Exploring the Scriptures Together
I Samuel 16
Dear RTB’ers,
David anointed king, a great Sunday School story, with an oft-quoted memory verse: For the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart. (v. 7b)
Saul brings a musician to court, not knowing that he is bringing the young man who will replace him as king, who has already been anointed. But it will take the rest of this book (I Samuel) before we see that outcome.
Blessings!
See also: March 26 / I Samuel 16-17; Psalm 23.
I Samuel 15
Dear RTB’ers,
Happy Father’s Day – to the few fathers on this list! Sorry about yesterday’s post; I was using my phone instead of my computer, with spotty signal all along our travel route. Today I’m home-based, a much better situation!
Continuing with Saul (and Samuel)… Today we have Saul’s third misdeed. God had required complete destruction of the Amalekites: Do not spare them, but kill both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey. (v. 3b) Instead, in verses 15 and 21 Saul let himself be swayed by his followers, But Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep and of the oxen and of the fattened calves and the lambs, and all that was good, and would not utterly destroy them. All that was despised and worthless they devoted to destruction. (v. 9) Saul and his followers held back the sacrificial animals, in full disobedience to the Lord’s command. And even after being chastised by Samuel, Saul continued to argue that what he did was reasonable. (v. 20)
A quote for all time: And Samuel said, “Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams.” (v. 22) Similar verses are written in Proverbs 21:3 and Hosea 6:6. I have a friend who used to say, “When you get to the Pearly Gates, God is going to ask you one question: ‘Did you do what I asked you to do?’”
A sad ending to the Saul-Samuel relationship: And Samuel did not see Saul again until the day of his death, but Samuel grieved over Saul. (v. 35a)
Blessings!
See also: March 25 (2023) / I Samuel 14-15.
I Samuel 14
Dear RTB’ers,
Travel day, delayed post…
Yes, travel, with very little signal along the way. Headed to Outer Banks, NC for some family time with our kids and grandkids.
Not much to say today, the text is pretty straightforward: Saul makes a rash vow, his second major mistake. Did he not learn anything from Jephthah’s experience? (Judges 11:30-38) Thankfully, Jonathan lives on and becomes like a brother to David. But I’m getting ahead…! Time to quit for today.
Blessings!
I Samuel 13
Dear RTB’ers,
It seems that a fair amount of time has passed since we first met Saul. A few chapters back he was tending his father’s livestock, even going off with a servant searching for some donkeys. Now he has a son, Jonathan, who is old enough to lead an army (vv. 2-3). He has brought three thousand Israelites to do battle, although their courage is suspect! (See vv. 6-7). He has explicit instructions from Samuel: Then go down before me to Gilgal. And behold, I am coming down to you to offer burnt offerings and to sacrifice peace offerings. Seven days you shall wait, until I come to you and show you what you shall do. (v. 10:8) However, seeking to encourage the people, Saul disobeys Samuel’s instructions and offers the burnt offering himself. It’s the first of Saul’s many misdeeds.
So the battle is staged, with the advantage clearly favoring the Philistines. We understand if you want to read ahead…
Blessings!
I Samuel 12
Dear RTB’ers,
Samuel spends five verses defending himself in today’s reading, then seven verses reflecting the Lord’s deliverance of His people – all of this leading up to his condemnation of the people in asking for a king. All is not lost, however: And now … behold, the LORD has set a king over you. If you will fear the LORD and serve Him and obey His voice … and if both you and the king … will follow the LORD your God, it will be well. (vv. 13-14) Samuel is telling the people that the Lord their God is still their King, that their earthly king, Saul, is not to be like the kings of the nations around them. In spite of all that, he reminds them that what they did was fundamentally wrong: And you shall know and see that your wickedness is great, which you have done in the sight of the LORD, in asking for yourselves a king. (v. 17b)
Samuel leaves us with good advice, good wisdom for our own lives: And do not turn aside after empty things that cannot profit or deliver, for they are empty. For the LORD will not forsake His people… (vv. 21-22a) The Lord will not forsake His people – not then, not now!
