There may come a time when we look at our lives and realize that God was no longer at work. We no longer enjoy the freedom, peace, and power we had with Him.
In the same way in Israel’s history, they had departed from God, but the reality did not hit them until the Philistines went to war with them and Israel brought out the ark of the covenant to the battle. Israel lost the battle, and the Philistines captured the ark (1 Samuel 4).
When we do something wrong and we knew better, sometimes it shocks us awake, especially when we could have resisted it before. We approached life as usual, then wham! The sin came out of nowhere and we were surprised. The Jews were surprised because they brought the ark with them, the symbol of God’s presence. But the Lord was not with them.
Do we treasure that rabbit’s foot, or cross on a necklace, or tattoo to remind us of God? Yet we did not have any of these things when the Lord was at work earlier. We trusted Him. We pored over the Scriptures and knew His Spirit was teaching us. But when some people leave those practices behind, the figurines come out.
It didn’t go well with the Philistines. God busted the statue of their god and inflicted them with death and tumors until they returned the ark (1 Samuel 5-6). The Israelites who received the ark looked inside and many in their city were killed. So it was sent to another town. They mourned for twenty years (1 Samuel 6-7).
The Holy Spirit did not leave us alone. When we drifted away, He set about to bring us back to repentance. To help us grieve our loss. This was the first step to return to God. Life just isn’t the same without Him.
Then the prophet Samuel spoke to the Jews and declared what needed to be done. If we want to return to the Lord, “then put away the foreign gods” (1 Samuel 7:3 ESV throughout). In addition, “direct your heart to the Lord and serve him only.” Then the Lord will deliver us.
The children of Israel put away their gods. Samuel called them to the city Mizpah, which means “Watchtower,” to pray for them (7:4-5). We want to be in the place of watchfulness against the enemy and returning to sin. We get back to prayer. There, we open the doors for God to work in everything about our lives.
When the Israelites had gathered in the place of prayer, they began confessing their sins. “We have sinned against the Lord” (7:6). The Lord made it real. They saw sin as the terrible thing it was, and how it robbed them of God’s glory.
The Philistines saw them gathered and “went up against Israel” (7:7) Even so, when we gather to pray, Satan goes to war to discourage us. Horrible thoughts enter our minds so the enemy could convince us that we are not worthy to continue. Yet we are to be watchful against this very thing, that the enemy will try to get us to drop our weapons of prayer and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God that explodes the lies of the enemy.
Samuel offered nursing lamb “as a whole burnt offering to the Lord” (7:9) and cried out to the Lord (7:9). The burnt offering is an offering of consecration. it means we are giving our heart, soul, mind, and strength to the Lord for His use. We belong to Him as living sacrifices.
When Jesus offered Himself on the cross, He fulfilled all the animal sacrifices (found in Leviticus 1-7). That included taking the punishment we deserved (atonement), satisfying God’s wrath (propitiation), and purchasing us with His own blood (redemption) so we are His. His offering was thorough and complete. “It is finished.” Paid in full. Now we stand on His finished work in faith. His sacrifice is no longer a religious theory. We fortify our hearts with the promises and reacquaint ourselves with the Savior so our minds are renewed to think His way.
The Lord God thundered “with a thunder upon the Philistines that day” and they were overcome by Israel, who drove them back (7:10-11). When the temptation comes again (and it surely will, for the enemy is persistent), then we take up the battle cries of the promises of God and beat it back. “God is for us” we thunder (Romans 8:31). “We are more than conquerors through him” (Rom. 8:37). Nothing “will be able to separate us from the love of God” (Rom. 8:38-39).
Then Samuel set up a stone to mark the distance to which the Philistines were driven back, and named the stone Ebenezer, which means, “Thus far the Lord helped us.” We too should mark down the victories that resulted when we relied on the Lord’s means, that we may remember that it was “Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, says the Lord of hosts” (Zechariah 4:6). We must always remember the the Lord is the source of power and life in what we do. Then we put away the childish mementos and cling fast to the true source of life and godliness.
