Plymothian

Each of us should have a Spiritual Director according to Albert Haase and others who write abour Spiritual Formation.  Saul had Samuel.  When Saul became king, Samuel annointed him.  Samuel gave him directions on how he should rule.  Samuel told Saul what God intended for his life in general terms.  However, after the pressures of life got to Saul, he ditched Samuel for the discredited family of Eli.  Eli’s family were not so much of a challenge to Saul’s authority.  They did not become a stabilizing influence for the truth.

Who do you keep in your life to tell you the truths that you don’t want to hear?

1 Samuel 14

¹One day Jonathan son of Saul said to his young armor-bearer, “Come, let’s go over to the Philistine outpost on the other side.” But he did not tell his father.

² Saul was staying on the outskirts of Gibeah under a pomegranate tree in Migron. With him were about six hundred men, ³among whom was Ahijah, who was wearing an ephod. He was a son of Ichabod’s brother Ahitub son of Phinehas, the son of Eli, the LORD’s priest in Shiloh. No one was aware that Jonathan had left.

⁴ On each side of the pass that Jonathan intended to cross to reach the Philistine outpost was a cliff; one was called Bozez and the other Seneh. ⁵One cliff stood to the north toward Mikmash, the other to the south toward Geba.

⁶Jonathan said to his young armor-bearer, “Come, let’s go over to the outpost of those uncircumcised men. Perhaps the LORD will act in our behalf. Nothing can hinder the LORD from saving, whether by many or by few.”

⁷“Do all that you have in mind,” his armor-bearer said. “Go ahead; I am with you heart and soul.”

⁸ Jonathan said, “Come on, then; we will cross over toward them and let them see us. ⁹ If they say to us, ‘Wait there until we come to you,’ we will stay where we are and not go up to them. ¹⁰But if they say, ‘Come up to us,’ we will climb up, because that will be our sign that the LORD has given them into our hands.”

¹¹ So both of them showed themselves to the Philistine outpost. “Look!” said the Philistines. “The Hebrews are crawling out of the holes they were hiding in.” ¹²The men of the outpost shouted to Jonathan and his armor-bearer, “Come up to us and we’ll teach you a lesson.”

   So Jonathan said to his armor-bearer, “Climb up after me; the LORD has given them into the hand of Israel.”

¹³ Jonathan climbed up, using his hands and feet, with his armor-bearer right behind him. The Philistines fell before Jonathan, and his armor-bearer followed and killed behind him. ¹⁴In that first attack Jonathan and his armor-bearer killed some twenty men in an area of about half an acre.

Israel Routs the Philistines

¹⁵ Then panic struck the whole army—those in the camp and field, and those in the outposts and raiding parties—and the ground shook. It was a panic sent by God.^[a]

¹⁶ Saul’s lookouts at Gibeah in Benjamin saw the army melting away in all directions. ¹⁷Then Saul said to the men who were with him, “Muster the forces and see who has left us.” When they did, it was Jonathan and his armor-bearer who were not there.

¹⁸ Saul said to Ahijah, “Bring the ark of God.” (At that time it was with the Israelites.)^{[b] 19}While Saul was talking to the priest, the tumult in the Philistine camp increased more and more. So Saul said to the priest, “Withdraw your hand.”

²⁰ Then Saul and all his men assembled and went to the battle. They found the Philistines in total confusion, striking each other with their swords. ²¹ Those Hebrews who had previously been with the Philistines and had gone up with them to their camp went over to the Israelites who were with Saul and Jonathan. ²² When all the Israelites who had hidden in the hill country of Ephraim heard that the Philistines were on the run, they joined the battle in hot pursuit. ²³So on that day the LORD saved Israel, and the battle moved on beyond Beth Aven.

Jonathan Eats Honey

²⁴Now the Israelites were in distress that day, because Saul had bound the people under an oath, saying, “Cursed be anyone who eats food before evening comes, before I have avenged myself on my enemies!” So none of the troops tasted food.

²⁵ The entire army entered the woods, and there was honey on the ground. ²⁶ When they went into the woods, they saw the honey oozing out; yet no one put his hand to his mouth, because they feared the oath. ²⁷ But Jonathan had not heard that his father had bound the people with the oath, so he reached out the end of the staff that was in his hand and dipped it into the honeycomb. He raised his hand to his mouth, and his eyes brightened.^{[c] 28}Then one of the soldiers told him, “Your father bound the army under a strict oath, saying, ‘Cursed be anyone who eats food today!’ That is why the men are faint.”

²⁹ Jonathan said, “My father has made trouble for the country. See how my eyes brightened when I tasted a little of this honey. ³⁰How much better it would have been if the men had eaten today some of the plunder they took from their enemies. Would not the slaughter of the Philistines have been even greater?”

³¹ That day, after the Israelites had struck down the Philistines from Mikmash to Aijalon, they were exhausted. ³² They pounced on the plunder and, taking sheep, cattle and calves, they butchered them on the ground and ate them, together with the blood. ³³Then someone said to Saul, “Look, the men are sinning against the LORD by eating meat that has blood in it.”

   “You have broken faith,” he said. “Roll a large stone over here at once.” ³⁴Then he said, “Go out among the men and tell them, ‘Each of you bring me your cattle and sheep, and slaughter them here and eat them. Do not sin against the LORD by eating meat with blood still in it.’”

