The Last Judge of Israel


1 Samuel 7:3-15
3 And Samuel said to all the house of Israel, “If you are returning to the Lord with all your heart, then put away the foreign gods and the Ashtoreth from among you and direct your heart to the Lord and serve him only, and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.”
4 So the people of Israel put away the Baals and the Ashtoreth, and they served the Lord only.
5 Then Samuel said, “Gather all Israel at Mizpah, and I will pray to the Lord for you.”
6 So they gathered at Mizpah and drew water and poured it out before the Lord and fasted on that day and said there, “We have sinned against the Lord.” And Samuel judged the people of Israel at Mizpah.
7 Now when the Philistines heard that the people of Israel had gathered at Mizpah, the lords of the Philistines went up against Israel. And when the people of Israel heard of it, they were afraid of the Philistines.
8 And the people of Israel said to Samuel, “Do not cease to cry out to the Lord our God for us that he may save us from the hand of the Philistines.”
9 So Samuel took a nursing lamb and offered it as a whole burnt offering to the Lord. And Samuel cried out to the Lord for Israel, and the Lord answered him.
10 As Samuel was offering up the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near to attack Israel. But the Lord thundered with a mighty sound that day against the Philistines and threw them into confusion, and they were routed before Israel.
11 And the men of Israel went out from Mizpah and pursued the Philistines and struck them, as far as below Beth-car.
12 Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen and called its name Ebenezer; for he said, “Till now the Lord has helped us.”
13 So the Philistines were subdued and did not again enter the territory of Israel. And the hand of the Lord was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel.
14 The cities that the Philistines had taken from Israel were restored to Israel, from Ekron to Gath, and Israel delivered their territory from the hand of the Philistines. There was peace also between Israel and the Amorites.
15 Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life.
16 And he went on a circuit year by year to Bethel, Gilgal, and Mizpah. And he judged Israel in all these places.
17 Then he would return to Ramah, for his home was there, and there also he judged Israel. And he built there an altar to the Lord.

The work of Samuel, the hero of our story so far and the name-sake of the book, is outlined very succinctly in these 15 verses of chapter 7.  He faithfully tells the people to put aside their and worship the Living God. Something should probably be said of Baal and Ashtoreth. They were the male and female gods of the Canaanite people who were supposed to bring fertility and bounty in the harvest. They were the gods of the people’s own making. Here we have an example of the fact that when people do not know the true God, they will make one up for themselves. When God’s own people wandered away from Him, inevitably they would gravitate toward the Baals and were told by prophet after prophet to return to the true God.

When the people heeded Samuel’s words, life went pretty well for them. They were able to overcome their enemies and live in peace. It is interesting (and happens in other places in the Scriptures too) that when God is allowed to fight for the people He does a fine job of it. When the people take on the task of dealing with their enemies alone, they suffer death at the hands of their enemies. Allowing God to take care of the situations that are too big for us (which includes most of them) always results in far less bloodshed. All God had to do for the people of Israel was create a little thunder and the enemy was immobilized. When have you been able to create thunder? Samuel helps the people see that trusting God is always the best way. Because the people listened to Samuel (and thus God) things began to improve for them and they were allowed to live in relative peace. In upcoming chapters, they will forgo the ways of God and pay the price with war and struggle.

For reasons that will remain a mystery until I die, I don’t know why I would abandon the ways of God in order to exhaust my own resources to solve a problem. But that is inevitably the first choice. Then when I am bereft, I finally turn to God and ask for help. This cycle is repeated in the book of Judges over a 400 year period and these words from 1 Samuel are a continuation of the process. For the time being in our story, God is being worshiped and the people are enjoying His favor. Would that this would continue. Would that we would learn not only from them but from our own lives as well. Trust in yourself (or other “gods) will never end well. Trust in the Lord and relax.

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