{"id":57245,"date":"2019-06-11T17:56:01","date_gmt":"2019-06-11T14:56:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=57245"},"modified":"2023-01-02T18:56:39","modified_gmt":"2023-01-02T16:56:39","slug":"getting-to-the-heart-of-his-mission","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/getting-to-the-heart-of-his-mission\/","title":{"rendered":"Getting To The Heart Of His Mission"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[281],"tags":[375,384,839],"acf":{"old_id":"57245","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":46656,"related_cahpter":"239","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"And Samuel judged Israel as long as he lived","content":"

As the Ark arrives in <\/span>Kiryat Ye\u2019arim where it will reside for the next twenty years, Samuel begins leading his people through a national teshuva (repentance) movement.<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s hard to fathom the dichotomous spiritual existence of this nation: on the one hand recognizing the rule, wonders and miracles bestowed on them by God, while at the same time continuing to worship idols. Rav Amnon Bazak (Virtual Beit Midrash) points out how this contradiction of faith illustrates that the people have accepted \u201cthe Lord is our God\u201d but not yet internalized that \u201cthe Lord is one.\u201d Therein lied Samuel\u2019s challenge \u2013 to shepherd his people through a spiritual renaissance wherein he admonishes them to turn away from idols and commit to serving only God.<\/span><\/p>\n

There is evidence in this chapter that Samuel is making headway. In chapter four when the Israelites brought the Ark from Shilo to their camp, in anticipation of it protecting them from the Philistines, as the Ark approached \u201c<\/span>all Israel shouted a great shout, and the earth stirred.\u201d Consequently, the Philistines became afraid, exclaiming \u201cGod has come to the camp.\u201d But they reasoned that God\u2019s protection of the Jewish people had surely expired by now, launched an attack and the Israelites suffered a crushing defeat. <\/span>In contrast, in this chapter, when the Israelites gathered in Mitzpah to renounce their idols and bring their offerings to God, \u201c<\/span>the Lord thundered with a loud noise on that day\u201d which confused the Philistines and ended in their defeat at the hands of the Israelites. When the Israelites put their trust in the Ark to be their salvation it is they who shout in joy, but ultimately suffer defeat. When their faith switches from the external artifact to God Himself, it is God who thunders a shout and the Israelites prevail.<\/span><\/p>\n

Only after these events and this revolutionary change in the spiritual makeup of the Israelites do we read, at the end of this chapter that Samuel was finally able to \u201cjudge Israel all the days of his life\u201d. The people themselves had to be ready to be led before Samuel could really get to the heart of his mission.<\/span><\/p>\n

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