1 Samuel 7

As you open your copy of God’s word to 1 Sam 7 I wanted to tell you… One of my favorite things to do is watch a good thunder storm from some cozy place. My brother in law has a great three seasons room all full of windows and I just think how great it would be to watch storms from there. I love the flashes of lightning, and the peals of the thunder that it creates. However I remember a time that a thunderstorm was not so nice to behold. I was with a 2 friends of mine, who both played football with me, one was a linemen and the other was the full back, we had taken his small 12ft fishing boat out to some random little lake we found. needless to say we were a sight I’m sure. We had to cary it into the lake because there was no launch, in all honesty as I look back we very well might have been trespassing… Anyhow, there we were all set to go out on this little lake with all our stuff, he had a little 5hrs motor so we buzzed out to the other side of the lake and started fishing. Well it was not long before one of those fabled pop up storms started to set in. As the sky grew more and more grayish blue we knew we had better get back to our truck to get everything out. Wouldn’t you know it, that was when that little Johnson decided to give up the ghost! So here we were 3 men in a two person boat, and as any good fisherman will tell you, “who needs oars”. So as we proceeded to try to hand paddle our way back to civilization it finally broke. The lightning crackled and the thunder pealed and the wind blew. It was bad enough that as we paddled back we saw two trees go down on our left side of the lake. I can remember thinking to myself, “fish don’t die when water is struck, so as long as we aren’t hit directly or grounded we should be ok”. Now I don’t even know if that s true but it sure brought me comfort at the time! So there we were 3 young men who played football together shaking in our rain soaked skin hoping that we could avoid being struck by lightning, in a metal boat, in the middle of a lake, that we still had to cary back to his truck. Obviously this story had a happy ending, and yes this is a story that my mother is hearing for the first time today I am sure. That storm was one that I did not enjoy watching! There is something majestic about thunder storms isn’t there. Something about the untamed power makes us remember just how small we really are. Today as you turn to 1 Sam 7 I want to talk to you not about a storm but about the thundering of The God of Glory! In 1 Sam 7 we will see how this God of Glory thunders for us, over us and through us, and like thunder storms reinds us just how small we are and how much we need Him… But before we do that Lets pray

Prayer

Message

1 Samuel 7:1–2 ESV

1 And the men of Kiriath-jearim came and took up the ark of the Lord and brought it to the house of Abinadab on the hill. And they consecrated his son Eleazar to have charge of the ark of the Lord. 2 From the day that the ark was lodged at Kiriath-jearim, a long time passed, some twenty years, and all the house of Israel lamented after the Lord.

Shilo = destroyed

20 yrs - half a generation (40)

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.”

How does one properly repent or turn to God?

IF = you are returning…

ALL your heart

THEN = serve only Him

put away = get rid of...

He WILL deliver / rescue / save

1 Samuel 7:4 ESV

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

true repentance requires action

1 Samuel 7:5 ESV

5 Then Samuel said, “Gather all Israel at Mizpah, and I will pray to the Lord for you.”

true repentance requires prayer

1 Samuel 7:6 ESV

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.

true repentance requires confession

They Gathered = Mizpah

drew water / poured out & fasted

“we have sinned against the LORD”

The God of Glory Thunders - For You

Rather than abandoning us God patiently waits for us to come to true repentance toward Him

20yrs / serving Baals & Ashtaroths

guilt & shame

God’s never ending, always pursuing, all powerful love patiently waited for them

Samuel = judges them - they are guilty

we are guilty

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.

Philistines = occupying force

gathering = not good

lets wipe them out...

nothing but defeat = fear

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.”

Before Israel tried to move the ark to bring victory when all they needed was to move their hearts

“Do not cease - to cry out - to the LORD our God - for us / That He Will SAVE us!!!

1 Samuel 7:9–10 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. 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.

nursing Lamb = 8 days old

Offered a lamb

cried out to God

God answered him

this is such a clear foreshadow of the gospel !!

V10

As Samuel is making this sacrifice

Philistines are advancing… ready to attack

The God of Glory Thunders - Over You

Although God calls us to turn toward Him, ultimately we are restored to God when we are purchased by the blood of the Lamb.

like a roaring lion defending its territory God bellows forth!!

throws them into confusion

they are defeated before Israel

God thunders over you giving you victory over your enemies as well

1 Samuel 7:11 ESV

11 And the men of Israel went out from Mizpah and pursued the Philistines and struck them, as far as below Beth-car.

tables have turned

no need for the ark in the camp just for God in their hearts!!!

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.”

monuments = things to help us remember or honor

Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, Vietnam, ww1 / 2

The NIV Application Commentary: 1 & 2 Samuel Contemporary Significance

Perhaps the most meaningful of all our national monuments stands in New York Harbor, the Statue of Liberty. No other national monument holds the significance of the grand lady of liberty, who has welcomed millions to our shores over the past century. My father shares his memory of returning from the battlefields of Europe after World War II. His ship was entering New York Harbor with the Statue of Liberty well in sight when a small tugboat came out to meet them. On the deck of the little boat was a band and a group of choristers singing, “Welcome Home, Boys, Welcome Home.” My father says that everyone of those hardened combat veterans was standing on deck looking at Lady Liberty with tears in their eyes as they realized they had survived the war and it was over.

As important and meaningful as these national monuments are, none of them speaks to the needs addressed by Israel’s Ebenezer monument. The Ebenezer stood in Samuel’s day as a reminder of what God had done for the nation of Israel. As a matter of fact, the name itself emphasized that their victory was solely of God. On that day when he thundered from heaven, they were the undeserving beneficiaries of his saving work. It was not a monument to an abstract concept such as “liberty” or “justice,” nor was it a memorial to individuals who had contributed much or sacrificed most. This was a reminder that repentance and faith had been effective and that God had been faithful to his word; God had acted on their behalf.

the stone the builders rejected has become the corner stone

if this stone falls on you youll be crushed but if you fall on it youll be broken

The God of Glory Thunders - Through You

1 Samuel 7:13–17 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. 15 Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life. 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.

victory over their enemies

peace in their lands

restoration of what was lost, stolen, and broken

Israel enjoys fellowship with God and His priest as he walks among them

The God of Glory Thunders - Through You

God created us to reflect His glory, and desires to fully restore us to that position and will do so.

Close

The God of Glory Thunders

For you

Over you

Through you

I want to ask you will you answer that call today?

will you acknowledge that God has been thundering for you in your life and answer His call?

will you rejoice that God is thundering over you as a protective father seeking your good and answer His call?

will you commit to live in such a way that allows the God of glory to thunder through you so that the world might know his name?