Samuel’s final speech to the people
12
📚And Samuel said to all Israel 📖, “See, I have listened to your voice in all that you said to me, and have set a king over you 📖. 2 📚And now, look, the king walks before you. And I am old and gray, and, see, my sons are with you. And I have walked before you from my childhood to this day. 3 📚Look, 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 received any bribe to blind my eyes with it? Tell me and I will return it to you”. 12:3 Samuel is saying that he has not used his position of leadership to oppress the people or to make gain for himself. Compare Paul’s speech to the elders of the church of Ephesus in Acts 20:17-35. In every age the church desperately needs these kinds of leaders.⚜
4 📚And they said, “You have not defrauded us or oppressed us, and you have not taken anything from anyone’s hand”.
5 📚And he said to them, “The LORD is a witness against you, and his anointed 📖 is a witness today, that you have not found anything in my hand”. And they answered, “He is a witness”.
12:4-5 A great testimony to Samuel’s good character.⚜
6 📚And Samuel said to the people, “It is the LORD who appointed Moses and Aaron, and who brought your fathers up out of the land of Egypt.
12:6 Because they testified to his good character he can go on. If religious leaders are known to be bad men, they should keep their mouths shut until they are willing to repent and serve God from the heart.⚜
7 📚Now therefore stand there, so that I may reason with you in the LORD’s presence about all the righteous acts of the LORD, which he has done for you and for your fathers.
12:7 Compare Micah 6:1-5.⚜
8 📚“After Jacob had come into Egypt, and your fathers had cried to the LORD, then the LORD sent Moses and Aaron, who brought your fathers out of Egypt and caused them to live in this place.
9 📚“And when they forgot 📖 the LORD their God, he sold them into the hands of Sisera, commander of the army of Hazor, and into the hands of the Philistines and into the hands of the king of Moab and they fought against them.
12:9 The people could find no fault with Samuel’s life, but the reverse was not the case. The history of Israel was full of rebellion against God.⚜
10 📚And they cried to the LORD and said, ‘We have sinned, because we have forsaken the LORD and have served the Baals and Ashtaroth. But now deliver us out of the hands of our enemies, and we will serve you.’ 11 📚And the LORD sent Jerubbaal 📖 and Bedan 📖 and Jephthah and Samuel, and delivered you out of the hands of your enemies on every side, and you lived in safety.
12 📚“And when you saw that Nahash the king of the children of Ammon came against you, you said to me, ‘No, but a king shall reign over us’, when the LORD your God was your king 📖. 13 📚Now therefore see the king whom you have chosen and whom you have desired. And, see, 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 commandments of the LORD, then both you and also the king who reigns over you will continue following the LORD 📖 your God. 15 📚But if you will not obey the voice of the LORD, but rebel against the commandments of the LORD, then the hand of the LORD will be against you, as it was against your fathers 📖.
16 📚“Now therefore stand there and see the great thing which the LORD will do before your eyes. 17 📚Is it not wheat harvest today? I will call to the LORD, and he will send thunder and rain, so that you may perceive and see that great is your wickedness which you have done in the sight of the LORD in asking a king for yourselves”.
12:16-17 God was willing to give striking evidence at the word of Samuel to demonstrate how evil the motive of the people had been.⚜
18 📚So Samuel called 📖 to 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, so that we do not die, for to all our sins we have added this evil of asking for a king for ourselves”.
12:19 The people now recognized their sin, but it was too late. When men have made a choice they have to face the consequences of it.⚜
20 📚And Samuel said to the people, “Do not be afraid 📖. You have done all this wickedness, yet do not turn aside from following the LORD, but serve the LORD with all your heart, 21 📚and do not turn aside. For then you would go after vain things, which cannot profit or deliver, for they are vain. 22 📚For the LORD will not forsake his people for his great name’s sake 📖, because it has pleased the LORD to make you his people 📖. 23 📚Moreover, as for me, God forbid that I should sin against the LORD by ceasing 📖 to pray for you; but I will teach 📖 you the good and the right way. 24 📚Only fear 📖 the LORD and serve him in truth with all your heart. For consider what great things 📖 he has done for you. 25 📚But if you continue to do wickedly, you will be swept away, both you and your king”.