Sunday Morning Service

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I Samuel 12

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“Samuel's Farewell” • 4.19.15 • Calvary Christian Fellowship, Sunday Morning Service

Intro.

- The people of Israel have just experienced their new King's first victory. Nahash the Ammonite's forces have been scattered and Israel is basking in the afterglow.

- The prophet Samuel is enjoying the festivities as much as anyone else, but more than anyone else, he is aware that this marks the end of an era. The Kingdom must rise.

- While all Israel was gathered at Gilgal, Samuel takes the opportunity to formalize the transition from theocracy to monarchy, ostensibly giving his farewell address.

- This section breaks up into four sections.

I. Public Record (v.1-5)

II. Passionate Review (v.6-15)

III. Present Rebellion (v.16-19)

IV. Promised Responsibility (v.20-25)

Intro.

I. Public Record (v.1-5)

• I Samuel 12:1,2a : "Now Samuel said to all Israel: 'Indeed I have heeded your voice in all that you said to me, and have made a king over you. And now here is the king, walking before you; and I am old and grayheaded, and look, my sons are with you." : Samuel points to King Saul's appointment as a concession to the people and his final responsibility to them.

- "I have heeded your voice and all that you said to me." This was their decision and now Saul stood along with Samuel.

- Aside from the necessary transition, Samuel was not aging gracefully. Some Rabbinic sources tell of a death in the early 50's, though that's not corroborated, his age was a factor.

- The note regarding his sons speaks of the personal responsibility that he had taken in removing them from ministry. They are "with" or among the people, not over them in any way.

- I Samuel 8:3 says that they perverted justice and took bribes and gifts for their administration.

- Aside from the difficulty that he must have had emotionally, Samuel has taken care of the business that he was responsible for. He has performed his final duties.

• I Samuel 12:2b-5 : "I have walked before you from my childhood to this day. Here I am. Witness against me before the Lord and before His anointed: Whose ox have I taken, or whose donkey have I taken, or whom have I cheated? Whom have I oppressed, or from whose hand have I received any bribe with which to blind my eyes? I will restore it to you.' And they said, 'You have not cheated us or oppressed us, nor have you taken anything from any man’s hand.' Then he said to them, 'The Lord is witness against you, and His anointed is witness this day, that you have not found anything in my hand.' And they answered, 'He is witness.'" Listen to those words. If they were ever true, it was true here! Samuel could hardly conceive of a time when he wasn't serving the Lord and His people! He walked before the people.

- A leader walks before the Lord first and His people and very few are well pleasing to both! Samuel presents himself for their review in this very public exit interview.

- He began serving around his 5th birthday, serving continuously all the way to this point, which may have been in his 60's.

- The nation watched him grow up physically and into great prominence spiritually.

- How had he acted? He asks them to give an account. If there was any privilege that he misused or any property that he had taken, he gave them the chance to bring it to his attention.

- Whatever they would accuse him of taking, he promised to restore to them. He wasn't seeking a chance for self-glory. I believe that he was genuinely concerned that he missed something!

- When Israel declared his innocence, Samuel made sure that this was confirmed before the King and in God's sight, which they agreed to immediately.

- What incredible integrity Samuel had! Here he is, willing to be vulnerable before this nation that he served, promising to restore anything he had taken from their hand.

- A person willing to do this has lived their life well before God! When you purpose to live that way before God, you will find that you have lived well before His people!

- Don't miss the signifcance for Saul who is witnessing this from the throne.

- He is beginning his career on the shoulders of a man who has served an entire political career with his integrity intact! You'd be hard pressed to find a better example.

II. Passionate Review (v.6-15)

• I Samuel 12:6,7 : "Then Samuel said to the people, 'It is the Lord who raised up Moses and Aaron, and who brought your fathers up from the land of Egypt. Now therefore, stand still, that I may reason with you before the Lord concerning all the righteous acts of the Lord which He did to you and your fathers:"  :

- Samuel has spent his entire life speaking for God and his heart remains steadfast in his old age.

- Their present problem has always been their problem: Looking to and crediting men with God's victories! Take Moses and Aaron for example!

- God was responsible for raising Moses and Aaron to lead Israel from Egypt. If it hadn't been for the Lord raising them up and empowering their cause, Israel would have died out as a race!

- He calls them to present themselves toward this end, to "reason" with them.

- The sense of it is that Samuel wishes to contend for the worthiness of the Lord on their behalf. He wants to plead with them to remember every good deed that He had done in their history.

• I Samuel 12:8-12 : "When Jacob had gone into Egypt, and your fathers cried out to the Lord, then the Lord sent Moses and Aaron, who brought your fathers out of Egypt and made them dwell in this place. And when they forgot the Lord their God, He sold them into the hand of Sisera, commander of the army of Hazor, into the hand of the Philistines, and into the hand of the king of Moab; and they fought against them. Then they cried out to the Lord, and said, ‘We have sinned, because we have forsaken the Lord and served the Baals and Ashtoreths; but now deliver us from the hand of our enemies, and we will serve You.’ And the Lord sent Jerubbaal, Bedan, Jephthah, and Samuel, and delivered you out of the hand of your enemies on every side; and you dwelt in safety. And when you saw that Nahash king of the Ammonites came against you, you said to me, ‘No, but a king shall reign over us,’ when the Lord your God was your king." : Samuel's review begins with the reason Israel had been in Egypt in the first place.

