Bible 365: Week 9

Week 9 starts off with the ark of the covenant being stolen by the Philistines after they defeated Israelites.  Among the 30,000 foot soldiers killed in the battle between the Israelites and the Philistines were two of the sons of Eli.  Remember, that in week 8 God had vowed to punish them and Eli because of their wickedness. What happened to Eli?

"Then it happened, when he made mention of the ark of God, that Eli fell off the seat backward by the side of the gate, and his neck was broken and he died, for the man was old and heavy" (1 Samuel 4:18).  The Philistines end up returning the ark to the Israelites because God cursed them with the plague of tumors.  Twenty years after the ark is returned Samuel tells the Israelites to  "return to the Lord with all you hearts, then put away the foreign gods and the Ashtoreths from among youn, and prepare your heart for the Lord, and serve Him only; and He will deliver you from the hand of the Philistines" (1 Samuel 7:3).  And just like that the Israelites are once again delivered from their enemies.

You'd think that by now the Israelites would stop complaining and be grateful for all that God has done for them, but they start to demanding that a king be appointed to rule over them like other nations have.  Samuel tries to forewarn them that having a king is not going to be all that they think it is, but as usual the Israelites don't listen and Saul is appointed king.  However, Saul's reign as king is short lived because he too turns his back on God claiming that "I have sinned for I have transgressed the commandment of the Lord and your words, because I feared the people of and obeyed their voice" (1 Samuel 15:24).

One of my favorite verses from the Bible is 1 Samuel 16:7 which says, "For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart."  This is verse is very true.  Whether it's friends or a spouse, so many of us are quick to write others off just based on their looks.  And often times when we do that we are passing up on the very people God has sent to us in exchange for people  that the Devil has placed in our way to get us off track.  I definitely try to look more at people's attitudes, actions and listen to their words when it comes to letting them in my circle and establishing relationships.

We also got to read about the story of David and Goliath.  Since, God rejected Saul as king, He appoints David to be the next king over the Israelites and His spirit with him.  So, when the Philistines decide to that they want to war against the Israelites to reclaim their land, David's father sends him to take supplies and food to his brothers.  Well, when he gets to the battle he finds the Israelites pretty much hiding out like chickens because they are scared of the Philistines, who are known to be giants or unusually tall stature. 

David tells Saul that he will fight because he's not afraid of the giants.  He tells them how as a shepherd he's had to battle lions with his bare hands to save the flock.  So, going up against men should be a piece of cake.  Talk about faith and courage!  I know that I wouldn't have the courage to fight off lions with my bare hands. I think I would have let them just have the sheep they were cornering and move the rest of the heard.  And I would have definitely been worried about going up against giants like the Philistines, but since God had already delivered them from the Philistines once before I wouldn't have doubted Him to do it again.

And after David kills the Philistine with just his sling shot and wins the battle for the Israelites, you'd think Saul, who was still king, would have been appreciative.  Instead he gets jealous of David because he sees that God's spirit is now with David instead of him and the Israelites all love David now.  So, Saul sets out on a mission to kill David, but David flees.  Saul's jealousy is so red hot that he even kills priests because they did not tell him that David had fled the city (1 Samuel 22:16-25).

In the end, it's David who ends up sparing Saul's life after David and his men surround Saul in a cave. It's the perfect opportunity for David to kill Saul but he doesn't.  Instead, he calls out to Saul and tells him that he could have killed him but didn't.  It's then that Saul realizes just how righteous David really is and calls off the hunt for David.  Or so he claimed. 

David sends out spies and finds out that Saul has not called off the bounty on David's head but instead has doubled back to follow David into the wilderness.  I'm sorry but if I was Saul and I knew that God was with David, I would have just stepped down from the thrown and left David alone.  In the end, Saul ends up taking his own life after he is fatally wounded in yet another battle against the Philistines.  He doesn't want to die from wounds and asked one of his soldiers to kill him.

The soldier declines and Saul is forced to kill himself by falling on his own sword.  His sons are also killed in battle.  Thus, no heirs from Saul's household are left to battle David for the thrown.

Week 10 Readings

3/4- 2 Samuel 1-4

3/5- 2 Samuel 5-7

3/6- 2 Samuel 8-10

3/7- 2 Samuel 11-12

3/8- 2 Samuel 13-15

3/9- 2 Samuel 16-20

3/10- 2 Samuel 21-24

Bible 365: Week 8

8 weeks down and 44 more to go!  Yes, I'm still pushing forward with my Bible 365 challenge.  If you recall, last week we ended the book of Joshua with the death of Joshua and the Israelites not having fully conquered Canaan.  The Israelites were suppose to drive out the people, their idols and follow the commands that God had laid out for them under Moses and Joshua.

