I Samuel 12:3 Behold, here I am: witness against me before the LORD, and before his anointed: whose ox have I taken? or whose ass have I taken? or whom have I defrauded? whom have I oppressed? or of whose hand have I received any bribe to blind mine eyes therewith? and I will restore it you.
4 And they said, Thou hast not defrauded us, nor oppressed us, neither hast thou taken ought of any man’s hand.
5 And he said unto them, The LORD is witness against you, and his anointed is witness this day, that ye have not found ought in my hand. And they answered, He is witness.
6 And Samuel said unto the people, It is the LORD that advanced Moses and Aaron, and that brought your fathers up out of the land of Egypt.
7 Now therefore stand still, that I may reason with you before the LORD of all the righteous acts of the LORD, which he did to you and to your fathers.
8 When Jacob was come into Egypt, and your fathers cried unto the LORD, then the LORD sent Moses and Aaron, which brought forth your fathers out of Egypt, and made them dwell in this place.
9 And when they forgat the LORD their God, he sold them into the hand of Sisera, captain of the host of Hazor, and into the hand of the Philistines, and into the hand of the king of Moab, and they fought against them.
10 And they cried unto the LORD, and said, We have sinned, because we have forsaken the LORD, and have served Baalim and Ashtaroth: but now deliver us out of the hand of our enemies, and we will serve thee.
11 And the LORD sent Jerubbaal, and Bedan, and Jephthah, and Samuel, and delivered you out of the hand of your enemies on every side, and ye dwelled safe.
12 And when ye saw that Nahash the king of the children of Ammon came against you, ye said unto me, Nay; but a king shall reign over us: when the LORD your God was your king.
13 Now therefore behold the king whom ye have chosen, and whom ye have desired! and, behold, the LORD hath set a king over you.
14 If ye will fear the LORD, and serve him, and obey his voice, and not rebel against the commandment of the LORD, then shall both ye and also the king that reigneth over you continue following the LORD your God:
15 But if ye will not obey the voice of the LORD, but rebel against the commandment of the LORD, then shall the hand of the LORD be against you, as it was against your fathers.
16 Now therefore stand and see this great thing, which the LORD will do before your eyes.
17 Is it not wheat harvest to day? I will call unto the LORD, and he shall send thunder and rain; that ye may perceive and see that your wickedness is great, which ye have done in the sight of the LORD, in asking you a king.
18 So Samuel called unto the LORD; and the LORD sent thunder and rain that day: and all the people greatly feared the LORD and Samuel.
19 And all the people said unto Samuel, Pray for thy servants unto the LORD thy God, that we die not: for we have added unto all our sins this evil, to ask us a king.
20 And Samuel said unto the people, Fear not: ye have done all this wickedness: yet turn not aside from following the LORD, but serve the LORD with all your heart;
21 And turn ye not aside: for then should ye go after vain things, which cannot profit nor deliver; for they are vain.
22 For the LORD will not forsake his people for his great name’s sake: because it hath pleased the LORD to make you his people.
23 Moreover as for me, God forbid that I should sin against the LORD in ceasing to pray for you: but I will teach you the good and the right way:
24 Only fear the LORD, and serve him in truth with all your heart: for consider how great things he hath done for you.
25 But if ye shall still do wickedly, ye shall be consumed, both ye and your king.
Eli was the priest, but he had behaved himself like a modern day New Evangelical. He was not willing to live according to the Word of God. He was pandering to his two rebel sons. He told them what they were doing was not right, but he refused to stop them. They were not fit to be priests. They were his sons, but they had no business in the priesthood. However, he allowed them to continue to corrupt that high office. God would take them out. He would also remove Eli from the priesthood. He would take a new man that was not a part of that corrupt organization.
Hannah was a God-fearing woman who found herself in a place she would not like. Having to compete with another woman in marriage is never good. Her husband thought he could purchase her love and devotion. Money never brings satisfaction. There are many people who spend thousands of dollars and they think they are achieving the joy and happiness they long for. Yet we find that families that live for this world, will find trouble down the road.
We need to remember that God is not telling us that multiple marriages are acceptable to Him. He shows us the nature of man. Lost man digs a hole and cannot find his way out of it unless he gets saved. Saved people can and do sin, but they can also find forgiveness in confessing their sin to God. He is willing to hear the repentant heart. He is willing to forgive sin. Don’t look at the sins of man and try to justify your sin. Look to the holiness of God and understand that He still requires holiness of man and He alone provides the way to live a holy life.
We heard the tragic events of the 31 year old man in Louisiana who murdered 8 children and tried to kill the two women he had tried to satisfy his lusts with. Eventually the police took that man out. They saved the state thousands of dollars in litigation. The North American legal system is very ineffective. Criminals suck tax payer dollars to try to get away with various crimes. The average citizen has no recourse. Taking matters into our own hands is not the answer.
As we noted, things were not good in the days of Eli. Eli was removed by the Lord. The Philistines killed his sons. That did not shock him as much as the fact that they took the Ark of the covenant captive. Eli’s sons had tried to use that Ark as a good luck charm. Eli had not stopped them from doing that either. God took care of that.
He showed the Philistines that He was not a puppet they could play with. They discovered that the God of Israel was not to be mocked. Their false god was knocked down and the citizens of the Philistine cities suffered greatly for mocking the true God. There was no one there to show them what they really needed to do. Eventually, they sent that Ark back into Israel on a new cart, driven by two young milk cows who had their young calves taken away from them.
Those cows did not go looking for their calves as would have been the normal thing to do. They went lowing along the way right toward Israel. God proved Himself to be real and holy. The Philistines got a glimpse of Who the true God is. The nation of Israel also learned the importance of respecting the true God.
Samuel was chosen by God to be the priest to bring order back into Israel. He did not need weapons to do that. He needed to teach the law of God. When the fear of God is proclaimed it makes a big difference in the lives of the people.
When people assume they can play around with God and pick and choose what they want to keep of His law, things do not go very good at all.
Samuel needed to take that precious Word of God and he needed to immerse himself in that first of all. Then he needed to walk before the nation in a righteous manner. His sons also ended up rejecting the truth. The people saw that and they decided a king would fix their problems. God did not judge Samuel as He had Eli. Samuel was not guilty of allowing his sons to corrupt God’s law.
A human king was not the solution for the nation. God would reveal that to them. They failed to see the necessity of trusting in the Lord alone. King Saul would be a very oppressive king. He did not mind taxing the people and using the money to go against God. He tried to kill God’s choice of a good king. Eventually king Saul died in battle. He died a disgrace to his office. He chose not to abide by that precious Word of God. The people also did not appreciate the precious Word of God. However, God was merciful and after He showed them the nature of the kind of a king they wanted, He showed them the kind of a king He required. David was not without sin. However, David had a different heart than many others. God could work with him. God could show him the right way to live. God could show the nation the importance of submitting to Him.
The ultimate King we need to know is the Lord Jesus Christ. He is not oppressive. He is holy and just. He does require holiness of His followers. He provides the power to be sons of God. That power is not in the foolishness of the Charismatics. It is the power to say no to sin and yes to God.
The hope of man is not found in man. It is found in knowing the true God. It is found in submitting to the true God. If we want to be blessed we need to know and follow Him.
Pastor Bartel