¹ When Samuel became old, he made his sons judges over Israel. ² The name of his firstborn son was Joel, and the name of his second, Abijah; they were judges in Beersheba. ³ Yet his sons did not walk in his ways but turned aside after gain. They took bribes and perverted justice. ⁴ Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah ⁵ and said to him, “Behold, you are old and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now appoint for us a king to judge us like all the nations.” ⁶ But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to judge us.” And Samuel prayed to the Lord. ⁷ And the Lord said to Samuel, “Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them. ⁸ According to all the deeds that they have done, from the day I brought them up out of Egypt even to this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are also doing to you. ⁹ Now then, obey their voice; only you shall solemnly warn them and show them the ways of the king who shall reign over them.”
(1 Samuel 8:1-9)

Yesterday we saw the elders of Israel request that a king be appointed over the country. In so doing they were rejecting the governmental structure God had set up by raising up judges to lead the nation. They were also forgetting that they already had a king – God Himself.

When God delivered the Israelites from the bondage of slavery in Egypt and gives them His law He was establishing Himself as their ultimate leader; as their king. In fact, the Israelites recognize and admit this in their song of praise after they cross the Red Sea [Exodus 15:18].

The government of Israel had, until this point, been a true theocracy. God reigned from heaven through divinely chosen individuals, such as Moses, Joshua, and the judges (including Samuel) who spoke to the people on God’s behalf. The entire government and legal system of Israel was based on 4 words: “Thus says the Lord”. In this way Israel was unique among all the nations of the earth.

God”s intentionally designed Israel to be different from others nations, superior to them, and a lesson for them (Exodus 19:5-6). God purposed to bless all other nations through His theocratic reign over Israel

And that was the problem. Israel didn’t want to be unique. They wanted to be like all the nations.

Sadly, many Christians today also want to be like the world around them. They want the nice house with the green lawn. They want to drive the new car and have the latest technology gadgets. They look around and see that those who are not God’s children are having more “success” than they are. So they drift away from God and begin to live like the world around them.

This is not the proper strategy for living. God never calls us to achieve success as defined by the world. God’s definition of success is not measures in square feet or in dollar signs. God’s measure of success is based upon faithfulness [Matthew 25:23].

Instead of living as the world does we are to surrender our lives to God, determining His will through prayer. It is almost certain that the things God calls us to do will not be the things that the world is doing.

God will call us to give away our money to help others. The world tries to amass wealth. God will call us to live lives of sexual purity. The world considers such a lifestyle strange. God calls us to take care of the elderly, the homeless, and the poor. The world cares only about itself.

Like Israel in the Old Testament, Christians in the New Testament have one purpose in life: to draw others to Jesus. Our lives aren’t supposed to be about comfort or success or wealth. Our lives are supposed to be pointing other people to Jesus.

The way we do this is by living differently. When we live differently from the world – when we live like God calls us to live – the world will take notice.

The world is in darkness [John 3:19; Colossians 1:13;  Ephesians 6:12]. Followers of Jesus are to be light [Matthew 5:16; Ephesians 5:8]. Light is different than darkness; it is noticeable. In fact, the darker the darkness, the more noticeable light is:

Those of us who are children of God are not to conform to the ways of the world but are to transform our minds to think like God does for that is the only way to know and understand His will and to, therefore, live lives that shine as light to the world around us [Romans 12:2].

Comments? Questions? I’d love to hear from you. Please feel free to contact me about this post.

¹ When Samuel became old, he made his sons judges over Israel. ² The name of his firstborn son was Joel, and the name of his second, Abijah; they were judges in Beersheba. ³ Yet his sons did not walk in his ways but turned aside after gain. They took bribes and perverted justice. ⁴ Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah ⁵ and said to him, “Behold, you are old and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now appoint for us a king to judge us like all the nations.” ⁶ But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to judge us.” And Samuel prayed to the Lord. ⁷ And the Lord said to Samuel, “Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them. ⁸ According to all the deeds that they have done, from the day I brought them up out of Egypt even to this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are also doing to you. ⁹ Now then, obey their voice; only you shall solemnly warn them and show them the ways of the king who shall reign over them.”
(1 Samuel 8:1-9)

In yesterday’s study we saw the elders of Israel confront Samuel about the immoral and illegal behavior of his sons, who Samuel had appointed to leadership positions. This was the right thing for them to do. But as is common in the Bible, people don’t always do the exact right thing and today’s passage is another example of that.

