Book of Samuel

[walterpais]

My wife and I are reading the Book of Samuel as our Spiritual Reading during our night prayers, and are confused with the sense of morality of the people during those times. God is eternal, and he understands people according to their times, and is lenient - but some actions like cruelty to their neighbors and murder and plunder seem to be a little too much. Is it because the people there were ‘primitive’ and society evolved gradually. It looks that Jesus was the only Jew who stood out among the lot, and no one has appeared with those ideals in the whole of Jewish history, old or new.

How would you suggest that we evaluate the behavior of these persons in the Old Testament, who are held in high regard, but their behavior is not fit to be emulated.

walterpais

 

[NotWorthy]

Wasn’t Samuel a wonderful example of a man who feared God? Hannah? David?

Remember, the OT history books, such as Samuel are not so much a story of OT heroes to emulate, it’s about God’s relationship with his people. The sacred authors aren’t judging or approving the evil acts of the Israelites, they’re simply relating what God wants us to see.

Here’s something to meditate on while reading Samuel:
If God could raise an obstinate nation of hard-hearted people like the Israelites and love them and forgive them even though they consistently reject Him, how can you doubt God’s love and total forgiveness for you?

I’d also like to suggest Scott Hahn’s book “a* Father Who Keeps His Promise*”. This is a very good commentary on “the Big Picture” while reading the OT.

 

[NotWorthy]

So what do you do with the likes of Saul while reading Samuel? Compare his actions to David.

Saul acts without consulting God, and what happens? He fails continuously. When faced with a decision, David consults God and succeeds. There’s so much more to compare and contrast between Saul and David and their relationship with God.

For instance, who does Saul surround himself with? Fellow Benjamites and foreigners (Doeg the Edomite). That’s hardly the way to unite the twelve tribes of Israel who share little more than their petty gripes and grievances. In one episode, when Saul the King sets out to kill David, he says, “My fellow Benjamites…”

Contrast this with David, who was in council with his inner circle of friends. How does he address them? “My fellow Israelites…”

 

[Pax]

At that time the Jews were surrounded by primitive pagan peoples that engaged in the most abomidable acts imaginable. God’s work in the chosen people was frequently noticed by their neighbors but they continued unconvinced in their unholy practices.

The neighbors of the chosen people believed that their gods were more powerful than those of their rivals. They believed that their gods would lead them in battle and to victory over their neighbors. The Jews themselves would even fall into idolatry and pagan practices. The chosen people were sometimes unfaithful and were still learning to have an undying faith in the one true God.

Unfortunately, pagans and Jews understood things in terms of victory in battle, power, might, and prosperity. Pagan gods had to be shown as nothing more than a fiction. They had to be utterly defeated on the battle field and in the hearts and minds of men. This process would bring man out of the futility of his own mind. Belief in idols seems utterly insane and silly to us, but it was serious business in that era. These primitive practices needed to be rooted out. Simply think about the pagans and what would be required to bring light to the darkness of their minds. They only understood power, victory, and defeat.

God is our creator and he has exclusive rights over his creation. God in His wisdom knew how men would deal with men. He uses these tendencies including the evils that may spring from them to accomplish His purposes. Likewise, He uses all good things to accomplish His will. God manages to make man’s crooked lines straight. If primitive peoples were often idolatrous and violent then it would perhaps be those things that would bring them to their knees. When the Jews would turn away from God there own sins would remove them from God’s divine providence and they would fall victim to their enemies. This usually brought them to their senses, but it did not always do so quickly. Battles would be fought and won, and battles would be fought and lost.

“In the fulness of time, God sent His only son Jesus for our redemption.” Before then, the world in its fallen state was not ready. The divine plan is not easily understood by us, but we see it emerging through scripture. There is much more to it than this, and there are many more angles to explore, but this one may give some insight into what was going on.

I hope this helps.

 

[walterpais]

I am glad I joined the “Catholic Answers”. Sometimes, I tend to feel that I am alone in contemplating these problems. Now I know there are others who are equally involved.

I come from India, and here we see how God has looked after a people for over 5 millenia. The people of India, whatever be their persuasion, are deeply religious in their outlook and it comes naturally to them. Of late, with the influence of the Western culture, people tend to apply only the external symbols and the younger people leave behind the traditions of their elders.

What I see, is the Eternal God, who is the Father of all whom he has created, was like a “pedagogue” who applied methods to suit each pupil of his. Thus times, regions, cultures all went into his techniques of guiding them. It is hard for us, who have developed our Consciences with the teachings of the Church, to visualize the methods God employed to teach different people. I think, we have to have the humility to accept, that He is the Master, and we are just students. Our consciences have been formed by the Standards Jesus set for us, and he was an extraordinary Jew. His fellowmen did not accept him, as He was far above their minds. Even today, we find it hard to accept the standards of Jesus.

Another thing I notice is the tolerance Jesus showed to those who were not Jews. In the same way, I feel this tolerance is also in the Father and the Spirit, and is seen also in the Old Testament. In spite of what they were, he molded the clay and out of it came, Mary, Joseph, Jesus, John the Baptist, Peter, Paul and others.

May He grant us the same grace and mold us, as we often lag behind and fail in the high ideals of our Faith.

I thank NotWorthy and Pax for your kind thoughts.

walterpais