- Famine had forced Jacob's hand and God led their family into Egypt. At that time, the people of Israel numbered 70, which was akin to a very large tribe.

- After a century had passed, Israel multiplied into a mighty nation of people which caused the Pharaoh to subjugate them out of fear. They were without hope, except to cry out to God for relief.

- Moses and Aaron led them out and God caused them to dwell in that place allowing Joshua to physically bring them into Canaan. The people of God followed the Lord until Joshua died.

- When that whole generation of Joshua's fellow servants passed, the people of God did what God had warned them not to do: They forgot Him! They did not lose the faculty to remember Him.

- He was their God in the same way that God is America's God! He's given credit, but when it comes to living in a conscious, present, submitted awareness, there is little or no concern.

- Israel had ceased to care which is why God called them to write His command to love Him with all their heart, soul, mind and strength on their phylacteries, lest they forget Him! (Deut. 6:7-12)

- God, knowing that would happen, declared that He would bring enemies to Israel's doorstep in order to correct their behavior. (Leviticus 26:16-18)

- The Lord treated them according to how they were acting. This was the consequence to their actions. They had acted like slaves and now, essentially, they were.

- He sold them to the highest bidder and allowed Israel to be under the thumb of oppressive enemies. Sisera, the Philistines, the Moabites all successfully fought against Israel for a time.

- It seems like Israel either felt powerless to fight back or gradually accepted their fate. In some cases, they did not cry out to God until years had passed! Eventually, they did in fact cry out to God.

- They would finally have enough and reach out to their final resource after they had exhausted all others. They had served Baals and Ashtoreths and conjured up the will to survive under suffering.

- When that proved to be insufficient, they turned to the Lord promising to serve Him if he delivered them. That was the recurring nature of their relationship to God!

- Samuel lists the Judges that God raised up to fight for the people of Israel, including one, Bedan, that we know nothing about. This is completely fascinating.

- Some believe that Bedan is another name for Barack, who delivered Israel with Deborah. That may be the case, but it's better to believe that it's someone only He knows!

- Regardless of his name, it was God who delivered Israel time and time again!

- The recent campaign over Nahash was the pivotal move away from Judges and toward Kings. The Lord had been their King, but now, Saul was their King. What a poor trade to make!

• I Samuel 12:13-15 : "Now therefore, here is the king whom you have chosen and whom you have desired. And take note, the Lord has set a king over you. If you fear the Lord and serve Him and obey His voice, and do not rebel against the commandment of the Lord, then both you and the king who reigns over you will continue following the Lord your God. However, if you do not obey the voice of the Lord, but rebel against the commandment of the Lord, then the hand of the Lord will be against you, as it was against your fathers." : Saul was most definitely the people's choice. He was the one they desired and God was honoring that decision.

- Saul is set and appointed in that position by God Himself! There is no going back.

- Hypothetically, the people could have called a fast and repented of their blasphemy, but in reality, they had moved well beyond that capability spiritually!

- At this point, it may seem as though God is releasing the people of Israel to their King, to live independently of Him, but that is not the case at all.

- In a very condensed form, Samuel lays out the conditions of their nation's success going forth, which sounds very familiar to everything that God has prescribed before.

- "If you fear" respect, reverance, the King? No! They were to hold the Lord in this position! Would this apply to the people alone and not the King? No! Samuel includes Saul in this!

- This covenant is for the peasant and the prince! It's for the poor house and the palace! God expected the people and the King to hold God in the primary place of honor in their hearts!

- "Saul, you are responsible before God to fear Him above every other being!" That will be the key to your success! Anything less is rebellion against the Lord!

- The were to obey His voice and not rebel against the commandment of the Lord. Do you notice that connecetion? His voice is the commandment. The two are synonymous!

- If they did that the people and the reigning King, will continue to follow after the Lord. He will continue to lead them.

- Understand clearly again: Knowing His command and performing His command is to obey His voice! It is never enough to know. Those who do His command have obeyed His command!

- Blessing follows obedience and cursing follows disobedience. Israel's covenant demands rewards and consequences and that wouldn't change under the rule of a King.

- Their response towards God's command will dictate the consequence of their God's behavior toward them!

- God was going to treat them in the exact same way that He had treated their Fathers. There has been no change, except that they must obey a King as well.

III. Present Rebellion (v.16-19)

• I Samuel 12:16-19 : "Now therefore, stand and see this great thing which the Lord will do before your eyes: Is today not the wheat harvest? I will call to the Lord, and He will send thunder and rain, that you may perceive and see that your wickedness is great, which you have done in the sight of the Lord, in asking a king for yourselves.' So Samuel called to the Lord, and the Lord sent thunder and rain that day; and all the people greatly feared the Lord and Samuel. And all the people said to Samuel, 'Pray for your servants to the Lord your God, that we may not die; for we have added to all our sins the evil of asking a king for ourselves.'" : Samuel has just laid out a very decisive word. He offers them a sign to testify to it's authenticity, letting them know that it was truly God's word to them.