   So everyone brought his ox that night and slaughtered it there. ³⁵Then Saul built an altar to the LORD; it was the first time he had done this.

³⁶Saul said, “Let us go down and pursue the Philistines by night and plunder them till dawn, and let us not leave one of them alive.”

   “Do whatever seems best to you,” they replied.

   But the priest said, “Let us inquire of God here.”

³⁷So Saul asked God, “Shall I go down and pursue the Philistines? Will you give them into Israel’s hand?” But God did not answer him that day.

³⁸ Saul therefore said, “Come here, all you who are leaders of the army, and let us find out what sin has been committed today. ³⁹As surely as the LORD who rescues Israel lives, even if the guilt lies with my son Jonathan, he must die.” But not one of them said a word.

⁴⁰Saul then said to all the Israelites, “You stand over there; I and Jonathan my son will stand over here.”

   “Do what seems best to you,” they replied.

⁴¹ Then Saul prayed to the LORD, the God of Israel, “Why have you not answered your servant today? If the fault is in me or my son Jonathan, respond with Urim, but if the men of Israel are at fault,^[d] respond with Thummim.” Jonathan and Saul were taken by lot, and the men were cleared. ⁴²Saul said, “Cast the lot between me and Jonathan my son.” And Jonathan was taken.

⁴³Then Saul said to Jonathan, “Tell me what you have done.”

   So Jonathan told him, “I tasted a little honey with the end of my staff. And now I must die!”

⁴⁴Saul said, “May God deal with me, be it ever so severely, if you do not die, Jonathan.”

⁴⁵But the men said to Saul, “Should Jonathan die—he who has brought about this great deliverance in Israel? Never! As surely as the LORD lives, not a hair of his head will fall to the ground, for he did this today with God’s help.” So the men rescued Jonathan, and he was not put to death.

⁴⁶Then Saul stopped pursuing the Philistines, and they withdrew to their own land.

⁴⁷ After Saul had assumed rule over Israel, he fought against their enemies on every side: Moab, the Ammonites, Edom, the kings^[e] of Zobah, and the Philistines. Wherever he turned, he inflicted punishment on them.^{[f] 48}He fought valiantly and defeated the Amalekites, delivering Israel from the hands of those who had plundered them.

Saul’s Family

⁴⁹ Saul’s sons were Jonathan, Ishvi and Malki-Shua. The name of his older daughter was Merab, and that of the younger was Michal. ⁵⁰ His wife’s name was Ahinoam daughter of Ahimaaz. The name of the commander of Saul’s army was Abner son of Ner, and Ner was Saul’s uncle. ⁵¹Saul’s father Kish and Abner’s father Ner were sons of Abiel.

⁵² All the days of Saul there was bitter war with the Philistines, and whenever Saul saw a mighty or brave man, he took him into his service.

Questions

1. Who advises Saul spiritually?
2. What kind of decisions is Saul making?
3. What kind of king would Jonathan have been?
4. Have you witnessed someone trade in a friend for telling them truths they didn’t want to hear?
5. Who regularly tells you truths that are hard to hear?

How does your behaviour change when you are under pressure?  Do you turn to faith or do you try and control the situation yourself?  Is God the last resort or the first person you turn to?  For Saul, in the Bible, he felt the mounting pressure of Samuel not showing up and he turned to his own resources.  He started to try and control the situation himself.  His fears of losing control would plague him for the rest of his life.  It would drive him to near madness in his interractions with David.

1 Samuel 13

¹ Saul was thirty^[a] years old when he became king, and he reigned over Israel forty-^[b]two years.

²Saul chose three thousand men from Israel; two thousand were with him at Mikmash and in the hill country of Bethel, and a thousand were with Jonathan at Gibeah in Benjamin. The rest of the men he sent back to their homes.

³ Jonathan attacked the Philistine outpost at Geba, and the Philistines heard about it. Then Saul had the trumpet blown throughout the land and said, “Let the Hebrews hear!” ⁴So all Israel heard the news: “Saul has attacked the Philistine outpost, and now Israel has become obnoxious to the Philistines.” And the people were summoned to join Saul at Gilgal.

⁵ The Philistines assembled to fight Israel, with three thousand^[c] chariots, six thousand charioteers, and soldiers as numerous as the sand on the seashore. They went up and camped at Mikmash, east of Beth Aven. ⁶ When the Israelites saw that their situation was critical and that their army was hard pressed, they hid in caves and thickets, among the rocks, and in pits and cisterns. ⁷Some Hebrews even crossed the Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead.

   Saul remained at Gilgal, and all the troops with him were quaking with fear. ⁸ He waited seven days, the time set by Samuel; but Samuel did not come to Gilgal, and Saul’s men began to scatter. ⁹ So he said, “Bring me the burnt offering and the fellowship offerings.” And Saul offered up the burnt offering. ¹⁰Just as he finished making the offering, Samuel arrived, and Saul went out to greet him.

¹¹“What have you done?” asked Samuel.

   Saul replied, “When I saw that the men were scattering, and that you did not come at the set time, and that the Philistines were assembling at Mikmash, ¹²I thought, ‘Now the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal, and I have not sought the LORD’s favor.’ So I felt compelled to offer the burnt offering.”

