Samuel And Israel Series

a. It is rooted in the spiritual battle of “Good” and “Evil.”

2. I say all this to preface 1 Samuel 12 because the Nation of Israel has crossed over to be like other nations of the world and to distance themselves from what God had intentionally set them up to be!

a. God was their King, and they rejected his leadership!

b. People are still doing this today!

d. Thus, as we investigate the changing of a nation from a theocracy to monarchy, we see the battle raging for the Testimony of God – for the presence of God – for the connection to God.

i. The “Deceiver” will now go after the Kings of Israel as we will see in the history of Israel - to pervert the nation of Israel away from God and His ways!

1. The Father of lies will encourage “Idolatry” which is connected to many sexual sins and lifestyles.

ii. Some kings will start out strong and end up deceived and distorted by evil, but some will remain faithful to the good and reject the Evil.

1. Some will fall but repent and be forgiven – this is the process of salvation and connection to God repentance – asking for His forgiveness and following His Word.

iii. This spiritual battle is still raging today for the hearts of many nations and for many individuals!

1. Don’t miss this point – this message – these warnings.

T.S. - The 3 warnings noted above apply to nations and to individuals and we also learned why the nation of Israel is hated so badly. But Scripture has examples of men who lived honorable lives and lead as good godly leaders like our hero Samuel.

II. Samuel lived an honorable life as a leader being a Judge, a Priest and a Prophet of God.

a. He is known for the following:

i. His miraculous birth.

ii. His dedication at the Temple and to God at a young age by his mother Hannah.

iii. His divine call to serve God. Eli even recognizes God’s call on Samuel.

iv. His hearing the voice of God at 12 years old when his mentor Eli did not.

v. His speaking the Word of the Lord to Eli at 12 declaring the judgment of God on Eli’s family and losing their designated role in the Tabernacle and in the worship of God.

vi. He was the last judge of Israel.

vii. He was the first prophet of Israel.

viii. He replaced Eli as priest and the representative of God in the Tabernacle and to the nation of Israel.

ix. He is known for starting the school of the prophets in his time.

x. He called Israel to forsake sin and return to God and they heeded his call to repent. He therefore led Israel in national repentance.

xi. He led in battle against the Philistines and won.

xii. He was a historian of Israel’s history.

xiii. He anointed the first two kings of Israel.

xiv. He dethroned the first king of Israel!

xv. He finished strong!

1. Samuel was one of those leaders for Israel who stayed true to God! But we will soon discover Saul the new king will yield to the influence of “Evil” and reject the Spirit of God which had come upon him as we explored last week – but the Spirit of God would soon depart the new anointed king for failing to stay true to God!

2. Saul will fall into the trap of evil like many others to come after him: