Lesson
89: 1 Samuel 25–31
Old
Testament Seminary Teacher Manual, 2014
Introduction
While
fleeing from Saul, David’s men sought supplies from a wealthy man named Nabal.
Nabal insulted David’s men and refused to help them. David intended to slay
Nabal and his servants, but Nabal’s wife, Abigail, interceded and calmed David,
who spared Nabal’s life. David spared Saul’s life again and fled to Philistine
territory. When Saul was unable to receive guidance from the Lord, he sought
help from the witch of Endor. The Amalekites attacked the Philistine kingdom
where David had fled, but David’s army repelled the attack. Three of Saul’s
sons were killed in battle with the Philistines, and Saul took his own life.
Suggestions
for Teaching
Each
lesson in seminary focuses on a scripture block rather than on a particular
concept, theme, doctrine, or principle. As teachers and students study these
scripture blocks sequentially, they incorporate many of the Fundamentals of
Gospel Teaching and Learning. These fundamentals include understanding the
context and content of a scripture block; identifying, understanding, and
feeling the truth and importance of gospel doctrines and principles; and
applying those doctrines and principles.
Abigail
calms David and saves her husband, Nabal, and the men of their household
Line
up several dominoes in a row. (You could also do this activity with other
objects, such as hymnbooks.) Ask a student to push down the first domino so it
tips over the other dominoes.
•
How
might the effect of the first domino falling relate to the good choices we make
in our lives?
Invite
students to look for a principle as they study 1 Samuel 25 that relates to the effects
their good choices have on the people around them.
Summarize
1 Samuel 25:1 by explaining that Samuel the
prophet died and all the Israelites gathered to mourn his loss. After Samuel’s
funeral, David and his men went into the wilderness.
Invite
a student to read 1 Samuel 25:2–3 aloud. Ask the class to
follow along, looking for who David encountered in the wilderness.
•
What
kind of person was Nabal? (After students respond, you may want to point out
that verse 3, footnote a, describes Nabal as
being “rude, rough, [or] ‘hard.’”)
Summarize
1 Samuel 25:4–9 by explaining that when
David learned that the wealthy Nabal was nearby shearing his sheep, David sent
10 servants to request supplies for his men.
Invite
a student to read 1 Samuel 25:10–13 aloud. Ask the class to
follow along, looking for how Nabal responded to David’s servants.
•
How
did Nabal respond to David’s servants?
•
How
did David respond to Nabal’s insult?
Summarize
1 Samuel 25:14–17 by explaining that one of
Nabal’s servants told Abigail, Nabal’s wife, how her husband had mistreated
David’s men. The servant also told Abigail how David and his men had provided
protection to Nabal’s servants and had never tried to take any of Nabal’s
animals.
Invite
students to read 1 Samuel 25:18–19 silently, looking for what
Abigail chose to do after she learned about her husband’s actions.
•
What
did Abigail do when she heard the news?
Summarize
1 Samuel 25:20–31 by explaining that when
Abigail found David in the wilderness, she bowed before him and humbly asked
him to spare her household despite the iniquities of her husband.
•
What
can these actions teach us about Abigail’s character?
Invite
a student to read 1 Samuel 25:32–34 aloud. Ask the class to
follow along and look for how David responded to Abigail. (Note: The phrase
“any that pisseth against the wall” is a cultural expression used to mean “all
males.”)
•
When
Abigail chose to make peace with David, what were the positive results for her
and her husband? for her entire household?
•
What
principle does this account illustrate about the potential influence of one
person’s righteous choice? (After students respond, write the following truth
on the board: Our righteous choices can bless not only us but also others
around us.)
Ask
students to explain how Abigail’s action relates to the effect the first domino
had on the other dominoes.
Invite
students to think about a time when they were blessed because one of their
peers made a righteous choice. Ask several students to share their experiences
with the class. Consider sharing a personal experience as well.
Encourage
students to make righteous choices, and challenge them to look for blessings
that come to others because of those righteous choices.
Summarize
1 Samuel 25:36–44 by explaining that Nabal
died shortly after he found out that Abigail had made peace with David. After
Nabal’s death, David sent for Abigail and the two were married.