Blessings!
See also: March 24 (2023) / I Samuel 11-13.
I Samuel 10:17-11:15
Dear RTB’ers,
First, a couple of small items… Today we have the first mention of Saul being named “king”: And Samuel said to all the people, “Do you see him whom the LORD has chosen?…” And all the people shouted, “Long live the king!” (v. 10:24) Earlier the title had been only prince or ruler or leader. Second, as Saul gathered an army, …the people of Israel were three hundred thousand, and the men of Judah thirty thousand. (v. 11:8) This is the first place that I recall a mention of the distinction between Israel (later, the Northern Kingdom) and Judah (later, the Southern Kingdom).
Today Saul looks good! He’s humble (shy, even!): and the LORD said, “Behold, he has hidden himself among the baggage.” (v. 10:22b) He goes back to work until he feels the Lord calling: Now, behold, Saul was coming from the field behind the oxen. (v. 11:5a) He shows himself to be a leader (also recognizing Samuel’s position as judge and prophet): He took a yoke of oxen and cut them in pieces and sent them throughout all the territory of Israel by the hand of the messengers, saying, “Whoever does not come out after Saul and Samuel, so shall it be done to his oxen!” (v. 11:7a) And finally, he dismisses revenge against those who were against his kingship: Then the people said to Samuel, “Who is it that said, ‘Shall Saul reign over us?’ Bring the men, that we may put them to death.” But Saul said, “Not a man shall be put to death this day, for today the LORD has worked salvation in Israel.” (vv. 11:12-13) In this last quote, he also recognizes the Lord’s deliverance, not his own.
So Israel has its king and everything looks great going forward. End of story…? Maybe not!
Blessings!
I Samuel 9:1-10:16
Dear RTB’ers,
Israel wanted a king and now they’ve got Saul – anointed, but not yet proclaimed. [NOTE: The word “king” does not appear until later. For now the word “prince” is used in the ESV (vv. 9:16, 10:1), with “ruler” and “leader” in the NASB.] Strangely the two translations are substantially different in 10:1, with the ESV adding two prophetic sentences that the NASB omits: And you shall reign over the people of the LORD and you will save them from the hand of their surrounding enemies. And this shall be the sign to you that the LORD has anointed you to be prince over His heritage. (ESV, v. 10:1b)
I have occasionally heard of people “reinventing” themselves. Today we have God reinventing Saul: When he turned his back to leave Samuel, God gave him another heart. (v. 10:9a) I’m putting myself into the story here. When specifically did God choose me to do what He called me to do? How did He equip me? No doubt He changed my heart, but when did He do that? There was nothing instantaneous, but I know that I am not the same person that I was 50+ years ago, before I accepted Him as Lord. No doubt, bit by bit I am a changed person. How about you? Same questions…
Blessings!
I Samuel 7:3-8:22
Dear RTB’ers,
The ark is back, the Philistines are routed, Samuel is Israel’s judge (and prophet), and his sons are scoundrels! Sounds like a continuation of the book of Judges!! But it’s chapter 8 where we begin a really new period in Israel – the people ask for a king.
The elders’ request had Samuel’s age and his sons’ behavior as reasons for their request, but in fact they just wanted to be like the nations around them: …“Behold, you are old and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now appoint for us a king to judge us like all the nations.” (v. 8:5) Samuel is displeased at this request, but it’s the Lord who shows Samuel what’s really going on: And the LORD said to Samuel, “Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me from being king over them.” (v. 8:7) Samuel tells them what having a king will mean for them, but they are persistent: But the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel. And they said, “No! But there shall be a king over us, that we also may be like all the nations, and that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles.” (vv. 8:19-20) Although the elders appear to be requesting a king, in truth they are rejecting the Lord’s leadership and kingship over them. God grants their request and the rest of I and II Samuel, I and II Kings, and I and II Chronicles are all about Israel’s monarchy. A new period in Israel’s history…!
Blessings!
See also: March 23 (2023) / I Samuel 8-10.
