1 Samuel 7
McGeeCHAPTER 7THEME: Samuel leads in revival; victory at Eben-ezerAfter twenty years, Israel is prepared to receive the ark. Israel turns from Baalim and Ashtaroth to serve the Lord.
1 Samuel 7:1
SAMUEL LEADS IN REVIVALAfter twenty years the Israelites began to turn to God and away from Baalim and Ashtaroth. They have come to the place where they want God. In this day in which we are living there is a renewed interest in the Word of God. I rejoice in this, because it is my firm conviction that God’s people must get back to the Bible. I believe that all sixty-six booksall the way from Genesis to Revelationare the Word of God. I believe in the Bible’s integrity and inerrancy and in the fact that we need to get back to its teachings. We have been a long time getting back to God’s Word. Progress has been slow.
How many more years will it take? Many people today are getting very tired of listening to politicians who make promises, promises, promises, and then don’t fulfill them. I want to say in their behalf that they cannot fulfill themyet they promise. We also have all kinds of new nostrums coming from college professors and leaders in every field. There is only one thing wrong: they won’t work. Maybe in desperation America will turn to God.
That is what happened to Israel after twenty years.
1 Samuel 7:3
This is actually the beginning of Samuel’s great ministry. Israel was deep in idolatry. They had turned from the living and true God. They had been defeated in so many battles that it had become old hat to them, and they were extremely discouraged. They were beginning to lament after the Lord. We, too, need to get back to the Lord. There is a hunger in the hearts of many people who are saying, “We are tired of eating the husks that pigs eat in the far country. We want to get back to the Father’s house.” Well, they have to come through the door of the Word of God.
1 Samuel 7:5
Samuel is not only the prophet of Israel, he is also the judge of the nation. Here we find Israel turning from false gods to the true God. This man Samuel is praying for them, and they confess their sins. This is the way back for God’s people. I do not think there is another way back. I hear about all kinds of methods today that will be blessed by God. Let me put it right down in bold letters and tell it like it is. What God’s people need to do is to go to God and confess their sins. They need to see themselves in the light of the Word of God. If we really see ourselves, we see that we have come short of the glory of God (Rom_3:23); and then we can be assured that the blood of Jesus Christ, God’s Son, will keep on cleansing us from all sin (1Jn_1:9).
1 Samuel 7:8
VICTORY AT EBEN-EZERGod gave Israel a great victory, and it was the first one they had had for a long time. These people had lapsed into idolatry; they had been in sullen rebellion. When they began to turn to God, Samuel exacted a confession of sin and a promise to return to God. As a result God gave them a signal victory over the Philistines.
1 Samuel 7:12
The name Eben-ezer means “stone of help.” “Hitherto hath the Lord helped us.” It was also a stone of remembrance, looking back to the past. It was a stone of recognition, a stone for the present. It was a stone of revelation, a stone for the future. “Hitherto [up to this point, up to the present time] God has helped us.” It is customary for us to look back over the past. Remember what the Lord said through Paul to the Philippians: “Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ” (Php_1:6). Friend, has God brought you to this point? Is He leading you today? Is He guiding you? If He has, you can say, “Hitherto has the Lord helped me.” Since He has helped you up to this moment, He will continue to do that. God has given us memories so that we can have roses in December. As memory plays on the keyboard of the past, I am sure that all of us can say, “Hitherto hath the Lord helped us.” Joshua could say, “…as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD” (Jos_24:15). David could say, “O give thanks unto the LORD, for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever. Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, whom he hath redeemed form the hand of the enemy” (Psa_107:1-2). I personally want to say that oh, the Lord is good! He is the One who has helped us and will help us. A businessman said sometime ago, “You know, the use of time might be likened to the terminology of banking. Yesterday is a canceled check, tomorrow is a promissory note, but today is cash. Spend it wisely.” Do you recognize God in your life? That is what Samuel meant by that Eben-ezer stone. It was a stone of revelation. It not only meant “hitherto,” it also meant “henceforth.” “The LORD is my shepherd,” said David; then looking into the future, “I shall not want” (Psa_23:1).
Someone once said, “I am very interested in the future because I expect to spend the rest of my life there, and I want to be reasonably sure of what kind of a future it is going to be.” “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose” (Rom_8:28). Dr. R. A. Torrey always said that Rom_8:28 was a soft pillow for a tired heart. We all need an Eben-ezer stone.
I trust that you have one in your life.
1 Samuel 7:13
I think it can be said that from this time on the Philistines were never again as dominant and formidable a foe as they had been before the battle. This was a significant battle, and a stone now stands in memory of it. The stone was about three or four miles north by northwest of Jerusalem, in sight of the city.
1 Samuel 7:15
This is the story. Samuel is a prophet and a judge of Israel. He is a circuit judge. He goes from Bethel to Gilgal to Mizpeh and back to Ramah, all areas north of Jerusalem. He “judged Israel in all those places.”