Articles
Realizing Repentance
Few endeavors are more sobering than a study of the history of God’s people. The continuous cycle of sin and punishment the children of Israel went through serves as a serious reminder of our own condition -- that even as God’s people today, we do sin. Although the Israelites’ sin was blatant and unabashed at times, at other times they displayed signs of true remorse and repentance. One such time is found in 1 Samuel 7. Beginning in verse 2 it says, “From the day that the ark was lodged at Kiriath-jearim, a long time passed, some twenty years, and all the house of Israel lamented after the Lord.” Samuel then gave them an ultimatum, laying out a 4 step plan for true repentance. Verse 3 reads, “And Samuel said to all the house of Israel, “If you are returning to the Lord with all your heart, then put away the foreign gods and the Ashtaroth from among you and direct your heart to the Lord and serve him only, and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.””
The first step Samuel laid out for them to realize their current condition. He said, “if you are returning to the Lord with all your heart...” The beginning of his exhortation here implies that in their current condition, they were separated from the Lord. Obviously, they could not return to the Lord if they had never departed from him. Samuel is showing that sin separates us from our God. Going back to 1 Samuel 4, it was obvious that the Israelites were not walking with God. Their actions of pride and idolatry were what caused them to lose the Ark of the Covenant. Isaiah 59:2 states that “your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God.” That is, our own sin is what leads us away from God. The first step to repentance is to realize that we are lost in our sins!
Samuel continues by saying, “put away the foreign gods and the Ashtaroth from among you...” The second step for true repentance is to realize what stands in our way. Those idols and foreign gods were stumbling blocks, clouding the minds of the Israelites and preventing them from seeking the one, true God. We are no different today. Our lives are sometimes so overcrowded that we lose sight of God altogether. We forget. We ignore. We allow Satan to choke out any thoughts we may have about God. In order for us to truly repent, we must open our eyes, our minds, and our hearts to comprehend what is blocking our path back to the Lord. Paul warns in Ephesians 4:18 that there are people who “are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart.” We cannot ignore our sins or the things that tempt us and expect to return to unity with our Lord.
Going back to the text in 1 Samuel 7:3, the priest continues by saying, “...and direct your heart to the Lord and serve him only.” The third step to true repentance is to realize what our focus should be on. After we realize our condition and are proactive to putting sin out of our lives, we must renew our dedication to the Lord. No sin can be committed without harming our relationship with God. We need spiritual renewal. God through Moses commanded the children of Israel to “love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might” (Deuteronomy 6:5). Successful observance of that command means that our focus and service must constantly be set on our Lord.
Lastly, Samuel reminds the people that if they do all these things, “[God] will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.” These words of promise should be encouraging to those who truly repent. The fourth step of repentance is realizing our salvation. When we repent, the Lord is “faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). However, we sometimes think to ourselves, “How could God ever forgive me for the things I’ve done?” We often have a harder time forgiving ourselves than God does! He wants to deliver us from the hands of our enemy. He wants us to be cleansed. We must realize the depth of his great love, and accept forgiveness from him as well as from ourselves.
After Samuel tells the children of Israel how to repent, he judges them and helps restore the relationship with God they had been lacking. Where do you stand today? Have you realized your own repentance, or are you still separated from God? Realize your sin, realize your stumbling blocks, realize where your focus should be, and realize that God will forgive you when you truly turn from evil and seek his paths.
