Expository teachings on 1 Samuel, Chap 8, 9

The Heart Of a Leader

Chapter 1 – Hannah and Eli

Chapter 2 – Samuel and Eli

Ch 3 – The Lord calls Samuel

Chapter 4 – Ark Is Captured

Ch 5 – The Ark inflicts Casualties

Chapter 6 – Ark Returned

Ch 7 : The Lord Gives Victory

The name of his firstborn was Joel and the name of his second was Abijah, and they served at Beersheba. But his sons did not follow his ways. They turned aside after dishonest gain and accepted bribes and perverted justice. 8:2-3

Joel: means, “Jehovah is God”

Abijah: means, “ Jehovah is my Father”

Beersheba: “Beer” means “well” and “Sheba” means “7”. So it’s called the well of Seven, also called as the “Well of Oath”. “Shaba” in Hebrew means oath and it also means 7 because the root words are the same.

The Next Generation is Our Responsibility

The names of the Children were very good.

The ways of the children were very bad.

Eli’s children also did not walk in the ways of the Lord.

“Eli’s sons were scoundrels; they had no regard for the Lord.” 2:12

“This sin of the young men was very great in the Lord’s sight, for they were treating the Lord’s offering with contempt.” 2:17

“Now Eli, who was very old, heard about everything his sons were doing to all Israel and how they slept with the women who served at the entrance to the tent of meeting. So he said to them, “Why do you do such things? I hear from all the people about these wicked deeds of yours. No, my sons; the report I hear spreading among the Lord’s people is not good. If one person sins against another, God may mediate for the offender; but if anyone sins against the Lord, who will intercede for them?” His sons, however, did not listen to their father’s rebuke, for it was the Lord’s will to put them to death.” 1 Sam 2: 22-25

a) Dishonest Gain

b) Accepted Bribes

c) Perverted Justice

- They were accused of 3 things:

We don’t see any of these in the father.

“Here I stand. Testify against me in the presence of the Lord and his anointed. Whose ox have I taken? Whose donkey have I taken? Whom have I cheated? Whom have I oppressed? From whose hand have I accepted a bribe to make me shut my eyes? If I have done any of these things, I will make it right.” “You have not cheated or oppressed us,” they replied. “You have not taken anything from anyone’s hand.” 1 Sam 12: 3-4

- Today there is a mental distance between our children and us. We have 3 problems:

a) We don’t have time for them.

b) We don’t know what to talk to them.

c) Most of the time we are angry with them.

“See, I will send the prophet Elijah to you before that great and dreadful day of the Lord comes. He will turn the hearts of the parents to their children, and the hearts of the children to their parents; or else I will come and strike the land with total destruction.”

Mal 4: 5-6

But the people refused to listen to Samuel. “No!” they said. “We want a king over us. Then we will be like all the other nations, with a king to lead us and to go out before us and fight our battles.” 8: 19-20

They said to him, “You are old, and your sons do not follow your ways; now appoint a king to lead us, such as all the other nations have.” But when they said, “Give us a king to lead us,” this displeased Samuel; so he prayed to the Lord. And the Lord told him: “Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king. As they have done from the day I brought them up out of Egypt until this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are doing to you. Now listen to them; but warn them solemnly and let them know what the king who will reign over them will claim as his rights.” 8: 5-9

But the people refused to listen to Samuel. “No!” they said. “We want a king over us. Then we will be like all the other nations, with a king to lead us and to go out before us and fight our battles.” 8: 19-20

Our tendency is to look to Man and not to God

“Hear what the Lord says to you, people of Israel. This is what the Lord says: “Do not learn the ways of the nations or be terrified by signs in the heavens, though the nations are terrified by them…….But the Lord is the true God; he is the living God, the eternal King. When he is angry, the earth trembles; the nations cannot endure his wrath. Jer 10:1-2, 10

“When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you and have taken possession of it and settled in it, and you say, “Let us set a king over us like all the nations around us,” be sure to appoint over you a king the Lord your God chooses. He must be from among your fellow Israelites. Do not place a foreigner over you, one who is not an Israelite. The king, moreover, must not acquire great numbers of horses for himself or make the people return to Egypt to get more of them, for the Lord has told you, “You are not to go back that way again.” He must not take many wives, or his heart will be led astray. He must not accumulate large amounts of silver and gold. When he takes the throne of his kingdom, he is to write for himself on a scroll a copy of this law, taken from that of the Levitical priests. It is to be with him, and he is to read it all the days of his life so that he may learn to revere the Lord his God and follow carefully all the words of this law and these decrees and not consider himself better than his fellow Israelites and turn from the law to the right or to the left. Then he and his descendants will reign a long time over his kingdom in Israel.” Deut 17: 14-20

“Now there was a man of Benjamin, whose name was Kish, the son of Abiel, the son of Zeror, the son of Bechorath, the son of Aphiah, a Benjamite, a mighty man of power.” 9: 1 (KJV)

“When they reached the district of Zuph, Saul said to the servant who was with him, “Come, let’s go back, or my father will stop thinking about the donkeys and start worrying about us. ”But the servant replied, “Look, in this town there is a man of God; he is highly respected, and everything he says comes true. Let’s go there now. Perhaps he will tell us what way to take.” Saul said to his servant, “If we go, what can we give the man? The food in our sacks is gone. We have no gift to take to the man of God. What do we have?” 1 Sam 9: 5-7

Little things are of Great Value in the KingdomLittle things are of Great Value in the Kingdom

““Now Jesse said to his son David, Now Jesse said to his son David, ““Take this ephah of Take this ephah of roasted grain and these ten loaves of bread for your roasted grain and these ten loaves of bread for your brothers and hurry to their camp.brothers and hurry to their camp.”” 1 Sam 17:171 Sam 17:17