1 Samuel 7:13-14 The Hand of the Lord!

 ”So the Philistines were subdued and they stopped invading Israel’s territory. Throughout Samuel’s lifetime, the hand of the Lord was against the Philistines. The towns from Ekron to Gath that the Philistines had captured from Israel were restored to Israel, and Israel delivered the neighboring territory from the hands of the Philistines. And there was peace between Israel and the Amorites.“

‭‭1 Samuel‬ ‭7‬:‭13‬-‭14‬ ‭NIV‬‬

a. The hand of the LORD was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel…. the cities which the Philistines had taken from Israel were restored to Israel: Samuel was not a military man, but he was just as successful or more successful than Israel’s best generals because the LORD fought for Samuel.

b. Also there was peace between Israel and the Amorites: Samuel was successful not only as a man of war, but also as a man of peace. (Guzik)

The Hand of the Lord!

The hand of the Lord can be for you or against you!

”The Lord’s hand was with them, and a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord.“ ‭‭Acts‬ ‭11‬:‭21‬ ‭NIV‬‬

”Now the hand of the Lord is against you. You are going to be blind for a time, not even able to see the light of the sun.” Immediately mist and darkness came over him, and he groped about, seeking someone to lead him by the hand.“

‭‭Acts‬ ‭13‬:‭11‬ ‭NIV‬‬

It comes down to a simple decision, are you going to accept His mercy and grace or be against Him? There’s no middle ground!

Step 3 of the Life Recovery Bible:

We made a decision to turn our wills and our lives over to the care of God.
“Dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice–the kind he will find acceptable.” – Romans 12:1; see also Matthew 11:28-30; Mark 10:14; James 4:7-10.

Have you turned to the Lord?

Blessings 

1 Samuel 7:10-12 Stone of Help!

 ”While Samuel was sacrificing the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near to engage Israel in battle. But that day the Lord thundered with loud thunder against the Philistines and threw them into such a panic that they were routed before the Israelites. The men of Israel rushed out of Mizpah and pursued the Philistines, slaughtering them along the way to a point below Beth Kar. Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen. He named it Ebenezer, saying, “Thus far the Lord has helped us.”“ ‭‭1 Samuel‬ ‭7‬:‭10‬-‭12‬ ‭NIV‬‬

a. The LORD thundered with a loud thunder: God fought from heaven on behalf of Israel and defeated the Philistines. This was a special work of God because the Israelites heard the same thunder, but only the Philistines became so confused…that they were overcome. God not only sent thunder, He also sent confusion to the Philistines and confidence to Israel.

i. This was the kind of victory Israel hoped for in 1 Samuel 4 when they brought the ark of the covenant into battle. If they had only repented and sought the LORD as they did here, they could have had this kind of victory long ago.

b. Called its name Ebenezer, saying “Thus far the LORD has helped us”: Samuel knew the nation needed to remember this amazing victory, which came to a humble and repentant Israel. The LORD won this battle, not Israel – so he named the stone Ebenezer, meaning “stone of help.”

Stone of Help!

Let’s face it, life throws a lot of punches! But where do we turn when we are down and out for the ten count? Do we turn to the Lord, our Stone of Help or do we seek something to numb the pain? When we humble ourselves before the Lord like the Israelites did in these verses we could also say,

“Thus far the LORD has helped us”!

”But if from there you seek the Lord your God, you will find him if you seek him with all your heart and with all your soul.“ Deuteronomy‬ ‭4‬:‭29‬ ‭NIV‬‬

”God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us.“ ‭‭Acts‬ ‭17‬:‭27‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Seek, find and reach out for him with all your heart ❤️ and with all your soul and He will be your Stone of Help!

Blessings 

1 Samuel 7:8-9 Sacrificed

 ”They said to Samuel, “Do not stop crying out to the Lord our God for us, that he may rescue us from the hand of the Philistines.” Then Samuel took a suckling lamb and sacrificed it as a whole burnt offering to the Lord. He cried out to the Lord on Israel’s behalf, and the Lord answered him.“ 1 Samuel‬ ‭7‬:‭8‬-‭9‬ ‭NIV‬‬

a. Do not cease to cry out to the LORD our God for us: The last time Israel was in this kind of situation they said, “Let’s get the ark of the covenant and take it into battle with us. Then we can’t lose!” Now they are much wiser before the LORD, and instead of trusting in the ark they did the right thing and asked Samuel to cry out to the LORD our God for us.

b. Samuel took a suckling lamb and offered it as a whole burnt offering to the LORD. Then Samuel cried out: Samuel took time for a sacrifice at such a critical point because he knew he could only effectively pray in light of God’s atoning sacrifice.

i. Think of that poor lamb – a suckling lamb – which never hurt anyone or which never sinned itself, yet its throat was slit, its blood poured out, its body cut up, and its carcass burned. Why? Because Samuel and Israel had to say, “This is what we deserve. This is the punishment that should come upon us. We thank you God for accepting the punishment of this innocent lamb instead.” When we trust in the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29), we say the same thing.

c. And the LORD answered him: The battle has not yet been fought and a hostile Philistine army approached. Yet in a real way the battle was over and already won because the LORD answered him.

i. The Bible speaks of Samuel as a mighty man of prayer: Samuel was among those who called upon His name; they called upon the LORD, and He answered them (Psalm 99:6).

