The Lord Applies His Victory To His People

[0:00] 1 Samuel 6. We're going to start in verse 13. Now the people of Beth Shemesh were reaping their wheat harvest in the valley, and when they lifted up their eyes and saw the ark, they rejoiced to see it. The cart came into the field of Joshua of Beth Shemesh and stopped there. A great stone was there, and they split up the wood of the cart and offered the cows as a burnt offering to the Lord.

[0:26] And the Levites took down the ark of the Lord and the box that was beside it, in which were the golden figures, and set them upon the great stone. And the men of Beth Shemesh offered burnt offerings and sacrificed sacrifices on that day to the Lord. And when the five lords of the Philistines saw it, they returned that day to Ekron. These are the golden tumors that the Philistines offered as a offering to the Lord, one for Ashdod, one for Gaza, one for Ashkelon, one for Gath, one for Ekron, and the golden mice, according to the number of all the cities of the Philistines belonging to the five lords, both fortified cities and unwalled villages. The great stone beside which they set down the ark of the Lord is a witness to this day in the field of Joshua of Beth Shemesh.

[1:16] And he struck down some of the men of Beth Shemesh, because they looked upon the ark of the Lord. He struck down seventy men of them, and the people mourned, because the Lord had struck the people with a great blow. Then the men of Beth Shemesh said, Who is able to stand before the Lord, this holy God? And to whom shall he go up away from us? So they sent messengers to the inhabitants of Kiriath-Jerim, saying, The Philistines have returned the ark of the Lord. Come down and take it up to you.

[1:49] The men of Kiriath-Jerim came and took up the ark of the Lord, and brought it to the house of Abinadab on the hill. And they consecrated his son Eleazar to have charge of the ark of the Lord.

[2:00] From the day that the ark was lodged at Kiriath-Jerim, a long time passed, some twenty years, and all the house of Israel lamented after the Lord. And Samuel said to all the house of Israel, If you are returning to the Lord with all your heart, then put away the foreign gods and the Ashtaroth from among you, and direct your heart to the Lord, and serve him only, and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines. So the people of Israel put away the Baals and the Ashtaroth, and they served the Lord only. Then Samuel said, Gather all Israel at Mizpah, and I will pray to the Lord for you. So they gathered at Mizpah, and drew water, and poured it out before the Lord, and fasted on that day, and said there, We have sinned against the Lord. And Samuel judged the people of Israel at Mizpah. Now when the Philistines heard that the people of Israel had gathered at Mizpah, the lords of the Philistines went up against Israel. And when the people of Israel heard of it, they were afraid of the Philistines. And the people of Israel said to Samuel, Do not cease to cry out to the Lord our God for us, that he may save us from the hand of the Philistines. So Samuel took a nursing lamb, and offered it as a whole burnt offering to the Lord. And Samuel cried out to the Lord for Israel, and the Lord answered him.

[3:18] As Samuel was offering up the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near to attack Israel. But the Lord thundered with a mighty sound that day against the Philistines, and threw them into confusion.

[3:29] And they were routed before Israel. And the men of Israel went out from Mizpah, and pursued the Philistines, and struck them as far as below Beth-kar. Then Samuel took a stone, and set it up between Mizpah and Shen, and called its name Ebenezer. For he said, Till now the Lord has helped us. So the Philistines were subdued, and did not again enter the territory of Israel. And the hand of the Lord was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel. The cities that the Philistines had taken from Israel were restored to Israel, from Ekron to Gath, and Israel delivered their territory from the hand of the Philistines. There was peace also between Israel and the Amorites. Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life. And he went on a circuit year by year to Bethel, Gilgal, and Mizpah. And he judged Israel in all these places. Then he would return to Ramah, for his home was there. And there also he judged Israel. And he built there an altar to the Lord. So the word of God for the people of God.

[4:34] You may be seated. Isaiah 40 tells us that the grass withers and the flower fades, but the word of the Lord stands forever. Luke 1, no word from God shall be void of power. Would you pray with me again?

