The biblical Hebrew cultural motif on age refers to 60 as old age, 70 the hoary head, and 80 special strength. In 1stSamuel chapter 8 we find a perspective of an aged leader who could have been disappointed in his old age, but he remained faithful. We learn in earlier chapters that Samuel was disappointed in Eli’s sons because they chased after lust and lasciviousness. We learn also that Samuel’s sons disappointed him because they misaligned their use of money. However, Samuel remained faithful in the face of these disappointments in his old age. Notice 1 Samuel 8:4-7; “Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at pRamah 5 and said to him, “Behold, you are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways. uNow appoint for us a king to judge us like all the nations.” 6 But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to judge us.” And Samuel prayed to the Lord. 7 And the Lord said to Samuel, “Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you, vfor they have not rejected you, wbut they have rejected me from being king over them”.[1]
Notice the following trajectory of reason….
- Notice the Elders Calling Samuel “old.” This is like one old person calling another old person OLD!
- Samuel’s sons were disappointing because of their misaligned thirst for money.
- The Elders desired an earthly king to replace and Eternal King.
- God comforted Samuel, “…. they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me…”
APPLICATION
What do you do in the face of sudden change in life that diminishes your hopes and dreams? After 8 weeks of our national quarantine, we are starting to emerge from our social distancing to engage society once again. Make no mistake about our reality, we are emerging to a different country today than on January 1, 2020. This global event has marked us as a society. There are new challenges that we all are going to face. It will take months if not years to fully understand the impact of this global pandemic. However, there is a great lesson that we can learn from Samuel in the Old Testament. Even though he saw disappointing days in his life span, he remained faithful to the God. That is our ultimate challenge today. We’re going to see many difficult days, however, intentionality in our faith is what matters the most. Even though generations of people may disappoint, our eyes are fixed on eternity and a loving God. Samuel also teaches us the power of flexibility. Not every dream or hope that we have in life is going to be fulfilled. Even though Samuel was disappointed with previous generations and his own sons he remained flexible to follow the voice of God. That flexibility and trusting an almighty God will save us from misappropriated dreams and hopes. We do not always understand the plan of God, but we know that the plan of God is always correct. Remain flexible, remain hopeful, and always remain intentional in the development of your faith.
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p [See ch. 7:17 above]
u ver. 19, 20; [Deut. 17:14; Hos. 13:10; Acts 13:21]
v [Ex. 16:8]
w ch. 10:19
[1] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (1 Sa 8:4–7). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.
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