Renewal in the Land of Israel

Introduction

Biblical Timeline

Key transition from the time of the Judges to the Untied Kingdom.

Israel, from the time of Joshua and King Saul, were 12 tribes in their allotted land united by the Law of Moses, the Tabernacle, and the sacrifices/priesthood.

1 Samuel 1-7 are key text in seeing the transition of Israel to a united Kingdom with a King leading them instead of Judges.

Key events

God judges the Priest Eli and his 2 sons for their evil actions as priest.

In fulfilling His judgment on them, the Ark of the Covenant was captured by the Philistines and brought the the temple of Dagon in Ashdod.

God shows His power over Dagon by making the idol of Dagon lay before the Ark of the Covenant twice and inflicting the people with tumors.

The Ark was returned to Israel through God’s mighty Hand.

Through this section of Scripture the Lord is raising up a key figure in Israel that will transition the nation to a kingdom with a King, His name is Samuel.

Samuel

Samuel was dedicated to the Lord from birth by his mother Hannah.

He was raised in the presence of the Lord as he ministered with Eli the Priest

1 Samuel 2:26 (ESV)

26 Now the boy Samuel continued to grow both in stature and in favor with the Lord and also with man.

Samuel was a prophet of God.

1 Samuel 3:19–21 (ESV)

19 And Samuel grew, and the Lord was with him and let none of his words fall to the ground. 20 And all Israel from Dan to Beersheba knew that Samuel was established as a prophet of the Lord. 21 And the Lord appeared again at Shiloh, for the Lord revealed himself to Samuel at Shiloh by the word of the Lord.

He was the last Judge of Israel

1 Samuel 7:15 (ESV)

15 Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life.

He anointed the first 2 Kings of Israel: Saul and David.

Samuel instructs Israel (1 Samuel 7:3-4)

In Chapters 6 and 1st 2 verses of 7, The Ark of the Covenant was returned to Israel by the Philistines. The Israelites rejoiced with the return of the Ark. The ark represents the presence of God amongst the Israelites. Samuel steps up and addresses Israel.

Call to Repent (3)

1 Samuel 7:3 (ESV)

3 And Samuel said to all the house of Israel, “If you are returning to the Lord with all your heart, then put away the foreign gods and the Ashtaroth from among you and direct your heart to the Lord and serve him only, and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.”

“If…Then...” Samuel asks them an If/Then question for them to decide what they really want to do at this point. If they are really happy that God is back with them and want to live for him then they need to do curtain things.

“If you are returning to the Lord with all your heart.”

Returning - to repent ⇔ return v., to turn away from sin, conceived of as returning to God or returning from a location (The Lexham Analytical Lexicon of the Hebrew Bible 2017: n. pag. Print.)

Cycle of temptation and repentance - Sanctification

Usually when we think of repent we associate it with Conversion to Christ. Living in Sin -> Living for God = Repentance

I understand it as a continual process of sanctification and life in this sinful world. Living in Sin -> Living for God = Repentance; Living for God -> Living in Sin = Temptation/Sin

Repentance/temptation are the turning towards/away from God or Sin.

Please understand, the act of repentance does not save us. It is God saves saves us. It is God who forgives us through His grace and the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. We will continue to do this the rest of our lives, but less and less as we are transformed by the Holy Spirit into Christlikeness. The more we mature in Christ (Sanctified) the less we are drawn away from Christ into Sin.

Samuel says that if they want to repent they need to:

“put away the foreign gods and the Ashtaroth from among you...” - Don’t worship the false gods of the nations around you.

“direct your heart to the LORD and serve him only...” - Live dedicated to the Lord your God through obedience to the Law.

“He will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.” - It is the Lord who delivers them. to rescue v., to free from harm or evil, and in some cases from imprisonment. (The Lexham Analytical Lexicon of the Hebrew Bible 2017: n. pag. Print.)

Israels Obedience (4)

1 Samuel 7:4 (ESV)

4 So the people of Israel put away the Baals and the Ashtaroth, and they served the Lord only.

They follow the instructions of Samuel.

Baal and Ashtaroth - male and female gods of the Canaanites that were a major stumbling block for the Israelite throughout the OT.

In their process of repentance, the Israelites put away from them the Idols of Baal and Ashtaroth.

Israel Repents (1 Samuel 7:5-11)

Israel’s confession of Sins (5-6)

1 Samuel 7:5–6 (ESV)

5 Then Samuel said, “Gather all Israel at Mizpah, and I will pray to the Lord for you.” 6 So they gathered at Mizpah and drew water and poured it out before the Lord and fasted on that day and said there, “We have sinned against the Lord.” And Samuel judged the people of Israel at Mizpah.

