1S7-18: Why You May Have To Leave Your Family In Order To Fulfill God’s Plans For Your Life

“Sh’muel continued in office as judge of Israel as long as he lived.  Year by year he would travel in a circuit that included Beit-El, Gilgal and Mitzpah; and in all these places he served as judge over Israel.”-1 Samuel 7:15-16

Samuel was the first leader to extend his authority over all Israel since Joshua.

And it’s interesting to see his power covered both the religious and secular realms of Hebrew society.

Now I don’t wanna exaggerate how broad Samuel’s power was.

Yes, it’s true the 12 tribes accepted Samuel as a spiritual leader.

But not all the tribal leaders and princes accepted him as a king. 

His religious authority was questioned by remnants from the original Levitical priesthood who resided at Nob and other places.

To prove my point, take a look at verse 15 which I copied and pasted above.

It says that… 

“Year by year Samuel would travel in a circuit that included Beit-El, Gilgal and Mitzpah“.

We see here that Samuel acted as a circuit court judge…

And the mention of the cities he traveled to gives the impression he was extending his authority all over the place.

Sounds impressive, right?

Well hold onto your horses homies.

Because it just so turns out those cities were all concentrated in the central territory of Canaan.

In other words, Samuel’s power did NOT extend to the tribes located in the far northern and southern areas of the Promised Land.

See what I mean?

While Samuel’s authority was more far-reaching than any other judge who came before him, it wasn’t as widespread as you might think.

And we actually see the same thing with Yeshua.

While his fame did spread throughout the various parts of Israel…

He teachings and miracles primarily took place in Galilee and Judea.

But to be fair, his entry into Jerusalem (known as the Triumphal Entry) did bring him significant attention. 

So what’s the takeaway from all of this?

It is this.

A prophet sent by God will always face political resistance from certain quarters…

And a lot of this resistance will stem from nothing but fleshly pride and ego.

Yeshua wasn’t accepted in his hometown Nazareth.

Why?

Simply because the folks at Nazareth had known Yeshua since his childhood.

They were familiar with him only as a carpenter’s son…

So they found it difficult to accept this “local boy” as some huge spiritual figure.

Again, it was all a bunch of bs pride and ego…

Ya feel me?

Yeshua also help up the prophets Elijah and Elisha as two other anointed men of God who weren’t honored in their hometowns.

Plus, we see the same thing with Paul in the New Testament era.

He was rejected by his own Jewish brethren when he tried to bring the gospel to them.

That’s when he realized he had to switch course and start preaching to the gentiles.

This is a perfect example of why you sometimes need to SEPARATE from your family and your kinsmen if you really want to fulfill God’s plans for your life.

Heck, we see this pattern established way back with Abraham when God told him…

“Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you”.

See ya all next time.

CONNECTING THIS TEACHING TO THE NEW TESTAMENT

“I did not come to bring peace,
but a sword.
I have come so that a
son will be against his father,
a daughter will be against her mother,
a daughter-in-law will be
against her mother-in-law.
A person’s enemies will be
members of his own family.”
-Matthew 10:34-39

“Then Paul and Barnabas
answered them boldly:
‘We had to speak the
word of God to you first.
Since you reject it and
do not consider yourselves
worthy of eternal life,
we now turn to the Gentiles.
For this is what the Lord
has commanded us:
‘I have made you a light for the Gentiles,
that you may bring salvation
to the ends of the earth.'”
-Acts 13:46-47