About 1 Samuel 7, part 1
1 Samuel 7
At the end of chapter 6 we saw the people of Beth-Shemesh send messengers to Kiriath-Jearim (which was located northeast of Beth-Shemesh) to let them know that the Ark of the Lord has been returned and asking them to come and get it. (6:21)
So the people of Kiriath-Jearin go and get the ark and take it to the hillside home of Abinadab, and this is where we commence chapter 7.
“And the men of Kiriath-jearim came and took up the ark of the Lord and brought it to the house of Abinadab on the hill. And they consecrated his son Eleazar to have charge of the ark of the Lord. From the day that the ark was lodged at Kiriath-jearim, a long time passed, some twenty years, and all the house of Israel lamented after the Lord.”
Before we get started I want to make notes of two important things that happen at the end of Chapter 6 and the start of Chapter 7.
The fact that the Israelites do not return the Ark to Shiloh suggests that the city was destroyed when the Philistines attacked.
The facts that Eleazar was not killed in his care-taking duties suggests that Eleazar was a Levite.
Okay, now let’s dive in.
Chapter 7 reintroduces Samuel - he has been absent since chapter 4. Samuel’s reappearance signals a positive change for Israel and it established Samuel’s career as prophet, priest and judge of Israel.
Samuel enters the scene and immediately addresses the people and their mourning for the Lord.
“Then Samuel said to all the people of Israel, “If you want to return to the Lord with all your hearts, get rid of your foreign gods and your images of Ashtoreth. Turn your hearts to the Lord and obey him alone; then he will rescue you from the Philistines.” So the Israelites got rid of their images of Baal and Ashtoreth and worshiped only the Lord.”
I want to take a moment here to note Israel’s quick response to Samuel’s words.
They didn’t complain, they didn’t ask questions, they just did what they were told.
They desired God’s presence so much that they turned away from their idols and worshipped only Him.
That’s how we should be too.
Our heart posture should be one that will do anything to draw closer to God, without hesitation.
If God tells us to look left, we need to immediately look, no matter what it was we were starring at before.
It’s not easy, not is it a one step process. Samuel doesn’t just tell the people turn away from your idols and worship only God and He’ll come. No, there are some next steps:
“Then Samuel told them, “Gather all of Israel to Mizpah, and I will pray to the Lord for you.” So they gathered at Mizpah and, in a great ceremony, drew water from a well and poured it out before the Lord. They also went without food all day and confessed that they had sinned against the Lord. (It was at Mizpah that Samuel became Israel’s judge.)”
There are Four things that occurred in these first few verses:
Repentance
Samuel told the Israelites that if they want God to be near them again, they must turn away from their idols and worship only God. Back then, idols were actual physical images that represented gods. Here are the definitions of idols and idolatry:
Idol:
an image or representation of a god used as an object of worship.
a person or thing that is greatly admired, loved, or revered.
Idolatry:
the worship of idols.
extreme admiration, love, or reverence for something or someone
Nowadays, idols don’t always look like an image or representation of a god. In some religions it does - my dad’s side of the family worships idols, they call them saints. Admittedly, I was involved in that growing up until I really read and sought understanding of the second and third commandments:
““You must not have any other god but me. You must not make for yourself an idol of any kind or an image of anything in the heavens or on the earth or in the sea. You must not bow down to them or worship them, for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God who will not tolerate your affection for any other gods. I lay the sins of the parents upon their children; the entire family is affected—even children in the third and fourth generations of those who reject me. But I lavish unfailing love for a thousand generations on those who love me and obey my commands.”
And once I understood that, God made a way to break the 300 year old generational curse that was placed upon my family. I have the audio record to show the entire ordeal - I actually listened to it the other day, and honestly without context and if someone who is not familiar with the Holy Spirit nor speaking in tongues hears it, they will find it weird. But that’s a whole side-note…
Idolatry can be the adoration of money, or sex [and I mean this in the context of outside of marriage], or for me, choosing to watch Korean Dramas instead of sitting down and spending time with God. Point is, Idolatry can look different to everyone, the best way to know if you’re idolizing something is asking yourself this questions:
Am I putting this before God?
Would I rather do this or spend time with God?
Do I really not have time to spend with God, or am I just not making time to spend with God?
Once we acknowledge our sin and idolatry and turn away from it, the next step that follows is:
2. Prayer
Samuel prayed to the Lord.
“Then Samuel told them, “Gather all of Israel to Mizpah, and I will pray to the Lord for you.””
Prayer is our weapon. James 5:16 tells us that “The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.” There is power when you pray, why? Because God hears our prayers. In Jeremiah 29:12-13 God tells us: 'In those days when you pray, I will listen. If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me.'
How we pray matters though. Jesus Himself tells us what to do and not to do when we pray:
“‘But when you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father in private. Then your Father, who sees everything, will reward you. “When you pray, don’t babble on and on as the Gentiles do. They think their prayers are answered merely by repeating their words again and again. Don’t be like them, for your Father knows exactly what you need even before you ask him! ‘”
Then Jesus tells us to pray like this:
“‘Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.
For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.’”
So we turn away from our sin, we repent, then. we pray to God, and thirdly:
3. Baptism
“So they gathered at Mizpah and, in a great ceremony, drew water from a well and poured it out before the Lord.”
The people didn’t gather at Mizpah just to hear Samuel pray, there was a cleansing that needed to take place - there’s a cleansing that needs to take place in our lives, specially when we are turning away from something we have placed before God.
What is Baptism?
Baptism is the Christian spiritual rite of sprinkling water on to a person's forehead or of immersing them in water; this act symbolizes purification or renewal and admission in to the Christian Church. Baptism is a symbol of our commitment to God. (The News Time)
The Israelites poured out water before God; they were washing away their sins, realigning themselves with God.
Baptism is something that occurs when you give your life to Jesus. It’s also not something that only needs to happen once. I’ve baptized twice: first in November 2012, a month after I first gave my life to Jesus and then again in September 2018 after I rededicated my life. You don’t have to get baptized every time you sin and repent, I did it again in 2018 because I had gone through major changes in my life and the Holy Spirit prompted me to get that purification.
“On that day they fasted and there they confessed, “We have sinned against the Lord.” ”
4. Fasting
to fast means to abstain from all or some kinds of food or drink. So the Israelites gathered at Mizpah did not eat for the whole day, the CEV says “On that same day they went without eating to show their sorrow, and they confessed they had been unfaithful to the Lord.” (1 Samuel 7:6b, CEV).
One can fast in various ways. Partial Fasting, The Daniel Fast, Complete Fasting, Absolute Fasting, Sexual Fasting, Corporate Fasting, and a Soul Fast. Most of my fasts are Soul Fast, I often from social media, most recently (during Holy Week) I fast from Asian Dramas and Secular music. I also did a partial fast for 40 days where I only drank water and juice from dusk to twilight. I tried to do a complete fast for a week - I only lasted 3 days. And often times I do corporate fasting, every year for the past 3 years I’ve done one with my church every January and I also did a few with my small group when I was a leader. Each time, I received healing in areas of my life that I didn’t even know I needed healing of. I highly encourage fasting, as it’s a way to draw closer to God as you rely on Him to fill you.
These were the four main points that stood out from this verse, we will carry on with the rest of Chapter 7 next week because there’s still a lot more to discuss.
See y’all then!
