I SAMUEL 12 Lesson # 12
TELLING THE TRUTH AND SURVIVING
Key Issue: Admitting guilt does not bring about God’s abandonment, but actually reestablishes true communion with God, and this allows God to verbalize his commitment to us. We can tell the truth and survive. God helps us see our pig-headed attitudes. This is shown in the miracle of the rain at harvest to help the people see that they had truly ignored God. Once they repent, the assurances by God and Samuel begin.
I. Greetings:
If you read along the last few chapters, starting with chapter 8, a constant theme is on the lips of Samuel. He does not want a king. God clearly allows it (8:7,9,22), and tells Samuel he is to help in the finding of a king for Israel, Samuel, as the leader, is to listen to the people! However, Samuel really has problems with the concept. Samuel sees, along with the Lord (8:7) that the wanting of a king is a sign of Israel wanting to control their political destiny and safety. Samuel wanted Israel secure as well, but he knew that Israel’s safety did not lie in a king but in “The King”! It was only in God that Israel had a chance to survive. So, though Samuel cooperated in finding Israel a king, in 8:10-18 and 10:18-19 Samuel tried to get the people to see that in their mad rush to get a king, they were forgetting God. Even if the king was a success, putting God first was the key issue.
II. Introduction: Gathering at Gilgal.
>>>> Have someone read I Samuel 11:14-15.
Note: As we noted last week, this celebration at Gilgal was a joyous one. They renewed the kingdom, and made peace offerings (fellowship offering), and rejoiced in a great victory. God had helped them stop the vicious oppression of the Ammonites. It was a great day. After the celebration, Samuel addressed the group, because he was still worried.
Q Have you ever been in a situation where you have to be the wet blanket? Where you had to get the group or your children to focus on a tough issue that must be dealt with? Is this a fun assignment?
Q Do most politicians confront the key (but unpopular) issues when times are good?
An = Usually, no! They only deal with the real destructive problems when everybody is in such a state of disarray that is it politically popular to do so.
Note: Samuel is no ordinary leader. Even at a great celebration he brings up the issue that is bugging him. Samuel is correct in bringing up an old issue that has twice been ignored. So… Samuel begins.
III. Calling For A Review: I Samuel 12:1-5.
>>>> Have someone read I Samuel 12:1-5.
Note: In these three verses, Samuel asked the Israelites to recognize three things, one in each verse. He opened with saying that “he has listened to them”. Listen = obey in Hebrew and Samuel heard their request for a king and obeyed that request. He wanted to point out to them that they had gotten their way.
Q Is it important for children/students/employees to get their way once in a while? Why?
An = We often want something that is not in our best interests, but good leadership does not insist on getting its way every time. God had allowed the Israelites to have a different form of government and seemed willing to work within such an arrangement, though it may not have been the best form for them. Samuel has been commanded three times in chapter 8 (7,9,22) to “listen” or “obey” the request of the Israelites.
Note: Samuel points this out to the people. He lets them know they had gotten things their way.
Note: You could interpret 12:2 as Samuel complaining, or that he is letting the people know what the current situation is. They have a king, he, Samuel, is old and gray.
Q What is Samuel telling them in 12:3? What is he after?
An = He could be reminding them that though things have changed, and he is no longer in charge, that things were not so bad under his rule. Perhaps we tend to demean the past when something new arrives and Samuel reminds them of some facts: he has never cheated them.
Q Is it important to recognize the good aspects of the past?
An = Yes. Not glorify the past or get into the “good old days” syndrome, but to honestly and accurately reflect and assess the past. Samuel is not asking them to return to the past ways of doing things but to reflect on the integrity that he had as their leader.
Q Can you give an example of reviewing the past in a positive way even though you do not want to return to the way things were?
Q In 12:3-5 how does Samuel force them to think about the past?
An = He asked them to verbally commit themselves to assessing his guilt or innocence in regard to his honesty. It is sometimes good to be forced to verbalize the truth. It does us good to say it.
Note: Notice, Samuel does not speak depreciatively of Saul. He does not call him king, but the Lord’s anointed and as one who is worthy of the respect to be the authoritative witness to what is correct. Samuel does not seem to want to return to the past, but rather to see accurately the past.
Note: Notice, the people do acknowledge that Samuel has never cheated them and they agree that the anointing of Saul is witness to Samuel’s innocence.
