1 Samuel 7:1-17

Israel’s First King

1 Samuel

Helen Pocock

Chapter 7

v1 So men came from Kiriath Jearim to fetch the *ark of the Lord. They took it to the house that belonged to Abinadab. His house was on a hill. Eleazar was his son. They *consecrated Eleazar so that he could guard the *ark of the Lord.

The cows pulled the cart straight back to *Israel. So the *Philistines knew that God had punished them. The cows made a loud noise all the way, because they wanted to return to their baby cows. Cows that have not pulled a cart before can not pull it straight. So God made them go straight to *Israel. The *Philistine rulers followed the cart. They saw that it went right to Beth Shemesh. The *ark and their gifts to God arrived in *Israel. The *Philistine rulers watched the *Israelites give their *sacrifice. Then they went back to give this news to the *Philistines.

The wheat harvest was in the months of May and June. Many people in the town helped with the harvest. They saw the *ark of the Lord arrive. They stopped working. Everyone joined in the *sacrifices and they praised God. A ‘Levite’ is a man from the *tribe of Levi. In Deuteronomy 10:8-9 God says that Levites should carry the *ark of God. Levites helped in the house of the *Lord but they were not priests. Many Levites lived in Beth Shemesh.

The men from Beth Shemesh learned about God. God was as dangerous to the *Israelites as he was to the *Philistines. God was ‘dangerous’ because he is holy. Everyone has to obey him and give him honour. To touch the *ark was like touching God. People who *sin cannot touch anything holy. However, some *Israelites wanted to see inside the *ark. Numbers 4:20 says that no one can look at the holy things in the *ark. If they did, they would die. The men who looked in the *ark did not obey God. They died because God killed them. God was teaching the *Israelites about the true nature of *sin. Everyone became afraid of God. They wanted to send the *ark away. God had punished the Philistines. Perhaps the *Israelites were afraid that God would punish them too.

Kiriath Jearim was about 24 kilometres (15 miles) from Beth Shemesh. The men from Beth Shemesh were too afraid to take the *ark there. Instead, they sent a message to the men from Kiriath Jearim. We do not know anything about Abinadab or Eleazar. We do not know why the *ark went to their house. But they knew that they had to guard it in the proper way.

The *Lord saves the *Israelites from the *Philistines

v2 The *ark stayed at Kiriath Jearim for long time. For 20 years the *Israelites were sad. They wanted to follow the *Lord again. v3 Then Samuel said to all the *Israelites, ‘If you follow the *Lord, you must do it with all your spirit. You must remove all your foreign *gods and *idols of Ashtoreth. You must give your lives completely to the *Lord. You must serve only him. Then he will save you from the *Philistines’. v4 So the *Israelites removed all their *idols of the *gods Baal and Ashtoreth. They served only the *Lord.

v5 Then Samuel said, ‘Meet together at the town of Mizpah. I will pray to the *Lord for you’. v6 So they all met at Mizpah. They got water from the ground and poured it out in front of the *Lord. They did not eat that day. They prayed to the *Lord and confessed, ‘We have *sinned against the *Lord’. Samuel ruled the *Israelites at Mizpah.

The *ark stayed at Abinadab’s house until king David took it to Jerusalem (2 Samuel 6). The *Israelites were sad because the *Philistines had killed so many *Israelites. God had also killed some *Israelites (6:19). A long time ago, God helped them to win their battles. Verse 3 shows the reason why he did not help them now. The *Israelites did not obey the law. The law said that they must *worship only the God of *Israel (Exodus 20:3). Instead, they also *worshipped foreign *gods and *idols. God blessed the *Israelites when they obeyed him. He punished them when they did not obey him. Leviticus 26 explains this.

