Donkeys...Were Lost

1 Samuel 9:2-3 – Kish had a son named Saul, as handsome a young man as could be found anywhere in Israel, and he was a head taller than anyone else. Now the donkeys belonging to Saul’s father Kish were lost, and Kish said to his son Saul, “Take one of the servants with you and go and look for the donkeys.”

Genesis 39:6-7 – So Potiphar left everything he had in Joseph’s care; with Joseph in charge, he did not concern himself with anything except the food he ate. Now Joseph was well-built and handsome, and after a while his master’s wife took notice of Joseph and said, “Come to bed with me!”

Isaiah 1:3 – The ox knows its master, the donkey its owner’s manger, but Israel does not know, my people do not understand.”

Psalm 78:72 – And David shepherded them with integrity of heart; with skillful hands he led them.

Application:

• ·         Joseph came to hold the welfare of his “world” in his hands—but always by the blessing and overruling of God, never by his own wits, as his father Jacob had so long attempted.
• ·         Refusal to know and understand God later resulted in Judah’s exile from her land.
• ·         Israel under the care of the Lord’s royal shepherd from the house of David was for the prophets the hope of God’s people.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Like All The Other Nations

1 Samuel 8:7,19-9:1 – And the Lord told him: “Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king…But the people refused to listen to Samuel. “No!” they said. “We want a king over us. Then we will be like all the other nations, with a king to lead us and to go out before us and fight our battles.” When Samuel heard all that the people said, he repeated it before the Lord. The Lord answered, “Listen to them and give them a king.” Then Samuel said to the Israelites, “Everyone go back to your own town.” There was a Benjamite, a man of standing, whose name was Kish son of Abiel, the son of Zeror, the son of Bekorath, the son of Aphiah of Benjamin.

1 Samuel 10:17-18 – Samuel summoned the people of Israel to the Lord at Mizpah and said to them, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘I brought Israel up out of Egypt, and I delivered you from the power of Egypt and all the kingdoms that oppressed you.’

1 Samuel 11:15 – So all the people went to Gilgal and made Saul king in the presence of the Lord. There they sacrificed fellowship offerings before the Lord, and Saul and all the Israelites held a great celebration.

Application:

• ·         In requesting a king “like all the other nations” they broke the covenant, rejected the Lord who was their King and forgot His constant provision for their protection in the past.
• ·         Speaking through Samuel, the Lord emphasizes to the people that He has been their deliverer throughout the history.
• ·         The rejoicing is the expression of people who have renewed their commitment to the Lord, confessed their sin and been given a king.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Cry Out For Relief From The King

1 Samuel 8:15-18 – He will take a tenth of your grain and of your vintage and give it to his officials and attendants. Your male and female servants and the best of your cattle and donkeys he will take for his own use. He will take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will become his slaves. When that day comes, you will cry out for relief from the king you have chosen, but the Lord will not answer you in that day.”

Isaiah 58:4 – Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife, and in striking each other with wicked fists. You cannot fast as you do today and expect your voice to be heard on high.

Jeremiah 14:12 – Although they fast, I will not listen to their cry; though they offer burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them. Instead, I will destroy them with the sword, famine and plague.”

Micah 3:4 – Then they will cry out to the Lord, but he will not answer them. At that time he will hide his face from them because of the evil they have done.

Jeremiah 22:16 – He defended the cause of the poor and needy, and so all went well. Is that not what it means to know me?” declares the Lord.

Application:

• ·         Hypocritical religious activity is actually a hindrance to prayer.
• ·         Sacrifice is to no avail when unaccompanied by repentance.
• ·         Disobedience leads to separation from God.
• ·         “To know me” is to love God fully, which results in living a pious life and serving those in need.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Let Them Know

1 Samuel 8:8-14 – As they have done from the day I brought them up out of Egypt until this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are doing to you. Now listen to them; but warn them solemnly and let them know what the king who will reign over them will claim as his rights.” Samuel told all the words of the Lord to the people who were asking him for a king. He said, “This is what the king who will reign over you will claim as his rights: He will take your sons and make them serve with his chariots and horses, and they will run in front of his chariots. Some he will assign to be commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and others to plow his ground and reap his harvest, and still others to make weapons of war and equipment for his chariots. He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive groves and give them to his attendants.