¹³ “You have done a foolish thing,” Samuel said. “You have not kept the command the LORD your God gave you; if you had, he would have established your kingdom over Israel for all time. ¹⁴But now your kingdom will not endure; the LORD has sought out a man after his own heart and appointed him ruler of his people, because you have not kept the LORD’s command.”

¹⁵ Then Samuel left Gilgal^[d]and went up to Gibeah in Benjamin, and Saul counted the men who were with him. They numbered about six hundred.

Israel Without Weapons

¹⁶ Saul and his son Jonathan and the men with them were staying in Gibeah^[e] in Benjamin, while the Philistines camped at Mikmash. ¹⁷ Raiding parties went out from the Philistine camp in three detachments. One turned toward Ophrah in the vicinity of Shual, ¹⁸another toward Beth Horon, and the third toward the borderland overlooking the Valley of Zeboyim facing the wilderness.

¹⁹ Not a blacksmith could be found in the whole land of Israel, because the Philistines had said, “Otherwise the Hebrews will make swords or spears!” ²⁰ So all Israel went down to the Philistines to have their plow points, mattocks, axes and sickles^[f] sharpened. ²¹ The price was two-thirds of a shekel^[g] for sharpening plow points and mattocks, and a third of a shekel^[h]for sharpening forks and axes and for repointing goads.

²²So on the day of the battle not a soldier with Saul and Jonathan had a sword or spear in his hand; only Saul and his son Jonathan had them.

Jonathan Attacks the Philistines

²³ Now a detachment of Philistines had gone out to the pass at Mikmash.

Questions

1. What did Saul do that was so wrong?
2. What was Samuel’s judgement?
3. How was the king meant to function?
4. How do you act under building pressure?
5. How does God expect us to act under pressure?

When Samuel officially said ‘Good bye’ and transitioned the leadership from himself to Saul he laid out a gracious plan.  If you see how he started his speech, the people were told how faithful God had been and were encouraged to realise how faithless they had been.  They understand the goodness and righteousness of God would result in their deaths, but they plead with Samuel to go to God for grace.  Samuel does communicate to the people that they will not die.  They should use their reprieve to worship God.

In communicating grace to students I always try and see if they understand the law.  Grace can only be fully received if we know the bad things that we deserve.  It is in removing just consequences that mercy and grace can be correctly received.  How is it that so many today trample on grace or just see themselves as entitled?

1 Samuel 12

¹ Samuel said to all Israel, “I have listened to everything you said to me and have set a king over you. ² Now you have a king as your leader. As for me, I am old and gray, and my sons are here with you. I have been your leader from my youth until this day. ³Here I stand. Testify against me in the presence of the LORD and his anointed. Whose ox have I taken? Whose donkey have I taken? Whom have I cheated? Whom have I oppressed? From whose hand have I accepted a bribe to make me shut my eyes? If I have done any of these things, I will make it right.”

⁴“You have not cheated or oppressed us,” they replied. “You have not taken anything from anyone’s hand.”

⁵Samuel said to them, “The LORD is witness against you, and also his anointed is witness this day, that you have not found anything in my hand.”

   “He is witness,” they said.

⁶ Then Samuel said to the people, “It is the LORD who appointed Moses and Aaron and brought your ancestors up out of Egypt. ⁷Now then, stand here, because I am going to confront you with evidence before the LORD as to all the righteous acts performed by the LORD for you and your ancestors.

⁸“After Jacob entered Egypt, they cried to the LORD for help, and the LORD sent Moses and Aaron, who brought your ancestors out of Egypt and settled them in this place.

⁹ “But they forgot the LORD their God; so he sold them into the hand of Sisera, the commander of the army of Hazor, and into the hands of the Philistines and the king of Moab, who fought against them. ¹⁰ They cried out to the LORD and said, ‘We have sinned; we have forsaken the LORD and served the Baals and the Ashtoreths. But now deliver us from the hands of our enemies, and we will serve you.’ ¹¹ Then the LORD sent Jerub-Baal,^[a] Barak,^[b] Jephthah and Samuel,^[c]and he delivered you from the hands of your enemies all around you, so that you lived in safety.

¹² “But when you saw that Nahash king of the Ammonites was moving against you, you said to me, ‘No, we want a king to rule over us’—even though the LORD your God was your king. ¹³ Now here is the king you have chosen, the one you asked for; see, the LORD has set a king over you. ¹⁴ If you fear the LORD and serve and obey him and do not rebel against his commands, and if both you and the king who reigns over you follow the LORD your God—good! ¹⁵But if you do not obey the LORD, and if you rebel against his commands, his hand will be against you, as it was against your ancestors.

¹⁶ “Now then, stand still and see this great thing the LORD is about to do before your eyes! ¹⁷Is it not wheat harvest now? I will call on the LORD to send thunder and rain. And you will realize what an evil thing you did in the eyes of the LORD when you asked for a king.”

¹⁸Then Samuel called on the LORD, and that same day the LORD sent thunder and rain. So all the people stood in awe of the LORD and of Samuel.

¹⁹The people all said to Samuel, “Pray to the LORD your God for your servants so that we will not die, for we have added to all our other sins the evil of asking for a king.”