Sacrificed

Why did God require a blood sacrifice of animals and of Christ?

I believe it was because of what happened when sin first entered the world.

”The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them.“

‭‭Genesis‬ ‭3‬:‭21‬ ‭NIV‬‬

The first blood sacrifice, Innocent animals were killed, so their skins could provide clothing for Adam and Eve.

”The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!“ ‭‭John‬ ‭1‬:‭29‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Jesus was innocent too, when His blood was shed to take away our sins! 

Have you accepted the Lamb of God and His sacrifice?

Blessings

1 Samuel 7:7 Weakness?

 ”When the Philistines heard that Israel had assembled at Mizpah, the rulers of the Philistines came up to attack them. When the Israelites heard of it, they were afraid because of the Philistines.“ ‭‭1 Samuel‬ ‭7‬:‭7‬ ‭NIV‬‬

a. When the Philistines heard: The Philistines were right to be afraid of a repentant, God-seeking Israel because with God fighting for them Israel was invincible.

i. When the Philistines looked at a humble and repentant Israel they probably saw weakness. They may have said, “Look at those weakling Israelites. They are such wimps, crying out before their God like this.” If the Philistines thought this way, they were dead wrong.

b. When the children of Israel heard of it, they were afraid of the Philistines: The Israelites didn’t have much more spiritual understanding than the Philistines. They should have been more confident in the LORD.

i. Our feelings of confidence can deceive us. In 1 Samuel 4:5, Israel was completely confident against the Philistines, but their confidence was false and they were soon defeated. Here, Israel is fearful and sure of defeat and they have no confidence at all. They seemed to have more faith when they trusted in the ark than when they are humble and repentant before the LORD. But small faith in the true and living God is more powerful than strong faith in a lie.

Weakness?

I once had a friend and in a demeaning tone would say of Christian’s walking into church with their bibles, look at those sheep following each other! He viewed Christianity as a weakness and after I became born again he wouldn’t have anything to do with me. We can only pray for people with this mindset and leave the rest to God. 

”For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.“ 1 Corinthians‬ ‭1‬:‭18‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Sometimes God has to bring us to our knees to a point of weakness and desperation to seek Him with all humility to strip us of pride and stubbornness.

It’s been said, we have to allow Jesus to take the steering wheel instead of just being a passenger.

Do you allow Him to take the steering wheel or only sit in the passenger seat?

Blessings 

1 Samuel 7:5-6 We Have Sinned Against the Lord

 ”Then Samuel said, “Assemble all Israel at Mizpah, and I will intercede with the Lord for you.” When they had assembled at Mizpah, they drew water and poured it out before the Lord. On that day they fasted and there they confessed, “We have sinned against the Lord.” Now Samuel was serving as leader of Israel at Mizpah.“ 1 Samuel‬ ‭7‬:‭5‬-‭6‬ ‭NIV‬‬

a. Gather all Israel to Mizpah: This is where Jacob separated from Laban (Genesis 31:49) and was the gathering place for a repentant Israel in Judges 20:1. This was a place remembered for separation and repentance.

b. I will pray to the LORD for you: Samuel had already called the nation to repentance, and they made a start at it. Samuel knew God’s work in them could only be completed through prayer.

c. So they gathered together at Mizpah: This showed the spiritual need Israel felt at the time. They expressed their repentance both by putting away the bad and by pursuing the good.

i. The experience of conviction of sin proves nothing. It is our response to conviction that demonstrates repentance.

d. Drew water, and poured it out before the LORD: In this context, a ceremonial pouring of water demonstrated the soul poured out before the LORD. It was an expression of emptiness and need.

i. The Chaldean translation of this passage gives this sense well: “They poured out their hearts like water in penance before the Lord.” “They seemed to say in effect, We could wish to shed as many tears for our sins as there are drops of water in this bucket; but because we cannot do this, behold, we do what we can.” (Trapp)

ii. They expressed the same heart as Lamentations 2:19: Arise, cry out in the night, at the beginning of the watches; pour out your heart like water before the face of the Lord.

