1 Samuel 7
7
1And the men of Kiriath-jearim came and took up the ark of the Lord and brought it to the house of #2 Sam. 6:3Abinadab on the hill. And they consecrated his son Eleazar to have charge of the ark of the Lord. 2From the day that the ark was lodged at Kiriath-jearim, a long time passed, some twenty years, and all the house of Israel lamented after the Lord.
Samuel Judges Israel
3And Samuel said to all the house of Israel, #1 Kgs. 8:48; Isa. 55:7; Hos. 6:1; Joel 2:12; See Deut. 30:2-10 “If you are returning to the Lord with all your heart, then #Gen. 35:2; Josh. 24:14, 23; [Judg. 10:16] put away the foreign gods and the #Judg. 2:13 Ashtaroth from among you and #[2 Chr. 19:3; 30:19; Ezra 7:10] direct your heart to the Lord #Deut. 6:13; 10:20; 13:4; Cited Matt. 4:10; Luke 4:8and serve him only, and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.” 4So the people of Israel put away the Baals and the Ashtaroth, and they served the Lord only.
5Then Samuel said, “Gather all Israel at #[Judg. 20:1]Mizpah, and I will pray to the Lord for you.” 6So they gathered at #[See ver. 5 above] Mizpah #[2 Sam. 14:14] and drew water and poured it out before the Lord #ch. 31:13; Neh. 9:1 and fasted on that day and said there, #Judg. 10:10“We have sinned against the Lord.” And Samuel judged the people of Israel at Mizpah. 7Now when the Philistines heard that the people of Israel had gathered at Mizpah, the lords of the Philistines went up against Israel. And when the people of Israel heard of it, they were afraid of the Philistines. 8And the people of Israel said to Samuel, “Do not cease to cry out to the Lord our God for us, that he may save us from the hand of the Philistines.” 9So Samuel took a nursing lamb and offered it as a whole burnt offering to the Lord. And #Ps. 99:6; Jer. 15:1Samuel cried out to the Lord for Israel, and the Lord answered him. 10As Samuel was offering up the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near to attack Israel. #ch. 2:10; [2 Sam. 22:14, 15; Ps. 18:13]But the Lord thundered with a mighty sound that day against the Philistines and threw them into confusion, and they were defeated before Israel. 11And the men of Israel went out from Mizpah and pursued the Philistines and struck them, as far as below Beth-car.
12Then Samuel #Gen. 28:18; 31:45; 35:14; Josh. 4:9; 24:26took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen#7:12 Hebrew; Septuagint, Syriac Jeshanah and called its name Ebenezer;#7:12 Ebenezer means stone of help for he said, “Till now the Lord has helped us.” 13#[Judg. 13:1]So the Philistines were subdued and did not again enter the territory of Israel. And the hand of the Lord was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel. 14The cities that the Philistines had taken from Israel were restored to Israel, from Ekron to Gath, and Israel delivered their territory from the hand of the Philistines. There was peace also between Israel and the Amorites.
15 # ver. 6; ch. 12:11; [Judg. 2:16] Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life. 16And he went on a circuit year by year to Bethel, Gilgal, and Mizpah. And he judged Israel in all these places. 17Then he would return to #ch. 1:19 Ramah, for his home was there, and there also he judged Israel. #[ch. 14:35; Judg. 21:4]And he built there an altar to the Lord.
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1 Samuel 7: ESV
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1 Samuel 7
7
1 #
2 S 6.2-4; 1 Ch 13.5-7. The people of Kiriath-Jearim got the chest and took it to Abinadab's house, which was on a hill in their town. They chose his son Eleazar to take care of it, 2and it stayed there for 20 years.
During this time everyone in Israel was very sad and begged the Lord for help.#7.2 Israel … help: Or “Israel turned to the Lord and begged him for help.”
The People of Israel Turn Back to the Lord
3One day, Samuel told all the people of Israel, “If you really want to turn back to the Lord, then prove it. Get rid of your foreign idols, including the ones of the goddess Astarte. Turn to the Lord with all your heart and worship only him. Then he will rescue you from the Philistines.”
4The people got rid of their idols of Baal and Astarte and began worshiping only the Lord.
5Then Samuel said, “Tell everyone in Israel to meet together at Mizpah, and I will pray to the Lord for you.”
6The Israelites met together at Mizpah with Samuel as their leader. They drew water from the well and poured it out as an offering to the Lord. On that same day they went without eating to show their sorrow, and they confessed they had been unfaithful to the Lord.
The Philistines Attack Israel
7When the Philistine rulers found out about the meeting at Mizpah, they sent an army there to attack the people of Israel.
The Israelites were afraid when they heard that the Philistines were coming. 8“Don't stop praying!” they told Samuel. “Ask the Lord our God to rescue us.”
9-10 #
Si 46.16-18. Samuel begged the Lord to rescue Israel, then he sacrificed a young lamb to the Lord. Samuel had not even finished offering the sacrifice when the Philistines started to attack. But the Lord answered his prayer and made thunder crash all around them. The Philistines panicked and ran away. 11The men of Israel left Mizpah and went after them as far as the hillside below Beth-Car, killing every enemy soldier they caught.
12-13The Philistines were so badly beaten that it was quite a while before they attacked Israel again. After the battle, Samuel set up a monument between Mizpah and the rocky cliffs. He named it “Help Monument”#7.12,13 Help Monument: Or “Ebenezer.” to remind Israel how much the Lord had helped them.
For as long as Samuel lived, the Lord helped Israel fight the Philistines. 14The Israelites were even able to recapture their towns and territory between Ekron and Gath.
Israel was also at peace with the Amorites.#7.14 Amorites: In this verse, the non-Israelite peoples of Canaan.
Samuel Is a Leader in Israel
15Samuel was a leader#7.15 leader: The Hebrew word could mean an army commander, a judge, and a religious leader. in Israel all his life. 16Every year he would go around to the towns of Bethel, Gilgal, and Mizpah where he served as judge for the people. 17Then he would go back to his home in Ramah and do the same thing there. He also had an altar built for the Lord at Ramah.
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