Deuteronomy 17:14-15,19-20 – When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you and have taken possession of it and settled in it, and you say, “Let us set a king over us like all the nations around us,” be sure to appoint over you a king the Lord your God chooses. He must be from among your fellow Israelites. Do not place a foreigner over you, one who is not an Israelite…It is to be with him, and he is to read it all the days of his life so that he may learn to revere the Lord his God and follow carefully all the words of this law and these decrees and not consider himself better than his fellow Israelites and turn from the law to the right or to the left. Then he and his descendants will reign a long time over his kingdom in Israel.

Micah 2:2 – They covet fields and seize them, and houses, and take them. They defraud people of their homes, they rob them of their inheritance.

Application:

• ·         Using a description of the policies of contemporary Canaanite kings, Samuel warns the people of the burdens associated with the type of kingship they long for.
• ·         The king was not above God’s law, any more than were the humblest of his subjects.
• ·         King’s coveted in violation of the tenth commandment.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

It Is Not You They Have Rejected, But They Have Rejected Me As Their King

1 Samuel 8:6-7 – But when they said, “Give us a king to lead us,” this displeased Samuel; so he prayed to the Lord. And the Lord told him: “Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king.

Hosea 13:10 – Where is your king, that he may save you? Where are your rulers in all your towns, of whom you said, ‘Give me a king and princes’?

Numbers 11:19-20 – You will not eat it for just one day, or two days, or five, ten or twenty days, but for a whole month—until it comes out of your nostrils and you loathe it—because you have rejected the Lord, who is among you, and have wailed before him, saying, “Why did we ever leave Egypt?”’”

Genesis 49:10 – The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until he to whom it belongs shall come and the obedience of the nations shall be his.

Numbers 24:17 – “I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near. A star will come out of Jacob; a scepter will rise out of Israel. He will crush the foreheads of Moab, the skulls of all the people of Sheth.

Deuteronomy 17:14-15,19-20 – When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you and have taken possession of it and settled in it, and you say, “Let us set a king over us like all the nations around us,” be sure to appoint over you a king the Lord your God chooses. He must be from among your fellow Israelites. Do not place a foreigner over you, one who is not an Israelite…It is to be with him, and he is to read it all the days of his life so that he may learn to revere the Lord his God and follow carefully all the words of this law and these decrees and not consider himself better than his fellow Israelites and turn from the law to the right or to the left. Then he and his descendants will reign a long time over his kingdom in Israel.

Judges 8:23 – But Gideon told them, “I will not rule over you, nor will my son rule over you. The Lord will rule over you.”

1 Samuel 12:12 – “But when you saw that Nahash king of the Ammonites was moving against you, you said to me, ‘No, we want a king to rule over us’—even though the Lord your God was your king.

Numbers 23:21 – “No misfortune is seen in Jacob, no misery observed in Israel. The Lord their God is with them; the shout of the King is among them.

Deuteronomy 33:5 – He was king over Jeshurun when the leaders of the people assembled, along with the tribes of Israel.

1 Samuel 10:17-18 – Samuel summoned the people of Israel to the Lord at Mizpah and said to them, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘I brought Israel up out of Egypt, and I delivered you from the power of Egypt and all the kingdoms that oppressed you.’

Application:

• ·         Help comes only from the Lord, not from kings.
• ·         In requesting a king “like all the other nations” Israel broke the covenant, rejected the Lord who was their King and forgot His constant provision for their protection in the past.
• ·         The principal issue was not meat at all, but a failure to demonstrate proper gratitude to the Lord, who was in their midst and who was their constant source of good.
• ·         Zedekiah, the last king of Judah, is told to “remove the crown” from his head because dominion over Jerusalem will ultimately be given to the one “to whom it rightfully belongs”.
• ·         Israel’s future deliverer will be like a star; he will wield a royal scepter and bring victory over the enemies of his people.
• ·         Moses anticipates a time when the people would ask for a king contrary to the Lord’s ideal for them.
• ·         The king was not above God’s law, any more than were the humblest of his subjects.
• ·         Gideon, like Samuel, rejected the establishment of a monarchy because he regarded it as a replacement of the Lord’s rule.
• ·         The Israelite desire for and trust in a human leader constituted a rejection of the kingship of the Lord and betrayed a loss of confidence in His care, in spite of His faithfulness during the time of the exodus, conquest and judges.
• ·         Because God is King, He was able to use Balaam for His own ends—to bless His people in a new and wonderful manner.
• ·         The Lord, not an earthly monarch, was to be king over Israel.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Appoint A King To Lead Us

