The King Speech (1 Samuel 8)

In 1260 AD, Iceland was ready for a king. For 300 years their society operated under a unique political system where chieftains agreed to a common code.^[1] But in the 13th century, Iceland was in chaos amid internal disputes. And so, they agreed to come under the rule of Norway’s king.

He promised to bring stability and peace to the region. Of course, to accomplish that he’d need to be given total legislative power so he could give them a new set of laws.^[2] He’d have total control of trade in and out of the nation.^[3] And, naturally, he’d need them to pay a new set of taxes.^[4]

The stability Iceland hoped for didn’t arrive immediately. It took a century for the new system to be put in place.^[5] Meanwhile, Norway itself was in decline. In 1319, Norway’s king died and the throne was left to his 3 year old grandson. In the late 1300s, Norway came under Danish rule,^[6] meaning Iceland was now the dependent of a dependent.^[7]

For Icelanders, the 14th century became “the struggle for rights” against the monarchy.^[8] By the 17th century the king’s grip on trade led to scarcity of food, equipment, and household goods.^[9]

By the 19th century, Iceland wanted no more kings. But they wouldn’t be free of the crown until the 1944 vote on independence. It passed with 99.5% approval after a whopping 98.4% turnout.^[10]

In 1 Samuel 8 we have the record of the nation of Israel coming to Samuel and demanding a king. They’re not just asking for a new leader, but a new system. This is a significant scene, historically speaking. But what we need to understand is that this is not just an interesting development in political history. This is a pivotal moment. As God’s people pivot away from following God and instead repeat again the same mistake that Adam and Eve made in the Garden of Eden. And the warning God gives them is a warning we need to take to heart so that we do not deceive ourselves into the bondage and exploitation that always comes when we kick God off the throne of our lives.

1 Samuel 8:1-3 – ¹ When Samuel grew old, he appointed his sons as judges over Israel. ² His firstborn son’s name was Joel and his second was Abijah. They were judges in Beer-sheba. ³ However, his sons did not walk in his ways—they turned toward dishonest profit, took bribes, and perverted justice.

There was a 20 year gap in chapter 7 between verses 1 and 2. Here we have another decades-long gap. Samuel is no longer a young man. And we’re sad to see that his sons have become a lot like Eli’s sons. They weren’t as bad, but they, too, were corrupt personally and professionally.

The difference is Samuel was not complicit in their wickedness the way Eli had been. In chapter 12, Samuel gives the whole nation an opportunity to bring any charges of impropriety against him and they all agree, “No, you’ve been absolutely upright.” And God signs off on it, too.

But was Samuel wrong to appoint his sons as judges? Some commentators call this Samuel’s “tragic mistake.”^[11] They say it looks like he was trying to set up a dynasty of his own.

We know Samuel was faithful. He upheld God’s word and obeyed it. It doesn’t seem like he was appointing Joel and Abijah as judges in the Samson/Ehud sense, but in the sense of telling people the Law and helping settle disputes. That was something God’s leaders were supposed to do, according to Deuteronomy 16. But his sons were not fulfilling the rest of the command, which was to judge righteously.^[12] In fact, they did the opposite of what the text specifically says.

1 Samuel 8:4-6 – ⁴ So all the elders of Israel gathered together and went to Samuel at Ramah. ⁵ They said to him, “Look, you are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways. Therefore, appoint a king to judge us the same as all the other nations have.” ⁶ When they said, “Give us a king to judge us,” Samuel considered their demand wrong, so he prayed to the LORD.

The people use Samuel’s sons as an excuse, but they’re not the real reason. Twice in this chapter they say, “we want to be the same as the other nations.” When it was Eli’s sons, the faithful of Israel put up with it because they still wanted to come and worship the Lord. They still trusted the Lord. They knew God’s faithfulness was bigger than how they were being mistreated in Shiloh.

But now, the nation doesn’t only want away from Samuel’s sons, they want away from God Himself. They are asking for a fundamental change to their national constitution.^[13] Spiritually, it’s even worse. We’ll see how God describes it in a moment.

But let’s remember that the way we walk influences people. If we honor God and obey God, we can make an impact for the Gospel. But when we do not obey God, when we do not walk by faith, when we are not holy and distinct from the culture around us, it gives people a reason to stay in their sin. Now, people are responsible for themselves, but your life makes a difference to either attract people to Jesus or repel them from Him.

They say, “Your sons don’t walk in your ways so we’re going to just bail on our national relationship with God altogether.” Your witness matters. We’re not perfect, but let’s be Samuel, not Abijah.

1 Samuel 8:7-9 – ⁷ But the LORD told him, “Listen to the people and everything they say to you. They have not rejected you; they have rejected me as their king. ⁸ They are doing the same thing to you that they have done to me, since the day I brought them out of Egypt until this day, abandoning me and worshiping other gods. ⁹ Listen to them, but solemnly warn them and tell them about the customary rights of the king who will reign over them.”

This was way more than a different political party winning an election. God describes it as a rejection – that Israel despised Him.^[14] They want Him out of office altogether.

Spiritually speaking, they were already seeing other people. They’re worshiping other gods. It had been true for a long time. But now is the moment they ask for the divorce.

This is what happens when we indulge sin or idolatry in our lives. We can try to downplay it or rationalize it or say it won’t take over our hearts, but this is the result. And our inner choices to not go God’s way not only has an impact on the rest of our relationship with Him, but that sin starts bearing fruit and growing weeds and making wider impact through us, even at the societal level.

Why is the world the way it is? Because of sin. Because the sin nature within us wants to rebel against God’s rule over our lives. The people came saying, “We don’t have a king and we want one.” But, no, they had a King. God was their King. But Him they did not want.

They tried to blame it on Joel and Abijah, but it wasn’t about Samuel’s sons, it was about Israel’s hearts. As one scholar notes, this was the political manifestation of a spiritual problem.^[15]

Now God does something amazing here: He grants their request. Israel is committing treason. It’s terrible infidelity. But God does not force us to love Him or obey Him. He allows them to have what they want. But, because He loves His people, He tells Samuel to warn them what that will mean. He uses is formal legal language.^[16] If this is what they want, let them know what it will cost. Just as God warned Adam and Eve about what would happen if they ate from that tree in the Garden.

1 Samuel 8:10-18 – ¹⁰ Samuel told all the LORD’s words to the people who were asking him for a king. ¹¹ He said, “These are the rights of the king who will reign over you: He will take your sons and put them to his use in his chariots, on his horses, or running in front of his chariots. ¹² He can appoint them for his use as commanders of thousands or commanders of fifties, to plow his ground and reap his harvest, or to make his weapons of war and the equipment for his chariots. ¹³ He can take your daughters to become perfumers, cooks, and bakers. ¹⁴ He can take your best fields, vineyards, and olive orchards and give them to his servants. ¹⁵ He can take a tenth of your grain and your vineyards and give them to his officials and servants. ¹⁶ He can take your male servants, your female servants, your best cattle, and your donkeys and use them for his work. ¹⁷ He can take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves can become his servants. ¹⁸ When that day comes, you will cry out because of the king you’ve chosen for yourselves, but the LORD won’t answer you on that day.”

Side effects include dizziness, nausea, depression, and, vomiting. “Give me the pill anyway, doc.” This is a case where Samuel was trying to get them not to take this medicine. The side effects wouldn’t be pleasant. Of course, these things wouldn’t happen overnight. But they would happen.

When Iceland first came under the rule of Norway’s king, the effects weren’t felt immediately. But eventually the king realized that he could use Iceland for personal revenue. He started renting out the governorship of the island. Wealthy people purchased control, then could collect and keep any taxes they got from the people.^[17] Obviously this led to terrible abuses.

Samuel warns the people that the king will have the right to tax them, to take what he wants from them, and to tell them to do what he wanted. He was the law.

We’ve heard people use the phrase “Texas justice.” This is Rexes justice. He does what he wants. He takes what he wants. So, rather than being the King’s children, which is what they are under God’s sovereign rule, they become the king’s commodities to be exploited. The nation no longer exists to flourish under God’s grace, but to furnish a man’s palace and empire – to become the fuel to the machine of his pleasure and his war mongering and his amassed wealth.

Samuel gives a pretty pessimistic outlook. But how many really great kings have there been in human history? In truth, there’s only been one and He is the once and future King, Jesus Christ. But they’re rejecting the goodness of God for the perceived greatness of some theoretical king.

Now remember: They didn’t need a king. What just happened in chapter 7? God delivered them in battle. But they no longer wanted that kind of relationship with the Lord and that’s why He said at the end there, “On that day, when you call to Me, I’m not going to answer you.” It’s not because He was being mean or pouting. It’s that God will allow us to experience the consequences of the choices we make. When we demand to sin, to rebel against Him, then He will allow us to have what we want. If you want misery, you can have it. But don’t expect God to pull you out of your self-inflicted consequences when He has warned you exactly what will happen.

With that said, though He was going to allow them to experience the consequences of their choices, He still promised not to abandon them. We’ll see that in chapter 12. But don’t confuse God’s grace for His approval.

1 Samuel 8:19-20 – ¹⁹ The people refused to listen to Samuel. “No!” they said. “We must have a king over us. ²⁰ Then we’ll be like all the other nations: our king will judge us, go out before us, and fight our battles.”

Our battles? This is the Lord’s army and they are His battles. Every time God’s people go out to do their own battles, the result is failure and loss. But when Samuel warns them, they just say, “NO! We must have a king.” He’s going to look so great executing military maneuvers for us.^[18]

We’ll learn that part of their desire for a king was because the Ammonites were starting to be a real threat. So you had Ammonites to the east, Philistines to the west, but God had been faithful to deliver them, even just one chapter ago. This was about being like the other nations. They wanted to be a worldly people, led by an impressive king. They wanted freedom from God. But freedom from God is actually defeat, bondage, and death.

The irony is: What guarantee did they have that their king would be a good one? I mean, they claim they must have a monarchy because, after all, Joel and Abijah aren’t good guys. Ok, well what happens when your king isn’t a good guy? When it’s not just some bribes happening in Beersheba, but when your whole life is at the disposal of a tyrant?

But they’re just fooling themselves. This is about a heart that wants to be out from under God’s control. This is about a group of people who did not want to submit to the Lord’s leading. It was wise in their own eyes. Good in their own eyes. What does God know, anyway?

1 Samuel 8:21-22 – ²¹ Samuel listened to all the people’s words and then repeated them to the LORD. ²² “Listen to them,” the LORD told Samuel. “Appoint a king for them.”

Then Samuel told the men of Israel, “Each of you, go back to your city.”

Go home to the allotted land given to you by God. Able to live at peace despite the Philistines because of God. Meanwhile, the people say, “Just pick somebody.” Did they hear themselves? But this wasn’t about getting a new king, it was about getting rid of the rightful King.

Are we willing to honor God as King? Are we willing to obey what He commands? From the beginning, human hearts want to rebel. We’ve often willing to believe the lie that some other king would be better. But it’s never true. Things are always worse when we rebel against the Lord.

And we don’t want to be like the world. For one thing, friendship with the world means enmity with God. But on top of that, the world is in terrible shape. There’s no hope waiting for us in man’s kingdom.

Meanwhile, what kind of King is our God? Good. True. Gracious. Kind. Generous. Loving. Mindful of us. A King Who opens His treasury to save us, to help us, to bless us. The King of love our Shepherd is – His goodness faileth never. Let’s not drift toward wanting independence from Him. Instead, let us once again make a declaration of dependence in our hearts to the Lord our God, our King forever. Worshiping Him. Waiting on Him. Serving Him. Following Him with our hearts, with our lives, today.