²⁰ “Do not be afraid,” Samuel replied. “You have done all this evil; yet do not turn away from the LORD, but serve the LORD with all your heart. ²¹ Do not turn away after useless idols. They can do you no good, nor can they rescue you, because they are useless. ²² For the sake of his great name the LORD will not reject his people, because the LORD was pleased to make you his own. ²³ As for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the LORD by failing to pray for you. And I will teach you the way that is good and right. ²⁴ But be sure to fear the LORD and serve him faithfully with all your heart; consider what great things he has done for you. ²⁵ Yet if you persist in doing evil, both you and your king will perish.”

Questions

1. Which famous people does Samuel highlight and why?
2. What particular threat led to the request for a king?
3. How was grace handed to the Israelites in the passage?
4. What will God do to those who trample on grace?
5. How can we challenge the modern tendency toward entitlement?

The Holy Spirit comes upon Saul in a way that is quite similar to the way that the Spirit of God descends upon the judges in the book of Judges.  There is a war that Israelites face and they need deliverence.  God raises up a judge to deliver them and that judge is anointed and empowered by the Spirit of God.  This kind of deliverence was understood as a foreshadowing of Messiah in the Old Testament. This is why many people believed that Jesus would marc over the Romans like the judges marched over the Philistines, or in Saul’s case like he marched over the Ammonites.  Jesus did share with them the clear sense of God’s calling and he did share with them the strong presence of the Holy Spirit.  However, Jesus’ kingdom was like nothing that had ever gone before.

Jesus brought the kingdom of God in which Christians now live.  Like the deliverers of the Jewish kingdom, like Saul, we should be looking for God to anoint us or set us apart for a particular ministry or calling.  When we see what our vocation is to be we should expect to live out our calling with the uncommon zeal and power that comes from walking in the Holy Spirit.

1 Samuel 11

¹ Nahash^[a]the Ammonite went up and besieged Jabesh Gilead. And all the men of Jabesh said to him, “Make a treaty with us, and we will be subject to you.”

 ²But Nahash the Ammonite replied, “I will make a treaty with you only on the condition that I gouge out the right eye of every one of you and so bring disgrace on all Israel.”

 ³The elders of Jabesh said to him, “Give us seven days so we can send messengers throughout Israel; if no one comes to rescue us, we will surrender to you.”

 ⁴ When the messengers came to Gibeah of Saul and reported these terms to the people, they all wept aloud. ⁵Just then Saul was returning from the fields, behind his oxen, and he asked, “What is wrong with everyone? Why are they weeping?” Then they repeated to him what the men of Jabesh had said.

 ⁶ When Saul heard their words, the Spirit of God came powerfully upon him, and he burned with anger. ⁷ He took a pair of oxen, cut them into pieces, and sent the pieces by messengers throughout Israel, proclaiming, “This is what will be done to the oxen of anyone who does not follow Saul and Samuel.” Then the terror of the LORD fell on the people, and they came out together as one. ⁸When Saul mustered them at Bezek, the men of Israel numbered three hundred thousand and those of Judah thirty thousand.

 ⁹ They told the messengers who had come, “Say to the men of Jabesh Gilead, ‘By the time the sun is hot tomorrow, you will be rescued.’” When the messengers went and reported this to the men of Jabesh, they were elated. ¹⁰They said to the Ammonites, “Tomorrow we will surrender to you, and you can do to us whatever you like.”

 ¹¹The next day Saul separated his men into three divisions; during the last watch of the night they broke into the camp of the Ammonites and slaughtered them until the heat of the day. Those who survived were scattered, so that no two of them were left together.

Saul Confirmed as King

 ¹²The people then said to Samuel, “Who was it that asked, ‘Shall Saul reign over us?’ Turn these men over to us so that we may put them to death.”

 ¹³But Saul said, “No one will be put to death today, for this day the LORD has rescued Israel.”

 ¹⁴ Then Samuel said to the people, “Come, let us go to Gilgal and there renew the kingship.” ¹⁵ So all the people went to Gilgal and made Saul king in the presence of the LORD. There they sacrificed fellowship offerings before the LORD, and Saul and all the Israelites held a great celebration.

Questions

1. Who besieged the Israelites?
2. What was the threat to the Israelites in the besieged city?
3. How did Saul respond to the threat?
4. What circumstances in the world are you called to change?
5. How is God equipping you to face the circumstances he wants you to address?

In the NIV Application Commentary, Arnold says:

We should take from this passage (1 Samuel 10) the means by which God leads his people.  The anointing of Saul is parallel to another passage familiar to Christians because of its use by Jesus early in his ministry:  “The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to preach god news to the poor” (Isa. 61:1; Luke 4:18).  Thus, our passage about King Saul has three features in common with this verse spoken by the Lord’s Messiah (or “Anointed One”):  Both were given the Spirit of the LORD; both were anointed; and both were commissioned for a specific task – Saul to serve as Israel’s first king and the Messiah to proclaim good news to the poor (an agenda spelled out more clearly in the rest of the Isaiah passage, Isa. 61:2-7). Anointing and reception of God’s Spirit are indispensable for service in his kingdom.

Finally, Saul is one of the best examples of personal transformation because of the work of God’s Spirit in one’s life, even though God eventually withdrew his approval and blessing from Saul.  In this first unit introducing us to Saul, we learn of his anointing and confirmation as Israel’s first king.  But this passage lays special stress on Saul’s change of character.  One’s personal conduct and moral character are central not only in one’s standing before God but also for leadership among God’s people.  Furthermore, as the long and sordid story of Saul continues, we will see that God apparently does not long bestow his Spirit where there is no continued change of character.

