1 Kings 15-17: Who's in Charge

After the deaths of Jeroboam in Israel, and Rehoboam in Judah an even more tempestuous time for God's people begins.  When they follow God, they prosper and when they do not they falter.

In Judah, Abijah succeeds his father, Rehoboam, but sins just as his father had done.  He only lasts three years,  Nevertheless, for David's sake the LORD his God gave him a lamp in Jerusalem by raising up a son to succeed him and by making Jerusalem strong.  For David had done what was right in the eyes of the LORD and had not failed to keep any of the LORD's commands all the days of his life—except in the case of Uriah the Hittite. - 1 Kings 15:4-5 NIV

He is succeeded by his son Asa who was godly.  He got rid of the idols, the shrine prostitutes, the Asherah poles and was fully committed to the Lord.  His reign lasted for forty-one years. 

Meanwhile in Israel, Nadab succeeds his father Jeroboam.  He was evil just like his father, so Baasha kills Nadab and Jeroboam's entire family as God had promised, through the prophet Ahijah.  Baasha reigned twenty-four years, although he was no better than Nadab.  The prophet Jehu told Baasha that his descendants would not lead Israel because of his sins.  As God promised, when Baasha died, his son Elah lived only two years before he and all of his family were killed by Zimri, one of his officials.  Zimri was no different from his predecessors and his reign lasted seven days before he was killed by Omri, the commander of the army.  Omri sinned even more than the other kings before him and reigned seven years.  When he died his son Ahab became king and things in Israel went from bad to worse. 

During Ahab's reign the prophecy, of what would happen if Jericho was ever rebuilt, came to pass.  In Ahab's time, Hiel of Bethel rebuilt Jericho. He laid its foundations at the cost of his firstborn son Abiram, and he set up its gates at the cost of his youngest son Segub, in accordance with the word of the LORD spoken by Joshua son of Nun.- 1 Kings 16:34

What God promises, he does.  He rewards good for good and evil for evil.  It may not be in the time frame we expect, but God's word is true.
God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good? - Numbers 23:19 KJV

1 Kings 12-14: A Kingdom Divided

Solomon dies, and with him dies all the promise of a great kingdom of Israel.  Because of Solomon's sins, God promised to tear the kingdom from Solomon's descendants but leave the tribe of Judah to his heirs, and that is exactly what happened.  Rehoboam, Solomon's son succeeds him to the throne, but he did not possess Solomon's wisdom.  When the Solomon's advisers advised him to go easy on the Israelites because Solomon had extracted a heavy price from them, Rehoboam rejected their advice and instead relied on the advice of his peers to make the people bear an even heavier load.  Israel's response to the new king was:
"What share do we have in David, what part in Jesse's son?
To your tents, O Israel! Look after your own house, O David!"
So the Israelites went home. - 1 Kings 12:16 NIV

In the meantime, Jeroboam, returns from Egypt where he had escaped to avoid Solomon's wrath and is quickly made king over Israel. When Rehoboam starts to go against Israel to regain the kingdom, he is told by God:  'This is what the LORD says:  "Do not go up to fight against your brothers, the Israelites. Go home, every one of you, for this is my doing.' " So they obeyed the word of the LORD and went home again, as the LORD had ordered. - 1 Kings 12:24 NIV

With all of this going on, you would think that both kings would fall prostrate before God and ask for his forgiveness and help.  But instead, Jeroboam had two golden calves created, built shrines on high places, installed priests who were not Levites, and held festivals to offer sacrifices to the idols. And in Judah, Rehoboam set up high places, sacred stones, and Asherah poles on every high hill.  You can see where it is going.  Both kings have turned to their own way.  The story of each side, from this day forward, will mimic the other.  Their abandonment of God means the abandonment of their kingdoms by God as well.

1 Kings 10-11: All is Vanity

All the wisdom in the world does you no good if your heart is not right with God, if you seek after other gods.  And that is just what Solomon did.  Solomon had it all, chariots and horses, all the gold he could want, a gold throne to sit on, the adulation of the known world, wisdom, many wives and few adversaries, until he fell under the spell of those wives.  If he had chosen God-fearing wives from Israel, it would have been one thing, but he chose foreign wives; who worshipped Ashtoreth, the goddess of the Sidonians, Molech, the detestable god of the Ammonites and Chemosh, the detestable god of Moab.  Not only did he let his wives worship these gods, he built high places where they could worship their gods.

No wonder at the end of his life, he would cry "vanity of vanities; all is vanity."- Eccl. 1:2 KJV
He saw that his money and possessions were worthless:
Whoever loves money never has money enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income.
This too is meaningless. As goods increase, so do those who consume them.
And what benefit are they to the owner except to feast his eyes on them?  - Eccl. 5:10-11NIV
He saw that his wisdom was limited:
All this I tested by wisdom and I said, "I am determined to be wise"—
but this was beyond me. Whatever wisdom may be,
it is far off and most profound— who can discover it? -  Eccl. 7:23-24 NIV
He saw that his wives were a snare:
I find more bitter than death the woman who is a snare,
whose heart is a trap and whose hands are chains. - Eccl. 7:26 NIV
And ended his life on this note:
Now all has been heard;here is the conclusion of the matter:
Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.
For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing,
whether it is good or evil. - Eccl. 12:13-14

For Solomon, this knowledge came too late.  Because of Solomon's sins, God had already chosen someone from outside of Solomon's family to be Israel's next king.

1 Kings 8-9: Hear Us from Heaven

The temple is finished.  The priests brought the ark to the temple and placed it between the wings of the cherubim in the inner sanctuary of the temple, the Most Holy Place.  When the priests went out from the Most Holy Place, the cloud of the glory of the Lord filled the temple.  While the assembly was still standing there, Solomon blessed them and then praised God for letting him be the one to build the temple.  He then prayed a prayer of dedication:  "LORD God of Israel, there is no God like thee, in heaven above, or on earth beneath, who keepest covenant and mercy with thy servants that walk before thee with all their heart." - 1 Kings 8:23 KJV

'Keep your eyes open toward this temple day and night', Solomon prayed, 'this place where you said that your name would dwell.'  "Hear the supplication of your servant and of your people Israel when they pray toward this place. Hear from heaven, your dwelling place, and when you hear, forgive. " - 1 Kings 8:30 NIV

When a man wrongs his neighbor, hear from heaven and be the judge.  When your people are defeated by their enemies, hear and bring them back.  When the heavens are shut up and there is no rain because the people have sinned, hear from heaven and forgive the sins of your people.  When a prayer if made by one of your people, aware of the sinfulness of their own heart, hear from heaven and forgive.  When a foreigner comes to you with outstretched arms, hear and answer their plea so all will know and fear you.  When your people war against their enemies, hear from heaven and uphold their cause.  And most importantly, when your people sin against you, and there is no one who does not sin, when they fall on their knees and cry out to you with penitent hearts, hear from heaven and forgive.

