1 Samuel 12--Samuel's Farewell Address

1 Samuel 12
English Standard Version

Samuel's Farewell Address
12 And Samuel said to all Israel, “Behold, I have obeyed your voice in all that you have said to me and have made a king over you. 2 And now, behold, the king walks before you, and I am old and gray; and behold, my sons are with you. I have walked before you from my youth until this day. 3 Here I am; testify against me before the LORD and before his anointed. Whose ox have I taken? Or whose donkey have I taken? Or whom have I defrauded? Whom have I oppressed? Or from whose hand have I taken a bribe to blind my eyes with it? Testify against me and I will restore it to you.” 4 They said, “You have not defrauded us or oppressed us or taken anything from any man's hand.” 5 And he said to them, “The LORD is witness against you, and his anointed is witness this day, that you have not found anything in my hand.” And they said, “He is witness.”

6 And Samuel said to the people, “The LORD is witness, who appointed Moses and Aaron and brought your fathers up out of the land of Egypt. 7 Now therefore stand still that I may plead with you before the LORD concerning all the righteous deeds of the LORD that he performed for you and for your fathers. 8 When Jacob went into Egypt, and the Egyptians oppressed them, then your fathers cried out to the LORD and the LORD sent Moses and Aaron, who brought your fathers out of Egypt and made them dwell in this place. 9 But they forgot the LORD their God. And he sold them into the hand of Sisera, commander of the army of Hazor, and into the hand of the Philistines, and into the hand of the king of Moab. And they fought against them. 10 And they cried out to the LORD and said, ‘We have sinned, because we have forsaken the LORD and have served the Baals and the Ashtaroth. But now deliver us out of the hand of our enemies, that we may serve you.’ 11 And the LORD sent Jerubbaal and Barak and Jephthah and Samuel and delivered you out of the hand of your enemies on every side, and you lived in safety. 12 And when you saw that Nahash the king of the Ammonites came against you, you said to me, ‘No, but a king shall reign over us,’ when the LORD your God was your king. 13 And now behold the king whom you have chosen, for whom you have asked; behold, the LORD has set a king over you. 14 If you will fear the LORD and serve him and obey his voice and not rebel against the commandment of the LORD, and if both you and the king who reigns over you will follow the LORD your God, it will be well. 15 But if you will not obey the voice of the LORD, but rebel against the commandment of the LORD, then the hand of the LORD will be against you and your king. 16 Now therefore stand still and see this great thing that the LORD will do before your eyes. 17 Is it not wheat harvest today? I will call upon the LORD, that he may send thunder and rain. And you shall know and see that your wickedness is great, which you have done in the sight of the LORD, in asking for yourselves a king.” 18 So Samuel called upon the LORD, and the LORD sent thunder and rain that day, and all the people greatly feared the LORD and Samuel.

​19 And all the people said to Samuel, “Pray for your servants to the LORD your God, that we may not die, for we have added to all our sins this evil, to ask for ourselves a king.” 20 And Samuel said to the people, “Do not be afraid; you have done all this evil. Yet do not turn aside from following the LORD, but serve the LORD with all your heart. 21 And do not turn aside after empty things that cannot profit or deliver, for they are empty. 22 For the LORD will not forsake his people, for his great name's sake, because it has pleased the LORD to make you a people for himself. 23 Moreover, as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the LORD by ceasing to pray for you, and I will instruct you in the good and the right way. 24 Only fear the LORD and serve him faithfully with all your heart. For consider what great things he has done for you. 25 But if you still do wickedly, you shall be swept away, both you and your king.”

---

Samuel is not happy with the people after asking him to be a king-maker and he is ready to "retire" and focus on raising his sons.  He also feels like he's too old to be doing this still (maybe he's focusing on the years of service that Levite was supposed to have from age 25 or 30 (depending on what text you're looking at, most agree on the age of 30) until the age of 50.  They would continue to help with guard duty after this, but would have no other regular duties assigned to them.  Samuel may simply have reached the age of 50 and thought that it was his time to "retire" like this since he was brought up among the Levites (speculation on my part).  However, we know that Samuel has more work to do, as the LORD will call him to speak to the king and the people on his behalf, and he will continue to offer sacrifices for the people for atonement since there seems to be no priesthood serving in Israel at this time (all of Eli's family has died, and the LORD has not announced as successor to Eli).

Samuel stands in front of the people and asks for them to bring any charge they have against him or against the LORD for how they have treated him and the LORD in this manner so that they rebelled against both of them in saying they no longer wanted judges, but wanted a king so they could be like all the other nations.  The people can bring no charge against Samuel and Samuel says that Saul (the one the LORD has anointed) and all of heaven therefore stand as witnesses against the people for what they have done.

Samuel then recounts the history of the people and all the the LORD has done for them to this point, and how this act is an act of rebellion against the LORD because they are rejecting Him as their King.  The LORD Himself always led the people into battle (with the pillar of cloud/fire) and He won their battles for them.  Now they are asking for a human king to lead them and fight for them because they no longer trust in the LORD to lead them or deliver them, even though He has done so time and time again.  Samuel then called on the LORD to send a thunderstorm (which should not have come at that time of year) and it most certainly damaged the wheat harvest that they were about to gather, and the people greatly feared the LORD and Samuel.

What's done is done, but the Israelites do recognize that they have added to their sins by asking for a king, and they ask for forgiveness.  Samuel tells them to turn aside from the things that are worthless (probably the false gods they have started to worship again), and assured them that the LORD will not forsake His people, because it is His Name that is on the line.  He made an eternal covenant with them because it please Him to do so, and He will be faithful to fulfil that covenant, but the people should fear Him and serve Him because of His great love for them.  His grace and mercy should not be seen as license for them to continue in sin, otherwise they might also come under his corrective judgment--both the people and the king (we'll see this happen at the time of the Exile).