In addition to confronting Samuel about his sons, they tell Samuel that they think he is old and won’t be around much longer. So they ask him to appoint for them a king to judge them.

Samuel was old and his sons were corrupt. The elders were therefore concerned about the future leadership of Israel. Samuel was going to die soon (or so they thought) and they were afraid that his sons were going to inherit Samuel’s position as judge over the entire nation. But their thinking was flawed.

The elders seem to have forgotten that judgeships were not inherited. God raised up a judge of His own choosing at the appropriate time. There was no dynasty in place. Joel and Abijah should never have been made judges, as we learned. And it is certain that had they outlived their father, God would not have allowed them to continue in their current capacity as judges in Beersheba.

Notice that what the elders are proposing is worse than the situation they are trying to rectify. They wanted a king to rule over them. They wanted a monarchy in place of the current system of judges. But in a monarchy, a king or queen’s son or daughter takes over upon their death, no matter how good or evil or competent or incompetent that son or daughter is.

The elders wanted to replace a system in which God appointed qualified leaders, like Samuel, with a dynasty in which leadership would be inherited with no guarantee that the new leader would be any good. They wanted to replace a system that was not broken by one that was sure to be worse than what they had.

The system they had was working just fine, despite Samuel’s mistake of appointing his sons to judgeships and their corruption. As we’ll see as we continue our study, it wasn’t Joel and Abijah’s behavior that was driving the elders to make this request. They were just using it as an excuse.

Israel had it good. But they didn’t know it. They let a short-term and easily fixable problem direct their future. They didn’t think their request through to understand the ramifications. Moreover, they didn’t see the benefit of God’s way of doing things. Nor did they seek His advice – they approached the problem with only human thinking.

How often do we do this ourselves. Life has many problems. But sometimes we think they are bigger than they really are so we make drastic changes to address them when a simple change would do. And as a result, we take our life down a course that is much more difficult that it would have been had be not done so.

God has our best interests in mind. The best course of action is to do things His way.

Comments? Questions? I’d love to hear from you. Please feel free to contact me about this post.

¹ When Samuel became old, he made his sons judges over Israel. ² The name of his firstborn son was Joel, and the name of his second, Abijah; they were judges in Beersheba. ³ Yet his sons did not walk in his ways but turned aside after gain. They took bribes and perverted justice. ⁴ Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah ⁵ and said to him, “Behold, you are old and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now appoint for us a king to judge us like all the nations.” ⁶ But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to judge us.” And Samuel prayed to the Lord. ⁷ And the Lord said to Samuel, “Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them. ⁸ According to all the deeds that they have done, from the day I brought them up out of Egypt even to this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are also doing to you. ⁹ Now then, obey their voice; only you shall solemnly warn them and show them the ways of the king who shall reign over them.”
(1 Samuel 8:1-9)

Yesterday we read how Samuel’s sons, Joel and Abijah, had accepted bribes and perverted justice. This was obviously not a momentary lapse in judgement – it was an ongoing practice as evidenced by today’s passage in which all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel about his sons. For their behavior to be noticed by the entire country it must have gone on for some time.

Samuel was an upright man who did his best to obey God and the elders knew this. They didn’t have any problem with Samuel’s leadership skills. But they could easily see that Samuel’s sons do not walk in his ways. Samuel was good. His sons were not.

Notice that the elders came to Samuel. They didn’t summon him to meet with them – a request that could be ignored. The elders were proactive. They took the initiative to address a problem the nation was facing. The elders correctly realized that Israel could not succeed if its leadership was corrupt and, as we’ll see tomorrow, they want action taken to correct the situation.

The concept of elders has existed as far back as the Exodus [Exodus 3:16] and continued right up and through the times of the judges [Judges 2:17] and the diaspora [Ezra 5:5]. They had various duties including enforcing laws and acting as witnesses [Deuteronomy 21:18-20; Ruth 4:1-6].

The role of elders in the New Testament church (the time in which we currently live) is clearly defined in the Bible. They are the ones actually in charge of the church, not the pastor [1 Timothy 5:17]. They are to visit and pray over the sick [James 5:14] and to decide on doctrinal questions [Acts 15:4-6].

Church elders are also to shepherd the congregation and protect them from false teachers [Acts 20:17, 18-31; 1 Peter 5:1-2]. They were responsible for addressing sin among the spiritual leaders. And we see in this passage that the elders took their responsibilities very seriously.