When the prayer of dedication and the sacrifices were complete, God appeared to Solomon and told him "I have heard the prayer and plea you have made before me; I have consecrated this temple, which you have built, by putting my Name there forever. My eyes and my heart will always be there.  - 1 Kings 9:3 NIV

1 Kings 4-7 Peace and Prosperity

Finally, Israel experiences peace and prosperity. The people of Judah and Israel were as numerous as the sand on the seashore; they ate, they drank and they were happy.  - 1 Kings 4:20 NIV

With the wisdom that he had received from God, Solomon appointed officials to rule over the various aspects of the kingdom.  He also assigned governors over twelve districts to supply his provisions which consisted of :  thirty cors of fine flour and sixty cors of meal,  ten head of stall-fed cattle, twenty of pasture-fed cattle and a hundred sheep and goats, as well as deer, gazelles, roebucks and choice fowl.  For he ruled over all the kingdoms west of the River, from Tiphsah to Gaza, and had peace on all sides.  During Solomon's lifetime Judah and Israel, from Dan to Beersheba, lived in safety, each man under his own vine and fig tree. - 1 Kings 4:22-25 NIV

With Israel at peace, Solomon could do the one thing David was not able to do, build a temple for the Lord God.  David, Solomon's father was a man of war and not allowed to build the temple. Solomon's reign was one of peace.  This peace, coupled with ample harvests enabled Solomon buy the finest cedar and pine from Lebanon, and to hire carriers, stone cutters and craftsmen to build the temple and its furnishings.  Solomon's Temple was a magnificent structure.  Nothing has been built like it since.

Solomon's fame and wisdom spread to all the surrounding nations.  He spoke three thousand proverbs, and his songs numbered a thousand and five.  - 1 Kings 4:32 NIV

Among them is the following in Psalm 127
A song of ascents. Of Solomon.
Unless the LORD builds the house,
its builders labor in vain.
Unless the LORD watches over the city,
the watchmen stand guard in vain.

Solomon was building God's temple.  God was building his nation and 'they lived in safety, each man under his own vine and fig tree.'

1 Kings 1-3: Administering Justice

It's very difficult to dispense justice in a land where it is every man for himself.  That had been the case before the kings, and continued to be the case once the kings were enthroned in power.  The sons of David, first Absalom and then Adonijah, took it upon themselves to appoint themselves king:  Absalom to usurp David and Adonijah to usurp Solomon, the one David had promised would be his successor. 

David by this time is so old, and has such poor circulation, he cannot keep himself warm.  He has become distanced from what is going on in the kingdom and doesn't realize that Adonijah has set himself up as king until Solomon's mother, Bathsheba, and Nathan, the prophet, point out what is going on.  One of David' last acts is to see that Solomon is crowned king, and then he extracts a promise from Solomon that he will deal with Joab and Shimei for their ruthlessness, something David was loath to do.

Solomon eventually carries out David's request, striking down Joab, Shimei, and Adonijah as well, for the wrongs they had done.  It's interesting that both Adonijah and Joab ran to the temple and took hold of the horns of the altar for protection from Solomon, but they still lost their lives.  Solomon goes to Gibeon and offers a thousand sacrifices on the altar to God.  As a result, God appears to Solomon in a dream and tells him to ask for anything he wants.  Solomon asks for a discerning heart as he knows that strength and cunning alone are not enough to rule the people.  God grants his wish, and as a result of his wise decision concerning the two women claiming the same baby, the people of Israel "held the king in awe, because they saw that he had wisdom from God to administer justice." - 1 Kings 3:28 NIV

God didn't honor the request of the conspirators for protection, but he honored Solomon's request for wisdom.  God was looking, as always, for someone to do justly and walk humbly.

2 Samuel 22-24: The Source of Greatness.

David was a mighty warrior, and he was surrounded by mighty fighting men as well.  But David knew that his strength was not from the mighty men.  His strength came from the rock, his fortress, and his deliverer.  Without God, David would have just been another fighter.  He might have resembled Goliath, who felt he was entitled to hurl insults at the enemy because of his size.  He might have been like Saul, who led the Israelites in victory, but spent most of his days comparing his exploits to those of David.  He might have been like Absalom, creating a powerful coalition by means of subterfuge.  But instead David's song acknowledges the source of his strength and success.

 "As for God, his way is perfect;
the word of the LORD is flawless.

He is a shield
for all who take refuge in him.

For who is God besides the LORD ?
And who is the Rock except our God?

It is God who arms me with strength
and makes my way perfect.

He makes my feet like the feet of a deer;
he enables me to stand on the heights.

He trains my hands for battle;
my arms can bend a bow of bronze.

You give me your shield of victory;
you stoop down to make me great."
2 Samuel 22:31-36

David never ceased to recognize and praise the source of his strength; the source of his very being.  That is what made him great.  He never ceased to recognize the source of his perfection.  That is what made him righteous.

2 Samuel 19-21: Nothing is Settled

David and his armies were victorious against Absalom, but the loss of his son was grievous for David.  Joab, the commander of the army tells David to shape up.  David's actions are humiliating to the men who fought to defend his honor.  Meanwhile, the rest of the Israelites are arguing with each other over who should be king and what should be done with David.  The tribe of Judah accompanies David across the Jordan on his return to Jerusalem and the rest of the Israelites become jealous.  This gives credence to the troublemaker Sheba.

He sounded the trumpet and shouted,
"We have no share in David,
no part in Jesse's son!
Every man to his tent, O Israel!"
So all the men of Israel deserted David to follow Sheba son of Bicri. But the men of Judah stayed by their king all the way from the Jordan to Jerusalem. - 2 Sam. 20:1-2 NIV

Nothing has changed.  Nothing is settled. They have a king now, but it is no different from the days of the judges.  'In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as he saw fit.' - Judges 21: 25 - NIV

Nothing has changed.  Nothing is settled.  Nothing has changed because it is not a matter of who is in charge, what type of government they have, who the Supreme Court Justices are, or what kind of health care system they have.  Nothing is settled because it is a matter of the heart.  It's the one who reigns in the hearts of men that determines their destiny.

2 Samuel 16-18: Betrayal and Humiliation

Imagine this, the great king David, the one famous for his victories, is now climbing up the Mount of Olives on his way to the desert.  His head is covered, his feet are bare and he is weeping.  He is weeping over the betrayal of his trusted counselor, Ahithophel, and even more over the betrayal of his son, Absalom. 