Brawl Along The Watchtower (1 Samuel 7:2-17)

Charles Jenkins was an army deserter. In 1965 he was stationed along the DMZ between North and South Korea. He was afraid of being killed by patrolling guards or, worse, being sent to combat in Vietnam. So, one night, he got drunk and walked through the mine-infested no man’s land.^[1]

He assumed he’d be able to go to the Soviet embassy, be granted asylum, and then shortly be sent back home in a prisoner swap. But after one day he realized he’d made the worst mistake of his life. For 40 years he endured imprisonment, torture, near starvation, and absolute hopelessness.

North Korean doctors removed two of his organs. Once, when his US Army tattoo was spotted, his captors cut it off him with a knife and scissors. We was regularly beaten.

Finally, in 2004, Charles was allowed to leave. After arriving in Japan, he marched into a US Army base, saluted the lieutenant colonel there and said, “Sir, I’m Sergeant Jenkins, and I’m reporting.”

Charles was the longest missing defector to return to duty in army history.^[2] But returning home wasn’t without cost. The charges against him – deserting his post and aiding the enemy – were capital offenses. The statute of limitations was 40 years. Charles had been gone 39 and a half.^[3] But he returned. He admitted his guilt. And though there was a price to pay, he was shown mercy.

In 1 Samuel 7, we see a nation of spiritual defectors. After more than 20 years, they realize they want to return to a relationship with the living God. It’s going to cost them something. And, when they come back, everything in life doesn’t magically get better. In fact, at first things get very scary. But where chapter 4 was one of the lowest points of their history, chapter 7 becomes one of the pinnacles of faith, of reconciliation, of piety and promise and providence. And here we see what it means to return to the Lord, not just with our emotions, but with the motion of our lives.

1 Samuel 7:2 – ² Time went by until twenty years had passed since the ark had been taken to Kiriath-jearim. Then the whole house of Israel longed for the LORD.

God’s people weren’t just in political trouble, they were in terrible spiritual trouble. Every indication is that not only was Shiloh destroyed, but that they had no tabernacle for these 20 years.

What does that mean? No corporate worship. No annual sacrifices. No central gathering of the people to hear from the Lord. It was a total breakdown of their national relationship with God.

That doesn’t mean no one was faithful. There were people like Samuel, like Hannah and Elkanah, like Ruth and Boaz. But nationally speaking, they are in desperate need of renewal and revival.

Finally, a 20 year disruption, the people start to long for the Lord. The phrase means they wept repentantly.^[4] That they turned after Yahweh.^[5] It reminds us that God can always be found. He wants to have a real, communicative, directive, growing relationship with you. And because of that, He promises, “You will find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. I will be found by you.”^[6]

After all these years of doing what’s right in their own eyes, of not listening to God, how could they return? They had treasonously defected from their God yet again. Would He accept them?

1 Samuel 7:3-4 – ³ Samuel told them, “If you are returning to the LORD with all your heart, get rid of the foreign gods and the Ashtoreths that are among you, set your hearts on the LORD, and worship only him. Then he will rescue you from the Philistines.” ⁴ So the Israelites removed the Baals and the Ashtoreths and only worshiped the LORD.

Before we see what the people needed to do, first notice what God had already done. When they finally turned their hearts to Him, we immediately see Samuel. Samuel has been gone for three chapters – off the page for more than 20 years. But God had providentially put Samuel in place and had faithfully raised him up so that the moment they were ready to repent, God had a man there to show them the way back home. It’s an amazing demonstration of God’s long work of grace.

Now, what Samuel said was it is one thing to feel, it’s another to follow. There are plenty of times when we feel a certain way toward God – we feel conviction, we feel badly about sin, or we feel inspired to devote ourselves more fully to His work – but do we follow in discipleship?

Jesus ran into people who had big feelings. Then He’d say, “Follow Me.” But many weren’t willing to go from feeling to following. But remember, we’re not only called to belief, but discipleship.

Samuel says, “Returning to the Lord must include renouncing these sinful things you’ve been doing.” We learn, tragically, that the house of Israel had been worshipping the Baals and his female counterparts the Ashtoreths.^[7] It was time to stop trying to serve more than one Master.

When Samuel says, “Get rid of” these gods, it means to set something down and not pick it up again.^[8] They needed to purge their lives of sin. To recognize idolatry for what it was and turn away.

But then it wasn’t just purging, but also pursuing. “Set your hearts on the Lord.” Samuel references their hearts twice. It wasn’t only about following rules, but devoting their lives.

In the end it was love that got Charles Jenkins out of captivity. After many years, his keepers forced him to marry a Japanese woman they kidnapped. They ended up falling in love for real. Because North Korea needed to improve relations with Japan, in 2002 they let her go. She then worked for a pardon for her husband. Charles said their love gave him the strength to survive.

Great spiritual revival doesn’t start from the outside in. It must start in the heart. That’s what God wants. Yes, He wants your hands, your tongue, your plans, your life, but if you don’t want to give Him your heart, He’s not satisfied with the rest. Does your heart long for the Lord?

This is always the decision we’re presented with: Love God, pursue Him, or don’t. It’s what Jacob said to his family. It’s what Joshua said to the tribes of Israel. And when asked what the most important command is, Jesus said, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself.” And if we think we’re immune from idolatry because we don’t bow before carvings of Baal, we’re fooling ourselves. What is in your heart toward Jesus?

Here’s the good news: Anyone could do what Samuel told them to do. Meaning everyone could be brought into a thriving relationship with the living God of grace and power. And if we will love Him, then the worship will flow and the right relationship with develop.

1 Samuel 7:5-6 – ⁵ Samuel said, “Gather all Israel at Mizpah, and I will pray to the LORD on your behalf.” ⁶ When they gathered at Mizpah, they drew water and poured it out in the LORD’s presence. They fasted that day, and there they confessed, “We have sinned against the LORD.” And Samuel judged the Israelites at Mizpah.

Mizpah. Our author wants us to pay attention to this place. He uses the name seven times between verse 5 and 15. When the Bible repeats itself, there’s something to discover.

The exact location of Mizpah is disputed between a couple of sites, but it was somewhere in the land of Benjamin, in the geographic middle of the Promised Land.^[9] Which means that far away tribes had equal travel. And roads entered Benjamin from the north, south, east, and west.

The Hebrew name means “Watchtower,”^[10] or “the Outlook.”^[11] Both possible locations were elevated, giving a great view all around. More importantly, Mizpah had been the place where Israel gathered to plan their revenge against the Benjaminites.^[12] Now God gathers them in repentance. And from that place they are reminded that God is their fortress, God is their Commander, God is their strong tower. That God has given them a life to lead, not according to what is right in their own eyes, with their own designs and headings, but a life lived according to His plans for them.

And there, they have this sweet worship service, where they proclaim that God’s faithful love is better than life. They pray and fast and confess. They don’t only feel badly, they own their guilt.

Charles Jenkins understood that it would cost him something, but he plead guilty at his court martial. He wanted to clear his conscience, even after all those decades.^[13]

We have to confess our guilt to the Lord. At first, Charles’ defense attorney sought a discharge in lieu of trial. But that would not do. In a similar way, God has dealt with your sin. He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, but we must confess. Not just ignore, not just rationalize, but confess “We have sinned against the Lord.” And then God does His work of forgiving and healing and restoring.

1 Samuel 7:7-8 – ⁷ When the Philistines heard that the Israelites had gathered at Mizpah, their rulers marched up toward Israel. When the Israelites heard about it, they were afraid because of the Philistines. ⁸ The Israelites said to Samuel, “Don’t stop crying out to the LORD our God for us, so that he will save us from the Philistines.”

All these people gathering and then performing a religious ritual probably looked a lot like a military action to the Philistines, so they decide to preemptively attack.^[14]

Right when the people return to the Lord what happens? The enemy tries to destroy them. “Wait, Lord, I don’t want this kind of opposition or trouble!” But remember, when the sower sows the seed on the soil of our hearts, Satan tries to come like a bird and devour it to keep us from growing. Of course we will face trials when we step toward God in devotion and obedience!

Let’s notice two things here. First, the Israelites believed, but they were afraid. Most of us know the Bible has many commands to not fear. We’re given that reminder over and over because we tend to be afraid! How is the Lord going to provide? How is He going to solve this problem? How is He going to come through? Following Jesus can be scary. And it’s not just us, it was the apostles, too. It’s ok when we find ourselves afraid. What God doesn’t want is for us to stay afraid. We can choose to trust Him. We can choose to acknowledge His faithfulness. Yes, they were afraid. But notice this second aspect: When they were afraid, they trusted in the Lord’s power and His promise.

In verse 3, He promised to deliver them. Now is the moment. The Philistines are here. God’s people said, “Keep praying. Keep worshiping! God, save us!” And you know what I love about what they said? They said, “Don’t stop crying out to the Lord our God.” So often in the Bible you see people say, “The Lord your God.” But here, the Israelites are in, even as the enemy marches up the road.

1 Samuel 7:9-11 – ⁹ Then Samuel took a young lamb and offered it as a whole burnt offering to the LORD. He cried out to the LORD on behalf of Israel, and the LORD answered him. ¹⁰ Samuel was offering the burnt offering as the Philistines approached to fight against Israel. The LORD thundered loudly against the Philistines that day and threw them into such confusion that they were defeated by Israel. ¹¹ Then the men of Israel charged out of Mizpah and pursued the Philistines striking them down all the way to a place below Beth-car.

Here come the Philistines. What do the Israelites do? They worship. No other preparations! In their moment of crisis, the people say, “What we need is our Lord to answer.” And that’s exactly what He does. He answers with thunder and power and protection.

And here we have yet another fulfillment of Hannah’s prophetic song. “Those who oppose the LORD will be shattered; He will thunder in the heavens against them.”^[15]

Meanwhile, we’ve seen how the Philistines were worried about not being like Egypt, yet they did harden their hearts against God’s revelation. So they suffer the same fate as Pharaoh’s army.^[16]

1 Samuel 7:12-14 – ¹² Afterward, Samuel took a stone and set it upright between Mizpah and Shen. He named it Ebenezer, explaining, “The LORD has helped us to this point.” ¹³ So the Philistines were subdued and did not invade Israel’s territory again. The LORD’s hand was against the Philistines all of Samuel’s life. ¹⁴ The cities from Ekron to Gath, which they had taken from Israel, were restored; Israel even rescued their surrounding territories from Philistine control. There was also peace between Israel and the Amorites.

If you’ve ever sang Come Thou Fount Of Every Blessing and wondered what in the world that line “Here I raise my Ebenezer” meant, this is what it’s referencing.

The stone is set up along this ridge road so that any traveler would see it, be reminded, and reflect on God’s active goodness and faithfulness toward His people.^[17] It may have even been inscribed with an account of this glorious deliverance.^[18]

And why did it happen? Not because they trotted the Ark out. Not because they had the most elite military. Because they repented and walked with God. Because they were living personal revival.

And did you notice how it throws in that line about the Amorites at the end? The Philistines were enemies from outside Israel’s borders. The Amorites lived inside the borders. Which means, God gave them peace externally and internally.^[19] But, more than that, this line about the Amorites shows us God did more than they asked for! God went above and beyond.

Who is your help? We’ve seen a helpful rock in Israel’s history before this story. In the wilderness, they were supplied water by the rock. That rock was Christ.^[20] And our Rock is Christ. We’re supposed to drink from Him. He is our help. He is our victory. Our Champion. Our King.

1 Samuel 7:15-17 – ¹⁵ Samuel judged Israel throughout his life. ¹⁶ Every year he would go on a circuit to Bethel, Gilgal, and Mizpah and would judge Israel at all these locations. ¹⁷ Then he would return to Ramah because his home was there, he judged Israel there, and he built an altar to the LORD there.

