As we closed our study yesterday we found Samuel setting up a stone to commemorate the Lord's action on behalf of Israel, saying, "Thus far the Lord has helped us." The Philistines will refrain from attacking Israel for a time following the defeat at Mizpah. They will not permanently stop making incursions on the Israelites but the Lord will thwart their efforts during the days of Samuel. "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." (1 Samuel 7:13-14) No doubt because they heard how the Lord terrified the Philistine army at Mizpah, the Amorites are unwilling to cause any friction between themselves and the Israelites for fear that the Lord will confuse and defeat their army too.
"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 held court for Israel. And he built an altar there to the Lord." (1 Samuel 7:15-17) In his role as judge Samuel held court in his hometown of Ramah but he also held a traveling court for the convenience of the widespread citizens of Israel.
Why he was allowed to build an altar at Ramah instead of going up to Shiloh, and why the ark of the covenant was housed at Kiriath Jearim for twenty years instead of at Shiloh, has not been explained to us in Chapter 7 but many scholars suppose it is because the town of Shiloh was destroyed by the Philistines earlier when the Philistines won a great battle against the Israelites and captured the ark of the covenant. The author of 1 Samuel does not tell us that at that the Philistines burned Shiloh and slaughtered a large number of the people there but Asaph speaks of it in Psalm 78, saying that the Lord allowed the ark to be captured and Shiloh to be destroyed because of sin in the nation of Israel in the times of the judges. "He abandoned the tabernacle of Shiloh, the tent He had set up among humans. He sent the ark of His might into captivity, His splendor into the hands of the enemy." (Psalm 78:60-61) The prophet Jeremiah also speaks of the destruction of Shiloh in Jeremiah 7 and 26. The only reason I can think of that the Lord would allow Samuel to build and maintain an altar of worship at Ramah, instead of Samuel and the people going up to the tabernacle at Shiloh to worship Him, is because that option was not available to them.
The final paragraph of Chapter 7 sounds as if it is wrapping up the life of Samuel but the majority of what we will learn about Samuel is yet to come. Most of his words and deeds related to us by the Bible occur in his old age. We now move into Chapter 8 and find Samuel being asked in his later years, by the elders of Israel, to appoint a king over the nation.
"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." (1 Samuel 8:1-3) Samuel tries to become semi-retired in his older years, appointing his two sons to attend to far-flung matters in the nation. He makes the same mistake Eli, the high priest under whom he served at the tabernacle, of relinquishing some of his authority to his sons. Like the sons of Eli, Samuel's sons are ungodly men. They are not judging fairly but are accepting bribes in exchange for deciding cases in favor of whoever could pay the most. They've been seduced into sin by their love of money.
It's hard to say what went wrong in the spiritual lives of Joel and Abijah. It's safe to assume they were brought up right. We know Samuel lived a life that honored the Lord in their sight. But not everyone who is brought up in a God-honoring home will turn out wanting to serve the Lord. You probably know some parents who did their very best to bring their children up in the right way but their children have gone far astray from the Lord. I can think of several examples of that myself. I don't know whether Samuel was aware of what his sons were doing while they were judging matters away from home but it was his business to know because he was the Lord's chosen judge of Israel. Whether or not he knew what they were up to before we arrive at Chapter 8, he's informed of it by the elders of Israel in Chapter 8. "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.'" (1 Samuel 8:4-5)
The elders from all over Israel have had complaints brought to them about the behavior of Samuel's sons. They have decided that something must be done. We might expect them to come to Samuel to demand that he make his sons do right, or that he would relieve his sons from their duties. But instead they see this as a good opportunity to demand a king. They say something like, "Your sons are sinning against the Lord and perverting justice in the land. We understand that you handed some of your duties off to them because you are getting up in age but these men are not fit to judge cases in Israel. Since you are elderly and no longer feel you are able to fully meet all the demands of your job as judge, why not retire altogether? And before you retire, why not appoint a king to rule us like all the other nations have?"
The Lord foretold that a day would come in which the people would desire a king like all the other nations. His perfect will for them was that they would install and keep Him as King of their hearts but His permissive will is to give them a king when the time comes that they ask for one. If He had not intended to ever grant this request, He would not have laid down the rules for kings in Deuteronomy 17. But Samuel is offended when he is asked to anoint a king over Israel. He is offended not so much for the Lord's sake but for his own, as indicated by the remainder of today's text. "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.'" (1 Samuel 8:6-7)
By the Lord's words we know that Samuel's feelings are hurt. I think that when the Bible says, "He prayed to the Lord," it means that Samuel took his complaint to the Lord. He took his wounded pride to the Lord. He took his anger to the Lord. He poured out before the Lord everything the elders said to him and I think he poured out how he felt about what they said to him. Should Samuel have been more offended for the Lord's sake than for his own sake? Perhaps, but Samuel did the right thing with his feelings. He didn't lash out at the elders in anger. He didn't try to defend the wayward behavior of his sons. He didn't try to defend his unwise decision to turn over some of his duties to his sons. He took the elder's request for a king and his upset feelings straight to the Lord. That's the best way he could have handled this situation! It's the best way you and I can handle hurt feelings, wounded pride, and anger too. It's a good idea to follow Samuel's example when someone takes us to task for something. Instead of getting offended and saying things we might regret later, we should take their words to the Lord to allow Him to reveal to us whether they are right. Sometimes they are! I've had people point out attitudes or actions of mine that they feel are wrong. My first instinct, in my carnal flesh, is to feel offended. But often the Lord reveals to me that they are right and that I need to adjust my attitude or stop doing something that doesn't reflect who I am in Christ. Now I'm not saying that people won't sometimes be wrong about us, but whenever someone accuses us of being in the wrong frame of mind or of doing things that go against the Lord's word, the best thing we can do is consult the Lord and search our hearts to see if these things are true.
Join us tomorrow as the Lord instructs Samuel on what to do next.
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