A1-King Saul

Saul becomes king

9:1-14

• Saul cannot find his dad’s lost donkeys, so goes to visit the ‘Seer’ [Samuel] for prophetic help

9:15-27

• God had already told Samuel, ‘Anoint Saul as king!’ so Samuel shows hospitality to Saul

10:1-8

• Samuel anoints Saul privately, prophesies over him, & says, ‘Wait 7 days for me in Gilgal’

10:9-16

• On his journey home: Saul prophesies
• At home: Saul does not reveal that he is to be king

10:17-27

• At Mizpah: Samuel publicly reveals Saul as king, but some of the people do not honour Saul

Saul versus the Ammonites / Samuel versus the people

11:1-11

• At Jabesh-Gilead: Saul commands all Israelites to protect Jabesh; Ammonites are defeated

11:12-14

• Saul says, ‘God has worked salvation’
• Samuel says, ‘Let us renew the kingdom’

11:15 – 12:25

• In Gilgal: Saul is publicly made king
• Samuel preaches, ‘God is the one who assists you [cf. 7:10-12]; you sinned by asking for a king’ [see 8:6-7, 10:18-19];
• God sends thunder & rain [as a sign that he is not pleased with the Israelites]

Israelites versus Philistines #3 /

Saul is rejected by God #1

13:1-7

• Jonathan [Saul’s son] strikes a Philistine outpost; war begins; many Israelites panic & hide

13:8-9

• In Gilgal: Saul waits 7 days for Samuel; when Samuel does not arrive, Saul makes his own sacrifice to God

[i. Saul was made king on condition that he wait for Samuel (see 10:1, v8); 

ii. Saul thinks he has to buy God’s favour by sacrifice instead of receiving it by faith, cf. 9:7-8, 13:11-12, 14:24, 15:14-23]

13:10-14

• Samuel arrives & says Saul will be replaced by a man after God’s own heart [i.e. David]

13:15-23

• Saul only has 600 men left [after they scattered, see 13:6-8]; none of them have swords or spears

14:1-23

• Jonathan strikes a Philistine outpost; God causes the Philistines to panic & fight each other

14:24-46

• Saul curses anyone who eats [on the day of battle]; Jonathan eats honey & is almost executed

Saul versus his enemies

14:47-48

• Saul defeats Moab, Ammon, Edom, the kings of Zobah, the Philistines & the Amalekites

14:49-52

• Saul has sons & a family
• Saul enlists brave men for his army while fighting the Philistines

A1-King Saul versus B1-David

Saul is rejected by God #2

15:1-3

• Because Saul is king, he must destroy & not spare the Amalekites [see Dt 25:17-19, Ex 17:8-16]

15:4-9

• Saul attacks the Amalekites but spares [Hebrew: ‘has pity for’] King Agag & the best livestock

15:10-35

• God rejects Saul as king [again, cf. 13:13-14] because he disobeyed
• Samuel kills King Agag

B1-David (secretly anointed as king)

16:1-13

• Samuel visits Jesse; he secretly anoints David as king [David will only be king after Saul’s death]

16:14-23

• Saul is attacked by an evil spirit; David becomes Saul’s servant to play music to soothe Saul

Israelites versus Philistines #4 /

David versus Goliath

17:1-11

• The Philistine army gathers in Judah; Goliath (a Philistine giant) offers to duel against any Israelite; the losing side will become slaves [Goliath is from Gath, see Dt 9:1-3 & Josh 11:21-22]

17:12-37

• David is visiting his brothers on the frontline & volunteers to fight Goliath with God’s help

17:38-58

• David rejects Saul’s armour; he kills Goliath in God’s name with a sling; the Philistines flee

[I heard a preacher ask the question, 'Why did David choose 5 stones?' and then give the answer 'Because Goliath had 4 brothers!' Whether this was the true reason behind David's actions can be debated, but the Hebrew text can be interpreted as saying that Goliath did have four brothers. From the KJV translation: Brother #1 was killed in 2 Sam 21:16-17, KJV; Brother #2 was killed in 2 Sam 21:18, KJV; Brother #3 was killed in 2 Sam 21:19, KJV (the Hebrew text omits the word 'brother' (see ESV) but 1 Chron 20:5 confirms him to be Goliath's brother); Brother #4 was killed in 2 Sam 21:20-21, KJV; All four were born to the same giant in Gath, see 2 Sam 21:22, KJV (though modern translations suggest that they were simply descended from giants, see ESV]