[4:56] Lord, we thank you that your word is not scarce, that your Holy Spirit takes up the sword of the Spirit, the word of God, and wields it powerfully still today. I pray, Lord, that your Holy Spirit will illumine the truth of your gospel, salvation, and Jesus Christ alone from this ancient passage in 1 Samuel. I thank you for your people and for those who are still far from you, but who you have brought to hear your word, Lord. And we pray that your word will pierce in where no human wisdom, no human words can touch, but that your Holy Spirit will quicken and make alive that which was dead.

[5:39] Ears that are deaf will be made to hear, and eyes that are blind will be made to see you in your holy glory for the first time by faith. We ask this for your glory alone and for Christ's sake.

[5:53] In his name we pray. Amen. Amen. Amen. Hiro Onoda did not live his life aligned to reality. He became a soldier in the Japanese army in 1944, and he was sent off to a remote island in the Philippines on a mission, but with the Allies' campaign of island hopping, they would knock out the communication between these islands. So here was this Japanese soldier sent there in 1944 without him or his commanding officers knowing that World War II would come to an end in just a few months. He remained on that island thinking that World War II was still going on for 30 years. That's 10,000 nights.

[6:50] Can you imagine the realization to look back on 30 years of your life thinking, I could have been living in freedom, watching my country boom economically, moving on with all the other things a normal life and time of peace would give me, but here he was instead in suspicion, worried, constantly afraid of captivity and death, living as though there's a war.

[7:17] I've been thinking a lot this week of what does it mean to be a Christian, and really it means to align our lives to the spiritual reality. Sanctification is watching God do that. He's aligning my life more and more, every aspect of it, to the reality that he is victorious. There are no other gods besides him.

[7:44] He's already proven this in Philistine territory. He's shown that Dagon, remember the father of all the other gods, the father of Baal and all these lesser gods, bowed down, prostrate, literally disarmed, head crushed. There is no other god.

[8:03] But this happened over in Philistia. The Israelites are living out of alignment to that reality. So, beloved congregation of the Lord Jesus Christ, what I want to try to walk us through in this passage is how the Lord applies his victory to his people.

[8:23] How the holy Lord God applies, makes a real experience of the victory he already accomplished in the lives of his people. We have four celebrations and a couple other observations as we work through this passage.

[8:42] The first is this. The holy Lord God doesn't keep his victory to himself. He turns his own exile into a great exodus.

[8:54] He redeems his people, accomplishes the victory using reversal, but he doesn't stay there and he also doesn't go somewhere else. He returns and shares this victory with the people of Israel.

[9:09] We have to start back in chapter 6 to remember what he is doing here. See, this holy Lord God, by the power of the Holy Spirit, he is dragging his ark, which represents the presence of God with sinners using the means that he's ordained for them to receive grace.

[9:26] And he drags it all the way across Philistine territory using these untrained mother heifers with the yoke to pull it. Their udders are full of milk, their calves are bleeding, and yet they are marching without turning to the right or the left.

[9:42] Look at verse 12 of chapter 6. 1 Samuel chapter 6 verse 12. The cows headed straight for the road to Beth Shemesh, and they went along the highway, lowing as they went, and did not turn to the right hand or to the left.

[10:00] And the Philistine lords went after them all the way to the border. What a sight that would be. The kings of each of the major cities of the Philistine kingdom following behind, drug along as captives, so to speak, watching the ark of the Lord by the power of the Spirit alone, the invisible hand of God returning to Israel.

[10:27] Not just to anywhere in Israel. Look at verse 13, chapter 6, verse 13. Where was this ark going? It could have gone anywhere, so it must be significant where it goes.

[10:38] See, the people of Beth Shemesh, this is where it's going. They were reaping their wheat harvest in the valley. That's significant as well. Do you remember Dagon was the god of fertility and grain?

[10:53] Dagon was the god that could send storms and rain that would make this wheat grow and create a great harvest. And this is what the people of Israel are doing.

[11:07] They're harvesting their wheat. Remember, the Philistines, they had encountered the true God, and they learned to fear Him alone. Now, how would the people of Israel receive this God?

