1 Samuel 7:4 - Printer Friendly

ESV: So the people of Israel put away the Baals and the Ashtaroth, and they served the LORD only.

NIV: So the Israelites put away their Baals and Ashtoreths, and served the LORD only.

NASB: So the sons of Israel removed the Baals and the Ashtaroth, and served the Lord alone.

CSB: So the Israelites removed the Baals and the Ashtoreths and only worshiped the Lord.

NLT: So the Israelites got rid of their images of Baal and Ashtoreth and worshiped only the Lord.

KJV: Then the children of Israel did put away Baalim and Ashtaroth, and served the LORD only.

NKJV: So the children of Israel put away the Baals and the Ashtoreths, and served the Lord only.

Samuel was the last of the judges who led Israel as the Lord's deliverer of His people. The pattern of the book of Judges (Judges 2:11–23) repeats. The people sinned against the Lord by serving the idols of foreign nations. He caused them to be captured and oppressed by invaders, in this case the Philistines. Eventually, the people would repent of their sin and cry out to the Lord to deliver them. God would raise up a judge to free them from their oppressors.

Samuel has instructed the people to demonstrate their repentance in three ways: Throw away all the idols and representations of the foreign gods whom you have been serving. Begin to sincerely worship the Lord. Serve Him only and not alongside the worship of any other god (1 Samuel 7:3).

Now the Israelites do exactly what Samuel, the prophet and judge, has told them. They put away the Baals and the Ashtaroth, which were the generalized names of all the male gods and female goddesses they had been worshiping in the manner of the people of Canaan. The Israelites began to serve only the Lord and nothing else.

They had passed the true test of repentance: Turning from the sin and heading toward the Lord. Without a change in the behavior, there is not true repentance (Luke 3:8; 6:43–45).

First Samuel 7:3–14 begins with Samuel's instructions for the people to throw away their foreign gods and serve the Lord only. The nation gathers at Mizpah to confess and repent. Seeing what looks like an amassed army, the Philistines plan an attack. Samuel offers a sacrifice and cries out to the Lord, who thunders against the Philistines and throws them into confusion. The Israelites strike them down and drive them out of Israelite territory. Israel also has peace with the local Amorites.

Twenty years after the ark of the Lord is taken to Kiriath-jearim, Samuel calls for the people to repent. They should discard foreign gods and serve the true Lord. Gathered at Mizpah, the people confess their sin. With the Philistines approaching to attack, Samuel offers a sacrifice and cries out to God. The Lord responds with loud thunder against the Philistines and throws them into confusion. The Israelites strike them down and drive them out of Israelite territory. Samuel serves as judge over Israel for the rest of his life.

First Samuel 7 begins with the arrival of the previously captured ark of the covenant (1 Samuel 4—6) at Kiriath-jearim. There it sits for twenty years. Samuel then calls the people to repent and throw away the foreign gods they have been worshiping. At Mizpah, the nation is gathered to confess their sin and fast. With the Philistines approaching, Samuel offers a sacrifice and cries out to God. The Lord confuses the Philistines, and the Israelites strike them down and force them out of Israelite territory. Unfortunately, after this, Israel will seek to appoint a king so they can be like the other nations in the area (1 Samuel 8).

First Samuel introduces the key figures who led Israel after the era of the judges. The books of 1 and 2 Samuel were originally part of a single text, split in certain translations shortly before the birth of Christ. Some of the Bible’s most famous characters are depicted in this book. These including the prophet Samuel, Israel’s first king, Saul, her greatest king, David, and other famous names such as Goliath and Jonathan. By the end of this book, Saul has fallen; the book of 2 Samuel begins with David’s ascension to the throne.