Archive for 9. June 2009

Samuel’s speech

9. June 2009 by Bernice Davis.

Today in our text Samuel is about to give one of his last speeches to the children of

Israel before Saul messes up the kingship.   Samuel is now an old man and he has hearkened to the voice of the people according to the word of God and granted them a king of God’s choosing.   Let’s listen to the wisdom and advice of Samuel in his aged years.  I Samuel 12:1 Samuel said to all

Israel, “I have listened to everything you said to me and have set a king over you. 2 Now you have a king as your leader. As for me, I am old and gray, and my sons are here with you. I have been your leader from my youth until this day. 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, I will make it right.” 4 ”You have not cheated or oppressed us,” they replied. “You have not taken anything from anyone’s hand.” 5 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. 6 Then Samuel said to the people, “It is the Lord who appointed Moses and Aaron and brought your forefathers up out of

Egypt. 7 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 fathers. 8 ”After Jacob entered Egypt, they cried to the Lord for help, and the Lord sent Moses and Aaron, who brought your forefathers out of Egypt and settled them in this place. 9 ”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. 10 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.’ 11 Then the Lord sent Jerub-Baal, Barak, Jephthah and Samuel, and he delivered you from the hands of your enemies on every side, so that you lived securely. 12 ”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. 13 Now here is the king you have chosen, the one you asked for; see, the Lord has set a king over you. 14 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! 15 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 fathers.  

As you can see in our text, Samuel opens up with what is called a “salvation history” narrative.  This type of narrative is found more frequently in the Old Testament but it is also repeated in the new.  The narratives are all similar in the fact that it recites the history of

Israel from their bondage out of the hand of Pharaoh and their arrival into the promise land.   The word salvation simply means help, deliverance, welfare, prosperity or victory.  Some of the narratives will begin at Abraham and talk about how he was a wandering nomad who came from Ur of the Chaldeans and it will go through his sons Isaac and Jacob and then pick up the

Egypt experience.    This particular narrative starts with Moses and Aaron.    These narratives were constantly used in speeches to remind the people of what God had already done and how powerful God is. 

 

In our text, Samuel uses this narrative to convey to the people that God had always delivered them from their trouble yet now they wanted a king even though God had always functioned as their king.   Samuel reminds them again of the evil that they have done in their desire to have a king and be like the other nations.    Even though this is a sharp warning and a rebuke, Samuel also encourages them and let them know that if they follow God and fear HIM and obey him and do not rebel against his commandments then both them and the kingship will be good but if not, God’s hand will be against them as it was against their fathers.

 

I think we’ll stop here for today.  I do want you to note though that there is a second part of this speech.   Tomorrow, we will study Samuel’s closing words to this speech.  It is so good.  As I was studying it today, there was a part of it that just made me cry and I was convicted in my heart about my own relationship with God.   I’ll tell you that story and what happened to me on tomorrow.

 

Stay encouraged and don’t forget to pray and read God’s word daily. 

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