David
spares Saul’s life again
Summarize
1 Samuel 26–27 by explaining that King Saul
took 3,000 men into the wilderness to find and kill David. When Saul and his
men were asleep in their camp one night, David and one of his servants went to
where Saul was sleeping. David’s servant wanted to kill Saul, but David
refused. Later, when King Saul discovered that David had spared his life again,
he said he would no longer seek David’s life. David did not believe Saul, so he
moved his family to live among the Philistines.
Saul
seeks direction from the witch of Endor
Line
up another row of dominoes. Ask a different student to push down the first
domino so it tips over the other dominoes in the row. Remind students that
earlier we discussed how these dominoes could illustrate the effects of
righteous choices.
•
How
might the effect of these dominoes represent poor choices?
After
one or two students respond, invite students as they study 1 Samuel 28 to look for a principle
that relates to the effects our poor choices can have.
Explain
that in 1 Samuel 28:1–5 we learn that the king of
the Philistines wanted David to go with him to war against Israel.
Ask
a student to read 1 Samuel 28:5–6 aloud. Invite the class to
follow along and look for how Saul felt when he saw the Philistines and what
happened when he asked the Lord for help.
•
Why
do you think the Lord did not answer Saul?
•
Why
can our disobedience make it difficult to receive personal revelation and
answers to our prayers?
•
What
can we learn from this account about what happens to us when we disobey God?
(Students may use different words, but make sure they identify the following
principle: When we willfully disobey God, we separate ourselves from His
strength and guidance. Write this principle on the board.)
Ask
students what major decisions they will have to make in the next few years.
Write their responses on the board.
•
Why
might it be important for you to have God’s strength and guidance in your life
as you face those decisions?
•
If
you had been one of King Saul’s advisers, what would you have told him he
should do to receive answers to his prayers?
Invite
students to read 1 Samuel 28:7–10 silently, looking for what
Saul did when he received no answer from God. Explain that the phrase “hath got
a familiar spirit” in verse 7 refers to a person who claimed to be
able to speak with the dead.
•
What
did Saul choose to do when he did not receive answers from God? (Instead of
being obedient to the Lord and continuing to seek and strive to be worthy of
revelation, Saul chose to turn to wicked sources. By seeking out the woman from
Endor, Saul broke God’s command not to turn to those with familiar spirits [see
Leviticus 19:31].)
Summarize
1 Samuel 28:11–25 by explaining that the
woman Saul went to see claimed that she had called the prophet Samuel from the
dead to speak to Saul. She told Saul that he and his sons would be killed the
next day in battle with the Philistines. Explain that, despite what she said,
it is not possible for a person like this woman to be able to summon the
spirits of the Lord’s departed servants. She either pretended to see Samuel or
was under the influence of evil powers when she delivered her message to Saul
(see Joseph Fielding Smith, Answers to Gospel Questions, comp. Joseph Fielding
Smith Jr., 5 vols. [1957–66], 4:107–8).
The
Lord directs David to save his people from the Amalekites
Direct
students’ attention to the list of major decisions on the board.
•
What
are some of the positive consequences that might come from making righteous
decisions? What are some of the negative consequences that might come from
making unrighteous decisions?
Summarize
1 Samuel 29:1–11; 30:1–3 by explaining that David and his men were
with the armies of the Philistines as they went to fight the Israelites.
Several Philistine leaders did not want David and his men in the battle, so the
king commanded David and his men to return to the land of the Philistines. When
they returned, they found that their city had been destroyed by the Amalekites
and that their families had been taken captive.
Invite
students to read 1 Samuel 30:4 silently, looking for how
David and his men responded. Ask students to report what they find.
Invite
a student to read 1 Samuel 30:6–8 aloud. Ask the class to
follow along, looking for what David did during this time of tragedy. Explain
that the phrase “encouraged himself in the Lord his God” meant that he trusted
in the Lord (see verse 6, footnote a). Also explain that
the breastplate of the high priest, which held the Urim and Thummim, was attached to the ephod (part
of the dress of the high priest; see Exodus 28:26–30). These were divinely approved
instruments of revelation. David had asked the high priest to bring the ephod
so David could inquire of the Lord through the Urim and Thummim.
•
Why
do you think David was blessed with the Lord’s direction but King Saul was not?