[11:20] Would they view Him as the one and only God? Well, we read that in verse 16, if you'll skip down to 16, when the five lords of the Philistines had seen this, they returned.

[11:32] They wanted to be rid of this holy Lord God. In Israel, they did nothing different in the meantime. The last they had encountered this ark was when the Lord made them lose to the Philistines and 30,000 of their men died.

[11:49] And they declared Ichabod, the glory of God has departed. Nothing has changed in Israel this whole time. But for this fullness of time, these 70 days while the ark, I'm sorry, seven months while the ark is in Philistia, Israel's done nothing to deserve God returning to them.

[12:08] Yet the Lord returns victorious, leading captivity captive all the way to the border. And why is He going to this city? See, Israel has not yet repented for their sin.

[12:23] Who was it that carried away the ark of the Lord to the great battle that they lost? It was Hophni and Phinehas. They're the last Israelites to have handled or carried this ark anywhere.

[12:34] And the Lord was not pleased and He showed very clearly in that battle, He is not pleased with Israel. They need to learn His law and they need to repent of their sin.

[12:46] There's not been a revival in the land, there's not been a great reformation, there's been no covenant renewal ceremony the way the Lord prescribed it, which is the only way He'll accept their repentance.

[13:00] Well, why Beth Shemesh? Why this town compared to all hundreds or thousands of other towns it could have gone to? In the book of Joshua chapter 21 verse 13, we learn that Beth Shemesh was a Levitical city, specifically given to the clan of Kohath.

[13:19] The Kohathites were assistants to the priests and the Levites. They were the ones who were allowed to go in and perform a lot of the duties, but only after the descendants of Aaron had covered up all the furniture in the tabernacle, including the Ark of the Covenant.

[13:34] And so this was a Levitical city. These are the ones God has set apart and called to handle the ceremonies of forgiveness of sins. In Numbers chapter 4 verses 3 and 4, these were the ones specifically the Korathites assigned for the care of the Ark.

[13:53] See, the Lord knows that you and I need our sins pardoned. The Lord is victorious. He's already seated at the right hand of God the Father Almighty until all of his enemies are put under his feet.

[14:10] But he knows that you and I need his victory that he accomplished applied to our lives. our sins need to be covered by his work. You and I individually, we can't approach God on our own terms.

[14:26] He was victorious and he meets his people for a covenant renewal. This is why he's going to a Levitical city.

[14:37] the people of Israel don't know what God requires of them because the word of God has been so long neglected. Do you remember? The word of God was scarce in those days. Where we left off in 1 Samuel chapter 3, Samuel had been established as a true prophet, but it takes so long for the people of God to be under his word and to reform their thinking and their right view of God, and Israel's not there yet.

[15:01] But this holy Lord God does not keep his victory to himself. He returns to his covenant people. Well, the second celebration is this, that this holy Lord God, he comes near to sinners while they are still in darkness.

[15:18] There's the people of God, ignorant, without his word, in darkness, and yet God comes to them. Would you look at chapter 7, verse 3? Samuel has to tell the people, put away the bales.

[15:33] The bales were the gods of the storm and rain subservient to Dagon. And put away your asterisks. These are also false idols, a pagan goddess of love, fertility, and reproductive desire.

[15:50] So it's not a stretch to conclude that here are the people in Beth Shemesh bringing these idols along for good luck, bringing along the bales and the asterisks, and here comes the ark of the Lord.

[16:02] Is it just one more of all these gods that might give them an even better harvest? Samuel tells them, put away these idols from among you, prepare your hearts for the Lord and serve him only.

[16:17] Now go back to chapter 6, verse 13. See, I think Beth Shemesh described as reaping their wheat harvest in the valley is also significant because if these are Levites, they're not supposed to be farmers.

[16:34] Remember? This shows how far the word of God has been neglected and this is another pattern in Israel. In Nehemiah chapter 13, verse 10, after the people of God have been exiled, they've abandoned his word, they don't know his ways, look at what he has to correct them with.

