1 Samuel 7

Bible Passage:  1 Samuel 7

Ater the chaotic activities of the last 2 chapters, we now see the re-appearance of Samuel.  The Ark of the Covenant was returned and was placed for twenty years at Kiriath Jearim.  And all this while the Israelites mourned and sought God.

A long time isn’t it?

The rest of the chapter ‘showcases’ the work of Samuel as a Judge of the Israel and there are many lessons that came to mind as I read the passage and I hope they spark off some thoughts for you as well …

Genuine Repentance

I was wondering why was it that nothing happened for 20 years despite the mourning and seeking of the Israelites…  Was God being too harsh on them?  Wasn’t it enough that the Israelites have been crying out to God for these 2 decades?  And where was Samuel all this time?

Well… I am not sure to the answer of the last question but when I read 1 Sam 7:3, I finally understood why God remained unmoved.  Read the verse again….

Then Samuel spoke to all the house of Israel, saying, “If you return to the LORD with all your hearts, then put away the foreign gods and the Ashtoreths from among you, and prepare your hearts for the LORD, and serve Him only; and He will deliver you from the hand of the Philistines.”

Do you see it now?

Genuine confession and repentance is to be accompanied by 3 acts:

1. Reject all other gods – “put away the foreign gods”.
2. Be loyal and remain faithful to God – “prepare your hearts for the Lord”; and
3. Worship the Lord exclusively – “serve Him only”

Although the people had been mourning and crying about their state to God and asked for His mercy… nothing happened till they heeded the words of Samuel and truly repented.

What about us today?  These points are very good reminders for me.  On Sunday, we had a Worker’s Training Seminar and one of the topics that we touched upon was ‘Worship’.   True worship involves service to God as well and it can never be separated. And it was also very clear that if we want to work for God, we need to prepare ourselves, and to have God as first priority in our lives.

Why is it that our prayers are not answered despite praying for a long time.

Could it be that there is still the presence of ‘other gods’ in our lives which knocks God off the top of our list? Is there some secret sin within?  Or some forbidden object, for which we have a special weakness; some “idol” to which we are partial to?  We must pay special attention to these things and put them away,  knowing that the result will eventually be grief and shame.

Or are we so busy that we only think about what we need to do (repent, get trained, educate etc) when we are in church and not at other times.  Admit it… many a times, the only confessing and serious prayer is done in church.  At other times, we sometimes even forget to pray!  For such a stop, start prayers… do you think the Lord will hear it?

Action is required and not just mourning and lamenting.  It is something for me to think alot about.

The Devil Does Not Like It….

The great thing this time was that the Israelites heeded the words of Samuel and truly repented at Mizpah.  And there … Samuel judged them and led them back to God’s ways again…

But as always… when a sinner turns back to God… when we want to do what is right in God’s eyes…. the devil does not like it… not one bit!

This very thing (Israel assembled in confession to God) which must have made glad the heart of God, rouses and stirs to action the enemy. So we read:

Now when the Philistines heard that the children of Israel had gathered together at Mizpah, the lords of the Philistines went up against Israel. And when the children of Israel heard of it, they were afraid of the Philistines.  ~  1 Sam 7:7

The Philistines have largely kept quiet for the last 20 years and did not cause the Israelites any trouble.  But as soon as Israel showed signs of returning to God completely, all changed.  Now.. the Philistines prepared to cause trouble.

Satan is the same.  He does not like scenes of repentance and obedience to God’s will.  He will not stand idly by and permit such a thing to happen and will be very determined to break it all up.

Israel feared the Philistines and as their faith was weak, they ask Samuel to pray for them, saying, “Do not cease to cry out to the LORD our God for us, that He may save us from the hand of the Philistines.” They appear to realize the truth of what the apostle James writes to the remnant of their nation more than a thousand years later, “The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.”

Samuel does not upbraid them for their fears, nor chide them for their lack of faith. He knows their weakness, and acts the noble part of a nursing father with them.  He makes a burnt offering on their behalf and calls out to God.

What follows is an all out victory for the Israelites!  They hardly needed to do anything… because God was on their side!

This is the same for us.

It is inevitable that the devil will start to swing into action once we show some signs of spiritual revival or repentace.  But if we call out to God…. and we seek the help of our fellow brethren to pray along with us…. God will hear our prayers and fight the battle for us so that we need not fear anything!

Just One Tiny Problem

I almost missed this out but after reading about the resounding victory of the Israelites and how Samuel continued to judge over them… it will be easy to think that all is well and the faith of the people will be strong.

But did you notice something in 1 Sam 7:14?

Then the cities which the Philistines had taken from Israel were restored to Israel, from Ekron to Gath; and Israel recovered its territory from the hands of the Philistines. Also there was peace between Israel and the Amorites.

No?

Read the last sentence again… “Also there was peace between Israel and the Amorites.”

Is there something wrong with the last statement?

Eight hundred years before this God had said to Abraham, “The iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full” (Gen. 15: 16); but now they had filled up the measure of their iniquity, and God had devoted them to destruction.

God had given this land to Israel, and Israel was to make no league nor seek peace with them (see Ex. 23: 34; 34: 12; Deut. 7: 2 ; Judges 2: 2).  Peace between Israel and the Amorites could only be effected and maintained by compromise and disobedience to God’s express command.  This was Israel’s mistake.

They might seek to excuse themselves by saying the lapse of time had made a difference, and the Amorites were no longer what they used to be; but the excuse could not stand before God’s plain command: “They shall not dwell in your land;” “You shall smite them, and utterly destroy them; you shal not make a covenant with them, nor show mercy unto them.”

There was no mistaking this. His order to Saul to utterly slay the Amalekites (against whom He had sworn that He would have war “from generation to generation”) proved that time could not alter the word that had gone from His mouth.

No, Israel’s works were “not found perfect before God,” hence their rejection of Samuel in later years, and their desire for a king like to the nations about them.

“Do not be deceived: “Evil company corrupts good habits.” (1 Cor. 15:33).

We must learn to watch for every small detail in our Christian life.  While we may think that we have now turned back to God in repentance and sin no more… there could be small areas in our lives that still shows our compromises.  We should watch out for that and make sure that sin has no foothold in our lives.

There are actually more lessons I have gotten in this short chapter but I realized that I have written quite a fair bit and so will stop today.  But please feel free to share your views…

What about the Ebenezar?