It was a long time, twenty years in all, that the ark remained at Kiriath Jearim,

Samuel Thru Solomon The History of First Samuel Lesson 4-1 Samuel 7:2-8:22 Last week we saw how after the capture of the Ark of the Covenant, the Philistines tried to keep first in their temple at Ashdod, but the LORD first cast it down and shattered the image of their god. Then He brought a killing outbreak of some kind of skin "tumor." He followed that with a plague of rats that ate the food supply and brought on famine. Then Philistines moved the Ark to Gath. The same then happened there. Finally, they moved the Ark to Ekron, and when the plagues spread to there, the Philistines put the Ark on a cart pulled by two animals that were unlikely to go anywhere and turned them loose. The LORD caused them to pull the cart back to Israel. There, the Israelites celebrated by continuing to treat the Ark without regard to the Mosaic Law's requirements and opening it. He had to kill seventy of them. After that, instead of taking it back to the Holy of Holies in the Tabernacle (then at Shiloh), they stored it at Kiriath Jearim for the next seventy years. At this point we begin our new lesson. 1 Samuel 7:2a It was a long time, twenty years in all, that the ark remained at Kiriath Jearim, It would seem that after the death of Eli and his sons, the death of the 70 who looked into the Ark, and all the disasters that followed the Ark in Philistia that even the people of Israel were afraid to move the Ark. Only the people of Kiriath Jearim were willing to move it, and they took it back to their town. As it turned out, the LORD seemed to bless the Israelite places where the Ark resided (2 Samuel 6:11-12). 1 / 16

1 Samuel 7:2b and then all the people of Israel mourned and sought after the LORD. The twenty years were the years before Israel turned to the Lord, not the years the Ark was at Kiriath Jearim. J. Vernon McGee contends that the verse should be understood as "it was 20 years and then the people of Israel mourned and sought after the Lord." I wholeheartedly agree with that interpretation. We know that in David's day it was still in Kiriath Jearim. [a] When Saul became King, Samuel was an old man (1 Samuel 12:2). The return of the Ark had evidently taken place when Samuel was less than twenty. If old was 60, the ark had been in Kiriath Jearim about 40 years when Saul became King. Then Saul reigned for forty years until he was succeeded by David who brought the Ark up to Jerusalem in the eighth year of his reign. The only thing written about the Ark during this period of 70 years was that Saul instructed Ahijah the High Priest to bring the ark in 1 Samuel 14:18. By the time David had the ark brought up to Jerusalem from Kiriath Jearim, it was far more than twenty years later, probably closer to 90. (1 Samuel 25:1). 1 Samuel 7:3 And Samuel said to the whole house of Israel, "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." 2 / 16

Just like the history of Israel during the previous times of the Judges, Israel had to wait a long time before they were ready to listen to the LORD. When they were ready, He raised up the man he had been preparing for at least thirty years, Samuel. This time it was twenty years after their defeat at the hands of the Philistines and the return of their Ark before they were ready to turn to the LORD. Remember, before this time Samuel had a reputation. 1 Samuel 3:20 "And all Israel from Dan to Beersheba recognized that Samuel was attested as a prophet of the LORD." 1 Samuel 7:4-5 So the Israelites put away their Baals and Ashtoreths, and served the LORD only. Then Samuel said, "Assemble all Israel at Mizpah [b] and I will intercede with the LORD for you." After the Israelites did what Samuel advised, he told them to assemble "all Israel" at Mizpah. The term "all Israel" here refers to leaders and fighting men of Israel as it does Joshua 10. This demonstrated a fair level of faith and obedience. To assemble them required a fair expense of time and money on the word of Samuel. It also involved risk, as they had to know their gathering would be viewed as a threat by the Philistines. 1 Samuel 7:6a When they had assembled at Mizpah, they drew water and poured it out before the LORD. 3 / 16

Symbolically, water was used for purification before the LORD in the ritual of the Law. Here it would seem they were pouring it on the earth to signify that they were trusting the LORD to purify their land from sin. 1 Samuel 7:6b On that day they fasted and there they confessed, "We have sinned against the LORD." Then they did personally what the LORD demands for purification. They confessed their sin. 1 John 1:9 "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." 1 Samuel 7:6c And Samuel was leader of Israel at Mizpah. In other words, Israel recognized Samuel as their Judge. He was the last of the Judges. 4 / 16

