I Samuel 8:21
“Samuel took in what they said and rehearsed it with GOD.”
“So Samuel repeated to the Lord what the people had said.”
Samuel knew where to go when sick at heart. He chewed it over with God. He was to set up a kingship in Israel. Years of his ministry among the people had come to this and the thought of it filled him with dread. Moving forward in God’s purpose when everything in you pulls in the other direction is hard. But God understands. The cross was hard too.
Lord, thank you for enduring the cross. You experienced the worst so I could have the best; the gift of yourself, walking alongside. Such comfort! I want to walk hand in hand with you always. Keep me close despite my tendency to wander.
I Samuel 8:1-3
“When Samuel got to be an old man, he set his sons up as judges in Israel. His firstborn son was named Joel, the name of his second, Abijah. They were assigned duty in Beersheba. But his sons didn’t take after him; they were out for what they could get for themselves, taking bribes, corrupting justice.”
“As Samuel grew old, he appointed his sons to be judges over Israel. Joel and Abijah, his oldest sons, held court I Beersheba. But they were not like their father, for they were greedy for money. They accepted bribes and perverted justice.”
Effectively transmitting faith and service from one generation to the next was hard for Samuel and Eli. It is still hard today, even with our increased understanding of how our minds and emotions function. Israel was frustrated and wanted a king. God later judged them for it. But this was seeded with Samuel’s parenting of his sons. Regardless of our best efforts, everything we do is contaminated by sin. Everything is askew, harder than it should be, hurtling towards entropic doom. Blessed are those who recognize their utter defeat and turn for healing to the Ancient of Days and his beloved son Jesus. God’s healing spirit makes good things possible, like passing on, from parent to child, the practice of faith and wholeness.
Lord, I trust you to redeem my parenting failures. Satan loves to accuse me over these. But I believe you have answered my many prayers for our children and will continue to answer them, to redeem and restore. Satan doesn’t have the last word. You do.
I Samuel 7:3
“Then Samuel addressed the house of Israel: ‘If you are truly serious about coming back to GOD, clean house. Get rid of the foreign gods and fertility goddesses, ground yourselves firmly in GOD, worship him and him alone, and he’ll save you from Philistine oppression.’”
“Then Samuel said to all the people of Israel, ‘If you want to return to the Lord with all your hearts, get rid of your foreign gods and your images of Ashtoreth. Turn you hearts to the Lord and obey him alone; then he will rescue you from the Philistines.’”
God promised to save Israel from the Philistines. He was and is faithful to keep his promises. But it did not then seem so. There were victories to come, but also crushing defeats. It would be two decades before this promise had its temporal fulfillment. Saul, Jonathan, and David’s exile all must come to pass. God’s promises are simple and profound, but not easy to take hold of. They require an exercise of faith muscle. As he is trustworthy to us, we must learn to be trust-worthy of him.
Lord, when times are good it is so easy to think I trust you. When they are bad I falter as much as anyone. The emotional turmoil of stress seems to send trust and faith out the window. Change me, my trust and faith in you, to be emotion-proof; solid regardless my circumstances.
I Samuel 7:2
“From the time that the Chest came to rest in Kiriath Jearim, a long time passed—twenty years it was—and throughout Israel there was a widespread, fearful movement toward GOD.”
“The Ark remained in Kiriath Jearim for a long time- twenty years in all. During that time all Israel mourned because it seemed the Lord had abandoned them.”
Israel missed God. The emptiness of their God shaped hole developed indigestion and they longed for filling. He was the only thing that would relieve the acidic irritation in their hearts. They fully acknowledged their need for their creator. Samuel’s preaching was effective.
I love this verse for two reasons. Judgement bore its fruit. Trauma and death led to renewal. It is lovely to imagine the peace and joy this wrought in the people. Samuel’s teaching and wise leadership also bore fruit. It must have given him great joy and fulfillment. He connected the Lord he loved with the people he loved in a prefiguring of Christ’s work on our behalf.
Oh Lord. I need you too. Fill the space within me that is satisfied with no other. Bless me with the comfort of having eaten a delicious meal.
I Samuel 6:19-20
“The Message – God struck some of the men of Beth Shemesh who, out of curiosity, irreverently peeked into the Chest of GOD. Seventy died. The whole town was in mourning, reeling under the hard blow from GOD, and questioning, ‘Who can stand before GOD, this holy God? And who can we get to take this Chest off our hands?’”
“But the Lord killed seventy men from Beth-shemesh because they looked into the Ark of the Lord. And the People mourned greatly because of what the Lord had done. ‘Who is able to stand in the presence of the Lord, this holy God?’ They cried out. ‘Where can we send the Ark from here?’”
