1 Sam
7:1-4 (ESV) And the men of Kiriath-jearim 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 From the day that the ark
was lodged at Kiriath-jearim, a long time passed, some twenty years, and all
the house of Israel lamented after the Lord.
3 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." 4 So the people of Israel
put away the Baals and the Ashtaroth, and they served the Lord only.
NOTE: The ark is
back and Israel consecrates an individual to care for it, but Israel fails to
consecrate itself. For 20 years they mourned (HEB nahah (OT:5091) for ESV
lament) for the Lord. The problem is that they focused on the external and
forgot the internal. Samuel's first official action is a call to repentance, to
focus on the internal first. They were worshipping idols and wondering where
God was. They stopped serving idols and began to serve God. Did Samuel cause
that? No, but he raised the issue. Individuals needed to respond to God's call.
And that is the way it usually works. God responds to those who seek to serve
him. God does not serve those who expect him to respond to their whims. It
starts with us, and it starts in our hearts. The idols must be put away. We
must recommit to serving him. We must be follow through on our words. Then God
can use us.
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