Podcast #1 - Samuel's Farewell Address

[soundcloud url="https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/186283773" params="auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&visual=true" width="100%" height="300" iframe="true" /] In 1 Samuel 12, as Samuel is growing old, he takes the time to address the nation of Israel one last time. At the end of his speech, he asks God for a sign. God then sends a thunderstorm. The text then tells us that the people "greatly feared the Lord and Samuel". Why? Well, to fully understand the answer to the question, you need to know a little bit about the geography of Israel. That is what we will discuss in today's program.

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Podcast Links 1 Samuel 12 - BibleGateway.com 2015 Israel Tour Exploring Bible Lands' Facebook Page

Samuel's Farewell Address

In 1 Samuel 12, Samuel speaks to the people of Israel about some of the decisions that they have made, primarily concerning the fact that they had requested a king (when God was already their king). However, he states that if the people and their king will obey the Lord, then all will be well. However, if they don’t, then “the hand of the Lord will be against you and your king”. Then, Samuel performs a sign. He asks God for thunder and rain. And, the Lord provides it.

"Now therefore stand still and see this great thing that the Lord will do before your eyes. 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.” 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. - 1 Samuel 12:16-18

Why did the people “greatly fear” them? Well, you have to know a little bit about the geography and climatology of the land to understand.

Location of the Sign The people were assembled at Gilgal. (NOTE: I realize that there are a couple of different locations attributed to Gilgal. And, I realize that “a gilgal” could have been something that was built. But, I believe that in this passage we are talking about an actual location). Gilgal was location approximately 4-5 kilometers away from Jericho in the base of the Jordan Rift Valley.

As winds come off of the Mediterranean Sea, they reach the Central Mountain Range and rise. As the air rises, it cools and water droplets condense and eventually fall as rain. Therefore, the Central Mountain Range (including the cities of Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Samaria, etc) get about 26 inches of rain per year. However, as the winds top of the Central Mountain Range, they descend into the Jordan Rift Valley. In doing so, the air warms and the water dries up. Consequently, the city of Jericho (which is located about 10-12 miles from Jerusalem) only gets 4-6 inches of rain per year.

So, why were the people afraid? Because they realized that God made it rain in a place that doesn’t get that much rain.

But, I think that there is another reason.

Time of the Sign Did you catch that extra piece of information that Samuel stated in his speech? He said that it was the time of the wheat harvest. What does that mean?

Well, the little rain that does fall in the Jordan Rift Valley falls between the months of October and April. The wheat harvest is in May (and may go into June). The people knew that God had made it rain at a time of year in which it never rains.

When the people saw that the rain fell in a place that rarely gets rain and at a time in which it never gets rain, they knew that this was a sign from God. And consequently, they were greatly afraid.

By better understanding the lands of the Bible, you can better understand the stories in the Bible.

Recently, I presented a lesson on this topic at Capshaw church of Christ. You are welcome to listen to it and let me know if you have any questions.

(NOTE: The picture at the top of the post is from Trent and Rebekah Dutton. You can see all of their pictures at http://www.simplebiblehistory.com. The picture is taken from the Central Mountain Range looking east across the Jordan Rift Valley toward the Trans-Jordan Plateau.)

The Ark at Shiloh

NOTE: This post is the fifth in a series of posts about locations where the Ark of the Covenant visited. I have previously written about the Plains of Moab, the Jordan River, Jericho and Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim. With the Israelites on the western side of the Jordan River, Joshua led them as them began to conquer the land. Joshua 9-21 details the battles that Joshua led, the cities that he conquered and the division of the land among the tribes. At the end of Joshua 19 we read,

These were the inheritances which Eleazar the priest, Joshua the son of Nun, and the heads of the fathers of the tribes of the children of Israel divided as an inheritance by lot in Shiloh before the Lord, at the door of the tabernacle of meeting. So they made an end of dividing the country. - Joshua 19:51

The Israelites had set up the tabernacle at Shiloh, and in it, the Ark of the Covenant was kept. Joshua used this location as the place where he divided the land for the Israelites.

Shiloh is located in the hill country about 30 miles north of Jerusalem. Today, Shiloh is identified with Tell Seilun and a lot of excavation work has been done there.

Shiloh is where Samuel grew up. When Samuel was born, Hannah, his mother, promised to give the child back to God. When Samuel was old enough, she took him to live with Eli, who lived in Shiloh.

Now there was a certain man of Ramathaim Zophim, of the mountains of Ephraim, and his name was Elkanah the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephraimite. And he had two wives: the name of one was Hannah, and the name of the other Peninnah. Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children. This man went up from his city yearly to worship and sacrifice to the Lord of hosts in Shiloh. Also the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, the priests of the Lord, were there....Now when she had weaned him, she took him up with her, with three bulls, one ephah of flour, and a skin of wine, and brought him to the house of the Lord in Shiloh. And the child was young. Then they slaughtered a bull, and brought the child to Eli. - 1 Samuel 1:1-3, 24-25

The Ark remained at Shiloh for a few hundred years through most of the time period that we know as the "period of the judges". In 1 Samuel 4, the Ark was taken from Shiloh to a battle against the Philistines. This decision turned out to be a bad one. The Ark was captured by the Philistines. When the news of this reached Eli, who was an old man by this time, he fell off his chair in the gate of the city of Shiloh and died.

Then a man of Benjamin ran from the battle line the same day, and came to Shiloh with his clothes torn and dirt on his head. Now when he came, there was Eli, sitting on a seat by the wayside watching, for his heart trembled for the ark of God. And when the man came into the city and told it, all the city cried out. When Eli heard the noise of the outcry, he said, “What does the sound of this tumult mean?” And the man came quickly and told Eli. Eli was ninety-eight years old, and his eyes were so dim that he could not see. Then the man said to Eli, “I am he who came from the battle. And I fled today from the battle line.” And he said, “What happened, my son?” So the messenger answered and said, “Israel has fled before the Philistines, and there has been a great slaughter among the people. Also your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead; and the ark of God has been captured.” Then it happened, when he made mention of the ark of God, that Eli fell off the seat backward by the side of the gate; and his neck was broken and he died, for the man was old and heavy. And he had judged Israel forty years. - 1 Samuel 4:12-18

The Ark never returned to Shiloh again.