Previously in 1 Samuel, we saw how the Lord dealt with the Philistines who had captured the ark of God and placed it in the temple of Dagon their god. Twice in the morning, the Philistines went into their temple to find Dagon face down on the ground, and the second time his head and hands were cut off. The Lord then struck the Philistines with what appears to have been the bubonic plague, and many of them died in Ashdod, Gath, and in Ekron. As a result, they called a meeting of the priests and diviners who recommended they make a trespass offering to the Lord, and send it on a cart back to Israel. They took two milk cows, shut up their calves at home, and tied them to the cart, and stated that if the cows went back home to their calves, the whole thing happened to them by chance. However, if the cows went back to Israel, it was the Lord, and the latter is precisely what happened. The Lord made a very clear demonstration that He was superior to the Philistine god. The ark came into Beth Shemesh, and the men of Beth Shemesh looked into the ark. As a result, the Lord struck many of them dead as well. There was a prescribed way the ark was to be handled, and they did not follow that prescribed way. There is only one way to enter into the presence of a holy God, and that is with blood of a sacrifice. For them in the Old Testament it was the blood of animals, but for New Testament believers it is the blood of the Lamb of God, whose blood, when applied to our hearts by faith, permanently washes away our sins.
As we left off last time, the ark was taken to Kirjath Jearim, and would remain there twenty years. As we pick up in chapter 7, the children of Israel lamented after the Lord. They had the ark back, but they were not right with the Lord. They were still defeated and under Philistine control. It was here that Samuel enters the picture again. We don’t know where Samuel was during this time, except that we know he was giving the word of the Lord to the people. Now he told them that if they really wanted to return to the Lord with their whole heart, to put away the foreign gods (Baals) and the Ashtoreth’s from among them. Baal was thought to be the god of weather, and was said to be the son of Dagon. Thus, he was associated with good crops and financial success. Ashtoreth was thought to be the goddess of fertility, and therefore was connected with love and sex. So, these gods represented those things that are most important to man when he is thinking only in the natural. Samuel told them to prepare their hearts for the Lord and serve Him only, and He would deliver them from the hand of the Philistines. Before the ark was taken, the people were proud, carnal, and self-sufficient, and they likely would not have listened to this call to repentance from Samuel. However, the events that had transpired over the last several months had produced in them humility and a desire to seek the Lord. This discipline or judgment had little effect on the Philistines, but on the Children of Israel, it appears to have had some lasting fruit. So, the children of Israel got rid of the Baals and the Ashtoreth’s, and served the Lord only. God’s people were idolatrous, and He wanted to get rid of those idols out of their lives. This was a severe but necessary discipline to get them back on track, and it worked. This is why the author of Hebrews writes, “If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten? But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons.” (HEB 12:7-8) The fact that the Lord disciplined them is the proof they are His children. The author of Hebrews goes on to say, “Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.” (12:11) This discipline produced the peaceable fruits of righteousness in them, the fruit of repentance from sin. The Lord will do the same to us from time to time, and we can choose to despise it or to submit to it, trusting that He will produce those same fruits of righteousness in us. The Psalmist wrote, “Before I was afflicted I went astray, But now I keep Your word.” (PSA 119:67)
Samuel told them to gather all Israel to Mizpah, and he would pray to the Lord for them. Mizpah is known in the Scriptures as a place of separation and repentance (Genesis 31:49 and Judges 20:1) So, the whole nation gathered at Mizpah. This devastating defeat by the Philistines had such a profound effect on the children of Israel that it stirred the hearts of the entire nation. They poured out water before the Lord, a symbolic gesture of pouring out one’s soul before the Lord, and they fasted, stating that they had sinned against the Lord. So, God’s people had humbled themselves, they were seeking His face and praying, and they were turning from their sins. This was a genuine revival, folks! Throughout history, national tragedy has often proceeded a revival, for it has been the catalyst that has spurred men and women to prayer and repentance. It says that Samuel judged them at Mizpah, he taught and instructed them in the ways of the Lord.