Notice: Samuel is not a priest. He’s a judge and a prophet and the leader of Israel. Why isn’t he serving before the Lord in Shiloh? Because there is no Shiloh, no Tabernacle, so he does this annual circuit, bringing God’s people the word and leading them.

I think there’s a sweet note here: He’s back in Ramah. Who else lives in Ramah? His mom and dad. We’re not told directly, but we have no reason to believe they’re dead. It seems the son they gave to the Lord was restored to them. By one estimate, Samuel might be 33 years old in this passage.^[21]

God does such great things for His people. He has so much love, such good intentions for us. We could inscribe in stone so many faithful things He has done on our behalf. Do we also have a testimony of how we have followed Him? Have we stayed at our post as disciples? Or have we defected toward some other kingdom, some other allegiance, some other pursuit?

You know, this passage starts with the words, “Time went by.” It’s sort of innocuous, until we consider the terrible ramifications of lives lived decades without the Lord. It’s like saying of Charles Jenkins, “time went by.” The loss he endured. The life he could have lived.

In the end, thanks to love and humility and willingness to confess, Charles made it out. There were three other defectors he was forced to live in a tiny room with. He was the only to make it home alive. He lived out the rest of his years with his wife and daughters on a small, Japanese island.

When he came and confessed what he had done, there was a price to pay. He was taken into custody, and yes, he was court-martialed. But the Army gave him a uniform, gave him an advocate to defend him, and gave him an advance payment for soldiers in need of financial assistance. Whereas the people he defected to spent decades savagely harming him.

Are you in relationship with God? Is He speaking to you? Directing you? Are you obeying Him? Growing in Him? If not, it’s not because He left us. Did you see what Samuel said? “If you are returning to the Lord.” It was them who left, not God. He is always ready to be in relationship with us. He is what your life needs. But it’s not just about feeling a certain way. It’s about following. It’s about devoting your life to a God Who has devoted Himself to you. A God Who will do more than we can ask or imagine. Because He’s that good and that gracious. But He works in the lives of those who abide in Him. When we don’t abide in Christ, our life withers. Step toward the Lord today. Open your heart to Him. Cultivate the love you have for the God Who loves you. And see what great things He will do in and through your life as you follow His leading.

This Is The Plague That The Lord Has Made (1 Samuel 5:1-7:1)

On July 14, 1518, a woman walked out onto the cobbled street outside her home in Strasbourg and began dancing.^[1] She danced until the dark of night, where she collapsed in exhaustion. The next morning she awoke and began dancing again. People came to watch the strange spectacle as she danced day after day. But then something much stranger happened: Others joined her. Within days there were thirty people dancing uncontrollably and unable to stop.

A month later, as many as 400 people were afflicted with what is known as “the dancing plague.”^[2] It seems ridiculous, but it is very well documented by physicians’ notes, cathedral sermons, local and regional chronicles, and Strasbourg’s city council records.

The plague turned fatal. Constant dancing led to heart attacks, strokes,^[3] and wounds that filled shoes with blood. The death toll was as high as 15 people per day. Still, the dancing continued.

Believe it or not, this was not an isolated event. Between 1374 and 1518 there were ten recorded outbreaks in France, Switzerland, Germany, and Holland.

In Strasbourg, the popular opinion was people had been cursed by St. Vitus, patron of epileptics and dancers. Eventually the dancers were taken in wagons to a town thirty miles away where there was a shrine to St. Vitus. There, they were told to dance before the shrine and pray for absolution.

In our text this morning, we have the record of a bizarre plague. On one level it is humorous as we see the bumbling Philistines unable to withstand the awesome power of God. They had crushed Israel’s armies but now an inanimate box shows itself to be greater than their armies, greater than their kings, greater than their diviners, and greater than their god. We watch Yahweh conquer city after city with no need for sword or shield. The Philistines are forced to acknowledge the unmatched power and sovereignty of the God of Israel.

It’s a great story. But there’s more than humor here. This is a story about God’s holiness and how – though merciful – He is not happy when anyone defies His commands or ignores His precepts.

1 Samuel 5:1-5 – ¹ After the Philistines had captured the ark of God, they took it from Ebenezer to Ashdod, ² brought it into the temple of Dagon, and placed it next to his statue. ³ When the people of Ashdod got up early the next morning, there was Dagon, fallen with his face to the ground before the ark of the LORD. So they took Dagon and returned him to his place. ⁴ But when they got up early the next morning, there was Dagon, fallen with his face to the ground before the ark of the LORD. This time, Dagon’s head and both of his hands were broken off and lying on the threshold. Only Dagon’s torso remained. ⁵ That is why, still today, the priests of Dagon and everyone who enters the temple of Dagon in Ashdod do not step on Dagon’s threshold.

The Philistines bring the ark into the temple of Dagon as a prisoner of war. It was widely believed that if you captured an enemy’s god, they were completely conquered.^[4]

Dagon worship actually stretches back to the 18th century B.C. and persisted all the way until the 1st century B.C.^[5] In some pagan writings, he was depicted as Baal’s father. He was one of Philistia’s national deities.

While in Dagon’s temple, Yahweh defeats him, twice. First, Dagon bows in worship, then he’s broken apart. It is reminiscent of the two-fold victory the Philistines had just won over Israel.^[6]

Do you know what this shows us? Yahweh’s sovereignty extends even into Dagon’s temple.^[7] There is no place where God is not in charge. God was sending a clear message to the Philistines: Your god did not help you beat Israel. Yahweh allowed them to win. To prove it, Yahweh first shows Dagon as subservient, then the next day as slain. His head and hands are off – Dagon is dead.

The sad fact is that the Philistines continued to worship a dead god. Did you notice verse 3? They returned Dagon to his place. He was unable to keep himself on his pedestal, let alone win a battle.

What are you trusting your future to? Not just your afterlife, but your life right now? What is on the pedestal? If it is not the Rock of Christ, remember all other ground is sinking sand. If it’s your wealth or your talent or your work ethic or your good deeds, remember what we read in Jeremiah 16:

Jeremiah 16:20 – ²⁰ Can one make gods for himself? But they are not gods.

The Philistines’ god is powerless. Silent. But they learn the wrong lesson. Just prop him back up and don’t step on the threshold. They should’ve listened to what the living God was revealing, because the next act was not against a statue of stone, but against them.

1 Samuel 5:6-12 – ⁶ The LORD’s hand was heavy on the people of Ashdod. He terrified the people of Ashdod and its territory and afflicted them with tumors. ⁷ When the people of Ashdod saw what was happening, they said, “The ark of Israel’s God must not stay here with us, because his hand is strongly against us and our god Dagon.” ⁸ So they called all the Philistine rulers together and asked, “What should we do with the ark of Israel’s God?”

“The ark of Israel’s God should be moved to Gath,” they replied. So they moved the ark of Israel’s God. ⁹ After they had moved it, the LORD’s hand was against the city of Gath, causing a great panic. He afflicted the people of the city, from the youngest to the oldest, with an outbreak of tumors. ¹⁰ The people of Gath then sent the ark of God to Ekron, but when it got there, the Ekronites cried out, “They’ve moved the ark of Israel’s God to us to kill us and our people!” ¹¹ The Ekronites called all the Philistine rulers together. They said, “Send the ark of Israel’s God away. Let it return to its place so it won’t kill us and our people!” For the fear of death pervaded the city; God’s hand was oppressing them. ¹² Those who did not die were afflicted with tumors, and the outcry of the city went up to heaven.

Dagon hands broke off before the ark. Meanwhile, God’s hand was heavy against these cities. The Bible explains that our God is a hands on God. His hand can be upon you for strength, for comfort, to empower you for service. Or it can be heavy in judgment against those who reject Him.

Based off the Hebrew words used, many scholars believe the Lord may have afflicted them with the bubonic plague.^[8] It doesn’t have to be a normal plague, but the descriptions fit the bill.

No one knew what to do. So they start shuttling the ark around, hoping the problem will go away.

Strasbourg’s city leaders didn’t know what to do either. At one point, they constructed stages, brought in musicians to play for the dancers. They even had strong townsfolk stay near the dancers and, whenever they collapsed, they stood them back up. The physicians in the city believed the only treatment would be to dance themselves free of it. Naturally, this only made things worse.

The Philistines all understood that Yahweh was attacking them. They said, “His hand is strongly against us and our god Dagon.” But, rather than repent, rather than go in humility to Israel for help, they just send the ark to the next town and hope things will turn out better. But not only did things not get better, they kept getting worse. Finally, the whole nation is crying out. The term used here is an intense one, speaking of people in anguish and at their breaking point.^[9]

It would’ve been hard for them to repent, but they could do it. Consider Nineveh in the book of Jonah. Notice how they are somewhat familiar with the Exodus story. But they don’t stop to say, “Ok, what does this awesome and powerful God actually want?” Had they asked that question, maybe they could’ve found an Israelite neighbor who would explain Deuteronomy 28 to them. Where God said to Israel, “If you don’t obey Me and carefully follow all My commands and statutes, I’m going to afflict you with things like madness and tumors. Or you can be in covenant with Me.”

Now, we’re not Philistines. We’re also not Jews. We’re not under the Law of Moses and are not subject to its curses. But God expects us to carefully follow His commands and precepts. That’s what it means to build our house upon the Rock. We hear God’s words and act on them.^[10]

1 Samuel 6:1-9 – ¹ When the ark of the LORD had been in Philistine territory for seven months, ² the Philistines summoned the priests and the diviners and pleaded, “What should we do with the ark of the LORD? Tell us how we can send it back to its place.” ³ They replied, “If you send the ark of Israel’s God away, do not send it without an offering. Send back a guilt offering to him, and you will be healed. Then the reason his hand hasn’t been removed from you will be revealed.” ⁴ They asked, “What guilt offering should we send back to him?”

And they answered, “Five gold tumors and five gold mice corresponding to the number of Philistine rulers, since there was one plague for both you and your rulers. ⁵ Make images of your tumors and of your mice that are destroying the land. Give glory to Israel’s God, and perhaps he will stop oppressing you, your gods, and your land. ⁶ Why harden your hearts as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened theirs? When he afflicted them, didn’t they send Israel away, and Israel left? ⁷ “Now then, prepare one new cart and two milk cows that have never been yoked. Hitch the cows to the cart, but take their calves away and pen them up. ⁸ Take the ark of the LORD, place it on the cart, and put the gold objects that you’re sending him as a guilt offering in a box beside the ark. Send it off and let it go its way. ⁹ Then watch: If it goes up the road to its homeland toward Beth-shemesh, it is the LORD who has made this terrible trouble for us. However, if it doesn’t, we will know that it was not his hand that punished us—it was just something that happened to us by chance.”

The physicians in Strasbourg rejected the idea that the dancing plague was caused by supernatural judgment. But, in the end, the leadership of the city decided to bring the dancers up to the shrine of St. Vitus where they would all be wearing red shoes which had been sprinkled with holy water.

The Philistines’ golden tumor idea is strange, but on one level they had better sense than Israel did at the time. Sending the ark back is, politically speaking, admitting defeat.^[11] And the Philistines say, “We should put together a guilt offering.” They recognized they were guilty before Yahweh. But they didn’t fully believe. They were still holding out hope that this was all just bad luck. And when trying to get right with God, they didn’t bother to consult Him or His revelation. They make a guilt offering that seems good to them. It’s like what Cain did in Genesis 4.

If you think you’re going to make it into heaven by being a “good person,” the Bible is clear: Your offering is not sufficient. You may even be a good person in comparison to the rest of us sinners here on earth, but it is not enough because it isn’t what God requires.