“they fasted. Their fasting apparently expresses their sincere sorrow over their past sins (see Judg. 20:26; 1 Sam. 31:13; 2 Sam. 1:12).” (Chisholm, Robert B., Jr. 1 & 2 Samuel. Ed. Mark L. Strauss, John H. Walton, and Rosalie de Rosset. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2013. Print. Teach the Text Commentary Series.)

“We have sinned against the LORD.”

Confession - means to agree with God that what was done was sin.

1 John 1:9 (ESV)

9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

When they repented and turned away from the false gods (put them away from themselves) they turned to God through confession of Sin and seeking forgiveness.

Samuel intercedes for Israel (7-9)

Philistines attack Israel (7)

1 Samuel 7:7 (ESV)

7 Now when the Philistines heard that the people of Israel had gathered at Mizpah, the lords of the Philistines went up against Israel. And when the people of Israel heard of it, they were afraid of the Philistines.

The lords of the Philistines saw that the Israelites were gathered in one area and thought this was a great opportunity to fight against them.

Israel cry out to the Lord (8)

1 Samuel 7:8 (ESV)

8 And the people of Israel said to Samuel, “Do not cease to cry out to the Lord our God for us, that he may save us from the hand of the Philistines.”

They ask Samuel to cry out to the Lord to Save them.

They understand that God is there security and safety. Although God continues to show them that He is their security and they know it from their history, they continue to follow other gods.

Psalm 18:1–3 (ESV)

1 I love you, O Lord, my strength. 2 The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. 3 I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised, and I am saved from my enemies.

The Israelites are in a good place through the events of confession and dedication. When the Philistines attacked them their first reaction was to cry out the the Lord to save them. When we are in close relationship with the Lord, we likewise seek the Lord to guide and save us in times of need.

Samuel intercedes (9)

1 Samuel 7:9 (ESV)

9 So Samuel took a nursing lamb and offered it as a whole burnt offering to the Lord. And Samuel cried out to the Lord for Israel, and the Lord answered him.

Samuel cried out to the Lord for them and God answered.

It is the Lord that will save them.

The Lord delivers Israel (10-11)

1 Samuel 7:10–11 (ESV)

10 As Samuel was offering up the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near to attack Israel. But the Lord thundered with a mighty sound that day against the Philistines and threw them into confusion, and they were defeated before Israel. 11 And the men of Israel went out from Mizpah and pursued the Philistines and struck them, as far as below Beth-car.

It is the Lord that fought for the Israelites to save them from the Philistines.

to thunder (noise) v., to make or produce a loud noise; often with the voice; also perhaps associated with the natural phenomenon of thunder. (The Lexham Analytical Lexicon of the Hebrew Bible 2017: n. pag. Print.)

Confusion - to trouble v., to disturb in mind or make uneasy or cause to be worried or alarmed (The Lexham Analytical Lexicon of the Hebrew Bible 2017: n. pag. Print.)

When trouble came to the Israelites they sought the Lord and He answered their cry with action. When we are struggling with sin, pain, difficulties, etc, we need to seek the Lord and trust that He will act in our lives.

The way God acts in our lives in those times of crying out is different in accordance to His will. He may act in great and obvious ways. He may answer in gentle nudges. He may use others in our lives to intercede. He may even make us wait for His action.

This is one of those reasons, I personally struggle in difficulties as I cry out to the Lord and not seeing immediate or obvious actions. It causes me to question if He is near or if he heard my prayers.

It is at these times that we need to be reminded of the truth of God’s word. We need to remind ourselves that God is ever present and is working in our lives to accomplish His will. He is active, but maybe in a less obvious way. We need to continue to trust Him in the midst of life's ups and downs.

Memorial Stone (1 Samuel 7:12-14)

Stones Meaning (12)

1 Samuel 7:12 (ESV)

12 Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen and called its name Ebenezer; for he said, “Till now the Lord has helped us.”

Setting up a Memorial has been done a lot in the OT. (Gen. 28:18; 31:45; 35:14; Josh. 4:9; 24:26)

He set up a stone in an obvious way that would cause the Israelites to remember that God is their Help.

Ebenezer - The name Ebenezer (אֶבֶן הָעָזֶר) means “stone of help” in Hebrew (Biblical Studies Press. The NET Bible. Second Edition. Denmark: Thomas Nelson, 2019. Print.)