When the Philistines heard that all Israel was gathered together at Mizpah, they went up to go to battle with them. The devil does not like it when God’s people begin to get serious in their relationships with the Lord, and he will often try to send trouble our way, sometimes through other people. When the children of Israel heard of it, they were afraid, and they told Samuel to not cease crying out to the Lord their God for them, that He would save them. Interesting, for before, they were confident and unconcerned for their sin, but now they were more keenly aware of it and that they needed the Lord’s help. They said, “The Lord our God,” meaning their relationship with Him is now personal. So, Samuel took a suckling lamb and offered it as a burnt offering before the Lord. The burnt offering was a sacrifice of general atonement, an acknowledgement of sin and a request for a renewed relationship with God. Israel had repented and was seeking to be right with God, so this was an appropriate thing for Samuel to do. Samuel cried out to the Lord, and the Lord answered him. As the Philistines were drawing near to the battle, the Lord thundered with a loud thunder upon them. They were so confused that they were overcome by Israel. Israel pursued them and drove them back below Beth car. Then the Philistines were subdued, and they did not invade Israel’s territory for a long time. God’s hand was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel.
After this defeat of the Philistines, Samuel set up a stone between Mizpah and Shen, and called it Ebenezer, a stone of help. Samuel wanted them to remember this day, how that the Lord had helped them by giving them victory over their enemies as a result of their humility and repentance before Him. Every time any of the Israelites passed by this stone they would be reminded of the Lord’s help on that day. We all have these ebenezers or reminders in our lives of how the Lord has helped us in the past. When my wife and I lived in the Portland area, we were living in a family member’s home that had been foreclosed on, and we had to be out by a certain timeframe. We had a rental lined up that was nearby that fell through at the last minute, so we had nowhere to go when my wife was nine months pregnant. We had been looking all over the place for somewhere to rent, and there was nothing available. We spent a sleepless night praying and seeking the Lord, and the next day before I left for work, I told my wife to go bac and check a particular apartment complex to see if anything had opened up over the weekend. As it turned out, something had opened up, and it was a reduced rate because of a Memorial Day special. We ended up living there over four years until we left the Portland area. God provided for us, and it has since been a reminder that He will continue to do so.
Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life. He went on a circuit every year to Bethel, Gilgal, and Mizpah, where he would judge them. It reminds me of the old circuit rider preachers who traveled around England and America during the first and second great awakenings, preaching the Gospel and teaching the word of God. This enabled them to reach more people, especially those in rural areas who did not have access to a pastor. They would also train and equip others to plant Churches and pastor them in these areas. This was a difficult job, and it took a lot of hard work and dedication. If Samuel was in it for himself, he probably would not have done this. He did it because he cared for the people and wanted them to be right with God. However, he always returned to Ramah, for his home was there. Interesting, he went back to his own hometown where his parents lived. Hannah thought she was giving him up forever, but the Lord graciously allowed him to go back, probably after the tabernacle at Shiloh was destroyed. He also judged Israel there, and built an altar to the Lord.
As I have been writing this post, my mind keeps coming back to our own nation. The Lord could destroy us as a nation (and we have done a lot to deserve it), but it seems more likely that He may allow us to be humbled. We so easily trust in those things that cannot save us, but repentance is what is needed. When the Lord wants to humble us, we will be humbled. It’s easier sometimes to look at repentance on a national level, but I would be amiss if I did not personalize it. We may have the tendency to view repentance as a negative thing, but the truth is that it is a reality of the Christian life. In fact, revival, whether private or corporate, is impossible without it. In the case of the nation of Israel, repentance brought them blessing and victory: blessing, in that it brought them a restored relationship with God, and victory in that the Lord fought their battles for them against the Philistines. Repentance will do the same for us as well. It is a work in our hearts as we respond to the Holy Spirit’s conviction, and this inward work will then produce those peaceable fruits of righteousness that are outward and visible. In what areas are we proud, idolatrous, or just walking in sin? If we really want to return to the Lord with our whole hearts, let us put away the Baals and Ashtoreth’s from our lives. God is the giver of all good things, and He will not withhold those things from us if our hearts are right with Him. Jesus is that suckling lamb who offered Himself for our sins, and as we confess our sins to Him, He is faithful and just to forgive and cleanse us. Then as we submit ourselves to God, we can effectively resist the devil (our arch enemy), and the Scriptures state he will flee from us. In the next chapter, we will see what happens when Samuel is older, and the nation becomes discontent with his leadership and that of his sons.
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