Samuel

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0:00 Awesome. We're going to continue going through the story. I don't know if you guys are still reading the long. I didn't even bring it here. I did read the chapter this week. It's chapter 12. Maybe? I really gave up. It's on Samuel, it's the beginning of Samuel, which is why we told the Hannah story. It's good. Samuel and Saul learn about Eli and Eli's sons. This is an interesting time in Israel.

0:33 We're coming right to the end of the Judges period. So remember, God brought them out of Egypt miraculously. Then they wander in the desert. And then with Joshua, they go across the Jordan River. And then once they get across the Jordan into the land that God has promised, they begin to conquer. And for the rest of Joshua's life, maybe another 40 years, they take over lands that are inhabited, that God is giving them, though they don't take over all of them. And then once Joshua dies, the people promptly forget God and begin worshiping all the gods that are in the areas.

1:07 And then it goes bad for them. And then when it goes bad for them, they remember, oh, a different God brought us in here than the one that we're worshiping. And then he raises up a judge, someone who trusts him, leads the people of Israel to trust him, and things go well. And then when the judge dies, they promptly forget, right? And it goes right back. And the cycle of judges where they're like, they trust God as long as they have a leader they can follow. And Samuel is this bridge character. Hannah asks God and says, God, would you give me a kid? If you give me a kid, I'll give him to you.

1:39 And in this period, remember that through the desert, they had this tabernacle that God's directed Moses exactly how to make and says it was a mirror of the heavenly city. And God's unbounded infinite presence, bound right above, hovered right above, stayed right in the holy place above the arch of the covenant, right on the mercy seat. These two cherubim, gold cherubim, reaching their wings across this box that they build that's gold in laid inside the box where the Ten Commandments and Moses' staff and some manna, and then God's presence above it.

2:16 And then Israel, unique among all the nations of the world, had the God of creation and life, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob right in the midst of their camp. And the critical points, they would take the arch of the covenant with them. God said, go up against Jericho and walk with the arch of the covenant, and I'll go with you. Cross the Jordan River, take the arch of the covenant first, and I'll go with you in the Jordan River will split. So the presence of God is observable, noticeable, carryable even in the arch of the covenant. It's a big deal to get the tabernacle, to be the nation chosen to have the presence of God.

2:50 And all nations were welcome, you just come through the proper order, recognize the lordship of God, do it in the right way, and you can come into the presence of God. Well, Israel at the time of the judges has gotten such a thing that the tabernacle is, you don't really hear about it, but the arch of the covenant still exists in a tent and it's watched over by Eli and his two sons, Haphne and Phineas. And it's in this like, kind of almost on the side of the road. And they had this like, their job. And you get the impression that Eli just like sits on a chair at the road, and when people get in one kind of way or another, and they're like, you know what, we should go make a sacrifice to the God of our forefathers.

3:30 They go visit Eli. Eli takes a section of the food that they're going to sacrifice, and his boys watch him do this, and they see the cavalier way in which Eli approaches it, and they go even further. They start to extort people that come for presence, and God is not interested in Eli or Haphne and Phineas, and he tells them I'm going to be done. Hannah's son Samuel comes, and she has this like, he has his famous experience where he hears God audibly call to him and say, I'm going to call you to serve me. And look at this section in 1 Samuel, right at the beginning, if you're following along 1 Samuel 2,

4:10 because God describes what he's looking for, and it's like beautiful and tragic. He says, he just finished telling Eli, they'll come a day where both of your corrupt sons, who have been in the observable presence of God, and still find the capacity to extort, will die on one day, and you'll die shortly after, which he does. And he says, then he says, once I take care of you, Eli, Haphne and Phineas, great, I mean they just sound like two sidekicks of the bad guy, don't they?

4:47 Like, I'm thinking of the eels in the little mermaid that, you know, thought someone jets them, and you got Haphne and Phineas buzzing around. Okay, and he says in verse 35 of chapter 2 of 1 Samuel, and I will raise up for myself a faithful priest, who shall do according to what is in my heart and in my mind, and I will build him a sure house, and he shall go in and out before my anointed forever.

