GOD'S CALLING IN THE OLD TESTAMENT

Lesson Twenty-One

GOD CALLED SAMUEL:::.Sam. 1:2b, 8-28; 2:11, 18, 21, 26; 3:1, 4-10, 19-21; 7:3-17)

Burden to Impart:

In this lesson we see how God called a young child namedSamuel to serve Him. It all began with Samuel's mother whoi~~;kedGod for a son, and promised to give him back to the Lord&11 the days of his life. God answered her prayer. Thus, as a,z::;hild,Samuel was brought to the Lord's house and raised up;;i.!r1d trained as a priest to minister to the Lord. When he wasstill a child the Lord revealed Himself to Samuel and calledhim in a personal way. Samuel treasured up the Word of theLord within him. Later he spoke forth God's Word as a prophet.Finally, he was a judge of God's people, expressing God'sauthority and decisions to them. Likewise, God has called allo.f those children who are born in His house. He wants all of1)S to learn to minister to Him, to receive His Word, to knowi:Iim, and to speak for Him.

Memory Verse: "And that from a babe you have known the sacredwritings, which are able to make you wise untosalvation through faith which is in ChristJesus" (2 Timothy 3:15).

~~cts to Teach:

1. Samuel was born because his mother Hannah prayed to God_to have a son. After his birth Hannah gave him to the Lord to~erve Him (1 Sam. 1:2b, 8-28).

a. Hannah had no children.b. While in Shiloh at the Lord's house she prayed to God

for a son and vowed to give him to the Lord all thedays of his life.

c. The Lord answered her prayer and she had a son. Shekept Samuel at home until he was able to eat and takecare of himself as a "child."

d. She brought the chilQSamuel to the Lord's house tothe priest in charge (Eli) and told him that she had"loaned her child to theLord; as long as he liveth,he shall be loaned to the Lord." So Samuel stayed inthe house of the Lord in Shiloh under the care andtraining of the priest Eli.

2. Samuel grew up in the house of the Lor-d (1 Sam. 2:11,21, 26; 3:1) ."a. Samuel did not wait until he was an adult to serve the

Lord; even as a child Samuel ministered unto the Lordbefore Eli. This means that Samuel listened to Eli andlearned from Eli how to minister to the Lord.

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GOD'S CALLING IN THE OLD TESTAMENT

Lesson Twenty-One (Continued)

b. Samuel grew before the Lord. The Lord was alwaysbeholding this young child-priest whose heart was sopure and loving toward the Lord. The Lord knew howimportant Samuel would be for Him and for God's peoplewhen he grew older.

c. Samuel was in favor both with God and with men. He wasso proper as a boy that not only God watched himgrowing up, all those around realized that this was avery special child and respected him.

3. God called Samuel and he answered God's call (1 Sam.3:4-10). -. a. Although Samuel had been serving and growing up in the

Lord's house for some.time, the. Lord had not yet beenrevealed to him in a personal way.

b. One night when the Lord called Samuel, although heawoke from sleep, he did not know who had called him.He thought it was Eli so he asked Eli what he calledhim for.

c. After this happened three times, Eli perceived thatthe Lord was calling Samuel. So he gave him the properinstructions, "It shall be, if He call thee that thoushalt say, Speak, Lord, for Thy servant heareth."

d. The Lord called Samuel and awoke him the fourth 1:ime.'~'q(f-<~'r-. This time Samuel did not run to Eli. He asked the Lord

~kl., to speak to him and told the Lord that he was ..;.\.1:.:/ ~~ ••.•

.

;...~' ...../.l.. 10:.•....."- .. ""_=-:-- ll.stenl.ngt.o.hl.m,that he was .the L.o.r..d's s.ervan~,;;;;~I),: \.'/~_/14• The Lor~ was with S~mu~.1, spoke to .,him,_and he b?came a• J r ~prophet and a Judge, apeak rnq the wox:;dof God and pr-ay i nq fori.;'\ iGod's people (1 Sam. 3:19-21; 7:3-17).i~.,-L.,,-. '----'-----\~, Samuel listened to the Lord's words very carefully. He

, I did not allow any to "fall to the ground." Hetreasured them all up in his heart.:-b: Samuel spoke God's word to the people. All of the

----[people recognized that Samuel was a prophet, one whospoke for God.

