Samuel was also a ‘type’ of Christ and imprinted in Samuel, God was the foreshadowing His promise to speak to His people through Jesus Christ
275 Years after the death of Joshua (1,375 BC), Samuel was born (1,100 BC) to Elkanah and Hannah, 1 Samuel 1: 20 ‘and in due time she (Hannah) gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel, for she said, “I asked the Lord for him.”’
Samuel served the Lord and lived a long life and died at the age of 89 years old (1,011 BC)
So, in what way was Samuel a ‘type’ of Christ and what likenesses to Christ do we see imprinted in Samuel?
Firstly, from the time of Joshua to the time of Samuel, God’s word was ‘very rare’ in Israel, 1 Samuel 3: 1 ‘the boy Samuel served the Lord by assisting Eli. Now in those days messages from the Lord were very rare, and visions were quite uncommon’.
This time was known as the time of the Judges and is summarized in Judges 21: 25b ‘all the people did whatever seemed right in their own eyes’.
But as Samuel grew up, all Israel recognized him as a prophet of God, 1 Samuel 3: 20 ‘all Israel, from Dan in the north to Beersheba in the south, knew that Samuel was confirmed as a prophet of the Lord.’
For 275 years Israel was without the word of God, but through Samuel, God was going to speak to His people again.
And likewise, after the closing of the Old Testament (430 BC) there was a long period again when God withheld His word from His people only to break that silence when He sent His Son Jesus Christ – the Word of God in the flesh/the Word Incarnate to speak to His people again.
Hebrews 1: 2a ‘in these final days, He has spoken to us through His Son.’
John 1: 1 ‘In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God’, John 1: 14 ‘So the Word became human and made His home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen His glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son’.
John 1: 18
Next, amazingly, when Hannah was giving thanks to the Lord in prayer for her new baby son Samuel, she prophesied that in the future, God would give His people a Savior called, 1 Samuel 2: 10 ‘His Chosen King’ GNT, He would also be known as, 1 Samuel 2: 10 ‘His Messiah’ GW, and ‘His Anointed One’ ISV
And one time when Jesus took Peter, James and John up to the summit of Mt. Tabor in Galilee He was transfigured by God’s glory in their sight as the Father spoke to them from Heaven saying, Luke 9: 35 “This is My Son, My Chosen One. Listen to Him.”
Next, as Samuel was coming to the end of his ministry in Israel the people rejected the Lord and demanded that Samuel give them a king so that they could be like all the other nations around them, 1 Samuel 8: 5 ‘“Look,” they told him, “You are now old, and your sons are not like you. Give us a king to judge us like all the other nations have.”’
Samuel knew that the people were rejecting the Lord, so he sought for guidance from God, 1 Samuel 8: 6-9 ‘Samuel was displeased with their request and went to the Lord for guidance. “Do everything they say to you,” the Lord replied, “for they are rejecting Me, not you. They don’t want Me to be their king any longer.
Ever since I brought them from Egypt, they have continually abandoned Me and followed other gods. And now they are giving you the same treatment. Do as they ask, but solemnly warn them about the way a king will reign over them.”
Samuel warned the people, but they refused to listen to him.
1 Samuel 8: 10-22
In Samuel’s last years he appointed Saul, Israel's first king and later David, Israel’s 2nd and greatest king, a ‘man after (God’s) own heart’.
1 Samuel 13: 14; Acts 13: 22
28 generations after David, God sent His ‘Chosen King’, ‘His Messiah’, ‘His Anointed One’ to save His people from their sins.
Matthew 1: 21; Galatians 4: 4
And as the people of God rejected the Lord in Samuel’s time, they also rejected the Lord, their Messiah and Savior Jesus Christ
John 1: 11 ‘He came to his own people, and even they rejected Him.’
John 19: 15 “We have no king but Caesar,”
Here’s a good question; did Samuel ever prophesy about the coming of Jesus Christ?
Yes, he did, when the Apostle Peter was preaching to the crowds of people in Jerusalem after the resurrection of Christ, he referenced Samuel when he said, Acts 3: 24 “Starting with Samuel, every prophet spoke about what is happening today”.
Next, both Samuel and Jesus Christ’s conception and birth were miracles performed by God.
1 Samuel 1: 19b ‘the Lord remembered her.’ GW
Matthew 1: 18 ‘(Mary) became pregnant through the power of the Holy Spirit.’
Next, as children, both Samuel and Jesus frequented the House of God
1 Samuel 1: 24; Luke 2: 46
And as children, both Samuel and Jesus grew up in favor with the Lord and with the people.
1 Samuel 2: 26; Luke 2: 52
And lastly, both Samuel and Jesus were deeply committed to prayer.
1 Samuel 15: 11b ‘(Samuel) cried to the Lord all night’.
Luke 6: 12b ‘(Jesus) prayed to God all night’.
So, by way of summary:
After 275 years without the Word of God in Israel, God spoke again to His people through Samuel the prophet, who was also a Christ type, and after the closing of the Old Testament, after 430 years of silence, God sent His Word in the flesh Jesus Christ to speak to His people again.
God is still speaking to His people today through His Son Jesus Christ and that many have still NOT heard His name.
‘Isaiah 53 – The Forbidden Chapter’
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