Instead of putting a pile of gold carvings together, they should’ve paid attention to what was said in verse 5: “Give glory to Israel’s God.” The word used for glory is one that has been all over these opening chapters of Samuel: Heavy. In other words, the Philistines showed contempt for God’s weight – His holiness. And now they should acknowledge His holiness and respond accordingly.^[12]

1 Samuel 6:10-18 – ¹⁰ The men did this: They took two milk cows, hitched them to the cart, and confined their calves in the pen. ¹¹ Then they put the ark of the LORD on the cart, along with the box containing the gold mice and the images of their tumors. ¹² The cows went straight up the road to Beth-shemesh. They stayed on that one highway, lowing as they went; they never strayed to the right or to the left. The Philistine rulers were walking behind them to the territory of Beth-shemesh. ¹³ The people of Beth-shemesh were harvesting wheat in the valley, and when they looked up and saw the ark, they were overjoyed to see it. ¹⁴ The cart came to the field of Joshua of Beth-shemesh and stopped there near a large rock. The people of the city chopped up the cart and offered the cows as a burnt offering to the LORD. ¹⁵ The Levites removed the ark of the LORD, along with the box containing the gold objects, and placed them on the large rock. That day the people of Beth-shemesh offered burnt offerings and made sacrifices to the LORD. ¹⁶ When the five Philistine rulers observed this, they returned to Ekron that same day. ¹⁷ As a guilt offering to the LORD, the Philistines had sent back one gold tumor for each city: Ashdod, Gaza, Ashkelon, Gath, and Ekron. ¹⁸ The number of gold mice also corresponded to the number of Philistine cities of the five rulers, the fortified cities and the outlying villages. The large rock, on which the ark of the LORD was placed is still in the field of Joshua of Beth-shemesh today.

The test the Philistines set up was designed to fail. If this wasn’t God’s hand, there’s no way the ark would’ve made it back to Israel. The cows had never been yoked. They weren’t trained to pull a cart. They’re milk cows, with calves that need feeding. The lowing shows they’re heavy with milk and maternal instincts, yet they walk straight toward Israel for ten miles.^[13] This is an act of God.

Beth-shemesh was a city allocated to the descendants of Aaron.^[14] Now imagine: You’re in your field, suddenly five Philistine kings are standing there with the ark of the covenant. And they just hang out while you offer the cows up on an altar. I wonder how much conversation they had. What a moment! But, sadly, God’s people have a knack of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.

1 Samuel 6:19-7:1 – ¹⁹ God struck down the people of Beth-shemesh because they looked inside the ark of the LORD. He struck down seventy persons. The people mourned because the LORD struck them with a great slaughter. ²⁰ The people of Beth-shemesh asked, “Who is able to stand in the presence of the LORD this holy God? To whom should the ark go from here?” ²¹ They sent messengers to the residents of Kiriath-jearim, saying, “The Philistines have returned the ark of the LORD. Come down and get it.” ^7v1 So the people of Kiriath-jearim came for the ark of the LORD and took it to Abinadab’s house on the hill. They consecrated his son Eleazar to take care of it.

The men of Beth-shemesh knew better than to do this. But, as we’ve seen again and again in this period of Israel’s history, people weren’t worried about carefully following the Lord. They did what was right in their own eyes. Look how these priests acted. First, they sacrificed the female cows. Only male cows were allowed to be used in a burnt offering.^[15] Second, they look into the ark. Big no-no. You know, archaeologists have found Beth-shemesh and studied it. One source writes: “The material culture at the site is indistinguishable from their Philistine neighbor[s].”^[16] And we know from the next couple of verses that God’s people were worshiping foreign gods.

When God judges them for their sin, they don’t repent. They act just like the Philistines.

Your version may say the Lord struck down 70 persons or 50,070 persons. What’s the deal? There are manuscript differences, but also linguists say that the terms used are unusual. Here’s something interesting: A possible translation is “one fifth of the clan.”^[17] When an Israelite sinned against one of the “holy things,” they were to make restitution by adding a fifth of the value to their offering.^[18]

God is a God of love and grace, but whether it’s Philistine or priest, He expects people to obey Him. To listen to Him. And when we don’t the result is judgment. It may not be as dramatic as what we see here, but judgment is the result of human rebellion against God. Because He is holy.

They say, “Who can stand in the presence of this holy God?” Their implied answer is “no one.” They want the ark carted away. Why not back to Shiloh? It was probably destroyed after the battle.^[19]

These Levites have given up. “No one can stand before God and not be judged!” Except, look: Eleazar can! Why? Because he’s consecrated. He’s living a holy life. Meanwhile, the Levites were the ones called to carry the ark serve before the Lord’s presence! But they had surrendered to ungodly behavior. Their relationship with God was broken and for 20 years they were fine with that.

By sheer coincidence, June 28 is Saint Vitus’ Day for those who pay attention to such things. We don’t care about that because St. Vitus didn’t make anyone dance and he can’t do anything for or against you. But the Lord can. And no matter what day it is, today is the day the Lord has made.

For the unbeliever, today is the day of salvation. You may not believe in God, but that makes no difference. He exists. He is King. If you reject Him, you will be judged with a judgment you cannot escape. The good news is even a Philistine’s cry for mercy is heard by heaven. God wants to redeem you. And if you will call out to Him, He will hear you. Did you know God still has promises for the Philistines?^[20] God wants to save but He waits for you to respond to His revelation.

For the Christians here today: You may not be a Philistine, but that doesn’t mean God doesn’t hold us to a standard. Are we living like Philistines in any area of our life? Some aspect of God’s word or command or calling on our lives that we’re not obeying? God is not pleased when we ignore Him or do our own thing. It will bring consequences in our lives. So, if you’re a Christian and you know you’re outside of some boundary God has given you – you’re sleeping with your boyfriend or girlfriend, you’re giving in to greed, you’re holding onto jealousy or bitterness, you’re loving the things of this world, you’re stuck in selfishness – then stop and recognize that you are called to holy consecration. You’re called to live and serve in God’s presence! Remember: God is a hands on God. And He will put His hand on us to burn away our dross and remove our impurities and restore us to closeness with Him^[21] if we will surrender to Him, give glory to Him, obey Him carefully.

Failures And The Lost Ark (1 Samuel 4)

One Friday night in 2013, the Union High Cougars of Roosevelt, Utah lost their football game. But they were about to lose a lot more. Their coach was waiting for them in the locker room. He let them know all 80 players from the varsity and junior varsity teams were cut. Right there and then they had to turn in their jerseys, helmets, and pads.^[1]

It wasn’t because they ran the wrong plays. It wasn’t because their defense wasn’t good enough. It was what was happening off the field that drove the coach to this drastic decision. The players were disrespecting teachers, skipping and failing classes, bullying other students.^[2]

The coach was convinced that he had to do what he could to get these young men back on track. And he firmly believed that personal character was much more important than athletic victory. And so, the coach handed them a letter which explained how any player could earn their jersey back again. The program wasn’t shut down. Games were still on the schedule. Who would rise to the challenge and do what’s right to get back in the game?

Parents were shocked, but in the end all of them agreed. One of them remarked, “building good character will make good men out of them.”^[3] The school didn’t receive a single parent complaint.^[4]

In this text, Israel suffers a stunning defeat. It keeps getting worse. By the end, there are casualties who weren’t even on the battlefield! Key players are cut off from God’s people. It’s not because the Philistines beat them. They were handed over by God. He knew this loss was necessary and the removal of bad players was necessary for the future of the nation. So He allowed His people to experience their lowest point since captivity in Egypt.^[5] But through it they – and we – learn that really spiritual victory means following God’s leading, not trying to use God to do our bidding.

1 Samuel 4:1-2 – ¹ Israel went out to meet the Philistines in battle and camped at Ebenezer while the Philistines camped at Aphek. ² The Philistines lined up in battle formation against Israel, and as the battle intensified, Israel was defeated by the Philistines, who struck down about four thousand men on the battlefield.

The Philistines were a sea people who dominated the coastlands of Canaan.^[6] They had been an adversary of Israel throughout Judges, but they had been a problem since the Exodus. Their influence continues today because we get the word “Palestine” from the Philistines.^[7]

They were technologically advanced, particularly in weapons of war. They had iron chariots, which gave them a huge advantage in the coastal plains. But the Philistines wanted more territory, particularly the fertile hill regions east of their cities – areas populated by the Israelites.^[8]

But notice: The Israelites went out to fight the Philistines. Why? Certainly the Philistines were a problem and a threat, but there is no judge leading this charge. No rallying cry. No word from the Lord sending them to fight. Consider what we know about the state of the nation during this time, both from the closing chapters of Judges and the opening chapters of this book.

They are not ready for battle. They may be in battle formation, but they had no spiritual formation. All the way back in Exodus, God said this:

Exodus 13:17 – ¹⁷ When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them along the road to the land of the Philistines, even though it was nearby; for God said, “The people will change their minds and return to Egypt if they face war.”

God made them ready by leading them and showing them how He wanted them to fight. By His command, by His leading, in His timing. But here they do what seems right in their own eyes.

The last battle Israel fought was against themselves. It was between the tribe of Benjamin and the other tribes. And in that fight they lost 65,000 men. It was an absolute disaster. But now they think they can face Philistines.

1 Samuel 4:3-5 – ³ When the troops returned to the camp, the elders of Israel asked, “Why did the LORD defeat us today before the Philistines? Let’s bring the ark of the LORD’s covenant from Shiloh. Then it will go with us and save us from our enemies.” ⁴ So the people sent men to Shiloh to bring back the ark of the covenant of the LORD of Armies, who is enthroned between the cherubim. Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God. ⁵ When the ark of the covenant of the LORD entered the camp, all the Israelites raised such a loud shout that the ground shook.

After their defeat, the elders asked a good question. They understood that they should have victory over the Philistines. After all, God had given them this land and God had promised He would drive out their enemies and God had backed up that promise with amazing demonstrations of power in the time of Joshua and through the Judges. If they lost at Aphek, something was wrong.

But what happens right after they ask the question? They immediately make a plan to bring the ark to the battlefield. They do the opposite what the leaders did in the last battle Israel fought.

Back in Judges 20, the tribes of Israel fight against Benjamin and lose, big time. In response they go to where the ark was (in Bethel). And there they wept and they sat before the Lord and they fasted and the offered burnt offerings and fellowship offerings to God. They prayed to God, “Should we keep doing what we’re doing or should we stop?”^[9] And finally God says, “This is what I want you to do.” And then they won the victory.

God is the Decider in your life. You may want to do something for Him, you may have a plan for your own life, you may think you know the best way to gain ground for your future, but God is the Decider. He is the King. He’s in charge. And when we don’t consult Him, we shouldn’t be surprised if we find ourselves defeated instead of victorious.

But the leaders in 1 Samuel 4 have forgotten this lesson. They ask the right question, but refuse to humble themselves. They refuse to submit to God’s direction and opinion. Instead, they say, “Bring us the ark.” You see – they think the ark is a weapon. They’re treating it like the Nazis did in Raiders Of The Lost Ark. Like it’s a magical talisman that will always work to destroy their enemies.

So they bring it in the camp and they shout a big shout. They’re trying to re-create Jericho. The ark, the shouting. But they’ve forgotten the most important piece. Our author wants us to see it. They’ve forgotten God’s covenant. He makes sure to use that word four times in three verses.

It is the ark of the covenant. The covenant of the LORD of Armies. It’s His army, not theirs. And He has not commanded them to fight. The ark is not a piece of ordinance. It is God’s throne. It is His footstool. His podium^[10] from which He communicates His guidance, His precepts, His glory.

Notice who brings the ark: Hophni and Phinehas. Two men totally out of covenant with God. But they people aren’t thinking of covenant. They say, “Let’s bring the ark…then it will save us.”

