Samuel's sons

(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)

Sinking Sand

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1 Samuel 8:1–3, “And it came to pass, when Samuel was old, that he made his sons judges over Israel. Now the name of his firstborn was Joel; and the name of his second, Abiah: they were judges in Beersheba. And his sons walked not in his ways, but turned aside after lucre, and took bribes, and perverted judgment.”

Every single person on earth has two options to look forward to; they can grow old or they can die young. This may change in the future but, to date this is an absolute certainty. Samuel was a good and wise Judge but he grew old. He hadn’t learned anything from Eli’s experience and hadn’t taken time to discipline and train his own children. When people join the military one of the first things they learn is that you cannot give orders until you learn how to obey orders. It seems as though Samuel’s sons, Joel and Abiah were in the same boat. They had never been taught how to take orders so when they were elevated to a leadership position they were emotionally unqualified. They were not like their father but chose to be corrupt and use their position to enrich themselves.

Samuel the Judge

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Sinking Sand

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1 Samuel 7:13–17, “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. 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. And Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life. And he went from year to year in circuit to Bethel, and Gilgal, and Mizpeh, and judged Israel in all those places. 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.”

During the period of the Judges, Israel always began a period with a new judge by inflicting a large defeat on the enemies who had been oppressing them. The Philistines were the oppressors during the period after Eli’s period of leadership and they were convincing defeated by the Lord’s miraculous intervention. Never the less, Samuel was credited with this great victory because it followed his prayer. As long as Samuel was the Judge, Israel had the upper hand over the enemies and Israel was able to take control of their proper inheritance that had been lost to the Philistines during the bad years. “The Amorites” was a generic name used to describe the Canaanites since the Lord promised the Land to Abraham after the iniquity of the Amorites was complete. Israel was able to live without any interference from their enemies during the time that Samuel was in charge. Samuel had heard, understood and obeyed the Lord’s commands and was the best man to lead Israel at that time. Not only was Samuel well trained, he was a wise man as well and regularly visited the tribes on a yearly circuit to make sure that the people were well taught and they understood what was required of them. Samuel was also a priest so he built an altar near his home and made sure that the proper ceremonial and sacrificial requirements were regularly met.

Ebeneezer

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Sinking Sand

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1 Samuel 7:7–12, “And when the Philistines heard that the children of Israel were gathered together to Mizpeh, the lords of the Philistines went up against Israel. And when the children of Israel heard it, they were afraid of the Philistines. And the children of Israel said to Samuel, Cease not to cry unto the LORD our God for us, that he will save us out of the hand of the Philistines. And Samuel took a sucking lamb, and offered it for a burnt offering wholly unto the LORD: and Samuel cried unto the LORD for Israel; and the LORD heard him. 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. And the men of Israel went out of Mizpeh, and pursued the Philistines, and smote them, until they came under Bethcar. Then Samuel took a stone, and set it between Mizpeh and Shen, and called the name of it Ebenezer, saying, Hitherto hath the LORD helped us.”

The Philistines weren’t fools, they were not going to wait to be destroyed. Even though they could remember their bad experience with the ark they could also remember their comprehensive victory in their last battle. They may have had to submit to the Lord but they didn’t have to submit to Israel, at least that’s what they believed. While Israel had repented, they hadn’t learned to trust the Lord yet. These things take time and require a commitment to trust the Lord over a long period of time. However, the Philistines didn’t give them much time because they didn’t want to let Israel grow strong. No one would just sit around a wait for defeat if they didn’t have to. Israel already knew that Samuel had a connection with the Lord. They could remember that the Lord spoke to Samuel when he was just a child and the Lord’s words, as reported by Samuel, came true. They expressed their willingness to follow Samuel as Judge so they asked him to pray for them. They weren’t sure that they could achieve anything but they knew that the Lord would hear Samuel’s prayers and save them from their fierce enemies. Samuel offered a sacrifice, as required by the Law, similar to the time of the first Passover, he offered a lamb as a burnt offering to the Lord. After that, Israel didn’t have to do anything. Unlike the time when Hophni and Phinehas took the ark into battle the Lord heard Samuel’s prayer and caused a massive thunder storm so that the Philistines were totally terrified and they ran away. They remembered that the Lord had brought a plague upon them when they took that ark as a booty and didn’t want that to happen again. As the Philistines ran away the Israelis chased them and fought against them. It was one of the rules of war in those days that a retreating enemy was to be chased, destroyed and plundered. Samuel understood that the Lord was responsible for the victory and set up a memorial stone to commemorate the victory and gave the stone a name to show that the Lord, and the Lord alone, helped them that day.

