1st Samuel CH 25 vs 1

Biblical Men

Okay So today we are going to focus on one verse ; yes literally one verse and then next weekend we will finish hopefully the rest of the chapter

So today we are going to read About Samuels death But reflect on His Life as a Godly Servant

the reason id like to focus just on this first verse is because last week we talked about the power of Influence as believers

David’s Life we are going to continue to see for a while is full of outside influences , yet he is a Godly Man and an Influential man

Samuel and His life is full of outside influence yet he Is a Godly Man

Samuel Himself was a Man of Influence

Samuel was a man of God and a Man that was an example to His Nation

So after reading just the first verse in this chapter i realized that if we were to go back and look at when the last time Samuel had been mentioned that it had been a while

there are some chapters that pass by where we don’t hear much about Samuel Himself

and there is a reason for that

Samuel Was Replaced by a King and the Nation of Israel became a Monarchy

If you guys can remember with me, back in the beginning of this book Israel didn’t have a King

they were a Under the rule of a theocracy , not a Monarchy

They were governed by a religious Judge not an Earthly King

In the first couple of chapters the Priest Eli was the one in charge until Samuel was born and raised up to become a priest

now fast forward a little bit , the people of Israel were tired of Not having a king like all of the other nations and so God gives them over to that desire

This is when we see King Saul come along and anointed by Samuel In CH 10

So once King Saul came along , there was less of a need for Samuel , and the people recieved the earthly king they wanted

and from this chapter, Here in ch 25 , this is the last we see of a Judge / that ruled the kingdom of Israel

from this point forward all we will see is earthly Kings

So with that being said i want to brake down the Life of Samuel because His life is evidence of the power of God and the will of God

So Lets begin starting In Ch. 25

1 Samuel 25:1 “1 Then Samuel died; and the Israelites gathered together and lamented for him, and buried him at his home in Ramah. And David arose and went down to the Wilderness of Paran.”

okay so this is the verse that we are focusing on today, Just one

Its sets the Stage Just like any death in Life for a eulogy

Eulogy: a speech or piece of writing that praises someone or something highly, typically someone who has just died.

I think that there is a-lot for everyone of us to learn from the Life of Samuel

We always get caught up in 1st and 2nd Samuel with Davids Life but lets look at the Life of Samuel

this super awesome amazing Judge/ Priest/ Influencer , what ever you want to call him

So from the beginning who Is Samuel:

Beginning in chapter 1of 1st Samuel, Samuel is the product of a miraculous Birth ,

His Mother if you all remember was a barren woman named Hannah and she was in agony over the fact that she could not get pregnant with a child

Hannah herself was a second wife to her Husband Elkanah (Ell-kay-na)

they struggled to have Kids for what ever reason during their marriage

Elkanah’s other wife was a real brat towards Hannah and would make fun of her for not having the ability to have children Chapter 1 vs 6-7

so this drove Hannah crazy and hurt her deep down , but what she does / her response is amazing

She pleaded and begged the Lord to bless her with a child in vs 10-11 (read)

1 Samuel 1:19–20 “19 Then they rose early in the morning and worshiped before the Lord, and returned and came to their house at Ramah. And Elkanah knew Hannah his wife, and the Lord remembered her. 20 So it came to pass in the process of time that Hannah conceived and bore a son, and called his name Samuel, saying, “Because I have asked for him from the Lord.””

Hannah being blessed by God to have a child realizes that this child of hers is not her child so what does she do with Him

( Read the Next Point )

So I have 5 points for you today that we can pull out of Samuels Life and apply it to our life’s

this message is for you young men and for the Ladies , take notes for your future Husbands at the same time im going to Eulogize His life by going through most of the things Samuel has done leading to CH 25

1) Godly Men Have Godly Purpose

HIS LIFE WAS DEDICATED TO THE LORD

1 Samuel 1:11 “11 Then she made a vow and said, “O Lord of hosts, if You will indeed look on the affliction of Your maidservant and remember me, and not forget Your maidservant, but will give Your maidservant a male child, then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, and no razor shall come upon his head.””

