Hello, my ‘Walking with Jesus” friends on this Wednesday,
I’m sure we’ve all attended leadership transition ceremonies where we honor an outgoing leader and welcome a new incoming leader. Usually, the old leader thanks the people for the privilege of leading them and often very kind things are said, but most people focus on the future and wonder what the new leadership culture will be? But that’s not how the old prophet Samuel transitioned the leadership to young King Saul. Will you join me again today as we witness a miracle!?
1 Samuel 12 gives us the record of this momentous, historic event. Never before had the people of Israel demanded a human king to be their leader. Samuel had sought God’s guidance and God had told Samuel to give them what they demanded…a king, and now young Saul stood before the Israelites as their first human king. Yesterday we watched as Saul was celebrated and Samuel challenged the people by asking them to bring witness against Samuel if he had ever cheated or taken a bribe or in any other way been less than a leader of God honoring integrity?
Their response was quick and unanimous: “You have not cheated or oppressed us. You have taken nothing from anyone’s hand.” (1 Samuel 12:4) Samuel then warned the people that if they or their king ever turned away from God and disobeyed God’s commands or turned to following the idol gods of the nations around them, then God’s hand would come against them.
Then Samuel did something remarkable. It was wheat harvest season, normally a very dry climate time with dry winds, ideal for harvesting wheat. But Samuel wanted the people to understand the severity of their demand for a human king to replace God’s leadership of His people. 1 Samuel 12:16 gives us the record of this moment: “Samuel said to the people, ‘Now then, stand still and see this great thing the LORD is about to do before your eyes! Is it not the wheat harvest now? I will call upon the LORD to send thunder and rain. And you will realize what an evil thing you have done in the eyes of the LORD when you asked for a king.’
Then Samuel called upon the LORD God and that same day the LORD sent thunder and rain. So, the people stood in awe of the LORD and of Samuel.”
Do you see what’s happening here my friends? It’s important because we make the same terrible mistake too often in our lives, don’t we? Over and over, so many times in Israel’s history, God had provided for His people when they face desperate need, like water from a rock in the desert for 1 million thirsty people. (Numbers 20:1-11) Or the number of times God defended His people against attacking enemies. (Exodus 17:8-15 or 1 Samuel 7:5-13) Yet in their haste to be like other nations and have a human king, the Israelites were minimizing the value and the memories of God’s miraculous power as their Sovereign. So, as it began to thunder and rain on a dry, sunny day, in the middle of wheat harvest, the Israelites were reminded of their shortsightedness, their self-reliance in asking for a human king rather than honoring God as their Sovereign King.
Naturally the people cried out to Samuel asking for God’s mercy and Samuel reassured them that the God of Israel was a merciful, forgiving God who would not abandon His people, but now that they’d made the definitive decision to have a human king, they would live with the consequences of their actions. Samuel’s words are legendary: “Do not be afraid, you have done all this evil, yet do not turn away from the LORD but serve the LORD with all your heart. Do not turn after useless idols. They can do you no good nor can they rescue you for they are useless. For the sake of His great name the LORD will not reject His people, because the LORD was pleased to make you His own…” (1 Samuel 12:20-22) Oh my that’s powerful isn’t it my friends? Is that the God you know? Have you experienced God’s unconditional love AND His great mercy when you have turned away from Him?
I think Samuel paused here letting the people absorb the significance of what he had just said. There was no going back. They had chosen a human king as their leader, and they would live for the rest of time with the consequences of this choice… including today and the challenges Israel is facing in 2024. Yet God promised He would not abandon His people.
And so, Samuel rose one last time to make this final, profound promise to the people he had led for so long: “As for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the LORD by failing to pray for you. And I will teach you the way that is good and right. But be sure to fear the LORD and serve Him faithfully with all your heart; consider what great things God has done for you.” (1 Samuel 12:23,24) May I ask you, my friends, have you ever heard an outgoing leader make such a promise to pray for the people he or she had led? And do you see Samuel promising to be available to continue teaching them to follow God’s lead even as they have replaced him with a young human king? That’s a work of God in Samuel’s heart, do you agree?
Finally, Samuel concluded his farewell speech with these words of great warning: “Yet, if you and your king persist in doing evil, both you and your king will be swept away.” (1 Samuel 12:25) Now let’s pause for a moment and consider the history of Israel as you know it my friends, both the Biblical history; and the history since the first century; and even the history that is being made right now.
Do you see the truthfulness of this statement being lived out over and over again? And now we should personalize this my friends. As you and I look back over our family legacies and over the history of our nations, I wonder what you see as you reflect on Samuel’s warning. Here’s a worship song to help us consider these significant words of the prophet Samuel as he turns from the celebration, leaving the leadership of Israel in the hands of King Saul.
Today’s Scripture: 1 Samuel 12:16-25.
Choose below to read or listen.
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Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
Have a comment or question about today’s chapter? I’m ready to hear from you, contact me here.
Pastor Doug Anderson
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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