Samuel's Farewell
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
Over the past several weeks we have been studying the book of 1 Samuel. Today we come to chapter 12.
This chapter begins the second of two parallel passages. Chapters 12-15 parallel the structure that we found in chapters 8-11. Both sections include:
The warnings about requesting a King—8 & 12.
A description of Saul’s exploits—9-10 & 13-14.
Saul leads Israel into battle—11 & 15.
So Samuel’s farewell speech recaps his warning about them wanting a king.
If you have your Bibles, I want to encourage you to turn with me to 1 Samuel chapter 12, and we’ll begin reading with verse 1.
Samuel’s Farewell
Samuel’s Farewell
Samuel said to all Israel, “I have listened to everything you said to me and have set a king over you. Now you have a king as your leader. As for me, I am old and gray, and my sons are here with you. I have been your leader from my youth until this day.
Passing the Baton
Passing the Baton
I have listened to you.
I have given you what you wanted—a king.
I have given you a king—Saul!
As for me—I’m old and gray.
I have been a judge over you from my youth until now.
Even though his sons could have followed as judges—he is handing over all the responsibilities of judging the people to king Saul.
Finishing well!
Finishing well!
Here I stand. Testify against me in the presence of the Lord and his anointed. Whose ox have I taken? Whose donkey have I taken? Whom have I cheated? Whom have I oppressed? From whose hand have I accepted a bribe to make me shut my eyes? If I have done any of these, I will make it right.”
Samuel is standing before the people and before God.
They are to judge and see if his judgment of the people was right and pure.
—Cheated them out of oxen?
—Cheated them out of donkeys?
—Wrongly oppressed them?
—Accepted a bribe?
—Shut his eyes to evil?
Name which of these evils he had done and he will make it right.
The people’s response
The people’s response
“You have not cheated or oppressed us,” they replied. “You have not taken anything from anyone’s hand.”
The people’s reaction is that Samuel had NOT wronged the people in any way!
Never cheated them!
Never oppressed them!
Never taken anything from anyone!
So Samuel reinforces his innocence before them.
Samuel said to them, “The Lord is witness against you, and also his anointed is witness this day, that you have not found anything in my hand.” “He is witness,” they said.
Then the Lord the witness between Samuel and the people and between Samuel and the new king.
Samuel is free of wrongdoing!
And the people agree!
A Quick History Review
A Quick History Review
Then Samuel said to the people, “It is the Lord who appointed Moses and Aaron and brought your forefathers up out of Egypt.
Yahweh appointed Moses and Aaron over their forefathers.
Yahweh brought your forefathers out of Egypt.
Samuel wants the people to understand that they have ALWAYS had a king. Their King was Yahweh! Look at verse 7.
Now then, stand here, because I am going to confront you with evidence before the Lord as to all the righteous acts performed by the Lord for you and your fathers.
Samuel is going to present evidence of all the righteous acts preformed by Yahweh for them and for their forefathers.
Samuel is going to remind them of Israel’s problems in Egypt and their dramatic escape.
“After Jacob entered Egypt, they cried to the Lord for help, and the Lord sent Moses and Aaron, who brought your forefathers out of Egypt and settled them in this place.
When they lived in Egypt things began to get bad.
So Israel cried out to Yahweh for help.
Yahweh sent Moses and Aaron.
These men led them out of Egypt and got them settled into the promised land.
The tragedy struck!
“But they forgot the Lord their God; so he sold them into the hand of Sisera, the commander of the army of Hazor, and into the hands of the Philistines and the king of Moab, who fought against them.
Israel forgot Yahweh their God (and their leader).
So Yahweh allowed Sisera to conquer them.
And Yahweh allowed the Philistines to conquer them.
And Yahweh also allowed the king of Moab to conquer them.
The people response to this oppression:
They cried out to the Lord and said, ‘We have sinned; we have forsaken the Lord and served the Baals and the Ashtoreths. But now deliver us from the hands of our enemies, and we will serve you.’
Again Israel cried out to the Lord:
They admitted their sin of idolatry.
—They had served the Baals.
—They had served the Ashtoreths.
They asked God to deliver them from the hands of their enemies.
And they promised to serve Yahweh!
Then the Lord sent Jerub-Baal, Barak, Jephthah and Samuel, and he delivered you from the hands of your enemies on every side, so that you lived securely.
God sent Judges to deliver them! Then we are given a short list of judges.
—Jerub-Baal (or Gideon) cf. Judges 6.
—Barak, cf. Judges 4.
—Jephthah cf. Judges 11.
—And Samuel.
God worked through these men to deliver the people from the hands of their enemies.
And God used these men to help the people live securely.
Yahweh was their King!
But the people couldn’t see this at all.
“But when you saw that Nahash king of the Ammonites was moving against you, you said to me, ‘No, we want a king to rule over us’—even though the Lord your God was your king.
Despite all the great and mighty victories that God had given them. . .
When Nahash—the terrible Ammonite—moved against the people they couldn’t trust Yahweh.
So they cried to Samuel, “No, we want a king to rule over us!”
This despite the fact that they had a King—Yahweh their God was their King!
So God (and Samuel) gave them their request!
Now here is the king you have chosen, the one you asked for; see, the Lord has set a king over you.
