As Samuel begins to serve in the tabernacle, under the supervision of Eli the priest, it is said that “the boy Samuel was growing up and finding favor both with the Lord and with people” (1 Samuel 2:26). We have seen a statement like this before in the story of Samson in the thirteenth chapter of Judges, and of course, these words are also spoken of Jesus in the second chapter of the Gospel of Luke. Naturally, when Luke writes these words of Jesus, he is echoing what has been written before, though it allows us to glimpse some of the historical perspective of Jesus, as He fits into the grand narrative of Israel’s history, and as we are given tools by which we might further understand His vocation. We can imagine that the intent of the author here, in his use of the phraseology that somewhat mirrors what was said of Samson (along with the possible allusions to Moses previously discussed), is to present Samuel in the image of renowned leaders of Israel that have come before him.
The third chapter of the book opens by informing us that “Word from the Lord was rare in those days; revelatory visions were infrequent” (3:1b). Why were revelatory visions infrequent? The answer to that question is “rampant idolatry within Israel.” How can we know that? The answer to that question is “because Israel was in exile,” which we will see in short order. Shortly after reading about the lack of revelatory visions, we read about a battle between Israel and the Philistines in which the Ark of the Covenant is lost to their oppressive enemy (4:1-11). In conjunction with the loss of the Ark, we read about the birth of the son of Phinehas (Eli’s son), who had been killed when the Ark was captured. When his pregnant wife heard the news she went into labor and delivered her son. Before dying as a result of childbirth, she named her son “Ichabod, saying ‘The glory has departed from Israel,’ referring to the capture of the Ark of God and the deaths of her father-in-law and her husband. She said, ‘The glory has departed from Israel, because the Ark of God has been captured’.” (4:21b-22) So as if it was not bad enough that Israel was subject to the Philistines, and therefore still in exile from their purpose of being God’s glorious light to the nations, the Ark, representing God’s presence among them, had been taken.
Interestingly, the Philistines did not fare well with the Ark in their possession. Seemingly, because they were now in possession of that which represented God’s presence, but failed to honor and revere that presence as Israel had also failed to do, some of the curses of exile were transferred to them, and some of them were struck with sores (or tumors) (5:6,9,12). Indeed, when the Ark was moved within the land of the Philistines, “The terror of death was throughout the entire city” and “God was attacking them very severely there” (5:11b). Ironically, “the city’s cry for help went all the way up to heaven” (5:12b), as the people who were causing God’s people to groan under oppression were now being caused to groan themselves. When they finally decided to send the Ark back to Israel, the Philistines themselves hearkened back to the story of Egypt and Israel’s exodus, saying “When God treated them harshly, didn’t the Egyptians send the Israelites on their way?” (6:6b) So here we have the Philistines remembering the actions of Israel’s God, when Israel as a whole had forgotten their God and turned to idols.
This brings us back to the issue of Israel in exile, and of their subjugation to the Philistines, as a result of rampant idolatry. Moving in to the seventh chapter we read that “All the people of Israel longed for the Lord” (7:2b). Once again, when we read this, we are prompted to remember Israel’s groaning in Egypt and God’s response of providing a deliverer and deliverance (exodus, redemption). This, by extension, caused God to move Samuel, who by this point has clearly gained a position of prominence and respect in Israel, to declare “If you are really turning to the Lord with all your hearts, remove from among you the foreign gods and the images of Ashtoreth. Give your hearts to the Lord and serve only Him. Then He will deliver you from the hand of the Philistines” (7:3). Again, this subjection to foreign powers in conjunction with idolatry reminds us and Israel of a faithful God Who has made covenant promises, and Who has spelled out the blessings and curses related to those promises in the book of Deuteronomy, and acted on those promises in a visible, tangible, and readily understandable way.
With the perspective and context provided by the words of Samuel, and the implicit reminder of God’s promises that they contained, “the Israelites removed the Baals and images of Ashtoreth. They served only the Lord” (7:4). This portended another exodus for Israel. The Philistines, as would be expected, were eager to maintain their rule over Israel, and they “went up against Israel” (7:7b). In response, “The Israelites said to Samuel, ‘Keep crying out to the Lord our God so that He may save us from the hand of the Philistines!’” (7:8) Eventually, it would come to pass that “the Lord thundered loudly against the Philistines, He caused them to panic, and they were defeated by Israel… So the Philistines were defeated; they did not invade Israel again” and “The hand of the Lord was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel. The cities that the Philistines had captured from Israel were returned to Israel… Israel also delivered their territory from the control of the Philistines” (7:10b,13,14a,c). So under the leadership of Samuel, Israel was again delivered from exile, and again able to enjoy the blessings of their promised and glorious inheritance.
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