Justin Houtz

1 Samuel 8, Revelation 6

DateVersionReading Plan
September 1, 2025ESV (2016)OT/NT Plan 2025 – 2027

1 Samuel 8

Observation & Interpretation

1 Sam. 8:3 – Samuel’s sons did not walk in his ways.

  • They were not faithful and obedient to the Lord.
  • Samuel’s sons turned out to be much like Eli’s sons (cp. 2:12). (CSB Notes)

1 Sam. 8:5 – The elders addressed Samuel that his sons did not walk in his ways and asked Samuel to appoint them a king.

1 Sam. 8:1-5 – In his old age, Samuel tried to have his sons succeed him as judges. But they were wicked men who accepted bribes and perverted justice. Like Eli before him, Samuel did not turn his sons from their evil ways, and so his house was rejected also. The elders of Israel refused to accept Joel and Abijah; they wanted a king instead, like the other nations. (BBC)

1 Sam. 8:9 – The LORD → Samuel to obey the voice of the Israelite elders but also warn them and show them the ways of the king who would rule over them.

  • Samuel was to fulfill their request for a king but do so with a warning.
  • In agreeing to their wishes, Samuel was to protest solemnly and to forewarn them as to the behavior of the king they would get. (BBC)

1 Sam. 8:19-20 – The people refused to obey the voice of Samuel and insisted that a king should rule over them, that they would be like all the other nations.

  • The motivation of their request is revealed: to be like all the other nations. Their understanding that they were to be different and separated from the other nations had been lost.
  • (v. 19) By disobeying Samuel, they disobey the voice of God as well. (FSB)
  • (v. 20) Previously, it was God who led the Israelites in battle (e.g., Deut. 1:30; 20:1-4). Now, despite God’s great victory over the Philistines in 1 Sam. 7, they reject God as commander of their armies. (FSB)

Revelation 6

Observation & Interpretation

Rev. 6:9 – John describes what he saw when the lamb opened the fifth seal.

  • Unlike the opening of the first four seals, the opening of the fifth was not accompanied by the voice of a living creature saying, “Come!”

Application

Rev. 6:1-17 – Life on earth is significant, and what we do matters (the gospel reaches the ends of the earth through us!). We won’t create heaven on earth, yet we should still work for justice and peace during the present evil age. There is no room, however, for utopian visions, as anyone who studies the last two thousand years of history surely knows. Believers are not promised health and wealth in the present age but suffering, persecution, and even martyrdom. (ESVEC – Response)

Resources