[16:49] Nehemiah says, the Levites have not been given their regular food allotments, so the Levites and the singers who led the services of worship had all left and gone back to their farms.

[17:01] So the people of Beth Shemesh, the Lord is exposing the sin of the nation. You don't know my word, you all as a nation should have been setting these Levites apart, and here they are, worshiping the Baals and the Ashtaroths, trusting in them for a great harvest.

[17:17] How wrong you've gotten my kingdom. They're ignorant of God's word, but the Lord, he goes to those sinners, and he will receive sinners while they're in darkness if they come to him by the way of the covenant he's provided.

[17:36] See, God's covenant does require sacrifice for blood guilt, but it's not just any blood guilt. There's a great principle in the scriptures called federal headship, and this means that one can represent many, many.

[17:55] You can see why this principle is so important for the gospel. How is it that one could represent many? This is built into the sacrificial system. Specifically this, if a high priest or any priest sins, it's not just any animal that could be brought to cover the sin of the priest.

[18:17] Remember, what's been exposed so far as the great sin was the two sons of Eli. These are priests who have sinned. Israel's never repented. The Lord has never covered up that sin of these priests.

[18:28] So how could anyone else have their sins covered up until the priests get clean? Leviticus 4 says, if an anointed priest sins, bringing guilt on the people, the whole nation is now cursed by this principle of federal headship, he must bring to the Lord a young bull, a male uncastrated bull, without defect, as a sin offering for the sin the priest committed.

[18:57] And the priest is to present the bull at the entrance to the tent of meeting before the Lord. The priests should know this.

[19:08] And those who help with the tabernacle ministry, the Kohathites and these Levites that live in the city of Beth Shemesh, if they have the word of God minister to them, should know all of this. And this should be their posture toward the Lord, who's already been victorious over all the other gods.

[19:24] But look back at chapter 6 now, verse 14. When the cart came into the field of Joshua of Beth Shemesh and stood there, a large stone was there, so they split the wood of the cart and offered the cows, these same two young female heifers that had left their calves behind as a burnt offering to the Lord.

[19:44] So they did burn it all the way, but the Lord did not receive this as the atonement for their sin that he required. How is it that sinners can know the terms of God?

[19:59] We must learn God's terms from his word. God does not lower the terms of his covenant. And you and I, despite our sin, we can know the terms of God's covenant, covenant, but we must learn from God's word.

[20:16] We need to be the people of his word. We need to help one another, sharpen one another. That's one of the things I love about the culture of this church is we're under his word together. You see how this holy Lord God, he comes near to sinners while they're still in darkness.

[20:32] Have I proved that these people are in darkness? They need the word of God? I think the reason the Lord's exposing this is because that will be Samuel's ministry. It's to minister the word of God finally that's been long neglected.

[20:46] And while he's been recognized as an established prophet of God, they are not receiving the word of God. So what's the third observation here? Well, the Lord will get their attention even further by showing the high cost of falling short of his glory.

[21:06] This holy Lord God, he shows the high cost of falling short of his glory. They took the wood that the Philistines had sent over, burnt it, put these female heifers on top, but they fell short of the glory of God.

[21:22] They sinned against him. The Philistines knew the holiness of God better than Israel did. We're told in verse 19, chapter 6, verse 19, the Lord struck the men of Beth Shemesh because they had looked into or gazed at the ark of the Lord.

[21:46] They gazed at or looked inside this ornate golden box. Picture this in the desert wilderness, massive box with two ornate angels, cherubim, warrior angels, separating what is unholy from the Lord who is holy.

[22:04] What a sight for these simple Israelite farmers. farmers. And the Lord strikes them dead for looking at the ark.

[22:16] They looked at it because they didn't know the word of God. They had not been taught that. One commentator said they put it as a tourist attraction. Here's a big stone, set it up there.

[22:27] Everyone traveling this highway, come and gawk and look at it. And the Lord said, this is not how you worship the holy creator of all, who's condescended and made himself low to be in covenant with you through the shedding of blood.

