Bible Answers

Long, long ago, about 1000 years before Jesus was born, God gave Samuel the priest a message. God had chosen someone to be the king of Israel, and Samuel was to go and visit a family in Bethlehem. When he was there, God would tell him who it was He had chosen to be king.

Long, long ago, about 1000 years before Jesus was born, God gave Samuel the priest a message. God had chosen someone to be the king of Israel, and Samuel was to go and visit a family in Bethlehem. When he was there, God would tell him who it was He had chosen to be king.

So Samuel the priest went to the town of Bethlehem and visited a man called Jesse. He asked to see Jesse's sons, and one by one they all came in to stand in front of him. First of all the oldest son, Eliab, came in. He was tall and strong and good-looking, and Samuel thought to himself,
"This has to be the one God has chosen!"But, no, it wasn't! God said to Samuel,
"Don't think about how good he looks or how tall he is, he isn't the one I want. I don't look at things that people look at, I take notice of what is in someone's heart."

So the next son came in, and Samuel said, "This isn't the one God wants either."

And the next son came in, and Samuel said, "This isn't the one God wants either."

Then the next one.

And the next one.

And the next one, until he had seen all seven sons. And Samuel didn't choose any of them.

Then there were no more. So Samuel was a little bit puzzled. He said to Jesse,
"Are these ALL your sons?"
"Well, no, it isn't all my sons," said Jesse. ""The youngest one is out looking after the sheep."
"Right then, send someone to get him. We will wait for him," said Samuel.

Soon David arrived; he was young and strong and looking healthy, and God said to Samuel,
"This is the one I want, anoint him to be king over Israel."

So Samuel picked up his ram's horn which was full of oil. (In those days they used to use the horn from an animal to carry things like oil, because they didn't have bottles like we have now.) Then Samuel poured the oil over David's head (that is what the Bible calls anointing), with all his family watching.

From then on, God was with David. God had known what was in David's heart, and knew he was a man who would love Him. It was a long time before David finally came to be king over Israel, but that is another story.

You can read this story for yourself in 1 Samuel 16: 4-13

See if you can answer these questions:
1. How did Samuel know which son to anoint?
2. Did God choose the most good looking one?
3. What did Samuel do to David?