1¶ And Samuel said to all Israel, “ “Behold, I have obeyed your

voice in all that you have said to me and have made a king over
you.
First Samuel 12
2 And now, behold, the king walks before you, and I am old and
“The LORD is witness against you,
gray; and behold, my sons are with you. I have walked before you and his anointed is witness this
from my youth until this day. day, that you have not found
3 Here I am; testify against me before the LORD and before his anything in my hand.” And they
said, “He is witness.”
anointed. Whose ox have I taken? Or whose donkey have I
taken? Or whom have I defrauded? Whom have I oppressed? Or
from whose hand have I taken a bribe to blind my eyes with it?
Testify against me {Septuagint; Hebrew lacks Testify against me}
and I will restore it to you.”
4 They said, “You have not defrauded us or oppressed us or
taken anything from any man’s hand.”
5 And he said to them, “The LORD is witness against you, and
his anointed is witness this day, that you have not found anything
in my hand.” And they said, “He is witness.”

Dr. Anton J. Carlson: from a paper presented at the International

Gerontological Congress, London, 1954
We have a change in leadership
“In our present society, there seems to be no lack of efficient peo- here. Notice though that 1 Sam
ple, but there is an almost complete absence of wisdom. It is not as 7:15 tells us that Samuel judged
if wisdom has become extinct. Rather, it has been abandoned as a Israel all of the days of his life.
social value (the highest there is) and therefore many of us live in Can you reconcile this?
desperation and fear, looking in vain for the purpose of our exis- How is Samuel here like
tence. John the Baptist? What Character
Is there anything new under the sun? trait do we see?

1. An old man, Samuel asked the people to bear witness about any wrongdoing by him during his public life
among them. What complaints did the people have regarding Samuel?
2. Look at verse 3. What do you think our Author wants to bring to our attention?
3. Can you list the specific leadership qualifications that gave Samuel the respect due God’s
spokesman?_______________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________

What important lessons concerning godly leadership may be gleaned from vv. 1--5?

Lest list some of the NT characteristics for leadership (1 Tim 3:1--12)

Titus 1:7--9)

A. Othniel of Judah, Ehud, Shamgar, Deborah, Gideon, Tola, Jair, Jepthah, Ibzan, Elon, Abdon, and Sampson. Eli
and Samuel round off the number to fourteen.
 6 ¶ And Samuel said to the people, “The “ LORD is witness, who appointed Moses
and Aaron and brought your fathers up out of the land of Egypt.
7 Now therefore stand still that I may plead with you before the LORD concern-
ing all the righteous deeds of the LORD that he performed for you and for your
fathers. Here is the king whom
8 When Jacob went into Egypt, and the Egyptians oppressed them, then your fa- you have chosen and
thers cried out to the LORD and the LORD sent Moses and Aaron, who brought
your fathers out of Egypt and made them dwell in this place. whom you have desired.
9 But they forgot the LORD their God. And he sold them into the hand of Sisera,
commander of the army of Hazor, {Septuagint the army of Jabin king of Hazor}
and into the hand of the Philistines, and into the hand of the king of Moab. And
they fought against them.
10 And they cried out to the LORD and said, ‘We have sinned, because we have
forsaken the LORD and have served the Baals and the Ashtaroth. But now deliver
us out of the hand of our enemies, that we may serve you.’
11 And the LORD sent Jerubbaal and Barak {Septuagint, Syriac; Hebrew Bedan}
and Jephthah and Samuel and delivered you out of the hand of your enemies on
every side, and you lived in safety.
12 And when you saw that Nahash the king of the Ammonites came against you, you
said to me, ‘No, but a king shall reign over us,’ when the LORD your God was your
king.
13 And now behold the king whom you have chosen, for whom you have asked; be-
hold, the LORD has set a king over you.
14 If you will fear the LORD and serve him and obey his voice and not rebel against
the commandment of the LORD, and if both you and the king who reigns over you will
follow the LORD your God, it will be well. A judge was a person “whom God
15 But if you will not obey the voice of the LORD, but rebel against the command- raised up to lead a revolt against
ment of the LORD, then the hand of the LORD will be against you and your king. foreign oppressors and who, hav-
{Septuagint; Hebrew fathers}
16 ¶ Now therefore stand still and see this great thing that the LORD will do before ing freed the nation and shown
your eyes. thereby his (or her) call of God,
17 Is it not wheat harvest today? I will call upon the LORD, that he may send thunder was looked to by the people to
and rain. And you shall know and see that your wickedness is great, which you have maintain their rights.” There were
done in the sight of the LORD, in asking for yourselves a king.” how many Judges?
18 So Samuel called upon the LORD, and the LORD sent thunder and Bottom of page 1.
rain that day, and all the people greatly feared the LORD and Samuel.
1. Can we list some of the faithful works of the real King of Israel, as Samuel describes them in verses 6--13?