[22:42] They were inspecting the ark and likely many were idolizing the ark itself with their eyes rather than receiving the living God by faith, not by sight.

[22:54] In Matthew 15 verses 8 and 9, Jesus said, these people draw near to me with their mouth, they honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.

[23:07] See how nothing changes. This can be said of us before Christ has saved us or when our flesh is too strong and it can be said of many who will look at a crucifix, look at a painting of Jesus and think they've paid him enough honor, move on with their lives rather than fearing and having reverence for the holy God and approaching him by the shed blood of Christ to cover our sins.

[23:35] And so in verse 19, the Lord struck the men. The number that's given in verse 19 is a topic of debate. I don't agree with this, but some will say it's a copyist error.

[23:48] I don't agree with that. A better explanation, some of you don't even see the conflict, but it's because in some translations it'll say 70 men were struck down. Others will say 50,000 and 70 were struck down.

[24:03] The best explanation that I have come to believe is right. It's that right before this we're given a summary again of God's vengeance upon the Philistines.

[24:14] It's a summary of all the five cities, all the gold, all the curses of the plague that they endured, and then the Philistines watching up to this point, now it's the handoff, and these 70 of Israel also.

[24:26] So the number 50,000 is likely the number of how many died in Philistia of this plague, and 70 based on the size of Beth Shemesh would have been how many died from Israel.

[24:36] So in total, the total number is 50,000 and 70. Five cities of the Philistines, five lords, 50,000 Philistines, and then 70 of those who had gawked and gazed and looked into the ark and forgotten the holiness of God in Israel.

[24:56] We're told this was a very great slaughter, and the people lamented because this holy Lord God had struck the people of Israel in this Levitical city with such a great slaughter.

[25:13] See the contrast? I think what we have seen right here is still another one of the results of the neglect of Hophni and Phinehas, the sons of Eli. See the neglect of the ministers of the word and of the sacraments, it's far reaching.

[25:29] Their sin, failing to provide the word of God and calling people through the means God had ordained, it continued to affect so many other people, including these citizens of Beth Shemesh. This is the great lesson to be learned.

[25:44] I think that the Philistines were to teach the Israelites a lesson. They're used as a foil or a contrast here. Look back at chapter 6, verse 5.

[25:55] See what the priests of the Philistines realized quicker than Israel? In chapter 6, verse 5, the priests of the Philistines said, you should give glory to the God of Israel.

[26:06] And the word glory is you should give weightiness to this God, Yahweh, who slayed Dagon. And perhaps he will lighten his hand from you.

[26:19] Perhaps he'll lift up some of the weight of his glory from Philistia. In chapter 6, the Philistines made the connection. They need to learn from the history of Israel that Israel apparently had forgotten.

[26:32] Why do you harden your hearts as the Egyptians and Pharaohs had hardened theirs? John B. Webster commented, religion is sin when it makes God into something which we can handle.

[26:49] If the holiness of God is not perceived and appreciated, then the entire work and conduct of God cannot be grasped. Israel needs to understand first and foremost, before anything else, God is holy.

[27:05] You have forgotten this, people of God. You need to grasp that he is holy before you will appreciate anything else of the work of God for you. Maybe that's a lesson for us today.

[27:20] So, in chapter 6, verse 20, the men of Beth Shemesh come to the same conclusion that the Philistines had come to. Who is able to stand before this holy Lord God?

[27:36] The Lord needed to get Israel's attention and needed to expose to them their need to be under his word. God. And they came to the conclusion, we cannot stand before this holy God.

[27:49] Who will teach us? Who will come and show us how it is that we can even be near Yahweh who delivered our people out of Egypt? Instead, they say right now, who can we pass him up to?

[28:02] Who can we get rid of the ark to? But we know it's got to be above us. It's got to go upward, not down. So, they send the ark of the Lord away. In Job chapter 21, the wicked are described this way.

[28:21] They spend their days in prosperity and in peace they go down to Sheol, to hell. And they say to God, depart from us. We do not desire the knowledge of your ways.

