May 14, Reading Notes

1 Samuel 15-16

1 Sam. 15

V. 1 These words should have been ringing in Saul's ears, "listen to the words of the Lord."

Vs. 3-9 Admittedly, this would have been hard for us too, not to get caught up with an easy victory, feeling good, listening to the wishes of the people.

V. 6 The Kenites have links to the family of Moses and Judah and are good people. Just don't hide in their tents or you're likely to get a tent stake in the head like in the book of Judges.

Vs. 10-11 This was not a good night. It is interesting to me that Samuel cried out to the Lord. Remember Moses doing this in the wilderness. It was never good for the people when God was moved to anger. Samuel, like Moses before him, knew that this would cause Israel to suffer.

It should be noted that God's regret is not like our regret. God saw this coming, therefore the test. At this point when Saul did what God knew he would do, God was saddened because of Saul's disobedience.

In Saul making this monument to himself, it also shows why he kept Agag alive and saved the best stuff. It was for his self esteem and popularity. This stuff would have been a kind of victory parade. This Carmel is not the one up by the Mediterranean Sea where Elijah had it out with the priests of Baal. This Carmel is in Judah.

Vs. 12-23 There is a lot in this section.

Notice how Saul tries to schmooze Samuel in verse 15, "your God."

Notice how Saul keeps putting blame on the people and trying to spin all this as obedience.

Vs. 22-23 must have really slammed Saul. The issue is really relationship and obedience, like a child, to His word.

Vs. 24-35

Saul gets honest and yet in verse 25 he is thinking about himself and how to save face with the people. He needs them to see Samuel return with him. What a powerful image of confused spirituality. I have seen this and it is something you can't fight. Its irrationality defies logic and argument. When a person's ego is placed before honesty before the Lord, everything becomes stained and confused.

Samuel relented and went with Saul, but this also seems like the beginning of Saul becoming dangerous.

1 Sam. 16

V. 1 I don't think that the Lord waited a long time before He spoke to Samuel.

Since we know that God doesn't change His mind, but works according to His foreknowledge, election and purpose, choosing a king, and particularly David as king, was not a new plan. If there had been no Saul and if the people had patiently waited and sought God, David would have been king anyway.

It is another lesson in waiting. The people didn't wait, and God gave them what they wanted. Saul didn't wait at Gilgal and the people stayed; but had he waited, God would have blessed him. As disciples, we don't want God to work in and around us in spite of ourselves. We want to follow Him, and that often means seeking Him over time and waiting for His clear leading.

V. 2 Notice that God takes Samuel's concern seriously and gives Samuel a plan.

V. 4 Who were they afraid of? Samuel or Saul? If it was Samuel, his judgeship must have been a very "Obey God and no fooling around" kind of ministry to the people.

Vs. 6-7 Even Samuel looked at the outward appearance when thinking about a king. Verse 7 is the great global equalizer. It may be that right now, the greatest disciple of Christ, following Him in the harvest, reaching the lost and making disciples, works in the shadows of oppression and will die in obscurity, poverty and injustice. The Lord looks upon the heart and Jesus told His twelve, "So have no fear of them, for nothing is covered that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known." 2 Chronicles 16:9 "For the eyes of the LORD move to and fro throughout the earth that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely His.

V. 13 It was probably after this that David had his run-in with the lion and bear. In a way, it is weird to think that if the Spirit in us wanted to show His stuff, we could do almost anything. And to think, our work in the harvest hardly ever involves hand-to-hand combat with wild animals.

V. 14 This was in fact an evil spirit sent to afflict Saul. To be fair, Saul still had recourse to go to God and ask for healing. The problem was, Saul had departed from God.

Apparently God does this to all of His servants named Saul. The outcome depends on the heart of that particular Saul. This one had the heart of a disciple.

2 Corinthians 12:7 And to keep me from being too elated by the abundance of revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan, to harass me, to keep me from being too elated. 8 Three times I besought the Lord about this, that it should leave me; 9 but he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." I will all the more gladly boast of my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities; for when I am weak, then I am strong.

Vs. 18-23 I have to admit, this is confusing unless Saul had some sort of dementia. When David comes to fight Goliath, Saul has no idea who David is. It could be that some of this is a summary editorial note, referring to David's entire service to Saul. Still, it make sense to me that Saul was so brooding about his life and insecurity that he didn't take much notice of the young man, playing the music, upon whom the Spirit and the kingship rested.

A possible timeline here is that David is about 12 here. Saul will reign for about another 15 years. David served Saul on and off, returning to his home. Saul will get better and not need David as much. There will be some years of calm.