1 Samuel 8:4-5 – So all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah. They said to him, “You are old, and your sons do not follow your ways; now appoint a king to lead us, such as all the other nations have.”

Deuteronomy 17:14-15,19-20 – When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you and have taken possession of it and settled in it, and you say, “Let us set a king over us like all the nations around us,” be sure to appoint over you a king the Lord your God chooses. He must be from among your fellow Israelites. Do not place a foreigner over you, one who is not an Israelite…It is to be with him, and he is to read it all the days of his life so that he may learn to revere the Lord his God and follow carefully all the words of this law and these decrees and not consider himself better than his fellow Israelites and turn from the law to the right or to the left. Then he and his descendants will reign a long time over his kingdom in Israel.

1 Samuel 12:12 – “But when you saw that Nahash king of the Ammonites was moving against you, you said to me, ‘No, we want a king to rule over us’—even though the Lord your God was your king.

Application:

• ·         Moses anticipates a time when the people would ask for a king contrary to the Lord’s ideal for them. So Moses gives guidance concerning the eventual selection of a king.
• ·         The king was not above God’s law, any more than were the humblest of his subjects.
• ·         In the face of the combined threat from the Philistines in the west and the Ammonites in the east, the Israelites sought to find security in the person of a human king. The Israelite desire for and trust in a human leader constituted a rejection of the kingship of the Lord and betrayed a loss of confidence in His care, in spite of His faithfulness during the time of the exodus, conquest and judges.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Accepted Bribes

1 Samuel 8:3 – But his sons did not follow his ways. They turned aside after dishonest gain and accepted bribes and perverted justice.

1 Samuel 2:12 – Eli’s sons were scoundrels; they had no regard for the Lord.

Isaiah 53:6 – We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

1 Samuel 12:3 – Here I stand. Testify against me in the presence of the Lord and his anointed. Whose ox have I taken? Whose donkey have I taken? Whom have I cheated? Whom have I oppressed? From whose hand have I accepted a bribe to make me shut my eyes? If I have done any of these things, I will make it right.”

Application:

• ·         Perversion of justice through bribery was explicitly forbidden in Pentateuchal law.
• ·         In Old Testament usage, to “know” the Lord is not just intellectual or theoretical recognition. It is to enter into fellowship with Him and acknowledge His claims on one’s life.
• ·         “Laid on Him the iniquity of us all”, just as the priest laid his hands on the scapegoat and symbolically put Israel’s sins on it.
• ·         Unlike his sons, Samuel did not use his position for personal gain.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Joel And Abijah

1 Samuel 7:11-8:3 – The men of Israel rushed out of Mizpah and pursued the Philistines, slaughtering them along the way to a point below Beth Kar. Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen. He named it Ebenezer, saying, “Thus far the Lord has helped us.” So the Philistines were subdued and they stopped invading Israel’s territory. Throughout Samuel’s lifetime, the hand of the Lord was against the Philistines. The towns from Ekron to Gath that the Philistines had captured from Israel were restored to Israel, and Israel delivered the neighboring territory from the hands of the Philistines. And there was peace between Israel and the Amorites. Samuel continued as Israel’s leader all the days of his life. From year to year he went on a circuit from Bethel to Gilgal to Mizpah, judging Israel in all those places. But he always went back to Ramah, where his home was, and there he also held court for Israel. And he built an altar there to the Lord. When Samuel grew old, he appointed his sons as Israel’s leaders. The name of his firstborn was Joel and the name of his second was Abijah, and they served at Beersheba. But his sons did not follow his ways. They turned aside after dishonest gain and accepted bribes and perverted justice.

