1 Samuel 7:1-6, 12 – I Got Help There – Bible study

1Sam 7:1-6, 12 I Got Help There Notice the word "Ebenezer." It means "stone of help." By putting the stone in that place and calling it Ebenezer, Samuel was drawing peoples attention to a spot and saying, "We got help there!" This stone then became a memorial for future generations. A place when people passed by and inquired, "Why is that stone there?" Someone would answer, "Thats where we got help from God." Lets look at the account. I. \#1\ The Ark of the Covenant A. The Ark of the Covenant was a rather large (45 inch), holy chest that God had the Jews build when they came out of Egypt. 1. Inside the chest, the Jews copy of the Ten Commandments, Aarons rod that had budded to show that God would work through the line of Levi in spiritual matters, and a jar of manna were stored. 2. It had the Mercy Seat on top of it. a. The Mercy Seat was the gold top on the box. b. On it, there were two angels whose wings spread to the center as a cover over the Mercy Seat. c. But the most important thing about the Ark was that Gods presence abode and appeared on the Mercy Seat. 3. This Ark was very scared. a. It was not common furniture. b. God had given specific commands on how it was to be handled and while I dont recall a command that would have prohibited it from being taken into the battle field, I dont believe that was where God wanted it. B. The Jews were fighting the Philistines and losing. 1. It was a time when they were not obeying God so Gods blessings were not on them. 2. So the Jews decided to bring the Ark of the Covenant on the battlefield. 3. They considered it to be the same bringing God onto the battlefield. a. They figured they could not lose if the Ark were there. b. They were wrong. 1Sam 4:10 And the Philistines fought, and Israel was smitten, and they fled every man into his tent: and there was a very great slaughter; for there fell of Israel thirty thousand footmen. 11 And the ark of God was taken; and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were slain. 4. \#Sam 6:1\ The Philistines kept the Ark for seven months, moving it around from city to city. a. They kept moving it because whatever city it rested, God cursed. b. After seven months, the Philistines had enough and sent it back to Israel. c. It only got as far as Kirjath-jear-im, to Abinadabs house though. d. The Bible says it stated there 20 years. e. It was never returned to Shiloh, the place the Ark had originally been kept. 5. But the Jews kept on doing the same thingssins. Neither losing nor recovering the Ark did anything to change that. II. \#2\ The people "lamented." 1Sam 7:2 and all the house of Israel lamented after the LORD. A. The text seems to indicate that all the time the Ark was at Abinadabs house, the people were lamenting. 1. Lament means to cry but it means to cry aloud, to wail. 2. To lament would indicate the people were very sorrowful so much so that it affected their life. a. It left them wailing. b. Twenty years is a long time to wail, It is a long time to be emotionally tore up about something especially when all they hadnt bothered to return the Ark to where it belonged. c. Without that Ark, they could not fulfill the Law. (1) Once a year, the High Priest was to carry the blood of a sacrifice and sprinkle it on that Mercy Seat. (2) If the Ark were separated from the other parts of Tabernacle, nothing was functioning properly at either location. (3) The sacrifices that were being offered on the brazen altar, we being offered in place where Gods presence was NOT. (4) If the Altar of Incense was still being used, the sweet odor was being released in a place where Gods presence was NOT. (5) None of the sacrifices had completion if the Ark was not there. 3. I also notice also that when Samuel decided to deal with the situation, he had to tell the peoplethose that were "lamenting after the Lord"to put away their strange gods. a. They were "lamenting after the Lord" while worshipping other gods. b. I understand that people can grow ignorant in time but it doesnt seem to me that you have to know a lot about the Bible to figure out that something is wrong with that. 4. Now, I dont doubt that people were lamenting those 20 years. a. The Bible says they were and I believe the Bible. b. Besides that, people from that culture seem to love to lamentto wail aloud. (1) I would not be surprised if the people did not set a day or a few days aside to just lament. (2) We have Memorial Day to remember. Perhaps they had an Ark of the Covenant Day to lament. 5. What I am questioning is was their tears genuine or was it just for show. 6. Tears are a wonderful show of contrition and brokenness IF we are contrite and broken. If we are not, they are just a show. B. Some people get the words "show" and "sincerity" confused. 1. A show is what you put on for people to see. 2. Sincerity is what is really going on inside. 3. I wonder if these people were not putting on a show for God but were not sincerely sorrow for the sins that had brought this condition to pass. C. We must be careful for we make lousy rock throwers, especially if we do the same kinds of things. 1. Someone knows they are not right with God and decides they will go to church, as if going to church makes things right. 2. Someone knows they are lost and goes to the front of the church and signs a card, as if doing that is salvation. 