•
What
principle can this account teach us about inviting the Lord to direct our
lives? (Students may use different words, but make sure they identify the
following principle: When we are faithful, we invite the Lord to direct our
lives.)
Invite
a few students to share an experience they have had when they felt that the
Lord directed their lives.
Summarize
1 Samuel 30:9–31; 31:1–13 by explaining that David and his army
conquered the Amalekites and rescued their families. David then shared the
enemy’s supplies with his people. In the meantime, the Philistines went to
battle against the Israelites. Three of Saul’s sons were killed. Saul was badly
wounded, and when he feared he would be killed in battle by the Philistines, he
took his own life.
Ask
students to consider what effect the choices they are making now will have on
them and the people around them. Encourage them to make righteous choices so
they can be directed by the Lord.
Commentary
and Background Information
1 Samuel
28:15–20. Witch of Endor
“The
account in 1 Sam. 28:5–20 of the prophet being brought
back from the dead by the witch of Endor, at King Saul’s request, presents a
problem. It is certain that a witch or other medium cannot by any means
available to her bring up a prophet from the world of spirits. We may confidently
be assured that if Samuel was present on that occasion, it was not due to
conjuring of the witch. Either Samuel came in spite of and not because of the
witch, or some other spirit came impersonating him” (Bible
Dictionary, “Samuel”).
President
Joseph Fielding Smith gave further insight into what happened during King
Saul’s experience with the witch of Endor:
“The
Witch of Endor … instead of being a prophetess of the Lord, was a woman who
practiced necromancy; that is, communication or pretended communication with
the spirits of the dead; but she was led by a familiar spirit. In other words,
she was a spiritual medium, similar to those modern professors of the art, who
claim to be under the control of some departed notable, and through him or her
to be able to communicate with the dead. It should be observed that in the
séance with the king of Israel, Saul did not see Samuel or anybody but the
medium or witch. She declared that she saw an old man coming up and that he was
covered with a mantle. It was she who told Saul what Samuel was purported to
have said. Saul ‘perceived that it was Samuel’ through what the witch stated to
him. The conversation that ensued between Samuel and Saul was conducted through
the medium. All of this could have taken place entirely without the presence of
the prophet Samuel. The woman, under the influence of her familiar spirit,
could have given to Saul the message supposed to have come from Samuel, in the
same way that messages from the dead are pretended to be given to the living by
spiritual mediums of the latter days, who, as in the case under consideration,
perform their work at night or under cover of darkness.
“It
is beyond rational belief that such persons could at any period in ancient or
modern times, invoke the spirits of departed servants or handmaidens of the
Lord. They are not at the beck and call of witches, wizards, diviners, or necromancers.
Pitiable indeed would be the condition of spirits in paradise if they were
under any such control. They would not be at rest, nor be able to enjoy that
liberty from the troubles and labors of earthly life which is essential to
their happiness, but be in a condition of bondage, subject to the will and
whims of persons who know not God and whose lives and aims are of the earth,
earthy” (Answers to Gospel Questions, comp. Joseph Fielding Smith Jr.,
5 vols. [1957–66], 4:107–8).
Right
margin extras:
Dominoes
Gordon
Hinckley: Lessons I Learned As a Boy (4:04)
President Gordon B. Hinckley recalls the story of an older boy and his young companion as they find an old coat and a badly worn pair of shoes by the roadside. Consider showing this video as an example of how our righteous choices can bless ourselves and others.
President Gordon B. Hinckley recalls the story of an older boy and his young companion as they find an old coat and a badly worn pair of shoes by the roadside. Consider showing this video as an example of how our righteous choices can bless ourselves and others.
Finding
Your Purpose in Life: Does Faith Matter? (5:08)
A young man tells his story of distancing himself from the Lord and how he returned to Him. Consider using the first 2 minutes and 50 seconds of the video to help students understand the principle that when we willingly disobey God, we separate ourselves from His strength and guidance. Consider using the rest of the video to illustrate the principle that when we are faithful, we invite the Lord to direct our lives.
A young man tells his story of distancing himself from the Lord and how he returned to Him. Consider using the first 2 minutes and 50 seconds of the video to help students understand the principle that when we willingly disobey God, we separate ourselves from His strength and guidance. Consider using the rest of the video to illustrate the principle that when we are faithful, we invite the Lord to direct our lives.
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