Confession & Deliverance

1 Samuel 7:1-17

Good morning!  Today, we’re on to chapter 7 of the book of I Samuel in our series titled Prophet and King.  Everyone take a deep breath.  Now let it out.  Ahh!  Doesn’t that feel good?

That’s what this chapter feels like to me.  It’s like a breath of fresh air.  Up until now, we’ve seen some pretty difficult circumstances throughout the first six chapters of I Samuel.  Even the items of good news that we’ve seen have been coupled with difficulty and sacrifice.

So far, many of the Israelites have demonstrated wrong attitudes about or toward God.  And God’s messages up until now have centered on His judgment, particularly of the leaders of Israel who have led the people in sin.  We saw Eli’s sons sinning in worship, sinning in greed, sinning against the women who were serving God.  Eli sinned because while knowing about his sons’ terrible acts, he did not correct them.  In addition, he participated in their sin by benefiting materially from their greed.    The forty years of Eli’s time as judge over Israel has no high points (with the exception of Samuel being raised up as Eli’s replacement).  Sadly, Eli cannot take much credit for that either.  It is the Lord who revealed Himself to Samuel rather than Eli instructing Samuel in the ways of the Lord. (3:21)

The leaders of the tribes of Israel hatched the plan to bring the Ark of the Covenant to battle so that God would give them victory over the Philistines.  It was as if they thought they could force God into action on their behalf by putting the Ark at risk.  God then allowed the Ark to be captured.

In the last couple of weeks, we have seen that God was capable of taking care of the Ark on His own.  The people of Israel didn’t have to go rescue the Ark, the Philistines willingly gave it back to get rid of the plagues which had come on them since they had captured it.  But even last week, when the Ark was miraculously returned to Israel and the people were initially happy, they did not treat the Ark properly, and they were struck by God.

We can sometimes question God when we read of the judgments in the Bible.  We may think that some judgments just aren’t fair.  I had two thoughts on this.  First, any judgment from God against us is pretty much justified.  As Romans 3:23 says, “All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.”  Any time we don’t get judged we are getting what we don’t deserve.  The second observation is that God doesn’t just give out judgments willy-nilly.  Fred pointed out last week that Beth Shemesh was a city which had been given to the priests, the sons of Aaron.  The Ark had been returned to people who were the ones to know how to handle it properly.  He didn’t return the Ark to unsuspecting and ignorant people.  He sent it to the experts.  After the experts didn’t do the right thing, they didn’t repent.  Instead, they called their neighbors to come and get the Ark. 

That brings us to the start of today’s passage, so let’s pray and ask God to speak to us from what we’re studying through.

Lord God, thank You that though sorrows come, they do not last, and that joy comes in the morning.  Teach us today from this passage of Your Word.  Guide our steps and order our lives we pray in Jesus’ Name.  Amen.

So the men of Kiriath Jearim came and took up the ark of the LORD. They took it to Abinadab’s house on the hill and consecrated Eleazar his son to guard the ark of the LORD.  I Samuel 7:1

Let’s first look at a map of the region:

We see here the track that the Ark followed.  It started there in Shiloh in the upper right, or northeast.  Then, it traveled east roughly 20 miles to Ebenezer to the battle where it was captured by the Philistines.  Then, it spent seven months in the territory controlled by the Philistines.  First, it was in Ashdod, then Gath, then Ekron.  Finally, it was placed on a new oxcart with another box which held a kind of offering from the Philistines.  The cart was driverless and pulled by two milk cows.  The two cows pulled the Ark in a direction away from their nursing calves in Ekron to the town of Beth Shemesh in Israelite territory about 10 miles.