Approaching Samuel was the right thing for the elders to do. There were problems with Israel’s leaders so they went to the man who was the leader of the entire nation (not to mention the father of those in question). It would have been irresponsible for the elders to ignore the sins of Joel and Abijah.

Unfortunately, our leaders today in business and government don’t have the same sense of responsibility. While they are secular organizations, their basic function is the same as church elders: to oversee the operations of their respective organizations and ensure they have the proper leadership to succeed. But, sadly, these leaders are often corrupt themselves or are more interested in their popularity or making money than they are with the lives of the people affected by corruption.

For leaders to lead effectively they must live lives that are free from intentional and habitual sin. Any leader who is involved in sinful and/or illegal behavior must be removed. It is the job of other leaders (e.g. boards of directors, federal and state legislatures) to ensure this happens.

Comments? Questions? I’d love to hear from you. Please feel free to contact me about this post.

¹ And the men of Kiriath-jearim came and took up the ark of the Lord and brought it to the house of Abinadab on the hill. And they consecrated his son Eleazar to have charge of the ark of the Lord. ² From the day that the ark was lodged at Kiriath-jearim, a long time passed, some twenty years, and all the house of Israel lamented after the Lord. 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 Ashtaroth 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 Ashtaroth, 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 defeated 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.
(1 Samuel 7:1-17)

Over the past several days we’ve been studying a passage in which Israel returned to God. They had been living under the suppression of the Philistines for more than twenty years and had finally had enough. So they turned back to God, having found other gods unfulfilling and unable to rescue them from their circumstances.

During this time we didn’t hear anything from Samuel. The last we heard from Samuel was when he first heard from God [1 Samuel 3]. He was only about twelve years old at that time and was serving God in the tabernacle.

Exactly what Samuel was doing between that time and our current passage we don’t know. But we can presume that he was spending a lot of time with God who was developing Samuel’s leadership skills. Because the next time we see him, he confidently takes charge of Israel’s situation.

It takes time to become a leader. When he was about three years old Samuel’s mother left him at the tabernacle where he helped Eli and performed menial tasks. At age twelve he heard from God for the first time. For the next twenty years, God developed Samuel’s leadership skills.

God had chosen Samuel to be Israel’s last judge and first prophet even before he was born. God knew the situation Israel was in at the time and He knew that situation would get worse. He also knew that when they finally hit rock-bottom, the people of Israel would return to Him. And He needed someone to be the leader they would need. Samuel was that leader.

As a leader, Samuel gave wise counsel to the nation. We saw him instruct Israel to put away their false gods because he knew that the people could not truly have a relationship with God if they were clinging to their other gods [1 Samuel 7:3].

As a leader, Samuel also interceded for the people before God, by praying for them and making sacrifices for them [1 Samuel 7:5, 8-9]. Samuel knew that in order for the people of Israel to be saved from their dire situation there had to be a blood sacrifice. This, of course, foreshadowed the death of Jesus on the cross and the final sacrifice made for all sin [1 Peter 3:18; Romans 6:10; Hebrews 9:28].

And as a leader, Samuel kept the people from getting to full of themselves. He set up a memorial for future generations to see so they would remember that they need help from God.

Samuel was a humble leader whose actions were always for the best of the people he led. Compare these traits to our modern-day leaders whether they be in government, business, or entertainment.

Leaders today don’t give people wise counsel. They not only suggest, but also encourage people to deny and defy God and to engage in sinful activity that will result in them spending eternity in hell.

Leaders today don’t intercede for the people with God by praying for them. They instead claim that they can solve people’s problems.

And leaders today certainly don’t encourage people to be humble. They do the opposite – they incite people to promote themselves which will only lead to disaster [Proverbs 16:18].

Samuel was a strong leader. And he spent all the days of his life judging Israel. This included traveling on a circuit each year to various cities around Jerusalem. Traveling in our culture today is slow and inconvenient. It was even more so back then.

But Samuel was not just putting on a show when he was in public. He even built an altar to the Lord in his home town, Ramah. These words implied that Samuel was involved in the construction of this altar either physically and/or monetarily. Samuel didn’t just tell other people how to live. He walked the talk. His public and private life were characterized by total dedication to God.

That is the mark, and a requirement, of a true leader. 

Comments? Questions? I’d love to hear from you. Please feel free to contact me about this post.