Samuel clears his name.
He speaks to the people and asks them to bring a charge against him and
his boys if they have any to make. They
have rejected both him and his sons as their leaders in favor of having a king
like all the nations around them and Samuel rightfully asks for a presentation
of the charges they would make against him in order to have done this
thing. None is found who will make a
charge that he has ever wronged anyone and so deserved the treatment he has
received. The final declaration of his
innocence in the matter is that he prophesied and then prayed for the
destruction of the wheat crop of the nation.
He is cleared and the Lord has proven his innocence by complying with
this request. His final words are that
they should know that this is not a repudiation of the nation, but rather a
punishment, God's call is irrevocable, they are His treasured possession.
So do you remember when Jesus misled the nation and forbid
it giving tribute to Caesar because I can't find a record of such things? Jesus response to Pilate's query, "Are
you a king?" was exactly the same
as His response to the council, "You have said so." Again, He neither agrees nor denies with the
statement, it would be impossible for Him to lie and the decision about truth
or falsity is based on faith or unbelief, so this was the only truly possible
answer. Herod hopes for a magic show,
that Jesus will do some tricks for his amusement and is sorely disappointed. Ultimately, he tires of the circus and it is
easier to do nothing but comply with the Jews and create his own amusement by
mocking Jesus and having Him beaten than to try and sort this out. He is bored with Jesus since He won't
perform.
Simon had become a believer through the ministry of Stephen
but when he sees that when the apostles lay hands on people and they receive
the Holy Spirit he is awed. I believe
this passage is one of several in the book of the Acts that argues for a second
blessing of some sort in the baptism of the Holy Spirit. These were already believers in the Name of
Jesus, confessing Him as Lord, but they hadn't yet received the Spirit and that
has to mean something because Simon can see an effect of receiving this that
causes him to desire the power to confer such things, it looks like a deeper
magic than he knows and he is willing to pay for the trick. Is he guilty of anything more than
misunderstanding things of the Spirit?
He has professed Christ but didn't know about this Holy Spirit thing
until the apostles came out. Peter
speaks to him in such a way that he now knows that this is serious business, it
is something from God and not for sale on the market. The fear of the Lord is something we all need
to keep us from treating God's things too lightly.
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