1 Samuel 16-20: There is None As Faithful

David said to the Philistine, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the Lord will deliver you into my hands, and I’ll strike you down and cut off your head. This very day I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds and the wild animals, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel. All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves; for the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give all of you into our hands.” 1 Sam. 17:45-47 NIV

The battle is the Lord's.  Who would know this more than David.  This thought must have served him well throughout his life.It was not just the battle with the giant Goliath, or with the troublesome Philistines.  David faced many battles through his life and God was always faithful.  God was faithful when Saul repeatedly tried to kill him.  God was faithful when his son Absalom tried to kill him.  God was faithful in all of the situations that came against David.  He was even faithful when David's heart temporarily abandoned God and reached for a woman instead.  God was always faithful. That is how he will always be.  There is no other option, or as the old hymn says, "There is no shadow of turning" with him.  

God's faithfulness is an amazing thing to contemplate, but often we can only see it in looking back on our lives.   He always brings his children through.  When we're going through trials and tribulations, it may be difficult to see, but his hand is always there, guiding our circumstances.  If we would look at the past whenever we feel life closing in on us, we would see nothing but promise, we would see nothing but God's faithfulness.  Even when we are less than faithful ourselves he remains unchanged  There is no one as faithful as our God.

1 Samuel 11-15: Obedience is Better

“Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices
    as much as in obeying 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.

Sometimes I think that very few of us get the truth; God is looking for obedience, not sacrifice. We all find ways to sacrifice even if we don't admit it.  Most of our rituals and taboos are based on sacrifice:  don't do that, don't go there, don't associate with those people.  Meanwhile, we find it hard to do the one thing asked by God:  Love him with all our heart and our neighbor as our self.  That's a lot harder than obeying a lot of self-imposed rules about what constitutes godly behavior. 

We do have an example, however, of what obedience really looks like.  It's manifest in Jesus, the one whose friends were tax collectors, prostitutes and other forms of low life.  You don't see Jesus subjecting his disciples to a lot of the rules of the time.  He healed and even condoned them picking grain and eating it on the Sabbath.  Something the religious people of the day would never be found doing.  His only comment to the woman found in adultery was "Go and sin no more."  You could say that he made the ultimate sacrifice and he did, but it was because that was what the Father asked him to do.  He would have done whatever the Father asked.  Sometimes God asks us for sacrifice, but most of the time, he just asks for obedience.  - 1 Sam. 15:22-23 NIV

1 Samuel 5-10: The Bigger Picture

When Samuel had all Israel come forward by tribes, the tribe of Benjamin was taken by lot. Then he brought forward the tribe of Benjamin, clan by clan, and Matri’s clan was taken. Finally Saul son of Kish was taken. But when they looked for him, he was not to be found. So they inquired further of the Lord, “Has the man come here yet?”

And the Lord said, “Yes, he has hidden himself among the supplies.” - 1 Samuel 20-22 NIV

Sometimes I think that King Saul was schizophrenic.  One moment he is telling Samuel that he cannot be king because he comes from the smallest of the tribes, Benjamin, the tribe that was almost completely decimated because of their sin.  The next moment he is boldly prophesying with the prophets.  Then, when Samuel has rounded up all of the people to choose the king, Saul is no where to be found.  He has hidden himself among the supplies.

These characteristics marked his reign.  One moment he loved David, the next he wanted to kill him.  All this from the man chosen by God to be the king over Israel.  Did God make a mistake in choosing this flawed creature to lead Israel? God's ways are not our ways, he is patient and long-suffering, he knows men's hearts and he creates the timeline of history.  Just as he hardened Pharaoh's heart, he knew what Saul's reign was going to be like. There is always a bigger picture than the one we see.  The whole cosmic universe was created by and for God and he controls it as he sees fit.  I'm pretty sure if the universe was under my control, I would only want good things to happen all of the time.  But that doesn't take into consideration man's fallen nature and the consequences of sin.  God knows it all, our tendencies, our failures and whatever hint of goodness we may possess.  He knows it all and uses it to paint the broader picture for his and our benefit.  

1 Samuel 1-3: A Sacrifice That Can Not Be Exploited

Therefore I swore to the house of Eli, ‘The guilt of Eli’s house will never be atoned for by sacrifice or offering.’” - 1 Samuel 3:14 NIV


How frightening to think of committing a sin that could never be atoned for.  Such was the case with Eli the priest's sons who blasphemed God.  They were priests themselves, descended from the priestly lineage, but they thumbed their noses at the requirements set down for those who were supposed to serve the Lord.  They treated the offerings that the Israelites brought before the Lord as if it was solely for their own benefit.  The sins of Eli's sons were apparent to the people, they saw how they caroused with prostitutes, but they could not see the depth of the contempt with which they treated the offerings designated for the Lord.  Their most grievous sins may have been hidden from the people, but they were not hidden from God.  It was not the people who would have to deal with the priests, God would do that himself. 


I wonder if that is not often the case with us.  We are aware of and will even admit to the obvious sins in our lives.  But those that are just between us and God we keep hidden.  No one needs to know how we grieve God by being self-centered, self-absorbed, trusting in anything but God to supply our needs.  For, in essence, that was what Eli's sons were most guilty of.  They didn't trust God enough to supply their needs.  They thought they had to take matters into their own hands, when God had already made provision for them and had assured them they would always be taken care of.  That was the sin that could not be atoned for.  That was the sin that would strip them of their priesthood and their lives.


