Havasu Christian Church
Series in I Samuel
June 30, 2024
I Samuel 12:1-25
“Samuel, the C.E.O. retires”
INTRO: At one time or another, almost every corporation goes through a change of leadership. This can happen for a variety of reasons. It can happen because the C.E.O. dies, or he retires. It can also happen because the people who own the company are dissatisfied with the performance of the C.E.O.
On rare occasions, it can happen because those who work in the company refuse to work while the current management is in place.
That’s kind of what happened to Samuel. He was the C.E.O. of the Nation of Israel. God “owned the company.”
The people of Israel want a king! A king they can talk to face to face. A human king. God allows it.
Often, when there’s a change like this, the outgoing C.E.O. gives a speech. Samuel does exactly that.
- What did Samuel have to say that was important to them, and to us?
- Samuel gave a History Lesson
- He starts with his own Personal history with them.
1 Samuel 12:1–5 Then Samuel said to all Israel, “Behold, I have listened to your voice in all that you said to me and I have appointed a king over you. “Now, here is the king walking before you, but I am old and gray, and behold my sons are with you. And I have walked before you from my youth even to this day. “Here I am; bear witness against me before the LORD and His anointed. Whose ox have I taken, or whose donkey have I taken, or whom have I defrauded? Whom have I oppressed, or from whose hand have I taken a bribe to blind my eyes with it? I will restore it to you.” They said, “You have not defrauded us or oppressed us or taken anything from any man’s hand.” He said to them, “The LORD is witness against you, and His anointed is witness this day that you have found nothing in my hand.” And they said, “He is witness.”
- I’ve been a good C.E.O.
- I’ve been with the company for a LONG time!
- From my youth.
- I’ve been a man of integrity!
- I didn’t line my own pockets!
- I haven’t stolen anything or defrauded anyone.
- I haven’t used my power for my own good, nor have I taken any bribes.
- I even gave you the king you asked for.
- Samuel reminds them of how God has dealt with Israel in the past.
I Samuel 12:6-11 Then Samuel said to the people, “It is the LORD who appointed Moses and Aaron and who brought your fathers up from the land of Egypt. “So now, take your stand, that I may plead with you before the LORD concerning all the righteous acts of the LORD which He did for you and your fathers. “When Jacob went into Egypt and your fathers cried out to the LORD, then the LORD sent Moses and Aaron who brought your fathers out of Egypt and settled them in this place. “But they forgot the LORD their God, so He sold them into the hand of Sisera, captain of the army of Hazor, and into the hand of the Philistines and into the hand of the king of Moab, and they fought against them. “They cried out to the LORD and said, ‘We have sinned because we have forsaken the LORD and have served the Baals and the Ashtaroth; but now deliver us from the hands of our enemies, and we will serve You.’
“Then the LORD sent Jerubbaal and Bedan and Jephthah and Samuel, and delivered you from the hands of your enemies all around, so that you lived in security.
- Samuel reminds them of Jacob going to Egypt, and Moses & Aaron leading them out
- He reminds them that their ancestors quit serving God and starting worshipping the Baals and the Astaroth.
- Samuel reminds them of the punishment that came upon them.
- He also reminds them of the deliverance that they were given.
- We also have a history to look back on.
- We have the whole Old and New Testaments to show us what God has done.
- We have the lives of the Christians we know to look at.
- We can see God at work in their lives.
- We also have the proof of how the Lord has interacted in our lives as well.
- The people are confronted with their sin.
I Samuel 12:12-18 “When you saw that Nahash the king of the sons of Ammon came against you, you said to me, ‘No, but a king shall reign over us,’ although the LORD your God was your king. “Now therefore, here is the king whom you have chosen, whom you have asked for, and behold, the LORD has set a king over you. “If you will fear the LORD and serve Him, and listen to His voice and not rebel against the command of the LORD, then both you and also the king who reigns over you will follow the LORD your God. “If you will not listen to the voice of the LORD, but rebel against the command of the LORD, then the hand of the LORD will be against you, as it was against your fathers. “Even now, take your stand and see this great thing which the LORD will do before your eyes. “Is it not the wheat harvest today? I will call to the LORD, that He may send thunder and rain. Then you will know and see that your wickedness is great which you have done in the sight of the LORD by asking for yourselves a king.” So Samuel called to the LORD, and the LORD sent thunder and rain that day; and all the people greatly feared the LORD and Samuel.
- Samuel reminds them of their own sin.
- You wanted an earthly king, not God!