Mizpeh

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Sinking Sand

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1 Samuel 7:3–6, “And Samuel spake unto all the house of Israel, saying, If ye do return unto the LORD with all your hearts, then put away the strange gods and Ashtaroth from among you, and prepare your hearts unto the LORD, and serve him only: and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines. Then the children of Israel did put away Baalim and Ashtaroth, and served the LORD only. And Samuel said, Gather all Israel to Mizpeh, and I will pray for you unto the LORD. And they gathered together to Mizpeh, 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 children of Israel in Mizpeh.”

It took twenty years from the time that the ark was returned to Israel by the Philistines before Samuel had completed his training and was ready to lead Israel as Judge and act as Priest. When Samuel was young, no one was really interested in what the Lord God had to say so He stopped speaking because He knew He was wasting His effort. However, the Lord spoke to Samuel and he faithfully reported the Lord’s word to Eli. Samuel was ready to hear what the Lord had to say when he was still a young boy but he wasn’t ready to lead Israel. He needed to learn the Law of the Lord and meditate on it day and night before he was ready to take control of Israel in their sinful state. (compare Josh 1:8–9, “This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success. Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.) When the Lord knew that Samuel was ready He spoke to him again and told him to take control of Israel, in the Lord’s Name. The Lord had already told Israel that they were not to worship other gods so the first step that Israel had to take was to get rid of all the foreign gods and that is what Samuel told them to do. After they had got rid of the other gods then they would be in a position to wholeheartedly follow the Lord, as He had commanded them to do. Once they were prepared to submit to the Lord then the Lord would deliver them from the Philistines. We know that through all the twenty years the Philistines had control of Israel and plundered them at will because they had won that decisive victory when Eli died, his sons were killed in battle and the ark was captured as a prize of war. It was not just enough for Israel to say the words, they had to show true faith by coming together in one place, confess their sins, fast and pray. They also poured out water to the Lord to symbolise their ceremonial cleansing as well. Samuel became the Judge at that time on the proper grounds. Israel was to follow a man who followed the Lord and demanded that all Israel do the same.

Israel lamented

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Sinking Sand

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1 Samuel 7:1–2, “And the men of Kirjathjearim came, and fetched up the ark of the LORD, and brought it into the house of Abinadab in the hill, and sanctified Eleazar his son to keep the ark of the LORD. And it came to pass, while the ark abode in Kirjathjearim, that the time was long; for it was twenty years: and all the house of Israel lamented after the LORD.”

Eli and his sons were dead. Samuel was still young and in training so the people didn’t recognise him as a leader. No one knew what to do with the Ark of the Covenant. The people of Bethshemesh were, rightly, scared so they didn’t want to have custody of the ark. Kirjathjearim was a nearby town so they came and collected the ark and brought it to the home of a man called Abinadab. He put the ark in a safe and secret place, as was required and everybody forgot about the ark for a while. During this twenty year period all the Israelis wanted to serve the Lord but they didn’t know quite what to do because there was no one to teach them.

