So the Israelites got rid of their images of Baal and Ashtoreth and worshiped only the Lord. 1 Samuel 7:4 NLT
Read 1 Samuel 6 and 7.
The end of chapter 5 ends with every Philistine town that had possession of the Ark of the Covenant being plagued with tumors and rats. I have noticed a pattern that has developed throughout the first five chapters of 1 Samuel. From Eli and his sons to the idol-worshipping Philistines, we see a series of casual disregard and disrespectful mishandling of the presence of the Lord, and each instance results in terrible consequences. Perhaps one lesson we can glean from 1 Samuel so far is that God is holy, and He WILL be revered!
After seven months of enduring the penalty for their evil ways, the Philistines had had enough. They became desperate and concocted a way to finally be rid of this Ark that had caused them so many problems. However, in trying to appease the God of Israel, they decided that not only would they return the Ark, but they would also send gifts.
Perhaps they should have hired a professional gift buyer for this, because I am not sure I would have been flattered by their choice of gifts if I were a Hebrew. They fashioned five golden statues of tumors, and five golden statues of rats. Can you imagine a statue of a tumor? Hmmmm…
They set the Ark on a cart attached to two cows that had just calved, and they allowed the cows to roam in whatever direction they chose.
The Ark ended up in an Israeli town of Beth-shemesh, but God killed 70 of their men because they looked into the Ark. Again, the consequences of taking the things of God too lightly! Where is the respect?
They finally sent messengers to the people at Kiriath-jearim and said in a sense, “Please come and get this thing off our hands!” There it remained for many years.
During this time, the people of Israel had mourned and grieved. It seemed that God had abandoned them. Have you ever felt that way? Have you ever gone through a long and painful desert season and were convinced that God didn’t care? Our dry seasons can play tricks on our minds. However, this spiritual drought was not a result of God turning away, but the distance was created by Israel’s sin.
The remedy for Israel is the same for us today when we feel distant from God. Our sin separates us from God and weakens our relationship with Him, but it is we who have moved, not God. Samuel had had enough, and he was about to lead Israel into a new season.
Then Samuel said to all the people of Israel, “If you want to return to the Lord with all your hearts, get rid of your foreign gods and your images of Ashtoreth. Turn your hearts to the Lord and obey him alone; then he will rescue you from the Philistines.” 1 Samuel 7:3 NLT
It’s time to put those things aside! What is separating you from experiencing the presence of the Lord? Get rid of it! Now! Let us turn our hearts fully to the Lord and obey Him completely. We will finally see an end to our own spiritual droughts too!
When Israel complied, and Samuel sacrificed a burnt offering before the Lord, God turned everything around for them. Israel was again under attack from the Philistines, but this time, they had much different results! The Lord fought their battle for them and gave them the victory that day!
But the Lord spoke with a mighty voice of thunder from heaven that day, and the Philistines were thrown into such confusion that the Israelites defeated them. 1 Samuel 7:10 NLT
For the rest of Samuel’s life, Israel dwelt in peace and remained victorious over their enemies.
I believe God will fight your battles too. Obedience and surrender do not mean that we will be immune from the attacks of our enemy, the devil, but we can be sure that God will fight our battles for us and give us the victory. We can experience a fresh intimacy in our relationship with God, and receive healing rain to relieve our seasons of drought!
May God bless you!
