How important are the leaders?

Samuel 7, verses 1 to 15, says:

“Then the men of Kirjath Jearim came and took the Ark of the Lord, and brought it to the house of Abinadab on the hill and consecrated Eleazar his son to keep the Ark of the Lord. 2. So it was that the ark remained in kirjath Jearim a long time; it was there twenty years. And all the house of Israel lamented after the Lord. 3. Then Samuel spoke to all the house of Israel saying, “if you return to the Lord with all your hearts, then put away the foreign Gods and the Asthoreths from amongst you and prepare your hearts for the Lord, and serve him only and he will deliver you from the hands of the philistines.”

4. So the children of Israel put away the Baal and the Asthoreths and serve the Lord only. 5. And Samuel said, “Gather all Israel to Mizpah and I will pray to the Lord for you. 6. So they gathered together in Mizpah, drew water and poured it out before the Lord and they fasted that day, and said there, “We have sinned against the lord” and Samuel judged the children of Israel at Mizpah.

7. “Now when the philistines heard that the children of Israel had gathered together at Mizpah, the lords of the philistines went against Israel. And when the children of Israel heard of it they were afraid of the philistines. 8. So the children of Israel said to Samuel, “Do not cease to cry out to the Lord our God for us that he may save us from the hands of the philistines”.

9. “And Samuel took a suckling Lamb and offered it as a whole burnt offering to the Lord for Israel and, the Lord answered him. 10. Now as Samuel was offering up the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near to battle against Israel. But the Lord thundered with a loud thunder upon the philistines that day, and so confused that they were overcome before Israel. 11. And the men of Israel went out of Mizpah and pursued the Philistines, and drove them back as far as Below Beth Car.

12. “Then Samuel took a stone and set it between Mizpah and Shen saying, “thus far the Lord helped us”. 13. So the Philistines were subdued and they did not come anymore in the territory of Israel. And the hand of the Lord was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel. 14. Then the cities which the Philistines had taken from Israel were restored to Israel, from Ekron to Gath; and Israel recovered its territory from the hands of the Philistines. Also there was peace between Israel and the Amorites. 15. And Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life.” (NKJV)

These verses tell us about the fight between two tribes: the Israelites and the Philistines. This battle happened until the Israelites lost the Ark of God to the Philistines. Before this, people knew that when the Ark is with them, God is with them. In this case, the Philistines knew that the God of the Israelites was with them because they had the Ark of God, even though these nations were not serving the same God.

The Philistines were serving their God, who is an idol known as Dagon. The Israelites were serving the God of Host, the God who created heaven and earth, the most powerful God, the God that is above all Gods.

The Philistines made a mistake with the Ark of God. They placed it near their God, Dagon. Our God cannot be compared to idols; He is a powerful God. The Philistines found their God on the ground. His head had been cut off. They lifted him up but again he fell. This happened until they noticed something: the Ark of God was next to their God and they knew that this was wrong. So, brothers and sisters, people might tell you this and that about God, but just keep on praising Him because they can also see the power of God.

Now, the Philistines had to return the Ark of God back to the Israelites. So, maybe your enemies took your things by witchcraft while you fell; they stole your marriage, they stole your peace, your happiness and all the things that are important to you. They are now returning them back because our God has revealed Himself to them. He is now making their witchcraft fail. He is bringing down all the demons that they are using and He is cutting their heads off.

Do not be like the Israelites, because by the time the Ark was returned they were already serving other Gods (Baal), which is why they were always defeated. Our God saw that they needed something. They wanted to return to him but there was something they needed to guide them. They needed a leader.

God gave them Samuel as a leader. This is when we will see how important a leader is in our lives, in the same way that a pastor in the church is. The Bible says they went to Mizpah and gathered there, and the Philistines heard that their enemies gathered in Mizpah. They started to attack but God revealed Himself and showed them the importance of having a leader. When they saw the Philistines coming they cried to their leader Samuel and said, “Don’t stop praying, keep on praying for us”. They saw the enemy approaching.

The Israelites needed their leader to pray for them. This means that leaders need more prayers than we do because they carry our lives to God. They keep the connection between God and his people. This is not an easy job. Let us keep on praying for our leaders, pastors, bishops and teachers, because they are doing a great job.

Samuel connected the people with God, and afterwards, God thundered upon their enemies and confused them. The Israelites pursued them and killed them and drove them to Beth Car. They defeated them after they were reconnected with God, because they had lost connection with God when they started to worship other Gods (Baal). Afterwards, Samuel showed them the power of remembrance. This is what we shall speak of now.

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