- The wheat harvest occurs from late May through early June. Being dry season, it's the perfect time to produce a sign that is not expected in order to demonstrate God's involvement.

- When Samuel called the Lord for thunder and rain, the Lord sent it and the people were "terrified" (NLT), and "stood in awe" (NIV) of the Lord and Samuel.

- They are forced to admit their error! "Pray for us!" Listen to their words carefully: Pray for us to the Lord your God! That says it all right there!

- Israel knew that they were guilty before God and their admission reveals a lack of relationship fidelity to call Him their God in this moment!

- They have spent all their time forgetting God, setting up their own homes and livelihoods. Now when the storm comes and their fear is ramped up, they need another to pray on their behalf!

- Like most people that don't know God, they are only concerned with not dying! A true repentant heart is concerned with living in a right way before the Lord!

- There is no shadow of a doubt that they are guilty before the Lord! They have added yet another evil to all the other sins that they were guilty of. Notice how Samuel responds.

IV. Promised Responsibility (v.20-25)

• I Samuel 12:20-22 : "Then Samuel said to the people, 'Do not fear. You have done all this wickedness; yet do not turn aside from following the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart. And do not turn aside; for then you would go after empty things which cannot profit or deliver, for they are nothing. For the Lord will not forsake His people, for His great name’s sake, because it has pleased the Lord to make you His people." : This is astounding! Look at their faithlessness. See fully their failure! It has been spoken and confirmed. What are Samuel's next words? "Do not fear!"

- They were guilty. They had not held up their part of the bargain. They had done all this wickedness! Yet, there is another chance. Don't make matters worse by not following the Lord now!

- God again invites Israel to trust and obey Him, to open their hearts to Him as God!

- Serve the Lord, make yourself useful to Him! Surrender who you are to Him with every part of your being! And when you do, don't turn aside from that position of service!

- Love it and enjoy it because when you aren't in it, you will find yourself pursuing something vastly inferior!

- Samuel employs the phrase "empty things." Listen to the other words that could be used in it's place: Formlessness, confusion, unreality, nothingness.

- The mind of a person who ceases service to the Lord surrenders themself to something. No matter the supposed source, there is a lack of reality to it!

- Samuel is referring primarily to idolatry which was an ever present issue for the people of Israel. Their experience would leave them as empty as any idol that they served!

- There isn't an idol that can add anything to you or deliver you from trouble because none of them are real! On the other hand, there is the Lord! The Lord will not forsake His people Israel! Why?

- Is it because of their faithfulness or their obedience? They were incapable of either!

- God will be faithful to Israel, His elect for one one reason: His own Name's sake! God is interested in His own reputation!

- This is why God has bound Himself to His elect people, even though they currently remain in a state without His present grace. Aside from that, it is by His grace that they exist at all!

- God will save all of Israel eventually because it simply pleased Him to make them His people! If that is true for their election, how much more true is it for us who dwell under a better covenant!

- Israel is kept because of God's promise to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and David. He will fulfill those promises because He cannot lie! If he could, we would have great cause for concern!

- His faithfulness to Israel in the past, present and future, when He brings to fulfillment the Kingdom He promised the Jews, is essential for us to understand.

• I Samuel 12:23-25 : "Moreover, as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord in ceasing to pray for you; but I will teach you the good and the right way. Only fear the Lord, and serve Him in truth with all your heart; for consider what great things He has done for you. But if you still do wickedly, you shall be swept away, both you and your king.'" : Samuel wasn't about to let Israel's failures cause him to sin against the Lord! He had a job to do before the Lord. He would not stop now!

- He had been the spiritual leader of Israel, praying for them daily as his tenure continued. Even here at this advanced age, he's still ready to serve!

- He is willing to pray for them despite their flighty nature and against seeming futility! He still commits to praying for them!

- If anything can happen, it will only happen as God's people commit themselves to prayer, for in doing so, they call upon the only One that can affect change!

- If you are an older person in Christ, you are highly valued. We need you not to sin against the Lord by not praying!

- Take your cue from Samuel who was still going to teach them the good and right way! He was still available to them, willing to instruct them in God's way.

- What was that way? Fear the Lord, serve Him honestly with everything you have, in view of what He has done for you! Nothing will affect your serve more profoundly!

- The alternative is wickedness and will result in them being scraped off of the floor! I can only imagine Saul listening and understanding that he had no diplomatic immunity.

- He was God's servant as well and would be expected to live according to these words.

Conclusion

- Samuel retires as a man filled with integrity, having finished what God gave Him to do. What a testimony: An entire nation witnessed before God that he had lived in a righteous way.

- He lived in light of all that God had done, from his nation's inception, to that very day.

- He lived in spite of the fact that most all of Israel had turned their backs on God, ceasing to care about His place in their lives.

- But it wasn't their action that would dictate God's action. God would be faithful in the face of their faithlessness and Samuel would follow his Lord's lead!