Then he encounters Ziba, the servant of Mephibosheth, Saul's grandson, the one who has been feasting at his table as one of his own sons, and learns that Mephibosheth has gone back to Jerusalem because he thinks the Saul's kingdom will become his own. 

As they leave the summit of the Mount of Olives and approach Bahurim, another of Saul's relatives comes out and follows him down the road, all the while pelting David and his officials with dirt, stones, and curses.  David doesn't flinch.  Nothing could hurt any more than fleeing from your own son. 

Then the greatest insult, Absalom pitches a tent on the roof of David's palace and brings David's concubines in so he can sleep with them in view of all of the city. 

David still has to think of the safety of his officials and the rest of his family, so he musters together whatever troops he can from the remnant that was following him and watches as the men marched out to fight Absalom and Israel.  David's plea to the commanders is that they be gentle with Absalom.  David knew that there could be no good outcome.  He would either lose the battle or his son.

As it was, Absalom's pride and glory, his long thick hair, became his downfall, and as he hung by his hair tangled in a tree, he is slain, and the crown retained for David. 

In this story of betrayal and humiliation, there is something reminiscent of Jesus' walk up Calvary.  But God sacrificed his son willingly so that the battle might be won.

2 Samuel 13-15: Banished from the King's Presence

The end result of having many wives is many children and that is what happened to David.  They all had the same father and were always jockeying for position and that is where the trouble began.  It started with the love sick Amnon who wanted Tamar, his half sister and the sister of Absalom another of David's sons.  When Amnon forced himself on Tamar it disgraced her and disgusted Absalom.  Absalom took Tamar and her shame into his house and plotted his revenge.  He succeeded in killing Amnon and causing all of David's other sons to flee back to their father while Absalom fled from the king's reach.  And the spirit of the king longed to go to Absalom, for he was consoled concerning Amnon's death. - 2 Sam 13:39 NIV

David mourned for his son Ammon and for the lost relationship with Absalom, but there was no repairing that breach until Joab sent a woman in disguise to trick David into changing his mind about Absalom.  She told him:  "When the king says this, does he not convict himself, for the king has not brought back his banished son?  Like water spilled on the ground, which cannot be recovered, so we must die. But God does not take away life; instead, he devises ways so that a banished person may not remain estranged from him." - 2 Sam. 14:13-14 NIV

That was enough to convince David to let Absalom return to Jerusalem where he lived there two years without seeing David.  Joab finally convinced David to see his son, but the divide could not be breached.  The handsome Absalom, admired by all of Israel for his looks, his chariot and horses with fifty men running ahead of him to lead the way,  began to secretly woo the people away from loyalty to David until finally David fled with all of his family and officials.  By now David is older, and all the people who cheered him on in his victorious youth wept as they saw him marching out with his family in a procession that included those who remained loyal to him and the Levites who brought the Ark of the Covenant along.  "Take the Ark of God back into the city", David said.  "If I find favor in the LORD's eyes, he will bring me back and let me see it and his dwelling place again.  But if he says, 'I am not pleased with you,' then I am ready; let him do to me whatever seems good to him."  - 2 Sam 15:25 NIV

On that long, sad, journey was David thinking that God had banished him as he had banished Absalom?  When he sent the Ark back, did he think he was saying goodbye to God's presence forever?

2 Samuel 11-12: In the Spring...

Statue of King David - Jerusalem, Israel

In the spring, at the time when kings go off to war.  With those words the story of David's greatest failure begins.  The problem with being King is that someone has to stay behind and make sure everything is running smoothly and watch over the home front while the brave men go off to war.  David was accustomed to going off to war.  He had been fighting battles since he was only a boy.  What he was not used to was inactivity, so while the men were off doing what he longed to do, David was bored.  He spent his days pacing around the gardens on the roof of his palace and one evening, when he could not sleep, he saw a beautiful woman in her own garden below, bathing in the moonlight.  'She's awake, too', he thought, so he sent someone to see if she would like to keep him company, since he had so few companions left. 

What do you do when the King asks you to come over for a drink?  It was difficult to refuse.  When Bathsheba found David more attractive than she had imagined, you can guess the rest of the story.  Something that may have started out innocent in both of their minds now has unintended consequences.  But everyone is still out of town.  They may be able to cover their tracks.  Bathsheba tells Davis that he doesn't know her husband and how honorable he is.  But David is confident in his power of persuasion.  It is Bathsheba who is right about Uriah.  Unlike David, he is too honorable to sleep with his wife when all the rest of his comrades are out fighting the enemy.  So plan B and Uriah is killed defending the throne and kingdom of David.

David can avoid his conscience and pretend that Uriah was just another casualty of the wars, and that he had pity on his widow and took her in, but God has seen the entire sordid affair and sends Nathan with a scathing rebuke. "This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: 'I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. I gave your master's house to you, and your master's wives into your arms. I gave you the house of Israel and Judah. And if all this had been too little, I would have given you even more. Why did you despise the word of the LORD by doing what is evil in his eyes? You struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and took his wife to be your own. You killed him with the sword of the Ammonites.  Now, therefore, the sword will never depart from your house, because you despised me and took the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own.'

"This is what the LORD says: 'Out of your own household I am going to bring calamity upon you. Before your very eyes I will take your wives and give them to one who is close to you, and he will lie with your wives in broad daylight.  You did it in secret, but I will do this thing in broad daylight before all Israel.' "  - 2 Sam. 12:7-12

God would have given David almost anything, but he wanted the one thing he could not have, that old knowledge thing back in the garden again.  David wanted to know Bathsheba, and in doing so, the connection to God's protection was severed.

2 Samuel 8-10 - The Wise King Can Be Trusted

David was a great warrior.  He defeated the Philistines, the Moabites, the Ammonites and the Edomites.  It says that "David reigned over all Israel, doing what was just and right for all his people." - 2 Sam. 8:15 NIV

David was a wise king as well.  He didn't try to do it all himself, but chose good men for top positions:  Joab, Jehoshaphat, Zadok, Ahimelech, Seraiah, Beniah and his sons all had their areas of responsibility.

And most importantly, David was a good, kind and loving king.  He sought out news of any survivors of Saul's family, and when he was told of Mephibosheth, Jonathan's crippled son, he restored his fortunes, provided servants to do the work for him and gave him a permanent seat at his table as if he were one of David's own sons. 

Nahash, the king of the Ammonites died.  At some time or other, he had shown kindness towards David, so David sent condolences to his son.  Hanun, the kings son, was persuaded by his noblemen not trust David's motives, so they shaved off the representatives beards and cut their robes so short that they were exposed, humiliating the entire delegation.

