Hi,
What roles did Samuel and Samson have? Did they have any specific gifts / leadership roles, and if so what were they? In the historical context, what position of significance did they have?
Many thanks,
M.
Israel originally didn't have a monarchy, but instead was ruled by judges, non-elected non-hereditary chieftans (or at least seemingly chieftan-like) chosen by God from the various tribes. It represents a stage in Israel's early history when the nation functioned more like a confederacy of tribes rather than a cohesive kingdom.
Samson was one of those judges. Samuel was also one of those judges, and was also the last Judge of Israel. Samuel was also a prophet and a priest, and when the Israelites came together to demand a king as the other nations, God used Samuel to pick the first king of Israel, Saul; and then also to choose the second king, David.
I think the real significance here is in that God did not intend Israel to have a king, because He was to be Israel's King. So in a sense the period of the Judges was a period in which God was ruling as King, and that in times of turmoil would raise up "judges", powerful chieftans from among the different tribes, to unite the tribes against common enemies. When Israel demanded a king, it is portrayed as a desire to be like the nations. The initial choosing of Saul gives us essentially what a typical king is like--interested in their own power and maintaining that power. David is chosen by God to inherit the throne from Saul, though standard procedure of kingships in the ancient world was through heredity. Thus as far as Saul was concerned, it would be his son Jonathan that would sit on the throne, not some nobody shepherd boy.
The choice of David over Jonathan is important, because it is through the line of David that God declares His promise of the Messiah, that the throne of David will be forever and ever.
As Christians the significance of this is essential. Because that is the heart of our religion, that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah of the line of David; and as the Messiah He is the King. And thus our whole understanding of what sort of kingdom the Messiah has, the whole history of Israel, culminates and is found here, in this one Man, Jesus, the Messiah, the Son of God.
Of further importance let's consider how God has accomplished what He's accomplished. God reveals that He is supposed to be King, He's the One who created all things, He rules over all creation as the Sovereign Lord. So He calls Himself the King, also, over Israel (for through Israel God will also bring the nations into peace with Himself). But Israel wants a different king, they want Saul even though Saul isn't good for them. God however will use the monarchy they desire to both judge them and also to save them. To judge them because Israel's greatest sufferings came because of the unfaithfulness and wickedness of her kings, for which the nation would eventually suffer her second Captivity. The Captivity in Babylon. God, again, gives His people an exodus, this time from Mesopotamia back to Judea. The old monarchy effectively gone, but yet still the promise God made with David, that a son of David would reign forever. A Messiah who would save the people, deliver them from the nations, and ultimately bring together Israel and the nations in the peace and harmony and eternal justice of Israel's God.
This God did through Jesus, Jesus is the Messiah. Through Jesus not only is the promise of the eternal throne of David fulfilled, but we see that the kingdom of God prevails against the kingdoms of this world. For even as the foreign occupying power of Rome put to death Jesus; Jesus renders the power of Rome desolate by His atoning death and glorious resurrection from the dead, defeating the powers of sin, death, hell, and the devil. Jesus Christ is Lord, Jesus Christ is King. God's Kingdom is made manifest in the Messiah, in Jesus, and it is this kingdom that we believe in. God Himself is the One who reigns forever on the throne of David, because the Virgin-born Child of Mary is also the eternally begotten Son and eternal Logos of the Father: This Jesus Christ is true God of true God. The enthronement of the Messiah is also the enthronement of God, a restoration of the reign of God--not just over "Israel", but over all nations, over all creation. And in the end, when all is said and done, when the Lord returns to judge, the dead are raised, and God makes all things new; then God will be all-in-all. New heavens and new earth.
-CryptoLutheran