5:24 And everyone who is left in your house shall come to implore him for peace, for a piece of silver or a loaf of bread, and shall say, please put me in one of the priest's places that I may eat a morsel of bread. God is telling Eli, I'm going to raise up a priest who will do what's in my heart and my mind. And it's like this, God is still looking for someone who will just trust him, and do what he thinks is best.

6:01 He's still like, we just got to get someone who will do it the right way, who will let me call the shots. And he's like, Samuel will be that one, someone who does what's in the heart of God. And so Samuel grows up and then kind of dramatically, Haphne and Phineas are killed, someone, this is like crazy, someone comes to tell Eli that Haphne and Phineas die, and he's sitting on a chair, and he falls back off the chair and dies.

6:43 It says he's really big, and so he dies like by falling off a chair, and so God's prophecy to him comes true, they all die on the same day. And then look at, so then Samuel leads them, kind of like a judge, he's running the temple, but he's also deciding between them, and so things start to go well. What happens is the people of Israel, they get into these disagreements, or they need a way to decide, should we attack these people or not, how do we settle this dispute, and they need a judge who listens to God to make those decisions.

7:20 And so that's how the judges had worked, the good judges, and Samuel is one of those, but he's also minding the temple. So he's like this interesting kind of priest judge situation, and things are going well, and he's starting to get old. And so then he tries to give it to his sons, and his sons aren't as good as him. And the people are like, we're kind of tired of this, like one judge is good, and then it goes bad, and so they ask for a king.

7:50 Look at 1 Samuel 8, verse 7. Well, we're going to start at verse 4.

8:33 And Samuel prayed to the Lord, and the Lord said to Samuel, Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being a king over them. According to all the deeds that they have done, from the day I brought them out of Egypt, even to this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are also doing to you. Now then, they obey their voice, only you shall solemnly warn them and show them the ways of the king who shall reign over them.

9:13 It's just kind of an interesting conversation between Samuel and God, because the Israelites gather all the heads of Israel, come to Samuel, and they're like, Samuel, you're getting old, and your sons are not doing a very good job, just give us a king. He's like, oh, you guys want a king? We got the Ark of Covenant here. We're conversing with the God of creation and life, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I think we can figure this thing out. Let's just keep talking to him, and they're like, but all the other nations have a king, and it would just be easier if we had a king.

9:47 They go on a little bit later, and they're like, we'd love a king that would lead us in battle and protect us, who would tell us what to do and solve the problems. And they're like, would you just give us a king? And Samuel's like, oh my gosh, you guys don't get it. So he goes to talk to God, and he's like, they want a king, and he's like, dude, they have always wanted a king. And you could see in the conversation, he's like, they're not rejecting you, Samuel, they're rejecting me.

10:18 This is where it's the benefit of that we were talking about the beginning of the story, not that long ago. Think about it with me. God makes the world out of his own imagination. Not because he needed to, but because he would like to. And as the capstone of creation, he forms humanity out of the rest of the earth and breathes the breath of life into them and animates them up and says, now be my image bearers, rule the earth and subdue it. Take care of the whole place. Just listen to me. I'm the one who made you.

10:49 Live like me. Just avoid this one thing. Just, I'll be the God. You be people. People is a really good thing to be. It's the image bearers of God in the world. It's the caretakers of creation. Just be people. Let me be God. And humanity's like, I get it, I get it, I'm getting into it. Okay? You're right. It is a really good thing to be. I do not trust you. You're holding out on me.

11:20 I know what's better. I'll do it my way. How about that? And God's like, I told you, man, you can't handle the weight of the responsibility of trying to be God in the world. And when they do that, right, that's when the fall happens and all of humanity gets crushed under the weight of guilt, anxiety, fear, desperation, where the earth gets messed up because it used to just produce what humanity needs.

11:50 And now it won't. It produces thistles and thorns, where humanity used to relate to one another well, but now they don't. They resent one another and compete with each other. And they used to be safe in vulnerability. And now they hide from each other. And so they hide from God. They hide from each other. They take from the earth. The earth doesn't yield what it needs. The whole thing with God, humanity, and creation is all messed up. And you see, God's like, I'll get it. I'll set it to right. You go out over there. Don't eat from the tree of life while it's like this and we'll fix it.

