'Appreciating God's Love'
A) Great Confidence in Samuel
I Sam 3:1 Now the boy Samuel ministered to the Lord before Eli. And *the word of the Lord was rare in those days*; there was no widespread revelation.
Since the Israelites had rejected and rebelled against God, God respected their will and He left them alone to make their own decisions. So the word of the Lord was rare then except to the judges.
He could only help those who came before Him in the Tabernacle of God in Shiloh when they humbled themselves with thanksgivings, prayers and supplications.
Since childhood, God had revealed Himself to Samuel, and had been teaching and guiding him in the words of the Lord. The prophecies spoken by Samuel were always fulfilled.
God built up their faith in him as a prophet of God, who would lead them to defeat their enemies, who had been defeating and oppressing them.
I Sam 3:19-21 So Samuel grew, and the Lord was with him and let none of his words fall to the ground. And all Israel from Dan to Beersheba knew that Samuel had been established as a prophet of the Lord. Then the Lord appeared again in Shiloh. For the Lord revealed Himself to Samuel in Shiloh by the word of the Lord.
B) Enemies' Confidence Destroyed
I Sam 5:2-6, 9 When the Philistines took the ark of God, they brought it into the house of Dagon and set it by Dagon. And when the people of Ashdod arose early in the morning, there was Dagon, fallen on its face to the earth before the ark of the Lord. So they took Dagon and set it in its place again. And when they arose early the next morning, there was Dagon, fallen on its face to the ground before the ark of the Lord. The head of Dagon and both the palms of its hands were broken off on the threshold; only Dagon's torso was left of it. Therefore neither the priests of Dagon nor any who come into Dagon's house tread on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod to this day. But the hand of the Lord was heavy on the people of Ashdod, and He ravaged them and struck them with tumors, both Ashdod and its territory.
God purposely allowed the Ark of God to be captured by the Philistines so that He could destroy their faith in their idols.
The victorious Philistines were delighted and they celebrated their success of capturing the Ark of God, which had terrified them all these years.
They placed the Ark of God in the temple of Dagon for they were confident that their idol Dagon would destroy the Ark. But, early the next morning to their surprise, their idol Dagon had fallen face down before the Ark. They reset the idol.
Again the following morning , they found their idol Dagon fallen face down in front of the Ark but with their head and palms broken from the torso.
Wherever they kept the Ark, the inhabitants of surrounding areas were either killed or stricken with tumors causing all the Philistines to fear the presence of the Ark of God.
I Sam 5:11-12 So it was, after they had carried it away, that the hand of the Lord was against the city with a very great destruction; and He struck the men of the city, both small and great, and tumors broke out on them. So they sent and gathered together all the lords of the Philistines, and said, "Send away the ark of the God of Israel, and let it go back to its own place, so that it does not kill us and our people." For there was a deadly destruction throughout all the city; the hand of God was very heavy there. And the men who did not die were stricken with the tumors, and the cry of the city went up to heaven.
C) Repentance of the Israelites
I Sam 7:3-5 Then Samuel spoke to all the house of Israel, saying, "If you return to the Lord with all your hearts, then put away the foreign gods and the Ashtoreths from among you, and prepare your hearts for the Lord, and serve Him only; and He will deliver you from the hand of the Philistines." So the children of Israel put away the Baals and the Ashtoreths, and served the Lord only.
The godly Samuel managed to get the Israelites to repent. They then came back to worship the Almighty God and began to keep His words.
Note A godly pastor will lead his sheep to repentance from worldliness and then teaches them to keep His words. This will enable God to move mightily in their midst for the revival of the church
God's Mercies Endure Forever
I Sam 7:10-11 Now as Samuel was offering up the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near to battle against Israel. But the Lord thundered with a loud thunder upon the Philistines that day, and so confused them that they were overcome before Israel. And the men of Israel went out of Mizpah and pursued the Philistines, and drove them back as far as below Beth Car.
The mercy of the Lord endures forever. At the repentance of the Israelites, God fought alongside them and gave them victories after victories. During the days of Samuel the prophet, God helped them to recover all the land taken away by the Philistines .
I Sam 7:13-14 So the Philistines were subdued, and they did not come anymore into the territory of Israel. And the hand of the Lord was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel. Then the cities which the Philistines had taken from Israel were restored to Israel, from Ekron to Gath; and Israel recovered its territory from the hands of the Philistines. Also there was peace between Israel and the Amorites.