The Ammonites realized their mistake, but it was too late.  Even after hiring the Arameans to go with them against David, they were not successful.  David routed both the Ammonites and the Arameans.  They had not learned the lesson that Mephibosheth had, that at the core, David's heart was good and forgiving.

2 Samuel 4-7: Who's in Charge?

The Ark of the Covenant has been sitting at Abinadab's house ever since the Philistines returned it to Israel.  Now, years later, David decides to transfer the Ark from Kirjath-jearim to Jerusalem. On the way, the Lord kills Uzzah when the oxen stumbled and he put his hand out and touched the ark. This frightened everyone, including David, so he left the Ark with Obed-Edom, the Gittite.  When the entire household of Obed-Edom was blessed during the three months the Ark sat at his house, David decided it was safe to retrieve it and bring it to Jerusalem. 

Had the Israelites made a god out of the ark, had they begun trusting in it for their security instead of in the true God of Israel? Did Uzzah put a hand out waiting for the ark to catch and support him? Did Obed-Edom recognize that the ark was not a god but merely the symbol for the true God? Did he fear the Lord and not the ark during those months that the ark sat in his yard? And did the Lord let the ark stay there until the children of Israel remembered again who the true God was?

When the ark was finally brought to Jerusalem, David sang, danced, and worshipped not the ark, but the Lord. Included in his song in 1 Chronicles 16, were these words: "For great is the Lord and greatly to be praised. He is also to be feared above all gods. For all the gods of the people are idols: But the Lord made the heavens. Glory and honor are in His presence: Strength and gladness are in His place." - 1 Chron. 16: 25-27 NIV

When David became concerned that the Ark of God was residing in a tent, and he decided to build a temple for God, he was told 'no'.  'This is what the LORD says:  "Are you the one to build me a house to dwell in?  I have not dwelt in a house from the day I brought the Israelites up out of Egypt to this day. I have been moving from place to place with a tent as my dwelling.  Wherever I have moved with all the Israelites, did I ever say to any of their rulers whom I commanded to shepherd my people Israel, "Why have you not built me a house of cedar?" ..."The LORD declares to you that the LORD himself will establish a house for you." '  - 2 Sam. 7:5-11 NIV

God was the god.  He was not a possession, he was not a fixed place.

2 Samuel 1-3: How the Mighty Have Fallen

You would have thought that David would have been rejoicing and celebrating when he was told that Saul had been killed, but instead he tore his clothes and mourned and wept until evening.  David was mourning not just because he had lost his closest friend, Jonathan, but he mourned for Saul as well.  "Your glory, O Israel, lies slain on your heights. How the mighty have fallen!  2 Sam. 1:19 NIV  He took the death of Saul and Jonathan so hard, that he killed the messenger who told him of Saul's death. 

And when he was anointed King over Judah, it was his men more than David himself who pursued the rest of Israel and the house of Saul until it was wiped out and David was proclaimed king over all of Israel.  The men surrounding David were not as trusting as he was.  First they murdered Abner, the commander of Saul's army and caused David to grieve.  Once more he put on sackcloth and ashes and walked behind Abner's bier.  His grieving proved to be a consolation to the people of Israel, but it was not a political calculation on David's part, he truly grieved for Abner.  Then the king said to his men, "Do you not realize that a prince and a great man has fallen in Israel this day? - 2 Sam. 3:38 NIV

Then, after the death of Abner, some others took it upon themselves to murder Saul's remaining son, Ish-Bosheth.  When they brought the news of their revenge to David he rewarded them with the same reward he had given the messenger who brought the news of Saul's death.  David, the young, but wise, thirty year old king, knew what his men did not.  He knew the heart of God.  It was as if he had been sitting with the crowd on the mountain as they listened to Jesus' words.
"Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;"  - Matt.5:43-44 NIV

1 Samuel 26-31: The End of the Line

What an ignominious end for Saul...the first king of Israel.  The Philistines are gearing up to go against Israel and Saul can hear nothing from God.  Meanwhile, his enemy David has left Israel and settled in Ziklag in the Philistine's territory with his wives, his troops and their families.  Saul has driven all of the mediums out of the land, so in desperation, he has to go to Endor in disguise to consult a medium.  Bring up Samuel he says, and she does.

Samuel said to Saul, "Why have you disturbed me by bringing me up?"
"I am in great distress," Saul said. "The Philistines are fighting against me, and God has turned away from me. He no longer answers me, either by prophets or by dreams. So I have called on you to tell me what to do."
Samuel said, "Why do you consult me, now that the LORD has turned away from you and become your enemy?  The LORD has done what he predicted through me. The LORD has torn the kingdom out of your hands and given it to one of your neighbors—to David.  Because you did not obey the LORD or carry out his fierce wrath against the Amalekites, the LORD has done this to you today.  The LORD will hand over both Israel and you to the Philistines, and tomorrow you and your sons will be with me. The LORD will also hand over the army of Israel to the Philistines."  - 1 Sam. 28:15-19 NIV

Meanwhile, the Philistines let David know they don't trust him to go up against Israel and Saul.  When he returns to Ziklag he finds that everything, including wives, children and cattle, has been carted off by the Amalekites.  So while the Philistines go after Saul, David goes after the Amalekites and in doing so, does what God told Saul to do.   David is successful.  Saul is not.  God is with David,  With Saul he is not.

1 Sam 24-25: Vengeance is the Lord's

David had more than one chance to kill Saul as he was being pursued by him.  Once he found himself in the same cave with him and cut a piece of cloth from the hem of Saul's garment as he slept.  Another time, he snuck into Saul's camp with two of his men and stole Saul's spear and water jug.  Both times David could have killed Saul and he was even encouraged by his men to do so.

There was at least one person in David's life who understood what he was doing:  Abigail, the wife of the foolish Nabal.  David's men had been camped around Nabal's land, keeping it from being attacked, but when they went to Nabal to ask for provisions, he refused to give them anything.  But the beautiful and wise Abigail packed her donkey's full of bread, roasted sheep, wine and cakes to take them to David and his men as her husband refused to do.
 
When she arrived, Abigail pleaded with David as one who knew his heart.  "Let no wrongdoing be found in you as long as you live. Even though someone is pursuing you to take your life, the life of my master will be bound securely in the bundle of the living by the LORD your God. But the lives of your enemies he will hurl away as from the pocket of a sling.  When the LORD has done for my master every good thing he promised concerning him and has appointed him leader over Israel,  my master will not have on his conscience the staggering burden of needless bloodshed or of having avenged himself." - 1 Sam 25:28-31 NIV

Perhaps Abigail also recognized that David was a man who knew the heart of God.  One who knew the justice and righteousness of God 's being.  One who sang in Psalm 103:

The LORD is compassionate and gracious,
slow to anger, abounding in love.
He will not always accuse,
nor will he harbor his anger forever;
he does not treat us as our sins deserve
or repay us according to our iniquities.
For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his love for those who fear him;

David's actions echoed his words.  Was he tempted to seek vengeance?  Oh yes, but he did not treat Saul as he deserved, for he knew God did not treat him as he deserved to be treated.