1 Samuel 10

¹ Then Samuel took a flask of olive oil and poured it on Saul’s head and kissed him, saying, “Has not the LORD anointed you ruler over his inheritance?^{[a] 2}When you leave me today, you will meet two men near Rachel’s tomb, at Zelzah on the border of Benjamin. They will say to you, ‘The donkeys you set out to look for have been found. And now your father has stopped thinking about them and is worried about you. He is asking, “What shall I do about my son?”’

 ³ “Then you will go on from there until you reach the great tree of Tabor. Three men going up to worship God at Bethel will meet you there. One will be carrying three young goats, another three loaves of bread, and another a skin of wine. ⁴They will greet you and offer you two loaves of bread, which you will accept from them.

 ⁵ “After that you will go to Gibeah of God, where there is a Philistine outpost. As you approach the town, you will meet a procession of prophets coming down from the high place with lyres, timbrels, pipes and harps being played before them, and they will be prophesying. ⁶ The Spirit of the LORD will come powerfully upon you, and you will prophesy with them; and you will be changed into a different person. ⁷Once these signs are fulfilled, do whatever your hand finds to do, for God is with you.

 ⁸“Go down ahead of me to Gilgal. I will surely come down to you to sacrifice burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, but you must wait seven days until I come to you and tell you what you are to do.”

Saul Made King

 ⁹ As Saul turned to leave Samuel, God changed Saul’s heart, and all these signs were fulfilled that day. ¹⁰ When he and his servant arrived at Gibeah, a procession of prophets met him; the Spirit of God came powerfully upon him, and he joined in their prophesying. ¹¹When all those who had formerly known him saw him prophesying with the prophets, they asked each other, “What is this that has happened to the son of Kish? Is Saul also among the prophets?”

 ¹² A man who lived there answered, “And who is their father?” So it became a saying: “Is Saul also among the prophets?” ¹³After Saul stopped prophesying, he went to the high place.

 ¹⁴Now Saul’s uncle asked him and his servant, “Where have you been?”

   “Looking for the donkeys,” he said. “But when we saw they were not to be found, we went to Samuel.”

 ¹⁵Saul’s uncle said, “Tell me what Samuel said to you.”

 ¹⁶Saul replied, “He assured us that the donkeys had been found.” But he did not tell his uncle what Samuel had said about the kingship.

 ¹⁷ Samuel summoned the people of Israel to the LORD at Mizpah ¹⁸ and said to them, “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘I brought Israel up out of Egypt, and I delivered you from the power of Egypt and all the kingdoms that oppressed you.’ ¹⁹But you have now rejected your God, who saves you out of all your disasters and calamities. And you have said, ‘No, appoint a king over us.’ So now present yourselves before the LORD by your tribes and clans.”

 ²⁰ When Samuel had all Israel come forward by tribes, the tribe of Benjamin was taken by lot. ²¹ 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. ²²So they inquired further of the LORD, “Has the man come here yet?”

   And the LORD said, “Yes, he has hidden himself among the supplies.”

 ²³ They ran and brought him out, and as he stood among the people he was a head taller than any of the others. ²⁴Samuel said to all the people, “Do you see the man the LORD has chosen? There is no one like him among all the people.”

   Then the people shouted, “Long live the king!”

 ²⁵Samuel explained to the people the rights and duties of kingship. He wrote them down on a scroll and deposited it before the LORD. Then Samuel dismissed the people to go to their own homes.

 ²⁶ Saul also went to his home in Gibeah, accompanied by valiant men whose hearts God had touched. ²⁷ But some scoundrels said, “How can this fellow save us?” They despised him and brought him no gifts. But Saul kept silent.

Questions

1. What does Saul do that shows he is changed by God?
2. Where does Saul hide? Why do you think he did this?
3. How did Saul respond to those who despised him?
4. What is the role of the Holy Spirit in spiritual transformation?
5. How is a person’s character related to God’s blessing today?

I have ben struggling with the idea that God may ‘love’ but not ‘like’ people.  I have frequently been around people who have excused their cold-hearted behavior to others with the excuse, “I have to love them, but that doesn’t mean I like them.”  I thought maybe God was like that with me.  I often don’t like myself much.  I often feel like a failure.  I often think I am obnoxious.  It might make sense that God loves me but doesn’t like me much.

Yet today I feel that God has worked behind the scenes to disprove my fears.  I talked to God about living in his presence and I felt him indicate that I would talk to someone on the train today.  I rarely do that.  I get embarrassed.  However, I fell asleep reading my Bible commentary and when I awoke a stranger was sat next to me reading a Bible and a commentary.  I felt God wanted me to talk to him, but I lacked the courage.  I asked God for courage and found that I was soon talking to Duane Koenig of Moody Publishers. We talked all the way as we walked across Chicago to Moody where we both work.  He then gave me a tour of the Moody Publishers wing of Moody and we talked about my wife or me publishing for Moody.  I don’t know what will come of it – however, like Saul in 1 Samuel, I found that God had in store for me more than I had realised.  Perhaps God likes me.

