Drawing Near To God

The ark of the covenant of God was not where it should be. It remained distant from the people for twenty years. The Israelites lamented after the Lord.

Samuel urged them, “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.”

Samuel told the people to gather, and he would pray for them. They gathered, drew water, and poured it out before the Lord. They fasted and confessed, “We have sinned against the Lord.”

At this solemn moment, the Philistines attacked Israel. The devil does not want people to draw near to God. The Israelites were afraid. They 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.”

Samuel sacrificed a lamb to the Lord. He prayed. The Lord answered his prayer with loud thunder. The thunder scared the Philistines. They became confused. The Lord defeated them.

Afterwards, Samuel set up a stone and called its name Ebenezer, saying, “Thus far the Lord has helped us.” The Philistines were subdued. The cities they had taken from Israel were restored to Israel, and there was peace. [1]

A metaphor for Jesus in Bible is a lamb that is slain. The priests of God sacrificed lambs to atone for the sins of people. Jesus is called the Lamb of God because He is the One who takes away the sin of all who believe in Him.

The nation of Israel had departed from God to serve foreign gods. The enemy took advantage of their apostacy. He oppressed and abused the people. They were like sheep without a shepherd to protect them from predators. They were afraid.

The people of Israel wanted Samuel to pray for them. He urged them to forsake foreign gods and prayer to the one true God. He atoned for their sin by sacrificing a lamb to God. Once their sinned was forgiven by God the devil had no legal claim again them.

What they had been unable to do in twenty years, happened in a day. The Lord defeated their enemies. They turned to the Lord, sought His forgiveness, and received His help.

Like the nation of Israel, we have sinned against God. We need His forgiveness. God has set forth Jesus as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. In this way, God is just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. [2] May the Lord help the people of our nation to forsake other gods and hold steadfast to faith in Christ alone.

[1] 1 Samuel 7:2-10, 12-14
[2] Romans 3:23-26