THRU THE BIBLE EXPOSITION

The Books Of Samuel: God's Shift Of Israel From Apostasy Under The Judges To David's Reign

I. 1 Samuel: From Samuel To The Death Of Saul

L. God's Lesson On What Man Needs For A Healthy Society

(1 Samuel 12:1-25)

Introduction: (To show the need . . .)

A great need exists today to know how the broken people and social structures of our world can be repaired:

(1) On Monday, I heard a nationwide radio talk show host tell his audience that the whole world is a "mess"!

(2) His claim is easily supported: the news media shifts sometimes daily from reporting one act of violence to another, with hate, grief, unrest, impatience, cruelty, evil, untrustworthiness, harshness and self indulgence marking those who either commit such atrocities or those who are victimized by them.

(3) There has been a lot of discussion about the cause of it all, too: (a) George Will's article, "Sobering social science data" (Republican-American, July 7, 2016, p. 6A), reported that in the mid-1960s, politicians held to "faith in education's transformative power," reasoning that if they increased "financial inputs" via taxes, the "cognitive outputs would increase proportionately," that increased education across the social spectrum would solve our social problems.

However, as Mr. Will observed, "Today," fifty years later, we are still "wallowing in the political consequences of a bifurcated society in which many people do very well while many others are unable to reach even the lowest rungs on the ladder of upward mobility." (Ibid.) He explained that reports by social scientist Daniel Patrick Moynihan and sociologist James Coleman in the mid-1960s "foresaw" the problem as rising from "the . . . pathologies associated with the absence of fathers" that "produces . . . inadequately socialized adolescent males" (Ibid.)

Though Mr. Will made some good points, he failed to explain why good fathers are becoming so scarce!

(b) Following the horrific terrorist act in France last week, many are concerned about the beliefs that lead to such Islamic terrorism, and Robert Spencer in The Truth About Muhammad, 2006, p. 191 claimed, "The only way sincere Muslim reformers . . . can possibly make any headway among Muslims . . . is to acknowledge and confront the words and deeds of Muhammad and the doctrines of Islam that teach jihad violence and sharia supremacism, and to construct a case for the rejection of Qur'anic literalism and the definitive discarding of these teachings."

Need: So we ask, "What is the cause of broken societies worldwide, and what steps does God urge us to take?!"

I. When Samuel's sons had proved to be bad judges, Israel noticed the Gentiles around her were ruled by kings, so they asked Samuel for a king to judge them to improve their welfare as a nation, 1 Sam. 8:1-5.

II. God had then explained to Samuel that Israel had actually rejected HIM as her King, for Israel had repeatedly rebelled against His rule dating back to the days of the Exodus, 1 Samuel 8:6-8. Nevertheless, God then consented to Israel's request (1 Sam. 8:9) and chose Saul as her king (1 Sam. 9:1-11:15), and Samuel in 1 Samuel 12:1-25 relinquished his rule as judge to Saul's rule over Israel as her king.

III. Significantly, in that 1 Samuel 12:1-25 address, Samuel presented what is needed for a healthy society:

A. Samuel began his address by saying that he had heeded the nation's desire for a king in appointing one over Israel, and that he had judged her prior to that date with an upright record as judge (1 Samuel 12:1-5).

B. Then, Samuel clarified that ALL social blessing grows out of man's RIGHT RELATIONSHIP with GOD:

1. Putting the name "Jahweh" (the "Lord") as the first word in his sentence in the Hebrew text at 1 Samuel 12:6 NIV to emphasize the Lord (Kittel, Bib. Heb., p. 421), Samuel said (literally), "Jahweh it is Who appointed Moses and Aaron and brought your forefathers out of Egypt and settled them in this place." In replacing God with a king, Israel had replaced her sole Source of past social success with a human king!

2. Samuel explained this point, recalling Israel's history to show the nation had repeatedly departed from God only to return to cry out unto Him for deliverance once they had faced Gentile oppressors, 1 Sam. 12:7-11.

3. Last, when threatened by the Ammonites, Samuel told how Israel had asked him for a king when the Lord had been Israel's King all along, a form of rebellion against Him, 1 Samuel 12:12.

4. God had graciously granted Israel her wish (1 Samuel 12:13), so Samuel had admonished Israel to obey Him, both she and her king, for disobedience would spell destruction for the nation and her king (1 Samuel 12:14-15) since national blessing arose not from a mere human king, but from God!

5. To prove that Israel had been very evil in demanding a human king to replace God as King, Samuel said he would pray for God to send thunder and rain even though it was the time of wheat harvest (May-June) when such storms are "uncommon," 1 Sam. 12:16-17; Ryrie St. Bib., KJV, 1978, ftn. to 1 Sam. 12:17-18.

6. The Lord thus sent a thunderstorm, and this led the people greatly to revere the Lord and Samuel and to ask Samuel to pray that God might not slay them for their sin in having asked for a king, 1 Sam. 12:18-19.