So Hannah here is pleading with the Lord yet promising to dedicate His Life to the Lord

Something we often see in the church today , that is where we get the idea of dedicating our babies to God and His kingdom up on the stage

its a realization that life itself is a gift from God and that Life is not in our control , it is in the control Of our maker !!

1 Samuel 1:22 “22 But Hannah did not go up, for she said to her husband, “Not until the child is weaned; then I will take him, that he may appear before the Lord and remain there forever.”

Samuels life was dedicated to the Lord

any good man is only Good because of God inside of Him

(Be okay to Pause and Expound)

2)(Godly Men are plugged in )

1 Samuel 1:24 “24 Now when she had weaned him, she took him up with her, with three bulls, one ephah of flour, and a skin of wine, and brought him to the house of the Lord in Shiloh. And the child was young.”

1 Samuel 1:27–28 “27 For this child I prayed, and the Lord has granted me my petition which I asked of Him. 28 Therefore I also have lent him to the Lord; as long as he lives he shall be lent to the Lord.” So they worshiped the Lord there.”

So now Samuel has been Born , He’s been a blessing to His mother proving that God is in control of Life and so she dedicates Him to the Lord

Now keep in Mind Samuel is barely a child sent to serve in the Temple along with Eli

yet His mother at the end of vs 28 Says; “she Lent Him to the Lord as Long as he Lives he shall be lent to the Lord”

His mother from the beginning recognized that Life was not hers to dictate , which is why she was so adamant on dedicating Him to the Lord

1 Samuel 2:18 “18 But Samuel ministered before the Lord, even as a child, wearing a linen ephod.”

Samuel was a servant at a young age , He is a product of having good parents that dedicated their sons Life to the Lord

and now we see and will see just How God uses this man to be an instrumental leader for the nation of Israel

1 Samuel 2:21 “21 And the Lord visited Hannah, so that she conceived and bore three sons and two daughters. Meanwhile the child Samuel grew before the Lord.”

Hannah kept her word , dedicates Samuel to the Lord, gives him to Eli as a servant and now we see the fruit of that work

God blesses her with More children

Samuel was plugged in at a young age

Women , does your mans go to church ?

- Samuel Was used By God Even as a Boy

1 Samuel 3:1 “1 Now the boy Samuel ministered to the Lord before Eli. And the word of the Lord was rare in those days; there was no widespread revelation.”

Hearing from God during this time period was rare, the people were lost and didn’t have an ear for God because of the life that was being lived

But Samuel as a young boy was protected from the life of the outside world being a young boy serving God at an early age

1 Samuel 3:3 “3 and before the lamp of God went out in the tabernacle of the Lord where the ark of God was, and while Samuel was lying down,”

this happens 3 times and each time Eli thinks that Samuel is probably being weird

but then all of the Sudden Eli His mentor realizes that God is speaking to Him

Now Samuel being a boy had never heard the voice of the lord

So the 4th time God speaks again and this time Samuel responds

1 Samuel 3:10–11 “10 Now the Lord came and stood and called as at other times, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel answered, “Speak, for Your servant hears.” 11 Then the Lord said to Samuel: “Behold, I will do something in Israel at which both ears of everyone who hears it will tingle.”

1 Samuel 3:12 “12 In that day I will perform against Eli all that I have spoken concerning his house, from beginning to end.”

if you guys remember in chapter 3 Elis sons were getting out of Hand and Sleeping with women outside the temple doors

Eli hadn’t been doing anything about it and his Sons were getting away with it

So God orchestrates the use of Samuel by speaking to Him and using Him as the messenger to tell Eli that His reign is coming to an end

1 Samuel 3:15–17 “15 So Samuel lay down until morning, and opened the doors of the house of the Lord. And Samuel was afraid to tell Eli the vision. 16 Then Eli called Samuel and said, “Samuel, my son!” He answered, “Here I am.” 17 And he said, “What is the word that the Lord spoke to you? Please do not hide it from me. God do so to you, and more also, if you hide anything from me of all the things that He said to you.””

1 Samuel 3:18 “18 Then Samuel told him everything, and hid nothing from him. And he said, “It is the Lord. Let Him do what seems good to Him.””

