1 Samuel 12:12-25 (CLICK HERE FOR BIBLE VERSES)
Hi GAMErs,
Today’s passage is 1 Samuel 12:12-25. As usual, I encourage you to read the passage yourself first and see what you can glean with the Holy Spirit’s help, then read the GAME sharing below. Let’s go!
1 Samuel 12:12 (NIV)
12 “But when you saw that Nahash king of the Ammonites was moving against you, you said to me, ‘No, we want a king to rule over us’–even though the LORD your God was your king.
On verse 12: Here we learn the most immediate reason why the Israelites wanted a human king so much: they felt threatened by the Ammonites and thus cried out for a king to save them. They repeated the same mistake that their ancestors before them had made: trusting in human effort more than in God, forgetting that God was with them and looking only to people for help.
What can we learn from this? Pressure has this way of revealing what’s really in our hearts and where we really put our hope.
1 Samuel 12:13-15 (NIV)
13 Now here is the king you have chosen, the one you asked for; see, the LORD has set a king over you.
14 If you fear the LORD and serve and obey him and do not rebel against his commands, and if both you and the king who reigns over you follow the LORD your God–good!
15 But if you do not obey the LORD, and if you rebel against his commands, his hand will be against you, as it was against your fathers.
On verses 13-15: See below discussion on verses 24-25.
1 Samuel 12:16-18 (NIV)
16 “Now then, stand still and see this great thing the LORD is about to do before your eyes!
17 Is it not wheat harvest now? I will call upon the LORD to send thunder and rain. And you will realize what an evil thing you did in the eyes of the LORD when you asked for a king.”
18 Then Samuel called upon the LORD, and that same day the LORD sent thunder and rain. So all the people stood in awe of the LORD and of Samuel.
On verses 16-18: To further show that the Israelites did evil in God’s sight when they asked for a king, Samuel calls on God to send a rainstorm in the middle of harvest time, a highly unusual occurrence. And God does.
1 Samuel 12:18-22 (NIV)
18 Then Samuel called upon the LORD, and that same day the LORD sent thunder and rain. So all the people stood in awe of the LORD and of Samuel.
19 The people all said to Samuel, “Pray to the LORD your God for your servants so that we will not die, for we have added to all our other sins the evil of asking for a king.”
20 “Do not be afraid,” Samuel replied. “You have done all this evil; yet do not turn away from the LORD, but serve the LORD with all your heart.
21 Do not turn away after useless idols. They can do you no good, nor can they rescue you, because they are useless.
22 For the sake of his great name the LORD will not reject his people, because the LORD was pleased to make you his own.
On verses 19 to 22: The Israelites finally realize that they had sinned against God by demanding a king. Now they fear what God might do to them. Samuel reassures them and tells them not to run further from God, but to run back to Him.
What can we learn from this? Whenever we sin against God, we may be tempted to run further away from God out of fear and shame (Gen 3:10). But Samuel gives sound advice here: whenever you sin against God, don’t run from God. Run to Him.
The worst thing you can do after you sin is to keep running away from God, to keep turning to useless idols that cannot help you (v21). The best thing you can do after you sin is to run immediately back to God. Aren’t you glad we can always run back to God after we sin, since He will not reject His people and is pleased to call us His own (v22)?
1 Samuel 12:23 (NIV)
23 As for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the LORD by failing to pray for you. And I will teach you the way that is good and right.
On verse 23: The Israelites were fortunate to have Samuel, their leader, prophet and priest, to pray on their behalf and to teach them God’s Word. We’re even more fortunate, for whenever we sin, we have someone greater than Samuel — Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit — interceding on our behalf (see Hebrews 7:25 and Romans 8:26-27).
1 Samuel 12:24-25 (NIV)
24 But be sure to fear the LORD and serve him faithfully with all your heart; consider what great things he has done for you.
25 Yet if you persist in doing evil, both you and your king will perish.”
On verses 24-25: Samuel echoes the message of the old covenant here, the same message Moses spoke: obey God fully and you will live under God’s blessing; disobey God and you will die under His curse.
Yet how many of us can say that we have obeyed God fully? None of us can. We all deserve to perish because of our failure to obey God completely. But because God loved us, He sent Jesus Christ to obey all of God’s commands on our behalf and to die on a cross to pay the penalty for our disobedience. Jesus took away the curse that we deserved and gave us the blessing that we could never earn. For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16)
Lord Jesus, thank You for being the rock I run to when I’m under pressure. Thank You that even when I sin, I can still run to You, knowing that You speak to God in my defense (1 John 2:1) and meet me with mercy and compassion. Praise You for being my amazing Saviour and Friend! In Jesus’ name, AMEN!
Copyright © 2022 Justin Lim. All rights reserved.