So two spiritual principles I want us to put in our hearts from this scene. First, God’s power is not wielded by our will. Here’s an easy example: There are people out there who claim they are faith healers. They act as though they can wield the power of God to heal whenever they want. One wonders why they don’t spend their time going from hospital to hospital rather than conference to conference. But God’s power is not wielded. He is not beholden to our whims.

And second, the Israelites thought this was a good idea. And there was a lot of hype. So much hype the ground shook. But it was all empty. Hype is not what we’re going for in the Christian life or in church ministry. Something we’re doing may seem like a good idea to us, but is it a good idea to the Holy Spirit? In Acts 15, the leaders of the Church wrote about some decisions they made and said, “It seems good to the Holy Spirit and to us.” God leading. God involved. Not just us doing something we think is awesome and expecting God to pay the bill, but submitted to His opinion.

1 Samuel 4:6-11 – ⁶ The Philistines heard the sound of the war cry and asked, “What’s this loud shout in the Hebrews’ camp?” When the Philistines discovered that the ark of the LORD had entered the camp, ⁷ they panicked. “A god has entered their camp!” they said. “Woe to us! Nothing like this has happened before. ⁸ Woe to us! Who will rescue us from these magnificent gods? These are the gods that slaughtered the Egyptians with all kinds of plagues in the wilderness. ⁹ Show some courage and be men, Philistines! Otherwise, you’ll serve the Hebrews just as they served you. Now be men and fight!” ¹⁰ So the Philistines fought, and Israel was defeated, and each man fled to his tent. The slaughter was severe—thirty thousand of the Israelite foot soldiers fell. ¹¹ The ark of God was captured, and Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, died.

This was a total loss. They lost 30,000 soldiers. They lost their Tabernacle leadership. They lost the ark of God. And where it says, “Each man fled to his own tent,” that doesn’t just mean retreat, it means they abandoned military service altogether.^[11] In verse 2, Israel was “defeated.” In verse 10, they were slaughtered.^[12] In fact, our author uses the same word for the defeat in verse 10 that the Philistines used when talking about the “plagues” of Egypt.^[13]

Did you notice the things the Philistines said? They knew some of the story, but they were wrong about all the details. They don’t understand the God of Israel.

We live in a society that is less and less familiar with the story of the Bible and the truth of the Gospel. We can’t assume people know Who Jesus really was and what He really said. We certainly can’t expect them to act like Christians if they don’t even know Who Christ is. And so we want to grow in grace toward those who do not know and we need to be serious about proclaiming the full truth of the Gospel as we present it. And we present it both in word and in deed. We don’t want to be Christians the way these Israelites were Israelites. We can’t just wear a uniform and call it good.

One of the Union High School parents said at first he was concerned about the coach’s decision to penalize the whole team. But after getting an understanding of what was really going on he said, “If there is not unity with me and the coach, then I become part of the problem.”^[14]

God wants victory for us. But He wants righteousness more. He’ll allow defeat if it means we’ll get the message and turn back to Him, rather than think we’re the captains and kings of our own lives.

1 Samuel 4:12-15 – ¹² That same day, a Benjaminite man ran from the battle and came to Shiloh. His clothes were torn, and there was dirt on his head. ¹³ When he arrived, there was Eli sitting on his chair beside the road waiting, because he was anxious about the ark of God. When the man entered the city to give a report, the entire city cried out. ¹⁴ Eli heard the outcry and asked, “Why this commotion?” The man quickly came and reported to Eli. ¹⁵ At that time Eli was ninety-eight years old, and his eyes didn’t move because he couldn’t see.

The warcry was nothing but empty hype. The result of going into a battle God didn’t send them to was not the shout of victory, but now a terrible outcry of anguish and sorrow.

Aphek was 22 miles from Shiloh.^[15] This fellow ran a marathon to bring word. It was likely the Philistines would continue down that coastal road to Shiloh and destroy the city.

Eli knew his sons took the ark. Hour after hour, he sat in darkness, his heart trembling with fear.^[16] It’s interesting, he’s not really concerned about his sons, but the ark. In his heart he knew they shouldn’t bring it. But, like so many other bad things he let happen, he let this happen, too. We have a duty of following the Lord rather than going our own way or doing what’s easy.

Eli is the leader of Israel. He’s the judge. He’s Hophni and Phineas’ dad. He’s responsible for the ark, for the army, for the nation. But the man most personally affected by the loss is the last to hear.^[17]

1 Samuel 4:16-18 – ¹⁶ The man said to Eli, “I’m the one who came from the battle. I fled from there today.” “What happened, my son?” Eli asked. ¹⁷ The messenger answered, “Israel has fled from the Philistines, and also there was a great slaughter among the people. Your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, are both dead, and the ark of God has been captured.” ¹⁸ When he mentioned the ark of God, Eli fell backward off the chair by the city gate, and since he was old and heavy, his neck broke and he died. Eli had judged Israel forty years.

Eli is literally dethroned from his position. Instead of leading God’s people into great spirituality, he’s sitting, unable to see. He had turned a blind eye to the sins of his sons, now he can’t see at all. When he fell, his own weight killed him. Why was he heavy? Because for years he had been eating the meat his sons stole from the faithful of Israel. But, sadly, the chain of tragedy has one more link before the day is done.

1 Samuel 4:19-22 – ¹⁹ Eli’s daughter-in-law, the wife of Phinehas, was pregnant and about to give birth. When she heard the news about the capture of God’s ark and the deaths of her father-in-law and her husband, she collapsed and gave birth because her labor pains came on her. ²⁰ As she was dying, the women taking care of her said, “Don’t be afraid. You’ve given birth to a son!” But she did not respond or pay attention. ²¹ She named the boy Ichabod, saying, “The glory has departed from Israel,” referring to the capture of the ark of God and to the deaths of her father-in-law and her husband. ²² “The glory has departed from Israel,” she said, “because the ark of God has been captured.” 

The real problem was not that the ark itself was gone. It’s that the ark represented God’s presence among His people.^[18] And if God was willing to let Israel be defeated they’ve got a much bigger problem than having Philistines next door. The ark was gone, but God could fix that. But what do we do when we’re not in fellowship with God? That’s a much greater problem than any circumstantial issue we face in life.

See – if you’re a Christian, God gives us victory through Jesus Christ, Who said we can be of good cheer, because He has overcome the world. But when we disconnect our hearts and our lives from Jesus, we should expect defeat.

So, if I’ve fallen out of fellowship with God, how do I get back into it? It’s simple: Get back into it! The ark of God is going to be displaced for 20 years. And finally, you know what we read? “Then the whole house of Israel longed for the Lord.”^[19] And Samuel comes back on scene to say, “You want to return to the Lord? Then set your heart on Him and worship Him and stop being idolators.”

The coach of Union High School gave a letter to all those players. Here’s how you get back on the team. It was all basic stuff. Character. Serving others. Behavior that aligned with the values of the school. Sadly, when it was time to field a team for homecoming, not all players met the criteria.^[20] They could have. But it was a personal decision. A life choice. Some chose to do it, others wouldn’t.

In 2012, the Cougars had a different coach. He led the team to an 0-8 season. In 2014, the season after the new coach made his controversial decision, the Cougars went 9-3.^[21] Character matters. Direction matters.

God wants victory for us, but He wants victory on His terms, by His leading. Don’t get into battle formation without first being sure you’ve got the right spiritual formation. Don’t think of the Christian faith as God simply co-signing on everything we want to do, whether that’s in line with His precepts or not. Instead, our goal is to stay in obedient fellowship with God. To abide in Christ.

Just as a branch is unable to produce fruit by itself unless it remains on the vine, neither can you unless you remain in Christ. Remain in Him so that when He appears we may have confidence and not be ashamed before Him at His coming. He is our Captain and King. He is the Director. He is the God Who dwells among us to accomplish His will in our lives as we love Him and trust Him and submit to Him.

There’s A New Seer In Town (1 Samuel 3:1-4:1)

In the 1980s, IBM was not only the most valuable tech company, it was the most valuable company in the world.^[1] It had 80% of the market and employed hundreds of thousands of people. But by 1993, Big Blue was dying. In the fourth quarter of that year – usually their strongest – they posted a $12 billion loss.^[2] It was the largest corporate loss in United States history.

John Akers was chairman and CEO at IBM from 1985 to 1993. He’s since been labeled one of the worst CEOs of all time.^[3] In those eight years, IBM lost three quarters of its market value.^[4] CNBC writes that his indecision paralyzed the company. But he insisted that he would not resign.

The powers that be forced him out. But who could right the ship? The board turned to an outsider named Lou Gerstner. Lou saw that IBM’s focus had become totally internal. They no longer considered customers. Instead, little groups within the company would “jealousy guard [their] own privileges.”^[5] Lou started changing things from the inside out. A year later, they had almost $400 million in profits. Five years later, the stock price was 12 times what it had been in 1993. And Lou has been labeled one of the greatest CEOs of all time.^[6]

There are parallels in that story and our text. God, by His providence, brought little Samuel – an outsider – into the Tabernacle. God was providing someone He could use to right the ship.

Israel was in bad shape. There was no unity. There was no spiritual power. Everyone was doing what was right in their own eyes. This is not how things should have been. How do you go from the strength we see in Joshua to the weakness of these opening chapters of Samuel? The answer is Judges. As people turned from obeying God, as they turned from the word of God, they became weaker and weaker, and the nation drifted closer and closer to disaster. But just as the last flicker of hope seems ready to burn out, God intervenes with power, with grace, with deliverance.

There’s one thing Lou Gerstner said that is the opposite of what we’ll see today. When he began as CEO he said, “The last thing IBM needs right now is a vision.”^[7] That was exactly what Israel needed.

1 Samuel 3:1 – ¹ The boy Samuel served the LORD in Eli’s presence. In those days the word of the LORD was rare and prophetic visions were not widespread.

This is not a good sign. God loves to reveal. He is a God Who speaks. He is a God Who calls and communicates. But His people, by and large, had little interest in listening.

The Proverbs warn us: “Without revelation, people run wild, but one who follows divine instruction will be happy.”^[8] “Revelation” there is the same word used here in verse 1.

In those days, there’s no Moses to lead them. There’s no Joshua. They have a judge – but it’s Eli.^[9] And he’s demonstrated that he cannot lead with integrity or in the power of God.

Are we being led by God? Am I hearing from God? I don’t mean a miraculous vision, but is God’s Word speaking to you? Directing your steps? Filling your heart with strength and joy and resolve? That’s what He wants to do. If we have ears to hear, we can hear what He has to say.

1 Samuel 3:2-3 – ² One day Eli, whose eyesight was failing, was lying in his usual place. ³ Before the lamp of God had gone out, Samuel was lying down in the temple of the LORD, where the ark of God was located.

Let our author paint the image for you. Eli’s eyes are dim. The night is dark and the menorah is almost out of oil. There’s no movement in the Tabernacle. It’s not just a physical setting, it illustrates the spiritual reality of Israel at the time. This is a dark night before a new dawn.

Samuel is shown close to the Ark. He might not actually be sleeping in the Holy of Holies – that would be surprising – but he’s near the presence of God while Eli is further away in his usual place.

The text highlights the weakness of Eli’s eyes. In the next chapter we’ll see he’s gone totally blind. But that is a clue for us. When Moses is described in his old age, we’re told, “ Moses was one hundred twenty years old when he died; his eyes were not weak.”^[10]

Eli is no Moses. But the people need a Moses. They need a servant leader who will speak the word of God to them. And that’s why God brought Samuel to the Tabernacle.