7. Samuel then told repentant Israel that in spite of their sin, if they and their king followed God, all would go well for them (1 Sam. 12:20), but that turning from the Lord would lead to failure, 1 Samuel 12:21.

8. God would not forsake Israel due to His Name, His reputation, for He had taken the nation as His chosen people, and Samuel would keep praying for them and teaching them God's ways, 1 Samuel 12:22-23.

9. However, Samuel warned Israel to revere the Lord and truly serve Him with her heart, for He had done great things for her, but sinning against Him would lead to failure for Israel and her king, 1 Sam. 12:24-25.

IV. Akin to the case of Israel's king Saul in his era, each believer's interaction with God today through the Holy Spirit and Scripture is the basis for social renewal and social health worldwide (as follows):

A. Saul was spiritually equipped by the Holy Spirit to lead Israel (1 Sam. 10:6-7; 11:6-13), and Deuteronomy 17:18-20 shows God would guide him as king through his study of Scripture. Likewise, believers today serve God well if they rely on the Holy Spirit and heed Scripture, 1 Peter 4:10-11; 2 Timothy 1:6-7; 3:13-17!

B. In addition, Jesus told His disciples that He would send them the Holy Spirit to abide with them forever, that the Spirit would act as a divine Parent, that they not be left as "orphans" in the world, John 14:16-18 NIV. [The KJV word "comfortless" in v. 18 is orphanos in the Greek, meaning "orphaned," Arndt & Gingrich, A Grk.-Eng. Lex. of the N. T., 1967, p. 586-587.] As a believer then relies on the Holy Spirit, the "parenting" Holy Spirit leads others through him as a "parent" in whatever institution he has been assigned of the Lord!

C. Also, control by the Holy Spirit brings healing victory over afflictions associated with and produced by terrorist atrocities: Galatians 5:22-23 NIV claims the Spirit produces love versus hate, joy versus grief, peace versus unrest, patience versus impatience, kindness versus cruelty, goodness versus evil, faithfulness versus untrustworthiness, gentleness versus harshness and self-control versus self-indulgence!

Lesson: Israel's welfare was bound up with God's functioning as her real King, so her choice for a human king, being a rejection of God, was wicked rebellion that also spelled doom for the nation unless Israel and her human king then submitted to obeying the Lord, especially with the king relying on the Holy Spirit and studying Scripture.

Application: (1) May we believe on Christ for eternal life (John 3:16). (2) Then, may we (a) rely on the indwelling Holy Spirit of God to think, to will and to act as we ought (Gal. 5:16; Phil. 2:12-13) and (b) He will heal us of the effects of terrorism, be we a past terrorist or a victim of terrorism, and (c) He will "parent" us within via Scripture that we not be "orphaned," John 14:16-18, 26 NIV. (d) As we rely on the Holy Spirit, God will "parent" others and subordinates through our influence of them by His power, (e) leading to greater stability and health in society.

Conclusion: (To illustrate the message . . .)

The following are edifying examples of the Holy Spirit's power to counter and overcome social problems:

(1) C. I. Scofield, author of the Scofield Reference Bible, was saved out of a life of alcoholism. By relying on the Holy Spirit and studying Scripture extensively as seen in the production of his famous reference Bible, he overcame his addiction and pastored a Bible-teaching Church in Dallas, Texas.

C. I. Scofield then mentored a man named Lewis Sperry Chafer, and Dr. Chafer founded the Dallas Theological Seminary. The last three pastors you have had at Nepaug Church dating back to the late 1960s were all graduates of that seminary, so they along with you have a huge debt of gratitude to pay to a man who came to rely on the Holy Spirit and studied and applied Scripture so profoundly that he overcame his alcoholic past.

(2) B. B. Sutcliffe was the founder of the (former) Multnomah School of the Bible in Portland, Oregon. Your current pastor received a double major in Bible from that school, or 52 semester hours of formal Bible training.

B. B. Sutcliffe was also saved out of a life of alcoholism! By relying on the Holy Spirit and also studying Scripture extensively, he overcame that addiction and started a school that has produced many servants of God.

(3) Nabeel Qureshi's book, Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus, 2014, reports how he as a former Muslim who had been born into a Muslim family that came to America with the purpose of making converts to Islam out of Americans instead came to know Jesus Christ as his Savior. The transformation in his views as recorded in that book is stunning!

The key to a healthy society, and the key to overcoming social problems that afflict it, is salvation by faith in Christ followed by relying on the Holy Spirit for power for living and a regular exposure to Scripture.

May we (1) trust in Christ for salvation. Then, may we (2) rely on the Holy Spirit's power to overcome the destructive effects of social ruin in our own lives and to do the edifying works God calls us to do while we (3) fill our minds with Scripture for the thinking patterns we need to be a contributor to the social order!