3. Someone knows they need God and prays, offering God a deal, and moves on as if that was all it took to patch up years of rebellion against God. D. I am here to tell you, it takes more. 1. To be honest, I think the Ark had become an idol to Israel. a. Thats why they wanted in the camp when they fought against the Philistines in the first place. b. They associated the Ark with God and figured if they had it, they had Him. Surprise! 2. I think their tears had become tears of ritual. a. They did not lament because they were broken. b. They lamented because they figured they should be broken. 3. By the way, when we go to church because we know we need to get right and leave, figuring that took of that, we have made the church an idol. 4. And when our prayers and our offerings are bargains for Gods favors, we have made them nothing more than rituals with no meaning. III. \#3\ Samuel steps forward to set things right. A. Samuel wanted to set the people straight and he did. 1. First, he told the people that tears along were not enough. a. They had to have a heart to repent as well. Twice in that verse, Samuel mentioned the "heart." b. The heart is the seat of our emotions and will. c. While their tears may have demonstrated some level of emotion, their behavior demonstrated they had no level of desire or will to serve God. 2. Here again, we see the difference between show and sincerity. a. Both may look the same but sincerity is always backed up by its actions. b. We might say that those who are sincere about seeking God will repent, they will turn from their pagan actions. c. For these Jews, they were going to have to turn from their pagan gods. 3. Is this not what God tells us? 1Ki 8:47 Yet if they shall bethink themselves in the land whither they were carried captives, and repent, and make supplication unto thee in the land of them that carried them captives, saying, We have sinned, and have done perversely, we have committed wickedness; 48 And so return unto thee with all their heart, and with all their soul, in the land of their enemies, which led them away captive, and pray unto thee toward their land, which thou gavest unto their fathers, the city which thou hast chosen, and the house which I have built for thy name: 49 Then hear thou their prayer and their supplication in heaven thy dwelling place, and maintain their cause, B. To this, the people responded. 1Sam 7:6 And they gathered together to Mizpeh, and drew water, and poured it out before the LORD, and fasted on that day, and said there, We have sinned against the LORD. And Samuel judged the children of Israel in Mizpeh. 1. The people hearing what Samuel said, truly repented. 2. One of the signs of their repentance was they poured water unto the Lord. a. To us, that does not sound like much of a sacrifice. b. Water was precious. I dont know how far it had to be hauled but once it got to this place, it was poured out to God, given to God and God alone. c. Part of the Feast of Tabernacles was a Water Libation or a water sacrifice. (1) The feast last seven days. (2) Each night, water was fetched from the Pool of Siloam. (3) It was a great celebration of joy. (4) While the water was being brought into the city: (a) Two boys would climb a ladder to light torches 75 feet high. (b) Others danced and sang in front of these candlesticks while carrying their own torches. (c) It began a great night of celebration and joy and was done seven nights in a row. (5) The next morning, the water was brought to the brazen altar and poured into it as a gift to the Lord. http://www.jewishroots.net/library/holiday-articles/water_libation_ ceremony.html IV. \#7-12\ Repentance was the price. Deliverance was the purchase. A. The Philistines heard that Israel was in one place and came to attack them. B. When the Jews heard of it, they offered a sacrifice and had Samuel pray. 1. Im sure the men also went and got their weapons, but it was not the weapons that saved them. 1Sam 7:10 And as Samuel was offering up the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near to battle against Israel: but the LORD thundered with a great thunder on that day upon the Philistines, and discomfited them; and they were smitten before Israel. 2. It was God showing up and God showed up because the people repented. C. So Samuel took a stone, probably a huge stone, set it up in the place where God showed up and named it Ebenezer, "the stone of help." 1. It was not that the stone helped Israel. It wasnt even around when Israel was helped. 2. It was God that helped them. 3. The stone just marked the place where God showed up. 4. It was marked the place where the people said, "I got help there." Do you have any Ebenezers? 1. If the house still stands, I believe I could take you to my first Ebenezer, the place where I got saved. 2. If the house still stands, I believe I could take you to my second Ebenezer, the house where I told God I would not pick my Bible up ever again if He did not show me that He could and would provide for my family. 3. I might could find the room in Erlangers Hospital where I got help from God when Christy was born and a company Kathy used to work for paid the bill. 4. I suppose the Temple Building at Tennessee Temple University has been torn down but there was one of my Ebenezers. God sent a man to give us a check to pay for the birth of our second child when we had been asking God, "How?" 5. I remember an upturned stone behind New Gasper Baptist Church where I used to go out and practice my sermons. I got help there many times. 6. And the Sunday school class I used for a prayer room, sitting in a chair of a damp church and God would come down. 7. I have many Ebenezers. The new building entry way has been a place where I have gotten help on many occasions.