For The Sake Of His Great Name

1 Samuel 12:22 – For the sake of his great name the Lord will not reject his people, because the Lord was pleased to make you his own.

Joshua 7:9 – The Canaanites and the other people of the country will hear about this and they will surround us and wipe out our name from the earth. What then will you do for your own great name?”

John 17:12 – While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled.

Deuteronomy 31:6 – Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.”

Application:

• ·         Joshua pleads, as Moses had, that God’s honor in the eyes of all the world was at stake in the fortunes of His people.
• ·         Christ’s power is adequate for every need.
• ·         By trusting in the Lord and obeying Him, His followers will be victorious in spite of great obstacles.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Useless Idols

1 Samuel 12:20-21 – “Do not be afraid,” Samuel replied. “You have done all this evil; yet do not turn away from the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart. Do not turn away after useless idols. They can do you no good, nor can they rescue you, because they are useless.

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 2:5,11 – This is what the Lord says: “What fault did your ancestors find in me, that they strayed so far from me? They followed worthless idols and became worthless themselves…Has a nation ever changed its gods? (Yet they are not gods at all.) But my people have exchanged their glorious God for worthless idols.

Jeremiah 16:19 – Lord, my strength and my fortress, my refuge in time of distress, to you the nations will come from the ends of the earth and say, “Our ancestors possessed nothing but false gods, worthless idols that did them no good.

Exodus 20:3 – “You shall have no other gods before me.

Application:

• ·         Moses so identified himself with Israel that he made his own death the condition for God’s destruction of the nation.
• ·         Jesus Christ, the great Mediator, offered Himself on the cross to make atonement for His people.
• ·         No rivals to the Lord can deliver or guarantee security.
• ·         Idolaters are no better than the idols they worship.
• ·         Judah’s practice of substituting idolatry for the worship of the Lord was incredible.
• ·         No deity, real or imagined, is to rival the one true God in Israel’s heart and life.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Pray To The Lord Your God

1 Samuel 12:12,14,17-19 – “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…If you fear the Lord and serve and obey him and do not rebel against his commands, and if both you and the king who reigns over you follow the Lord your God—good!...Is it not wheat harvest now? I will call on the Lord to send thunder and rain. And you will realize what an evil thing you did in the eyes of the Lord when you asked for a king.” Then Samuel called on the Lord, and that same day the Lord sent thunder and rain. So all the people stood in awe of the Lord and of Samuel. The people all said to Samuel, “Pray to the Lord your God for your servants so that we will not die, for we have added to all our other sins the evil of asking for a king.”

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.”

1 Samuel 8:7 – 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.

1 Samuel 7:8 – 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:

• ·         Hannah’s prophetic anticipation of a king at the time of the dedication of her son Samuel, who was to be God’s agent for establishing kingship in Israel, is entirely appropriate.
• ·         The sin of Israel in requesting a king rested not in any evil inherent in kingship itself but in the kind of kingship the people envisioned and their reasons for requesting it.
• ·         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.
• ·         Moses’ intercessory prayer on this occasion ranks among the great prayers for Israel’s national survival
• ·         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.
• ·         In this new era where potential for divided loyalty between the Lord and the human king arises, Israel’s loyalty to the Lord must remain inviolate.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

But If You Do Not Obey

1 Samuel 12:15-16,24 – But if you do not obey the Lord, and if you rebel against his commands, his hand will be against you, as it was against your ancestors. “Now then, stand still and see this great thing the Lord is about to do before your eyes!... But be sure to fear the Lord and serve him faithfully with all your heart; consider what great things he has done for you.

Deuteronomy 30:19-20 – This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the Lord is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

Exodus 14:14 – The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.”

Application:

• ·         When Israel chose the Lord, they chose life.
• ·         “The Lord will fight for you” was a necessary reminder that although Israel was “ready for battle” and “marching out boldly”, the victory would be won by God alone.
• ·         Samuel summarizes Israel’s obligation of loyalty to the Lord as an expression of gratitude for the great things He has done for them.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

If You

1 Samuel 12:12-14 – “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. Now here is the king you have chosen, the one you asked for; see, the Lord has set a king over you. If you fear the Lord and serve and obey him and do not rebel against his commands, and if both you and the king who reigns over you follow the Lord your God—good!

1 Samuel 8:7 – 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.

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.

Exodus 19:5-6 – Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites.”

Application:

• ·         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.
• ·         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.
• ·         In this new era where potential for divided loyalty between the Lord and the human king arises, Israel’s loyalty to the Lord must not be violated.
• ·         Fear the Lord means trust, serve and worship Him.
• ·         God is the Creator and Possessor of the earth and everything in it.
• ·         I am to be “set apart” to do His will.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

He Delivered You

1 Samuel 12:3-11 – 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.” “You have not cheated or oppressed us,” they replied. “You have not taken anything from anyone’s hand.” Samuel said to them, “The Lord is witness against you, and also his anointed is witness this day, that you have not found anything in my hand.” “He is witness,” they said. Then Samuel said to the people, “It is the Lord who appointed Moses and Aaron and brought your ancestors up out of Egypt. Now then, stand here, because I am going to confront you with evidence before the Lord as to all the righteous acts performed by the Lord for you and your ancestors. “After Jacob entered Egypt, they cried to the Lord for help, and the Lord sent Moses and Aaron, who brought your ancestors out of Egypt and settled them in this place. “But they forgot the Lord their God; so he sold them into the hand of Sisera, the commander of the army of Hazor, and into the hands of the Philistines and the king of Moab, who fought against them. They cried out to the Lord and said, ‘We have sinned; we have forsaken the Lord and served the Baals and the Ashtoreths. But now deliver us from the hands of our enemies, and we will serve you.’ Then the Lord sent Jerub-Baal, Barak, Jephthah and Samuel, and he delivered you from the hands of your enemies all around you, so that you lived in safety.

Isaiah 1:18 – “Come now, let us settle the matter,” says the Lord. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.

1 Samuel 7:8,10 – 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.”… 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.

Application:

• ·         Forgiveness is conditioned on the reformation of life called for.
• ·         When Samuel presents the newly inaugurated king to the people, he seeks to establish publicly his own past faithfulness to the covenant as leader of the nation. His purpose is to exonerate himself and provide an example for Saul in his new responsibilities.
• ·         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.
• ·         The Lord had promised to be the protector of His people when they were obedient to their covenant obligations.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Whose Ox Have I Taken? Whose Donkey Have I Taken?

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.”

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

Exodus 20:17 – “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”

Application:

• ·         Perversion of justice through bribery was explicitly forbidden in God’s law.
• ·         Covet means desire something with evil motivation.
• ·         To break God’s commandments inwardly is equivalent to breaking them outwardly.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV