First Samuel 7:10

The Bible says in First Samuel 7:10-14, “And as Samuel was offering up the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near to battle against Israel: but the LORD thundered with a great thunder on that day upon the Philistines, and discomfited them; and they were smitten before Israel.[11] And the men of Israel went out of Mizpeh, and pursued the Philistines, and smote them, until they came under Beth-car.[12] Then Samuel took a stone, and set it between Mizpeh and Shen, and called the name of it Eben-ezer, saying, Hitherto hath the LORD helped us.[13] So the Philistines were subdued, and they came no more into the coast of Israel: and the hand of the LORD was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel.[14] And the cities which the Philistines had taken from Israel were restored to Israel, from Ekron even unto Gath; and the coasts thereof did Israel deliver out of the hands of the Philistines. And there was peace between Israel and the Amorites.” The Lord gave the Israelites the victory. Our enemies are not flesh and blood, but are spiritual enemies that rage against the soul. We need the Lord to get victory. The Lord Jesus is our strength. He can do anything. Of course, those who know Jesus as Savior already have the most important victory of all: victory over sin and death. Samuel wanted to remember and he wanted the people to remember what the Lord had done for them, and so Samuel set up a stone and named it Ebenezer. One of the most important things to do in serving the Lord is to remember. Remember all the great things that Jesus has done for you, starting with dying for you on the cross.

Notice the phrase at the last half of verse thirteen, “and the hand of the LORD was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel.” Never forget that one person plus God is always a majority. One person who trusts in God and who serves the Lord faithfully can change the course of an entire nation. If you can stay surrendered to the Lord in spite of the spiritual pressures that will come against you, who knows what God will do through you?

The Bible says in First Samuel 7:15-17, “And Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life.[16] And he went from year to year in circuit to Bethel, and Gilgal, and Mizpeh, and judged Israel in all those places.[17] And his return was to Ramah; for there was his house; and there he judged Israel; and there he built an altar unto the LORD.” These verses show us how faithful Samuel was all the time. He started well in life. He had believing parents who helped him get the best spiritual formation possible. When the Lord called him, he answered and became a servant of the Lord. And Samuel did not stop serving the Lord like many people do. He got into a routine and he kept on keeping on. Samuel had his own house, and so he provided for the needs of his family, and at the same time he also built things for the Lord.

But not everything worked out well for Samuel. The same thing happened to Samuel that happened to many Christians: the children went astray. The Bible says in First Samuel 8:1-3, “And it came to pass, when Samuel was old, that he made his sons judges over Israel.[2] Now the name of his firstborn was Joel; and the name of his second, Abiah: they were judges in Beer-sheba.[3] And his sons walked not in his ways, but turned aside after lucre, and took bribes, and perverted judgment.” Samuel had two sons who became judges, but they did not walk in his ways. In other words, they were not true servants of the Lord. They had the same position that Samuel had: they were judges. But they did not know the Lord or serve the Lord. Just because someone has a position in a religious organization does not mean that they are a spiritual person. Unfortunately, there are far too many people in “religion” who are like these two. Notice the great sin that was committed by the sons of Samuel: “but turned aside after lucre, and took bribes, and perverted judgment.” Money. How often people have used religion as a source of money. In some instances, it can be done properly, but often it is abused. There is nothing wrong with a preacher being supported by the flock. It says in both the Old Testament and the New Testament, “Thou shalt not muzzle the ox who is treading out the corn.” But the goal of a preacher should be to make Christianity attractive in every way possible. There are many situations where it would be better if the preacher had a source of income outside of religion. In other words, the preacher would work a normal job like everyone else in order to pay for his house, his bills, his car, and everything else. That is exactly what the Apostle Paul did in cities where he preached. Paul was a tent-maker. Paul wrote in Second Thessalonians 3:7-10, “ For yourselves know how ye ought to follow us: for we behaved not ourselves disorderly among you;[8] Neither did we eat any man's bread for nought; but wrought with labour and travail night and day, that we might not be chargeable to any of you:[9] Not because we have not power, but to make ourselves an ensample unto you to follow us.[10] For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat.”

The Bible says in First Samuel 8:4-8, “ Then all the elders of Israel gathered themselves together, and came to Samuel unto Ramah,[5] And said unto him, Behold, thou art old, and thy sons walk not in thy ways: now make us a king to judge us like all the nations.[6] But the thing displeased Samuel, when they said, Give us a king to judge us. And Samuel prayed unto the LORD.[7] And the LORD said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them.[8] According to all the works which they have done since the day that I brought them up out of Egypt even unto this day, wherewith they have forsaken me, and served other gods, so do they also unto thee.” The elders of Israel correctly recognized the problem that Samuel’s sons were causing as unjust and greedy judges. We have a lot of leaders in our day who are corrupt for the same reasons: they accept bribes and in other ways have corrupted their leadership ability because of their own greed. How do you fix such a problem? Do not throw out the baby with the bath-water. We need better leaders, but do not destroy the system that our fore-fathers have set up by the grace of God. It was God’s will that Israel be ruled by judges who would be close to the Lord, and who would make decisions that were good and right for the people. If they had bad judges, the solution would be to get better judges. But the elders wanted to get rid of the system of judges and replace it with having a king over Israel.

