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MAY 10
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, and 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 (Eph. 6:5-8).
Please Read
the Following Disclaimer
I'm writing the Reading Notes to and
for those who are following a One Year Bible and are 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, that is, 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 and important discipleship manual we have and it is the 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, or whom we are to be following. 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, as disciples, 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, 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 (BKC).
I read the BKC in doing background for the Reading Notes and refer to it quite
often. I also make reference to maps or charts in the BKC, though I will only
note where those resources can be found. Often you can do a search for these
and find them in Google books. Buying both volumes of the Bible Knowledge Commentary
would be a good idea.
I am not endorsing any particular
One Year Bible translation; in fact, I read something you probably don't, Die
Revidierte Lutherbibel, 1984. Unless noted, all Scripture quotes are from the
ESV Bible.
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. Often there is a breadth of opinion on certain events, both
historical and prophetic. Many of my views come from my church background,
theological training and my personal study.
I'm
doing this with discipleship in mind, meaning, I'm writing out thoughts that
will keep discipleship and our growth as disciples applied to what we are
reading. Remember, the real focus of the Reading Notes is to be a supplement,
a disciple’s commentary, giving motivation and insight so that we will keep
following our Lord in the harvest, reaching the lost and making disciples, who
make disciples. Being in the Word every
day, sitting at Jesus’ feet, learning directly from Him, is the essential
essence of being and making disciples.
May the Lord bless you as you follow Him in the
harvest, reaching the lost and making disciples, who make disciples. Dan
If you would like documents
containing an entire month of the Reading Notes, go to https://sites.google.com/site/dlkachikis/reading-notes.
If you would like a full
presentation of discipleship read Simply
Disciples*Making Disciples.
Or if you are struggling with
insomnia and would like a long boring dissertation on disciple making, these
can both be found on https://sites.google.com/site/dlkachikis/reading-notes.
Reading Notes ©, Dan Kachikis
2011, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018
The One Year Bible © by
Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton Illinois 60189
The Holy Bible, English
Standard Version® (ESV®) Copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of
Good News Publishers.
All charts/graphics/outlines
from the Bible Knowledge Commentary are used with the permission of David C.
Cook.
© 1983, 2001 John F Walvoord and Roy B Zuck.
The Bible Knowledge Commentary is published by David C Cook.
All rights reserved. Publisher permission
required to reproduce.
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