OVERVIEW:
God wreaks havoc on His enemies through the ark of the covenant; Samuel leads Israel in reformation and worship; Israel demands an earthly king; Saul is installed as the first earthly king of Israel.
HIGHLIGHTS & INSIGHTS:
The account of the ark of our God in the house of Dagon (the fish god) in chapter 5 is classic. The image of the idol that the Philistines worshiped and served “fallen upon his face”, having his head and hands lopped off, bowing before the presence of the one true God represented in the ark, is not only awesome it is a preview of coming attractions! Revelation 17 and 18 is the prophecy of a time in the near future when all of the false systems of religion in the world, represented in Babylon, will come crashing down to the earth and be destroyed by the King of kings and Lord of lords!
One would think that the Philistines, beholding the absolute powerlessness and pitifulness of their god as a mere “stump” on the ground before the presence of the God of Israel, would have brought them to their spiritual senses, and in repentance, they would do what the Thessalonians did: “turn to God from idols to serve the living and true God;” (1st Thessalonians 1:9) That, however, didn’t happen! The Philistines then become one of the greatest biblical examples of how “the god of this world (Satan) hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.” (2nd Corinthians 4:4) It is important for us to recognize, from this verse, that God is revealing to us the reason lost people are unable to “SEE” the truth of God is not because they are unintelligent, but it’s the simple fact that they have been BLINDED by Satan! That’s why some of the most intelligent, and otherwise, rational people on this planet can believe obvious LIES when the TRUTH clearly makes better and more logical sense!
Notice also, however, that 2nd Corinthians 4:4 goes on to tell us that the power of the glorious gospel of Christ is able to shine past the blinders Satan uses to keep the gospel hid from lost people! (2nd Corinthians 4:3–4) As God’s redeemed people, we must make certain that we always take full advantage of every opportunity our Lord opens to us to declare the gospel (the message of Christ’s death, burial and resurrection) to the lost people in our sphere of influence. It quite simply, is their only hope! Romans 1:16 tells us that “it (the gospel) is the power of God unto salvation”! Notice, this verse tells us that the power of God is in the message of the gospel! The power is not in our ability to communicate. It is not in our winsome personality, or our ability to wield influence upon others. It is not in our ability to reason and/or debate with people. It is in the simplicity of the message of the gospel! (2nd Corinthians 11:3–4) Let us, therefore, be diligent to pray, as Paul did, “that God would open unto us a door of utterance” (Colossians 4:3), that we may have the opportunity to declare to the lost people of this world the powerful, life-changing, eternal-destiny-changing message of Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection! Again, as God’s redeemed people, we must recognize that unleashing the message of the gospel is THE ONLY POWER(!!!) that can release people from the power of Satan! In Acts 26:18, Paul articulated to King Agrippa the purpose God had for him with regard to the lost people of the world. The purpose he articulates, however, is not only how God intended to use him with the lost, it is the purpose God has for using each one of us who have become a recipient of the glorious gospel of Christ: “To open their eyes (the lost!), and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in [us].” May God help us to faithfully proclaim the gospel (“good news”) of Christ’s redeeming death, burial and resurrection!
Notice also in 5:6-12 that God’s awesome presence manifest through the ark was very devastating to the people to whom it did not belong. God allowed them to be struck with a miserable ailment (hemorrhoids) that affects virtually any and every activity of life. The Philistines quickly came to the conclusion that perhaps they’d be better off without the prized possession of the Israelites in their midst. In chapter 6, they seek the counsel of their own pagan priests and demonic diviners about how to return the ark, and they provide some of the most outlandish advice imaginable. They concoct their own self-styled version of offering a “trespass offering” which included, of all things, making golden images of the hemorrhoids by which God had used to judge them! Wow! Sometimes it is utterly amazing what people will invent to do “in the name of God” totally disregarding what He has clearly revealed in His word!
One of the key things to note in chapter 6, is that when the Philistines returned the ark to the children of Israel, it arrived on a “new cart”. God is here, foreshadowing an event that will come to fruition, in 2nd Samuel 6, because of this “new cart”. Notice also the devastation God meted out upon the Philistines for the inquisitiveness that caused them to look inside the ark of the Lord: 50,070 men dropped dead!
In chapter 7, the ark is returned to the children of Israel. Once it came into their possession, however, rather than take it to its designated place in Shiloh (4:3), it remains in the house of a man of Israel by the name of Abinadab. Interestingly enough, the ark, which, again, represents the presence and power of God, sits in Abinadab’s house rather than “the house of the Lord” for 20 years!
