When Samuel’s sons, Joel and Abijah, did not follow in his footsteps, the elders of Israel met with Samuel to explain the situation. This makes me think about the responsibility of leaders within the church (such as elders). They should recognize things that are going on in the church that should not be occurring. They have to identify the issue, pray about it and take action based on the LORD’s wisdom. While I am not an elder, I do lead a REALife group at my church. That means that I am not just leading a small group, I am a leader in Jesus Christ’s church. I have a responsibility to bring forward any issues to one of the pastor’s or elders. I have a responsibility to address issues and concerns based on prayer and the Word of God. Am I doing a good job of this? Am I bringing the things that I see as potential issues to the LORD for wisdom on next steps?
The people wanted a king. God tells Samuel everything that this king will do, which Samuel conveys to the people. They do not believe Samuel and tell him that they still want a king. What in the world? Clearly, Samuel was a man who was walking with God; however, the people didn’t listen to what he told them. They wanted to be like the other nations – they wanted to have a king. LORD, help me listen to you clearly. Help me understand what you are telling me with clarity. I don’t want to be like Israel of this time. I want to be like Samuel – following your every word.
Samuel has gained power and influence over Israel. This was obviously a God thing. He had raised Samuel from Hannah’s womb and had already planned all of these days. Israel was finally repenting and worshiping the LORD. Samuel was now the leader and the judge of the Israelites. Finally, the Israelites were returning to the LORD. When Samuel told them to remove their false idols, they did so without hesitation. When Samuel instructed them to assemble at Mizpah, they did so without hesitation. Do people follow our leaders of today without hesitation? As I lead a small group, would the individuals in my group follow my instruction? Clearly, Samuel was a prophet delivered from God. However, leaders are “called” by God to do a great work. If these leaders are inspiring people to achieve their potential and to listen to what God is instructing them to do, how create would our impact be to the community (and the world) around us? I need to make sure that I am listening to the LORD, following His leadership and being a leader for others so that they can have an impact on the world for the glory of God.
It is impressive to me that 1 Samuel 7:13b calls out: “Throughout Samuel’s lifetime, the hand of the LORD was against the Philistines.” Will I have a similar impact in my life? Will my dedication to the LORD be such that He will protect me, my family, my church, etc. in a similar fashion? It’s not about me in this regard but it is about my dedication to the LORD. Samuel was fired up for God. He wanted everyone to follow the laws given to them by the LORD. Am I that fired up? Am I willing to get that fired up? What are the priorities in my life?
The Philistine priests and diviners knew that they had to make offerings to the god of Israel if they wanted the affliction removed. What strikes me is the fact that the priests must have seen similar miracles before but where? Why didn’t they freak out at this and tell the rulers that they should worship the god of Israel? Did they think it was magic? No — it couldn’t be that. They commented on that it was from the god of Israel. Had they seen miracles from their own gods perhaps? This confuses me.
God killed the people that looked into the ark. A footnote in the NIV comments that a few Hebrew manuscripts say 70 were killed but most Hebrew manuscripts (Septuagint included) say 50,070. This is a huge difference.
and the people mourned because the LORD had struck the people with a great slaughter. (1 Samuel 6:19 NASB)
I would say that 50,070 is a great slaughter — not 70. I wonder why NIV left 70 in the text? Again, confusing.
Interesting that the Israelites in Beth Shemesh didn’t want to keep this precious item — the ark. Once people died from looking inside, they sent it to Kiriath Jearim. Why? To get away from them but not back to Shiloh? Why?
Did I mention that this chapter confused me greatly? Without any resources at my disposal (commentaries, concordance, etc.), I really struggled to put some of the pieces together. Oh well.. in time God will reveal to me what He wants me to know. I prefer to stay away from additional resources during quiet time learning, anyhow.
