2. (1 Sam 12:13-15) If you fear the LORD--a choice for Israel
Now therefore, here is the king whom you have chosen, whom you have asked for, and behold, the LORD has set a king over you. If you will fear the LORD and serve Him, and listen to His voice and not rebel against the command of the LORD, then both you and also the king who reigns over you will follow the LORD your God. If you will not listen to the voice of the LORD, but rebel against the command of the LORD, then the hand of the LORD will be against you, as it was against your fathers.
Here is the king whom you have chosen...the LORD has set a king over you: Samuel turns from the story of Israel's past and its sad lessons to the present. Here we have two sides of the transaction. The people had desired a king to represent the nation in temporal matters. Although God chose Saul, the nation of Israel believes to have chosen Saul by casting lots. God gave them a king, with all authority given by and limited by God.
If you will fear the LORD...: This verse is left unfinished. Samuel piles up one condition upon another condition of their happiness, and then abruptly breaks off, leaving the consequences of their obedience unsaid. A better translation of the version is as follows: "If you will fear the LORD and serve Him, and listen to His voice and not rebel against the command of the LORD, then both you and also the king who reigns over you will follow the LORD your God, it shall be well with you."
Samuel presents Israel with an important choice. The nation was disobedient in wanting a king; yet, God gave them one. Even so, if they would "fear the LORD and serve Him", God would still bless them. One wrong decision did not put the nation of Israel out of God's plan forever. Israel should never have sought a human king. However, now that they had one, Samuel simply calls them to serve the LORD to fall back into obedience with God.
If you will not listen to the voice of the LORD...: Again, Samuel puts a choice before Israel. God has put a fork in the road. On one side is submission to God and obedience; on the other side is rebellion and disobedience. If the nation of Israel chooses the wrong path, they can trust God will not bless them.
As it was against your fathers: Every individual generation is tempted to thing of itself as a special exception. They know of "the righteous acts of the LORD" in the previous generations; yet, somehow, they feel that they are the exception regarding God's correction and judgment. Samuel reminds the nation of Israel that they were not any different from their fathers. Moreover, God would not deal with them any differently than He did with their fathers.
3. (1 Sam 12:16-18) God confirms Samuel's word with a sign
"Even now, take your stand and see this great thing which the LORD will do before your eyes. Is it not the wheat harvest today? I will call to the LORD, that He may send thunder and rain. Then you will know and see that your wickedness is great which you have done in the sight of the LORD by asking for yourselves a king." So Samuel called the LORD, and the LORD sent thunder and rain that day; and all the people greatly feared the LORD and Samuel.
Is it not the wheat harvest today: In the land of Israel, the normal weather patterns have rain in the spring of the year, ending around the end of April, and rain in the fall of the year, beginning around October or November. The wheat harvest is between the middle of May and the middle of June. Thus, rain during this time of year is extremely rare. "Rain in harvest" served as a figure of speech for something which was an anomaly. ("Like snow in summer and like rain in harvest, so honor is not fitting for a fool" Proverbs 26:1.) Rain falling during the time of harvest had the potential to severely damage or completely destroy that year's wheat harvest.
I will call to the LORD: Samuel is a mighty man of prayer. Over and over again in the Book of First Samuel, we read of Samuel calling to God, and God answering Samuel's prayer. It is no surprise that again Samuel uses prayer to entreat the LORD'S favor.
The LORD sent thunder and rain that day and all the people greatly feared the LORD and Samuel: It is easy to see that during a time of usual drought, receiving heavy rain and thunder after Samuel said he would ask God for these as signs would instill great fear among the people. Besides the unusual weather, the threat of losing their wheat harvest must have greatly terrified the people. The nation of Israel again and again made bad choices demanding for themselves a king. Perhaps after these weather signs, the people might chose to become obedient and turn back to God
4. (1 Sam 12:19) Israel sees their sin of desiring a king
Then all the people said to Samuel, "Pray for your servants to the LORD your God, so that we may not die, for we have added to all our sins this evil by asking for ourselves a king."
Pray for your servants: Samuel just proved that he was a might man of prayers. Upon seeing God's abundant power in the thunder and rain, Israel now knew how much they needed prayer. It made sense to ask Samuel to pray for them.
We have added to all our sins this evil by asking for ourselves a king: Finally, Israel recognized their sin of wanting a king. If only they had seen their folly back in 1 Samuel 8, when Samuel first warned them. Now, they are stuck with a king; yet, God can still turn it for good if Israel will repent and seek the LORD.
4. (1 Sam 12:20-25) Samuel exhorts Israel to walk right with the LORD today.
Samuel said to the people, "Do not fear. You have committed all this evil, yet do not turn aside from following the LORD, but serve the LORD with all your heart. You must not turn aside, for then you would go after futile things which can not profit or deliver, because they are futile. For the LORD will not abandon His people on account of His great name, because the LORD has been pleased to make you a people for Himself. Moreover, as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the LORD by ceasing to pray for you; but I will instruct you in the good and right way. Only fear the LORD and serve Him in truth with all your heart; for consider what great things He has done for you. But if you still do wickedly, both you and your king will be swept away."
