1 Samuel 8-9
1 Samuel 8
Vs. 1-3 There are some bad and good things happening here.
It is bad that the sons of Samuel are dishonest. I've heard Howard Hendricks
preach this portion and mention that Samuel was a success in his profession but
a failure as a father. Samuel, unfortunately, learned his fathering through
Eli, another failed father.
Vs. 4-9 It is good that the people didn't want to slip back
into the godless ways of the disunified Israel that existed before Samuel.
It is to be noted that God mentioned through Jacob in
Genesis 49, and then through Moses, that Israel would someday have a king. I
think the "demand" and the expression of the motives were wrong. The
desire to be like the other nations was wrong. They should have taken time to
search for God's will and heart as a nation.
Reading the Bible Knowledge Commentary-OT, p. 439,
this morning, it hit me that if they would have asked God for a king and His
will, eventually they would have gotten David. But at this time, God couldn't
give them David because David might not have been born yet. When Rebekah and
Jacob stole the blessing, it was a family disaster for them. If they had waited
on and trusted in a sovereign Lord, He would have made an honest way, in His
time, to make sure Jacob had that blessing. Here, if they had sought God and
been willing to wait, they could have spared Israel years of disaster under
Saul and seven years of civil war before David became king. Somehow, God would
have naturally made David the ruler of Israel.
Vs. 10-18 Death by taxes. This is the "overhead"
they were about to add to their lives.
Vs. 19-22 The people had spoken. Notice how often God tells
Samuel to obey their voice. There was
definitely a sense of rejection of God going on here. They were rejecting
Samuel in the sense of rejecting what he taught them of complete trust and
obedience toward God.
1 Samuel 9
Vs. 1-2 Apparently the Lord was giving the people the kind
of king they had in mind: A king in their own image and after their own heart.
Vs. 3-10 The Donkeys of Kish would make a good name for a
rock band or murder mystery. Notice that it seems that Saul's servant is more
in charge than he is. Since we already know that Saul will be a weak, vicious,
tragic person, as you read this, notice his character.
Vs. 11-21 God definitely led in Samuel and Saul getting
together. When Saul mentioned that his house in Benjamin was small, we can
understand that. Years earlier Benjamin was reduced to 600 men. Apparently
Saul’s family came from Gibeah, that infamous city.
Vs. 22-24 The reason for all of this detail is to show that
those people and Saul knew that Saul had been chosen for something. He was
honored and was given Samuel’s personal attention. This should have given Saul
confidence and some faith in God’s promise.
Vs. 25-27 More confirmation was promised and we’ll see what
it was tomorrow.
My thoughts here for us as disciples have to do with
following the Lord, seeking Him for decisions and being confident in the things
we know He has shown us. There are lots of lessons to be learned from this
section. Waiting as servants for His will and His timing is one of those
lessons.
John 6:22-42
Vs. 22-24 It should be noted here, that the road from
Bethsaida to Capernaum was well traveled. It is true that if you took a boat
and had the right winds, you could cut off the top curve of the sea and you
could save your legs. People had seen Jesus leave to go from Capernaum and
Bethsaida and ran there on foot to get there ahead of Him. In v. 24, only some
of the crowd took boats. The rest traveled by foot.
One more note needs to be kept in mind. On the boat trip,
both Jesus and Peter had walked on water, and it says that they worshiped
Jesus, in Matthew 14:33. That experience for the Twelve will come in handy.
Vs. 25-34 It wasn't unusual for Jesus to challenge motives.
Look at John 4:48. Some of these people were the ones who wanted to take Him
and make Him king by force. Once Jesus began to say that He was the Son of God,
they wanted a sign. How funny. They had just seen Him feed thousands with five
loaves. Much of what Jesus says here sounds like it is a reference to Isaiah
55.
Vs. 35-40 Not only is Jesus the Bread of Life, He claims that He will personally raise up His
followers. That is a bold claim. Thankfully, we who know Christ have an insight
into what Jesus is saying that those people did not. It seems to make sense to
us because we have believed in Him. Imagine how hard it was for these people to
hear these words and be looking at, possibly, a 5'6" hook-nosed, slightly
ugly, balding, dark-skinned man with a Galilean accent. Doesn't this whole
thing remind you of Jesus at the well with the woman? You don't find a clearer
declaration of Jesus saying He is God and the Messiah.
Vs. 41-42 Usually when it says the Jews, it means the Jewish leaders, the chief priests, the
scribes and the Pharisees. It was a special challenge to look at the man Jesus,
knowing His family and background and listen to these words. Yet, they had all
the Scriptures that said a descendant of David would reign forever as the Son
of Man. This meant He would be human born but divine. Most of these people,
including the leaders, had seen Jesus perform the signs the Father had given
Him to do. In truth, many of these people just didn't like God.
As disciples in the harvest, notice how the Lord talks about
those who come to Him, who understand that He is the Savior. They were drawn by
the Father. This should give us a lot of security in our walk and a lot of
confidence in our work in the harvest. If our coming to Christ was assisted and
allowed by the Father, then our success in the harvest doesn’t rest on the
eloquence of our words, but on the power of His working. We try to strike up a
conversation and tell others about Jesus. The Father does the rest.
Psalm 106:32-48
The psalmist is appealing to the people to worship God, and
to plead with God for mercy. This mercy is well seen in the long journey of
rebellion Israel had walked with God.
Vs. 32-33 They made Moses so mad that He, too, rebelled
against God. But, God still brought the nation into the land.
Vs. 34-46 Notice that this part of the psalm summarizes what
we just read in Judges. Notice first that they mixed with the people. Then they
sacrificed their children. The point of this psalm is that in spite of their
disobedience, the Lord rescued them. Still, the people paid a tragic price for
their disobedience. During the time of the judges, many in Israel were led away
and made slaves of other nations.
Vs. 47-48 If the time here is after the exile, the people
were pleading to the Lord to rescue them and re-gather them from the nations. I
suspect this is written by David, showing the people that they need to beg God
for mercy, because He is bringing them out of those days of the judges. They
need to appeal to His mercy as shown in the past to give them blessing in the
present and a hope for the future. They need to praise God and bless His name
for His faithfulness.
Proverbs 14:34-35
We've
seen v. 34 on political posters. This righteousness is rightness before God.
There will be plenty of well-meaning, morally righteous people in hell. What
makes a servant deal wisely? Paul and the Spirit say it here. Bondservants, obey your earthly masters with
fear and trembling, with a sincere heart, as you would Christ, not by the way
of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ, doing the
will of God from the heart, rendering service with a good will as to the Lord
and not to man, knowing that whatever good anyone does, this he will receive
back from the Lord, whether he is a bondservant or is free. (Ephesians 6:5-8)
If you’re reading along and don’t have a One Year
Bible, click on this link http://www.esvbible.org/devotions/every-day-in-the-word/. If that doesn't
work, go to http://www.esvbible.org/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 complete description of this model
of being and making disciples you can find it in my book: Simply
Disciples*Making Disciples. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B011WJIDQA?*Version*=1&*entries*=0
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.
Send comments or feedback to dgkachikis@gmail.com.
If you would like documents containing an entire month
of the Reading Notes, go to https://sites.google.com/site/dlkachikis/reading-notes. You can download
these to use on your computer or to print.
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