[28:35] And those in Bethshemesh who did not desire to know the ways of God, enjoying their harvest and their prosperity going down to hell. Who wants to know the will of God?

[28:48] Who desires to have the knowledge of the holy God? The holy God had come down to them, yet they would not have him on his own terms.

[29:00] And the holy Lord God shows the high cost of falling short of his glory. Well, brothers and sisters, the Lord Jesus Christ is the one who makes this same holy Lord God encounter you and me.

[29:15] And in his work he showed the high cost of falling short of the glory of God. It's the wrath of God poured out on sin. And it's poured out on you still if you don't know Jesus.

[29:29] But only in Jesus he received the wrath of God for the ways in which we fall short of his glory. And now we celebrate we do have a mediator who took the wrath of God in our place.

[29:40] And we receive God in covenant through Jesus Christ every time we gather. Well, here's the fourth celebration. It's that this holy Lord God causes his people to desire the victory he already accomplished.

[29:56] He got their attention. Now he causes them to desire this victory for themselves. Israel neglected to keep the word of God and Israel was unfaithful to God.

[30:09] What would God do? Will this holy Lord God lower the terms of his covenant? What the Lord does is he acts in a holy way once again.

[30:21] He uses time to work on people. Look at chapter 7 verse 1. They send the ark of God away and specifically on a hill.

[30:33] They know he must be higher than us. They consecrate a priest Eliezer. the son to keep the ark of the Lord. In verse 2 we're told it was there that the ark remained at Kiriath Jerom for a long time.

[30:48] It was there 20 years. And all the house of Israel lamented after the Lord. So the Lord is back in the land of Israel. The glory of God has returned but he's still not communing with these sinners.

[31:02] 20 years pass. Would the Lord prepare a generation to receive him? And how would he do it?

[31:14] Well let's think what we can deduce would have happened during these 20 years. In Israel all the indicators are that over 20 years time once the ark is again out of sight it's out of mind for the people.

[31:29] We don't see them coming to repentance in those 20 years no worship no prayer no covenant renewal ceremonies on a regular basis. Samuel's not mentioned at all.

[31:42] Either Samuel was negligent as possible or he was established but no one would listen to him. What about in the Philistines? What would have happened to them?

[31:55] Well one generation of the lords of their cities would have died 20 years past. The soldiers that would have been in their prime and would have remembered the plagues and the story of the God of Israel invading their land and slaying them.

[32:08] Many of them would have died off by now and been forgotten. So up comes the next generation proud and arrogant in just 20 years time. So the Philistines begin to become greedy again and they start looking at the land of the Israelites and they become a massive threat once again 20 years later.

[32:25] And now the people are woken up a little bit. God's got their attention here come the Philistines. What are we going to do? We're told in verse 5 that they summoned Samuel.

[32:38] Then Samuel said this is nationwide. He says gather all of Israel to Mizpah. It's a point of reference. It's most likely a stone there and the name of the stone Mizpah is Watchtower.

[32:52] Samuel says gather representatives from all of Israel and I will pray for you. And here's how Samuel judges all of Israel at Mizpah. Verse 5 If you return to the Lord with all your heart and put away the foreign gods to the Ashtaroth from among you and prepare your hearts for the Lord and serve him only he will deliver you.

[33:17] Will this generation repent? Will the Lord give them a desire to do just that? What they've been called to do? We read in verse 6 that they gathered they drew up water they prepared a ceremony with these big vases of water and then they poured it out before the Lord.

[33:36] Most likely this is a visual symbol of repentance. Lamentations chapter 2 verse 19 calls God's people to do that. It says arise cry out in the night at the beginning of the watches pour out your heart like water before the face of the Lord.

[33:55] And these representatives from all of Israel fasted that day and they said we have sinned against the Lord. They put away their idols and they demonstrated pouring out their hearts and depending on God alone.

[34:16] What an encouragement. Finally 20 years later the Lord has prepared a people and given them a desire to receive the victory he already accomplished long in the past.

