Having affirmed Samuel’s credibility, the people now had to accept his analysis of the situation. He reviewed Israel’s history from Moses to his own day and emphasized what the Lord in His grace had done for them.
Thank the Lord (vv. 6–11). It was God, not the people, who appointed Moses and Aaron (v. 6) and who enabled them to do the mighty works they did for the people of Israel. Samuel wasn’t afraid to point out Israel’s sins and then challenge them to devote themselves to the Lord and to His covenant. It’s often been said that the one thing we learn from history is that we don’t learn from history, and Samuel didn’t want his people to make that mistake.
But this was more than a lecture on history; it was also a court trial. Samuel’s words in verse 7 have a judicial flavor: “stand still” carries the idea of “Stand up, court is in session!” and “reason” means “to decide a case of litigation.” Samuel was going to prove to the people that the Lord had been righteous and faithful in all His dealings with Israel, but that the Jews had been faithless and disobedient. The Lord had covenanted with no other nation on earth except Israel, and Israel’s obedience to that covenant made possible their enjoyment of God’s promised blessings. These blessings included living in the Promised Land, being protected from their enemies, and having fruitful fields, flocks and herds, and families. If they failed to obey, the Lord would discipline them and take away their blessings. (See Deut. 28–30 and Lev. 26.) Every Jew knew this, but not every Jew really understood it.
Israel in Egypt cried out to the Lord for help, and He sent them Moses and Aaron (1 Sam. 12:8). God delivered His people and took them to Canaan and gave them victory over the inhabitants of the land. But once they were in the land, they compromised their faith and joined in worshipping the false gods of their neighbors, so God had to discipline them (vv. 9–11). Now we are in the book of Judges with its seven cycles of disobedience, discipline, and deliverance (Judg. 2:10–23). Samuel’s point is that God always provided a leader when one was needed, and the nation wouldn’t have needed a judge if the people had been faithful to God. In 1 Samuel 12:11, Jerubbaal (“let Baal contend [for himself]”) is Gideon, and Bedan is probably Barak. Samuel included himself, for he was the last of the judges (7:15).
Fear the Lord (vv. 12–19). How should Israel have responded to this kind of national history? They should have expressed gratitude to the Lord and trusted Him for His continued care. They should have confessed their sin of unbelief and trusted Him alone. But what did they do? No sooner did the Ammonites attack than the Jews asked for a king and exchanged the rule of the Lord their King for the leadership of a mere man! God gave them what they asked for, but Israel lost something in the transaction.
However, all was not lost. God is never taken by surprise, and He would not desert His people for His name’s sake. If the people would fear the Lord and follow Him, He would continue to care for them and use their king to direct and protect them. Then Samuel demonstrated the awesome power of the Lord by “praying up a storm” during the dry season of wheat harvest (mid-May to mid-June). This miracle reminds us of the signs Moses and Aaron did in Egypt. Samuel was proving to the people that God could do anything for them if they trusted Him and obeyed, but that a mere king was helpless apart from the Lord. When the Jews begged Samuel for deliverance, they sounded like Pharaoh confessing his sin and begging Moses for relief (Ex, 8:8; 9:27–28; 10:16–17), and their repentance was probably just as insincere.
Obey the Lord (vv. 20–25). Samuel moved from “Fear” to “Fear not” as he encouraged the people to accept the situation their unbelief created and make the most of it. How many times in our own lives do we get what we asked for and then wish we didn’t have it! The Lord would not reject or forsake His people because of His holy covenant and His great faithfulness. God’s purpose was to use Israel to bring glory to His name, and He would fulfill that purpose. The Jewish people knew the terms of the covenant: if they obeyed, the Lord would bless them; if they disobeyed, He would chasten them. Either way, He would be faithful to His Word; the major issue was whether Israel would be faithful. They had made a mistake, but God would help them if they feared and obeyed Him.
Samuel made it clear that, no matter what they decided, he would obey the Lord. Part of his obedience would be faithfully praying for the people and teaching them the Word of God. The Word of God and prayer always go together (Acts 6:4; John 15:7; Eph. 6:17–18). Samuel’s heart was broken, but as a faithful servant of the Lord, he interceded for the people and sought to lead them in the right way. For God’s people not to pray is to sin against the Lord, yet if there’s one thing lacking in our churches today, it is prayer, particularly prayer for those in authority (1 Tim. 2:1–4).
When we consider the great things God has done for us, how could we do other than fear Him, thank Him, and serve Him in truth all the days of our lives? God’s covenant with His people Israel was still in force: if they obeyed, He would bless; if they disobeyed, He would chasten. “Yet if you persist in doing evil,” warned Samuel, “both you and your king will be swept away” (1 Sam. 12:25). Samuel may have been referring especially to the warning given by Moses in Deuteronomy 28:36, written into the covenant centuries before Israel had a king: “The Lord will drive you and the king you set over you to a nation unknown to you or your fathers” (niv). Unfortunately, Israel did disobey the terms of the covenant and God had to send them in exile to Babylon.
From time to time, churches and other Christian ministries face new situations and decide they must make organizational changes. Each ministry needs a Samuel to remind them of the spiritual principles that never change: the character of God, the Word of God, the necessity of faith, and the importance of obedience. Methods are many, principles are few; Methods always change, principles never do.
As the old Youth for Christ slogan expressed it, “Geared to the times but anchored to the Rock.” Some changes are inevitable and necessary, but they need not destroy the work of God.