Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Evening Sermon Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/ev/ev20020203.htm

1 AND 2 SAMUEL: GOD'S SOLUTIONS TO PROBLEMS IN OVERSIGHT
Part XIV: Blessing Through Looking BEYOND Human Leaders To Lean On God ALONE
(1 Samuel 12:1-25)
  1. Introduction
    1. Believers can seek to be secure by trusting in their human leaders as their ultimate source of stability.
    2. However, this is a form of idolatry, for God wants us to look beyond our human overseers to rely on God alone for stability and blessing. 1 Samuel 12:1-25 is a great and powerful lesson on this fact:
  2. Blessing Through Looking BEYOND Human Leaders To Lean On God ALONE, 1 Samuel 12:1-25.
    1. As the prophet, Samuel ended his judgeship oversight at Saul's coronation as king, he summoned Israel to supply a parting admonition unto them, 1 Samuel 12:1-2.
    2. His address certified his personal credibility so the people would listen to Samuel, and Samuel thus distanced himself from his bribe-taking sons, 1 Samuel 12:2b, 3-5 with 1 Samuel 8:1-3.
    3. Then, in his parting address he so deeply wanted the nation to heed, Samuel gave a history lesson to urge Israel to look beyond her human king to lean on God ALONE for blessing, 1 Samuel 12:6-18a:
      1. Samuel recounted God's rich blessings beginning with the deliverance from Egypt and continuing with His multiplied deliverances from oppressive nations during the time of the judges, 1 Samuel 12:6-11.
      2. In it all, he kept focusing on Israel's rebellion against GOD that led to the repeated need for the nation's deliverance by God, 1 Samuel 12:9a, 10a,b, 11.
      3. Then Samuel relayed how that rebellion had taken a new twist in the current generation's rejection of God as KING in preference for a worldly human king, 1 Samuel 12:12-13.
      4. Accordingly, Samuel charged the nation to obey GOD or, regardless of the presence of their new king in Saul, they themselves would experience judgment like their forefathers, 1 Samuel 12:14-15.
      5. To PROVE his point, Samuel performed a miraculous sign that recalled how unnecessary had been Israel's request to have a human, worldly king to replace God as their KING, 1 Samuel 12:16-18a:
        1. Samuel gave a sing of a severe thunderstorm during the May-June season, a very unlikely time for rain, and it revealed God's anger at Israel's rebellion of Him as their KING, 1 Samuel 12:16-18a.
        2. This storm recalled the storm GOD had previously sent back in 1 Samuel 7:7-10 at the start of Samuel's national oversight to deliver a distraught Israel from the attacking Philistines!
        3. At that time, God had answered Samuel's prayer performed at Israel's request for deliverance from their enemies by sending such a severe thunderstorm that the Philistines fled and were subdued before Israel for the rest of Samuel's term in oversight, 1 Samuel 7:13!
        4. Hence, since God had alone delivered Israel by prayer by sending a severe storm to begin Samuel's oversight, and that storm's effect had lasted throughout his judgeship, this second miraculous storm sign at the end of Samuel's oversight revealed how needless was Israel's request to replace GOD with a worldly human king!
    4. Hence, Israel got the point with the sign, and repented of her rebellion of God as her KING, 12:18b-19.
    5. Samuel urged the nation with their human king in Saul to keep looking to GOD based on this history lesson and miraculous sign illustration as both the nation and her human king needed GOD, 12:20-25:
      1. In spite of the nation's rebellion, Samuel claimed were Israel still to follow God and not vain sources of deliverance, Israel would enjoy God's blessing, 1 Samuel 12:20-21.
      2. He relayed how God's unconditional promises to Abraham's seed was behind the assurance of such continued divine help, 1 Samuel 12:22.
      3. Samuel also agreed to continue to pray for the nation as he had in first delivering them with the first storm, something to cause them to continue to trust in God, 1 Samuel 12:23 with 1 Samuel 7:7-10, 13.
      4. Thus, the nation and king were to respect and obey God in truth for blessing as rebelling against Him would bring their sure destruction, 1 Samuel 12:24-25.
Lesson: Recalling Israel's history, Samuel noted both the nation and her king needed to look to GOD as their ULTIMATE Source of security and blessing and NOT to a human king which was idolatrous. Failure to do so, as was so evident via Israel's history, would result in failure and judgment.

Application: We must put our reliance upon GOD and NOT on mere human overseers for blessing!