The Philistines had to be blind to see that the God of Israel was the true God. In 1 Samuel 5:3-4, their god, Dagon, was found one morning fallen on his face. They put him back up yet the next morning he had fallen again, this time his hands and his head had broken off. The Philistines didn’t see this and begin to worship the LORD Almighty. Instead, they wanted the ark of God to leave their city. God afflicted the Philistines with tumors and brought devastation upon them, says 1 Samuel 5:6. It is interesting to me that they didn’t fall down on their knees and begin to worship the one true LORD. Instead, all of they could think about was getting the ark to another Philistine city. As the ark went from Ashdod to Gath and from Gath to Ekron, the Philistines were afflicted by the LORD. Still they did not respond in worship — they only wanted to return the ark to the Israelites. The Philistines must have had a shroud over their eyes — they could not see the miracles in front of them. They felt that the Israelite god must be the god of Israel but that he wasn’t their god. That strikes me as intriguing. Why? Why would they think that? As I recall, the religious beliefs of the Philistines was such that there were many gods. I am just thankful that I follow and worship the one true God of all creation.
Application: God loved Israel even though they had fallen far from Him. Even when the Philistines had captured the ark, God still loved the Israelites. He afflicted the Philistines so that they would see that He is the one true God. Do I spend my time every day loving the one true God? Do I fear not spending time with Him? He is the beginning and the end, the just ruler over everything. I shouldn’t feel an obligation to spend time with Him, I should feel compelled to do so as a friend longs to spend time with another friend. God is my friend and I need to spend more time with Him — worshiping Him and praising Him for who He is and His glory.
After the Israelites lost a battle against the Philistines, the Israelite elders questioned why God was against them. They brought the ark of the covenant with them in order to have God go with them. Now, I can’t be sure but it doesn’t seem like they prayed or asked God for guidance in this situation. Based on the prophecy from 1 Samuel 3:11-14, we know that God is going to cause pain to Israel and bring down Eli and his family. That means to me that Samuel and people that believed Samuel realized something bad was about to happen. However, when the instructions came to take the ark of the covenant into battle, they allowed it to happen. I assume that Eli knew this was happening based on 1 Samuel 4:13 — he was sitting on his chair… watching, because his heart feared for the ark of God.” Why didn’t Eli say something? Why didn’t he try to stop the ark from going? Either he didn’t realize they were taking the ark until it was too late, God had blinded him from what was about to happen or his relationship with God had deteriorated that much. Are my eyes open to what is front of me? Am I listening to the LORD and what He is showing and telling me? Am I just proclaiming to love the LORD when my actions do not backup my spoken sentiments?
When Eli heard that the ark was taken, he fell over in his chair, broke his neck and died. His daughter-in-law (Phinehas’s wife) was having a baby when she heard the news. She fell dead in her childbirth. Her last spoken words strike me: “The glory has departed from Israel, for the ark of God has been captured.” This is repeated twice in two servers. The woman wasn’t a prophet but how true her words were at the time. Israel had fallen far from the LORD. Of course, it wasn’t because the ark was taken that the LORD departed Israel — it was due to their lack of faith and lack of obedience to Him. How unlike Israel am I? Do I have faith in the LORD? Do I abide in all of His teachings? Every day I stumble and fall away from God. Do I repent and ask Him for forgiveness and to change my heart? I need to be willing to pick myself up, ask the LORD for forgiveness and truly repent from my sins. God is always with me. He will never leave me. If my bibles are taken, if my family is taken, if everything I have is taken — God is still with me. How often am I with Him? Wow. This is truly convicting. God does not leave me for even a second of a day. How many seconds in the day am I walking with Him?
I must go to God for direction and assistance. I cannot be proud and think that I can solve problems on my own. My Maker knows the perfect decision. If left to my own devices, I will make the sinful decision more often than not. If I rely on God and trust in His wisdom, my ways will be right.
As a quick aside, I just finished praying back to the LORD what really impacting me in this quiet time and I have to tell you — this was one of the most powerful quiet times and prayers I have ever experienced with the LORD. I am stricken by the conviction of not spending enough time with Him, personally. I have to listen to the LORD and allow my mind to truly hear what he is saying to me. Thank you, Father God, for your blessings.