So here is your king!
The king you have chosen.
The king you asked for!
And the king Yahweh set over you.
Now the warning!
If you fear the Lord and serve and obey him and do not rebel against his commands, and if both you and the king who reigns over you follow the Lord your God—good! But if you do not obey the Lord, and if you rebel against his commands, his hand will be against you, as it was against your fathers.
There are some conditions to Israel’s continued strength and success. The conditions all begin with the word if (in some translations the “if” is implied).
THE POSITIVE “IF’s”
If you fear Yahweh
If you serve Yahweh
If you obey Yahweh
If you do not rebel against Yahweh’s commands
If both you and your king follow Yahweh your God—it will be good with you!
THE NEGATIVE “IF’s”
If you don’t obey Yahweh
If you rebel against His commands
Yahweh’s hand will be against you just like it was against your forefathers.
Samuel’s Proof
Samuel’s Proof
“Now then, stand still and see this great thing the Lord is about to do before your eyes!
Now stand still—or take your stand, or wait and see.
See the demonstration of Yahweh’s power that will happen before your eyes!
Is it not wheat harvest now? I will call upon the Lord to send thunder and rain. And you will realize what an evil thing you did in the eyes of the Lord when you asked for a king.”
It is the time of the wheat harvest. So it is early summer.
Samuel says he will call upon Yahweh to send thunder and rain. Now the idea of thunder and rain in early summer was unheard of. It NEVER happened during this time of year!
Then they will realize how evil their request for a king really was. So this supernatural demonstration of God’s power would prove the evil that Samuel accused them of doing.
God’s Miracle
God’s Miracle
Then Samuel called upon the Lord, and that same day the Lord sent thunder and rain. So all the people stood in awe of the Lord and of Samuel.
Samuel called upon Yahweh.
The same day Yahweh sent thunder and rain!
So the people freaked out—okay “stood in awe of the Lord and of Samuel.
The reality is that the people were afraid!
The People’s Response
The People’s Response
The people all said to Samuel, “Pray to the Lord your God for your servants so that we will not die, for we have added to all our other sins the evil of asking for a king.”
The people cry out to Samuel, and ask him to pray for them.
Pray to Yahweh your God. This begs the question is Yahweh their God? Really they are appealing to Samuel’s intimate connection with God.
They realize that their request for a king was worthy of death.
They also realize that asking for a king was yet another sin to add to their long list of evil against Yahweh!
Samuel’s Reassurance
Samuel’s Reassurance
“Do not be afraid,” Samuel replied. “You have done all this evil; yet do not turn away from the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart. Do not turn away after useless idols. They can do you no good, nor can they rescue you, because they are useless. For the sake of his great name the Lord will not reject his people, because the Lord was pleased to make you his own.
Don’t be afraid.
Yes, Yahweh sees your acts as evil.
But don’t turn away from Yahweh.
Instead determine to serve Yahweh will all your heart—the totality of your being!
DO NOT chase after useless idols because they can do NOTHING for you! They cannot rescue you!
The reason Yahweh will not reject you, has nothing to do with you—it is for His great Name!
And because Yahweh was pleased to make you His own!
As for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by failing to pray for you. And I will teach you the way that is good and right.
Samuel will pray for them!
Because it would be sinful for Samuel not to pray for them.
Samuel will no longer be their judge—but he will continue to be a prophet for them—I will teach you the way that is good and right.
But be sure to fear the Lord and serve him faithfully with all your heart; consider what great things he has done for you. Yet if you persist in doing evil, both you and your king will be swept away.”
The people are responsible to do their part:
—Fear Yahweh
—Serve Yahweh faithfully with all their heart
—Remember the great things He has done for them!
Warning if they persist in doing evil:
—They will be swept away!
—And their king will be swept away!
So What?
So What?
Like Samuel we should desire to finish well!
I hear about so many pastors, Christian leaders, Bible teachers, church leaders, Sunday School teachers and ordinary everyday Christians that do not finish well and it breaks my heart!
I want to finish well! I want to serve the Lord my God ALL the days of my life!
We need to remember all the great things God has done for us.
Do you have something that reminds you of the great things God has done in your life?
I don’t want it to be said of me, “But he forgot the Lord his God. . .”
It is better to continually live for God than to repeatedly turn away and chase after other things to deliver us.
Sometimes I forget that when I trust in anything other than God to deliver me from my pain and suffering it is never permanent.
And worse yet, when I trust in anything other than God to deliver me, I am committing idolatry—I’m worshiping an idol! And that makes me an enemy of God!
We need to remember that God sends people to lead us and correct us! And He sends them right when I need them.
We need to remember that God’s love for us is unconditional—His love depends on Him. BUT His blessing is conditional.
—If we fear (respect) God.
—If we serve Him
—If we obey Him
—If we don’t rebel against His commands.
—If we follow Him
It will be good! I don’t always know what “good” looks like, but I know it is better than living without His good in my life!
No evil that you or I have ever done can keep us from experiencing the forgiveness that comes through Jesus!
—But we need to be careful that we don’t turn away and chase after “idols” because they can do NOTHING for us!
—God doesn’t reject us because of His great name! In other words, it is all about God and the fact that God chose you!
