Before we go to our study of 1 Samuel 8, turn with me briefly to the Book of Revelation Chapter 21 and let’s take a glimpse of what will happen in the future. Read along with me Revelation 21:22-27….
Again, v24 tells us “By its light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it”. Since there will only be the Kingdom of God in heaven, v24 does not mean that there will nations or kings in heaven. What it does mean is that there will be citizens in heaven which represented nations in the world and any king or ruler on earth will bow down to God. It also means that God allows nations, kings, and rulers here on earth till Jesus returns, then every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord! In the meantime God allows nations, rulers, and governments and as Christians we are to be involved wherever God places us; but let us never forget, because of sin, there can never be a government or a ruler which will be perfect. And just like us as individual Christians, while here on earth we will never be perfect but we are to fight against imperfection! Again, nations and government, just like us individual Christians, will never be perfect here on earth, but we are called by God to fight imperfections!
Now before reading our passage this morning, let us together pray our commitment to God’s Word….
Read along with me 1 Samuel Chapter 8….
Take a quick look back to the end of 1 Samuel 7…. Look at v13-15 again…
And so, going back to 1 Samuel 8, v1: Samuel passed the ministry to his sons.
But what do we note in v3? Samuel’s sons were wicked!
Now, remember Eli the priest before Samuel; Eli’s sons were also wicked but we noted that Eli himself was a compromising Believer of God. But Samuel was a godly man and his sons still turned wicked. Now, it’s not the main point of the passage but I think worth noting that Samuel was not reprimanded about his sons and Eli was. You see, it does not tell us that the sons were wicked when they were appointed judges by Samuel; the sons became wicked when they were given power to rule! But here’s the point,
Adults will make their own choices about God! Now, this may be somewhat freeing to parents but let us note what God says about parenting; Deutoronomy 6 :4-7… “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. 6 And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise; and today we can add, talk about loving God first on the Internet and on our smartphones
I believe Samuel raised his sons in a godly way but Eli did not.
Now back to 1 Samuel 8, v4-5 – what was the good thing that the Elders decided??
The Elders recognized the wickedness of Samuel’s sons!
- But what was the wrong thing that the Elders did??
The Elders did not consult God and desired to follow ungodly nations instead!
And what do we note in v6? Was Samuel displeased with the Elders because they rejected his sons?
Samuel was displeased because the elders wanted to be just like other nations, when Israel was called to be God’s people!
And the end of v6 tells us what godly people do when displeased………
Samuel went to God and prayed!
In v7-8: God answered Samuel’s prayer:
a. God reassured Samuel’s faithfulness.
b. God affirmed the people’s unfaithfulness.
Now in general, what was God trying to do in v9-18??
God showed His love by warning the people of the consequences of sin!
v19: Did the people just refused to listen to Samuel??
The people actually were refusing God, because what Samuel said were God’s Word!
Now, God could have stopped them from sinning!
v22: Why didn’t God stop the people from sinning??
In a remarkable way, we can note God is loving because:
a. God does not force people to do something but allows them to choose!
b. God teaches by disciplining.
c. God always has a plan in spite of sins.
This is a Biblical principle to note right here: God always has a plan!
What other Biblical principles can we apply to our lives?
First of all, I do really see my job as a preacher is to lead you to God’s Word. Please pray that I am able to do that and not lead you to my own words and wisdom; you can go to Facebook if you’d like to hear my foolish mind
As we noted in our Bible study this morning, God warns Christian churches because of just being popular with people! God’s command in Revelation 3:3 is “Remember what you have received and heard, from God’s Word not man’s, obey it and repent!”
1. What God is concerned about is our refusing His Word not man’s!
As we a take a moment to pray before our worship of Offerings, think about what God is telling you through 1 Samuel 8 today.
Let me just highlight a summary of the main points from the passage;
2. God is a loving God who has a perfect plan but He allows people to choose and face the consequences. And so, that old saying is true, “Be careful of what you ask for!”
What are we asking for in life? Are we asking for the same things the rest of the world is asking? Are we looking for what’s popular in the world instead of living out God’s truths?
God may just give us the wrong things we are asking for and then face the consequences.
