AN END AND A BEGINNING. 1st Samuel 7. Shiloh is out of the picture in the history of Israel from now on. It probably was destroyed by the Philistine war [4:1-18]. To mourn and complain does not solve the problems of our own making or even those things which come upon us unexpectedly. It is easy to complain about our problems, even to God, while we refuse to act, change, and do what he requires. Complaints without corrective action from now on will do nothing. Returning to the Lord is the first thing that must be done when we know problems must be faced. We should no longer allow anything to dictate what we do with our lives. Unless the Lord is first, whatever has that place is your idol. Money, material goods, success, pride, and pleasure - anything that takes the place of God can never be a rival when one returns to the Lord. God must be Lord of all, or He is not Lord at all.
Israel had been subservient to the Philistines for twenty years and had come to the place where they were mourning and finally seeking the Lord. Samuel's prophetic ministry was to bring the word of God to His people, but teaching that was not wanted was not accepted any more than it is today. The kind of teaching Samuel gave was first to reach the conscience of the people and then the hearts after that. Apparently, he waited twenty years in comparative obscurity until the people of Israel "lamented after the Lord." They were mourning because of their situation under Philistine domination, but finally, they began to seek the Lord Himself. It is not easy for a servant of God to wait patiently for God to do in the hearts of the people what he cannot do.
For twenty years, God was doing two things. He prepared Samuel for the needed faithful, fearless, and effective ministry. He was bringing self-willed, sinful people to the place where their idols were no longer important to them and the Lord was the occupation of their hearts. He waited until they were willing to “return to the Lord with all their hearts.” Any barriers between us and God have to be removed before we can experience God's blessing, power, and deliverance from the domination of our sinful flesh. No other claim can be allowed in our lives and hearts if we seek the Lord.
To return to the Lord with sincerity and confession of guilt and waywardness is one thing. To have prepared hearts for what is ahead of us is quite a different matter. Service for God does not happen automatically when we return to the place of fellowship. Service for God takes the time to consider whether we are willing to pay the price of complete commitment to the Lord. Preparing our hearts to serve the Lord will mean that any hindrances will have to go, and the needed effort, time, and use of talent and gifts will be ready to be used at any time.
The gathering of the Israelites to express their repentance and return to the Lord and their covenant with Him must have made the Philistines think they had come to battle with them. It is not unusual for the high ground of repentance and returning to fellowship with God is a challenge to the enemy of souls. Satan knows an effort to please God and serve Him with prepared hearts can move the people of God to action in the work of the Gospel. The devil opposes us when we are at our highest condition of soul.
Baal, the so-called god of thunder and rain, was the chief god of the Philistines. They believed that in that way, their god gave growth to the plants and success to agriculture. Ashtoreth was their god of love and war. People took advantage of that false belief to have sexual union with others besides their spouses. Worldliness today has claimed much of the influence and power of the church. There is no real clear difference between those claiming to be Christians and those not. The only way back to spiritual power is repentance of sin and a return to living active faith by true believers in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Mizpah means "watchtower," Israel had some occasions that took place there that made it a place of significance to them. God appointed Samuel to lead His people, and it was to Mizpah that he called Israel to come for prayer. Mourning for sin, penitence, and repentance mark the beginning of revival among the people of God. At Mizpah, he anointed Saul as leader and identified him as king [10:17]. Pouring water out before the Lord was a sign of repentance, turning from sin, turning from idols, and determining to obey God alone. Confession and repentance go together when people come in faith before God. Sometimes, it can help us remember crucial things from the past to help us through the present.
Samuel filled many different roles in his lifetime. He was a judge. a priest, prophet, counselor, and God's man to communicate with God's people because he was God's servant. "Thy servant heareth." He was both a religious leader and a political leader. He was God's spokesman. He administered justice as one of the greatest judges in Israel. He was dedicated to God and took that responsibility seriously. He obeyed God as a faithful steward of his calling. God had used His servant, Samuel, the last of the judges, to be His answer to the prayer of the Israelis. He was chosen to act for God as the one to give direction and rule to the nation. He had all the characteristics of the judges before him and was used by God to bring in the time of the kings.
Israel had shouted with overconfidence twenty years earlier, but now, twenty years later, they had learned that dependence on God is the only way to victory. In their weakness and contrition, they were "like water spilled on the ground." The water on the ground and water from the eyes of the people of God drove them to seek the Lord. The restoration to fellowship with God comes when self-confidence is rejected, and faith in God is real. We then turn our eyes to God rather than looking at the enemy's power.