18:1-5

• David & Jonathan become friends;
• David becomes a soldier for Saul & leader in the army

King Saul versus David: the many attempts to kill David

18:6-11

• Saul becomes angry as David is more popular than him
• Saul tries to kill David with a spear

18:12-30

• Saul becomes afraid of David (he sees that God is with David);
• Saul uses his daughters as bait (the reward of marriage) to entice David to fight the Philistines [hoping David will die]

19:1-7

• Saul commands, ‘Kill David!’
• Jonathan warns David & asks Saul to spare him & Saul agrees

19:8-10

• David is successful in battle
• [Again,] Saul tries to kill David with a spear [cf. 18:10-11]

19:11-17

• Saul sends men to [wait outside] David’s home & kill him [when he leaves the house];
• Michal (David's wife) helps him escape through a window at night, then she pretends he is ill in bed

19:18-24

• At Naioth, Ramah: David visits Samuel;
• Saul sends men to catch David, but they are stopped by the Spirit of God & end up prophesying;
• Saul also goes [to catch David] but the same happens to him

ch. 20

• Jonathan (not believing that Saul wants to kill David) makes a [friendship] covenant with David;
• Saul throws a spear at Jonathan because of his friendship;
• Jonathan warns David

21:1-9

• David lies to Ahimelek the priest and acquires showbread [see Lev 24:5-9] & Goliath’s sword

21:10-15

• David flees to King Achish in Gath [Goliath’s home town] but is recognised as the famous killer of Philistines (cf. 18:6-7);
• David becomes scared & pretends he is insane [& no threat]

22:1-2

• David flees to the cave of Adullam; the distressed & poor gather round & he gains 400 men

22:3-5

• In Moab: David asks the king for asylum
• Prophet Gad tells David, ‘Return to Judah!’

22:6-23

• When Saul hears that Ahimelek helped David (see 21:1-9), he commands, ‘Kill the priests!’

23:1-13

• Philistines attack Keilah; God tells David, ‘Save the city!’ then, ‘Leave before Saul arrives!’

23:14-29

• Saul pursues David;
• Jonathan blesses David;
• Saul has to halt his pursuit to fight Philistines

ch. 24

• Saul pursues David;
• David could kill Saul in a cave but spares his life;
• Saul blesses David

25:1

• Samuel dies and is buried
• David moves to the Desert of Paran

25:2-44

• Nabal (a wealthy man) refuses to assist David (who had protected Nabal’s property);
• David prepares to fight Nabal, but when Abigail (Nabal’s wife) intercedes, David spares his life;
• Nabal dies of natural causes (God has fought on David’s behalf);
• David marries Abigail

ch. 26

• Saul pursues David;
• David could kill the sleeping Saul but spares his life;
• Saul blesses David

David versus his enemies /

Israelites versus Philistines #5 /

Saul’s family is killed

ch. 27

• David flees to Achish (cf. 21:10-15), lives in Ziklag [cf. 1 Chr 12:1-22] & fights [Israel’s enemies]

28:1-2

• The Philistines prepare to attack Israel; Achish makes David his personal bodyguard

28:3-25

• Saul consults a medium; Samuel appears & says, ‘Tomorrow the Philistines will kill you!’

ch. 29

• The Philistines are afraid that David will turn against them & fight for Saul; he is sent home

ch. 30

• The Amalekites attack Ziklag; David defeats them (cf. 15:1-9) & shares out the plunder

ch. 31

• The Philistines attack & kill Saul’s sons (including Jonathan);
• Saul is injured & falls on his sword;
• the Philistines hang Saul’s body on a wall;
• some Israelites bury Saul & his sons

Jdg / Ruth / 1-SAM / 2-Sam / 1-Kgs