“This also contributes to the contrast between Samuel and the house of Eli. When associated with the house of Eli, the name Ebenezer recalls defeat and humiliation, but for spiritually renewed Israel under Samuel’s leadership, the name becomes a reminder of God’s saving intervention.” (Chisholm, Robert B., Jr. 1 & 2 Samuel. Ed. Mark L. Strauss, John H. Walton, and Rosalie de Rosset. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2013. Print. Teach the Text Commentary Series.)

We need to be reminded of what God has done in our lives. There need to have a “Memorial Stone” set up in which we are reminded that the Lord is our help. (journal, notes in our bible, records of God’s goodness)

Philistines Defeat (13-14)

1 Samuel 7:13–14 (ESV)

13 So the Philistines were subdued and did not again enter the territory of Israel. And the hand of the Lord was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel. 14 The cities that the Philistines had taken from Israel were restored to Israel, from Ekron to Gath, and Israel delivered their territory from the hand of the Philistines. There was peace also between Israel and the Amorites.

Israelites conquer the Philistines and restore the areas back to Israel that were occupied by the Philistines.

Israelites pursued Philistines from Mizpah as far as below Beth-car. (11)

They also recovered territory between Ekron to Gath (14). territory n., the geographical area under the jurisdiction of a sovereign state: (The Lexham Analytical Lexicon of the Hebrew Bible 2017: n. pag. Print.)

God gave them Peace.

God gave them peace from the Philistines through their restoration of the Land and with the Amorites of the other side. Reason for the peace with the Amorites is not mentioned.

Ministry of Samuel (1 Samuel 7:15-17)

Judge (15)

1 Samuel 7:15 (ESV)

15 Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life.

Judge - to govern ⇔ judge v., to govern, understood in terms of the ruler’s role of judging his people. (The Lexham Analytical Lexicon of the Hebrew Bible 2017: n. pag. Print.)

Samuel is the Last Judge before the anointing of Israel’s first King, Saul.

Extent of his ministry (16-17)

1 Samuel 7:16–17 (ESV)

16 And he went on a circuit year by year to Bethel, Gilgal, and Mizpah. And he judged Israel in all these places. 17 Then he would return to Ramah, for his home was there, and there also he judged Israel. And he built there an altar to the Lord.

Lessons from Samuel

I would like to share with you the outline application from the Teach the Text Commentary Series on this text. They outlined repentance very well.

Repentance and renewed allegiance to God open the door to deliverance. This account is instructive for understanding the nature of repentance.

God’s wayward people can initiate repentance. Just like Samuel initiated the Israelites to repent through his instructions, We can realize our turning away from the Lord and turn to Him.

Repentance can have a corporate dimension when the individual members of the covenant community have participated together in the same sins. This was a sin done by the nation and they together needed to Repent.

Repentance begins with sincere motives, but it also involves actions, not just emotion. Repentance requires us to make changes in our lives towards godly living.

Repentance does not insulate one from trouble. When we turn to the Lord it does not take away the consequences of our actions. It does not mean that as we are repentant that there will be no difficulties in our lives.

Repentance results in exclusive worship of the one true God. We often fear having to repent and ask for forgiveness with others and even more scary when we go to the Lord of the Universe. However when we repent and turn to the Lord we encounter His amazing mercy, grace and love. This results in great joy and worship.

Chisholm, Robert B., Jr. 1 & 2 Samuel. Ed. Mark L. Strauss, John H. Walton, and Rosalie de Rosset. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2013. Print. Teach the Text Commentary Series.

“The Lord is the one true God and his people’s only genuine source of security.” (Chisholm, Robert B., Jr. 1 & 2 Samuel. Ed. Mark L. Strauss, John H. Walton, and Rosalie de Rosset. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2013. Print. Teach the Text Commentary Series.)

“In light of the Lord’s incomparability, it makes no sense for the Israelites to worship foreign gods and perfect sense for them to follow the Lord, for in him alone can they find genuine security. The truth that the incomparable God is fully capable of providing security for his people is comforting, but it also challenges the Lord’s people to genuine faith. If the Lord really is the only true God and his people’s only genuine source of security, then he deserves and demands their exclusive worship.” (Chisholm, Robert B., Jr. 1 & 2 Samuel. Ed. Mark L. Strauss, John H. Walton, and Rosalie de Rosset. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2013. Print. Teach the Text Commentary Series.)

Benediction

Romans 15:5-6 - May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.