The first five verses of chapter 12 describe the kind of person Samuel was. He had
shown great integrity and never exploited the people nor oppressed the people
of Israel. As God’s prophet, he had proven himself to be truly a
godly leader. He fulfilled his role in a close connection to God. Without a
doubt, Samuel was who God had appointed to lead the people. Wanting a king like
all the other nations, the people were in effect rejecting God. So Samuel in
pointing to himself as a representative of God was trying to persuade the
people to rethink their request. He wanted them to know that ultimately it was
God who had brought them through in victory, and He was still their best bet
for success
Besides
pointing to himself, he went as far back as the time in Genesis where he
briefly alluded to Jacob and how he went to Egypt. Then to Exodus where God
raised up Moses and Aaron, their leaders and how through them, He brought the
people of Israel out of Egypt, the land of bondage. Next, Samuel referred to
the time of the Judges. When they were well settled in and comfortable in the
promised land, they forgot the LORD. It was then that He allowed them to
be troubled by Sisera, the captain of the army of King Hazor, then the
Philistines as well as the king of Moab. When they realized their sin
saying, ‘We have sinned because we have forsaken the Lord and have served the Baals
and the Ashtaroth, but now deliver us from the hands of our enemies, and
we will serve You.” The Lord in
His goodness sent them Jerubbaal and Bedan and Jephthah
and Samuel, respectively and delivered them from the hands of their
enemies all around, so that they could live in security.
The reason he brought up God’s past deliverances is quite clearly indicated in
verse 7. He said to the people, “So now, take your stand, that I may plead
with you before the Lord concerning
all the righteous acts of the which He did for you and your
fathers.” They were asked to recall all the wonderful deliverance God had taken
them through. He called them “the righteous acts of the Lord.” God, he asserted, was
faithful to them. Samuel’s point was this: in times when Israel had
not been faithful, God remained faithful and delivered them through their
troubles. Most recently, God used Samuel and through him once again, the Lord had demonstrated His
faithfulness.
While
they wanted a king like all the nations, ultimately it was God whom Israel must
learn to rely on. This is not only true for Israel but for us also. God will
use human instruments to help us through our struggles, but we must not forget
that it was His hand that had brought us through. We must learn to see that
beyond every victorious experience we have is the Lord faithfully working on
our behalf. He does so to get us to align our relationship with Him. God wants
us to always be in the right relationship with Him. What a privilege we have in
Him! So let’s stay faithful to Him and continue to trust Him in all aspects of
life.
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