1 Samuel 9

¹ There was a Benjamite, a man of standing, whose name was Kish son of Abiel, the son of Zeror, the son of Bekorath, the son of Aphiah of Benjamin. ²Kish had a son named Saul, as handsome a young man as could be found anywhere in Israel, and he was a head taller than anyone else.

 ³ Now the donkeys belonging to Saul’s father Kish were lost, and Kish said to his son Saul, “Take one of the servants with you and go and look for the donkeys.” ⁴So he passed through the hill country of Ephraim and through the area around Shalisha, but they did not find them. They went on into the district of Shaalim, but the donkeys were not there. Then he passed through the territory of Benjamin, but they did not find them.

 ⁵When they reached the district of Zuph, Saul said to the servant who was with him, “Come, let’s go back, or my father will stop thinking about the donkeys and start worrying about us.”

 ⁶But the servant replied, “Look, in this town there is a man of God; he is highly respected, and everything he says comes true. Let’s go there now. Perhaps he will tell us what way to take.”

 ⁷Saul said to his servant, “If we go, what can we give the man? The food in our sacks is gone. We have no gift to take to the man of God. What do we have?”

 ⁸ The servant answered him again. “Look,” he said, “I have a quarter of a shekel^[a] of silver. I will give it to the man of God so that he will tell us what way to take.” ⁹(Formerly in Israel, if someone went to inquire of God, they would say, “Come, let us go to the seer,” because the prophet of today used to be called a seer.)

 ¹⁰“Good,” Saul said to his servant. “Come, let’s go.” So they set out for the town where the man of God was.

 ¹¹As they were going up the hill to the town, they met some young women coming out to draw water, and they asked them, “Is the seer here?”

 ¹² “He is,” they answered. “He’s ahead of you. Hurry now; he has just come to our town today, for the people have a sacrifice at the high place. ¹³As soon as you enter the town, you will find him before he goes up to the high place to eat. The people will not begin eating until he comes, because he must bless the sacrifice; afterward, those who are invited will eat. Go up now; you should find him about this time.”

 ¹⁴They went up to the town, and as they were entering it, there was Samuel, coming toward them on his way up to the high place.

 ¹⁵ Now the day before Saul came, the LORD had revealed this to Samuel: ¹⁶“About this time tomorrow I will send you a man from the land of Benjamin. Anoint him ruler over my people Israel; he will deliver them from the hand of the Philistines. I have looked on my people, for their cry has reached me.”

 ¹⁷When Samuel caught sight of Saul, the LORD said to him, “This is the man I spoke to you about; he will govern my people.”

 ¹⁸Saul approached Samuel in the gateway and asked, “Would you please tell me where the seer’s house is?”

 ¹⁹ “I am the seer,” Samuel replied. “Go up ahead of me to the high place, for today you are to eat with me, and in the morning I will send you on your way and will tell you all that is in your heart. ²⁰As for the donkeys you lost three days ago, do not worry about them; they have been found. And to whom is all the desire of Israel turned, if not to you and your whole family line?”

 ²¹Saul answered, “But am I not a Benjamite, from the smallest tribe of Israel, and is not my clan the least of all the clans of the tribe of Benjamin? Why do you say such a thing to me?”

 ²² Then Samuel brought Saul and his servant into the hall and seated them at the head of those who were invited—about thirty in number. ²³Samuel said to the cook, “Bring the piece of meat I gave you, the one I told you to lay aside.”

 ²⁴So the cook took up the thigh with what was on it and set it in front of Saul. Samuel said, “Here is what has been kept for you. Eat, because it was set aside for you for this occasion from the time I said, ‘I have invited guests.’” And Saul dined with Samuel that day.

 ²⁵ After they came down from the high place to the town, Samuel talked with Saul on the roof of his house. ²⁶ They rose about daybreak, and Samuel called to Saul on the roof, “Get ready, and I will send you on your way.” When Saul got ready, he and Samuel went outside together. ²⁷ As they were going down to the edge of the town, Samuel said to Saul, “Tell the servant to go on ahead of us”—and the servant did so—“but you stay here for a while, so that I may give you a message from God.”

Questions

1. Describe Saul’s status and physique.
2. Why would Saul appear to be the kind of man the people are looking for?
3. How does God transform Saul?
4. What God-given qualities do you have?
5. What purpose does God have for your strengths?

Israel asked for a king and it was wrong.  That should seem strange on two accounts – first God allows them to have a king.  Secondly, God outlines in Deuteronomy (written years before) the qualities that a king should have.  If God is not against kingship per se, what is the problem when Israel asks for a king in 1 Samuel 8?  The answer is all in the motives.

Israel wanted a king so that they could be like the other nations.  Other nations seemed successful because they had a powerful, single-minded dictator ruling over them.  In the cases of the Babylonians and Pharaohs, these dictator-kings saw themselves as divine.  Israel wants something like that.  Something new and shiny was needed to defeat the Philistines – the relationship with God wasn’t bringing swift victory and so God needed to be replaced with a god-like man.

We often put people in the place of God.  The Israelites decided that they wanted to do it as a nation.

1 Samuel 8: 1-22

¹ When Samuel grew old, he appointed his sons as Israel’s leaders.^{[a] 2} The name of his firstborn was Joel and the name of his second was Abijah, and they served at Beersheba. ³But his sons did not follow his ways. They turned aside after dishonest gain and accepted bribes and perverted justice.