Genesis 28:20-22 – Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me and will watch over me on this journey I am taking and will give me food to eat and clothes to wear so that I return safely to my father’s household, then the Lord will be my God and this stone that I have set up as a pillar will be God’s house, and of all that you give me I will give you a tenth.”

2 Samuel 24:25 – David built an altar to the Lord there and sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. Then the Lord answered his prayer in behalf of the land, and the plague on Israel was stopped.

Amos 5:4-5 – This is what the Lord says to Israel: “Seek me and live; do not seek Bethel, do not go to Gilgal, do not journey to Beersheba. For Gilgal will surely go into exile, and Bethel will be reduced to nothing.

Application:

• ·         “Of all that you give me I will give you a tenth” was Jacob’s way of acknowledging the Lord as his God and King.
• ·         Reconciliation and restoration of covenant fellowship were obtained by the king’s repentance, intercessory prayer and the offering of sacrifices.
• ·         If the people of Israel would seek the Lord, they could yet escape the violent death anticipated in Amos’s lament.
• ·         Perversion of justice through bribery was explicitly forbidden in Pentateuchal law.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

The Lord Answered Him

1 Samuel 7:9-10 – Then Samuel took a suckling lamb and sacrificed it as a whole burnt offering to the Lord. He cried out to the Lord on Israel’s behalf, and the Lord answered him. While Samuel was sacrificing the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near to engage Israel in battle. But that day the Lord thundered with loud thunder against the Philistines and threw them into such a panic that they were routed before the Israelites.

Exodus 32:11 – But Moses sought the favor of the Lord his God. “Lord,” he said, “why should your anger burn against your people, whom you brought out of Egypt with great power and a mighty hand?

Deuteronomy 9:19 – I feared the anger and wrath of the Lord, for he was angry enough with you to destroy you. But again the Lord listened to me.

1 Samuel 2:9-10 – He will guard the feet of his faithful servants, but the wicked will be silenced in the place of darkness. “It is not by strength that one prevails; those who oppose the Lord will be broken. The Most High will thunder from heaven; the Lord will judge the ends of the earth. “He will give strength to his king and exalt the horn of his anointed.”

Application:

• ·         Using God’s own words, Moses appeals to God’s special relationship to Israel, then to God’s need to vindicate His name in the eyes of the Egyptians, and finally to the great patriarchal promises.
• ·         Moses’ intercessory prayer ranks among the great prayers for Israel’s national survival
• ·         The Lord had promised to be the protector of His people when they were obedient to their covenant obligations.
• ·         Ultimately Hannah’s expectation finds fulfillment in Christ and His complete triumph over the enemies of God.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Do Not Stop Crying Out To The Lord Our God For Us

1 Samuel 7:5-8 – Then Samuel said, “Assemble all Israel at Mizpah, and I will intercede with the Lord for you.” When they had assembled at Mizpah, they drew water and poured it out before the Lord. On that day they fasted and there they confessed, “We have sinned against the Lord.” Now Samuel was serving as leader of Israel at Mizpah. When the Philistines heard that Israel had assembled at Mizpah, the rulers of the Philistines came up to attack them. When the Israelites heard of it, they were afraid because of the Philistines. They said to Samuel, “Do not stop crying out to the Lord our God for us, that he may rescue us from the hand of the Philistines.”

1 Samuel 17:11 – On hearing the Philistine’s words, Saul and all the Israelites were dismayed and terrified.

Exodus 32:30 – The next day Moses said to the people, “You have committed a great sin. But now I will go up to the Lord; perhaps I can make atonement for your sin.”

Jeremiah 27:18 – If they are prophets and have the word of the Lord, let them plead with the Lord Almighty that the articles remaining in the house of the Lord and in the palace of the king of Judah and in Jerusalem not be taken to Babylon.

1 Kings 22:19 – Micaiah continued, “Therefore hear the word of the Lord: I saw the Lord sitting on his throne with all the multitudes of heaven standing around him on his right and on his left.

Exodus 32:11 – But Moses sought the favor of the Lord his God. “Lord,” he said, “why should your anger burn against your people, whom you brought out of Egypt with great power and a mighty hand?

