12:16,17
Samuel has reminded them of Israel’s history, but he knows that that will have only a limited effect. So he will also give them a very real demonstration. It was the time of the wheat harvest and “thunder and rain” did not normally occur at that time. So Samuel calls on the Lord to send thunder and rain, which would decimate the harvest. And he does this as a demonstration that in rejecting God as their king, and demanding a king like the nations have, they had done an evil thing.
12:18,19
Samuel called upon the Lord and the Lord sent thunder and rain. And all the people were in awe of the Lord and Samuel. In response the people ask Samuel to pray to the Lord for them, for they feared that they would all die. They even admit that they had done evil by asking for a king. Though the history of Israel shows that this “repentance” did not run very deep.
12:20,21
Samuel tells them not to be afraid. He was fully aware of the evil they had done, but urged them to “not turn away from the Lord, but to serve the Lord with all your heart”. In line with this, they were to turn away from “useless idols”. Pointing out that idols could do them no good, and could not rescue them. The Bible is very clear about how worthless these bits of stone, metal or wood were. Yet Israel would repeatedly turn to useless idols in times of trouble. Human nature has not changed.
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