 ⁴ So all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah. ⁵ They said to him, “You are old, and your sons do not follow your ways; now appoint a king to lead^[b]us, such as all the other nations have.”

 ⁶ But when they said, “Give us a king to lead us,” this displeased Samuel; so he prayed to the LORD. ⁷ And the LORD told him: “Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king. ⁸ As they have done from the day I brought them up out of Egypt until this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are doing to you. ⁹Now listen to them; but warn them solemnly and let them know what the king who will reign over them will claim as his rights.”

 ¹⁰ Samuel told all the words of the LORD to the people who were asking him for a king. ¹¹ He said, “This is what the king who will reign over you will claim as his rights: He will take your sons and make them serve with his chariots and horses, and they will run in front of his chariots. ¹² Some he will assign to be commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and others to plow his ground and reap his harvest, and still others to make weapons of war and equipment for his chariots. ¹³ He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. ¹⁴ He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive groves and give them to his attendants. ¹⁵ He will take a tenth of your grain and of your vintage and give it to his officials and attendants. ¹⁶ Your male and female servants and the best of your cattle^[c] and donkeys he will take for his own use. ¹⁷ He will take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will become his slaves. ¹⁸When that day comes, you will cry out for relief from the king you have chosen, but the LORD will not answer you in that day.”

 ¹⁹ But the people refused to listen to Samuel. “No!” they said. “We want a king over us. ²⁰Then we will be like all the other nations, with a king to lead us and to go out before us and fight our battles.”

 ²¹ When Samuel heard all that the people said, he repeated it before the LORD. ²²The LORD answered, “Listen to them and give them a king.”

   Then Samuel said to the Israelites, “Everyone go back to your own town.”

Questions

1. Describe Samuel’s family.
2. Why did the people ask for a king?
3. What were the responses of Samuel and God?
4. To whom do we look to solve our problems?
5. How do such people lead us away from  God?

The Ebenezer is The Stone of Help.  It is a stone erected to remind people of a time when God has helped them.  In class one of my students asked how we could be constantly reminded that we are in the presence of God.  It is one of those things that we too quickly forget.  I suggested that we need a monument or icon of some kind.  As Haase suggests in his book, Coming Home to Your True Self, we need to have a reminder like the letter “P” placed in locations where we will see it and be reminded.  I suggested to my class that they write P on their wall, get a charm bracelet, a necklace or some kind of other reminder.  I couldn’t quite say that they should get a tattoo.  However, Protestants have lost the art of using icons to help remind them of greater truths.  The Israelites knew how to set up a monument to bring right thinking about God – we set up monuments to 9/11, The Vietnam War, and Lincoln – why don’t we set one up to remind us about God?

1 Samuel 7:5-17

⁵ Then Samuel said, “Assemble all Israel at Mizpah, and I will intercede with the LORD for you.” ⁶ When they had assembled at Mizpah, they drew water and poured it out before the LORD. On that day they fasted and there they confessed, “We have sinned against the LORD.” Now Samuel was serving as leader^[a]of Israel at Mizpah.

 ⁷ When the Philistines heard that Israel had assembled at Mizpah, the rulers of the Philistines came up to attack them. When the Israelites heard of it, they were afraid because of the Philistines. ⁸ They said to Samuel, “Do not stop crying out to the LORD our God for us, that he may rescue us from the hand of the Philistines.” ⁹Then Samuel took a suckling lamb and sacrificed it as a whole burnt offering to the LORD. He cried out to the LORD on Israel’s behalf, and the LORD answered him.

 ¹⁰ While Samuel was sacrificing the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near to engage Israel in battle. But that day the LORD thundered with loud thunder against the Philistines and threw them into such a panic that they were routed before the Israelites. ¹¹The men of Israel rushed out of Mizpah and pursued the Philistines, slaughtering them along the way to a point below Beth Kar.

 ¹² Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen. He named it Ebenezer,^[b]saying, “Thus far the LORD has helped us.”

 ¹³ So the Philistines were subdued and they stopped invading Israel’s territory. Throughout Samuel’s lifetime, the hand of the LORD was against the Philistines. ¹⁴The towns from Ekron to Gath that the Philistines had captured from Israel were restored to Israel, and Israel delivered the neighboring territory from the hands of the Philistines. And there was peace between Israel and the Amorites.

 ¹⁵ Samuel continued as Israel’s leader all the days of his life. ¹⁶ From year to year he went on a circuit from Bethel to Gilgal to Mizpah, judging Israel in all those places. ¹⁷ But he always went back to Ramah, where his home was, and there he also held court for Israel. And he built an altar there to the LORD.

Questions

1. What did the Israelites say at Mizpah?
2. What did God do for them at Mizpah?
3. How did Israel remember what God had done?
4. How has God helped you?
5. How could you set up some kind of reminder that God is present with you each moment?

The people of Israel endured terrible consequences for their religious complacency at the beginning of 1 Samuel.  Many of them died in battle and more died when they took the ark of the covenant as a common object.  Finally the Israelite people choose God, but Samuel tells them that they must turn to God.  Turning to God means that we put other distractions aside.  The focus on what is important in life is complete.  God does not compete as a rival with any other interests.  He is the only God now as far as Israelite devotion is concerned.