At the end of chapter 6, the people of Beth Shemesh send messengers up to the town of Kiriath Jearim (10-15 miles away) telling them to come get the Ark.  Here in verse 1 of chapter 7, we see that the men of Kiriath Jearim do come and take the Ark.  Let’s think about this.  The Ark was delivered by the driverless cows to a town which belonged to the family of Aaron, the priestly line.  Due to their disrespect toward God’s Holy Ark, they are punished.  Rather than repent and do the right thing, they do the exact same thing that the Philistines did.  They want to get rid of it.  This is endemic of the hearts of the Israelites in general.  They don’t really want a relationship with the all-powerful God of the universe.  They want a safe God, a God that they control.  And a god which you control is nothing more than an idol.

It was a long time, twenty years in all, that the ark remained at Kiriath Jearim, and all the people of Israel mourned and sought after the LORD. 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.” So the Israelites put away their Baals and Ashtoreths, and served the LORD only.  I Samuel 7:2-4

The reference to twenty years is not the total amount of time that the Ark was at Kiriath Jearim.  It was the amount of time for mourning and seeking the Lord.  It is the time between the Ark reaching Kiriath Jearim and what comes in the following verses about the assembly of the people at Mizpah.

Before we go on, just stop and think about this for a moment.  The people were now repentant.  Their attitude had finally changed.  They were seeking the Lord.  They were sorry for their attitude and their sin.  Chapter 4 opened with, “And Samuel’s word came to all Israel.”  This is an example of the word of Samuel.  It is a word of repentance of turning away from false gods and idols.

Thankfully, the people hear this word and obey.  They do put away their Baals.  They put away their Ashtoreths.  They serve the Lord only.  And yet, it appears to be a process that took time.  It is not like Jonah and Nineveh.  Jonah went there and preached, and the people responded immediately.  Here, the Israelites take a long time to come around.  Samuel must have been incredibly patient during this time, don’t you think?

Then Samuel said, “Assemble all Israel at Mizpah and I will intercede with the LORD for you.” When they had assembled at Mizpah, they drew water and poured it out before the LORD. On that day they fasted and there they confessed, “We have sinned against the LORD.” And Samuel was leader of Israel at Mizpah.  I Samuel 7:5-6

Finally, Samuel sees that it is time to assemble the people.  He sees they are now ready to come to God.  Mizpah has significance as the gathering place of Israel during the time that they dealt with the issue of the tribe of Benjamin (Judges 20-21).  That was a different situation than what is happening here in I Samuel, but it was a time to deal with a moral outrage committed against God and His people.  It was also a time where the people of Israel committed themselves to God’s leadership seeking His direction even in how to carry out the needed action.  Therefore, it seems fitting that Samuel assembled the people at Mizpah.  Perhaps Samuel was thinking of that time when the people of Israel committed themselves to God’s leadership and following Him as their King.

There is no other occurrence in the Old Testament of this drawing and pouring out of water.  However, there are several places where it talks about pouring out your heart before the Lord, like Lamentations 2:19, “Arise, cry out in the night, as the watches of the night begin; pour out your heart like water in the presence of the Lord.”  It is plausible that this act of taking water and pouring it out was meant to symbolize the people pouring out their hearts in repentance and humility before the Lord.

Their attitude is one of humility and dependence on the Lord.  They fast; they don’t eat anything.  And importantly, they confess.  I think this is what Samuel had been waiting for over the previous twenty years.  He wanted the people to confess their sin.  He didn’t just want them to feel bad about their circumstances.  He wanted them to agree with God that they had rejected Him.  We’ve shared this verse before, but it is fitting, so I’ll mention it here again.  II Corinthians 7:10, “Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.”

Sometimes it takes people a while to get from worldly sorrow to godly sorrow.  We need to give people that time, and not try to rush them along if they’re not ready to confess.  This can be a little tricky.  I know we have required our kids to apologize to one another or to ask forgiveness when they’ve done something wrong.  We have seven kids plus my wife and I.  That’s a whole lot of “sorries” being said.  Don’t they just become so much lip service at some point?