1 Samuel 20-23: One True Friend

David's life is beginning to turn around, and it is not for the better.  The people of Israel may still see David as a hero, but his life has become one of constantly looking over his shoulder.  He never knows where Saul may be lying in wait to kill him, he only knows that he is being pursued.  David also knows that anyone who risks his life to help him runs the risk of being killed as well.  That happens to the Priest of Nob who were guilty of nothing more than giving David some bread and the sword that belonged to Goliath before David killed him.

David's only friend was the son of his enemy, Saul's son Jonathan.  Jonathan saw David through eyes of love and adoration rather than through eyes of jealousy.  Jonathan knew that David was chosen by God and that one day David and his descendants would be the ones to rule Israel instead of anyone from his family.  All Jonathan asked of David was:  "But show me unfailing kindness like that of the LORD as long as I live, so that I may not be killed, and do not ever cut off your kindness from my family—not even when the LORD has cut off every one of David's enemies from the face of the earth."  - 1 Sam. 20:14-15 NIV

Jonathan saw what his father could not see, that God was on David's side and that God would see his purpose through.  After David had escaped to Horesh in the Desert of Ziph to hide from Saul, Jonathan sought him out once more, as he had been doing from the early days of their friendship, 'and helped him find strength in God.  "Don't be afraid," he said. "My father Saul will not lay a hand on you. You will be king over Israel, and I will be second to you. Even my father Saul knows this."  - 1 Sam. 23:17

Even at the risk of danger to his own life, Jonathan was a faithful friend.  David could count on that and on God being by his side.    What more could he ask for?

1 Samuel 17-19: Facing Giants

David faced more than one giant in his life.  The obvious one was the Philistine, Goliath who tormented the Israelites from his post in the enemy camp.  All of the Israelites were trembling in fear, and none of them would take Goliath up on his challenge to come and fight.  Only David, the shepherd boy, and part time harpist to soothe Saul's nerves, saw Goliath clearly, and his response was one of indignation. "Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?" - 1 Sam 17:26 NIV

When David tells Saul that he is going to fight Goliath, Saul reminds him that he is only a boy.  David recounts how God helped him kill lions and bears in order to protect the sheep and tells Saul that, "The LORD who delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine."  - 1 Sam. 17:37 NIV

So Saul gives David his blessing and dresses David in the customary armour and helmet of the warriors.  But David, being only a boy, finding himself unable to walk around loaded down with armor, took it off and went to face the giant with only five stones and the armor of God.  The Israelites were victorious over the Philistines that day, but Saul had already forgotten David's contribution.

When the women greeted the returning army with the refrain "Saul has slain his thousands and David his tens of thousands," Saul became angry and the very next day the evil spirit, that was to continually haunt the relationship between Saul and David, made its presence known when Saul threw a spear at David while he was playing the harp.  David's music was no longer soothing to Saul.  The evil spirit became another taunting, jealous, giant that would pursue David the rest of Saul's life.

1 Samuel 15-16: Obedience is Better than Sacrifice

The Israelites have the king the asked for, but like most politicians, the power has gone to his head.  Saul thinks his decisions are better than God's and when God tells him to totally destroy the Amalekites, Saul applies his own interpretation and spares the king, Agag, and the best of the sheep and cattle.  God's eyes saw what Saul had done, and when he tells Samuel, he is so troubled that 'he cried out to the Lord all that night.' - 1 Sam 15:12 NIV
Saul, however, is not experiencing the same remorse.  Instead, '"he has gone to Carmel. There he has set up a monument in his own honor and has turned and gone on down to Gilgal." 
When Samuel reached him, Saul said, "The LORD bless you! I have carried out the LORD's instructions."
But Samuel said, "What then is this bleating of sheep in my ears? What is this lowing of cattle that I hear?"
Saul answered, "The soldiers brought them from the Amalekites; they spared the best of the sheep and cattle to sacrifice to the LORD your God, but we totally destroyed the rest."
"Stop!" Samuel said to Saul. "Let me tell you what the LORD said to me last night."
"Tell me," Saul replied.'  - 1 Sam. 15:12 NIV

Samuel lets Saul have it, and Saul pleads his case saying he saved the best of the sheep and cattle to sacrifice to God.  Samuel is not impressed and replies:
"Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices
as much as in obeying the voice of the LORD ?
To obey is better than sacrifice,
and to heed is better than the fat of rams.
For rebellion is like the sin of divination,
and arrogance like the evil of idolatry.
Because you have rejected the word of the LORD,
he has rejected you as king."  - 1 Sam 15:22-23

It is too late for Saul.  Another king will be anointed by Samuel.  A king who will be after God's own heart.  A king who may not be perfect, but one who will always obey the voice of the Lord.

1 Samuel 11-14: Allegiance to the King

Saul has been declared the king , but it is not in his heart or in the heart of the people...until the crisis comes.  Saul was out plowing with his oxen when the weeping messengers come to Gibeah to report how the Ammonites promised to gouge out the right eye of every citizen of Jabesh Gilead.  Immediately, the Spirit of God came on Saul and a righteous indignation rose up in him that caused all of Israel and Judah to answer his call to arms.  They went out to battle the Ammonites and Israel's success was so great that, 'The people then said to Samuel, "Who was it that asked, 'Shall Saul reign over us?' Bring these men to us and we will put them to death."
But Saul said, "No one shall be put to death today, for this day the LORD has rescued Israel."
Then Samuel said to the people, "Come, let us go to Gilgal and there reaffirm the kingship."  So all the people went to Gilgal and confirmed Saul as king in the presence of the LORD. There they sacrificed fellowship offerings before the LORD, and Saul and all the Israelites held a great celebration.'- 1 Sam. 11:12-15 NIV

The Israelites now have their king, one who is not afraid to go up against their enemies and fight.  But the hearts of the people are already turning toward Saul and his armies and away from the Lord God.  Samuel gives them one final warning that if they serve the Lord they will prosper and if they do not, 'both you and your king will be swept away.''