Numbers 14:13 – Moses said to the Lord, “Then the Egyptians will hear about it! By your power you brought these people up from among them.

2 Kings 19:4 – It may be that the Lord your God will hear all the words of the field commander, whom his master, the king of Assyria, has sent to ridicule the living God, and that he will rebuke him for the words the Lord your God has heard. Therefore pray for the remnant that still survives.”

Jeremiah 7:16 – “So do not pray for this people nor offer any plea or petition for them; do not plead with me, for I will not listen to you.

Application:

• ·         The fear of Saul and the Israelite army betrays a loss of faith in the covenant promises of the Lord. Their fear also demonstrates that the Israelites search for security in a human king had failed. On the basis of God’s covenant promises, Israel was never to fear her enemies but to trust in the Lord.
• ·         As persons who were called out from among the people to mediate God’s word to them, prophets were given unique access to God’s council chamber.
• ·         Samuel, like Moses, was later remembered as a great intercessor.
• ·         Moses so identified himself with Israel that he made his own death the condition for God’s destruction of the nation.
• ·         If they are true prophets and in communion with the Lord, let them intercede for Judah, because the Lord has announced His intention to judge the nation.
• ·         A true prophet was one who had, as it were, been made privy to what had transpired in God’s heavenly throne room and so could truthfully declare what God intended to do.
• ·         Using God’s own words, Moses appeals to God’s special relationship to Israel, then to God’s need to vindicate His name in the eyes of the Egyptians, and finally to the great patriarchal promises.
• ·         Moses desires to protect the Lord’s reputation.
• ·         Intercessory prayer was an important aspect of the ministry of the prophets.
• ·         A true prophet prayed for his people.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

I Will Intercede

1 Samuel 7:4-5,8 – So the Israelites put away their Baals and Ashtoreths, and served the Lord only. Then Samuel said, “Assemble all Israel at Mizpah, and I will intercede with the Lord for you.”… They said to Samuel, “Do not stop crying out to the Lord our God for us, that he may rescue us from the hand of the Philistines.”

Deuteronomy 9:19 – I feared the anger and wrath of the Lord, for he was angry enough with you to destroy you. But again the Lord listened to me.

Application:

• ·         Samuel, like Moses, was later remembered as a great intercessor.
• ·         As persons who were called out from among the people to mediate God’s word to them, prophets were given unique access to God’s council chamber. This privilege of having such access to God as to be mediators of God’s rule over His people brought with it the special responsibility to be intercessors for God’s people—as Moses was, and as were Isaiah, Jeremiah and Amos.
• ·         Moses’ intercessory prayer ranks among the great prayers for Israel’s national survival

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Twenty Years In All

1 Samuel 7:2-3,5 – The ark remained at Kiriath Jearim a long time—twenty years in all. Then all the people of Israel turned back to the Lord. So Samuel said to all the Israelites, “If you are returning to the Lord with all your hearts, then rid yourselves of the foreign gods and the Ashtoreths and commit yourselves to the Lord and serve him only, and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.”… Then Samuel said, “Assemble all Israel at Mizpah, and I will intercede with the Lord for you.”

2 Kings 18:5 – Hezekiah trusted in the Lord, the God of Israel. There was no one like him among all the kings of Judah, either before him or after him.

Jeremiah 24:7 – I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the Lord. They will be my people, and I will be their God, for they will return to me with all their heart.

Joshua 24:14 – “Now fear the Lord and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your ancestors worshiped beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord.

Deuteronomy 6:13 – Fear the Lord your God, serve him only and take your oaths in his name.

Application:

• ·         Samuel, like Moses, was later remembered as a great intercessor. Both were appointed by God to mediate His rule over His people, representing God to Israel and speaking on Israel’s behalf to God.
• ·         Hezekiah’s uniqueness is to be found in his trust in the Lord, while Josiah’s uniqueness is to be found in his scrupulous observance of the Mosaic law.
• ·         “My people…their God” is the classic statement of covenant relationship
• ·         Fear the Lord means trust, serve and worship Him.
• ·         To take an oath in the Lord’s name was a key sign of loyalty to and trust in Him and of the rejection of all other gods, even an implicit denial that they amounted to anything or even existed.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV