1 Samuel 7 & 8: The People’s Desire
WHEN WE FINISHED OUR LAST STUDY STOP ON CHAPTERS 4-6,
OUR STUDY ALLOWED SOME SERIOUS LESSONS FOR US.
WE LEARNED ONCE MORE THAT GOD IS NO RESPECTER OF PERSONS AND HE VIEWED AS UNHOLY BOTH THE PHILISTINES AND THE ISRAELIS WHO BOTH MISUSED HIS HOLY ARK OF THE COVENANT.
EVEN GOD’S PEOPLE ARE NOT ALLOWED TO SIN WITH IMPUNITY.
WHEN IT SEEMED THE POWERS OF EVIL HAD THE VICTORY, GOD WAS STILL ON HIS HOLY THRONE AND WAS STILL SOVEREIGN OVER ALL MATTERS IN HIS CREATION.
WHEN THE PHILISTINES TOOK THE ARK, IT DID NOT MEAN THAT GOD LOST A BATTLE.
INSTEAD HE USED THAT EPISODE TO BRING JUDGMENT ON BOTH THE PHILISTINES AND HIS OWN CHOSEN PEOPLE.
THE JEWS WERE JUDGED SIMILARLY TO THE ENEMY.
SAMUEL WAS NOT SEEN OR HEARD IN THOSE LAST THREE CHAPTERS.
HE NOW REAPPEARS, NOT AS A CHILD IN THE TABERNACLE AT SHILOH, BUT AS THE JUDGE OVER ISRAEL.
THE FIRST TWO VERSES OF CHAPTER 7 COMPLETE THE STORY OF THE ARK. IT WAS TAKEN TO A LEVITE HOME FOR KEEPING, NOT RETURNED TO SHILOH.
THE PHILISTINES DID NOT STOP THEIR WAR AGAINST THE HEBREW NATION.
EXACTLY LIKE THE PERIOD OF THE JUDGES, ISRAEL ONCE MORE WANTED TO RETURN TO THE LORD.
VERSES 7:2-6 TELL THE STORY OF ISRAEL’S TURNING BACK TO GOD UNDER THE GUIDANCE OF SAMUEL.
WHEN THEY WERE TOLD TO PUT AWAY THEIR FALSE IDOLS AND RETURN TO GOD, THEY SEEMED READY.
VERSE 2:
“… all the house of Israel lamented after the Lord.”
THE MESSAGE OF SAMUEL TO ALL OF THE HEBREW PEOPLE WAS THAT THERE IS MORE TO RENEWING A COVENANT THAN DESIRE.
THERE ARE THINGS TO DO TO PROVE THE TURNING REPENTANCE:
FIRST, THOSE THINGS THAT HAD REPLACED GOD IN THEIR AFFECTIONS MUST BE PUT AWAY. THESE WERE THE FALSE GODS OF THE CANAANITES THAT HAD BEEN ACCEPTED BY ISRAEL.
THESE WERE FALSE GODS OF FERTILITY AND IMMORALITY, WHICH HAD CAPTURED THE SOUL OF ISRAEL.
SECOND, A GATHERING WAS REQUIRED BY SAMUEL AT MIZPEH.
HE PROMISED TO PRAY TO GOD THERE ON THEIR BEHALF. HE MADE A POURING OF WATER TO MARK THEIR CONFESSION AND AFTER A FORCED FASTING, THE PEOPLE VERBALLY CONFESSED THEIR SINS.
VERSES 7-11 PROVIDE A NEWFOUND DEPENDENCE ON GOD FOR THEIR NEEDS, INCLUDING THEIR MILITARY NEEDS.
THE GATHERING AT MIZPEH HAD BEEN SPIED OUT BY THE PHILISTINES WHO SAW THE WORSHIP GATHERING AS A PERFECT TIME TO ATTACK. VERSE 7 SAYS THEY “WENT UP AGAINST ISRAEL”.
THE CHOSEN PEOPLE WERE FRIGHTENED AND ASKED SAMUEL TO CRY TO THE LORD WITHOUT CEASING. IN VERSE 9 THE LORD ANSWERED SAMUEL.
THE ANSWER PROVIDED LOUD THUNDERINGS FROM ABOVE OVER THE ATTACKERS AND SENT THEM INTO RETREAT SUCH THAT ALL ISRAEL HAD TO DO WAS TO PURSUE AN ARMY FLEEING.
THIS DEFEAT WAS SO COMPLETE THAT THE PHILISTINES NO LONGER CONTINUED THEIR ATTACKS ON ISRAEL FOR A LONG TIME.
