#6 - Heard By God

1 Samuel 7 NKJV

1 Then the men of Kirjath Jearim came and took the ark of the Lord, and brought it into the house of Abinadab on the hill, and consecrated Eleazar his son to keep the ark of the Lord. 2 So it was that the ark remained in Kirjath Jearim a long time; it was there twenty years. And all the house of Israel lamented after the Lord. 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.” 4 So the children of Israel put away the Baals and the Ashtoreths, and served the Lord only. 5 And Samuel said, “Gather all Israel to Mizpah, and I will pray to the Lord for you.” 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. 7 Now when the Philistines heard that the children of Israel had gathered together at Mizpah, the lords of the Philistines went up against Israel. And when the children of Israel heard of it, they were afraid of the Philistines. 8 So the children 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.” 9 And Samuel took a suckling lamb and offered it as a whole burnt offering to the Lord. Then Samuel cried out to the Lord for Israel, and the Lord answered him. 10 Now as Samuel was offering up the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near to battle against Israel. But the Lord thundered with a loud thunder upon the Philistines that day, and so confused them that they were overcome before Israel. 11 And the men of Israel went out of Mizpah and pursued the Philistines, and drove them back as far as below Beth Car. 12 Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen, and called its name Ebenezer, saying, “Thus far the Lord has helped us.” 13 So the Philistines were subdued, and they did not come anymore into the territory of Israel. And the hand of the Lord was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel. 14 Then the cities which the Philistines had taken from Israel were restored to Israel, from Ekron to Gath; and Israel recovered its territory from the hands of the Philistines. Also there was peace between Israel and the Amorites. 15 And Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life. 16 He went from year to year on a circuit to Bethel, Gilgal, and Mizpah, and judged Israel in all those places. 17 But he always returned to Ramah, for his home was there. There he judged Israel, and there he built an altar to the Lord.

Intro

The ark was back in Israel’s hands but that didn’t mean and didn’t automatically save Israel‘s problems for during those 20 years when the ark was in a Abinadab’s house a new generation had a reason and was crying out for radical change in Israel’s government.

For centuries, the people of Israel had looked to Jehovah as their king, but now they asked the Lord to give them a king just like the other nations.

It was a critical time in the history of Israel and it took the prayers end guidance of Samuel to bring them safety through this dangerous time of transition.

Cleaning Up

The ark had been returned to Israel But Israel had not returned to the Lord. So Samuel called them to repentance.

They put away their foreign gods and then met at Mizpah to renew their covenant with the Lord.

God called Samuel to build a bridge between the turbulent age of the judges and the new era of the monarchy, and it wasn’t an easy task. There was one thing Samuel knew for certain: king or no king, the nation could never succeed if the people didn’t put the Lord first and trust only in Him.

That’s why he called for a meeting at Mizpah a city in Benjamin. where he challenged God’s covenant people to return to the Lord.

3 things we need to do in order to clean up

Put away their false gods

1 Samuel 7:3–4 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.” 4 So the people of Israel put away the Baals and the Ashtaroth, and they served the Lord only.

Idolatry had been Israel’s torment sin. Jacob‘s family carried false gods with them and when the Jews or slaves in Egypt, the adopted the gods and goddesses of the Egyptian’s, and after the exodus were shipped some of their idols during the wilderness journey. Moses commanded Israel to destroy every evidence of Canaanite religion, but the people eventually lapsed back into idolatry and worshipped the gods of the defeated enemy.

Samuel specially mentioned the Baal and the Ashtoreths.

Baal was the Canaanite storm god to whom the Jews often turned when the land was suffering drought and the Ashtoreth was the goddess of fertility who worshipped included unspeakably sensual activities.

At Mount Sinai, the Jewish didn’t see a representation of God, but they heard his voice, and they knew that worshipping any idol of their God was to practice false worship,

Putting away they are false gods was only the beginning of the return to the Lord: the Jews also had to prepare their hearts for the Lord and devote themselves to the Lord alone.

This was in keeping with the first commandment, “you shall have no other gods before me” an idol is a substitute for God anything that we trust and serve in place of the Lord.

