🫗1 Samuel 12:21 | Empty Promises

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Happy Wednesday, everyone!

Today’s email is brought to you by Compassion International. They created an amazing (free) devotional to help you obey one of Christ’s most well-known teachings!

Learn more below. And if you can’t wait, you can check it out by clicking here.

Ready to get into the original language behind our verse? Let’s dive in!

In today’s email…

• 🗣️ A Hebrew word to help us understand our verse

• ⛽️ Why we don’t brag about knock-offs

• 📚️ A few resources to go even deeper in study

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MEMORIZE 🧠 

And __ ___ turn _____ _____ _____ ______ that cannot ______ or _______, for they are empty.

1 Samuel 12:21

TOGETHER WITH COMPASSION INTERNATIONAL

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It walks through Matthew 25 — the very words where Jesus says, “Whatever you did for the least of these… you did unto Me.”

Each day includes short Scripture reflections and real stories of people who chose compassion — and saw lives transformed.

Click below to start the devotional and invite a friend to join you!

CONTEXT 📕 

Let’s take a closer look at the words we read in English.

In the ESV, the translation used for this newsletter, our memory verse uses the terms “empty things” and “empty.”

While possibly sounding vague to us, there is significant meaning behind these words.

And tucked into this verse is a Hebrew word that carries deep theological weight: tohu (pronounced: TOH-hoo).

1. “Empty things” — what we chase

The phrase referring to “empty things” in 1 Samuel 12:21 is tohu. At the time, Israel was tempted by the gods of surrounding nations, hoping they could bring safety and stability.

In 1 Samuel 12:21:

• The NIV translates tohu as “idols”

• The KJV translates it as “vain things”

• The CSB translates it as “worthless things”

It’s the same word used in Genesis 1:2 to describe the earth before God’s creative activity when it was “formless and empty.”

The point?

That’s the kind of emptiness Samuel warns against.

Not just other nations’ gods, but anything that promises something it cannot deliver.

2. “They are empty” — what they truly are

Samuel isn’t just saying these things are dangerous.

He says they are empty, which can seem redundant.

But the word is repeated for purposeful emphasis: what you’re chasing is hollow, and it will leave you hollow too.

Think about the things that compete with God for our allegiance (money, people’s approval, status) - how much power do they actually have?

None. Nada. Zilch.

This isn’t just about rejecting sin. It’s about rejecting substitutes.

“Empty things” can look impressive.

They might stir up jealousy in our hearts.

They might even seem wise, comforting, or popular.

But in the end, they cannot profit. They cannot deliver.

They have no power to save.

It would be foolish to expect an empty water bottle to quench your physical thirst.

Samuel is saying it’s foolish to expect empty things to quench our spiritual thirst.

Samuel’s warning still speaks to us today: Misplaced trust is dangerous.

Only God brings order from chaos. Only the Lord speaks into the void and fills it with life.

APPLY AND RESPOND 🏃‍♂️

We don’t brag about the knock-offs. We don’t show off imitations.

A reproduction of The Last Supper that might hang in your home will never be worth the same as the original contained in Milan—not even close!

Real, original, authentic: that’s what we really want.

A lot of things want our attention and allegiance in the world.

People, nations, corporations, ideologies, comforts all want us to bow to them — to make them number one.

And when they become more important than God in your life, that’s when they’ve become an idol.

Timothy Keller notes in Counterfeit Gods:

Idols are empty because they are not God. They can’t love you. They can’t save you. And they cannot hold the weight of your soul.

So today, pause and look inward. What “empty things” do you look to for a sense of worth, significance and meaning?

Name them. Picture yourself laying them down at the feet of Jesus. And choose what truly fills.

Pray 🙏

Lord, reveal the empty things I’ve trusted. Pull my heart away from what cannot save. Fill me with what is real — with You. Only You satisfy. Amen.

RESOURCES 📚️ 

Here are a few resources to help you dig deeper into the verse and its themes:

• 🎙️ Sermon: A World of Idols by Timothy Keller (link)

• 📚 Timothy Keller, Counterfeit Gods (link)

• 📚️ Walter Brueggemann, First and Second Samuel (Interpretation Commentary Series) (link)

• 📚 Tim Chester, 1 Samuel For You (God’s Word for You) (link)

• 📹️ 1 Samuel by The Bible Project (link)

• 📰 Samuel 12:21 Commentaries by BibleHub (link)

• 🎵 Adonai (Spotify | Apple | Malachi Daily Playlist)

ANSWER KEY ✅ 

And do not turn aside after empty things that cannot profit or deliver, for they are empty.

1 Samuel 12:21