Review Of 1Samuel 12

– by Victor Fawole

Appointed by God, anointed by Samuel and accepted by the elders, King Saul has started on a good note. I welcome everyone to 1Samuel Chapter 12, a chapter that can be termed “Samuel’s Retirement Ceremony” and “Handing Over Ceremony”. This was the Prophet’s final public ministry as Israel’s last judge, as he handed them over to their new king.

Let us review…

SAMUEL WAS RIGHTEOUS

1Sam. 12:3-4 Now testify against me in the presence of the Lord and before his anointed one. Whose ox or donkey have I stolen? Have I ever cheated any of you? Have I ever oppressed you? Have I ever taken a bribe and perverted justice? Tell me and I will make right whatever I have done wrong.” “No,” they replied, “you have never cheated or oppressed us, and you have never taken even a single bribe.”

To begin his farewell speech, Samuel put himself on trial. The people could not bring up any corruption charges against him. He was the real “Mr. Integrity”. He walked blamelessly right from his youthful days. Even when he was challenged to sack his sons because of corruption, he took the difficult decision. He didn’t force his sons on them. His sons had become like the common people of the nation. No special perks for them. 

Samuel’s life was an open book for all of Israel to read. They unanimously affirmed his integrity. Only a few leaders can attain such status with everyone. All thanks to God that the Bible is replete with examples, like Moses (Nu,. 16:15), Paul (Acts 20:33, Acts 24:20, 1Thess. 2:10), Joseph (Gen. 39:6–9), Job (Job 1:1), Noah (Gen. 6:9). As believers, we are also called to walk before others without blame (Phil. 2:15).

GOD IS ALWAYS RIGHTEOUS

1Sam. 12:6-7 And Samuel said unto the people, It is the Lord that advanced Moses and Aaron, and that brought your fathers up out of the land of Egypt. Now therefore stand still, that I may reason with you before the Lord of all the righteous acts of the Lord, which he did to you and to your fathers.

Up next, Samuel recounted the countless evidence of God’s faithfulness to the nation of Israel. From the times of Moses till now, God had proven Himself perfectly faithful to them. Samuel taught them a crash course on “Historical Overview of God’s Righteous Acts”. He tagged every act of God as righteous – both the “pleasant” and “unpleasant”. There were occasions when God “sold them into slavery” as a punishment for their disobedience and idolatry. The covenant of the law would always hit hard against disobedience. There were also occasions when God delivered them from slavery. The grace of God would always show up for their deliverance. I love how Samuel declared both the times of discipline and times of deliverance as the righteous acts of the LORD. 

In all of our life’s goings, we must always maintain a disposition that judges God faithful and righteous. The moment we begin to doubt or question God’s goodness, we are giving room for the devil to bastardize our minds. We will begin to lose our focus on the countless blessings of being God’s beloved, in that even in our wrong behaviours, His disciplines come from a place of love and not hatred.

Oh, the righteous acts of God! Permit me to show you one of the righteous acts of God that should comfort you in the midst of persecution and hateful attacks from men.

2 Thess. 1:6-7 since it is a righteous thing with God to repay with tribulation those who trouble you, and to give you who are troubled rest with us when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels,

Are you being serially and seriously attacked or troubled by people who have clearly shown themselves to be enemies of your life? Hand them over to God in prayers! The caution is that we are not in any place to prescribe what kind of punishment they should get from God. Also, we don’t invoke angels against anyone. Our duty is to intentionally hand them over to God and then rest assured that He will do His righteous acts! We have Paul’s example here:

2 Tim. 4:14-15 Alexander the coppersmith did me much harm. May the Lord repay him according to his works. You also must beware of him, for he has greatly resisted our words.

ISRAEL MUST BE RIGHTEOUS

1Sam. 12:14-15 “Now if you fear and worship the Lord and listen to his voice, and if you do not rebel against the Lord’s commands, then both you and your king will show that you recognize the Lord as your God. But if you rebel against the Lord’s commands and refuse to listen to him, then his hand will be as heavy upon you as it was upon your ancestors.

In response to God’s faithfulness, the Israelites must also remain faithful to Him. Now that they’ve the long that they “wrongly” desired, then they — and their king — must commit totally to God if they want all things to go well with them. The Law has a carrot and stick mode of operation. You have to “do” in order to “get”. If you don’t “do” – or if you “do wrongly” – you will be sledgehammered. 

Samuel’s sign-out statement was epic: “Only fear the Lord, and serve him in truth with all your heart: for consider how great things he hath done for you.” When we truly reflect on the great things God has done, is doing, and will do for us, it should serve to motivate us to serve Him and Him alone. It is the goodness of God, not our own goodness, that compels us to live righteously.

Dear Gogolights, we are under the New Covenant of Grace, where all of our blessings are received freely on the basis of the perfect performance of One – Jesus Christ. We are chosen, accepted, beloved, and blessed in Christ, not based on what we do to earn whatever we get. To round off this week’s reviews, I recommend that we all read this post by Pastor Dammy titled: Spiritual Blessings: Then and Now

Thank you for reading and also sharing your reflections.

See you next time, beloveds.

Grace to you, Church!