Elijah, our five year old, has probably had the hardest time dealing with saying sorry as any of our kids.  He’s certainly not the only one that has struggled.  Sam may hold the world record for the longest holdout, at least in the category for a 4-5 year old.  But for Elijah nearly every time he has to say I’m sorry, he either begs not to have to do it and/or as soon as he does say “sorry” he bursts into tears.  To be honest, I’m glad that it is so hard for him.  I know he’s not blowing smoke.  Even in his head at three years old, he knew that saying sorry was confession:  “I did something wrong against you, and I know it.”  My prayer now is that his sorrow will lead him to repentance.

We need to preach a gospel of repentance.  That’s what Jesus did and what He told His disciples to do.  “This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in His Name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.  You are witnesses of these things.” (Luke 24:46-47)

(As an aside, there are instructions on how to deal with difficult situations in Matthew 5:23-24 and 18:15-17.  If someone has sinned against you, the Bible tells us how to handle it.)

So here we are, everyone is holding hands and singing kumbayah.  What happens next?

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.” 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.  I Samuel 7:7-9

That goes in the category of “hardly fair”, right?  After twenty years, the Israelites have finally come to a place of humility before the Lord, and then?  Their enemies attack.  What’s up with that?

Last week when Fred shared about the destruction of Shiloh, I was surprised to consider that the Philistines could have made an attack so far from their territory, but we do see here an attack at Mizpah which isn’t really any farther from Philistine territory than Shiloh is.  The Philistines must have had a spy network or informants or something.  They know what the Israelites are doing.

The response of the people is maybe a little of a mixed bag.  Overall, it is a big departure from what they would have done previously.  They are afraid, which may show a lack of faith, but they have faith enough to ask Samuel to keep interceding.  They are asking for God to save them rather than trying to figure out how to make Him save them.  We don’t know whether or not they are praying themselves.  Perhaps they are humble here to the point that they don’t feel worthy to even ask.

The offering is jarring.  What has a suckling lamb ever done to be slaughtered and burned up?  Why would Samuel do this and at this moment?  Well, for us, it is an image of what Christ has done for us.  Just as the lamb was innocent of wrongdoing and hadn’t hurt anyone, Jesus was holy and sinless.  He had done nothing deserving of death.  It is we who need an atoning sacrifice.  We are the ones who need to have our sin debt paid for.  We can’t even enter into a conversation with God apart from the forgiveness of sin through the atoning sacrifice of Jesus.  And this lamb was not that sacrifice, but that lamb was the image of the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ.  If the death of the lamb grieves us, that is not a wrongly placed emotion.  In comparison to what our sin inflicted upon Jesus though, our sorrow or grief should be far greater in His case.

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 men of Israel rushed out of Mizpah and pursued the Philistines, slaughtering them along the way to a point below Beth Car.  I Samuel 7:10-11

It seems like the Israelites were really all assembled at Mizpah and there was little time between the people asking Samuel to keep praying and the arrival of the Philistines.  They were there at Mizpah by faith and without an outer ring of defenses or even reconnaissance.

But, God did not leave the people defenseless.  The Lord was even gentle in how he dispersed the Philistines.  He merely thundered.  There was no fire or brimstone or hail or destroying angel.  It was enough.  The Philistines fled, and the Israelites pursued.

This passage is the only mention of Beth Car, and historians and archaeologists don’t agree or know for sure where it was either.  One possibility would be a place to the west of Jerusalem.  This seems plausible because the north-south road shown on the map in the area of Mizpah is called the Way of the Patriarchs because it is the same path followed by Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob during their travels.  And, it does not pass through Jerusalem but rather slightly to the west of it.  If so, then the Israelites would have chased the Philistines about 5 miles.

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.” 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. 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.  I Samuel 7:12-14

Shen is another one-time mentioned location.  It literally means tooth or peak.  Samuel likely chose a conspicuous place where this monument to the Lord’s work could be seen.

Ebenezer is an interesting choice for naming this place because they had brought the Ark to a different Ebenezer when they had been fighting the Philistines back in chapter 4.  The name is the right one though because Ebenezer literally means “stone of help.”  God is our Rock and our Help.  The people have seen and know that God delivered them from the Philistines and not themselves.

