Equip Bible Study - 1 Samuel - How God reveals himself through his word

The book of Samuel marks the end of the period of the Judges. Samuel is presented as the last of the Judges and the first of the prophets. His leadership of the nation will only be temporary, as the people, again failing to see their call as a nation holy to the Lord, demand a king, that they may be like other nations.

As the book of Samuel begins, we find that, as so often was the case in Israel’s history, the nation had wandered from God. While the picture of corruption of the nation and the priesthood is discouraging, the key to the story, as ever in Scripture, is the activity of God. To a nation who has forgotten God, who have stopped calling on his name, God speaks again. To a corrupt priesthood, which had become a barrier rather than a gateway to God, God brings reform. These are stories that remind us that in the midst of individual human failure and national neglect of God, God is always at work, to draw people back to him.

This is a Talk the Word Bible study.