Chapter 12: The Fear of God is the Beginning of Wisdom
When Israel asked God for a king like the other nations, they broke their covenant between them and God. So, after their God-produced victory over the Ammonites, they were led by Samuel, the Prophet back to Gilgal to renew the covenant with God.
1 Samuel 11:14–15 (ESV)
14 Then Samuel said to the people, “Come, let us go to Gilgal and there renew the kingdom.” 15 So all the people went to Gilgal, and there they made Saul king before the Lord in Gilgal. There they sacrificed peace offerings before the Lord, and there Saul and all the men of Israel rejoiced greatly.
How then were they to renew their covenant? Only by repenting and turning back to God. Repentance would need to accompany their renewal. The reason they broke the covenant and needed to repent was because they asked God for another king and this was idolatry. They officially broke the first commandment as a people.
Exodus 20:1–3 (ESV)
20 And God spoke all these words, saying,
2 “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
3 “You shall have no other gods before me.
Wanting a king was having another god because it was in this new form of government they would trust and not God.
This is very practical for us today. We too must always be careful not to trust in anything but God alone. What we must guard against is the idea that this is just OT stuff and has nothing to do with us. The fact is, we are called to the same commitment to God that they were.
The New Testament promotes the idea of Jesus as our Lord, Master and King and we as His bondservants/slaves. The apostle Paul and other apostles referred to themselves as bondservants of Jesus Christ.
Romans 1:1 (ESV)
1 Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God,
We are called to allegiance to only One Master in the NT. Jesus alone is to be our Lord and we are to have no other Gods before Him.
Matthew 6:24 (ESV)
24 “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.
Have you ever had another master? Have you sought security in something else such as money?
If so, you too have broken covenant with God and must turn back to Him in repentance.
1. Samuel Has Served the People Well (12:1-5)
1 Samuel 12:1–5 (ESV)
12 And Samuel said to all Israel, “Behold, I have obeyed your voice in all that you have said to me and have made a king over you. 2 And now, behold, the king walks before you, and I am old and gray; and behold, my sons are with you. I have walked before you from my youth until this day. 3 Here I am; testify against me before the Lord and before his anointed. Whose ox have I taken? Or whose donkey have I taken? Or whom have I defrauded? Whom have I oppressed? Or from whose hand have I taken a bribe to blind my eyes with it? Testify against me and I will restore it to you.” 4 They said, “You have not defrauded us or oppressed us or taken anything from any man’s hand.” 5 And he said to them, “The Lord is witness against you, and his anointed is witness this day, that you have not found anything in my hand.” And they said, “He is witness.”
Samuel is old now and he has done everything well. He has not cheated anyone or stolen anything from the people. He even offers them the opportunity to accuse him of anything if they have found any deception in him.
” 5 And he said to them, “The Lord is witness against you, and his anointed is witness this day, that you have not found anything in my hand.” And they said, “He is witness.”
Samuel has been faithful to the people. He has been faithful to God and served both very well. The people know this is true and even affirm it together.
2. God Had Loved and Delivered the Israelites (12:6-12)
1 Samuel 12:6–12 (ESV)
6 And Samuel said to the people, “The Lord is witness, who appointed Moses and Aaron and brought your fathers up out of the land of Egypt. 7 Now therefore stand still that I may plead with you before the Lord concerning all the righteous deeds of the Lord that he performed for you and for your fathers. 8 When Jacob went into Egypt, and the Egyptians oppressed them, then your fathers cried out to the Lord and the Lord sent Moses and Aaron, who brought your fathers out of Egypt and made them dwell in this place. 9 But they forgot the Lord their God. And he sold them into the hand of Sisera, commander of the army of Hazor, and into the hand of the Philistines, and into the hand of the king of Moab. And they fought against them. 10 And they cried out to the Lord and said, ‘We have sinned, because we have forsaken the Lord and have served the Baals and the Ashtaroth. But now deliver us out of the hand of our enemies, that we may serve you.’ 11 And the Lord sent Jerubbaal and Barak and Jephthah and Samuel and delivered you out of the hand of your enemies on every side, and you lived in safety. 12 And when you saw that Nahash the king of the Ammonites came against you, you said to me, ‘No, but a king shall reign over us,’ when the Lord your God was your king.
This section rehearses all the different times the Israelites cried out to God and He delivered them. Oh, what grace God had given to His people. They would turn away from God and then He would send an oppressor to cause His people to cry for help and then He would deliver them. We see this time and time again.
This cycle can be seen throughout the OT…God’s people would forsake Him then He would send an enemy oppressor they would cry out to God in repentance He would deliver them then after a while it would be the same thing again. They always cried out to God in the past but now they didn’t cry out to God but thought their help could come from somewhere else. A new king.
We see that Samuel is reminding Israel of their history. He stresses two facts of grace…
A) Whenever the Israelites had forsaken the Lord, He brought them into trouble.
B) Whenever they had repented and cried out to God, He delivered them.
Our Lord had raised up a life-long prophet to help the people. God, Himself had showed them grace and mercy through the years and yet they desire another king.
God still loved them even though they had turned to another king.
Does God do this with us? Will He bring us into difficult times to bring about repentance?
It is God who works all things out for our good and His glory.