“Thus far” is also interesting choice of words.  It could also be written “up until now.”  It’s almost like Samuel was saying, you’ve been really trusting God for like 10 minutes, and He has already delivered you from a great loss.  I think this is significant because when people genuinely repent and trust God, He isn’t going to let them down.  Things may not happen exactly how we expect, for sure, but God alone is our help.  Samuel wanted them to realize that once they really came to God, there was no delay in God’s provision.  The delay was the people’s willingness to trust God and repent of their rebellion against Him.

The Philistines continued to be a powerful adversary of Israel during Samuel’s lifetime.  However, they experienced many defeats, and they certainly didn’t strike back with an immediate counterattack.  Israel regained territory which it had held previously.  Additionall, the Amorites lived on both the west and east sides of the Jordan River (though most often they were associated with the eastern side of the Jordan).  They are not the same people group or nation as the Philistines.  In short, there was not only peace with the Philistines but also the Amorites.

Samuel continued as judge over Israel 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 also judged Israel. And he built an altar there to the LORD.  I Samuel 7:15-17

These last verses serve as a kind of epilogue.  They describe what Samuel’s subsequent ministry looked like.  This is over a period of perhaps twenty years as chapter 8 will begin with the statement “When Samuel grew old …”

Back in verse 6, it said that Samuel was leader of the people at Mizpah.  This is also translated as judge.  He began as judge over the people at Mizpah and continued for the remainder of his life, perhaps another 50 or 60 years even into the time of Saul’s kingship.  There was not exclusivity among the judges during the time of the judges.  It often happened that more than one judge was alive at the same time.  So even though Saul was king, Samuel did continue as a judge in Israel as well as a counselor to Saul.

We talked already about the significance of Mizpah as a meeting place for Israel.  Gilgal was the location near Jericho where Joshua had the 12 stones taken from the Jordan River stacked as a memorial to the Lord’s miraculous parting of the river and the Israelites crossing into the Promised Land.  Bethel was a previous home of the Tent of Meeting during the earlier years of the Judges at the same time the people had first assembled at Mizpah.  Phinehas, the grandson of Aaron (not Eli’s son), was ministering before the Ark of the Covenant at Bethel.  So, each of these three cities had significance in the history of Israel in its 300 or so years of existence as a nation.

Samuel was basically judging wherever he went, including at his home in Ramah.  This is the home place of his family.  I like to imagine that he finally got to spend some time with his mom, Hannah.

Curiously, the Tent of Meeting is not mentioned as a part of Samuel’s ministry during this time, especially since it figures so prominently in his youth.  In fact, it isn’t mentioned at all until I Samuel chapter 21, well beyond the end of this series.  The Tent of Meeting will not be mentioned again until David flees there from Saul after the Tent of Meeting had been set up at Nob in the territory of Benjamin.

The last line of our chapter says that Samuel built an altar to the Lord at Ramah.  This more than anything seems to indicate that Shiloh had indeed been destroyed and the Tent of Meeting had been taken down.  Deuteronomy 12:5, 13 make it clear that altars should not just be set up wherever anyone sees fit.  Instead, there should only be the altar at the Tent of Meeting.  Since there is no indication that God opposed this altar at Ramah, it appears that there was not an active altar elsewhere at which Samuel would have worshipped.

If you think back to the beginning of chapter 7, it opened with the people of Kiriath Jearim coming to get the Ark of the Covenant from Beth Shemesh.  I gave a lot of time to that part of the passage already, but there is one more thing which is of interest and I’d like to close with it.  There is an aspect to this decision by the priestly line to give up the Ark which is prophetic.  Those people of Beth Shemesh wanted to have a safe God they could control.

Their attitude caused me to think of the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis.  In that story, when describing Aslan, Mr. Beaver says, “Safe? … Who said anything about safe?  ‘Course he isn’t safe.  But he’s good.  He’s the King, I tell you.”