IN VERSES 12-17 SAMUEL WAS CAREFUL TO ARRANGE TO BUILD A REMEMBRANCE OF THIS PLACE.
JUST AS JOSHUA HAD OBEYED GOD AND ARRANGED STONES FROM THE RIVER JORDAN TO BE PLACED AS A REMEMBRANCE, SAMUEL TOOK A LARGE STONE AND SET IT IN PLACE TO MARK THIS MOMENT OF RETURN TO GOD.
HE NAMED IT EBENEZER, MEANING “THE STONE OF HELP”.
THE CONCLUDING VERSES OF CHAPTER 7 ESTABLISH THE ROLE OF SAMUEL AS ISRAEL’S JUDGE.
HE TRAVELS AROUND ISRAEL PREACHING AND TEACHING AND JUDGING THE PEOPLE IN THEIR WORSHIP, ALWAYS RETURNING TO RAMAH, WHERE HIS HOME REMAINED.
WE ARE NOT TOLD WHETHER HIS PARENTS STILL LIVED AND IT IS ONLY IN OUR NEXT CHAPTER THAT WE LEARN SAMUEL IS MARRIED AND HAS SONS.
IN CHAPTER 8:1-5 WE BEGIN TO BE AWARE OF HOW DIFFICULT MATTERS BECOME WHEN LEADERS FAIL.
THESE FEW VERSES TEACH US THAT HIS SONS, JOEL AND ABIJAH, WERE MADE JUDGES IN THE MOST SOUTHERN AREA OF BEERSHEBA BUT VERSE 3 TELLS US THESE MEN DID NOT WALK IN THE WAYS OF SAMUEL.
THEY TURNED ASIDE FROM GOD, TAKING DISHONEST GAINS AND BRIBES AND RENDERED PERVERTED JUSTICE.
THE ELDERS OF ISRAEL GATHERED TOGETHER AND CAME TO SAMUEL TO PROTEST THESE MATTERS.
IN THEIR UNHAPPINESS, THE ELDERS REQUESTED A HUMAN KING TO RULE OVER THEM.
THIS PASSAGE IS SIGNIFICANT BECAUSE IT TELLS THE STORY OF THE TRANSITION FROM THE TIME OF THE JUDGES TO THE TIME OF KINGS.
THIS CHANGE HAPPENED IN SAMUEL’S OLD AGE.
CHAPTER 9 WILL TELLS US THAT GOD IS SENDING A MAN FROM THE LAND OF BENJAMIN TO BE ANOINTED AS COMMANDER OVER GOD’S PEOPLE.
THESE VERSES TELL THE UNHAPPY STORY OF WHAT HAPPENED WHEN SAMUEL TRIED TO PASS HIS MANTLE OF LEADERSHIP ALONG TO HIS SONS.
HERE WAS SIMPLY A RERUN OF THE SAME ISSUE THAT FACED THE HIGH PRIEST ELI WITH HIS TWO SONS.
THE ACCUSATIONS AGAINST SAMUEL’S SONS WERE SERIOUS.
THEIR PERSONAL GREED CAUSED THE SENSE OF JUSTICE TO BE HARMED AND IT SEEMS EVERY MAN EXCEPT SAMUEL HIMSELF KNEW OF THESE AWFUL MATTERS.
THE SIN OF THE PERVERSION OF JUSTICE AMONG THE PEOPLE WAS A CENTRAL THEME OF THE PREVIOUS PROPHETS IN ISRAEL.
IN AMOS 5:7 THAT PROPHET HAD SAID:
“You … turn justice into wormwood…”
GIVEN THESE CIRCUMSTANCES, THE REQUEST OF THE ELDERS SEEMED REASONABLE BUT SAMUEL RESISTED STRONGLY.
THAT REQUEST VOIDED ALMOST EVERYTHING HE KNEW AND BELIEVED CONCERING GOD RULING ISRAEL, NOT A MAN TO BE NAMED KING.
ISRAEL WAS FEELING THE EFFECTS OF BEING A PEOPLE SURROUNDED BY HOSTILE FORCES AND THE PEOPLE WANTED STABILITY AND SECURITY.
UP TO NOW, ISRAEL’S LIFE HAD BEEN IN LITTLE UNITY AS THE 12 TRIBES SEEMS TO ALL GO THEIR OWN WAY.
THE WISH FOR A KING MADE GOOD SENSE, EXCEPT FOR THE FACT THAT IT LEFT GOD OUT, WHO HAD CONSISTENTLY FOUGHT FOR AND DELIVERED THEM FOR CENTURIES.
