Samuel Is A Righteous Man
This case study is part of the Bible Study On Fathers & Sons.
In the following scripture, the prophet Samuel is explaining that he is a righteous man and has not wronged anyone.
1 Samuel 12:1-5
Samuel’s Farewell Address
1Then Samuel said to all Israel, “I have listened to your voice in all that you have said to me, and I have set over you a king. 2Now here is the king walking before you, and I am old and gray, and my sons are here with you. I have walked before you from my youth until this day.
3Here I am. Bear witness against me before the LORD and before His anointed: Whose ox or donkey have I taken? Whom have I cheated or oppressed? From whose hand have I accepted a bribe and closed my eyes? Tell me, and I will restore ita to you.”
4“You have not wronged us or oppressed us,” they replied, “nor have you taken anything from the hand of man.”
5Samuel said to them, “The LORD is a witness against you, and His anointed is a witness today, that you have not found anything in my hand.”
“He is a witness,” they replied.
Samuel is a righteous man according to Ezekiel 18:5
Ezekiel 18:5-9 says “If a man is righteous and does what is just and right— 6 if he does not eat upon the mountains or lift up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, does not defile his neighbor’s wife or approach a woman in her time of menstrual impurity, 7 does not oppress anyone, but restores to the debtor his pledge, commits no robbery, gives his bread to the hungry and covers the naked with a garment, 8 does not lend at interest or take any profit, withholds his hand from injustice, executes true justice between man and man, 9 walks in my statutes, and keeps my rules by acting faithfully—he is righteous; he shall surely live, declares the Lord God.”
1 Samuel 12 shows us that Samuel was a righteous man. He did not turn away from God’s precepts and commandments.
Samuel was a man of integrity who did not compromise or twist God’s word.
1 Samuel 12 continued…23 As for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the LORD by ceasing to pray for you. And I will continue to teach you the good and right way.
From verse 23, we see that Samuel diligently and accurately taught the word of the Lord to everyone, including his sons.
Samuel followed God’s precepts and statutes concerning parenting which can be found in the following scriptures:
Proverbs 13:24 “Whoever spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is diligent to discipline him.”
Deuteronomy 6:7 “You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.”
Deuteronomy 11:19 “You shall teach them to your children, talking of them when you are sitting in your house, and when you are walking by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.”
Genesis 18:19 “For I have chosen him, that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice, so that the Lord may bring to Abraham what he has promised him.”
Deuteronomy 4:9-10 “Only take care, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things that your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. Make them known to your children and your children’s children— 10 how on the day that you stood before the Lord your God at Horeb, the Lord said to me, ‘Gather the people to me, that I may let them hear my words, so that they may learn to fear me all the days that they live on the earth, and that they may teach their children so.’
Deuteronomy 6:2 “that you may fear the Lord your God, you and your son and your son’s son, by keeping all his statutes and his commandments, which I command you, all the days of your life, and that your days may be long.”
Deuteronomy 6:20-21 “When your son asks you in time to come, ‘What is the meaning of the testimonies and the statutes and the rules that the Lord our God has commanded you?’ 21 then you shall say to your son, ‘We were Pharaoh’s slaves in Egypt. And the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand.”
Exodus 13:8 “you shall tell your son on that day, ‘It is because of what the Lord did for me when I came out of Egypt.’
Exodus 13:14 “And when in time to come your son asks you, ‘What does this mean?’ you shall say to him, ‘By a strong hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt, from the house of slavery.”
Psalm 44:1 “O God, we have heard with our ears, our fathers have told us, what deeds you performed in their days, in the days of old”
Psalm 78:4 “We will not hide them from their children, but tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the Lord, and his might, and the wonders that he has done.”
Deuteronomy 32:46 “he said to them, “Take to heart all the words by which I am warning you today, that you may command them to your children, that they may be careful to do all the words of this law.”
Proverbs 3:1-2 “My son, do not forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments, for length of days and years of life and peace they will add to you.”
Proverbs 2:1-5 “My son, if you receive my words and treasure up my commandments with you, making your ear attentive to wisdom and inclining your heart to understanding; yes, if you call out for insight and raise your voice for understanding, if you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God.”
Proverbs 4:1-27 “Hear, O sons, a father’s instruction, and be attentive, that you may gain[a] insight, for I give you good precepts; do not forsake my teaching. When I was a son with my father, tender, the only one in the sight of my mother, he taught me and said to me, “Let your heart hold fast my words; keep my commandments, and live.
Get wisdom; get insight; do not forget, and do not turn away from the words of my mouth. Do not forsake her, and she will keep you; love her, and she will guard you. The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom, and whatever you get, get insight. Prize her highly, and she will exalt you; she will honor you if you embrace her. She will place on your head a graceful garland; she will bestow on you a beautiful crown.”
“Hear, my son, and accept my words, that the years of your life may be many. I have taught you the way of wisdom; I have led you in the paths of uprightness. When you walk, your step will not be hampered, and if you run, you will not stumble. Keep hold of instruction; do not let go; guard her, for she is your life. Do not enter the path of the wicked, and do not walk in the way of the evil. Avoid it; do not go on it; turn away from it and pass on.
For they cannot sleep unless they have done wrong; they are robbed of sleep unless they have made someone stumble. For they eat the bread of wickedness and drink the wine of violence. But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, which shines brighter and brighter until full day. The way of the wicked is like deep darkness; they do not know over what they stumble.
My son, be attentive to my words; incline your ear to my sayings. Let them not escape from your sight; keep them within your heart. For they are life to those who find them, and healing to all their[b] flesh. Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.
Put away from you; crooked speech, and put devious talk far from you. Let your eyes look directly forward, and your gaze be straight before you. Ponder[c] the path of your feet; then all your ways will be sure. Do not swerve to the right or to the left; turn your foot away from evil.”
Proverbs 23:26 “My son, give me your heart, and let your eyes observe my ways.”
Samuel’s Sons Were Unrighteous
Samuel’s sons disappoint. Despite Samuel’s efforts, they did not follow Samuel’s teachings or his example.
1 Samuel 8:1 to 3 – When Samuel grew old, he appointed his sons as judgesa over Israel. 2The name of his firstborn son was Joel, and the name of his second was Abijah. They were judges in Beersheba. 3But his sons did not walk in his ways; they turned aside toward dishonest gain, accepting bribes and perverting justice.
Ephesians 6:1-3 says “children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2 “Honor your father and mother” (this is the first commandment with a promise), 3 “that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land.”
Samuel was a righteous man yet his sons did not walk in his ways. Samuel’s sons compromised and twisted the word of God, His precepts and commandments.
Samuel Remains Righteous
Their actions, however, did not affect Samuel’s righteousness or his standing in the eyes of the Lord. This is because Samuel followed the precepts and statutes of God by diligently and accurately teaching his children God’s commandments, precepts and statutes.
Ephesians 6:4 says “Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.”
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