e. And they fasted that day, and said there, “We have sinned against the LORD.” Israel also expressed their sorrow over their sin by fasting (a message that nothing else really mattered except getting right with God) and by confession (a straightforward claim of guilt and responsibility).

i. 1 John 1:5-10 makes it clear that confession is vital to maintain a relationship with God. As God convicts us of sin or sins that hinder fellowship with Him, we must confess them and receive forgiveness and cleansing for our relationship with God to continue without hindrance.

ii. If it is meant from the heart, it is hard to make a better statement of confession than “We have sinned against the LORD.” This is almost exactly what David said when he was confronted with his sin in 2 Samuel 12:13.

f. And Samuel judged the children of Israel: Samuel was the last judge and he was a judge over Israel as were the leaders in the days of the book of Judges. But his leadership was more spiritual than military. (Guzik)

Some Christians view the Old Testament as irrelevant and boring, but I say it gives us examples on how sinful the prophets were and it points us to Christ. We can’t be sinless but we can repent and try to sin less. The whole point of these verses are repentance, 

“We have sinned against the LORD.”

When we come to the Lord on our knees and admit our sin and ask for forgiveness, it cleanses our relationship with God to continue without hindrance.

And frankly, that’s all He wants.

I partake in our churches prayer sheet emails and many people seem to be dying unexpectedly of cancer. Life is short and we need to make ourselves right with God.

Please don’t wait until tomorrow, it may be too late.

Blessings 

1 Samuel 7:3-4 Inward-Outward

”So Samuel said to all the Israelites, “If you are returning to the Lord with all your hearts, then rid yourselves of the foreign gods and the Ashtoreths and commit yourselves to the Lord and serve him only, and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.” So the Israelites put away their Baals and Ashtoreths, and served the Lord only.“ ‭‭1 Samuel‬ ‭7‬:‭3‬-‭4‬ ‭NIV‬‬

a. Then Samuel spoke to all the house of Israel: God raised up Samuel as a prophet and a judge (1 Samuel 4:1). Yet Samuel was strangely absent from the whole ark of the covenant fiasco. 1 Samuel 4:1 is the last place Samuel was mentioned, right before Israel schemed to use the ark as a good luck charm in battle.

b. If you return to the LORD with all your hearts, then put away the foreign gods: Samuel called the nation to repentance. The repentance had to be inward (with all your hearts) and outward (put away the foreign gods).

i. The inward was more important than the outward, and it had to come first. That is why Samuel firstcalled Israel to return to the LORD with all your hearts, then told them to put away the foreign gods.

ii. However, inward repentance is a secret thing. It is hidden. No one can really “see” the heart of another. Yet the inward was proved by the outward. We can know if Israel did return to the LORD with all your hearts by seeing if they really did put away the foreign gods. No one could see their heart, but they could see if they put away the foreign gods.

c. And serve Him only: Israel did not feel they rejected the LORD; they felt they only added the worship of other gods to their worship of the LORD. Samuel called on Israel to turn their backs on these other gods and serve Him only.

i. “A worse enemy than the Philistines held sway over the land…. the people were thus in double bondage; the heavy yoke of the Philistines was upon them, because the heavier burden of a false worship crushed out the life of their hearts.” (Spurgeon)

d. So the children of Israel put away the Baals and the Ashtoreths, and served the LORD only: The local gods of Baal and Ashtoreth were popular idols among the people of Israel. Baal was attractive because he was thought to be the god of weather, bringing good crops and financial success. Ashtoreth was attractive because she was thought to be the goddess of fertility, thus connected to love and sex.

i. “Ashtoreth was worshipped over a wide area as the goddess of fertility, love and war, and plaques of naked female figures from the Bronze and Iron Ages in Palestine are numerous. The Baals were the corresponding male deities.” (Baldwin)

ii. “Baal, god of fertility and the storm, was believed to be the son of Dagon, god of grain. Ashtoreth, goddess of love and fertility, vied for supremacy with Asherah, mother-goddess and consort of El…. The association of Baal, Asherah, and Ashtoreth with fertility, particularly as expressed in depraved sexual ritual at Canaanite shrines, made them especially abominable in the Lord’s eyes.” (Youngblood)

(Guzik)

Inward-Outward

How do people really know you are a Christian? Because if you are truly born again Jesus slowly changes your heart ❤️, your inward self, and when that happens your outward self changes and people see that. You become a living example of Jesus.

Spurgeon says it plainly, “because the heavier burden of a false worship crushed out the life of their hearts.”

We need to examine ourselves daily for idols of false worship so we can stay centered on Jesus, because It’s far too easy to crush the life out of our hearts!

Is there anything you are more passionate about than Jesus? 

Blessings