3 And Samuel said to all the house of
Israel, “If you are returning to the Lord
with all your heart, then put away the foreign gods and the Ashtaroth from
among you and direct your heart to the Lord
and serve him only, and he will deliver you out of the hand of the
Philistines.” 4 So
the people of Israel put away the Baals and the Ashtaroth, and they served the Lord only.
5 Then Samuel said, “Gather all Israel at
Mizpah, and I will pray to the Lord
for you.” 6 So they
gathered at Mizpah and drew water and poured it out before the Lord and fasted on that day and said
there, “We have sinned against the Lord.”
And Samuel judged the people of Israel at Mizpah. 7 Now when the Philistines heard that the people of
Israel had gathered at Mizpah, the lords of the Philistines went up against
Israel. And when the people of Israel heard of it, they were afraid of the
Philistines. 8 And
the people of Israel said to Samuel, “Do not cease to cry out to the Lord our God for us, that he may save us
from the hand of the Philistines.” 9 So
Samuel took a nursing lamb and offered it as a whole burnt offering to the Lord. And Samuel cried out to the Lord for Israel, and the Lord answered him. 10 As Samuel was offering up the burnt offering,
the Philistines drew near to attack Israel. But the Lord thundered with a mighty sound that day against the
Philistines and threw them into confusion, and they were defeated before
Israel. 11 And the
men of Israel went out from Mizpah and pursued the Philistines and struck them,
as far as below Beth-car.
12 Then Samuel took a stone and set it up
between Mizpah and Shen and called its name Ebenezer; for he said, “Till now
the Lord has helped us.” 13 So the Philistines
were subdued and did not again enter the territory of Israel. And the hand of
the Lord was against the
Philistines all the days of Samuel. 14 The
cities that the Philistines had taken from Israel were restored to Israel, from
Ekron to Gath, and Israel delivered their territory from the hand of the
Philistines. There was peace also between Israel and the Amorites.
15 Samuel judged Israel all the days of
his life. 16 And he
went on a circuit year by year to Bethel, Gilgal, and Mizpah. And he judged
Israel in all these places. 17 Then
he would return to Ramah, for his home was there, and there also he judged
Israel. And he built there an altar to the Lord.
1 Samuel 7:3-17
The ark of the Lord was returned to
Israel after being captured by the Philistines and set in Kiriath-Jearim in the
house of Abinadab, a Levite. Then twenty
years passed after the ruin of Eli’s house and the great defeat of Israel. It was said in verse 2 that Israel lamented
after the LORD. No explicit reason was
given by the author as to why Israel lamented.
It is strange because normally Israel should have rejoiced because the
ark of the LORD was returned to them.
Some theologians suggested that they lamented because the Philistines
continued to harass them from time to time in those twenty long years. Yet in those twenty years being harassed by
the Philistines, they did not seek the Lord, but continued in the practice of
worshiping the Canaanite gods. Baals and
Ashtaroth were especially mentioned in verse 4 as they were the chief gods of
the Canaanites. The worship practice of
these gods was an abomination to the Lord.
They committed sexual immorality as they worship them. Remember that Hophni and Phinehas also
committed sexual immorality in God’s temple.
So the Lord abandoned them into the hands of their enemies. Their life was then a repeat of what happened
in the time of the Judges. Their lament
however was not a sign of repentance.
Not yet.
Because Israel still kept their worship
of other gods. They had forgotten about
the Lord and His covenant with them.
Then suddenly in verse 3 the name Samuel returned to the scene. For twenty years Samuel was under the radar. He was last heard twenty years before in 4:1
when his word was said to come to Israel.
It was the word of judgment that the Lord spoke to Samuel as He called
him to His service. God’s judgment on
Israel took place in chapter 4. Now in
chapter 7, Samuel resurfaced.
3 And Samuel
said to all the house of Israel, “If you
are returning to the Lord with all
your heart, then put away the foreign gods and the Ashtaroth from among you and
direct your heart to the Lord and
serve him only, and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.”
This
is the call to repentance. Israel had
been humbled. They lamented. Yet they had not repented. For they still kept their gods with
them. Samuel had to confront them of
their greatest sin. The main goal was
for Israel to return to the Lord wholeheartedly. They had to get rid of other gods. They had to direct their heart to the Lord
only. This was not easy to do. All Israel had learned the way of
Canaan. They had adopted the foreign way
of life. It had become their habit,
their culture. In fact, they grew up in
that culture, because their fathers had been unfaithful to the Lord ever since
the death of Joshua and all the elders who followed him. And worse, Eli did not provide a good
leadership for them. He let them continue
in their sin. He even let his sons
defile the temple of God. Thus the
people learned the contemptuous way of worshiping God. So Samuel had to call them to repent!
