Bible Challenge Day 102: Religion and Politics (1 Samuel 16)

The political scene described in our readings for today makes me feel better about politics in America! Tension and danger are everywhere.

The problem that inspires the people to ask for a king in the first place was enemies encroaching on all sides. The greatest threat was the Philistines, who despite some overly optimistic summary statements, dominated Israel off and of from Samson’s time, through Samuel’s leadership, through Saul’s reign, and into David’s time. At no point in all this period was Israel really safe.

Israel was also internally convulsed. Samuel is a ruthless power broker. Leaving God out of the story for the moment (!), Samuel has made Saul king even though Saul did not want the position (e.g. 10:22). Saul proves effective by defeating the enemies of Israel. But as soon as Saul shows signs of independence, Samuel cuts him off. When Saul offered a sacrifice himself, rather than waiting for Samuel to offer the sacrifice, Samuel threatened that God would take away the kingdom (13:14). When Saul failed to slaughter absolutely every Amalekite as Samuel had instructed, Samuel repeated the threat (15:23).

Saul’s reaction is pitiful—he begs Samuel not to desert him (15:30). Samuel refuses, and instead secretly anoints David as the next king. When Samuel arrives at Bethlehem to do the deed, the elders of the city come to him trembling and ask if he comes in peace (16:4). Clearly Samuel was a man to be feared!

But Saul has his own power. When God tells Samuel to go to Bethlehem to anoint a son of Jesse, Samuel fears that Saul will kill him (16:2). The anointing is secret, and no one acts on it for quite some time.

I take this to be a classic example of the conflict between religious power on one hand and political/military power on the other. Samuel does not have an army, but he speaks for God. Samuel is the one who confers religious legitimacy on Saul. Without that religious legitimacy, Saul may not be able to hold the loyalty of his people. But Saul does have a professional army. As long as they remain loyal, Saul may not need Samuel.

Clearly Samuel is aware of the danger he is in. And so is Saul. When David emerges as a popular military leader, Saul’s only remaining power base is undermined.

The tragedy in this story is the impact on everyone else. Ordinary people were caught between Samuel and Saul, to say nothing of the Philistines. The royal family itself is increasingly divided, as Saul’s son and daughter side with David against their father. This was not a good time to live in ancient Israel! It is amazing to think that David and the golden age emerge out of it.

Fr. Harvey