So again i know i keep saying this but God had plans for Samuel even though he was just a child at this point but God is using Him

Samuel is stepping out in faith telling his mentor that he has messed up and that Judgement was to come to his house !

1 Samuel 3:19–21 “19 So 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 had been established as a prophet of the Lord. 21 Then the Lord appeared again in Shiloh. For the Lord revealed Himself to Samuel in Shiloh by the word of the Lord.”

Samuel is growing Fast

Evidence that the Power of God can use anyone, even a child, Remember God was using the Life of Samuel (Because He was plugged in ! )

we can even reflect again on the Life of David when he was Just a fierce little boy wandering into the battlefield to take on Goliath

God rewarded the faith he had and used Him

Both Samuel and David were children doing mighty works for the Lord

a heavy thing to have witnessed in these days

But Both Men or boys were in tune with the Lord and plugged in

Now after chapter 3 we don’t see a ton about Samuel Until around chapter 7

and those 3 chapters we don’t hear much about Samuel , But Israel as a nation is going through it

the Ark is captured by the Philistines

Eli the current head Judge/ priest is not doing well , His sons are running a muck and then all of the sudden His sons die , and then he dies

then after that in chapter 5 the Ark is moved to another area where the philistines had reigned and they Placed the ark in a temple with a pagan God

God slaps them around a little bit send plagues to all of these towns that are passing around the Ark

and then after 7 months of having the Ark the philistines Give it back to the Nation of Israel because none of them want it .

Now during this time of war in Israel ; keep in mind that a lot of time has gone by

we read through some of these chapters and we forget that there is years that pass by between chapters

So towards the end of chapter 3 Samuel started to Grow Up and become a Man

Now we pick up with Samuel again in Ch 7 where

3)Godly Men Call their friends Out

1 Samuel 7:3 “3 Then Samuel spoke to all the house of Israel, saying, “If you return to the Lord with all your hearts, then put away the foreign gods and the Ashtoreths from among you, and prepare your hearts for the Lord, and serve Him only; and He will deliver you from the hand of the Philistines.””

Samuel was a God fearing Man now encouraging and pointing people to the Lord

His life and dedication to the Lord was an example to the people around Him

1 Samuel 7:6 “6 So they gathered together at Mizpah, drew water, and poured it out before the Lord. And they fasted that day, and said there, “We have sinned against the Lord.” And Samuel judged the children of Israel at Mizpah.”

Samuel here in Vs 6 with His reputation became the Last Judge that they would know until the coming Earthly King , King Saul

1 Samuel 7:15 “15 And Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life.”

So godly men Again are going to call things out when they aren’t right

Samuel did this with His people and he earned their respect

it didn’t matter what the consequences were , He just did it

(Expound)

4)Godly Men run to God :

- 1 Samuel 8:1–6 “1 Now it came to pass when Samuel was old that he made his sons judges over Israel. 2 The name of his firstborn was Joel, and the name of his second, Abijah; they were judges in Beersheba. 3 But his sons did not walk in his ways; they turned aside after dishonest gain, took bribes, and perverted justice. 4 Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah, 5 and said to him, “Look, you are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now make us a king to judge us like all the nations.” 6 But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to judge us.” So Samuel prayed to the Lord.”

how many of us remember this story About Samuel ?

He kinda fell into the same issues His mentor Eli fell into

he made the mistake of Appointing His wicked sons as Judges over Israel

If you remember when we went through this passage , A judge over Israel was not given by Mans authority but by Gods authority

So he appoints His sons and then God uses this circumstance to show Him the true Hearts of the people

Now Samuel being the wise man he was further down the chapter runs to the Lord for advice regarding the decision of the people for an earthly King

Something we can note that His Mentor Eli did not do when he had made a Mistake

Samuel knew that with issues in- front of Him that he needed to run to the Lord

they wanted an earthly King , Not a Judge

now Samuel further on in the chapter warns them about this coming King that they so desperately wanted

this King was going to be bad news , King Saul started off strong but is not doing so well

5) Godly men are Honest

So Samuel in ch 12 Gives us His farewell Speech

by this time he has become an Old man and has given his reign over to the earthly King King Saul