How about us? What does Samuel have to do with us? It’s just history, isn’t it? It’s good we know the story, isn’t it? The answer is No! It is not just history and it is not good to
merely know the story. This passage
speaks about us as well. The sin that
Adam and Eve passed down to Israel is also passed down to us. Just like the Israelites got distracted with
other gods, we too today are distracted with other gods. Their gods were in the form of statues,
deities, idols, such as Baals, Asteroth, Moloch, and many others; but the gods
of the modern age are more in the form of wealth/money, power, and pleasure. Not few Christians waywardly mix God with all
other gods. R. C. Sproul quoted Charles
Spurgeon and said:
In a sermon
on the first beatitude, “Blessed are the poor in spirit,” the English Puritan
preacher Charles Haddon Spurgeon said that “the proud sinner wants Christ, and
his own parties; Christ, and his own lusts; Christ, and his own waywardness.
The one who is truly poor in spirit wants only Christ, and he will do anything,
and give anything to have him!”[1]
The
modern Christians mix God with wealth, God with power, God with pleasure. They can’t believe in one and only God. They always want God + something else. For these Christians, God alone is not
enough. Obviously, they are not those
who are truly poor in spirit.
To these Christians, 1 Samuel 7:3
speaks strongly against them. This is a
call for repentance. This is a call for
them to get rid of all the pluses. They
need to worship and serve God only. This
message is for you today in your hearing.
Are you one of those Christians who secretly believe that God alone is
not enough? It is a fact today that many
churches attempt to attract people to Christianity through the reward of
wealth, health, and success. This is
what I heard some pastors claimed:
“If you believe in Christ, you will be rich! If you believe in Christ, you will be healed! If you believe in Christ, your life will be
successful! Because God is King and you
are the children of the King of the world.
God is rich, and so He will shower you with material blessings beyond
your dream! If you pray to the King, do
not ask for a bike, such request would be undermining God. Ask for the newest Mercedes! If you pray to God, do not ask for a simple
house, for God can give you much more than a simple house. He can give you even a million dollars
house. He is rich! Ask and you shall receive!”
These
are just examples of what some pastors claimed falsely in the name of God. Yet their followers fill up the church. Tens of thousands of people come. But God alone is not enough for them. They want God + wealth/money, God + health, God
+ success, God + power, God + pleasure, and God + sin.
If you find it in your heart that
you secretly want God + everything else, if you find in your heart that you
secretly refuse God alone, then you need to repent. Samuel called Israel to get rid of all
foreign gods. Samuel called Israel to
wholeheartedly worship and serve God alone.
Then the people responded to Samuel’s call. Their hearts had been brought low. They could not find hope in their current
state. They lamented profusely. They wanted God to help but did not have the
heart to let go of their idols. But
their hearts were broken. They were
desperate. This was prime time for
transformation. Their disequilibrium
must be corrected. Their desperation
would not find peace unless they got rid of all other gods and wholeheartedly
focused on God only. So upon Samuel’s
call, they resolved to follow the call.
1 Samuel 7:4 records that Israel got rid of all foreign gods and served
only the LORD.
This was a new dawn in Israel’s
history. After about 300 years of
unfaithfulness to God, Samuel reformed Israel.
300 years before Samuel, Joshua called Israel to do the same thing. Joshua 24:14-15 records:
14 “Now
therefore fear the Lord and serve
him in sincerity and in faithfulness. Put away the gods that your fathers
served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. 15 And
if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord,
choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in
the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you
dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”
Now,
the covenant was renewed again through Samuel.
Israel’s relationship with God was restored that day. Through their commitment and action, they
then honored and glorified the LORD, the only God that deserved to receive such
honor and glory.
The gathering at Mizpah was the next
process in the relationship restoration.
Mizpah was an important place where Israel had also gathered when they
had to deal with the evil deed of the people of Gibeah of Benjamin as recorded
in Judges 20:1. A very important event
was to follow after this purification process.
It is said in verse 6 that Israel poured water before the LORD and
fasted and repented. A very fitting response. And then Samuel was said to judge
Israel. John Woodhouse explained the
meaning of the word judge or שָׁפַט in Hebrew:
While
Samuel’s “judging” the people may well include what follows, it is right to see
this sentence as a summary of what he had done up to this point. He had called
Israel back to the Lord and prayed for them.
This is not what the word “judged” usually means in English, but the
Hebrew word is used in the Old Testament for precisely this. Samuel set things right in Israel by his
words to the people from God and by his words to God for the people.[2]
The
word judge here thus means setting things right for the people before God. And Samuel and all other servants of God in
the Scripture did the “judging” by way of speaking the word of truth. Much of what I am doing right now.
Now, the Philistines heard that all
Israel were gathered at Mizpah, so they intended to destroy Israel once and for
all. It was only convenient for them to
find all Israel gathered at Mizpah.
Interestingly, when Israel heard that the Philistines had assembled their
army to destroy them, they were afraid.
This is interesting because 1 Samuel 4 recorded a different tone of the
war between Israel and the Philistines.
In ch. 4 it was the Philistines that were trembling with fear because
they thought God was with the Israelites.