1 Samuel 7:7-8 When the Philistines heard that Israel had assembled at Mizpah, the rulers of the Philistines came up to attack them. And 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." The Philistines must have heard reports that the Israelites were to gather together. At that time they must have started gathering their troops from all five kings. The LORD knew that this new generation of Israel needed a strengthening of their faith, so He brought a test on them immediately. He often does the same thing with new Christians. 1 Samuel 7:9 Then Samuel took a suckling lamb and offered it up as a whole burnt offering to the LORD. He cried out to the LORD on Israel's behalf, and the LORD answered him. The sacrifice of a lamb always speaks of the death of Jesus Christ on the Cross. His righteous death on our behalf was the great victory which assures all other victories. 5 / 16

1 Samuel 7:10 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. The Philistines were a disciplined and experience army. The Israelites probably hadn't faced battle or fought as a unit for twenty years. The Philistines should have won easily. However, the LORD used the simple expedient of loud thunder to shatter the discipline of the Philistines. As they panicked and broke their ranks, they turned their backs on the Israelites, they were easily slaughtered by their pursuers. 1 Samuel 7:11 The men of Israel rushed out of Mizpah and pursued the Philistines, slaughtering them along the way to a point below Beth Car. The defeat of their enemies extended to Beth Car. Beth Car means "house of the Lamb." Whether it had that name before that time, or was named in memoriam, the connection to the "lamb that was slain" can hardly be missed. 1 Samuel 7:12 Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen. He named it Ebenezer, saying, "Thus far has the LORD helped us." 6 / 16

Ebenezer means "stone of God's help." It is no coincidence that this was the same battlefield where the Israelites had lost the Ark some 20 years earlier (1 Samuel 4). At that time, they wanted the LORD's help on their terms. This time, they asked for it on His terms. 1 Samuel 7:13 So the Philistines were subdued and did not invade Israelite territory again. Throughout Samuel's lifetime, the hand of the LORD was against the Philistines. For about the next forty years, the Philistines were weakened. It doesn't say how the hand of the LORD was against them, put their power was so weakened they could not mount a threat against Israel. Perhaps they were preoccupied with the Egyptians who were always pressing on their southern border, or with the Hittites who were pressing on their northern borders. The coastal plain that the Philistines occupied, and its road, was coveted by both empires. 1 Samuel 7:14 The towns from Ekron to Gath that the Philistines had captured from Israel were restored to her, and Israel delivered the neighboring territory from the power of the Philistines. And there was peace between Israel and the Amorites. 7 / 16

The towns in the foothills of Judah that the Philistines had taken in the previous twenty years were retaken. The Amorites were the people who had originally occupied the highlands of Israel on both sides of the Jordan. Their Kings had all been defeated, but there were evidently still scattered towns and groups of Amorites clinging to the outskirts of Israel. These had evidently been a thorn in the side of Israel but they now chose to make peace with Israel. 1 Samuel 7:15 Samuel continued as judge over Israel all the days of his life. Samuel evidently even maintained the position of Judge throughout most of Saul's reign. He didn't die until some time after he anointed David, which was not more than ten years before David took the throne after Saul's death. In other words, at least 30 years of Saul's reign. 1 Samuel 7:16-17a 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, [c] where his home was, and there he also judged Israel. Samuel's circuit was relatively small, but the three places made for easier access for some of the tribes of Israel. Bethel was in Ephraim, and served the north highlands. Gilgal was in the lower Jordan Valley, near the fords of the Jordan and served the tribes across the Jordan. Mizpah was on the western slopes of the highlands and faced the Mediterranean. Ramah was in the center, in Benjamin. 8 / 16

1 Samuel 7:16b And he built an altar there to the LORD. [d] This brings up a question. Why, during this period, was Samuel bringing sacrifices to the LORD other than at the Tabernacle (Tent of Meeting)? The teaching of the Mosaic Law is clear that offerings were forbidden other than at the Tabernacle. [e] Leviticus 17:2-8 "Speak to Aaron and his sons and to all the Israelites and say to them: This is what the LORD has commanded: Any Israelite who sacrifices an ox, a lamb or a goat in the camp or outside of it instead of bringing it to the entrance to the Tent of Meeting to present it as an offering to the LORD in front of the tabernacle of the LORD--that man shall be considered guilty of bloodshed; he has shed blood and must be cut off from his people. This is so the Israelites will bring to the LORD the sacrifices they are now making in the open fields. They must bring them to the priest, that is, to the LORD, at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting and sacrifice them as fellowship offerings. The priest is to sprinkle the blood against the altar of the LORD at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting and burn the fat as an aroma pleasing to the LORD. They must no longer offer any of their sacrifices to the goat idols to whom they prostitute themselves. This is to be a lasting ordinance for them and for the generations to come.'" Perhaps the answer was that since the Ark was no longer in the Tabernacle, it was no longer felt to be the only proper place for sacrifice. That is the implication of the verse in 1 Kings, just before the Ark was restored to the Holy of Holies in the new Temple of Solomon (which 9 / 16

