Title In a Conflict of Leadership
Contents
1 Samuel 8:1-22
- No coincidence. There really are no coincidences in our lives. I had a dream that a thief was trying to break into our house and filling the gap. I woke up in time for early morning prayer, but I fell asleep again and missed the dawn for two days in a row. It shows my spiritual condition well. I feel Satan's attacks getting stronger. In the midst of it, it is very exhausting and difficult, but again, we train how to start the day with prayer and the Word. As I exchanged morning prayer with Deacon Choi Hae-moon, I feel the powerful consideration of the Lord, who supplies the words I need as the text of the morning prayer.
- Today's text begins by saying that Samuel grew old. So Samuel made his sons judges, the spiritual leaders of Israel. Sadly, both of Samuel's sons failed to follow their father's path of obedience and faith, and the Bible records that they "take bribes according to profit and pervert judgment." Then all the elders of Israel hurried to Samuel in Ramah, making a rather rude claim. “You are too old to lead us any longer, and the sons you have raised do not follow your actions. So, like the rest of the world, let us appoint a king to rule with power.” The elders' argument sounds reasonable at first glance. As people with a lot of responsibility in the community, the elders grasped the visible phenomena more keenly than anyone else, and they thought rationally that the current leader was old and the next leader seemed to be insignificant. .
- The first thing that comes to mind here is the conflict between the elders and Samuel the judge. Seeing that all the elders gather and demand the kingship from Samuel, it can be seen that the elders have been arguing over the spiritual leadership of Samuel several times since before that, and decided that it was difficult to follow Samuel's leadership any longer, and came with a determination. “You are old and your sons do not follow your ways” was only a plausible cause. Of course, Samuel's failure to establish a plausible successor by the time he reached the age of retirement could be blamed on Samuel. Establishing a judge without raising children well can be a target of criticism in the world. However, what the elders were asking for at this time was not the spiritual awakening of their sons, but a kind of overthrow of the system: “Let us set up a king to rule over us like all nations.” The awareness of the problem was good, but the proposed solution crossed the line that should not be crossed given the circumstances at the time.
- At this time, Samuel vigorously scolded the elders and did not fight. The second point to consider in the text is Samuel's response and God's response. It becomes clear here that Samuel is also spiritual. He felt bad enough to blush at the demands of the elders who were approaching him with worldly blood, but he prayed to Jehovah first. If there is a lack of spiritual fellowship and intimacy with God on a regular basis, it is bound to make the situation worse by taking offense in such a situation. However, those who are full of God and their daily prayer life kneel to God with all their emotions. This is because God already knows the nature of these conflicts most clearly and clearly. God's answer was quite different from Samuel's expectations. “Listen to all that the people have said to you.” No, is God on the side of the elders? Do you mean to completely give up on the way Samuel was taught and guided through his old age before he retired? If so, wouldn't that end up proving Samuel to the elders that his ministry had been a failure? Samuel could have thought of this.
- Today's verse tells us that it is not important whether we continue as judges before God or whether we appoint a king, but that what really matters is whether we depend only on God. This is because the pain of disobedience and the joy of obedience existed in every age. Thinking about today's text, I look back at the situation of our church and my personal heart. What I realized through the planning prayer session for worship was that God's interest was not in whether the worship service was divided into the general worship service and the youth worship service, or whether it became one, but whether the worship depended solely on God. Over the past 10 years, he has become like an elder and begins to look back with fear of whether he is more dependent on worldly networks than on God. Now, as you think about the next 10 years, I hope you do not cling to or be impatient with any visible buildings or organizations, and rely on God who always works miracles like thunder in moments that seem like a crisis and leads you according to His plan.
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