The Jews gave them selves to idols of wood, stone, and metal, but believers today have more subtle and attractive gods: houses and lands, wealth, automobiles, boats, positive and recognition, ambition and even other people.

Anything in our lives that takes the place of God and command the sacrifice and devotion that belongs only to Him, is an idol and must be cast out.

Idols in the heart are far more dangerous than idols in the temple.

Confessed their sins

1 Samuel 7:5–6 NKJV

5 And Samuel said, “Gather all Israel to Mizpah, and I will pray to the Lord for you.” 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 planned to lead the people in a time of worship and intercession for deliverance from their enemies, but if they had iniquity in their hearts, the Lord would not hear them.

it wasn’t enough just to destroy their idols the people also have to confess their sins and surrender themselves to the Lord.

The key activity that day was their confession, V6 “we have sinned against the Lord.” God‘s covenant promise to Israel was that He would forgive their sins if they sincerely confessed them to him, for no amount of sacrifices or rituals could wash away their sins. “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit a broken and contrite heart these, oh God, you will not despise”

Psalm 51:17 NKJV

17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, A broken and a contrite heart— These, O God, You will not despise.

They prayed for God’s help

1 Samuel 7:7–11 NKJV

7 Now when the Philistines heard that the children of Israel had gathered together at Mizpah, the lords of the Philistines went up against Israel. And when the children of Israel heard of it, they were afraid of the Philistines. 8 So the children 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.” 9 And Samuel took a suckling lamb and offered it as a whole burnt offering to the Lord. Then Samuel cried out to the Lord for Israel, and the Lord answered him. 10 Now as Samuel was offering up the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near to battle against Israel. But the Lord thundered with a loud thunder upon the Philistines that day, and so confused them that they were overcome before Israel. 11 And the men of Israel went out of Mizpah and pursued the Philistines, and drove them back as far as below Beth Car.

When the Philistines learned about this large gathering of jews, they became suspicious that Israel was planning to attack, so the five Philistine lords summoned their troops and prepared to invade.

Israel had no standing army and no one ruler to organize one so they felt helpless.

But their greatest weapon was their faith in Jehovah God, a faith that was expressed in prayer: “some trust in chariots, and some in horses, but we will remember the name of the Lord our God”

Psalm 20:7 NKJV

7 Some trust in chariots, and some in horses; But we will remember the name of the Lord our God.

As we have seen, Samuel was a man of prayer and God answered him that day.

As he sacrificed the evening burnt offering, the Lord thundered against the Philistines soldiers and so confuse them that it was easy for Israel to attack and defeat them.

When we remember that Baal was the Canaanite storm God, it makes the power of God’s thunder even more significant.

All the days of Samuel, the Lord kept the Philistines at a distance from Israel, because of this victory, the Jews recovered cities that had lost in battle and even gained the Emirates as allies.

Application

Whenever God‘s people depend on their own plans and resources, their efforts fail and bring disgrace to God’s name, but when God‘s people trust the Lord and pray, he meets the need and receives the glory.

A man or woman of prayer is more powerful than a whole army!

No wonder king Jehoash call the prophet Elisha “the chariots in Horsemen of Israel“ a title Elisha had used for his mentor Elijah.

Do we have such man and woman of prayer today?

They celebrated the Victory

1 Samuel 7:12 NKJV

12 Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen, and called its name Ebenezer, saying, “Thus far the Lord has helped us.”

The setting of the stones to commemorate significant events has been a part of the Hebrew culture since Jacob set up a memorial at Bethel. Joshua set up 12 Stones in the midst of the Jordan and 11 more on the western bank at Gilgal to mark the place where the waters opened and Israel crossed into the promised land.

A great stack of stones in the Achor valley reminded the Jews of achan’s disobedience and another stack marked the burial place of the king of Ai.

Another pile of stone at a cave at my key die to mark where five Kings has been defeated and slain.

Before his death, Joshua set up a “witness stone“ to remind the Israelites of their vow to serve the Lord alone and obey him. Ebenezer means stone of help because the monument was a reminderTo the Jews