So lets read the first 3 verses of ch 12

1 Samuel 12:1–5 “1 Now Samuel said to all Israel: “Indeed I have heeded your voice in all that you said to me, and have made a king over you. 2 And now here is the king, walking before you; and I am old and grayheaded, and look, my sons are with you. I have walked before you from my childhood to this day. 3 Here I am. Witness against me before the Lord and before His anointed: Whose ox have I taken, or whose donkey have I taken, or whom have I cheated? Whom have I oppressed, or from whose hand have I received any bribe with which to blind my eyes? I will restore it to you.” 4 And they said, “You have not cheated us or oppressed us, nor have you taken anything from any man’s hand.” 5 Then he said to them, “The Lord is witness against you, and His anointed is witness this day, that you have not found anything in my hand.” And they answered, “He is witness.””

Samuel Here in these first 5 verses was a man of Good character and He’s Honest

• He wasn’t perfect by any means but he was a man that had a great reputation because of His character

• if we remember back in chapter 8 at the beginning, Samuel was already at the point of getting old

• and he made a Mistake by placing Himself in a position of authority that was not His and he Made His two sons Judges over Israel

• Now regardless of Samuels Mistake people still had the ability to see that he was a man of Good character

• when you know someone of good character you know wether things about them are true or not because of their character

thats what the people had the ability to see in Samuel

One of the only things we have in this life that is truly important is our word

Once we lose our word and trust that we have with other people we might never get that back

be a man of your word

Ladies look for a man who is honest with His life and with His own character

• Samuel was putting himself on the Line , if anyone questioned his character, then that was the time for them to speak up

• Samuel in these opening verses was showing humility

• He was in a sense passing the torch to Saul to be the King that the people of Israel wanted

• Even in His passing of the torch he’s saying hey look if i’ve wronged you or anyone please tell me

• Samuel was a man of great integrity and he didn’t care if he was to be humiliated publicly

Samuel was no Longer a man toward the end of His role as Judge, He was a Godly man that was being refined even up to the point of this speech Here in ch 12

Samuel carried His honesty through his life

6) Godly Men are Obedient

From the very beginning God used Samuel to do difficult things

In chapter 3 again He was used to call out Eli

Now Here as we move further along into chapter 13 we see God use Him again

1 Samuel 13:10–13 “10 Now it happened, as soon as he had finished presenting the burnt offering, that Samuel came; and Saul went out to meet him, that he might greet him. 11 And Samuel said, “What have you done?” Saul said, “When I saw that the people were scattered from me, and that you did not come within the days appointed, and that the Philistines gathered together at Michmash, 12 then I said, ‘The Philistines will now come down on me at Gilgal, and I have not made supplication to the Lord.’ Therefore I felt compelled, and offered a burnt offering.” 13 And Samuel said to Saul, “You have done foolishly. You have not kept the commandment of the Lord your God, which He commanded you. For now the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever.”

King Saul started with a bang and is beginning his decline here in chapter 13

even though Samuel is no longer the leader of the Nation of Israel , he is still the Man anointed by God , He is still doing the work of God

so God uses Him to correct Saul

A difficult thing that Had to be done

7) GODLY MEN ARE FAITHFUL

Now again we see God use Samuel to Reject Saul toward the end of Chapter 15

Then from chapter 15 to 19 we dont see much again of Samuel and what hes doing until 19

In chapter 19 David escapes an assassination attempt and flees

Guess who the man is that He goes to ? Its Samuel

Samuel Mentored David up until his death that we read Here in chapter 25

1 Samuel 19:18–20 “18 So David fled and escaped, and went to Samuel at Ramah, and told him all that Saul had done to him. And he and Samuel went and stayed in Naioth. 19 Now it was told Saul, saying, “Take note, David is at Naioth in Ramah!” 20 Then Saul sent messengers to take David. And when they saw the group of prophets prophesying, and Samuel standing as leader over them, the Spirit of God came upon the messengers of Saul, and they also prophesied.”

Samuel was faithful into old age , all the way until death

Ladies , find you a man who is faithful in His service to the Lord , Not a flop