In 7:3, Samuel calls the house of Israel to repentance. The gods that he calls them to forsake in this passage, Baalim and Ashteroth, is an indication of the deplorable depths of sin to which God’s people had plummeted. Baalim was a male god and Ashtaroth was a female god, and the sinful behavior to which Satan had devised for the worship of these “gods” was nothing short of gross debauchery!
Samuel promises Israel that, in accordance with their genuine repentance, God would deliver them out of the hands of the Philistines. Israel does repent, and Samuel offers a lamb as a burnt offering to the Lord, and cries out to God for Israel, and 7:9 beautifully says, “and the Lord heard him.” The Lord answered with thunder from heaven against the ensuing Philistines, and Israel was able to defeat them speedily and handily. (7:10–12) It has been noted that Samuel accomplished more with one prayer depending on the SPIRIT’S power, than Samson accomplished in 20 years depending upon the power of the FLESH! As chapter 7 closes, it reveals that Samuel served as a faithful prophet and judge in Israel, ministering to the people from city to city, speaking the word of the Lord, and helping to settle their disputes all the days of his life. (7:13–17)
As we move into chapter 8, however, it lets us know that in all of the great things that could be said about the ministry of Samuel, there was one place he failed to minister, and, of all places, it was his own home! Evidently, Samuel had the FALSE IMPRESSION, as many of God’s faithful ministers have had through the centuries, that if he took care of the things of the Lord, the Lord would take care of the things concerning his family. We must understand, however, that though God has called all of us to constantly be a minister in His work, both edifying and expanding His family (1st Corinthians 15:58; 2nd Corinthians 5:18-19), our responsibility to the LORD’S FAMILY does not negate or diminish the responsibility we have to minister to our OWN FAMILY! Quite simply, our spouse and our children must be our first place of ministry! It is of such importance in the New Testament church, that God even prescribed in the list of those holding the office of a pastor, that his children be “faithful…not accused of riot or unruly.” (Titus 1:6) The way Paul articulated it in 1st Timothy 3:4 is: “One that ruleth well his own house, having his children in subjection with all gravity.” Recognize that these New Testament qualifications, for the family of those holding the office of a pastor, are no different than what He commands and intends for every believer. (Ephesians 6:4) It is simply that the things in these lists, in 1st Timothy 3 and Titus 1, are a prerequisite for those who hold positions requiring them to provide the spiritual oversight and feeding of the family of God.
But notice, as Samuel came to the end of his ministry, 8:1 says that he “made his sons judges over Israel.” Sadly, however, 8:3 lets us know, “…his sons walked not in his ways, but turned aside after lucre, and took bribes, and perverted judgment.” This action by Samuel, despite his inability to instill in his sons the godly character he possessed, became one of the justifications and rationalizations the people had for demanding that Samuel install a king to rule them “like all the nations.” (8:5) God reveals the disingenuousness in their request by telling Samuel that their problem wasn’t really with Samuel’s authority but with His! Yes, Samuel certainly should have made ministering to his family a greater priority, but his failure as a father was nothing more than a smokescreen the people used to get what they wanted all along: to be out from God’s direct authority, and to be conformed to this world. (2nd Samuel 8:5; Romans 12:2)
It is interesting to note that 1st Samuel 8 records the first of Israel’s three REJECTIONS of the triune God in scripture:
- Israel rejects God the FATHER by choosing Saul. (1st Samuel 8:7)
- Israel rejects God the SON by choosing Barabbas. (Luke 23:18)
- Israel rejects God the HOLY SPIRIT by refusing Stephen’s message. (Acts 7:51)
Perhaps we should all ask ourselves today, “Is there any area of my life that would be communicating to God that I am rejecting His authority?”
In chapters 9 and 10, God concedes to Israel’s wishes in granting them a king, but clearly communicates to them what it will ultimately cost them. It is another of many times in scripture where God gave the people what they wanted but, in doing so, the people lost what they had. (Psalm 106:15) In this instance, in 1st Samuel 9 and 10, God gave them a king to rule them just as they had requested but they lost the omniscient, omnipresent, and omnipotent kingship of the God who so loved and cared for them that they were the very “apple of his eye.” (Deuteronomy 32:10)
CHRIST IS REVEALED:
Through all that Samuel was intended by God to be — judge, priest, and prophet. (John 5:30; Hebrews 7:26; Acts 7:37)