THIS FACTOR, ALONG WITH ISRAEL’S TENDENCY TO CLING TO FALSE GODS OVER TIME MADE THE PLAN SEEM FLAWED TO SAMUEL.
IN 8:6-22 GOD PROVIDED HIS THOUGHTS TO SAMUEL CONCERNING THE PROBLEMS THAT WOULD ARISE IF A HUMAN KING WAS CROWNED.
THE ESSENTIAL FOCUS SEEMS TO BE THAT A KING WOULD TAKE FROM THE PEOPLE AND GIVE IT TO WHOM HE PLEASED.
HE WOULD NOT SERVE THE PEOPLE BUT WOULD SERVE HIMSELF, AND THE PEOPLE WOULD BECOME HIS SERVANTS.
SAMUEL REPORTED THESE WARNINGS AND THE PEOPLE RESPONDED IN A STRONG VOICE IN VERSES 8:19-20:
“NEVERTHELESS, THE PEOPLE REFUSED TO OBEY THE VOICE OF SAMUEL, AND THEY SAID:
“… No, but we will have a king over us, that we also may be like all the nations, and that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles.”
SAMUEL REPEATED THESE WORDS FROM THE PEOPLE IN THE HEARING OF THE LORD AND IN VERSE 22, THE LORD ANSWERED:
“Heed their voice, and make them a king.”
INSTEAD OF ARGUING WITH THE PEOPLE, SAMUEL PRAYED TO THE LORD AND RECEIVED FROM GOD THE PERSONAL AFFIRMATION THAT HELPED SAMUEL’S FEELINGS.
THE ENCOURAGING WORDS FROM THE LORD TO SAMUEL WERE:
“… they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them.”
ISRAEL’S REQUEST IS SEEN AS MUCH MORE THAN A
DESIRE FOR AN EARTHLY KING, AS THEY ARE REJECTING THE KINGSHIP OF GOD OVER THEIR LIVES.
IN AN EARLIER DAY, THEY HAD ATTEMPTED TO MAKE GIDEON THEIR KING AND HE WISELY DECLINED THE OFFER BOTH FOR HIMSELF AND HIS SON. (JUDGES 8:23)
WHILE GOD REMINDED SAMUEL THAT ISRAEL HAD A LONG HISTORY OF TURNING AWAY FROM GOD (VERSE 8), SAMUEL WAS TOLD BY GOD TO: “… heed their voice…”.
ISRAEL’S MOTIVES WERE CONFUSED AND THEY WANTED TO BE LIKE OTHER NATIONS.
GOD HAD PROVIDED A CLEAR MESSAGE OF HOW A KING WOULD ACT AND WE WILL SEE IN ISRAEL’S FUTURE THAT ALL OF THESE BEHAVIORS WERE INDEED PRESENT IN THE TIME OF DAVID, AND ESPECIALLY IN THE TIME OF SOLOMON.
UNLIKE THE PAST FOREIGN KINGS WHO HAD RULED OVER ISRAEL FROM TIME TO TIME, THIS KING, WHOM GOD PERMITTED, WOULD BE ANOINTED AND ADVISED BY SAMUEL, GOD’S PROPHET.
BEFORE WE MOVE ONWARD IN OUR STUDY, WE SHOULD REMEMBER THAT GOD HAD LONG BEFORE PROMISED ABRAHAM THAT KINGS WOULD COME FROM HIS DESCENDANTS. (GENESIS 17:16).
GOD, IN HIS SOVEREIGN WILL WOULD USE THIS DESPICABLE DECISION FOR HIS PURPOSES.
IN CHAPTER 7 SAMUEL’S MINISTRY IS SUMMARIZED AND IS SURPRISINGLY SMALL IN AREA.
HIS INFLUENCE WAS WIDESPREAD BUT HIS TRAVEL WAS AMONG BETHEL, GILGAL, MIZPEH, & RAMAH (HIS HOME).
EVEN SO SAMUEL WAS ARRANGED BY GOD TO BE A NATIONAL LEADER.
THERE ARE SEVERAL INTERESTING REASONS WHY THE PEOPLE WANTED A HUMAN KING:
THE SYSTEM OF JUDGES WAS NOT SUCCESSFUL.
THEY WANTED A STANDING MILITARY FORCE.
ULTIMATELY, HOWEVER, THE DESIRE WAS SPIRITUAL,
MEANING IT WAS PROOF THEY HAD REJECTED THE
LEADERSHIP OF GOD.