[34:29] Some of them would just now have heard of it. Repentance is a change in direction and God calls us to nothing less than full repentance.

[34:41] Serve the Lord only. A change in direction. It's a 180 change from 12 o'clock to 6 o'clock. You're on I-25 you're going south due south to New Mexico he turns you around puts you back going due north to Wyoming that's repentance.

[35:10] See repentance is stop living as if God is not your king. Live as if God alone is your king. And what a difference it makes.

[35:23] He's already king of kings and lord of lords. He already sits enthroned at the right hand of God the father almighty. But do you live in light of this reality?

[35:36] Those that Christ purchase he will give you a desire to live your life aligned to this reality. Well the fifth celebration is this that this holy lord god teaches his people to live on earth in light of the reality of heaven.

[35:55] This is the climax of the story in verse 8 do not cease to cry out to the lord our god for us that he may save us from the hand of the Philistines. Will the lord do it or not?

[36:08] Don't stop interceding for us Samuel. We've learned to fear this holy god. Pray pray for us. They're not asking to go get the ark down from the hill country and bring it back.

[36:20] No they're just asking for the lord to deliver them. All they know to do now is to pray. They've given up pagan ways of thinking and viewing God. Will the lord do it?

[36:31] Last time 30,000 of their men were slain. They were humbled Made Lo before the Philistines. Will God save his people? And how does the lord have them prepare for this great battle as the Philistines approach?

[36:46] He does it with a worship service. This is what pleases God. Look at verse nine. Samuel took a lamb and he offered it as a whole burnt offering to the Lord.

[37:00] A burnt offering is a sin offering. They're praying to the Lord trusting that the blood of this whole lamb burnt! on their behalf receiving the wrath of the holy God on their behalf that God will hear their prayer and forgive them and deliver them from the Philistines.

[37:21] And the answer is yes absolutely the Lord is pleased with us. He's pleased with his people forsaking their idols repenting turning to him! We read in verse 9 the Lord answered Samuel.

[37:37] Verse 10 sets the stage now as Samuel was offering up the burnt offering as he was doing that there's the smoke going up and there's the lamb being reduced to ashes as that's happening and the people are gathered around praying and interceding in verse 10 the Philistines were drawing near in battle against Israel and how does the Lord show that he's forgiven their sins and he will be faithful when they were faithless we read in verse 10 the Lord thundered with a loud thunder upon the Philistines that day and so confused them that they were overcome before Israel when the Lord sent the plague he was acting with nature when the Lord made the cows go back to Israel away from their calves he was acting against nature and now by sending thunder from heaven he's acting above nature exalting his own creation saying it's not

[38:37] Baal who's the god of the storm I'm the creator of all and he made nature itself go to war against the Philistines and confuse them one commentator called it a celestial bombardment he turned lightning and thunder into his artillery this is exactly what Hannah had prophesied back in chapter 2 verse 10 would you flip back to chapter 2 now think about this as Samuel was a little boy growing up this wonderful little poem song a hymn that his mom was inspired to breathe out would have been on his mind and his lips and all of Israel waiting and watching even for 20 more years waiting how will the Lord even do this look at chapter 2 verse 10 long ago Hannah her last words in this wonderful prayer the adversaries of the Lord shall be broken in pieces from heaven he will thunder against them the

[39:40] Lord does exactly what he said he would do this event is celebrated later in Psalm 18 verse 19 that the Lord sent his arrow What was the arrow of the Lord?

[39:54] Lightnings in abundance to vanquish in verse 11 we're told Israel pursued the Philistines and drove them back verses 13 and 14 tell us then all the land that the Israelites had lost was recovered and they enjoyed peace the Lord is their king the Lord is showing his favor to his people again and it all centers around this covenant renewal ceremony!