~B7 Samuel also prayed for God's people and judged them'--l for forsaking Him. He told them to turn back to t:he

Lord or God would not d'ell.verthem from their enemies.Samuel was a judge of the children of Israel. Heexpressed God's authority and judgment to them.

GOD'S CALLING IN THE OLD TESTAMENT

Lesson Twenty-Two

GOD CALLED DAVID(1 Sam. 15:26-28; 16:1-13)

Burden to Xmpart:

In this lesson we see how God called David, a youngshepherd-boy who worked in the field, to be the king over Hispeople Israel. Although King Saul was a mighty man of war, hewas disobedient to the Lord's word so he was rejected by theLord from being the king of Israel. God had searched the landand had found one whose heart was perfect toward Him infaithfulness, fearlessness, love, and obedience. It was David.He became the greatest king ever to reign in Israel,destroying all the enemies, establishing the' kingdom of God,and preparing all the materials for the building of thetemple.Memory Verse: "I have found David the son of Jesse, a man

after my own heart, who will do all my will"(Acts 13:22).

Facts to Teach:

1. When Samuel the prophet was old the people of Israeldemanded that he appoint them a king, so they could be likeall the nations around them. Although the Lord was displeasedwith their request, because they were actually rejecting Himfrom being their only King, he gave them a man as theydesired, Saul, to be their king (1 Sam. 8--10).

2. However, King Saul did not obey the Lord's commandcompletely, but rather did what he wanted. Therefore, the Lordrejected Saul from being king (1 Sam. 15:16).

3. The Lord knew that there was a much better person thanSaul nearby, a young neighboring shepherd-boy (1 Sam. 15:28)named David.

4. The Lord's eyes searched over the whole'earth to findanyone whose heart was perfect toward him, so He could ra.iseup that person for His own glory (1 Chron. 16:9). He foundsuch a one with such a heart, David.

5. The Lord sent Samuel to the house of David's father(Jesse) to anoint him.

a. When Samuel saw the oldest son he thought that he wasthe one the Lord had chosen to anoint as king ofIsrael. The Lord stopped Samuel from anointing himand told him, "Do not look at his appearance or athis physical stature, because I have refused him. Forthe Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks atthe outward appearance, but the Lord looks at theheart" (1 Sam. 16:7).

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GOD'S CALLING IN THE OLD TESTAMENT

Lesson Twenty-Two (continued)

b. Seven of Jesse's sons passed before Samuel, but theLord was silent and did not have Samuel anoint any ofthem. Samuel found out that there was one son left,the smallest and youngest, apparently soinsignificant to Jesse that he didn't even bother tobring him in before the great prophet, Samuel. Thisyoung one was out in the field taking care of thesheep. Samuel told Jesse to have this youngest one,David, brought before him.

c. When this young shepherd-boy passed before Samuel theLord suddenly spoke to Samuel, "Arise, anoint him:for this is he" (1 Sam. 16:11).

d. Suddenly, .Ln front of Jesse and his seven sons, thegreat, aged prophet Samuel anointed the youngshepherd-boy, David, to be the king of Israel.

6. David did not immediately become the king. He needed towait until many years later, when King Saul died in battle. Heneeded to grow up and to learn many hard lessons through muchsuffering. He became the greatest king who ever reigned inIsrael (except for the Lord Jesus). Some of the great thingsabout him were:

a. David loved the Lord and desired to do God's willabove all else.

b. He wrote many of the psalms to the Lord (like Psalm23) which became the hymns of the people of God.

c. He fought and slew Goliath.d. He defeated all of the enemies of Israel in the land.e. He established the kingdom of God on this earth in

Israel.f. He prepared most of the materials that wer,e used to

build the great temple for the Lord by his sonSolomon.

g. He received the plans for the building of the templefrom the Lord and passed them on to his son, Solomon.

GOD'S CALLING IN THE OLD TESTAMENT

Lesson Twenty-Three

GOD CALLED SOLOMON(1 Chron. 28:1-5; 29:1, 20; 1 Kings 3:3-14; 4:29-34; 10:1-9)

Burden to Impart:

In this lesson we see how God called King David's son,Solomon, as a young and tender boy to inherit his father's throneand to become one of the greatest kings of Israel. When God askedhim what was his desire, he requested an "understanding heart."Because of his unselfish request God gave him wisdom and alsoriches and honor besides. with this wisdom he built the greatesttemple ever constructed on the earth for God's habitation andglory.