Now, we know the Israelites instinctive nature back then was to give up on God as soon as they were faced with hard times.  So, with Joshua being dead and them not having a leader the Israelites tried to complete the takeover of Canaan but sadly as God had predicted to Moses and Joshua, the Israelites rebelled against God and didn't follow His instructions.  Judges 2:1-2 say, "...I said, 'I will never break My covenant with you.  And you shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land; you shall tear down their altars.' But you have not obeyed My voice. Why have you done this?"

I've often asked myself why it was so hard for the Israelites to follow God's instructions too?  I mean if you God were tell me that all I had to do to get a land following with milk and honey, abundance and easy living was to not make covenants with the enemy or take up any of their practices and that He was going to drive them out of the land before me, I would totally jump on that deal and not think twice.  After all the miracles and curses they've seen God perform you would also think they would have a healthy dose of fear to keep them on the straight and narrow but alas "...the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord.  So the Lord delivered them into the hand of Midian for seven years,..." (Judges 6:1).

Yep, back to slavery and servitude they went.  After that God decided to deliver them from the Midianites and appointed Gideon to help them defeat the Midianites.  And for that short time, the Israelites did ok, but as soon as Gideon died and they were again without a leader they turned their backs on God yet again.  "Thus the children of Israel did not remember the Lord their God, who had delivered them from the hands of all their enemies on every side; nor did they show kindness to the house of Gideon in accordance with the good he done for Israel" (Judges 8:34-35).

Also, in the book of Judges we learn about Samson and how he came delivered Israel out of the hand of the Philistines.   Samson was like almost like Conan the Barbarian.  What do I mean by that?  Well, this man tore a lion to pieces using his bare hands (Judges 14:5-6) and killed a 1,000 men using a donkey jawbone (Judges 15:15-17).

I imagine that Samson was the kind of man who made all the ladies weak in the knees.  However, he was definitely not someone you wanted to cross or get on his bad side.  But he did have a heroic downfall-women.  And his attraction/fascination with beautiful women caused him to get captured by his enemies.

Yep, his woman Delilah turned on him for a boatload of silver.  She got Samson to tell her the secret to his supernatural strength- his hair and then she had it shaved off in his sleep.  Then the Philistines captured him, gauged his eyes out and kept him as their entertainment slave.  Well, once Samson's hair started to grow back, he called on God to help get vengeance on the Philistines. 

So, one day the Philistines decided have a party and bring Samson up to be their entertainment.  They chained him between two pillars.  God heard Samson's request and gave him his strength back.  Samson toppled the temple by crushing the pillars thus killing the Philistines and himself (Judges 16).

The book of Ruth is about the best daughter in-law who ever lived.  Her husband and brother in-laws die and when her mother in-laws announces to her and her other sister in-law that since she has no more sons for them marry and nothing to offer them that they can go back home to their families and move on, Ruth makes the brave choice to stay with her mother in-law.  How many of us can say that we bonds like that with our in-laws?

Most of us would have been like Orpah, chucked up the deuces and went back home to our family, inheritance and another chance at true love.  But I think that Ruth felt compassion for Naomi and didn't want her to be alone.  And for that God blessed her and led her to Boaz.  This love story is short, but sweet and just shows that when you let do what is right you will get rewarded.

In 1 Samuel chapters 1-3, we meet Samuel's mother Hannah, who is barren, but prays to the Lord to give her son and she will dedicate him to the Lord.  God answers her prayer and Hannah keeps her end of the bargain and dedicates Samuel to God.  And Samuel becomes the first child minister and receives his first prophecy from God regarding the punishment of the house of Eli. 

Why were they being punished? Well, Eli's sons were wicked.  They were laying "with the women who assembled at the door of the tabernacle of meeting" (1 Samuel 2:22) and Eli did nothing to really stop his sons from doing these bad things.  Looks like another case of people not taking God's commands seriously.  Overall, week 8 had some action packed reading.  Definitely not dull moments.

Week 9 Reading

2/25- 1 Samuel 4-7

2/26- 1 Samuel 8-12

2/27- 1 Samuel 13-15

2/28- 1 Samuel 16-18

3/1- 1 Samuel 19-22

3/2- 1 Samuel 23-26

3/3- 1 Samuel 27-31