[40:23] A lamb A burnt offering! A whole lamb on behalf of these sinful people who were in darkness! Redemption the victory of God is now applied to his people they're learning to live in light of what he already did look at the three contrasts between the great defeat of Israel and the great victory that God gave them now in chapter four remember there was their proud attempt to manipulate the Lord 1st Samuel chapter four verse three they said bring the ark that it may save us but now in chapter seven we see this humble response the Lord gives them a desire to return to him spiritual repentance they learn to completely trust in God their only preparation for war is to pray!

[41:19] and to worship him alone second contrast is back in chapter four the word slaughtered is used in verse 10 we read that there was a very great slaughter and there fell of Israel 30,000 foot soldiers now in chapter seven it's the Philistines who were slaughtered the third contrast is the result that can be summarized in one word when the people were proud and unrepentant and a low view of God it all resulted in one word chapter four verse 21 Ichabod the glory of God is not with us and now after this great deliverance from the Lord the word is Ebenezer the Lord has helped us this holy Lord God teaches his people to live on earth in light of the reality of heaven see how much better it is to trust him and to live with him as the king he is all powerful our hearts are prone to wonder just like the

[42:29] Israelites and the Lord continues to meet us and call us back and bind our hearts to him well the sixth encouragement for us today is this that God's people we need regular reminders of how the Holy Lord God is faithful God's people need to regularly!

[42:52] remember how this Holy Lord God is faithful to us again and again don't we need that and that's what Israel receives in verse 12 chapter 7 verse 12 a memorial is set up the two points of reference are two other stones that have a unique shape so these travelers along the ridgeline as they're going across the spine of Israel and the mountains they have these points these stones that are points of reference and as you travel in between the two Samuel has all the army the men set up another stone and the name of this stone is Ebenezer because remember in 20 years how quickly Israel forgets out of sight out of mind set up reminders and Samuel said thus far I actually prefer the old word hitherto all the way to right here the Lord has helped us the word help is used numerous places in the

[43:58] Bible and it literally means the Lord ran to deliver and relieve us from the great distress that we were in and he healed us that's the type of help the Lord brought to us we're told at the end of this wonderful passage that Samuel judged Israel everywhere he ministered God's word the word judged at the end of the chapter is the same word used that Mizpah he judged Israel what did he do at Mizpah three things ministry of the word repent have no other gods before God the ten commandments ministry of the word number two sacrament here's a lamb burnt for your sin and he prayed it's word sacrament and prayer and now we're told across all of Israel this circuit judge ministering word sacrament and prayer reminding the people giving them

[45:01] God's word we're told in verse 17 he always returned to his home in Ramah and from there to he judged Israel and there he built an altar to the Lord now the Lord will refine Israel's worship over time but the Lord is in no hurry remember he gave it 20 years let a new generation rise up the Lord is in no hurry altar we're told in 1 Corinthians chapter 10 verse 11 that all these things happened to

[46:04] Israel with the brief recounting of their history and it happened as an example to you and to me church for our admonition so just like they set up this stone Ebenezer to remember to celebrate God's victory we're to learn and to remember as well all those who are pilgrims and sojourners in this life just like that generation and for generations to come we're to remember thus far hitherto the Lord continues to help us his people we're to sing of his saving power like they were this is the holy God who still comes near to sinners while we're in darkness Jesus sought me when a stranger wandering from the fold of God and he to rescue me from danger interposed his precious blood he is the lamb that we celebrate he is the Ebenezer the great stone that we look to this holy

[47:07] Lord God still shows the high cost of falling short of his glory and it's good for us to remember that our need for his grace oh to grace how great a debtor daily I'm constrained to be this holy Lord God still doesn't keep his victory to himself streams of mercy never ceasing call for songs of loudest praise this holy Lord God causes his people to desire the victory he already accomplished he stirs your heart and mind to say praise the mount I'm fixed upon it mount of thy redeeming love so here I raise my Ebenezer hither by thy help I've come you see how this holy Lord God applies his victory to his people till his kingdom comes on earth as it is in heaven may it be so by his power and for his glory would you pray with me oh

[48:12] Lord we praise you our great deliverer the only one who can be the help of your people who runs to relieve us from great distress and who heals us we pray that you'll do that today Lord by your power amen