Memory Verse: "Now, 0 Lord my God.~...I am a little child. I donot know how to go out or come in ...thereforegive to your servant an understanding heart tojudge your people" (1 Kings 3:7, 9).

Facts to Teach:

1. When the great King David became very old and knew that hewould soon die he gathered together all of the princes and rulersof Israel, the captains, mighty men of war, and officers. He toldthem that God had chosen his son Solomon to rule over Israel andto build the Lord's house (1 Chron. 28:1-5).

2. Before King David died, he gave Solomon his throne, theplans and pattern for the temple, and enormous, amounts of gold,silver, brass, iron, wood, and stone to build the temple with. Hecharged him to build the Lord's house, saying, "Be strong and ofgood courage, and do it: fear not nor be dismayed; for the LordGod, even my God, will be with thee; He will not forsake thee,until thou hast finished all the work for the service of the houseof the Lord" (1 Chron. 29:20i.

3. Solomon, however, was still "young and tender" and "thework was a very great task, for the palace was not for man, butfor the Lord God" (1 ehron. 29:1) and "must be exceedingmagnifical, of fame and glory throughout all countries" (1 ehron.22:5) •

4. When Solomon became king, he loved the Lord and right awayworshipped the Lord by offering burnt offerings to Him. That nightthe Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream and told him to askwhatever he desired the Lord to give him (1 Kings 3:3-5).

a. Solomon prayed for an understanding heart saying, "Now, 0Lord my God, you have made your servant king instead of my fatherDavid, but I am a little child; I do not know how to go out orcome in. And your servant is in the midst of your people whom youhave chosen, a great people, too numerous to be numbered or

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GOD'S CALLING IN THE OLD TESTAMENT

Lesson Twenty-Three (Continued)

counted. Therefore give to your servant an understanding heart tojudge your people, that I may discern between good and evil. Forwho is able to judge this great people of yours?" (1 Kings 3:7-9).

b. The Lord was very pleased with Solomon's request. Because he did not ask selfishly for a long life or for riches,the Lord gave him even more than what he asked. He gave him awise and an understanding heart like no one has ever had beforehim or after him. He also gave him riches and honor andpromised him a long life if he would walk in the Lord's ways (1Kings 3:10-14).

c. We are told that ~God gave Solomon wisdom andexceedingly great understanding, and largeness of heart like thesand on the seashore. This Solomon's wisdom excelled the wisdom ofall the men of the East and all the wisdom of Egypt...and his famewas in all the surrounding nations" (1 Kings 4:29-34).

1) He spoke three thousand proverbs and one thousandand five songs. (He wrote three books of the Bible: Ecclesiastes,Song of Songs, and most of the book of Proverbs.)

2) He spoke of every kind of tree and plant, ofbirds, animals, creeping things, and fish.

d. "Men of all nations, from all the kings of the earth whohad heard of his wisdom, came to hear the wisdom of Solomon" (1Kings 4:34). One person who came to see Solomon was the Queen ofSheba. She came to test Solomon with many hard questions. Afterevery question in her heart was answered and she sawall ofSolomon's wisdom she was overwhelmed with awe and said, "It wasthe true report I heard in my own land of thy acts and thy wisdom.Howbeit I believed not the words, until I came, and mine eyes hadseen it: and behold, the half was not told me: thy wisdom and thyprosperity exceedeth the fame which I heard" (1 Kings 10:1-9).

5. During his reign the greatest achievement King Solomonaccomplished was the construction of the Lord's house, which waslater called "Solomon's temple." He supervised over 183,000 men inthis great task (1 Kings 5:13-18) over a period of seven years (1Kings 6:38).

6. When the temple was completed and all the furnishings werebrought in, the Lord was so pleased that He came in all of Hisglory and filled it; to such a~ extent that the priests could noteven stand to minister (1 Kings 8:10-11).

7. The dwelling place that God had longed for and had spokenof to Moses 500 years earlier (Deut. 12:5), had finally beenbuilt. God could now live among His people and speak to them fromthe oracle in His house.

[Note to the teachers: Although Solomon's heart later turnedaway from the Lord and he sinned, we hope his positive points willserve as an inspiration to the children for this time. Thenegative points may serve as a warning in later years.]