God can do whatever He wants. He can speak a word and make anything happen He wants to happen. But that’s not what He usually does. What He wants to do is use human lives to do His work as He draws us to Himself, fills us with His power and truth, and sends us to be His hands and feet.

1 Samuel 3:4-9 – ⁴ Then the LORD called Samuel, and he answered, “Here I am.” ⁵ He ran to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.” “I didn’t call,” Eli replied. “Go back and lie down.” So he went and lay down. ⁶ Once again the LORD called, “Samuel!” Samuel got up, went to Eli, and said, “Here I am; you called me.” “I didn’t call, my son,” he replied. “Go back and lie down.” ⁷ Now Samuel did not yet know the LORD, because the word of the LORD had not yet been revealed to him. ⁸ Once again, for the third time, the LORD called Samuel. He got up, went to Eli, and said, “Here I am; you called me.” Then Eli understood that the LORD was calling the boy. ⁹ He told Samuel, “Go and lie down. If he calls you, say, ‘Speak, LORD, for your servant is listening.’ ” So Samuel went and lay down in his place.

Samuel did not yet know the Lord. That is, he didn’t know God personally. He didn’t have his own relationship with God. Now here’s why that’s significant: Samuel had extremely Godly parents. Samuel was in a position and proximity that was closer to God than any other Hebrew at the time. But having believing parents doesn’t make you a believer. Sitting in church every Sunday doesn’t make you a Christian. Saving faith has to be personal. Not cultural or familial. Not that you do certain religious habits. You must be born again personally. You must know God.

How do we know God? Samuel didn’t know God because the word of God had not been revealed to him. God reveals Himself through His word. Jesus said He came in the volume of the Book. We’re told man does not live on bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. The Bible is the God-breathed revelation of Who He is and how we can know Him. It washes us. It lights up our path. Jesus said, “If you continue in My word, you really are My disciples. You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”^[11]

Now let’s notice some things about the tender kindness of our Lord. First, Samuel did not know the Lord, but God knew him! He saw Samuel. He called him by name. Second, notice the Lord’s patience. He was willing to call out four times as little Samuel was slowly introduced to this God he hadn’t met before. God treats him patiently and gently. Third, God is, frankly, a bit playful here. He sees how it’s going. He sees Eli can’t figure it out at first. But it’s almost like when you first play hide and seek with your toddler. We see God getting closer and more obvious as the scene plays out.

You may not know God, but He knows you. And He is calling you by name to respond to Him, to be rescued from sin and death. To receive salvation and have your life transformed forever. If you want to answer that call, do what Samuel did. Simply pray a response from the quiet of your heart: God, I hear You, I believe You, I want to serve You. And God will continue to reveal Himself to you.

1 Samuel 3:10 – ¹⁰ The LORD came, stood there, and called as before, “Samuel, Samuel!”

Samuel responded, “Speak, for your servant is listening.”

First He calls, then He calls by name, now He calls Samuel’s name twice and is standing there in the room! This is a Theophany, which is an appearance of Jesus Christ on earth before His incarnation.

But notice how God calls his name twice in a row. Samuel, Samuel! We sense an urgency. It highlights how focused the Lord is on this boy’s life. We read it and think, “Wow! What a wonderful thing Samuel got to experience.” But you know, even though most of us won’t have this kind of visitation, our Lord has the same kind of attention and intention for us.

God did this double-name calling many times in the Bible. Moses, Moses. Jacob, Jacob. Abraham, Abraham. Simon, Simon. Martha, Martha. Saul, Saul. Each time because God wanted these individuals to understand His love and care for them and the life He was calling them into. God calls to you. Speaking from His word and by His Spirit to instruct, to encourage, to direct, to correct, to bring you closer to Him so that He can accomplish more for you. Are we listening?

1 Samuel 3:11-15 – ¹¹ The LORD said to Samuel, “I am about to do something in Israel that will cause everyone who hears about it to shudder. ¹² On that day I will carry out against Eli everything I said about his family, from beginning to end. ¹³ I told him that I am going to judge his family forever because of the iniquity he knows about: his sons are cursing God, and he has not stopped them. ¹⁴ Therefore, I have sworn to Eli’s family: The iniquity of Eli’s family will never be wiped out by either sacrifice or offering.” ¹⁵ Samuel lay down until the morning; then he opened the doors of the LORD’s house. He was afraid to tell Eli the vision,

That’s a rough message for a kid to have to hear. You know, the Lord loves us and is patient and He is gentle, but at the same time, serving Him can be difficult. Sometimes we have to say hard things, do hard things. He’ll empower us to do it, but it’s not always easy.

By the time Lou Gerstner was done at IBM, things were great. Growth and profits and all that. But it wasn’t without difficulty. At first he had to lay off 35,000 people.^[12] That’s a hard call to make.

Why did God feel the need to send this message to Samuel since Eli already knew all of this? God even references how He had already said it – which He did through a different prophet in the last passage. So why load up Samuel’s little shoulders with such a heavy burden?

At least two reasons. First, God intended to establish Samuel as a prophet. He wanted everyone in Israel to know that when Samuel spoke the word of God, it was authentic and authoritative. So God is giving Samuel an opportunity here to begin that role as a prophet.

But second, God is giving Samuel an opportunity to obey his calling. God was calling Samuel to be an important part of what He was doing for Israel. Samuel was going to have to say some weighty and difficult things as kings are anointed, rejected, and judged. Was he willing to do what God asked him to do? Sometimes we don’t do what God asks us to do, right? Consider Jonah. Called to prophesy to Nineveh. He didn’t want to do it. And so, this is also a chance for Samuel to choose to obey God, even though it was hard and even though he didn’t want to tell Eli because he loved Eli.

Up in verse 6, Eli called Samuel “my son.” It was a term of endearment.^[13] Eli was essentially Samuel’s adoptive father. So, would Samuel honor God or Eli more?

1 Samuel 3:16-18 – ¹⁶ but Eli called him and said, “Samuel, my son.” “Here I am,” answered Samuel. ¹⁷ “What was the message he gave you?” Eli asked. “Don’t hide it from me. May God punish you and do so severely if you hide anything from me that he told you.” ¹⁸ So Samuel told him everything and did not hide anything from him. Eli responded, “He is the LORD. Let him do what he thinks is good.”

It’s sad that Eli held Samuel to a higher standard than he did his own sons. But that lines up with what we’ve seen of poor Eli this whole time. He’s losing his spiritual vision. He’s a paralyzed leader. And here, he simply resigns himself to the message. He doesn’t tear his clothes. He doesn’t repent. He doesn’t plead for God’s mercy. When he realized God was calling out to Samuel, he didn’t bother getting out of bed to go witness it himself! When a person gives up on spirituality like that, when a person allows their relationship with God to be that cold and that dormant and that disinterested, God eventually sets that person aside and works in the lives of those who will follow Him and honor Him. And, thankfully, Samuel was faithful to serve, faithful to deliver the message, faithful to do what Eli wouldn’t and that’s put God first, even when it was scary.

1 Samuel 3:19-4:1a – ¹⁹ Samuel grew. The LORD was with him, and he fulfilled everything Samuel prophesied., ²⁰ All Israel from Dan to Beer-sheba knew that Samuel was a confirmed prophet of the LORD. ²¹ The LORD continued to appear in Shiloh, because there he revealed himself to Samuel by his word. ^4v1 And Samuel’s words came to all Israel.

Lou Gerstner didn’t only help IBM make money. He was also worked to better public education. For his efforts and contributions, in 2001 he was a made a Knight of the British Empire.

Samuel was being raised up to serve God. He was the first named prophet since Moses and he would be Israel’s last judge. Because God wanted people to understand a new day was dawning in the spiritual and political history of Israel, He made sure everyone from the northern border to the southern border knew he was a legitimate prophet.

There are people out there today who claim to be prophets or who prophesy what God is about to do. A while back, a prominent church had a fellow who was running for governor come on stage and prophesy that the greatest revival ever is about to break out and that one of the prophetic proofs of that was that he would win the California governor’s race. He didn’t even make the ballot.

A prophet isn’t a prophet because they say so. They’re a prophet if they’re confirmed by the work of God. Now, Samuel did prophesy and he was called to a unique, dramatic work. But that should not discourage us as if we’re unimportant in God’s plan. The truth is, the term used for Samuel here which is translated as “prophet” originally meant “one called to duty by God.”^[14] It’s not only about telling the future. It’s about hearing God’s word and proclaiming it. You know, Abraham is called a prophet. And Aaron. And David. People we don’t really categorize with Elijah and Ezekiel.

But all of us are called to live a life with the Lord, as Samuel lived, a life submitted to and saturated with the word of God, like Samuel’s was. And to be used to proclaim God’s word like Samuel did.

God is still calling people by name. His word still goes out to light up a world that is growing darker and darker. If we have ears to hear, let’s hear what the Lord has to say and respond to it, act upon it, live lives according to it. Continuing in the Word and being set free by God’s truth.

Lou Gerstner wrote this about his time at IBM: “Changing the attitude and behavior of thousands of people is very, very hard to accomplish. You can’t simply give a couple of speeches or write a new credo for the company and declare that a new culture has taken hold. You can’t mandate it, can’t engineer it. What you can do is create the conditions for transformation.”^[15]

God sends out the call. He has revealed His word. It is alive. It does not return void. He has provided the power necessary for transformation. But it happens when we answer. When we have ears to hear. When we acknowledge He is King and He is Master and we say, “Speak, Lord, your servants are listening.” Remembering that He has called us into a life, into a position, into opportunities to proclaim His word, accomplish His work, light up the dark as He shines through us.

Bad Boys (1 Samuel 2:22-36)

In the early 1800s, a man named William Jackson made himself a fortune in India. He returned to England, able to afford the good life among high society. Flush with cash, his teenage son, Will Jr. indulged in many vices. Indulgence turned to immorality. He didn’t look like a criminal – he wore elegant clothing and carried himself as a member of the elite.^[1] But he ran up debts. He stole gold watches and diamond rings. He forged checks. His personal life was extremely scandalous.

William Sr. was embarrassed. Privately he wrote to Will telling him to stop his wickedness. He even wrote a three volume book about how bad his son was and how good he was as a father. It was never published. Maybe even he didn’t believe it. He may have complained to Will in private, but in public he used his influence to shield his son from his creditors.^[2] He gave Will an allowance, which Will used to get comfortable rooms and a non-stop flow of alcohol. When Jr. was on trial, his father paid for top barristers to get him off on technicalities. But Will Jr. would not correct course.

We feel badly for the father, but then realize that Will Jr. was just 15, 16, and 17 when these things were happening. He was financially, legally, and morally under his father’s authority. But William Sr. was almost totally absent in his parenting. He thought he had done his duty by making a fortune. His complaints to his son fell flat since they were followed by more money, more favors, more work to cover his son’s crimes. And, as a result, the story ended tragically for both father and son.

In this text, Eli is confronted about the wickedness he allows his sons to commit. But Hophni and Phinehas aren’t teenagers. They’re fully grown and fully wayward. And because Eli was unwilling to choose God over his boys, he, too, is complicit in their sin and will share in the consequences.

1 Samuel 2:22 – ²² Now Eli was very old. He heard about everything his sons were doing to all Israel and how they were sleeping with the women who served at the entrance to the tent of meeting.

Last week we saw that Hophni and Phinehas were messing with the sacrifices. But that was only part of it. These ladies may have been volunteers who took short term Nazarite vows.^[3] So not only were offerings being polluted by Eli’s family, but the offerers themselves.

This was a longtime pattern of behavior. It says this is what they were doing to all Israel. Verse 13 said, whenever anyone came to the Tabernacle this was happening.