The key to understanding scripture written during the Iron Age is to focus on what God is doing, instead of passing judgement on his actions. One’s initial reaction to these verses is, “What’s the harm in looking into the Ark?” Death seems a harsh, vengeful punishment and we are not interested. How might God be reaching out to his people in this situation?
Pagan gods were human like. Their actions, like ours, were motivated by emotion. The natural world was explained as the result of their outbursts and desires. Life’s achievements were ensured by procuring their favor with devotion and offerings. Israel’s God was nothing like this. Getting Israel’s attention, telling them about himself, their relationship to him, and how the world works required stern and stark messages then and now.
In these verses God gives a lesson in his holiness. He is set apart from his creation, perfect in his goodness and righteousness. No one is like him. He is whole and complete in himself, as God intends us to be. All tremble before him. The Ark of God was the visual representation of his residence with his people and was therefore holy as he. Entering his presence by opening the Ark guaranteed death because human sin so offends him and all of us have sin. But God loves us anyway and provided a way we may draw near to him that leads to our own wholeness and cleansing from sin.
Lord, I cannot thank your enough for Jesus, my way into your presence. Thank you for loving me so much, for the privilege of abiding with you. I am welcomed into warmth and wholeness when I deserve outer darkness. I love you.
I Samuel 6:9
“The Message – If it heads straight back home to where it came from, toward Beth Shemesh, it is clear that this catastrophe is a divine judgment, but if not, we’ll know that God had nothing to do with it—it was just an accident.”
“If they cross the border of our land and go to Beth-Shemesh, we will know it was the Lord who brought this great disaster upon us. If they don’t, we will know it was not his hand that caused the plague. It came simply by chance.”
The Philistines’ diviners told them how to return the ark. Put it on a cart with five gold tumors and rats, pulled by heifers with calves. If the heifers continue pulling the cart towards Israel, abandoning their calves, it means God was behind it. The method was appropriate to the Iron Age. God, in his mercy is giving this pagan nation clear evidence of his power, as if he was saying, “Look at me.” He made provision in the law for foreigners joining the Hebrew Nation. There was room in his embrace for all. The diviners got the cure right. They completely missed the message.
Lord, how am I missing your message? Where am I blinded by procedure? Warn me when my vision drifts from you. Please, keep my line of sight clear, to true truth.
I Samuel 6:3
“They said, ‘If you’re going to send the Chest of the God of Israel back, don’t just dump it on them. Pay compensation. Then you will be healed. After you’re in the clear again, God will let up on you. Why wouldn’t he?’””
““’Send the Ark of the God of Israel back with a gift,’ they were told. ‘Send a guilt offering so the plague will stop. Then if you are healed, you will know it was his hand that caused the plague.’””
The Message – The Philistines sought to undo the damage caused by their capture of the Ark. Their elders and priests suggested they use money to placate Israel’s God. After all, gods are greedy and their God will respond nicely if you pay him off. Pagan gods have human characteristics because they are created in man’s image. Israel’s God is completely other than human. Man is created in his image. The Philistines should have looked to the character of the One who unseated Dagon, not tried to purchase his favor. Perhaps some did!
Lord, your work amongst us is vast. I cannot imagine all the ways you have met each person who ever lived, revealing yourself as they could understand. You are faithful to pagans and we believers alike, calling all to repentance and the wide-open world of walking with you. I praise you. I love you.
I Samuel 5:3-4
“The Message – Next morning when the citizens of Ashdod got up, they were shocked to find Dagon toppled from his place, flat on his face before the Chest of GOD. They picked him up and put him back where he belonged. First thing the next morning they found him again, toppled and flat on his face before the Chest of GOD.”
“But when the citizens of Ashdod went to see it the next morning, Dagon had fallen with his face to the ground in front of the Ark of the Lord! So they took Dagon and put him in his place again. But the next morning the same thing happened- Dagon had fallen face down before the Ark of the Lord again.”
The Philistines placed the captured Chest of God before their own god, Dagon, as a reverential offering. Finding him toppled and dismembered they, “put him back where he belonged,” or “put him in place.” They could not see the obvious. He did not belong there. What have we placed above God only to find it shattered the next day? How are we, as the Philistines, so blinded we cannot see the obvious? Being able to see clearly is the ministry of the Holy Spirit in our hearts. Through him God provides the way out of our blindness even as he shatters our idols. Having made us he knows how we work best, in a reverential relationship with him, from whom all blessing flows.
Lord, please, keep my sight clear.
I Samuel 4:18
“The Message – At the words, ‘Chest of God,’ Eli fell backward off his stool where he sat next to the gate. Eli was an old man, and very fat. When he fell, he broke his neck and died. He had led Israel forty years.”