The privilege of having access to God on behalf of others as an intercessor brings a special responsibility to make their cause and needs our own. As a judge, Samuel could do for the Israelites what Saul could not do as their king. Samuel’s work as the judge for twenty years has no recorded dramatic events, but slowly and surely, he led the people back to the Lord and away from idolatry. He maintained an altar unto the Lord at his own house, recognizing his need to have ongoing communication with God.
Samuel spoke the word of the Lord to Israel; he prayed for them and judged them at Mizpeh. He offered a young lamb to the Lord on behalf of the people, and he cried unto the Lord as their intercessor. He erected the “Stone of Help” as a place of recollection for those in time to come of the mighty power of God winning the battle for His people with the power of His thunder. He was their judge who made an annual circuit in his effort to serve the people of God.
A new lamb in its weakness, sacrificed in its innocence to God, opened the doors to heaven to meet the weakness of God's people. God will glorify His Son, and we are accepted through Him alone. On behalf of the people, Samuel cried unto the Lord for deliverance from the enemy who had gathered to fight them. Samuel was not before them as a general leading an army, but in the middle of them all, offering a sacrifice to God as a father would for his family. The thunder god, Baal, whom the Philistines believed in, was exposed as only the figment of human imagination. The response to Samuel's intercession was the thunder of God's power. The thunder of God's power was obviously real, and the Lord Himself won the battle, and the victory was Israel's. Our Lord Jesus Christ won the battle against sin and the power of darkness; the blessings are ours.
On several occasions in the history of Israel, memorials were raised as reminders of God acting for His people in miraculous ways. In Mizpah, the stone of remembrance called "Ebenezer" was raised in the place of their defeat twenty years before and the victory God gave them. God is the God of recovery and can restore failing people to become profitable to Him. Samuel didn't take any glory for himself but stood the rock up as a memorial to the glory of God. This rock would remind those who followed in the generations to come of the power of God when He acts for the benefit of His people.
These first seven chapters of First Samuel are about God's dealing with Israel through Eli and Samuel. Samuel was beginning to rise up in his service for God, and Eli's ending. Samuel's service circuit in Bethel, Gilgal, Mizpah, and Ramah illustrates four service areas in our lives as servants of the Lord. The names of each of those places give us insight into what God does through us when we are faithful to Him in our service to Him. We are accountable to God and His people, and the safety of God's house keeps us from going away from His revealed word. The approval of the Lord's people and the Lord is still essential to our service to God today.
Bethel, the house of God, is the "pillar and ground of the truth," where we serve Him in our assembly life. Our communion with God and the reality of our worship greatly depend on our personal fellowship with God and our fellow believers in Christ. Gilgal was the first place the children of Israel stopped when they entered the promised land. The first thing they did there was circumcision, which means cutting off the flesh. Cutting off the “lust of the flesh” is essential in Christian service. Mizpah was the place where Israel finally proved itself faithful to the Lord. Samuel was also approved at Mizpah, both by the Lord and His people. Ramah reminds us that what we preach and teach elsewhere must be practiced where we live.
The beginning of the Lord's dealings in the Eli and Samuel story in chapters 1-7. starts with Hannah’s request, which is answered by Samuel himself, being the gift for which she prayed. Then, it moves to his birth, which is given in answer to prayer and Hannah’s prophetic prayer. His call happened in the same place Eli’s wicked sons were living. It was also the place where a grave warning was given to Eli by an unknown prophet. Then, the Lord revealed Himself to Samuel. From the time of his call, Samuel's ministry was during the time of the ark's capture and Eli's death and the seven months the ark was among the Philistines and the ark's return. Then, for twenty years, Samuel waited patiently until Israel was finally humbled and turned in repentance to the Lord. Through Samuel's intercession, God brought victory in response to the people's repentance and earnest prayers.
The Israelites came from all over; it was good to see the ones God had planned to be His family come in repentance after putting false gods away. They all needed to come to the watch tower of Mizpah that day. They fasted and prayed; that’s how it should be when sin’s effect has stumbled others and me. Some things must be faced and ejected from life if there is ever to be light shining again and guiding God’s people.
Mizpah revealed the big picture, seen through review, and all the wrongs that had been hindering God’s people from being and doing what God truly wanted. He was willing to help them after they truly repented. Things turned around, and it didn’t take long before God did what was needed for His people after they faced what was wrong, admitted their guilt, repented, forsook it, and turned to the Lord. He accepted tE was GodHe wasHeheir offering as an atonement for their sin. “Ebenezer” reminds us that the Lord is not far away from every one of us. He sees and knows all we do and what we say. He draws near to us in our need, helps the helpless ones like us, and brings the victory that we need so greatly. “Lord, if ever there was a time we need help, it is now. Before this testimony is put on the shelf, give us a reviving of ourselves and then an urgent commitment to those who are lost. Hear us, O God, give us a holy surprise!”