Goliath stood before the Philistines, taunting the Israelites to challenge him. King Saul offered a bargain of riches and his daughter’s hand in marriage to anyone who would defeat the giant. David, just a shepherd boy at that time, took up the challenge.
As Saul’s story progresses, we can observe that he is never able to own the wrong he has done when it is pointed out to him.
In 1 Samuel 13, Saul was told to wait for Samuel before offering sacrifices to God and initiating a battle with the Philistines. He didn’t listen, however, and bulldozed ahead impatiently. Even though Saul eventually wins the battle, he did it on his own terms instead of God’s, a point that he seems to never grasp.
Samuel, who is sometimes known as the last of the Judges and the first Prophet of God, was also the leader of the nation whom the Israelites sought, for direction and revelation from God.
He is known throughout ancient Israel, from Dan to Beersheba, as a messenger of God, as the Lord continued to speak to the Israelites through him.
The story of Ruth was known to Boaz, one of commitment and self-sacrifice in the face of loss and tragedy. Her mother-in-law, Naomi, lost her husband and two sons, and decided to return to Israel when word arrived that the Lord had provided food for Israel, for they had been living in Moab. Naomi had urged her Moabite daughters-in-law, Orpah and Ruth, to return to their families where they will be better off.