Hophni and Phinehas had brought the ark of the Lord into the battlefield
and the army of Israel felt very secure with its presence. But now, the ark of the Lord had been safely
returned to Israel, yet Israel did not feel secure at all. They were trembling with fear. In their fear they asked Samuel to cry out to
the LORD. In ch. 4 Israel did not cry
out to the LORD, they treated the ark of the LORD as if it was a talisman
containing magical superpower. Israel in
ch. 4 did not need God.
Samuel then interceded for Israel by
making a sacrifice of lamb. That’s a sacrifice
of atonement for Israel. Samuel obeyed
the Law of Moses faithfully. In
contrast, Hophni and Phinehas treated the sacrifice to the LORD with contempt. So, the Lord answered Samuel’s plea in v.
9. All was done as God had commanded,
with wholehearted devotion, and God of love and mercy answered. In ch. 4, even though they had the ark in
their midst, the Lord was not there with them.
For they had violated the Lord’s law.
V. 10 records that God thundered against the Philistines and threw them
into confusion. This even finds its
reference in Hannah’s prayer, particularly in 1 Samuel 2:10a:
“The
adversaries of the LORD shall be broken to pieces; against them he will thunder
in heaven.”
The
Lord indeed broke the Philistines to pieces.
Israel was victorious against the Philistines that day.
Afterwards, Samuel set up a stone
and called it Ebenezer, which means “stone of help.” For truly the LORD helped Israel in their
desperation. This too was in stark
contrast with what happened in ch. 4, where Israel encamped in Ebenezer as they
went into battle with the Philistines.
But the name of the place where they encamped betrayed them. For the Lord did not help them that day. The Lord judged them for their sins. But in our passage we see how God helped Israel. Israel should learn that day that it was not
the ark of the Lord that had the magical superpower, and surely not the name of
the place that brought them victory. But
the LORD Himself, the Lord alone, who helped them, who gave them victory, who
had the true power.
During the rule of Samuel, Israel
was safe from the Philistines. Samuel
judged Israel faithfully. He was never
tired in speaking the word of God to Israel so they would live properly before
the Lord. Samuel was that good and
faithful leader of Israel, unlike Eli and his sons. Samuel was a type of Christ, a shepherd King
for God’s people.
In the same way, and much more, we
now have the shepherd King Himself taking care of us. Christ has done all the requirements of the
law in perfection. So we are set right
before the LORD by Jesus Christ our High Priest. He Himself sacrificed his own flesh and blood
to atone us. Now He sits on the throne,
judging us through His words. This story
of Samuel and Israel is also our story.
As the people of Israel listened to Samuel, we too must listen to God’s
word. As the people of Israel
wholeheartedly committed and acted accordingly to the call of repentance, we
too must commit and act accordingly to the word of God. We are to get rid of our attachment to
wealth, power, and pleasure – the gods of this age. Serve God only!
No, I do not say to you that now you
must abandon your business, your career, all your possession, or that you now can’t
enjoy anything, or that you may not have any power. That is not what God is commanding all of
us. In 1 Timothy 6:10 Paul said:
10 For
the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving
that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many
pangs.
No,
it is not the money that is the root of evil, it is the “love of money” that is
the root of evil. You know it in your
heart that when something or someone is more important than God in your life,
then you have fallen into the sin that Israel committed from time to time. If you love other things more than God, then
you know that those other things have become your gods. I am not saying that you must prioritize
serving in the church over taking care of your family. That too is a form of idolatry. Serving in the church does not necessarily
mean serving God. For the Pharisees were
rebuked by Jesus in Mark 7:
8 You leave
the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men.”
9 And he said
to them, “You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to
establish your tradition! 10 For
Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, ‘Whoever reviles father
or mother must surely die.’ 11 But
you say, ‘If a man tells his father or his mother, “Whatever you would have
gained from me is Corban” ’ (that is, given to God)— 12 then you no longer permit him to do anything for
his father or mother, 13 thus
making void the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And
many such things you do.”
I
am not teaching you to abandon your family for the sake of serving in the
church for that would be irresponsible.
Nevertheless, our devotion is to the Lord only. Not to anything else. Ask God to search your heart, what it is that
you are clinging to. And remove your
unholy, unwarranted desire.
The shepherd King Jesus has done His
part in perfect obedience and faithfulness to the Father for our sake. Now it is our part to respond properly to Him
for we have received His salvation. It
would be utterly absurd to accept His salvation and then treat Him with
contempt by flirting with other gods.
Remember that bringing the ark of the Lord into the battlefield does not
mean God is present, in the same way wearing all the church and religious
attributes does not mean that God is with us.
Do not treat such things as if they were talisman. What matters is the position of your heart
toward God. The Shepherd King has
provided us with whatever we need to thrive in His Kingdom. All He asks of all of us is to live properly
as the children of God. Today is the
time for the reformation of our hearts.
Amen.
[1]
R.C. Sproul, Following Christ (Wheaton, IL:
Tyndale House Publishers, 1996).
[2]
John Woodhouse, 1 Samuel: Looking for a Leader,
Preaching the Word (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2008), 130.
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