 'Saul was thirty years old when he became king, and he reigned over Israel forty-two years.' - 1 Sam 13:1 NIV  But those years were not exactly what the Israelites were hoping for.  As Samuel had warned, they paid a price for their king.  'All the days of Saul there was bitter war with the Philistines, and whenever Saul saw a mighty or brave man, he took him into his service.' - 1 Sam. 14:52 NIV

Allegiance to any king results in continual battles and giving up the best.

1 Sam. 10: Hidden Among the Stuff

His actions in later years as king make it difficult to believe, but Saul really was a reluctant leader to begin with.  He told Samuel he was not the man as he was from an insignificant clan of the most insignificant tribe in Israel. But Samuel knew that nothing was impossible with God and he told Saul that "The Spirit of the LORD will come upon you in power, and you will prophesy with them; and you will be changed into a different person.  Once these signs are fulfilled, do whatever your hand finds to do, for God is with you." - 1 Sam. 10:6-7 NIV

And that is exactly what happened.  "As Saul turned to leave Samuel, God changed Saul's heart, and all these signs were fulfilled that day." - 1 Sam 10:9 NIV

Saul met the procession of prophets as Samuel said he would, and the next thing you know, he is prophesying with the best of them, to everyone's amazement.  Samuel proceeds to Mizpah and summons the people, to announce that God has chosen the king they have been asking for.  From all of Israel, he chooses the tribe of Benjamin, and from the tribe of Benjamin he chooses Matri's clan and from Matri's clan he chooses Saul.  But Saul is nowhere to be found.  Where is this king chosen by God?   Where is this guy with the change of heart?  Where is the person who heard the voice of the Lord and prophesied with all of the other prophets?  The King James Version puts it this way.   "And the LORD answered, Behold he hath hid himself among the stuff. " -1 Sam. 10:22

This brave king, this chosen one, was hiding in the stuff.  Was he busy counting what he would lose if he became king.  Tallying up his computer games, cell phones, i-pods, designer wardrobe and fast cars?  Or was he counting up his accomplishments:  his family, his awards, the organizations he belonged to, his title, his six-figure salary.  Whatever the stuff he was hiding in, he was not hidden from God who saw right through him along with the stuff.   The stuff was not what God had chosen him for and not what God wanted Saul to use to guide the people of Israel.   The Spirit of the Lord was all Saul needed.  All of the stuff he was hiding in was useless.

1 Samuel 8-9: Where's the King?

Samuel had been a faithful servant to the Lord God, but his sons did not follow his lead.  Much like the sons of Eli, his predecessor, they were more interested in 'what's in it for me?' than in serving God. This was obvious to even the Israelites, so they ask Samuel for a king.  God told Samuel that he, Samuel, was not the one the people were rejecting, but the kingship of the Lord God himself.  God also tells Samuel to relay to the people what their life will be like under the king.  How the King will take the best of everything, their crops, their land, their flocks, and even their children, for his own benefit.  That does not discourage the Israelites.  'But the people refused to listen to Samuel. "No!" they said. "We want a king over us.  Then we will be like all the other nations, with a king to lead us and to go out before us and fight our battles." ' - 1 Sam. 8:19-20 NIV

So Samuel goes looking for a king.  And where does he find him?  He finds him wandering about, looking for a bunch of donkey's.  He's a big, strapping boy, but he's lost, and furthermore, he's from the tribe of Benjamin, the smallest tribe in Israel.  They became so small when the rest of the Israelites almost annihilated them because of their sinful treatment of the Levite and his concubine.  Even Saul protests that he should not be king.  'Saul answered, "But am I not a Benjamite, from the smallest tribe of Israel, and is not my clan the least of all the clans of the tribe of Benjamin? Why do you say such a thing to me?"  - 1 Sam. 9:21 NIV

But Saul was not of Samuel's choosing, he was chosen by God.  The people asked for a king, they would get one.  Saul may have not been what they needed, but he was what they deserved. 

1 Samuel 6-7: Stone of Help

The Israelites have done it this time.  They've lost the Ark.  It's not really lost, just in the hands of the Philistines.  And the Philistines, who originally thought it was a good idea to take the Ark, have had second thoughts.  They have been plagued ever since they took it by tumors and rats.  So, they devise a scheme to send the Ark back to the Israelites that involved making golden tumors and rats and putting them in a chest on a cart along with the Ark, hitching two cows up to the cart, and watching to see if the cows take the Ark back to Israel.  They figure if the cows go back to Beth Shemesh, it was the God of Israel that caused all of their suffering.  And so it was.

The Israelites, in the meantime rejoice to have the Ark back in their possession, but their rejoicing is tempered when God strikes down seventy of the men of Beth Shemesh for looking into the Ark.  So, much like when they came out of Israel and told Moses he could go into God's presence for all of them, they wrestle with the question "Who can stand in the presence of the LORD, this holy God? To whom will the ark go up from here?"  - 1 Sam. 6:21 NIV

They decide to send a message to Kiriath Jearim to come take possession of the Ark and they do so, consecrating Eleazar to guard the Ark.  For twenty years the Ark sat in Kiraith Jearim. Then, once they put away their Baals and Ashtoreths, Samuel consented to intercede for them and the final showdown, to see if God would once again be on their side against the Philistines, took place at Mizpah.  He was.  'Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen. He named it Ebenezer,  saying, "Thus far has the LORD helped us."' - 1 Sam. 7:12 NIV

And so, Ebenezer which means 'stone of help' is a testament to God's willingness to help a wayward people, and a reminder of our waywardness.

Here I raise mine Ebenezer;
hither by thy help I'm come;
and I hope, by thy good pleasure,
safely to arrive at home.

Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
Prone to leave the God I love;
Here’s my heart, O take and seal it,
Seal it for Thy courts above.. —Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing

1 Samuel 4-5: Ichabod - The Glory has departed

Eli had been warned that his sons would die because of their wickedness in disrespecting the sacrifices to God.  If Eli passed that information on to his sons, they paid no attention.  The next time the Israelites were defeated by the Philistines, Hophni and Phinehas grabbed the Ark of the Covenant out of the temple and carried it into their camp.  That excited the Israelites, but scared the Philistines to death.  "A god has come into the camp," they said. "We're in trouble! Nothing like this has happened before. Woe to us! Who will deliver us from the hand of these mighty gods? They are the gods who struck the Egyptians with all kinds of plagues in the desert."  - 1 Sam. 4:7-8 NIV

The Philistines knew better than the Israelites that you cannot mess with the Lord God.  They had heard of his power and they were afraid, in contrast to the Israelites who thought that God was theirs to use as they saw fit; to drag around whenever and wherever they needed victory.