IV. A Call to Remember: A Call to See Facts As They Really Are. I Samuel 12:6-19.
A. A Call to Review the Ancient Past: I Samuel 12:6-11.
>>>> Have someone read I Samuel 12:6-11.
Q What was the means that God used to get Israel out of slavery according to 12:6?
An = Anointed leaders: Moses and Aaron.
Q According to 12:9 what caused God to deliver the Israelites into the hands of their enemies?
An = They forgot the Lord who was their God. It was He who brought them out of Egypt and made them what they were, but they forgot Him.
Q According to 12:10, when the Israelites cry out to God, what two major parts does their prayer have?
An = 1) They confess their sins: forsaken the Lord and served other gods. 2) They request deliverance from their enemies and promise to serve the Lord.
Q What was the means that God used to get Israel free from their oppressing enemies, according to I Samuel 12:11?
An = Again it was leadership that was sent by God.
Note: What both brief historical recounts have in common is a pattern that includes the Israelites never deserving deliverance but merely asking for help and acknowledging their need: they cried out to the Lord. This may seem unimportant, but it signifies that these men could not solve their own problems – they needed God. We have a name for this: humility.
Note: What Samuel is doing is reciting the history of the book of Judges. The people sinned, were oppressed by enemies, cried for help and then God sent anointed leadership to deliver them. This pattern was repeated several times through the twelve judges whose careers are recorded in Judges. Notice, Samuel sees himself as part of this pattern.
B. Review of the Recent Past: I Samuel 12:12-13.
>>>> Have someone read I Samuel 12:12-13.
Note: It seems the Nahash crisis was handled not by crying out to the Lord, but by asking for a king. Samuel worries that the necessary repentance of seeking the Lord again has not taken place. The king is not a real answer to Israel’s military problems, despite the recent victory.
C. Challenge to follow God in the Present Circumstances: I Samuel 12:14-17.
>>>> Have someone read I Samuel 12:14-15.
Q What is the promise found in 12:14?
An = If you do what the Lord’s will is then you and the king will be following the Lord. Notice, that just doing religion is not what God wants, but actually doing what the Lord wants.
Q What is the threat found in 12:15?
An = The Lord Himself will be against them. Israel’s greatest peril is God Himself.
Q If the church only pretends to follow the Lord, but does not really do what the Lord asks in His Word, who will be the church’s greatest enemy?
An = The Lord Himself.
D. Authenticating Sign from Heaven That God Is Lord.
>>>> Have someone read I Samuel 12:16-19.
Q What is the role of the rain taking place during the wheat harvest?
An = It was a sign from God. Rain normally does not fall at that time of the year and so Israel saw that salvation was from God, not from their king. Sometimes we need to be reminded that we are in His hands.
Q How does Israel respond?
An = They were at first afraid of the Lord and Samuel (12:18), and then they asked Samuel to pray for them. They finally confessed that the desire for the king was sin.
Q Why was the wanting a king a sin?
An = It became an excuse for not depending upon the Lord. (***Give an example from your own life of where something, not necessarily wrong, is used as a prop to keep one from trusting in the Lord. Though this thing is not wrong in itself***).
V. The Result of Finally Seeing the Truth: Assurance and Challenge. I Samuel 12:20-25 .
>>>> Have someone read I Samuel 12:20-25.
Note: The people admit their sin, they confess, and God encourages them to now to serve the Lord with all their hearts. They have finally seen that their lack of dependence upon God is wrong. Notice, the Lord’s opening words are “do not fear”!
>>> Re-read 12:22-23.
Q What does the Lord promise them in 12:22?
An = That He will not abandon them.
Q What are the reasons the Lord will not abandon them?
An = Because of who God is. They have done nothing to deserve His loyalty. He has chosen them and wants to keep them. Notice, they can lose their lives if they do not stop their stupidity (12:25), but God wants to keep the relationship alive.
Q According to 12:24, what does Samuel think should motivate them to fear and serve the Lord?
An = Gratitude for all God has done for them.
Q Do you hate them and never want anything to do with them?
An = Of course not! Ultimately, if we are good parents, good children should realize all the goodness we have done for them and be grateful. But notice that we are free. God does not force us to obey. Therefore, when our kids truly are grateful, they really are a joy!
Q What does Samuel promise them in 12:23?
An = That he will not abandon them either. He will pray for them and will instruct them in the good and right way.
Q What has both God and Samuel modeled for us in the way of good leadership?
An = When we do not get our way, we still need to care and not abandon those we lead who are so ungrateful. True leaders serve even after rejection.