We don’t get to put God in a box.  He’s not a tool for us to use for our benefit.  God is a person with whom we have a relationship.  He’s done amazing and wonderful things to make relationship with him possible at all.  Even more amazing, He has made it possible for us to be a part of His family.  We can have a perfect child to parent relationship with Him.  He made this possible through His Son Jesus and Jesus’ death on the cross.

So, here’s what’s curious, Kiriath Jearim is not a city of the priestly line.  It is a city in the territory of Judah.  Way back in Genesis 49 (v. 8-12) Jacob prophesied that the scepter or leadership of the whole world would come from the tribe of Judah.  Also, God said in the messianic Psalm 110 that this ruler to come would be priest as well as king.

Once the Ark of the Covenant is separated from the Tent of Meeting and is sent away from the priestly town Beth Shemesh, it will not leave the territory of Judah until it has passed out of knowledge when Judah was taken into captivity.  David will come to get the Ark from Kiriath Jearim, and after a brief stop at Obed-Edom’s home on the way, David will bring the Ark to Jerusalem and put it in a special tent which was not the Tent of Meeting.  Then, the Ark will be placed in the Temple once it has been completed by Solomon.  The priests will continue their service, but their God-ordained work will be carried out under the authority of the king.

And so, it seems to me that the priestly line gave up their place of priestly leadership to the tribe of Judah and through Judah to David and through David as a forerunner of Christ to Jesus the true King and Priest who God prophesied about in Psalm 110.

All this happened even before the people asked Samuel for a king.

And that is why I mention it here … God has a plan for the redemption of His people.  When I say His people, I do not mean only the people of Israel.  I mean people of every tribe and tongue and nation on the earth.  God has had that plan from the very beginning.  And, His plan is the right plan.  There will be no question on judgment day.  Every tongue will confess and every knee will bow to Jesus the Lord.

God’s plan is not a plan of good works.  It is not about things we do whether through sacrifice or by perfect behavior.  It is not by the Law or the priests of Israel, the sons of Aaron, that we are made holy.

For it is clear that our Lord descended from Judah, and in regard to that tribe Moses said nothing about priests.  And what we have said is even more clear if another priest like Melchizedek appears, one who has become a priest not on the basis of a regulation as to his ancestry but on the basis of the power of an indestructible life.  Hebrews 7:14-16

The former regulation is set aside because it was weak and useless (for the Law made nothing perfect), and a better hope is introduced, by which we draw near to God.  Hebrews 7:18-19

… there have been many of those priests, since death prevented them from continuing in office; but because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. Therefore, he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them. Such a high priest truly meets our need—one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens. Unlike the other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself. For the law appoints as high priests men in all their weakness; but the oath, which came after the law, appointed the Son, who has been made perfect forever.  Hebrews 7:23-28

… in fact the ministry Jesus has received is as superior to theirs as the covenant of which he is mediator is superior to the old one, since the new covenant is established on better promises. For if there had been nothing wrong with that first covenant, no place would have been sought for another.  Hebrews 8:6-7

… when Christ came as high priest of the good things that are now already here, he went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not made with human hands, that is to say, is not a part of this creation. He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption.  Hebrews 9:11-12

For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance—now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant.  Hebrews 9:15

Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.  Hebrews 9:28

Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body,

and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.  Hebrews 10:19-22

And this is where we stand.  Thanks be to God!  I encourage you to come in confidence.  I encourage you to come often.  Oh worship the King!  Rejoice in Jesus our High Priest and the perfect sacrifice for our redemption.  Trust in Him continually.

May we too, preach that gospel of repentance to others that they would come and boldly enter the Most Holy Place through Jesus.  Let’s pray.

Father God, thank You for the opportunity to be your children, spotless and clean.  Help us we pray to proclaim the way of salvation in Jesus.  Help us to be patient.  Help us to be faithful.  Glorify Your Name, we pray.  Amen.