Boy were they wrong.  The Philistines slaughtered thirty thousand Israelites, captured the Ark, and all hell broke loose.  Hophni and Phinehas are killed.  When he hears the news that the Ark has been captured, Eli falls backwards off his chair and dies.  Then his daughter-in-law, Phinehas' wife, gives birth to a son and names him Ichabod which means 'no glory', just before she dies.
 
There is no glory when God is taken out of the temple, off the throne, and away from his dwelling place.  The Philistines discover that immediately, and the Ark is passed from place to place like a hot potato.  It went from Ebenezer, to Ashdod, to Gath, to Ekron.  Wherever the Ark went, gods were destroyed, people developed tumors, death and panic filled the cities.  A power had been loosed in the land and it was too powerful to be consumed.

"Ichabod," Phineas' wife cries, "the Glory has departed."  Woe to all, the Israelites and their enemies as well.  The Glory has departed.

1 Samuel 3: Here am I, Lord

'The boy Samuel ministered before the LORD under Eli. In those days the word of the LORD was rare; there were not many visions.' So begins the Third chapter of First Samuel.  'One night Eli, whose eyes were becoming so weak that he could barely see, was lying down in his usual place.  The lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the temple of the LORD, where the ark of God was'. - 1 Sam. 3:1-3 NIV

Eli is an old man going blind, and the blind eye he has cast towards the sins of his two sons, has resulted in being blinded spiritually as well.  All he has to rely on is the familiar, so he is lying down in his usual place while Samuel is lying down in the temple of the Lord, where the ark of God was.  But the lamp of God had not yet gone out.  Samuel, the one prayed for and consecrated to the Lord, still has eyes and ears.  At first he thinks the voice he hears is Eli, so in obedience he runs towards the voice.  But it is not Eli, it is the voice of God, and Samuel runs towards that voice.  He runs toward the Lord for the rest of his life.

 'The LORD was with Samuel as he grew up, and he let none of his words fall to the ground.  And all Israel from Dan to Beersheba recognized that Samuel was attested as a prophet of the LORD.  The LORD continued to appear at Shiloh, and there he revealed himself to Samuel through his word.' - 1Sam. 3:19-21 NIV

Throughout his life, God gave Samuel the ability to hear and see what others could not.  Even as an old man, he sees God's hand on a ruddy faced shepherd boy who will become the king of Israel.  Samuel hears and sees from the Lord until the day he dies. 

1 Samuel 1-2: Barrenness

The first book of Samuel begins with the story of another barren woman.  This time it is Samuel's mother, Hannah, however, instead of an angel appearing to her, she pursues God on her own, weeping, praying and finally vowing that if God will give her a son, she will consecrate and dedicate him to God.  She was so engrossed in pouring out her soul to God that Eli the priest thought she was drunk.  When she told Eli the truth, he told her to go in peace, and a miraculous thing happened, she was overcome by peace.  Her mood changed; she was able to eat, smile, and she had a lilt in her step when went back home with her husband.

It wasn't long before Hanna received the answer to her prayer; a son she named Samuel, which can mean 'name of God, asked of God or heard by God'.  Who knows exactly which meaning Hannah was referring to, but it is clear she recognized that Samuel was a gift from God.  As soon as Samuel was weaned, she keeps her vow, presents him to the Lord to become a priest, and then prays the following prayer,
"My heart rejoices in the LORD;
in the LORD my horn is lifted high.
My mouth boasts over my enemies,
for I delight in your deliverance.
"There is no one holy like the LORD;
there is no one besides you;
there is no Rock like our God.
"Do not keep talking so proudly
or let your mouth speak such arrogance,
for the LORD is a God who knows,
and by him deeds are weighed.
"The bows of the warriors are broken,
but those who stumbled are armed with strength.
Those who were full hire themselves out for food,
but those who were hungry hunger no more.
She who was barren has borne seven children,
but she who has had many sons pines away.
"The LORD brings death and makes alive;
he brings down to the grave and raises up.
The LORD sends poverty and wealth;
he humbles and he exalts.  - 1 Sam. 2:1-7 NIV

This must have given the priest Eli some thought as his own sons, who should have been consecrated to the priesthood, were wicked men.  They abused the people's sacrifices and offerings to God until finally God sends a messenger to tell Eli that the priestly line will be cut short because of their sins. "But now the LORD declares:  'Far be it from me! Those who honor me I will honor, but those who despise me will be disdained. The time is coming when I will cut short your strength and the strength of your father's house, so that there will not be an old man in your family line and you will see distress in my dwelling. Although good will be done to Israel, in your family line there will never be an old man. Every one of you that I do not cut off from my altar will be spared only to blind your eyes with tears and to grieve your heart, and all your descendants will die in the prime of life.
" 'And what happens to your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, will be a sign to you—they will both die on the same day.  I will raise up for myself a faithful priest, who will do according to what is in my heart and mind. I will firmly establish his house, and he will minister before my anointed one always.'"  - 1Sam. 2:30-35 NIV
 
 Hannah's words are true.  The Lord is a God who knows, and by him deeds are weighed.  By him the barren becomes plentiful and the plentiful become barren.

Ruth 1-4: A Jewish Mother-in-Law

Much is written about Ruth.  The title of this book of the Bible is after all "Ruth", not "Naomi", and Ruth is the central character, but what about Naomi?  She was a young wife when she went with her husband and two sons to Moab to escape the famine in their town of Bethlehem in Judah.  Although her husband died, she remained in Moab with her sons and eventually was blessed to witness the marriage of both of them, to wonderful local girls, Orpah and Ruth.

But times change, and although news eventually came from Judah that the famine was over, both of her sons died in Moab before they could journey back home.

"Oy vey, my life is over." she may have cried.  "What am I going to do without my sons.  I'm never going to be a grandmother.  And wouldn't you know it, there's food in Bethlehem, and I'm here.  I may as well lay down and die."

But Orpah and Ruth would not let her down.  They started out for the old country with their mother-in-law and had no sooner started their journey than Naomi changed her mind.  "What am I doing," she asks them, "schlepping you two shikses back to my country.  Stay here in your own country, where you belong."

That argument worked for Orpah, but for Ruth, it was a different story.  When she married Kilion, it was for better or worse.  This may have been the worst she could have imagined, but Ruth replied, "Don't urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the LORD deal with me, be it ever so severely, if anything but death separates you and me." - Ruth 1:16-17 NIV

"Call me Mara,  because the Almighty has made my life very bitter."  Ruth told the women of her home town when they greeted her.  But for this typically pessimistic, Jewish woman, it was not the bitter end.  It was the beginning of a great dynasty, and later, as she held her new grandson on her lap, the women of the town said to Naomi: "Praise be to the LORD, who this day has not left you without a kinsman-redeemer. May he become famous throughout Israel!  He will renew your life and sustain you in your old age. For your daughter-in-law, who loves you and who is better to you than seven sons, has given him birth."  - Ruth 4:14-15 NIV

The baby she held was Obed, the father of Jesse, the father of David, whose lineage produced "Joseph, the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ. - Matt. 1:16

Judges 19-21: ...Everyone did as he saw fit.

