Samuel is one of those rare characters in scripture
who straddle the transition between key stages in God’s dealing with his
people. The disciples have a foot in both the Old and the New Covenant eras.
Samuel is both the last in the long line of ‘Judges’ and the first of the
‘Prophets.’
It is fascinating to witness the difference godly
leadership can bring. Under Eli, God’s people were defeated by their enemies.
CS Lewis comments that ‘the heart of the human problem is the problem of the
human heart’ and Samuel brings reform where it is most needed – to the hearts
of God’s people. Note that Samuel is clear that only the Lord can deliver them,
and only if they are willing to humble themselves before him in repentance
(7:3). His leadership is effective – the people follow and obey the word he
brings them from the Lord! (7:4-6). He demonstrates spiritual passion and
prayer (7:8-10) which is infectious and powerful.
What has changed? The people still face the same
enemy, but now they win a mighty – and decisive:
‘the Philistines were subdued and did not invade again’ – victory, through
trust in the Lord alone. Samuel then sidesteps the danger of pride in any human
achievement, by ensuring that the glory goes to God (7:12). Many non-comformist
chapels took the name ‘Ebenezer’ from this scripture – do we have that same
sense as we look back over life that ‘thus far has the Lord helped us’?
Sadly, God’s people are never more than one generation
away from triumph or disaster. Astonishingly, the problems Eli had with his
sons are now repeated in the life of Samuel (it’s never wise to assume that
people are mature and wise and godly simply by association, biological or
otherwise, with someone who clearly is), and the stage is set for further
calamity, as the people demand a king. What’s wrong with that, you might
wonder? The clue is in 8:5, which reveals they want to be like ‘all the other
nations.’ If there is one thing the Lord asks of his people, now as then, it is
that we be radically distinct from our world. Are there any ways in which we
are longing to be like everyone else? The Lord tells Samuel that the people are
rejecting not Samuel but him.
A similar stubbornness confronts Jeremiah as, yet
again, he faithfully brings God’s words of life to the people. The Lord wants
them to turn away from false worship, but the people reply
‘We will not listen to the message you have
spoken to us in the name of the Lord!’
Rather, they explicitly commit to continue their pagan
practices.
Mark 6 opens with a similar rejection of Jesus
himself, as the people ‘take offence at him.’ Sending out his disciples in
twos, he has them enact, where needed, a vivid demonstration of God’s own
rejection of those who will not welcome his good news. Herod’s lifestyle
epitomises the rejection of God’s ways which calls forth God’s judgement, and
underscores the need for someone to save us from our own waywardness.
The next two incidents would have lit every lightbulb
in the memory of every Jew who witnessed or heard about them. The people’s
understanding of the ‘salvation’ or ‘deliverance’ for which they were longing
was entirely contigent upon the great story of God’s deliverance through Moses
in the Exodus. In the recounting of this great act or rescue, two key elements
were highlighted – the supernatural provision of food in the wilderness, and
the parting of the Red Sea so that the people
could walk across on dry land. Here, Jesus provides food for thousands from a
few loaves and fish, and then walks across lake Galilee
Here indeed is the promised messiah, the Saviour, for
all who turn to him, whether a Herod or an unnamed member of the crowd in need
of his saving touch.
(member of the clergy)