Goliathhttp://www.truthnet.org/Biblicalarcheology/8/8_David_Goliath.jpg

The Lord sends Samuel to the family of Jesse, to choose one of his sons as the new king of Israel. Samuel had to go in stealth,
² And Samuel said, How can I go? if Saul hear it, he will kill me. And the Lord said, Take an heifer with thee, and say, I am come to sacrifice to the Lord.
³ And call Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will shew thee what thou shalt do: and thou shalt anoint unto me him whom I name unto thee.
The Lord has him go, pretending to offer sacrifices in the region, something that Samuel, as a traveling prophet/priest often did in various locations.







After seeing Jesse’s eldest son, Samuel is pleased and ponders whether he is the one. The Lord answered him by explaining,
⁷ But the Lord said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the Lordseeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.
Saul was a “goodly” man, as in he was very tall and strong. He seemed to be the perfect person to be king, as he literally stood head and shoulders above everyone else. But God ended up rejecting Saul, because inwardly king Saul was not right with God. His heart was not completely in tune with God, but in doing things his own way.
It would require looking through all of Jesse’s sons, and then sending for the youngest tending the sheep, before the Lord saw the one with his heart in the right place: David. Samuel anointed David,
¹³ Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brethren: and the Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward. So Samuel rose up, and went to Ramah.
¹⁴ But the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord troubled him

Compare David’s heart and desires with Saul’s: “But the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord troubled him” (vs 14).
JST 1 Sam. 16:14 … which was not of the Lord …
With wickedness, the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, allowing an evil spirit to fill him instead. Each of us has such a struggle. We are either a Saul or a David, depending upon our absolute faithfulness and the desires of our heart. And this can change throughout our lives.
Saul began as a king filled with the Spirit of the Lord, prophesying with the sons of the prophets. But now, due to his rebellions, found himself at odds with God.
Saul wanted to be king for the wrong reasons. He eventually came to see it as his right, rather than as a holy anointing that he had to regard carefully and guard humbly.
It was not his inheritance. It was the Lord’s inheritance, and he was anointed to be captain of Israel under Jehovah. In losing his way, he wandered among evil spirits, who enticed him to hang onto the power and the belief that he could remain king by his own skill and cunning.
That is definitely a sign of insanity, when one attempts to defeat God at his own game. Satan also tried to do this, and still tries to this day to defeat God for the kingdom of Israel.
With the evil spirit of insanity hounding him. Saul seeks for relief. He sends his general to find a worthy young man who was skilled in playing the harp. David is found and is brought forth to dwell in the king’s palace and play for him. David carries the Spirit of God with him, and his playing chased the darkness away, bringing Saul peace.

David and Goliath
1 Samuel 17
Here is where we see another conflict in the story. We’ve just seen how David has been selected as part of the king’s household to play the harp and soothe the king’s troubles.
But now we find David living at home, and sent by his father Jesse to check up on his older brothers who have been drafted into Saul’s army! And there is a big problem. The Philistines have a champion or hero, named Goliath.
The average cubit is 18 inches, a span = 9 inches. This would make Goliath nine feet, 9 inches tall. He would tower over the average Israelite soldier, who was probably not much more than 5 1/2 feet tall. Goliath would come out frequently, issuing a challenge. Israel’s hero must come out and fight him, and the winner take all. No one dared answer his challenge.
David was amazed. How dare this Philistine challenge the Lord’s host? David was brought to Saul’s tent, where David proclaimed that God could help him defeat the giant. As David approaches the Philistine, the man laughs and mocks Israel for sending a boy:

“Am I a dog, that thou comest to me with staves? And the Philistine cursed David by his gods.....Come to me, and I will give thy flesh unto the fowls of the air, and to the beasts of the field” (vs 43-44).

But David was undaunted:

“Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied.
“This day will the Lord deliver thee into mine hand; and I will smite thee, and take thine head from thee; and I will give the carcases of the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air, and to the wild beasts of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel.
“And all this assembly shall know that the Lord saveth not with sword and spear: for the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give you into our hands” (vs 44-46).

With a few chosen stones, David takes his sling and downs the giant. Then the boy picked up Goliath’s mighty sword and sliced off his head. The Philistines fled in panic, and Israel chased after them, defeating them soundly.

Slingers on Sennacherib’s Lachish relief. Assyrian slingers attack the Judahite fortified city of Lachish (701 b.c.),

God would prove his power, not only against the Philistine gods, but also against the giants of the earth - even as in the days of Enoch (Moses 7:13-15).
13 And so great was the faith of Enoch that he led the people of God, and their enemies came to battle against them; and he spake the word of the Lord, and the earth trembled, and the mountains fled, even according to his command; and the rivers of water were turned out of their course; and the roar of the lions was heard out of the wilderness; and all nations feared greatly, so powerful was the word of Enoch, and so great was the power of the language which God had given him.
14 There also came up a land out of the depth of the sea, and so great was the fear of the enemies of the people of God, that they fled and stood afar off and went upon the land which came up out of the depth of the sea.
15 And the giants of the land, also, stood afar off; and there went forth a curse upon all people that fought against God;
David became another Enoch, who could work God’s miracles to defeat the enemies and establish God’s Zion on earth. David also became a prototype of Christ, who would deliver Israel and the world out of the hands of the two giants, Death and Hell.
Afterword
How Tall Was Goliath?
The Masoretic Text gives the height of Goliath—the Philistine giant from Gath who challenged Saul’s army—as “six cubits and a span” (1 Sam 17:4). A cubit was about 1.5 feet, and a span was about six inches. So, according to the Masoretic Text, Goliath was about 9.5 feet tall—a real giant.
However, the Septuagint preserves Goliath’s height as “four cubits and a span.” According to this reading, Goliath was about 6.5 feet tall, three feet shorter, but still about one foot taller than the average male at that time.
Although 1 Samuel 17:4 is not well-preserved in 4QSama (Dead Sea Scrolls), it likewise reads “four cu[bits] and a span.” This agrees with Goliath’s height as given in the Septuagint and in the writings of Josephus.
The shorter height of Goliath is probably more accurate. Both 4QSama and the Septuagint cite Goliath as four cubits and a span, while later Greek copies of Samuel read five cubits and a span, and the Masoretic Text reads six cubits and a span. A scribal process of “growing” Goliath to make David’s victory more impressive may be behind the differences attested in these biblical manuscripts.

Bibliography
Angel of the Lord’s Presence discussed in detail in a previous lesson:




http://joelsmonastery.blogspot.com/2010/02/lds-gospel-doctrine-class-old-testament_15.html

Israel as Jehovah’s inheritance:http://www.faithpromotingrumor.com/2010/03/god-gods-and-sons-and-daughters-of-god-in-the-hebrew-bible-part-iii/