We wonder why the text focuses so much on Eli since he’s not the one really doing all these things. We’ll see he not only looked the other way, but he also ate the stolen food. More importantly, at this time, Eli is the ruler of Israel.^[4] At least as far as Israel had a ruler. He was certainly the ruler of his family and the Tabernacle. He heard about all that was happening and did nothing to stop it.

1 Samuel 2:23-25 – ²³ He said to them, “Why are you doing these things? I have heard about your evil actions from all these people. ²⁴ No, my sons, the news I hear the LORD’s people spreading is not good. ²⁵ If one person sins against another, God can intercede for him, but if a person sins against the LORD, who can intercede for him?” But they would not listen to their father, since the LORD intended to kill them.

The way Eli confronts his sons reminds me of William Jackson Sr., who would write a letter to his son saying things like, “You might regret what you’re doing.” But then wrote the check to keep financing his son’s waywardness. William warned his son that forgery was a capital offense, but then provided the lawyers to save his skin.

The sins of Eli’s sons were capital offenses.^[5] But Eli speaks philosophically to his sons. Rather than say, “What you’re doing is evil,” he softens it to, “What I hear other people spreading isn’t good.”

The best thing we can do is be honest with ourselves and with the Lord. Sometimes we have an area of waywardness in how we’re thinking or living – and we want to debate a technicality or some what-about interpretation. What we need to do is humble ourselves and confess and turn to God.

As Christians, we are commanded to call out sin and wrongdoing among ourselves.^[6] We’re to do so with a spirit of gentleness, but that doesn’t mean helping the wrongdoer rationalize their sin. It doesn’t mean downplaying things or making things purposefully vague so we don’t hurt the wrongdoer’s feelings. Because sin overtakes and destroys lives. And we want to help rescue people out of that destruction, while also being careful to avoid the temptation ourselves.

As priest and ruler, Eli should’ve removed his sons. As father, he should told them directly, “You’re in sin, I will not allow it and I will not overlook it.” Instead, he acted as if their offenses were trifling.

Of course the big, eyebrow-raising headline in these verses is: “They would not listen…since the Lord intended to kill them.” Your Bible may say, “the Lord desired to kill them.” What’s that about?

First, let’s tackle the desire issue. Here’s what we know is true about God’s character and nature: “The Lord is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.”^[7] That’s not just a New Testament idea. God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Listen to Ezekiel 18:32: “I take no pleasure in anyone’s death…So repent and live!” In Ezekiel 33 God says, “I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked person should turn from his way and live.”^[8]

Eli’s sons have rejected God for so long, they have willfully sinned for so long, they have hardened their hearts for so long that God is now resolved to judge them for it. They were past a point of no return. As John Wesley said, “They had sinned away their day of grace.”^[9]

Now listen, especially if you’re not a Christian here today: God is a God of mercy. He is a God Who forgives. He is a greater Savior than you are a sinner. He wants to save you from your sin. But He will not force you. And if you continually reject His grace, His mercy, His truth, His commands, then He will give you what you want. He will give you over to your desire to stay in sin.^[10] And eventually your heart may be too hard to cry out to God. Your mind may be too dark to see the Light. Now, I can’t tell you when that might happen. It’s not that if you sin a certain number of times, then it’s over. But it happened to Pharaoh. It happened to Eli’s sons, to Lot’s wife, to Nineveh,^[11] to the Canaanites.

If you think you’ll just convert on your deathbed, understand it can happen to you. Some people do convert on their deathbeds, and praise the Lord for His unfailing mercy. But the Bible pleads with you: Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts so that He doesn’t have to keep you out of eternal rest.^[12]

1 Samuel 2:27-29 – ²⁷ A man of God came to Eli and said to him, “This is what the LORD says: ‘Didn’t I reveal myself to your forefather’s family when they were in Egypt and belonged to Pharaoh’s palace? ²⁸ Out of all the tribes of Israel, I chose your house to be my priests, to offer sacrifices on my altar, to burn incense, and to wear an ephod in my presence. I also gave your forefather’s family all the Israelite food offerings. ²⁹ Why, then, do all of you despise my sacrifices and offerings that I require at the place of worship? You have honored your sons more than me, by making yourselves fat with the best part of all of the offerings of my people Israel.’

William Jackson knew his son was a scoundrel. Yet he “rushed to defend his son’s reputation from any slur.”^[13] Rather than really get a hold of the problem, he once tried to arrange a situation where Will Jr. would be arrested for his debts, but then his father would anonymously pay the fees so Will could walk free. Sort of a 19th century Scared Straight without the scared part.

This prophet came to Eli and said, “You’re part of these sins. You’re fat from the food they took from the Lord and the people. But more than that, you’ve honored your sons instead of God.” And in doing so, Eli was actually despising the Lord. It’s a word that means he kicked against the Lord.^[14]

We understand the emotional part. “Lord, it’s my kids. It’s my family.” But God is not willing to be second place in your life. When God is second place, that means we’re worshiping something else. Some other pursuit, some other relationship, some other god that is more important to us.

Jesus Himself said in Matthew 10:

Matthew 10:37-38 – ³⁷ The one who loves a father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; the one who loves a son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. ³⁸ And whoever doesn’t take up his cross and follow Me is not worthy of Me.

Now, God does not want to ruin your family relationships. He wants them to thrive in a way that would never be possible without Him. But this is His demand. We must honor Him above all others.

When we do that, He does all sorts of amazing, generous things for us. Look at the list given by the prophet. He set them free from slavery in Egypt. He gave them promises and purpose. He gave them generous provision. He did so much for them, yet Eli and his sons trampled on it.

Eli knew better. The prophet gives him this quick history lesson. “Eli, do you remember why it’s your tribe serving there and not the Danites or the Ephraimites?” Because centuries before there was another priest’s son whose name also happened to be Phinehas. But this Phinehas chose holiness over wickedness. When he saw immorality in the camp of Israel, he took a spear in his hand and honored the Lord. And God said, “Phinehas has turned back my wrath against the children of Israel because he had a zeal for Me. So his descendants are going to be priests from here on out.”^[15] Now, Eli’s son Phinehas, with his brother, was doing the opposite. Bringing wrath and judgment.

1 Samuel 2:30 – ³⁰ “Therefore, this is the declaration of the LORD, the God of Israel: ‘I did say that your family and your forefather’s family would walk before me forever. But now,’ this is the LORD’s declaration, ‘no longer! For those who honor me I will honor, but those who despise me will be disgraced.

It’s not that Aaron’s descendants wouldn’t be priests and Levites wouldn’t be Levites. The branch of Aaron’s family that Eli was a part of had violated the priestly covenant. And so God was removing them. He had already done so with two of Aaron’s four sons when the Tabernacle was first set up. Nadab and Abihu offered profane fire and the Lord killed them. The other two sons were Eleazar and Ithamar. Eli was a descendant of Ithamar. Now the line of Ithamar would be cut off and only the priestly line of Eleazar would continue. And we’ll see that fulfilled as the book continues.

God sets out His dealings plainly. He says, “Those who honor Me, I will honor.” It’s interesting: The word used for honor literally means “make heavy.”^[16] So there’s this vivid image: Eli and his sons made themselves fat with sin. At the end of his life, we’re going to be told that Eli was a very heavy man. But not heavy the way God wanted to make him. Not heavy with holiness or eternal reward, but with stolen goods. He considered those temporal spoils better than what God wanted to give.

God said, “I wanted your family to walk before Me forever.” Walking with God. That’s what the Lord wants. That’s the image of a life lived in worship and faithfulness and growth, and not just in the New Testament. Enoch walked with God. Noah walked with God. Abraham walked with God. Do you know what we see Eli doing? Sitting. He was sitting in chapter 1. He’ll be sitting in chapter 3.

Are you walking with God? Psalm 1 explains that that is the road to a happy life. Not standing in the path of sinners or sitting in the seat of mockers. But walking with God in righteousness, led by Him.

1 Samuel 2:31-36 – ³¹ Look, the days are coming when I will cut off your strength and the strength of your forefather’s family, so that none in your family will reach old age. ³² You will see distress in the place of worship, in spite of all that is good in Israel, and no one in your family will ever again reach old age. ³³ Any man from your family I do not cut off from my altar will bring grief and sadness to you. All your descendants will die violently. ³⁴ This will be the sign that will come to you concerning your two sons Hophni and Phinehas: both of them will die on the same day. ³⁵ “‘Then I will raise up a faithful priest for myself. He will do whatever is in my heart and mind. I will establish a lasting dynasty for him, and he will walk before my anointed one for all time. ³⁶ Anyone who is left in your family will come and bow down to him for a piece of silver or a loaf of bread. He will say: Please appoint me to some priestly office so I can have a piece of bread to eat.’”

God was not overreacting. The judgment is serious because the sin was serious. How many people had Eli and his sons defrauded? Consider how they desecrated God’s house. Consider what they did to those ladies who came to serve the Lord. This is not harsh, it’s mercy. Mercy to every Israelite who had prayed for justice and relief. Mercy for a nation that needed righteous priests.

They had used their arms to snatch the meat, to snatch the women, to pile up wealth and power for themselves. And so they would reap what they sowed. Cut off your strength literally means their arms would be shattered.^[17] No longer could they take what wasn’t theirs and defile God’s house.

As often is the case with Biblical prophecy, this would be fulfilled in stages.^[18] And already we’re seeing part of Hannah’s prophecy from her song starting to be accomplished. Remember, she gave seven examples of God reversing the fortunes of the righteous and wicked. And this family that had more meat than they could possibly consume would eventually be begging for bread.

Will Jackson Jr’s sins finally caught up with him. He was ultimately sent to Australia with other criminals on a ship named Retribution. There, sadly, he “died alone on the street [in Sydney] where he lay, a pathetic figure with no friends or family to comfort him or to mourn his passing.”^[19]

Meanwhile, the mental and emotional stress led to William Sr. dying from a paralysis “that slowly immobilized his limbs and finally stilled his heart.” A sad story with a sadder ending. Just like Eli.

But here’s the trouble, friends: Maybe you and I aren’t as bad as Hophni and Phinehas. Maybe we live better lives than Will Jr. But all of us are guilty sinners. All of us were born in sin and then commit many acts of sin against each other and against God Himself. And one thing Eli said was right: “If a person sins against the Lord, who can intercede for him?” The truth is, we’re all facing a journey on the Retribution. And the wages of our sin is death. All of us deserve judgment for the wrong we have done.

And that is why God sent His Son. To be the One Who intercedes! So that we can be saved from the Retribution by His Redemption. But He is the only Mediator between God and man. He gave Himself to ransom you. He is your Redeemer. He will pay your debt. He will forgive you. He will purify you. The process is clear: You must believe Him. You must repent of your sin. You must walk with Him. And when you do He will help you. He will bless you. He will honor you. He will cover you in love. But we have to choose to honor Him. Choose worship over waywardness. Turn to Him and live in the power of His grace. To be redeemed and not return to sin, return to worship ourselves or some earthly treasure or goal, but honoring God with all our heart, all our soul, all our mind, all our strength. We won’t do it perfectly, but we can do it faithfully as we receive God’s power and grace for this life.

Wicked While They Work (1 Samuel 2:12-21)

Some of you know how hard it is to navigate a toxic work environment. I’ll tell you where you didn’t want to work, and that was for the UK Post Office system between 1999 and 2015. In 1999 the post office switched from a paper-based accounting system to a computer-based one. One centralized computer program could now see the records for 14,000 post office branches.^[1] And guess what it found? Corrupt records. Missing money all over the place. Thousands of pounds gone. Clearly, the employees, the “sub-postmasters” had sticky hands in the till and would now be held accountable.