12:24 And then he keeps trying. He goes for a period and he's like, they're outside the garden. They're living. And he's like, these people are only thinking about themselves all the time. His eyes are hard. All evil all the time. And so he's like, I'll start over with Noah. Well, let's try with his family. He's a good dude. We'll try with him. And then a couple of generations from Noah's family, it's all they're trying to usurp God again. They're trying to build a tower so that if God decides to flood, they don't need to listen to him.

12:55 They'll just run up their tower and survive it. And they won't need to deal with God anymore. And so he separates them. He's like, I'll start over with Abram. He doesn't know me from anybody. But I'll make him into the great nation everyone will see. With God is the life you're looking for. I'll do it with Abram. And now he's like, he's bringing them through. He's trying to set up to where he can be God and they can be people. And they keep going.

13:27 Just give us a person to run it. Because we can't trust that you have it under control. We need someone right in front of us that we can see. And that's not far off. And it's like, I don't think you're going to like it because my experience with people is that they turn everything on themselves. And so then Samuel, he's like, Samuel, just give him, it feels like he just gives in here. He's like, just give him a king.

13:58 But tell him how the king's going to treat him. Just so that we're all above board here. So I'm going to give him a king. But then I'm telling them ahead of time how bad it's going to be with a king. And so Samuel does that. He goes on in... Yep, 10. First Samuel 8, starting verse 10. So Samuel told all the words of the Lord to the people who were asking for a king from him.

14:31 He said, these will be the ways of the king who will reign over you. He will take your sons and appoint them to his chariots to be his horsemen and to run before his chariots. And he will appoint for himself commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties and some to plow the ground and to reap the harvest and to make implements of war and the equipment of his chariots. And he will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers.

15:04 He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive orchards and give them to his servants. And he will take a tenth of your grain and of your vineyards and give it to the officers and to his servants. And he will take your male servants and your female servants and the best of your young men and your donkeys and put them to his work. And he will take a tenth of your flocks and you shall be his slaves. And in that day you will cry out because of your king, whom you have chosen for yourself. But the Lord will not answer you in that day.

15:36 But the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel and they said no. But there will shall be a king over us that we also may be like the nations and that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles. I mean he's saying like the king is going to recruit your guys and put them into battle. He's going to have to make chariots. Do you remember how God won battles? Like remember the Gideon battle? It was like hey call the men of Israel. He's like we don't need this many. Send them home.

16:07 And then he sends them home and then he's like okay we still need this many. Send more of them home. We don't need this many. And go in at night and this way. Remember when they brought down Jericho it was like just walk around the thing and then I'll give it to you. Like don't. And they're like we want a king to fight our battles and they're forgetting that all the battles they won were battles and God won for them. But they look around at the world and they're like everybody else is fighting battles like this. We should probably fight battles like that.

16:38 And God's like fine. Just take the king. So then they get Saul. I mean if you read the story about Saul it's pretty great. And I was like we're going to give him a king. Samuel's like okay guys go home I'll give you a king. And then it talks about how he's like in this town and he sees the youngest son of this guy, this Benjamin. And it's like Saul, this text says Saul was very good looking.

17:11 Then it says there was no man in Israel better looking than Saul. And then it says Saul was taller than everyone by his shoulder and above. Nobody came up to pass Saul's shoulder. He looked like somebody that wanted to follow. I imagine this was written after Saul was king. Nobody better looking in all of Israel than King Saul.

17:41 And I mean I guess Saul was fine. But it starts a downward spiral of the people and we'll get into it in the weeks to come. About one king after another. Saul in the end failed. Like he just like he gets impetuous. He rushes in when he should wait. He trusts his own confidence instead of the confidence of God.

18:14 I was like trying to figure out like what's the message here. I think if I were Israel living in a world where people had kings and systems of government and made sense. And I have this tent on the side with a box where I think God is. It seems like every couple generations he shows up and does something crazy.

