“Then Samuel said to all the people of Israel, “If you want to return to the Lord with all your hearts, get rid of your foreign gods and your images of Ashtoreth. Turn your hearts to the Lord and obey him alone; then he will rescue you from the Philistines.” So the Israelites got rid of their images of Baal and Ashtoreth and worshiped only the Lord. Then Samuel told them, “Gather all of Israel to Mizpah, and I will pray to the Lord for you.” So they gathered at Mizpah and, in a great ceremony, drew water from a well and poured it out before the Lord. They also went without food all day and confessed that they had sinned against the Lord. (It was at Mizpah that Samuel became Israel’s judge.) When the Philistine rulers heard that Israel had gathered at Mizpah, they mobilized their army and advanced. The Israelites were badly frightened when they learned that the Philistines were approaching. “Don’t stop pleading with the Lord our God to save us from the Philistines!” they begged Samuel. So Samuel took a young lamb and offered it to the Lord as a whole burnt offering. He pleaded with the Lord to help Israel, and the Lord answered him. Just as Samuel was sacrificing the burnt offering, the Philistines arrived to attack Israel. But the Lord spoke with a mighty voice of thunder from heaven that day, and the Philistines were thrown into such confusion that the Israelites defeated them. The men of Israel chased them from Mizpah to a place below Beth-car, slaughtering them all along the way. Samuel then took a large stone and placed it between the towns of Mizpah and Jeshanah. He named it Ebenezer (which means “the stone of help”), for he said, “Up to this point the Lord has helped us!” So the Philistines were subdued and didn’t invade Israel again for some time. And throughout Samuel’s lifetime, the Lord’s powerful hand was raised against the Philistines. The Israelite villages near Ekron and Gath that the Philistines had captured were restored to Israel, along with the rest of the territory that the Philistines had taken. And there was peace between Israel and the Amorites in those days. Samuel continued as Israel’s judge for the rest of his life. Each year he traveled around, setting up his court first at Bethel, then at Gilgal, and then at Mizpah. He judged the people of Israel at each of these places. Then he would return to his home at Ramah, and he would hear cases there, too. And Samuel built an altar to the Lord at Ramah.”
The path to return to God is a simple one. It requires only two basic elements. These things remain true no matter how far we have gone away from Him, and no matter how heinous we’ve become in that process. The first thing we must do is confess the truth before Him. This can be a multifaceted statement, but it should always include the state of things in our relationship with humanity, as well as our relationship with God. It affirms His nature and ours, and confirms the ways in which we measure up, or don’t, to these things. The second thing is to repent. This archaic-sounding word implies that one changes their direction. This is both externally as well as internally. To comply with this is to cut off behaviors and change essential attitudes. Samuel illustrates that our motives can be flawed. We can make these changes out of fear, and God will still honor them. And though they may make changes that only last a generation, that time will bring a peace and assuredness to our lives. That time will be a great blessing to ourselves and others. It is not too late to confess and repent and turn back to the Lord. We ought to call for it and facilitate it in our lives.
Path to God: Confessing the truth and repenting.
Repentance: Changing direction both externally and internally, cutting off bad behaviors and changing attitudes.
Benefits of Repentance: Peace, assuredness, and blessings for oneself and others.
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