They looked inside

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Sinking Sand

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1 Samuel 6:19–21, “And he smote the men of Bethshemesh, because they had looked into the ark of the LORD, even he smote of the people fifty thousand and threescore and ten men: and the people lamented, because the LORD had smitten many of the people with a great slaughter. And the men of Bethshemesh said, Who is able to stand before this holy LORD God? and to whom shall he go up from us? And they sent messengers to the inhabitants of Kirjathjearim, saying, The Philistines have brought again the ark of the LORD; come ye down, and fetch it up to you.”

When the Tabernacle was first built, the instructions for the ark included keeping in secret in the Holiest place. The Lord told Moses that He would meet Moses and communicate with him near the ark. (Ex 25:21–22, “And thou shalt put the mercy seat above upon the ark; and in the ark thou shalt put the testimony that I shall give thee. And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubims which are upon the ark of the testimony, of all things which I will give thee in commandment unto the children of Israel.”) However, access into the Lord’s presence was restricted to certain times of the year and special sacrifices had to be offered. Only the High Priest was allowed to enter the Holy Place. When the ark was to be transported the priest who was disassembling the Tabernacle was to take the veil from the Holiest Place and cover the ark with that veil. (Ex 40:3, “And thou shalt put therein the ark of the testimony, and cover the ark with the vail.”) This reminds us that Eli’s sons had committed an extra sin by showing the ark to the Israeli soldiers and then to the Philistines. When the ark was returned to Israel, it was uncovered on a cart drawn by two cows because the Philistines didn’t know any better. However, the Israelis should have known better and immediately found something clean to cover the ark. Instead, the local people were curious and opened the ark to see what was inside. This was a serious sacrilege so the Lord killed the people who had looked and approved of this action. They had no excuse because they belonged to the Lord and had full access to His Law. However, they were also filled with a holy fear of the Lord and called to the people of the next town to come and take the ark away from them.

A burnt offering unto the Lord

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Sinking Sand

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1 Samuel 6:10–18, “And the men did so; and took two milch kine, and tied them to the cart, and shut up their calves at home: And they laid the ark of the LORD upon the cart, and the coffer with the mice of gold and the images of their emerods. And the kine took the straight way to the way of Bethshemesh, and went along the highway, lowing as they went, and turned not aside to the right hand or to the left; and the lords of the Philistines went after them unto the border of Bethshemesh. And they of Bethshemesh were reaping their wheat harvest in the valley: and they lifted up their eyes, and saw the ark, and rejoiced to see it. And the cart came into the field of Joshua, a Bethshemite, and stood there, where there was a great stone: and they clave the wood of the cart, and offered the kine a burnt offering unto the LORD. And the Levites took down the ark of the LORD, and the coffer that was with it, wherein the jewels of gold were, and put them on the great stone: and the men of Bethshemesh offered burnt offerings and sacrificed sacrifices the same day unto the LORD. And when the five lords of the Philistines had seen it, they returned to Ekron the same day. And these are the golden emerods which the Philistines returned for a trespass offering unto the LORD; for Ashdod one, for Gaza one, for Askelon one, for Gath one, for Ekron one; And the golden mice, according to the number of all the cities of the Philistines belonging to the five lords, both of fenced cities, and of country villages, even unto the great stone of Abel, whereon they set down the ark of the LORD: which stone remaineth unto this day in the field of Joshua, the Bethshemite.”

When the men let the cart go the cows went straight towards the nearest Israeli town and didn’t go back to their calves. When the Lord of the Philistines saw what had happened they went him satisfied that the Lord had brought all that trouble on them. When the cart reached the Israelis they were in the fields reaping wheat. They saw the ark and knew that this was the Lord’s doing. The cattle brought the cart with the ark into one man’s field so they cut up the cart and sacrificed the cows on a large rock that was nearby. They wanted to offer their gratitude and praise to the Lord for what He had done for them. After that they left the ark on the rock. When this history was recorded soon after these events the rock was still there so that any reader could go and see it. At that stage the local people just left the ark where it was. After all, the Lord had kept the ark while it was with their fiercest enemies and then brought it back so, surely, it would be safe within Israel’s borders.