I Samuel 5:1-7:2
Dear RTB’ers,
The Israeli elders in yesterday’s battle with the Philistines had presumed that the ark had “magical” powers – that simply having the ark beside them in battle would bring victory. Just as they were wrong in their presumption, the leaders in the Philistine city of Ashdod had imagined that their god, Dagon had been responsible for their victory over Israel (i.e., over the Israeli God) and were showing off the ark as a representation of that victory, a sort of “trophy case”, if you will: Then the Philistines took the ark of God and brought it into the house of Dagon and set it up beside Dagon. (v. 5:2) Sadly for them, Dagon was a false god and had no special powers, whereas the God of Israel, the true God could easily topple Dagon in the middle of the night with no one else around. Long story short – the Philistine leaders needed to send the ark back to where it belonged.
An interesting bit of farm detail here – the Philistine priests and diviners ordered a cart and two milk cows to haul the cart, but to take the calves away from the cows: Now then, take and prepare a new cart and two milk cows on which there has never come a yoke, and yoke the cows to the cart, but take their calves home, away from them. (v. 6:7) This was a wise move on the part of the priests and diviners; they set up the ultimate test for the powers of the God of Israel and His influence over the ark and the animals. Have you ever seen a cow when she is first separated from her calf? She will move to be as close to the calf as possible and will moo (low) almost nonstop as she mourns that separation. So, in spite of being yoked to the cart, the cows’ natural inclination would be to turn back toward their calves. The fact that they went straight toward Beth-shemesh proved the power of the God of Israel: And the cows went straight in the direction of Beth-shemesh along one highway, lowing as they went. They turned neither to the right nor to the left… (v. 6:12a). Yes, the God of Israel is Lord over ALL the earth, cows included!!
So now we have the ark back in Israeli hands, And the men of Kiriath-jearim came and took up the ark of the LORD and brought it to the house of Abinadab on the hill. (v. 7:1a) Note that it did not go back to Shiloh, from where it originally came (see I Samuel 4:4.), so it’s not really where it belongs. Where will it end up? Looking ahead, And they carried the ark of God on a new cart and brought it out of the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill. And Uzzah and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab, were driving the new cart, with the ark of God, and Ahio went before the ark. (II Samuel 6:3-4) Tickler alert: these two verses do not tell the whole story. Go to those verses and read on! You’ll enjoy the rest of that story!
Blessings!
I Samuel 4:1b-22
Dear RTB’ers,
Israel goes to battle with the Philistines and is defeated, so they figure that they need to bring the Ark of the Covenant from Shiloh to the battlefield so that they will gain an advantage – not recognizing that the Ark and God are not the same. The Ark is where God “resides”, but the Ark is not God. So now Israel is defeated again, Eli’s sons are killed, and the Ark is captured by the Philistines. A messenger brings this news to Shiloh, to Eli, and Eli falls over dead.
I’m intrigued by Eli’s position in all this. First, the elders from the battlefield request the Ark. Eli probably had serious misgivings about moving the Ark away from the Tabernacle, but he must have given his consent – very likely due to pressure from his sons, who then accompanied the Ark to the battlefield. Eli is troubled all the while that the Ark is gone from Shiloh: Eli was sitting on his seat by the road watching, for his heart trembled for the ark of God. (v. 13b) No mention of his sons’ safety, only for the Ark…! Then when he gets the news from the messenger, As soon as he mentioned the Ark of God, Eli fell over backward from his seat by the side of the gate, and his neck was broken and he died… (v. 18a) News of the Ark’s capture brings about Eli’s death, not the news of his sons’ deaths.
I’m wondering if there is any “redemption” in Eli’s final thoughts? I can hear him moaning, “Oh God, oh God…” at the mention of the Ark as he falls over. His last thoughts are of God, of God’s “residence”, not of his family. Is that redemptive? I wonder.
So, how about us? I’ve often heard some variant of “Make plans for a long life, but live as if you’ll die tomorrow – or later today.” Is God truly first for me? For you…? Later today…? Really…??!! Quite the sobering thought…!
Blessings!
See also: March 22 (2023) / I Samuel 4-7.