365 Reflections

It must be noted that Saul is the answer to the people's request for a "king like all the other nations" around them. The reason this must be noted is that Saul is not a King like the Lord God. That will be revealed later in an unexpected character to come. So far in the narrative, we see the elements in Saul that the Israelites would have seen in the kings of other nations. First Saul is from a prestigious family. 1 Samuel 9:1 (ESV) There was a man of Benjamin whose name was Kish, the son of Abiel, son of Zeror, son of Becorath, son of Aphiah, a Benjaminite, a man of wealth. Second Saul is tall and handsome. 1 Samuel 9:2 (ESV) Saul, a handsome young man. There was not a man among the people of Israel more handsome than he. From his shoulders upward he was taller than any of the people. It would be wise to remember Israel's history for being short and visually insignificant to the nations around them. Saul is the first Israelite noted for his stature. ...

Life will present us with enduring challenges, different enemies, and diverse obstacles. The fight of our lives is constant and can be exhausting. It is long and seems to never stop. The Israelites are weary from the fight. They want someone to do it for them. They see the other nations getting along well with a king and it seems to be the way to go. When Samuel warns them of what having a king will demand of them, they are unhindered: 1 Samuel 8:19–22 (ESV) But the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel. And they said, “No! But there shall be a king over us, 20 that we also may be like all the nations, and that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles.” 21 And when Samuel had heard all the words of the people, he repeated them in the ears of the Lord . 22 And the Lord said to Samuel, “Obey their voice and make them a king.” Samuel then said to the men of Israel, “Go every man to his city.” After this, the choosing of Saul as King of Israel is a...

1 Samuel 8:3–5 (ESV)   Yet his sons did not walk in his ways but turned aside after gain. They took bribes and perverted justice. 4 Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah 5 and said to him, “Behold, you are old and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now appoint for us a king to judge us like all the nations.” The passage above describes the sons of Samuel. How often men and women of God in one generation struggle to produce God-fearing children. It's in the scriptures here to show us that even a man as noble as Samuel can fail to raise up children who disregard righteousness.  But there's another aspect of this passage I want to investigate. You should notice the error of the young men was seeking after "gain." Was this because the righteous life of Samuel was one that shunned material possessions for the call of God? Where his sons sick of being "poor" for the Lord's sake? It may be speculation but I would...

The Ark came back to Israel but all was not well. Twenty years pass and Israel has no way out of their predicament with the Philistines. Eventually, Samuel calls the people back to God commanding them to put away their foreign Gods and direct their heart to the Lord. The people listen to him. 1 Samuel 7:5–6 (ESV) Then Samuel said, “Gather all Israel at Mizpah, and I will pray to the Lord for you.” 6 So they gathered at Mizpah and drew water and poured it out before the Lord and fasted on that day and said there, “We have sinned against the Lord .” And Samuel judged the people of Israel at Mizpah. Now in verse 5, they are gathered together seeking the Lord. They fast, and Samuel takes the lead of God's people. "Mizpah" means "watchtower" which would have been some sort of military station. The Philistines hear they are gathering at a military location and decide to intimidate them with a military advance against of their own. The people turn to Samuel...

There are many kinds of religious adherence that have nothing to do with true conversion to Christ. In 1 Samuel 6, the Philistines are determined to return the Ark of the Covenant to Israel for fear it will utterly destroy them. The Ark has humiliated their god Dagon and caused their cities to suffer. Now their hope is that sending the Ark away will bring them the peace they lost. So notice how this goes down: 1 Samuel 6:3–4 (ESV) They said, “If you send away the ark of the God of Israel, do not send it empty, but by all means return him a guilt offering. Then you will be healed , and it will be known to you why his hand does not turn away from you.” 4 And they said, “What is the guilt offering that we shall return to him?” They answered, “Five golden tumors and five golden mice, according to the number of the lords of the Philistines, for the same plague was on all of you and on your lords. 1 Samuel 6:7–8 (ESV)  Now then, take and prepare a new cart and two milk cows on whi...

It's one of the hardest theological constructs to come to terms within the modern west. But the reality on the page of scripture is men do not seek God. God seeks them. For proof, you can check the third chapter of Genesis. You can also check the Psalms. Psalm 14:2–3 (ESV)  The LORD looks down from heaven on the children of man, to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God. 3 They have all turned aside; together they have become corrupt; there is none who does good, not even one. You can ask Paul: Romans 3:11 (ESV)   no one understands; no one seeks for God. We are in 1 Samuel. So far in 1 Samuel, God has brought great judgment upon His own people. The nation of Israel has descended through the time of the judges to Samuel's birth into a morass of immorality. On top of that, their leaders are dead and the symbol of God's presence has been captured in war. It's a tragedy. When the Philistines get the Ark they place it in the temple to D...

1 Samuel 4:18 (ESV)   As soon as he mentioned the ark of God, Eli fell over backward from his seat by the side of the gate, and his neck was broken and he died, for the man was old and heavy. He had judged Israel forty years. 1 Samuel 5:4 (ESV) But when they rose early on the next morning, behold, Dagon had fallen face downward on the ground before the ark of the LORD, and the head of Dagon and both his hands were lying cut off on the threshold. Only the trunk of Dagon was left to him. Two broken necks from two different national icons.  The first neck is that of Eli, the old, overweight and out of touch priest of Israel. He failed to restrain his sons or himself (consider his weight). He grew blind and impotent. He sat when he should have been standing and doing his duty for the Lord's people in the Temple. The prophecy given to Samuel concerning his sons comes true, they are dead. The nation he leads has lost its worst battle. The Philistines are victorious. ...

There is a challenging moment in 1 Samuel 4 that could cause alarm if we are not already aware of what God is doing beneath the surface of Israel's history. The nation goes out to war against the Philistines. They take to battle and suffer defeat rather quickly. As they assess what's wrong they realize they did not bring that ancient Ark into battle as their forefathers did before them. So they get the ark, march back into battle whooping and cheering as they go. 1 Samuel 4:5–9 (ESV) As soon as the ark of the covenant of the Lord came into the camp, all Israel gave a mighty shout, so that the earth resounded. 6 And when the Philistines heard the noise of the shouting, they said, “What does this great shouting in the camp of the Hebrews mean?” And when they learned that the ark of the Lord had come to the camp, 7 the Philistines were afraid, for they said, “A god has come into the camp.” And they said, “Woe to us! For nothing like this has happened before. 8 Woe to us! W...

Two posts ago I discussed how God has a ready plan to raise up a faithful generation in the midst of an unfaithful one. But the question is, by what means does God do this? The 3rd chapter of 1 Samuel answers that question: 1 Samuel 3:1–5 (ESV) Now the boy Samuel was ministering to the Lord in the presence of Eli. And the word of the Lord was rare in those days; there was no frequent vision. 2 At that time Eli, whose eyesight had begun to grow dim so that he could not see, was lying down in his own place. 3 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. 4 Then the Lord called Samuel, and he said, “Here I am!” 5 and ran to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But he said, “I did not call; lie down again.” So he went and lay down. Eli's house is in disarray, the Temple is a place of fornication and greed, the nation is flooded with immorality and civil war (see the end of Judges). The situ...