365 Reflections

There's always someone vying for your honor and attention outside of the Lord. It could be a friend, a spouse, a significant other or a relative. It could be your parent, guardian, children or grandkids. It could be the "you" YOU dream of being. And the normal sequence of life calls us at some point (and probably many) to sacrifice our commitment to God's purposes for the sake of them. We see this clearly in the life of Eli. A prophet comes to this man to rebuke him for the lack of honor he showed to God in preference for his sons. While Hophni and Phineas were abusing their positions and fornicating at the altar, Eli was avoiding the conflict and allowing it to happen. God's firm warning comes: 1 Samuel 2:30–33 (ESV)   Therefore the Lord , the God of Israel, declares: ‘I promised that your house and the house of your father should go in and out before me forever,’ but now the Lord declares: ‘Far be it from me, for those who honor me I will honor , and those...

1 Samuel 2:17–18 (ESV) Thus the sin of the young men was very great in the sight of the Lord , for the men treated the offering of the Lord with contempt. 18 Samuel was ministering before the Lord , a boy clothed with a linen ephod. The first two chapters of Samuel provide a theme for the rest of the narrative. In the midst of corrupt political power, God is raising up His servants to faithfully obey Him and establish His kingdom on the Earth. I can't think of a more important truth for Christian service in any age. Consider Hannah's fervent prayer in chapter one amidst the ignorance, arrogance, and indifference to her struggle from all those around her (her rival wife, arrogant Eli and indifferent Elkanah). Now her son will be placed in a situation much like her own. Samuel will grow up in the Temple. But this Temple is far removed from Aaron's priesthood. The priesthood is corrupt and Eli's family was fragmented. His sons are wicked and will not listen to hi...

Hannah has a son. She has lent him to the Lord for the rest of his days. God has answered her prayers and given her Samuel, the man who will faithfully transition the struggling and fractured Israelites into the united established kingdom with David on the throne. But she could not have known all that God would do through her son had she not done what comes next in 1 Samuel 2. She takes time to worship God for the blessings in her life. And in her worship, she is transported from personal answers to prayer to God's universal sovereignty over the nations. Worship has a transcendent trajectory. Once you begin to worship, your perspective is transported from your personal issues to God's powerful reign. This is an experience you should regularly have. Notice the personal nature at the beginning of her worship. 1 Samuel 2:1 (ESV) And Hannah prayed and said, “My heart exults in the LORD; my horn is exalted in the LORD. My mouth derides my enemies , because I rejoice in your ...

At the beginning of the 1 Samuel, Hannah is discouraged and beaten down by life. Her prayer life makes all the difference as she pours out her soul to the Lord in earnest petition. God answers her prayer and gives her a son. This son was vowed to God's service and Hannah does something important: She HONORS her vow to God and fulfills it. Ecclesiastes 5:4 (ESV) When you vow a vow to God, do not delay paying it, for he has no pleasure in fools. Pay what you vow. It is important to note WHEN Hannah brought the boy to the Temple. It reads, 1 Samuel 1:22 (ESV)  she said to her husband, “As soon as the child is weaned, I will bring him, so that he may appear in the presence of the LORD and dwell there forever.” Hebrew women weaned a child for 3-4 years in the ancient world. This means Hannah has a lot of personal investment in this son. Hannah doesn't want to offer a child that would drain the resources of God's work in the Temple. Imagine a baby dropped off in God'...

First Samuel starts in a strange fashion. The story leading to Samuel's birth will highlight the travail of his mother long before. For certain, this woman Hannah has it pretty bad. She's in a polygamous marriage and has born the man no children while her "rival" wife (note the Bible's use of that term instead of modern pop-culture's 'sister' term) has borne sons and daughters. As if the situation for Hannah was not bleak enough on the merits, she's surrounded by people quite clueless to her feelings. For instance, her rival wife "grievously" teases her: 1 Samuel 1:6–7 (ESV) And her rival used to provoke her grievously to irritate her, because the Lord had closed her womb. 7 So it went on year by year. As often as she went up to the house of the Lord , she used to provoke her. Therefore Hannah wept and would not eat. Note her husband's typical "man" attitude, oblivious to her pain 1 Samuel 1:8 (ESV) A...

Ruth 4:18–22 (ESV)  Now these are the generations of Perez: Perez fathered Hezron, 19 Hezron fathered Ram, Ram fathered Amminadab, 20 Amminadab fathered Nahshon, Nahshon fathered Salmon, 21 Salmon fathered Boaz, Boaz fathered Obed, 22 Obed fathered Jesse, and Jesse fathered David. Decisions shape our lives. Then they shape other people's lives forever. No Ruth, no David. Yes, God would have worked through another lineage to bring about the righteous king and ultimately, the Messiah. But Ruth changed not only her story but the story of countless others because she made good and hard decisions. Her sister-in-law Orpah goes down in history with the person in the Bible whose name most closely resembles a modern celebrity. Ruth goes down in history as a woman of courage, loyalty, kindness, hard work, dedication, purity, and strength. What will your story be? We are living in an age when feelings define most people's decisions. This is sad but it is also dangerous. M...

The end of Ruth is filled with strange twists and turns. It seems Boaz and Ruth are headed to wedded bliss when he stops short. Boaz knows the law. He knows there's a nearer relative who has the Levarite right to redeem Naomi by producing an offspring for her with Ruth. This law was set in place with Moses so ensure that a man's name and inheritance would not be cut off from Israel. Deuteronomy 25:5–6 (ESV) “If brothers dwell together, and one of them dies and has no son, the wife of the dead man shall not be married outside the family to a stranger. Her husband’s brother shall go in to her and take her as his wife and perform the duty of a husband’s brother to her. 6 And the first son whom she bears shall succeed to the name of his dead brother, that his name may not be blotted out of Israel. Just when things are looking really good for Ruth and Boaz, he makes the sudden announcement to her that there is a nearer redeemer and according to the law this other man must be ...

Ruth 3:6–9 (ESV) So she went down to the threshing floor and did just as her mother-in-law had commanded her. 7 And when Boaz had eaten and drunk, and his heart was merry, he went to lie down at the end of the heap of grain. Then she came softly and uncovered his feet and lay down. 8 At midnight the man was startled and turned over, and behold, a woman lay at his feet! 9 He said, “Who are you?” And she answered, “I am Ruth, your servant. Spread your wings over your servant, for you are a redeemer.” Ruth is making a bold move here in relation to Boaz. She is literally asking him to marry her. It will be the decisive move of her life and change the trajectory of her entire being.  But it is a bit removed from what she was advised to do. Naomi had told her to do everything up to that moment where Ruth asks for Boaz to spread his garment corner ("wings") over her. In Naomi's original advice, this is how she left it: Ruth 3:4 (ESV) But when he lies down, observe t...

Ruth 2:20–23 (ESV) And Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, “May he be blessed by the LORD, whose kindness has not forsaken the living or the dead!” Naomi also said to her, “The man is a close relative of ours, one of our redeemers.” 21 And Ruth the Moabite said, “Besides, he said to me, ‘You shall keep close by my young men until they have finished all my harvest.’ ” 22 And Naomi said to Ruth, her daughter-in-law, “It is good, my daughter, that you go out with his young women, lest in another field you be assaulted.” 23 So she kept close to the young women of Boaz, gleaning until the end of the barley and wheat harvests. And she lived with her mother-in-law. Ruth's haul from the day in Boaz's fields has floored Naomi. He has given her enough grain for weeks after one day and one encounter. It is a picture of the Lord's grace toward us. He is not the Lord who simply gives here and there, He gives extravagantly.  Now there is something deeper to this story here at the...