Title: Miss Baro Moira
1 The men of Kiriath-jearim came and brought the ark of the LORD into the house of Abinadab, who lived on the mountain, and consecrated his son Eliasar to keep the ark of the LORD.
2 From the day the ark entered Kiriath-jearim, it lasted twenty years. And all the house of Israel longed for the LORD.
3 Samuel spoke to all the house of Israel, saying, "If you will return to the Lord with all your heart, remove from you the foreign gods and Ashtaroth, and turn your hearts to the Lord and serve them, and I will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines."
4 So the children of Israel put away the Baals and Ashtaroth, and served only the LORD.
5 Samuel said, Gather all Israel to Mizpah, and I will pray to the LORD for you.
6 And they gathered together at Mizpah, drew water and poured it before the LORD, and fasted that day, and said there, "We have sinned against the LORD." Samuel reigned over the children of Israel at Mizpah.
7 When the Philistines heard that the children of Israel had gathered at Mizpah, their princes went up against Israel. When the children of Israel heard it, they were afraid of the Philistines.
8 And he said to Samuel, “Call without ceasing to the LORD our God for us, that he may deliver us from the hand of the Philistines.
9 Samuel took a suckling lamb and offered a whole burnt offering to the LORD, and he cried out to the LORD for Israel, and the LORD answered him.
10 And while Samuel was offering the burnt offering, the Philistines came near to fight against Israel, and on that day the LORD sent a great thunder to the Philistines and disturbed them, and they were defeated before Israel.
11 And the Israelites went out from Mizpah and followed the Philistines and struck them down to Bethgar.
12 Samuel took a stone and set it between Mizpah and Shen, saying, The LORD has helped us up to this point. And he called its name Ebenezer.
Prophet Eli, who was loved and favored by God, reigned over Israel for 40 years and became 98 years old. However, as the people worshiped foreign gods and fell into lewdness and pleasure, the country entered a dark age. The prophet Eli lost his power of government. Then, the Philistines invaded, and eventually the ark, the presence of the Lord, was lost. The people were humiliated by the Philistines. It has been 20 years since the ark was lost. It cannot be a sad event. Realizing this dark age, the Israelites began to yearn for God.
At this time, Samuel, a man of God, appears. Samuel is a man of God. a person of prayer He was a man who was loved by God.
1. Samuel had all the people gather at Mizpah Square (verse 5).
In verse 5, “Samuel said, Gather all Israel to Mizpah,” Samuel exclaims.
Mizpah is the promised land where Jacob made a covenant with his father-in-law Laban while heading home with his children and herds of animals and made a landmark with a heap of stones. It is also a political center for Israel. It is also the land of victory where Jephthah made a vow to the Lord when he went out to fight against the Ammonites, and returned to meet his daughter as a burnt offering. They had the Israelites gather at Mizpah in this meaningful place.
2. The Israelites gathered at Mizpah and held a revival meeting (verse 3).
He made a great spiritual revival meeting for the people of Israel gathered at Mizpah. Verse 3 says, “Samuel spoke to all the house of Israel, saying, If you will return to the Lord with all your heart, remove from you the foreign gods and Ashtaroth, and turn your hearts to the Lord and stop serving them, and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.” The content of the Revival Crusade was simple.
(1) It means to throw away foreign gods. The prophet Samuel thought that “the only way to save a country that has been devastated by idolatry is to forsake foreign gods.” Hallelujah!
(2) It is to repent while fasting. The prophet Samuel thought that the only way for the nation to come out of darkness was “fasting and prayer, and prayer of repentance.” Hallelujah!
(3) They were told to serve only the Lord. Serving Jehovah is the way I live, the way my family lives, and the way the nation lives.
Because the people of Israel had longed for God because they had been humiliated by the Philistines while living away from God and worshiping foreign gods, they gathered at La Mizpah to fast and cry out and pray.
The way the saints live must be spiritually longed for as in today's text. And we must obey the Word. We must also fast and repent of our sins. It is said that when the Reformer Luther asked, “Who is a heretic,” he replied “a man who does not know how to repent”.
It is said that intellectual repentance means realizing and finding out one's mistakes. He also said that static repentance means mourning and confessing one's sins. He also said that volitional repentance means changing one's direction.
The Israelites gathered around Samuel, gathered at Mizpah, confessed all their sins and fasted and repented.
3. The results of the revival meeting at Mizpah were good.
After hearing the sermon of the prophet Samuel, the people of Israel repented and began to fast. At this time, the Philistine army came to invade. Verse 7 says, “When the Philistines heard that the children of Israel had gathered at Mizpah, their princes went up against Israel. Have pity on this nation!
Verses 8-9, “Then he said to Samuel, “Call without ceasing to the LORD our God for us, that he may deliver us from the hand of the Philistines.” Samuel took a suckling lamb and offered a whole burnt offering to the LORD, I cried out to the LORD for him, and the LORD answered him.”
God, who heard Samuel's prayer, says in verse 10, "While Samuel was offering the burnt offering, the Philistines came near to fight against Israel, and on that day the Lord sent out a great thunderstorm to the Philistines and disturbed them, and they were defeated before Israel." When the Philistines invaded, they made a great thunderstorm to confuse them and became the victor of the war.
Verse 12 says, “Samuel took a stone and set it between Mizpah and Shen, saying, ‘The Lord has helped us thus far.’ And he called it Ebenezer.” said he did. In the end, the results of the revival meeting at Mizpah were very good. First, he blocked the enemy (the Philistines). Second, there has been a restoration of the rediscovery of much land. Third, he brought peace to the land of Israel.
The great spiritual revival meeting starting this evening will experience the amazing grace of God just like the assembly gathered in Mizpah Square. I believe in line. Hallelujah!