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January 4 - 1 Samuel 7 · A Chapter a Day Bible Reading

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  Hello friends Sean, here it is Thursday, It is the 4th of
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  January. How are we almost already at the
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  end of the first week of this year?
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  So much fun to be had. Still, I hope you are going well
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  and I hope you're enjoying the story.
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  Isn't it wonderful as we hear about these early days as Israel
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  is beginning to be formed? If we put this into its
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  chronological perspective, Israel has arrived in the
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  Promised Land. God has set up a covenant with
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  His people, and then they have had the time of the judges where
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  these leaders ended up, well, not leading effectively, and the
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  people have gone into disarray. And this is where the story of
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  Samuel lands. It's a time when when people
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  really had forgotten that the God of the universe was their
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  God and they had adopted the local customs in that area and
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  they needed some serious reminding of what was what and
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  who was who and drawing back. And that is where the character
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  of Samuel is such a key. And today is the day that we see
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  Samuel start to step out. He's not that little kid hearing
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  God's voice in the temple at night anymore.
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  He has grown, his mentor has died, and he is now stepping
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  into the role of leader, priest, judge, God's man, God's local
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  representative for his people. So let us pick up the story, and
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  here's Samuel stepping into that leadership role as we read
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  together. First Samuel, Chapter 7.
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  So the men of Kiryathjiram came to get the Ark of the Lord.
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  They took it to the hillside home of Abinadab and ordained
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  Eliezer, his son, to be in charge of it.
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  The Ark remained in Kiryathjiram for a long time, 20 years in
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  all. During that time all Israel
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  mourned because it seemed the Lord had abandoned them.
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  Then Samuel said to all the people of Israel, if you want to
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  return to the Lord with all your hearts, get rid of your foreign
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  gods and your images of Ashtoreth, turn your hearts to
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  the Lord and obey him alone. Then he will rescue you from the
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  Philistines. So the Israelites got rid of
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  their images of Baal and Ashtoreth, and worshipped only
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  the Lord. Then Samuel told them, gather
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  all of Israel to Mizpah, and I will pray to the Lord for you.
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  So they gathered at Mizpah, and in a great ceremony drew water
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  from a well and poured it out before the Lord.
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  They also went without food all day and confessed that they had
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  sinned against the Lord. It was at Mizpah that Samuel
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  became Israel's judge. When the Philistine rulers heard
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  that Israel had gathered at Mizpah, they mobilized their
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  army and advanced. The Israelites were badly
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  frightened when they learned that the Philistines were
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  approaching. Don't stop pleading with the
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  Lord our God to save us from the Philistines.
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  They begged Samuel. So Samuel took a young lamb and
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  offered it to the Lord as a whole burnt offering.
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  He pleaded with the Lord to help Israel, and the Lord answered
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  him. Just as Samuel was sacrificing
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  the burnt offering, the Philistines arrived to attack
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  Israel. But the Lord spoke with a mighty
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  voice of Thunder from heaven that day, and the Philistines
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  were thrown into such confusion that the Israelites defeated
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  them. The men of Israel chased them
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  from Mizpah to a place below Bethkaar, slaughtering them all
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  along the way. Samuel then took a large stone
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  and placed it between the towns of Mizpah and Jeshana.
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  He named it Ebenezer, which means the stone of help, for he
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  said Up to this point the Lord had helped us, so the
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  Philistines were subdued and didn't invade Israel again.
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  For some time and throughout Samuel's lifetime, the Lord's
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  powerful hand was raised against the Philistines.
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  The Israelite villages near Ekron and Gath that the
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  Philistines had captured were restored to Israel along with
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  the rest of the territory that the Philistines had taken, and
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  there was peace between Israel and the Amorites in those days.
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  Samuel continued as Israel's judge for the rest of his life.
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  Each year he travelled around, setting up his court, first at
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  Bethel, then at Gilgal, and then at Mizpah.
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  He judged the people of Israel at each of these places.
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  Then he would return to his home at Rama, and he would hear cases
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  there too. And Samuel built an altar to the
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  Lord at Rama. What a wonderful story this is
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  for us, Lord, where we see Samuel and all of these
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  Israelites together in this place.
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  When they hear the terrible news that they're under attack.
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  And what do they do? They turn to you and they pray
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  for your help, Lord. Let that be your model that
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  shapes us in our life. That when we find life
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  challenging and we find ourselves faced with impossible
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  odds or even just difficult odds, that we turn to you.
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  And that when things go our way and we have so much celebration
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  to do, let us turn to you as well.
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  And thanks and all the in between times when life is just
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  going along as per usual, let's always live our lives, inviting
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  you into each step of each moment.
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  You are our God and we are your people, and we want to live in a
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  way that makes that so obvious that we live for you, Lord.
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  So soften our hearts so that we can move ourselves from the
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  pedestal and place you there. That our lives can reflect your
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  priorities and your glory rather than anything else that might
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  seem like a good idea at the time.
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  We praise you, and it's in the saving name of Jesus that we
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  pray all these things. Amen.