Yahweh Is King

These are strong, strong words, but so true. If Jesus was not the person He claimed, then no matter how one cuts it, Jesus is a madman at best or a deceptive phony at worst. If someone today went around calling himself or herself the son of God or the Messiah, or if he or she proclaimed the ability to heal diseases or forgive peoples’ sins, we would probably have that man or woman locked up for lunacy, megalomania, or a messiah complex! But if he did what he did and claimed what he claimed and knew he was misleading people, then he would be a liar of epic proportions!

Jesus claimed to be divine, to heal disease, and to have risen from the grave. He claimed to offer forgiveness of sin, to provide peace and life, and to be the essence of what it means to be human. He claimed these things because He was God and what He said was true. Either He is who He says He is, and He is Lord, or He is lunatic or liar. We must learn to recognize Jesus for who He truly is.

Unfortunately, we are like the Philistines or the people of Jesus’ day, missing the identity of the Lord again and again. The Philistines did not recognize the God of Israel for who He is. For them He was one of the “gods” but not the God of creation, the King of Israel, and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. He was a god but not the true God.

However, as the narrative progresses in 1 Samuel 5–6, the Philistines go on a journey of discovery. Although seemingly captured and subjected to their idol, Yahweh exerts His magnificence in the Philistine sanctuary, humbling the Philistines, humiliating their false deity, and exalting Himself in a moment. When their false god, Dagon, is humiliated by Yahweh (5:1-6), the people of the Philistine city of Ashdod exclaim: “The ark of Israel’s God must not stay here with us, because His hand is strongly against us and our god Dagon” (5:7). They go on to ask: “What should we do with the ark of Israel’s God?” (5:8). Notice how the Philistines’ language about Yahweh changes as they come to realize His authority. At first He was one of the “gods” (4:7-8), but after Yahweh defeated the pagan Philistine deity, Dagon, the Philistines describe Him as the God of Israel.

As the story progresses, Yahweh afflicts the Philistines with plagues of tumors. They come to know Israel’s God as the same One who afflicted the Egyptians with plagues. The people of Israel also come to recognize Yahweh’s royal power both in their defeat and in their sin. In both ways human beings come face-to-face with Yahweh, the unrivaled power and Lord of all nations.

Through His power God helped His people get the ark back; but in the journey to bring the ark back home, some Israelites (not priests) touched the ark (6:18-20). That was a big problem because only God’s appointed priests were to touch God’s ark and even then only in a specified manner (see Lev 16:2; Num 4:15). As a result God struck them dead. God’s people mourned this terrible occurrence, and they carefully moved the ark to a place called Kiriath-jearim and left it there for about 20 years. God’s people mourned the Philistine capture of the ark, the death of the Israelite people, and the fact the ark wasn’t where it was supposed to be for two decades.

Israel experienced life when it went badly. As the narrative progresses, we see that their sin was not isolated to improperly handling the ark. Notice Samuel’s words in 7:3:

“If you are returning to the Lord with all your heart, get rid of the foreign gods and the Ashtoreths that are among you, dedicate yourselves to the Lord, and worship only Him. Then He will rescue you from the hand of the Philistines.”

The verse is significant because it reveals that Israel’s sin lay not only in handling lightly the things of God; it also lay in worshiping other gods.

In the Western world it seems silly to worship other deities, especially ones made out of metal, stone, or wood. But it is not silly at all. Baal was a male storm deity. Ashtoreth was a female fertility deity. When the two would copulate, it would produce crops from the ground. At least this is what the ancient people thought. That may seem strange to us until we understand this was an agrarian society that needed appropriate rain at the appropriate time for food, life, and security.

Today we depend on different gods, but they are no less gods. For instance, we trust a retirement account or a monthly paycheck to provide food and security for our lives. We think a job, relationship, or position will provide the hope we need to survive. Jobs and money, relationships, and retirement are not necessarily bad. They are good gifts but terrible gods. The gods we worship today are still deified as things that will provide us health and security. Samuel’s words in verse 3 reminded the people that only Yahweh would provide the security and life they needed and desired. All other gods are empty and useless and so must be “put away.”

In the midst of their mourning and sin, Samuel called Israel to a fresh start. Who does not need a fresh start in life? We all do at some point or another. And how do we gain a fresh start in life? Fresh starts begin with repentance.

What is “repentance,” and what does it mean in practical terms? What is the anatomy of this theologically laden term? We see a beautiful picture of repentance in 1 Samuel 7:3-6. Repentance has the following characteristics:

Repentance is a choice. God’s people choose to put away idols and embrace Yahweh. Repentance is a decision we make to honor and value the Lord more than anything else. Repentance is our loving response to God, who loved us first.

Victory followed repentance (7:7-11). These verses are powerful because they show that as we turn to God, God is no longer our adversary but our emissary. Instead of coming against us, He goes out on our behalf. That is what happened with the people of God. They experienced the power of God against the Philistines.

We love the phrasing in verse 10. As God’s people worshiped the Lord in repentance and faith, the Philistines went in to wipe them out. But as they worshiped, the text reads that “the Lord thundered loudly against the Philistines that day and threw them into such confusion that they fled before Israel.” Some of us need to hear that the Lord “thunders” on our behalf. As we turn to God and start fresh with Him, He “thunders” out for us. He is a stone of help (“Ebenezer,” v. 12).

A subsequent focus of the narrative in 1 Samuel 7 is to show the importance of true and faithful leadership among God’s people. The failure of Israel’s leadership at the beginning of the narrative is counterbalanced by the fidelity of Samuel at the end of the narrative. The narrative abruptly shifts away from the character of young Samuel in chapter 4, leading the reader to see a subtle shift away from the appropriate, divinely chosen leader for God’s people. Moreover, Eli and his house fall away in chapter 4, leaving a vacuum of leadership of sorts. Who would lead? God raises up His faithful leader in Samuel in chapter 7, who leads God’s people to repentance and faith.

Yahweh is the king God’s people need, and out of His goodness Yahweh will provide for Himself a leader to represent them to Him. Remember what Yahweh said of Samuel: “Then I will raise up a faithful priest for Myself. He will do whatever is in My heart and mind” (2:35). When God’s people respond to Him faithfully, led by the true priest and prophet (in this narrative, Samuel), then good things follow. When they follow corrupt leaders and do not respond faithfully to their God, then horrible things follow! But the true hero of the story is neither the people nor Samuel but rather God Himself. In the ark narrative God assures for Himself that all peoples will know that He is King, powerful and worthy of worship.