MULTIPLE TIMES IN THE BOOK OF JUDGES, THE BIBLE NOTED THAT “THERE WAS NO KING IN ISRAEL”, (JUDGES 17/18/19/21).
FORSAKING GOD’S LEADERSHIP WAS NOTHING NEW IN ISRAEL.
IT HAD HAPPENED MANY TIMES.
GOD WAS NOT SURPRISED, FOR HE NEVER IS.
HE DECIDED TO GIVE THE PEOPLE EXACTLY WHAT THEY WANTED.
SOMETIMES HIS GREATEST JUDGMENT IS TO LET US HAVE OUR OWN WAY.
PAUL SPEAKS OF THIS FACT IN ROMANS 1:28 WHEN HE SAYS GOD GAVE THEM OVER TO A REPROBATE MIND.
ASKING FOR AN EARTHLY KING MEANT MORE THAN PLACING A CROWN ON A HEAD.
SAMUEL FOLLOWED GOD’S ADVICE AND TOLD THE PEOPLE IN GREAT DETAIL WHAT WOULD HAPPEN WITH A HUMAN KING.
HE MAKES IT CLEAR THAT AN EARTHLY KING WOULD TAKE FAR MORE THAN HE WOULD GIVE:
1ST SAMUEL 8:11/13/14/15/16/17.
THE PEOPLE SEEMED TO ASSUME THAT THEIR DESIRE FOR A KING WOULD SOLVE ALL THEIR PROBLEMS, BUT IN REALITY IT WOULD BRING ANOTHER FORM OF OPPRESSION UPON THEM.
KINGS NEED RESOURCES, AND KINGS TAKE THOSE RESOURCES FROM THE PEOPLE.
SAMUEL WAS VERY BLUNT WITH THE PEOPLE.
IF THEY THOUGHT HAVING AN EARTHLY KING WOULD BRING ONLY GAIN THEY WERE VERY MISTAKEN.
VERSE 17 SUMMARIZED THE THOUGHT THAT THE PEOPLE WOULD BE THE KING’S SERVANTS.
HOW MANY TIMES HAD THE JEWS CRIED OUT FOR GOD TO DELIVER THEM FROM SERVING SOMEONE?
YET, NOW THEY BEGGED FOR GOD TO ARRANGE THEIR SERVITUDE.
SAMUEL HAD DELIVERED GOD’S MESSAGE AND HE SENT THE PEOPLE HOME AND THE EVENTS WERE SET IN MOTION TO GIVE THE PEOPLE WHAT THEY WANTED AS GOD HAD COMMANDED HIM.
THE ATTITUDE OF THESE PEOPLE WAS LONG AGO DEFINED BY GOD IN EXODUS 32:9:
“And the Lord said unto Moses, I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a stiffnecked people:”
CHAPTER NINE WILL DEMONSTRATE THE WISDOM OF GOD AND SAMUEL AS THE 1ST KING IS CHOSEN AND ANOINTED.
AFTER GIVING ISRAEL THE KING THEY WANTED WHICH WOULD BE SAUL, GOD THEN LATER WOULD CHOOSE ANOTHER TO BE KING WHICH WOULD BE DAVID, A MAN AFTER GOD’S OWN HEART.
GOD WOULD MAKE A COVENANT WITH KING DAVID IN WHICH HE PROMISED THAT HIS DESCENDANT WOULD SIT ON DAVID’S THRONE FOREVER, AND THAT KING WILL BE JESUS CHRIST, KING OF KINGS.
A FINAL THOUGHT FOR US TO CONSIDER IN OUR OWN DAY TO BE SURE WE DO NOT DISPARAGE THE JEWS FOR CHOOSING TO HAVE A KING AFTER THEY WORSHIPPED IDOLS FOR SO LONG OVER WORSHIPPING JEHOVAH GOD.
ANYTHING A PERSON DESIRES MORE THAN GOD IS AN IDOL.
IT COULD BE MONEY, POWER, STATUS, OR ANY NUMBER OF THINGS, WHICH COME TO HAVE TOP PRIORITY OVER THE PLACE GOD HOLDS IN OUR LIVES.
BELIEVERS MUST GUARD OUR HEARTS AND PRAY THAT WE ALLOW NO STRANGE GODS TO OPENLY OR COVERTLY SNEAK INTO OUR LIVES.
IF IT HAPPENS WE MUST, AS SAMUEL TEACHES, PUT THEM AWAY AND SERVE ONLY THE GOD WHO ARRANGES ALL BLESSINGS.