The *Israelites *worshipped the *gods Baal and Ashtoreth. These were the 2 main *gods in the country of Canaan. Canaan was the land that God had given to the *Israelites (Genesis 17:8; Joshua 14:1). We now call this country *Israel. But the *Israelites had not defeated all the Canaanite people. This is what they believed about their *gods. Baal was a male *god. He was the son of the *Philistine *god Dagon. He was the *god of *thunder and rain. He made the ground able to produce plenty of food. Ashtoreth was the goddess (female *god) of love and war and fertility. ‘Fertility’ means that people and animals have many babies. It also means that crops produce a big harvest. One way that people *worshipped these *gods was by wrong acts of sex. This was against the law of the *Lord of *Israel.

The *Israelites wanted to follow the *Lord again. Samuel told them to remove all their *idols. They had to stop their wrong behaviour. They must not follow other *gods. Samuel said that they had to follow the *Lord with all their spirit. The *Israelites had to love and trust the *Lord. They should not follow him just because they wanted success. They had to change their lives completely. So, they obeyed Samuel and changed their lives. They proved that they really wanted to follow the *Lord. The word in the Bible for this change of spirit and of life is ‘repentance’.

They could not meet together at Shiloh because the *Philistines had ruined the town. Mizpah is about 24 kilometres (15 miles) south of Shiloh. ‘They got water from the ground and poured it out in front of the *Lord’ (verse 6). ‘In front of the *Lord’ probably means in front of the *altar where they gave *sacrifices. This may be a picture way to show that God forgave them. We wash things clean with water. God ‘washed away’ their *sins when they confessed them to him. They did not eat that day because they were very sad about their *sin. Samuel was a priest because he came from the *tribe of Levi (1 Chronicles 6:33-38). Samuel was also a *prophet because God spoke to him (chapter 3; 4:1). This day he also became the leader of the *Israelites. In verse 6, ‘ruled’ also means ‘judged’ (see notes on 4:18). So, Samuel led the people as the judges did in the book of Judges. He was their last leader before God gave them a king.

v7 The *Philistines heard that the *Israelites were meeting at Mizpah. So the *Philistines rulers went there to attack them. When the *Israelites heard about this, they were afraid of the *Philistines. v8 The *Israelites said to Samuel, ‘Pray to the *Lord our God for us and do not stop. Ask him to save us from the *Philistines’. v9 So Samuel gave a lamb (young sheep) as a whole *burnt offering to the *Lord. He prayed to the *Lord. Samuel asked him to help the *Israelites. The *Lord answered his prayer.

v10 While Samuel gave the *burnt offering to the *Lord, the *Philistines moved nearer. They were ready to attack *Israel. But the *Lord made loud *thunder come from heaven against the *Philistines. He confused and frightened them. They started to run away. v11 The *Israelite men came out from Mizpah. They chased after the *Philistines to a place below Beth Car. And they killed them along the way.

v12 After this Samuel took a stone and put it up between Mizpah and Shen. He called the stone Ebenezer. He said, ‘The *Lord has helped us all this way’. v13 So the *Israelites defeated the *Philistines. The *Philistines did not attack the land of *Israel again.

The *Lord was against the *Philistines all the time that Samuel was alive. v14 Earlier, the *Philistines had seized towns from the *Israelites. But the *Israelites won them back. These towns were from Ekron to Gath. Also there was peace between the *Israelites and the Amorite people.

v15 Samuel continued to be the ruler of the *Israelites all his life. v16 Every year he went to the towns of Bethel, Gilgal and Mizpah. He ruled the people in those places. v17 But Samuel always went back to his home at Ramah. He ruled the *Israelites. And he built an *altar to the *Lord at Ramah.

The *Philistines probably thought that the *Israelites were planning to attack them. So the *Philistines sent their army to Mizpah. The *Israelites were afraid because the *Philistines had beaten them in the past. Also, the *Israelites had not trained their soldiers to fight like a proper army. But this time they trusted the *Lord. They knew that only he could save them. The *Lord answered Samuel’s prayer as he gave the *burnt offering. In these times, people thought that their *gods ruled the weather. But the *Lord rules the weather. Thunder is the noise that comes with a storm and lightning. Dagon was the *god of thunder. So the *Philistines were very afraid when they heard the loud thunder. They were confused so they ran away. It was easy for the *Israelite men to fight and kill the *Philistines.