The last few chapters of Judges keep emphasizing the fact that in those days there was no king, as if that was an excuse for the human condition.  Things had deteriorated so far in Israel, that it was no longer just the aliens who were out of control, but the Israelites as well.  So it is not unusual that the story of the Levite and his concubine occurs. 

This unnamed Levite lived in a remote area of Ephraim.  He took a concubine from Bethlehem in Judah, but she ran away to her father's house.  The Levite went to Bethlehem to bring her back to his home, but was forced to spend the night on the road.  Not wanting to stop in the alien town of Jebus, they proceeded on to Gibeath in Benjamin, where an old man invited them to spend the night at his house and:

"they had something to eat and drink. While they were enjoying themselves, some of the wicked men of the city surrounded the house. Pounding on the door, they shouted to the old man who owned the house, "Bring out the man who came to your house so we can have sex with him."  

The owner of the house went outside and said to them, "No, my friends, don't be so vile. Since this man is my guest, don't do this disgraceful thing.  Look, here is my virgin daughter, and his concubine. I will bring them out to you now, and you can use them and do to them whatever you wish. But to this man, don't do such a disgraceful thing."

But the men would not listen to him. So the man took his concubine and sent her outside to them, and they raped her and abused her throughout the night, and at dawn they let her go.  At daybreak the woman went back to the house where her master was staying, fell down at the door and lay there until daylight.

When her master got up in the morning and opened the door of the house and stepped out to continue on his way, there lay his concubine, fallen in the doorway of the house, with her hands on the threshold.  He said to her, "Get up; let's go." But there was no answer. Then the man put her on his donkey and set out for home." - Judges 19:21-28 NIV

The Levite is so angry when he gets home that he cuts his concubine into twelve pieces and sends one to each of the tribes of Israel and they arm themselves to go up against Benjamin.  It finally comes to this, covenant people against covenant people, brother against brother, God's chosen against God's chosen.

And so the book of Judges ends with these words:  In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as he saw fit.

Joshua 17-18: In those days Israel had no King

What do men do when they are in a land filled with milk and honey, and they have no king?  In Israel's case, they should have functioned as a 'nation under God', because that's what they were and they had the law to prove it.  They had the law, and they had their history which should have been enough to order their steps, but it was not.  The last few chapters of Judges show just how far from God's intent Israel had come.  It seems that once the tribes went their separate ways, they forgot all of their lessons and commandments.
 
Judges 17 tells of Micah from the hill country of Ephraim who stole money from his mother, and when he confessed to the crime, she gave it to him to make an idol.  So he set up a shrine, made an ephod and several idols.  Reading the story you expect the earth to open up and swallow them, but instead a Levite from Bethlehem is convinced to stay with Micah and be his priest.  Then, if that wasn't enough, five warriors from the tribe of Dan see the priest and return later and steal both the idol and the priest.  Micah calls his neighbors together, they go after the Danites and the following scene takes place:

As they shouted after them, the Danites turned and said to Micah, "What's the matter with you that you called out your men to fight?"

He replied, "You took the gods I made, and my priest, and went away. What else do I have? How can you ask, 'What's the matter with you?' "

The Danites answered, "Don't argue with us, or some hot-tempered men will attack you, and you and your family will lose your lives."

So the Danites went their way, and Micah, seeing that they were too strong for him, turned around and went back home.

With the priest and the idols in tow, the Danites raid the peaceful and unsuspecting town of Laish, burn it to the ground, build their own city, and install the idols. What happened to the 'Thou shalt have no other gods before me, Thou shalt make no graven image, Honor thy father and mother, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not covet, Thou shalt not kill'?

Judges 15-16: I'll Be Back!

Sampson was the Arnold Schwarzenegger of his day, a muscle bound action hero, swinging a donkey jawbone or setting foxes on fire to run rampant through the Philistines fields, but in the case of Sampson, driven more by lust than by any sense of purpose.  A typical politician, Sampson led Israel for twenty years, but those years were fraught with his escapades with prostitutes, and finally with Delilah, his eventual undoing.

It was only because the Lord God had chosen him, and his parents had been faithful when they raised him as a Nazarite, that he had any strength at all.  His strength was not in his hair, it was merely a symbol of his consecration to God.  God was the only source of his strength, and when that tie was cut he was a mere human.  With his connection to God gone, the Philistines were able to subdue Sampson, put him in shackles and gouge out his eyes.

While Sampson pushed the grinding stone around and around in prison, his hair and his strength returned.  Although his motive was not completely pure...he wanted revenge for what the Philistines had done to him...he finally acknowledged the source of his strength and called out to God for strength one more time.  With that strength he toppled the temple of the Philistines on three thousand of their leading citizens and with his death killed more of them than he had in his lifetime.  Sampson had to be shackled in order to rid Israel of the Philistines as God intended.  Sampson had to be blinded in order to see.

Judges 13-14: Born to be Wild

The story of Sampson's life includes three common themes found throughout the Bible:  a childless woman, the appearance of an angel from God., and  the fiery consumption of an offering to God.  So the story of Sampson begins with a nameless woman, married to a man from the tribe of Dan named Manoah, which means 'rest or quiet'.  There was no rest or quiet in the land of Israel  This time it was the Philistines who had been beleaguering Israel for the past forty years.  They need a savior, and what better place to get one than from a quiet man and a barren woman. 

When his wife told Manoah that an angel said she would bear a child, his main concern was bringing the child up the way God wanted. 'Then Manoah prayed to the LORD : "O LORD, I beg you, let the man of God you sent to us come again to teach us how to bring up the boy who is to be born." -  Judges 13:8 NIV

The angel does come back, and when Manoah asks him what his name is, he receives no answer except for the sacrificial goat being consumed by fire. Ah, this has a familiar ring.  It has happened before in the history of the Israelites.  Not frequently, but at low points in their history when they found themselves in need of a savior. 

So Sampson is born.  He is dedicated  as a Nazarite according to the dictates found in Numbers 6, and raised to be zealous for God.  He abstains from wine and cutting his hair and as a result, grows stronger than any of his peers.  But he has no inward strength and a weak spot where women are concerned.  His external appearance can not mask the weakness inside. Instead of being quiet and peaceful like his father or nameless like his mother, Sampson is brash and reckless.  Can he be what God intends to use to confront Israel's enemies?