So the men of Kiriath Jearim came and took up the ark of the Lord. They brought it to Abinadab’s house on the hill and consecrated Eleazar his son to guard the ark of the Lord. The ark remained at Kiriath Jearim a long time—twenty years in all.
Then all the people of Israel turned back to the Lord. So 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.
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.” Now Samuel was serving as leader of Israel at Mizpah.
When the Philistines heard that Israel had assembled at Mizpah, the rulers of the Philistines came up to attack them. 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 sacrificed it as a whole burnt offering to the Lord. He cried out to the Lord on Israel’s behalf, and the Lord answered him.
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 Kar.
Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen. He named it Ebenezer, saying, “Thus far the Lord has helped us.”
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, and Israel delivered the neighboring territory from the hands of the Philistines. And there was peace between Israel and the Amorites.
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 also held court for Israel. And he built an altar there to the Lord.
My thoughts -
Samuel was a special child. His mother, Hannah, could not bear children. Her husband's other wife teased her relentlessly about this. She prayed to God to relieve her anguish and God heard her prayer and gave her Samuel. And then, amazingly, she gave Samuel back to God.
Samuel served under Eli, whose sons, with his knowledge, took the best parts of Israel's offerings to God for themselves. This lead ultimately to the death of the sons, the death of Eli, the capture of the ark, and the calling of Samuel. As we get to this passage the Philistines have been struck by horrible plagues and gave decided to return the ark to Israel along with an offering. This was received with both rejoicing and mourning as seventy men were killed in receiving the ark when they looked inside it.
So Israel has the ark back. And they have a priest who is faithful to God and not to his own interests. They are on their way to restoring their relationship with God. Things have been rough. They've trusted in their own strength and it has failed them.
The ark stays with them for twenty years as they work to mend their strained relationship with God. They repent. They confess that they have sinned before God. They ask Samuel, who is their mediator with God, what they should do. And then they do it. They come back to God. They tell Samuel to "not stop crying out to the Lord our God for us". And God hears their cries. They are now restored to God and liberated from the oppression of the Philistines. They are now fully restored and at peace.
We don't have Samuel as a mediator like the Israelites here did. We have Jesus. Jesus is the way that we become fully restored in our relationship with God and free from our bondage to sin and at peace.
It seems so simple, almost too good to be true, but we see it time and time again. Repent. Return to God. Follow God's ways and be restored and at peace. And yet how often do we trust in our own strength, pursue our own selfish, sinful desires, and blind ourselves to what God wants for us and our calling to care for the needs of others?
We need to, like the Israelites here, return to God with our with all our hearts, then rid ourselves of the things that we worship instead and commit ourselves to the Lord and serve him only.
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