Ebenezer means ‘stone of help’ or ‘stone of the helper’. Samuel put up this stone to honour the *Lord. It also reminded the *Israelites that the *Lord helped them in the battle. Now that the *Israelites followed the *Lord with all their spirit, they were successful in their battles. The *Lord was against the *Philistines. They had seized many towns in *Israel. The *Lord helped the *Israelites to get them back. Verse 13 probably means that the *Philistines did not attack *Israel again for a long time. The Amorite people lived in Canaan. They lived in the hills on both sides of the river Jordan. Sometimes they joined the *Philistines to fight with them. Now the *Israelites and Amorites probably made a peace contract.

Samuel ruled the *Israelites from his home town of Ramah. But each year he went on a 50-mile journey to 3 other important towns. He helped as a judge in their legal arguments.

consecrate ~ to set apart for holy use.
Israel ~ the group of people that God chose. Israel is the name of all the people from the family of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Israel is also the name of the land that God gave to the people of Israel.
Philistines ~ the Israelites’ main enemies at that time. They lived on the west side of the country of Israel.

Israelites ~ the people of Israel; the people who speak the Hebrew language.
Israel ~ the group of people that God chose. Israel is the name of all the people from the family of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Israel is also the name of the land that God gave to the people of Israel.
Hebrew ~ the language of the Israelite people. A Hebrew is an Israelite person.
Israelites ~ the people of Israel; the people who speak the Hebrew language.

Israel ~ the group of people that God chose. Israel is the name of all the people from the family of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Israel is also the name of the land that God gave to the people of Israel.
Hebrew ~ the language of the Israelite people. A Hebrew is an Israelite person.
sacrifice ~ to give something to God, usually an animal, grain or wine; to ask God to forgive sins as the priest killed an animal. This sacrifice was a special animal. The priests killed and burned it on the altar.

sin ~ when people do things against God or other people; when people do not obey the commands of God; the things that people do that are wrong or evil.
altar ~ a table, where the priests burned animals and gave other gifts as a sacrifice to God or false gods.
tribe ~ a family from one man. The first Israelites were the 12 sons of Jacob. The family of each son became a tribe.

Israelites ~ the people of Israel; the people who speak the Hebrew language.
Israel ~ the group of people that God chose. Israel is the name of all the people from the family of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Israel is also the name of the land that God gave to the people of Israel.
Hebrew ~ the language of the Israelite people. A Hebrew is an Israelite person.
Lord ~ the name of God in the Bible. The special name of God that he announced only to the Israelites (Genesis 3:13-15). It links God with his covenant (promise) to them.

Israelites ~ the people of Israel; the people who speak the Hebrew language.
Israel ~ the group of people that God chose. Israel is the name of all the people from the family of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Israel is also the name of the land that God gave to the people of Israel.
Hebrew ~ the language of the Israelite people. A Hebrew is an Israelite person.
sin ~ when people do things against God or other people; when people do not obey the commands of God; the things that people do that are wrong or evil.
gods ~ gods with a small ‘g’ are all the false gods.
idol ~ an object that people worship instead of the real God. People make idols from wood, stone or metal. An idol was usually an image of a person, animal or object. Idols are false gods.

worship ~ to thank God and to give him honour, usually with other people. Often, people pray and sing as they worship God. To bend down to God or to a false god to show him honour.
worship ~ to thank God and to give him honour, usually with other people. Often, people pray and sing as they worship God. To bend down to God or to a false god to show him honour.
thunder ~ the loud noise in the sky that happens during a storm and lightning.
altar ~ a table, where the priests burned animals and gave other gifts as a sacrifice to God or false gods.

sacrifice ~ to give something to God, usually an animal, grain or wine; to ask God to forgive sins as the priest killed an animal. This sacrifice was a special animal. The priests killed and burned it on the altar.
sin ~ when people do things against God or other people; when people do not obey the commands of God; the things that people do that are wrong or evil.
prophet ~ a person who speaks for God. He can sometimes say what will happen in the future.