Of course, tragedy can work in our lives in two ways.  We can learn from it and draw closer to God or we can become hardened and resistant to God.  Which of these describes us right now?

1 Samuel 7:2-4

²The ark remained at Kiriath Jearim a long time—twenty years in all.    Then all the people of Israel turned back to the LORD. ³ So Samuel said to all the Israelites, “If you are returning to the LORD with all your hearts, then rid yourselves of the foreign gods and the Ashtoreths and commit yourselves to the LORD and serve him only, and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.” ⁴ So the Israelites put away their Baals and Ashtoreths, and served the LORD only.

Questions

1. What happened after a long time?
2. How did the Israelites demonstrate change?
3. Who did Israel promise to serve alongside God?
4. What circumstances have brought people you know to a position of surrendered repentance?
5. What have you had to ‘put away’?

Arnold writes:

The Philistines were not unlike other nations of the ancient Near East, for whom polytheism was a fundamental assumption that lay at the heart of their worldview.  Though some people only served one god or a few gods officially, they nonetheless recognized the existence of dozens, even hundreds of deities, as many as there were natural and social forces in the world.  These deities were coterminous, or by nature immanent, in the world.They were correspondent to, or coterminous with, all other things that existed.  Socially, the deities were much like humans.  As opposed to Genesis theology, in which God created humans in his image, ancient theology accepted gods in human image.  They had births, deaths, families, and physical needs.

In addition, the ancients believed the deities were susceptible to forces of magic.  Most nations of the ancient world practiced a wide variety of magical arts, including formulaic recitations and imitative acts, which they thought could manipulate and exploit the powers of the divine and natural realms.

God seems to have been teaching both the Philistines and Israelites that he was a god unlike the ones they could have imagined.  He is the only God, not to be compared.

1 Samuel 6

When the ark of the LORD had been in Philistine territory seven months, ²the Philistines called for the priests and the diviners and said, “What shall we do with the ark of the LORD? Tell us how we should send it back to its place.”

³They answered, “If you return the ark of the god of Israel, do not send it back to him without a gift; by all means send a guilt offering to him. Then you will be healed, and you will know why his hand has not been lifted from you.”

⁴The Philistines asked, “What guilt offering should we send to him?”

   They replied, “Five gold tumors and five gold rats, according to the number of the Philistine rulers, because the same plague has struck both you and your rulers. ⁵ Make models of the tumors and of the rats that are destroying the country, and give glory to Israel’s god. Perhaps he will lift his hand from you and your gods and your land. ⁶Why do you harden your hearts as the Egyptians and Pharaoh did? When Israel’s god dealt harshly with them, did they not send the Israelites out so they could go on their way?

⁷ “Now then, get a new cart ready, with two cows that have calved and have never been yoked. Hitch the cows to the cart, but take their calves away and pen them up. ⁸ Take the ark of the LORD and put it on the cart, and in a chest beside it put the gold objects you are sending back to him as a guilt offering. Send it on its way, ⁹but keep watching it. If it goes up to its own territory, toward Beth Shemesh, then the LORD has brought this great disaster on us. But if it does not, then we will know that it was not his hand that struck us but that it happened to us by chance.”

¹⁰ So they did this. They took two such cows and hitched them to the cart and penned up their calves. ¹¹ They placed the ark of the LORD on the cart and along with it the chest containing the gold rats and the models of the tumors. ¹²Then the cows went straight up toward Beth Shemesh, keeping on the road and lowing all the way; they did not turn to the right or to the left. The rulers of the Philistines followed them as far as the border of Beth Shemesh.

¹³ Now the people of Beth Shemesh were harvesting their wheat in the valley, and when they looked up and saw the ark, they rejoiced at the sight. ¹⁴ The cart came to the field of Joshua of Beth Shemesh, and there it stopped beside a large rock. The people chopped up the wood of the cart and sacrificed the cows as a burnt offering to the LORD. ¹⁵ The Levites took down the ark of the LORD, together with the chest containing the gold objects, and placed them on the large rock. On that day the people of Beth Shemesh offered burnt offerings and made sacrifices to the LORD. ¹⁶The five rulers of the Philistines saw all this and then returned that same day to Ekron.

¹⁷ These are the gold tumors the Philistines sent as a guilt offering to the LORD—one each for Ashdod, Gaza, Ashkelon, Gath and Ekron. ¹⁸And the number of the gold rats was according to the number of Philistine towns belonging to the five rulers—the fortified towns with their country villages. The large rock on which the Levites set the ark of the LORD is a witness to this day in the field of Joshua of Beth Shemesh.

¹⁹ But God struck down some of the inhabitants of Beth Shemesh, putting seventy^[a] of them to death because they looked into the ark of the LORD. The people mourned because of the heavy blow the LORD had dealt them. ²⁰And the people of Beth Shemesh asked, “Who can stand in the presence of the LORD, this holy God? To whom will the ark go up from here?”

²¹ Then they sent messengers to the people of Kiriath Jearim, saying, “The Philistines have returned the ark of the LORD. Come down and take it up to your town.”

Questions

1. What test did the Philistines design to prove to themselves that God was acting against them?
2. What command did the Israelites disobey when receiving the ark?
3. What is similar about the actions of the Israelites and Philistines?
4. How do people ‘test’ God today?
5. How has God shown you that he is incomparable?