2. In a second list, can we record the reaction of God’s people? What personal challenge does this bring us?
God’s Works; Israel’s Reaction: Personal Challenge:

What does v. 12 suggest is the real motive behind the people’s request for an earthly king?

What sin had the people of God committed (v. 12) and how might we be guilty of the same sin?

Picking up the pieces: Despite having an earthly king, who were the people to serve? (vv. 14--15).

How might we serve our heavenly king (four ways)? V. 14. (in our different circumstances?)

Because He loves them. Only God’s

love makes any sense of this!
 19 And all the people said to Samuel,“ “Pray for your servants to the
LORD your God, that we may not die, for we have added to all our sins
this evil, to ask for ourselves a king.”
20 And Samuel said to the people, “Do not be afraid; you have done all The Living Bible:
this evil. Yet do not turn aside from following the LORD, but serve the
LORD with all your heart.
21 And do not turn aside after empty things that cannot profit or deliv-
er, for they are empty.
22 For the LORD will not forsake his people, for his great name’s
sake, because it has pleased the LORD to make you a people for him-
self.
23 Moreover, as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the
LORD by ceasing to pray for you, and I will instruct you in the good Key Principles:
and the right way. 1. Our response to others’ needs
24 Only fear the LORD and serve him faithfully with all your heart. may be merely emotional of that
For consider what great things he has done for you. of a spirit-directed action (12:1--7)
25 But if you still do wickedly, you shall be swept away, both you and 2. Rebellious people ask for some-
your king.” thing other than God Himself
(12:12)
Notice the wisdom here on a bad situation: “We can’t do anything 3. After we have matured enough
about yesterday, and the present moment we can’t serve God tomor- to realize that we have been
row. At the present moment, all we can do is ‘not turn aside from wrong, we may wonder, “What do
following the LORD but serve the LORD with all our hearts.” I do now?” God’s answer, through
Samuel, is fourfold: 1, fear the
Php 3:13 Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but Lord, 2), serve Him; 3) obey His
one thing [I do], forgetting those things which are behind and reach- voice, 4) don’t rebel against His
ing forward to those things which are ahead, commands. You will know that
you are following the Lord if you
are heeding these four directives
(12:14)

“Do not be afraid? Can you think of how many times you hear this in Scripture?
What is the basis of Samuel’s encouragement (vs 22)?
In vv. 23-24 what did God’s faithful spokesman promise to do for the people, even though they had, in part,
rejected him?

Does this give us hope to pray for our loved ones in spite of his/her unfaithfulness or rejection?
Homework: Write Samuel’s first challenge v. 24f as if it were written to you.

Look at Verse 22: See the beauty of this verse. Samuel wants Israel to know that God loves them. This is why,
despite the sin of their past, they can get on with serving the LORD and see His blessing. Because God loves
them, His favor towards Israel was not prompted by the good they had done, were doing, or promised to do. It
was for “His great name’s sake,” for it “pleased the LORD” to do it. The reasons were in Him and not in Israel.
What encouragement is in this for us?

Consider verse 23 as elders, parents, friends. What does this mean that Samuel was already doing? Can
we all claim the same for GBC? (Col 1:9; 1Thes 5:17)What would Samuel do besides not ceasing to pray?
Why doesn’t God give up on Israel? Why is God willing to put away the sin of the past? Why is God willing to
give them a new start? Answer on bottom of page 2.