You have committed all this evil, yet do not turn aside from following the LORD, but serve the LORD with all your heart: Samuel does not minimize Israel's sin. Yet, he does not want them to dwell on the past in which Israel sinned by asking for a king. Instead, he encourages Israel to turn to the LORD. Israel cannot do anything to change what they have done in the past, and they cannot serve God tomorrow. In the present, all they can do is turn to the LORD and serve Him.
Serve the LORD with all your heart: Here, Samuel reminds the nation of Israel of one of their most important duties given in the Torah. This phrase is part of the Shema, one of only two prayers that are specifically commanded in the Torah. (The other is Birkat Ha-Mazon, grace after meals.) It is the oldest fixed daily prayer in Judaism, recited morning and night since ancient times. "Serve the LORD with all your heart" would have immediately reminded the nation of Israel of their duty to God and the precious words of their daily prayer, the Shema. "Hear, O Israel! The LORD is 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. These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your sons 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 up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates" Deuteronomy 6:4-9.)
Then you would go after futile things which can not profit or deliver: The word futile here is the Hebrew word "tohu". It is first used in the Bible in Genesis 1:1 and is there translated "without form". It simply mean anything empty and void. It is often used, as it is here, for an idol. Isaiah uses the Hebrew word "tohu" to describe the makers of idols as empty people: "Those who fashion a graven image are all of them futile ("tohu"), and their precious things are of no profit; even their own witnesses fail to see or know, so that they will be put to shame" Isaiah 44:9. The word is used again at the end of the verse: "which (idols) cannot profit or deliver, because they are "tohu".
The LORD will not abandon His people on account of His great name: God does not preserve and deliver Israel for their righteousness. No. Instead, God delivers Israel from many trials and tribulations to preserve His own honor. If God did not deliver His chosen people, other nations would say God is not able to deliver His people from the hand of the enemy. This same theme is seen over and over again in the Bible. One of the best examples is when Israel makes a golden calf. Moses entreats the LORD not to destroy His people based on His name's sake. "The LORD said to Moses, 'I have seen this people, and behold, they are an obstinate people. Now then let Me alone, that My anger may burn against them and that I may destroy them; and I will make of you a great nation.' Then Moses entreated the LORD his God, and said, 'O LORD, why does Your anger burn against Your people whom You have brought out from the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? Why should the Egyptians speak, saying, "With evil intent He brought them out to kill them in the mountains and to destroy them from the face of the earth"? Turn from Your burning anger and change Your mind about doing harm to Your people. Remember Abraham, Isaac and Israel, Your servants to whom You swore by Yourself, and said to them, "I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heavens, and all this land of which I have spoke I will give to your descendants, and they shall inherit it forever."' So the LORD changed His mind about the harm which He said He would do to His people" (Exodus 32:9-14).
The LORD has been pleased to make you a people for Himself: Out of God's own free grace, He chose Israel to be His people. Their election had nothing to do with their own conduct. God had chosen Israel not for its own sake, but for a special purpose. "For you are a holy people to the LORD your God; the LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for His own possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. The LORD did not set His love on you not choose you because you were more in number than any of the peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples, but because the LORD loved you and kept the oath which He swore to your forefathers, the LORD brought you out by a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. Know therefore that the LORD your God, the faithful God, who keeps His covenant and His lovingkindness to a thousandth generation with those who love Him and keep His commandments; but repays those who hate Him to their faces, to destroy them; He will not delay with him who hates Him, He will repay Him to his face. Therefore, you shall keep the commandment and the statues and the judgments which I am commanding you today, to do them" (Deuteronomy 7:6-11).
Far be it from me that I should sin against the LORD by ceasing to pray for you: Samuel knew that the best thing he could do for Israel was to pray for them. His words make no difference if the LORD did not work in their hearts. The best way to promote the works of the LORD in their hearts was through prayer. Samuel could have felt hurt that the people had rejected him, his sons and the LORD as leaders over the nation of Israel. He could have been bitter against the people and refused to pray for them. But, as we have seen over and over again, Samuel is a more godly man than that. Instead of wallowing in his heartache, Samuel does what is best for the nation--unceasing prayer.
This statement of Samuel's makes it clear--it is a sin for a leader of God's people to stop praying for them. It is the most basic of his duties as their leader. If it is a sin to stop praying, how much worse must it be to even fail to start praying? The blessing of unceasing prayer is not the property of the leader or teacher alone. All can and must share in it.
I will instruct you in the good and right way: Samuel wants to people of Israel to know that even as he steps back and allows Saul to emerge as their leader, he will not forsake Israel. He will continue to lead and to serve them, but more in a spiritual way through prayer and teaching. This was a far higher office than that of a rule. Not only was Samuel earnest in discharging this prophetic office of teaching, but he made provision for a supply of teachers and preachers for all future time by founding the schools of the prophets.
Only fear the LORD...for consider what great things He has done for you: All our service, all our obedience, all our love for God should be put in this context. We serve God because He has done great things for us. We should not serve God so as to persuade Him to do great things for us. He has done the great things and asks us to receive they by faith. In our Christian lives, it is often easy to lose this perspective; then, everything becomes distorted. Many people tend to magnify their problems and lose sight of what great things He has done for us.
But if you still do wickedly, both you and your king will be swept away: This warning became the sad legacy of Israel when they were conquered and taken away from their homeland as captives.
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