The situation with Goliath will happen when David is 18-19. Within a year, David will begin running from Saul. David becomes king over Judah in Hebron when he is 30, and it is another 7 years before he becomes king of the entire nation.

This means that David will have 10 years of running from Saul and living in Ziglag (18 months) to write psalms and generally cry out to God.

John 7:53-8:20

Now you probably see the note in your Bible that this well beloved story of Jesus is not included in the oldest and best manuscripts.

There is a time in seminary when you realize that there is another level of maturity that has to be reached in order to not lose your mind, because you understand, begrudgingly, that knowing the Greek and Hebrew doesn't really answer all the questions. In fact, studying the Bible, sometimes, creates more questions and contradicts some of a person's long held beliefs. This is an example thereof.

According to the Bible Knowledge Commentary, and everyone else, these verses are an interruption in the text from John 7:52 to John 8:20. They differ in the quality of the Greek, meaning John didn't write these verses, and the oldest (closest to John's time) and most reliable manuscripts don't have this story.

It means that there was a story that had circulated and some copyist, years later, decided to insert this story here. What does this mean for us?

First, it means that we have very reliable documents. Why? Because we have so many manuscripts and part of the New Testament (many more than any other book from those times) that we can compare and know what the original Bible looked like. It isn't that we have 87% and have to guess what that missing 13% is. Rather, we have 120% and with that, we can compare manuscripts and figure out not only when, but also where, an error might have come into the lineage of a text family.

Second, forgeries, even by the "well-meaning," were never tolerated because the men of old knew what was at risk in the copying and transmission of the Bible. The guy who wrote 3rd Corinthians was high up the food chain, but when he was discovered, he lost his job and pension, he was run out of town and rumor has it that he worked at Walmart© for the rest of his life.

Third, without getting too wishy-washy, it might be that God did allow the story in for a reason. The story is true to Jesus' character and doesn't contradict anything. I wouldn't base the Gospel on this story, and knowing there is doubt about the story, I wouldn't base a lot of argument upon it. I would recognize in a mature fashion the godly men, and some of the brightest and best Greek scholars say that it doesn't fit there. I would still use it, carefully.

Vs. 12-20

Apparently after Jesus' outburst during the great day of the feast, still in the temple, the conversation and arguing followed Jesus into the Treasury or the Court of Women where he sat and taught the people.

Jesus' first outburst came as a procession brought water for cleansing into the temple. He screamed out that He was the living water. This outburst takes place during the lighting of the giant lamps that hung in this court. Appropriately, Jesus presents Himself to Israel as the Light of the World.

This argument with the Pharisees sounds like what happened back in John Ch. 5. The leaders were still stuck on the same petty arguments.

Notice, that even though Jesus was in close quarters where even a ninja would have had a hard time escaping, no one laid a hand on Him, because it wasn't time.

Psalm 110

This is a prophetic psalm pointing to Jesus and quoted in Hebrews. Can you see the verses that are quoted by Paul (or whoever wrote Hebrews)?

Proverbs 15:8-10

Sounds like this was written to King Saul, but eventually it also applied to Solomon. As disciples, we cut to the very core of the matter: Galatians 2:20 "I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.

If you’re reading along and don’t have a One Year Bible, click on this link Every Day in the Word. If that doesn't work, go to http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/devotions/ and click on “Every Day in the Word.” 

I'm writing these comments to and for those who are following a One Year Bible and interested in growing deeper as a disciple, following Jesus in the harvest. My hope is to see the growth of a discipleship culture in the church. Groups of 3-4 disciples, meeting weekly, encouraging each other to follow Christ and work to reach out and make disciples who make disciples. The Bible itself is the most universal manual we have and key to our growth and service in Christ. Nothing keeps us more focused on why we are here or what we are to be doing. My comments are only meant to provide some explanation of the events or to show the flow of God's plan of redemption. My comments are in no way exhaustive, but are designed to keep us focused on Christ and our role in His harvest. My hope is that the people in these groups will grow in Christ and be willing, after a year, to find 3 others to meet with and encourage in their growth as disciples, disciples making disciples in the harvest.

If you would like a more descriptive commentary that is still readable and concise, I'd recommend the Bible Knowledge Commentary. It's keyed to the NIV, so the result is, the commentators are constantly telling you what the Greek or Hebrew is. That never hurts.

I am not endorsing any particular One Year Bible; in fact, I read something you don't, die revidierte Lutherbibel 1984.

Anyone reading along with us is welcome to do so and is encouraged to take their own notes and make their own observations. If the comments made do not agree with your particular tradition or understanding, that's OK. Nothing I've written is meant to criticize any point of view, but only to express the truth of what God has written to us, as I understand it.