I know that Christ's blood became the atonement for our sins, but do we treat that too lightly?  It's a serious sacrifice that was made, the death of the Son of God as a sacrifice for our sins.  A sacrifice that cannot be exploited for our own benefit.  

Judges 17-21: Self-Indulgence meets a Gruesome End

The story of the Levite and his concubine and the subsequent near annihilation of the tribe of Benjamin is one of the more gruesome stories in the Bible.  How did the Children of Israel, those born of such promise, the promise to Abraham, come to this ignoble end.  It was not just because they had no king as these chapters keep mentioning.  A king would not have kept the people from the wrong choices.  It was because the people lost sight of their God and their inheritance.  It had all become a here and now philosophy.  See the stranger in the square?  Let's take him and abuse him for our own pleasure.  If we can't do that, then let's take his concubine instead.  There were few who would stand up to prevent everything that was evil from taking place. 
When the results of this madness ran it's course, and the Levite sent the concubine's body parts to the remaining tribes, the people of Israel were incensed.  How could this have happened?  How did it get to this point?  We must have revenge.  Madness upon madness ensued with the tribe of Benjamin being almost completely obliterated.  Did these events all take place because there was no king or was there a self-righteous, every man for himself mentality, that had never been dealt with?  Self-indulgence always meets a gruesome end.

Judges 9-16: Cries to the Gods You Have Chosen

But you have forsaken me and served other gods, so I will no longer save you. Go and cry out to the gods you have chosen. Let them save you when you are in trouble! ” - Judges 10:13-14 NIV


For Israel the problem always was in whom they chose to follow.  The ones they followed were the ones that they served.  Occasionally, the Lord would raise up a Godly man for them to follow, but most of the time, from one generation to another, they chose to follow after other gods.  The results were always the same; they found themselves under the bondage of their enemies.  Sampson, who was chosen and set apart by God should have been different.After all, he followed all of the rules that were prescribed for him.  According to the Jewish Encyclopedia,  
 "Three restrictions are imposed upon the Nazarite, according to Num. vi.: he may not take wine, or anything made from grapes; he may not cut the hair of his head; he may not touch the dead, not even the body of his father or mother.". 


 A pure life on the outside does not necessarily mean a pure life on the inside.  Sampson met his downfall because, while he kept to the letter of the law, his heart longed for what others had.  The same could have been said for the rest of Israel.  They may have still continued to make sacrifices to the Lord Jehovah, but that didn't stop them from serving other gods as well.  No wonder their history was fraught with conquests and enslavement while their cries to the gods they chose went unanswered.   

Judges 5-8: Even Good Deeds Can Become a Snare

But Gideon told them, “I will not rule over you, nor will my son rule over you. The Lord will rule over you.” And he said, “I do have one request, that each of you give me an earring from your share of the plunder. ” (It was the custom of the Ishmaelites to wear gold earrings. They answered, “We’ll be glad to give them.” So they spread out a garment, and each of them threw a ring from his plunder onto it. The weight of the gold rings he asked for came to seventeen hundred shekels, not counting the ornaments, the pendants and the purple garments worn by the kings of Midian or the chains that were on their camels’ necks. Gideon made the gold into an ephod, which he placed in Ophrah, his town. All Israel prostituted themselves by worshiping it there, and it became a snare to Gideon and his family.  - Judges 8:12-28 NIV

Even those who have only good intentions can get bogged down when they start reflecting on their successes.  Such was the case with Gideon, a timid man, who considered himself the least of the least; one who had nothing to offer against the Midianites.  It was because of his lack of ability that God chose him.  God always chooses to have his power displayed above that of his people.  God then had Gideon whittle the number of troops down to only three hundred to face the scores from Midian.  It was God's battle and the victory was his, but Gideon chose to take the spoils and tribute offered by a grateful people and create an ephod as a trophy.  All of a sudden, the people, with something visible to worship rather than the invisible God who had given them the victory, prostituted themselves by worshipping Gideon's creation.  All of Gideon's conquests were for naught.  The people turned from the source of victory and once more gave into the temptation to worship anything but their God.  The prosperity that Gideon's victory brought about would be short lived.

Judges 1-4:  Never Has, Never Will

It has taken me a while to re-format this blog with the new Blogger, however I have continued on with my readings and nothing has changed.

The Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord; they forgot the Lord their God and served the Baals and the Asherahs. The anger of the Lord burned against Israel so that he sold them into the hands of Cushan-Rishathaim king of Aram Naharaim, to whom the Israelites were subject for eight years. But when they cried out to the Lord, he raised up for them a deliverer, Othniel son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother, who saved them. The Spirit of the Lord came on him, so that he became Israel’s judge and went to war. The Lord gave Cushan-Rishathaim king of Aram into the hands of Othniel, who overpowered him. So the land had peace for forty years, until Othniel son of Kenaz died. - Judges 3:7-11 NIV

History repeats and repeats itself. With the fledgling nation of Israel, they kept repeating the same mistakes, following after other gods, and continued to meet the same fate. When they followed godly men, they prospered and experieced peace. When they had no godly man to lead them, they followed whoever was convenient and would promise them something that they would never quite receive.
The world is like that.  It makes a lot of promises, but history proves that they are empty promises at best and most often lead to destruction.  What seems to be the prosperous route always leads to ruin.  There can be no peace without the Prince of Peace.  Look around.  Have any of the promises of a better society ever come to fruition?  We cannot buy, spend, or bargain ourselves out of the situations we find ourselves in when we choose to follow other gods.  Once we've sold our souls to them, we're captive to their whims, and they don't have our best interest at heart...never have, never will.