Short Summary of the Book of 1 Samuel

1 Samuel: The book of 1Samuel gives us a record of Israel's conversion from judges to a nation under a king. Samuel was the last judge in Israel but he lived to anoint the first two kings over the nation. The book of 1Samuel can be broken into 2 parts.

• The first would be the birth and life of Samuel. His birth was an answer from God to his mother's prayer and as he lived and served in the temple, he was chosen by God to be a prophet. His first prophecy as a child was on the corrupt priests serving the temple. Samuel gave a call of repentance to Israel after the return of the ark from the Philistines. Later he consulted God over Israel's request for a king.
• The second part is the life of Saul who after being anointed king has some military success, but then a series of mistakes such as a bad sacrifice, then a foolish vow at the expense of his son Jonathan, then he disobeys God commands which lead to God pulling His blessing from Saul and giving it to the new king David. Jealousy grew in Saul as David became a warrior after God's own heart and with many successes David had in battle and to see how God helped David, Saul was slowly driven to madness and then suicide.

The book of 1Samuel records the rewards in following God and the result of acting on one's own thoughts.