There were several things wrong with wanting to have a king rule over them. The first problem was mentioned in verse five, “now make us a king to judge us like all the nations.” Notice the phrase “like all the nations.” Those were heathen nations. God wanted His people to be different than the world. God wanted His people to get their instructions from Him. Do not copy the methods of unbelievers in organizing your life, your family, your children’s education, your community, or your nation if you have that opportunity. Everything you need to know for organizing your life is found in the Word of God. Go to Christ for your needs.

Samuel was in fellowship with the Lord, and therefore, Samuel knew it was a bad idea for the people of Israel to copy the heathen nations and ask for a king. That is why it says in verse six, “the thing displeased Samuel.” Notice what God said to Samuel in verse seven, “Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me…” God said basically, “Go ahead and give them what they want.” God gives freedom to human beings. He does not force anyone to go His way. If you do not seek the Lord Jesus Christ, He will let you choose the wrong way if you are determined to do so.

The Bible says in First Samuel 8:9-18, “Now therefore hearken unto their voice: howbeit yet protest solemnly unto them, and shew them the manner of the king that shall reign over them.[10] And Samuel told all the words of the LORD unto the people that asked of him a king.[11] And he said, This will be the manner of the king that shall reign over you: He will take your sons, and appoint them for himself, for his chariots, and to be his horsemen; and some shall run before his chariots.[12] And he will appoint him captains over thousands, and captains over fifties; and will set them to ear his ground, and to reap his harvest, and to make his instruments of war, and instruments of his chariots.[13] And he will take your daughters to be confectionaries, and to be cooks, and to be bakers.[14] And he will take your fields, and your vineyards, and your oliveyards, even the best of them, and give them to his servants.[15] And he will take the tenth of your seed, and of your vineyards, and give to his officers, and to his servants.[16] And he will take your menservants, and your maidservants, and your goodliest young men, and your asses, and put them to his work.[17] He will take the tenth of your sheep: and ye shall be his servants.[18] And ye shall cry out in that day because of your king which ye shall have chosen you; and the LORD will not hear you in that day.” There are several important things to notice in this warning to the elders about what would happen if the people rejected God, and chose a king to rule over them. Basically, the king would create a large government. The government would grow in numbers of employees of both men and women. The implication is that they would lose freedoms because they would be doing what the government wanted them to do. Also, verses fourteen and fifteen make it very clear that taxes will be levied to pay for all the things the government is doing. Verse fifteen says that it will be so bad that the people will end up paying ten percent in taxes. We pay a lot more than ten percent. The American Revolution got rid of one king and its rule, but the replacement has turned into a giant governmental control of our daily lives. What have we done? The same thing that Israel did.

The Bible says in First Samuel 8:19-22, “ Nevertheless the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel; and they said, Nay; but we will have a king over us;[20] That we also may be like all the nations; and that our king may judge us, and go out before us, and fight our battles.[21] And Samuel heard all the words of the people, and he rehearsed them in the ears of the LORD.[22] And the LORD said to Samuel, Hearken unto their voice, and make them a king. And Samuel said unto the men of Israel, Go ye every man unto his city.” Of course, we already knew this was going to happen because of what the people said earlier in this chapter. If you want to know what people are going to end up doing, just listen to them talk. People create their own destiny because God gives freedom of choice. Sad that more do not go God’s way. He knows the future, and we do not.

The Bible says in First Samuel 9:1-2, “Now there was a man of Benjamin, whose name was Kish, the son of Abiel, the son of Zeror, the son of Bechorath, the son of Aphiah, a Benjamite, a mighty man of power.[2] And he had a son, whose name was Saul, a choice young man, and a goodly: and there was not among the children of Israel a goodlier person than he: from his shoulders and upward he was higher than any of the people.” Of course, we know that Saul would become king. Saul certainly had a good beginning. Unfortunately, some people who start well do not end well. Thankfully, some people who do not start so well do end up very well by the grace of God through Christ. Saul was obedient and responsible. Saul was a big and strong young man also. In every regard Saul was the best young man in Israel, but he still would not make a good king. He would become disobedient to God, he would be corrupted by power, he would become fearful and jealous, and he would become a violent murderous man. They should never have insisted on a king.

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