“When the Messenger mentioned what had happened to the Ark of God, Eli fell backward from his seat beside the gate. He broke his neck and died, for he was old and overweight. He had been Israel’s judge for forty years.”
God’s call came late to Eli. Verse 15 tells us Eli was 98 years old when he died. Here we learn he led Israel for 40 years. He was 48 years old when he became Israel’s spiritual leader. As much as Eli accomplished in his early years, marriage, family, priestly occupation, his greatest contribution to posterity was yet to come. God’s biggest purpose for us may be borne out of the wisdom of age, not a robust youth. It is hard to balance life’s necessity for planning with waiting upon God. Living is linear, but God sees it all a piece. The walk of faith asks that we learn to reconcile the two and gracefully bend with God’s perfect timing.
Lord, given my physical problems it is easy to think my life is mostly over. But you may call me to many more productive years. The thought is both exciting and fatiguing. The idea of pushing my decrepit body through a couple more decades is dreadful. Yet I trust you for the strength and joy to do the work you call me to. Please give me the sticking power to see your purpose through to the end.
I Samuel 4:5-6
“When the Chest of the Covenant of GOD was brought into camp, everyone gave a huge cheer. The shouts were like thunderclaps shaking the very ground. The Philistines heard the shouting and wondered what on earth was going on: ‘What’s all this shouting among the Hebrews?’”
“When all the Israelites saw the Ark of the Covenant pf the Lord coming into camp, their shout of joy was so loud it made the ground shake! ‘What’s going on?’ the Philistines asked. ‘What’s all the shouting about in the Hebrew camp?’ When they were told it was because the Ark of the Lord had arrived, they panicked.”
These verses teach us to beware the emotional narcotic of the crowd. It deceived both armies. Israel believed there was no way they could lose. The Philistines agreed. But God’s plan cannot be turned aside. Though emotions enrich our life, Satan mines them productively. They are always meant to serve God’s purpose, not our own. Here there is safety in knowing God. Rooting in his character gives us strong stems to resist the wind of corporate emotion.
Lord, have mercy on me when my stem bends. Be ever the loving gardener who knows just how to make me grow.
I Samuel 4:1-3
“Whatever Samuel said was broadcast all through Israel. Israel went to war against the Philistines. Israel set up camp at Ebenezer, the Philistines at Aphek. The Philistines marched out to meet Israel, the fighting spread, and Israel was badly beaten—about four thousand soldiers left dead on the field. When the troops returned to camp, Israel’s elders said, ‘Why has GOD given us such a beating today by the Philistines? Let’s go to Shiloh and get the Chest of GOD’s Covenant. It will accompany us and save us from the grip of our enemies.’”
“At that time Israel was at war with the Philistines. The Israelite army was camped near Ebenezer, and the Philistines were at Aphek. The Philistines attached and defeated the army of Israel, killing 4,000 men. After the battle was over, the troops retreated to their camp, and the elders of Israel asked, ‘Why did the Lord allow us to be defeated by the Philistines?” Then they said, “Let’s bring the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord from Shiloh. If we carry it into battle with us, it will save us from our enemies.’”
The ability to think critically is God given and believers should use it. God holds us personally responsible though living amongst the corporately foolish. Leaders started a war without seeking God and when defeated backtracked, substituting God labeling for God communing. May we never follow blindly.
What endangers our sight today? Anything that gives the appearance of being a Christian: dress, haircut, political beliefs, vocabulary, music, worship style, architecture, etc. All of these may be used to convince ourselves and others we are authentic when we are whitewashed tombs. Suffering judgement is worth the inner housecleaning. Israel’s housecleaning in Samuel’s time made way for David. You can see clearly, find everything, in a clean house.
Lord, may my inner housecleaning always take precedence over outer housecleaning. Keep me focused on the eternal.
I Samuel 3:8-9
“That’s when it dawned on Eli that GOD was calling the boy. So Eli directed Samuel, ‘Go back and lie down. If the voice calls again, say, ‘Speak, GOD. I’m your servant, ready to listen.’’ Samuel returned to his bed.”
“Then Eli realized it was the Lord who was calling the boy. So he said to Samuel, ‘Go and lie down again, and if someone calls again, say, ‘Speak, Lord, your servant is listening.’’ So Samuel went back to bed.”
After the third time God called for Samuel’s attention Eli understood. Now, with Samuel in readiness, God called to Samuel a fourth time. God called four times before Samuel was able to listen. The Lord of the universe is just as patient with us, when it takes four of his calls before we can clear our heads and ears of the world’s cacophony. Truly, he loves us very much!
Lord, thank you for this affirmation of your love for even me. You pursue me faithfully to shape me more fully into your image. I am in awe of you and whelmed with gratitude. I love you too.