Over 900 were prosecuted.^[2] Year after year more were caught. Except they weren’t stealing. It was the new software that was the problem. The bosses knew it was full of bugs. But they silenced anyone who criticized the system. They lied to journalists and politicians who asked questions. Employees went into their own pockets to cover the shortfalls that did not actually exist. Thousands were impacted, imprisoned, or financially ruined.^[3] The scandal led to at least 13 suicides. It was 16 years of a toxic work environment, labeled as the “widest miscarriage of justice in UK history.”

In 1100BC, the Tabernacle was an extremely hostile work environment for little Samuel. For everyone else, it was a hostile worship environment. You see, the top brass – Eli’s two sons – not only had sticky fingers, they also vigorously attacked anyone who questioned them.

What are we supposed to do in a situation like that? When our leaders have become corrupt? When our institutions have broken down? When everyone does what is right in their own eyes?

Sadly, these situations are only limited to the wider society or even the work environment. It can even happen in the worship environment. Perhaps a friend or someone you know – maybe even a member of your own family has said, “I’m a Christian, but I won’t go to church. The Church is full of hypocrites. I got hurt at a church, so I’m done with the whole thing.”

How does faith work in a bad environment? Should we cut and run? Should we stand and fight? Let’s look at this text and see what Samuel and his parents did. Because, in this book, they are specifically, purposefully presented as faithful examples for us. In fact, throughout this chapter, our author keeps ping-ponging back and forth showing the faithfulness of Samuel, then the unfaithfulness of Eli and his sons.^[4] Every few verses it pans from one to the other to drive home the contrast and to show that a believer can not only be faithful in dark spiritual days, but we can serve God effectively and grow substantially as we walk by faith – in any environment we’re called into.

1 Samuel 2:12 – ¹² Eli’s sons were wicked men; they did not respect the LORD

As priests, Eli and his sons were the top of the authority chain. Other than God, there was no one higher to appeal to. This is one of the reasons why Israel would eventually demand a king, because the priesthood had become degraded and corrupted.^[5]

Eli’s sons are described as wicked men. They were “utterly destructive”^[6] good-for-nothings.^[7] Two interesting things here. First, the term used is, “Sons of Belial.” It means sons of worthlessness.^[8] And this is the exact same term Hannah had used when Eli accused her of being drunk. “No, my lord, don’t think of me as a wicked woman.” Eli assumed righteous Hannah is a daughter of Belial, which was the furthest thing from the truth. Meanwhile, his sons were openly, actively wicked. But Eli won’t deal with it. But it was his duty to do so. And so, God considers Eli complicit in their sins.^[9]

The other interesting thing is that second phrase: They did not respect the LORD. Literally it says they did not know Yahweh.^[10] Accomplishment, position, pedigree, power, talent – none of it matters in the long run if you do not know Yahweh.

God said in Jeremiah 9: “The wise person should not boast in his wisdom; the strong should not boast in his strength; the wealthy should not boast in his wealth. But the one who boasts should boast in this: that he understands and knows Me.”^[11] That is the great goal of life: To know God. Meanwhile, here’s some of what Eli’s sons were up to:

1 Samuel 2:13-16 – ¹³ or the priests’ share of the sacrifices from the people. When anyone offered a sacrifice, the priest’s servant would come with a three-pronged meat fork while the meat was boiling ¹⁴ and plunge it into the container, kettle, cauldron, or cooking pot. The priest would claim for himself whatever the meat fork brought up. This is the way they treated all the Israelites who came there to Shiloh. ¹⁵ Even before the fat was burned, the priest’s servant would come and say to the one who was sacrificing, “Give the priest some meat to roast, because he won’t accept boiled meat from you—only raw.” ¹⁶ If that person said to him, “The fat must be burned first; then you can take whatever you want for yourself,” the servant would reply, “No, I insist that you hand it over right now. If you don’t, I’ll take it by force!”

During the UK Post Office scandal, the leaders of the post office used criminal and civil action to shut up any underlings who said the system was corrupt. When one sub-postmaster was accused for taking £35,000, he denied it and tried to prove the problems were in the software. So the post office spent £300,000 crushing him in court, leaving him bankrupt and his family devastated.

Under the Law of Moses, the priests and their families were given a specific share of the meat. The breast and the thigh were for them.^[12] But Eli’s sons wanted more. What they did was at quadruple wrong: They were taking parts that didn’t belong to them, they were taking raw meat, they were eating the fat, and they were threatening people if they didn’t go along with their wickedness.

This is so brazenly wrong. As an example, Leviticus 7 clearly, emphatically states: You can use the fat of an animal in any way but you must not eat it. And if you do eat any fat from an animal offered to the Lord, that person will be cut off from God’s people.^[13]

Notice, this wasn’t just something they did once or twice. Verse 14 says that this is the way they treated all the people who came to the Tabernacle – which would include Elkanah’s family.

This was extremely serious. They’re messing with worship. They’re messing with people’s atonement. God would not let this go on indefinitely. We’ll see that next time. But in the meantime, their hypocrisy was giving true faith a bad name in Israel.^[14]

When Christian leaders fall into sin, it makes a terrible impact not just on those immediately involved, but on just about everyone who hears about it. The dishonor it brings on Christ. The discouragement and doubt that it brings on others. Christian leaders need to take this seriously.

And so does every Christian. You and I may not have a wide audience, but we’re all priests. If you’re a Christian, the Bible says you are part a royal priesthood.^[15] We all must consider how our conduct is influencing the people around us. Your faithfulness or your wickedness will make an impact.

1 Samuel 2:17 – ¹⁷ So the servants’ sin was very severe in the presence of the LORD, because the men treated the LORD’s offering with contempt.

The Lord saw all that was happening. Remember what Hannah said in her song: God is a God of knowledge Who weighs our actions. Ultimately, He fiercely judges these fellows because they would not repent. It didn’t matter that they were important priests. If you deny the Lord, He will deny you and you will bear the penalty for your sin.

Now here’s an interesting comparison: In the middle of Second Samuel, David commits a terrible sin. And God will say to him, “David, you have treated Me with contempt.” It’s the same word that describes Eli’s sons. So why wasn’t David judged like Hophni and Phinehas? Repentance. David turned from his sin toward God in confession and repentance. He would still face consequences for what he did – serious and lasting consequences – but God forgave him and cleansed him.

1 Samuel 2:18 – ¹⁸ Samuel served in the LORD’s presence—this mere boy was dressed in the linen ephod.

Suddenly the camera pans from this toxic scene to remind us that little Sammy is there, too! We see what’s going on and think, “We gotta get this kid out of there!” What hope does he have to grow in the Lord and become a man of integrity if this is who he’s apprenticing under?

But then we remember the promise of Hannah’s song, that God will guard the steps of His faithful ones. This was a terribly, toxic work environment. And yet, this is where God called Samuel. And though he was surrounded by sin, we see him serving. He’s described not as being influenced by the sons of Eli, but as being in the Lord’s presence.

Maybe you’re in a life situation that has a lot of bad elements. Bad job, bad boss, problematic coworkers, something like that. You don’t always have to stay in that situation. But the thing we need to remember as Christians is that the circumstances are not the deciding factor for us. God’s calling on our lives is the decider. If you feel like Samuel in Shiloh or Daniel in Babylon or Joseph in Egypt, that’s ok – you’re allowed to feel that way. But before you make a change you need to know if God has called you to stay or go. Because you can be Samuel or Daniel or Joseph, who were in terrible life/work situations, and were used for incredible purposes and great spiritual growth.

Remember: We’re the Lord’s servants. Samuel served. He even looks the part. The ephod here was most likely an apron he would wear.^[16] It reminds us of how Jesus, on the night before His death, took a towel and tied it around Himself like an apron and washed His disciples feet. And afterward He said He did this as an example for us that we might go and do likewise.^[17]

The Christian life is a life of service, not convenience. And one of the things that Samuel’s life shows is that any of us can serve. That doesn’t mean all of us have the strength or health or opportunity to do every kind of service. But all of us are called to serve in the Lord’s presence, before His face, as He sets our lives aside for particular purposes. This term serving “suggests ongoing activity – something ingrained in Samuel’s lifestyle.”^[18] And it was ingrained in Hannah’s, too.

1 Samuel 2:19 – ¹⁹ Each year his mother made him a little robe and took it to him when she went with her husband to offer the annual sacrifice.

It would’ve been hard to leave your boy year after year. But think of much harder it would’ve been knowing that he was being raised by Eli with Hophni and Phinehas around! But Elkanah and Hannah knew the Lord is trustworthy. They knew He would not fail Samuel.

And notice: they kept coming, even though they’d have to deal with the things Eli’s sons were doing. They didn’t say, “Ok, we’re not going to Tabernacle anymore.” They had Joshua’s mentality: “This is what’s going on, it’s not right, but as for me and my house, we’re going to serve the Lord.”

And when they came each year, Hannah brought a new robe for Samuel. A cloak he would wear over the ephod.^[19] It probably felt like a small thing. They couldn’t do all the things they wished they could do for their son. But she could bring a robe. But you know – robes become very significant in Samuel’s story. There are going to be a couple of very pivotal moments which reference the robe he was wearing. I think it’s a nod of grace from the Lord to Hannah. Him using this small, tangible labor for a greater spiritual purpose. The Lord is generous like that. He’s good and kind like that.

1 Samuel 2:20 – ²⁰ Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife: “May the LORD give you children by this woman in place of the one she has given to the LORD.” Then they would go home.

Some part of Eli wants to honor God. Some part of him wants to be used by God. And clearly, God was willing to use him. But, he’s totally compromised. He won’t honor God in his parenting. He won’t do the hard parts of his duty. And so, his story is going to end tragically. It didn’t have to. But spiritual health doesn’t happen on accident. Finishing well doesn’t happen on its own. Christian growth requires obedience. It requires repentance. It requires submission.

1 Samuel 2:21 – ²¹ The LORD paid attention to Hannah’s need, and she conceived and gave birth to three sons and two daughters. Meanwhile, the boy Samuel grew up in the presence of the LORD.

It’s been said you can’t out-give the Lord. He will never be in debt to anyone. They gave Him a son, He gave them five children back. Notice the words used here: He paid attention to them. He sees your needs. He cares about them. He’s a God of grace and affection.

Not only was the Lord mindful and caring toward Hannah, but toward to Samuel, too. Both are before His face. Both are watched by Him, loved by Him, provided for by Him.

Our goal is to live in the presence of the Lord our God. To commune day-by-day with Him. Whether we’re in a good tent, like Elkanah’s, or a bad tent like in Shiloh. Why? Psalm 130 tells us:

Psalm 130:7 – For there is faithful love with the LORD, and with Him is redemption in abundance.

That is true whether you’re Samuel in Shiloh or David in Jerusalem or Daniel in Babylon or Paul in Philippi or Peter on the Mount of Transfiguration or Noah in the ark or Jonah in the whale.

So what do we do if we find ourselves in a toxic environment? Well, there may be a bunch of things you can and should do on the physical level. What about on the spiritual level? That’s what this text examples for us. In a very bad spiritual situation, Samuel was right where he was called to be.

We need to figure out where we’re called. And if we’re called to a place where we have to rub elbows with toxic or wicked good-for-nothings, we can remember what we’re told in Romans 12:

Romans 12:21 – 21 Do not be conquered by evil, but conquer evil with good.

The good of the Gospel. The good of a life lived in the power of Jesus Christ. The good of faithfulness in action, knowing God can be trusted to do what needs doing. Maybe through us, maybe through someone else. But living as servants of His good, answering His call. They may be wicked while they work, we worship while we work. And if we’re following God’s leading and answer His call, we can rely on the fact that He will guard our steps and we can grow in Him even if the circumstances are bad. Then He can use us for His good.