Job 1:21–22 (ESV)
21 And he said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.”
22 In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong.
2 Corinthians 12:7–10 (ESV)
7 So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. 9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
3. God’s Standards (12:13-15)
1 Samuel 12:13–15 (ESV)
13 And now behold the king whom you have chosen, for whom you have asked; behold, the Lord has set a king over you. 14 If you will fear the Lord and serve him and obey his voice and not rebel against the commandment of the Lord, and if both you and the king who reigns over you will follow the Lord your God, it will be well. 15 But if you will not obey the voice of the Lord, but rebel against the commandment of the Lord, then the hand of the Lord will be against you and your king.
Now with the covenant renewed, God is reminding His people that they are still obligated to keep His commands. They are promised wonderful blessings for their obedience and great curses for disobedience…
Let’s look a little deeper at verse 14 what three things are specifically mentioned as important aspects of a good relationship with God?
14 If you will fear the Lord and serve him and obey his voice and not rebel against the commandment of the Lord, and if both you and the king who reigns over you will follow the Lord your God, it will be well.
A) Fear the Lord-
For the unbeliever, the fear of God is the fear of the judgment of God and eternal death, which is eternal separation from God (Luke 12:5; Hebrews 10:31). For the believer, the fear of God is something much different. The believer’s fear is reverence of God. Hebrews 12:28-29 is a good description of this: “Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our ’God is a consuming fire.’” This reverence and awe are exactly what the fear of God means for Christians.—Got Questions
B) Serve the Lord-
We serve the Lord out of love for Him and what He has done for us. Here’s where we must be careful because the Scribes and Pharisees served God our of a works salvation mentality not a Salvation of free grace. We serve out of love.
We serve God by loving Him and caring for His people. Whenever you make a meal for someone else in the Church or help in some other way you’re are serving God because you are caring for His people.
C) Obey the Lord-
Obedience to God is a consistent submitting to His authority and His commands. We discover what God desires by reading His Word and learning God’s nature and decrees.
For Israel, because they desired a king, he too must respond in these three ways. If they and their king follow God things will go well for them. If they don’t,
15 But if you will not obey the voice of the Lord, but rebel against the commandment of the Lord, then the hand of the Lord will be against you and your king.
How are you doing with these three items God told Israel to do? Any of these more difficult than the others?
4. The Wonderful Fear of God (12:16-19)
1 Samuel 12:16–19 (ESV)
16 Now therefore stand still and see this great thing that the Lord will do before your eyes. 17 Is it not wheat harvest today? I will call upon the Lord, that he may send thunder and rain. And you shall know and see that your wickedness is great, which you have done in the sight of the Lord, in asking for yourselves a king.” 18 So Samuel called upon the Lord, and the Lord sent thunder and rain that day, and all the people greatly feared the Lord and Samuel.
19 And all the people said to Samuel, “Pray for your servants to the Lord your God, that we may not die, for we have added to all our sins this evil, to ask for ourselves a king.”
God could have reasoned and shown Israel all the logic behind why what they were doing was not smart. He already had told them all the ins and outs of what a king would be like and why it’s a very bad idea. What God does next is to instill the fear of God in them. He shows His power to fulfill all His threats to them.
God sends a massive storm when it’s the dry season upon Samuel’s words.
18 So Samuel called upon the Lord, and the Lord sent thunder and rain that day, and all the people greatly feared the Lord and Samuel.
Proverbs 9:10 (ESV)
10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,
and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.
At some point in their history, Israel had forgotten the power and wrath of God. Once they see it displayed, they begin to show signs of repentance.
19 And all the people said to Samuel, “Pray for your servants to the Lord your God, that we may not die, for we have added to all our sins this evil, to ask for ourselves a king.”
Before someone will repent, there must be the fear of the Lord and an understanding of the greatness of their sin. Here we see that it seems both come together.
If a person does not believe God to be powerful and the Almighty there will doubtful be repentance. If a person thinks their sin is no big deal then there will probably not be repentance. The fallen human man will seek to create in their minds a weak God and will seek to lessen the nature of their sin.
Here Israel saw God’s display of power, they were afraid and repented.
5. The Wonderful Grace of God (12:20-25)
1 Samuel 12:20–25 (ESV)
20 And Samuel said to the people, “Do not be afraid; you have done all this evil. Yet do not turn aside from following the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart. 21 And do not turn aside after empty things that cannot profit or deliver, for they are empty. 22 For the Lord will not forsake his people, for his great name’s sake, because it has pleased the Lord to make you a people for himself. 23 Moreover, as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you, and I will instruct you in the good and the right way. 24 Only fear the Lord and serve him faithfully with all your heart. For consider what great things he has done for you. 25 But if you still do wickedly, you shall be swept away, both you and your king.”
The grace of God takes the repentant sinner and places him/her on a new path.
20 And Samuel said to the people, “Do not be afraid; you have done all this evil.
Begin to focus on following the Lord right now.
So many times, we will relive our sin and guilt. It’s like if we rewind the tape enough times and watch it in our minds and feel terrible about our sin that misery is somehow payment to God.
Notice here that our Lord is merciful and shows amazing grace.
Love and worship the Lord. Fear Him, follow Him and obey Him. Samuel promises to pray for the people. He gives a word of encouragement. Always remember the great things He has done for you…things only God could do.
25 But if you still do wickedly, you shall be swept away, both you and your king.”
1 Samuel by Dale Ralph Davis
1 Samuel by Tsumura
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