18:48 It would be nice to just have a king. It would be simpler. It would be easier. It would be more defensible. It would be less weird. I could see why they want a king. I think of course this is why he finally sends Jesus. You know?

19:18 Jesus talks about bringing the kingdom of God, the reign of God to the world. Jesus very rarely does talk about forgiving sins. But he doesn't say I've come that I could save individual people. He does say that he comes as a savior and a rescuer.

19:50 But much more often, his general language is the kingdom of God is here now. I've come to bring the kingdom of God to you. God is raising up Samuel hoping he could find someone who would demonstrate to people what it looks like to follow his heart and mind. Who would lead the people and together they would follow and that person would show them what it looks like to let God be God.

20:23 And here's what the life looks like when you're just people, not trying to be God. When you just trust God with the things of God and you do people things, image-bearer things, dominion things, fill the earth and subdue it. Multiply, right? Things. Loving your neighbor things. When you do the things of people, he keeps trying to raise up someone who's like, here's what it looks like to let God be God. Samuel, right? Saul, next week we'll talk, or this week we'll talk about David.

20:57 Keeps trying to, and finally, after they all fail, he's like, I'm just doing myself, right? This is why he tells Isaiah already during the time of the kings, they'll come one who brings light amongst the darkness.

21:27 Upon whom on his shoulders the government will be built. He will be the king of kings. Timothy says that Jesus is called the king of kings and the lord of lords. I was thinking, every time I like, this is like maybe, I like thinking about the story of scripture altogether. And whenever I start to do it, it seems like this cannot be true, but it seems true.

22:01 When you read the story, that God is figuring out how he's going to solve this problem as he goes. Doesn't it? Like, he's like, okay, leave the garden and we'll figure it out. I promise I'll figure it out. And then it gets several generations and he's like, these guys are a mess. I can't handle them. Let's start over. And then he starts over with Noah's family and then within a couple generations they're building the tower of abba.

22:32 He's like, this is crazy. I can't deal with these people. Let's limit their number of years and separate their languages and I'll work with one group. And he calls them like his vineyard and he's working with this one group. And then that kind of falls apart, right? We got the judges. Then he's like, we get the kings. And by the middle of the kings, he's already saying, I'm going to do something different. And so he brings Jesus long awaited Jesus, the Prince of Peace, King of Kings, Lord of Lords. And the question that comes up right about now when I'm looking at the story is, wait a minute, why did he wait so long?

23:09 If he knew that's what it would take. There's an answer when God doesn't give us one. I mean, I guess he just wanted to wait. I don't know why he waited. But I do know this is it. That the reign of Christ says came at the fullness of time.

23:42 That it was worth the wait. And for me, this means that none, Jesus says it the same also, right? He says, none that the Lord gave me will be missed or lost. For Timothy says that he is willing that none should perish, but all should come to everlasting life. This means that the reign of Christ is broad enough, deep enough, grand enough, expansive enough that all people from all time can make their way underneath it. That it was not late or early, but just on time.

24:13 And this is the thing I want you to hear as we turn towards Christmas here this week. That the reign of Christ is sufficient for you. You need no other kings, but the Christ who was born in Bethlehem, lived, died on Calvary, rose from the grave, and us sent it into heaven from the Sea of Galilee will return in glory and welcome you forever. His reign has begun and does not end.

24:44 And Christmas is the assurance that he can be your king now. This is the solution. The one that he said, step out of the garden and wait, I'll fix it. He's fixed it. This means you have the capacity, what humanity has needed through the whole story of Scripture, the ability to move past the fatal flaw, believing we can be God.

25:14 Get into a position where you can let the God be God. Follow the good king. Christ, his reign under his authority, you can do it. Things can be set to right. You as people, God as God, fulfilling our role in the earth. You can do it. Christmas means you can do it.

25:48 He has accomplished what he set out to do. And we are living in the day where our king will lead us into life forever. Praise God. Let's pray that we could live under his reign well. Hey Lord, thank you for the gift of your son, the good king, the prince of peace, the Lord of lords, the king of kings. Teach us what it means to be people under his reign and authority.

26:20 Let us live there now and usher us into forever with you. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.