- The Lord gave you what you wanted.
- If you fear the Lord and serve Him by following His commands, You, and the King you asked for will stay faithful.
- If you don’t listen to the Lord, and you rebel against what He says to do, you’ll get the same kind of punishment as your ancestors did.
- To show He meant business, the Lord sends thunder and rain.
- This is harvest season. It doesn’t rain then.
- But this time it does, just as Samuel says it will.
- The people are scared….
- Of God
- And of Samuel.
- There are times when we need to be confronted with our own sin!
- I can be confronted by reading God’s word.
- It will show me areas in my life that need to be changed,
- by taking something away,
- or by doing something I’m not doing.
- I can be confronted by my conscience.
- The Holy Spirit will prompt my conscience to tell me when I do wrong.
- Sometimes, I may need to be confronted by a fellow Christian.
- We are called to care enough about each other to say something when we see sin in someone’s life.
- The People repent!
I Samuel 12:19 Then all the people said to Samuel, “Pray for your servants to the LORD your God, so that we may not die, for we have added to all our sins this evil by asking for ourselves a king.”
- At least for now, these people want to follow the One, True, Living, God!
- They want to Serve the Lord.
- They want their sins forgiven.
- Particularly the sin of asking for a human king.
- When we find ourselves ensnared by sin, WE need to repent.
- Not “Sorry I got caught.” Godly sorrow that leads us to change!
- Warnings and promises
I Samuel 12:20-25 Samuel said to the people, “Do not fear. You have committed all this evil, yet do not turn aside from following the LORD, but serve the LORD with all your heart. “You must not turn aside, for then you would go after futile things which cannot profit or deliver, because they are futile. “For the LORD will not abandon His people on account of His great name, because the LORD has been pleased to make you a people for Himself. “Moreover, as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the LORD by ceasing to pray for you; but I will instruct you in the good and right way. “Only fear the LORD and serve Him in truth with all your heart; for consider what great things He has done for you. “But if you still do wickedly, both you and your king will be swept away.”
- Do not fear!
- What a statement!!!
- God has sent a storm, complete with thunder, and Samuel tells them not to be afraid!
- God is not going to punish them for this sin.
- God is the God of second chances… and third chances… and fourth chances.
- We don’t have to live in fear either.
- If we follow the Lord, He will take care of us.
- Not always in the way we want, but in the way that we need!
- Follow the Lord!
- Don’t turn aside from following the Lord.
- You can’t get lost if you follow right behind.
- With God leading, there is never a reason to turn away from where He wants us to go.
- If you do “turn aside” you’ll waste your time and energy chasing after things that aren’t worth the effort!
- They cannot profit or deliver.
- They are useless and they won’t deliver what they promise.
- All the worldly promises are hollow.
- You may enjoy them for a while, but they will leave you unsatisfied.
- Fear the Lord
- Does this mean that we spend our time cowering in abject terror? NO!
- Fear of the Lord is more like the relationship between a child and a good parent. Parents have the ability and the power to punish.
- But if we are doing what’s right, there’s no need to be concerned.
- As kids grow, hopefully the “fear” turns to respect and they want to please their parents!
- This is the kind of relationship we should want to have with our heavenly Father.
1 John 4:16–19 We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. By this, love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment; because as He is, so also are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love. We love, because He first loved us.
- Serve the Lord in truth.
- Don’t just “talk a good game.” Do what the Lord says to do.
- Don’t do what God doesn’t want us to do.
- Think about the great things God has done for you!
- That “fear of the Lord” turns to gratefulness when we think about all the good that God has done for us!
- Creation.
- Looking out for us in our lives.
- Answered prayer.
- The list goes on.
- Trust God not to abandon you!
- He honors His own great name!
- He’s not going to start being unfaithful and let you down.
- The Lord chose them for His people.
- It was His choice to do so, and it pleased Him to do this.
- Don’t be wicked!
- You’ll be swept away if you do!
Conclusion:
- God loved His people then!
- God loves His people NOW!
- God wanted what was best for His people.
- God still wants what’s best for His people now!
- God didn’t want His people wasting their time chasing after things that didn’t matter.
- God still wants His people to live with a view of the eternal. What’s really important in the long run?
- God wants us to fear (respect) Him, but He also wants us to be able to trust His love enough not to live in fear!
- God isn’t fickle. He won’t change His mind about you and me.
- God wanted the people of Israel to CHOOSE to serve and Love Him!
- God wants us to make a choice as well!
- Which will it be?