replaced the Tabernacle). 1 Kings 3:2 "The people, however, were still sacrificing at the high places, because a temple had not yet been built for the Name of the LORD." However, even after the Temple was built and the Ark placed in it, the practice continued to endure, clearly to the LORD's displeasure. 1 Samuel 8:1-3 When Samuel grew old, he appointed his sons as judges for Israel. 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 walk in his ways. They turned aside after dishonest gain and accepted bribes and perverted justice. Beersheba was in the southern part of Judah, not easily accessible to the courts Samuel officiated at in Ramah, Mizpah, Gilgal, and Bethel. It seems likely that even Samuel himself was not in the will of God in appointing his sons as Judges. That was God's prerogative. 10 / 16

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 walk in your ways; now appoint a king to lead us, such as all the other nations have." Remember, in the past the LORD had always raised up Judges to meet their need if they were walking with the LORD. The office had never been hereditary. In this case, the Judge the LORD had raised up was still alive, but they did not trust the LORD to meet their need (Judges 2:16-19). 1 Samuel 8:6 But when they said, "Give us a king to lead us," this displeased Samuel; so he prayed to the LORD. Samuel couldn't disagree with their assessment of his sons, but asking for king was something else. 1 Samuel 8:7-9 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. 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 do." 11 / 16

The LORD knew that the hearts of Israel were growing farther away from Him. They were looking for a man to lead them. The LORD told Samuel to warn them of the consequences of what they were wishing for before he gave it to them. In our country today, I sometimes detect the same problem with Christians who are looking for a political party or leader to preserve the blessings that only the LORD has given us, and only the LORD can preserve. 1 Samuel 8:10-17 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 do: He will take your sons and make them serve with his chariots and horses, and they will run in front of his chariots. [f] 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. He will take a tenth of your grain and of your vintage and give it to his officials and attendants. Your menservants and maidservants 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. Remember, this was in contrast to the time of the Judges of which time it was said, "In those days Israel had no king; each man did what was right in his own eyes." [g] This was not a negative comment. That each man should do what was right in his own eyes (free will) was in God's plan from the beginning. Unfortunately, free will does not always result in righteous doings. Perhaps to get the sense of what is intended here we should read this phrase 12 / 16

"each man was free to do what was right." God had known that eventually the Israelites would go this was, so in the Law of Moses, had written this law for the Kings they would ask for. Deuteronomy 17:14-20 "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 the king the LORD your God chooses. He must be from among your own brothers. Do not place a foreigner over you, one who is not a brother Israelite. The king, moreover, must not acquire great numbers of horses for himself or make the people return to Egypt to get more of them, for the LORD has told you, You are not to go back that way again.' He must not take many wives, or his heart will be led astray. He must not accumulate large amounts of silver and gold. When he takes the throne of his kingdom, he is to write for himself on a scroll a copy of this law, taken from that of the priests, who are Levites. 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 brothers 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." None of the Kings of Judah or Israel ever kept this law, not even the best of them. 13 / 16

1 Samuel 8:18 When that day comes, you will cry out [h] for relief from the king you have chosen, and the LORD will not answer you in that day." The LORD told them that this was not a decision they could ever go back on. Ezekiel 20:25 "I also gave them over to statutes that were not good and laws they could not live by." 1 Samuel 8:19-20 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." They had come out of Egypt at the Red Sea, when the Egyptian army was closing in under the battle cry of Moses "The battle is the Lord's!" Now they wanted a human king to go before them and fight their battles. It is a wonder the LORD didn't strike them all dead. They probably didn't even realize the blasphemy in their request. 1 Samuel 8:21-22 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 men of Israel, "Everyone go back to his town." 14 / 16

The LORD agreed to grant them their request, even though it was an insult to His name. He had known it would happen beforehand. Map of Events in 1 Samuel 8 and 9 15 / 16

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