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MAY 8
1 Samuel 2:22-4:22
1 Samuel 2:22-36
Vs. 22-25 The obvious question
is why Eli didn't stop his sons. I have a theory, but here it is enough to say
that if Eli knew they were wrong and he loved the Lord, he would have stopped
them. Jesus said, whoever loves son or
daughter more than me is not worthy of me (Matt.10:37). I think that
statement held true back then also. This would be strike one for him.
V. 25 This is a strange
editorial note that the Lord wanted to put them to death. Sad as it seems, Eli
should have been the one to bring them to trial. If Eli had acted now, things
would have been different, but alas.
V. 26 This is another strange editorial note, but we know
where it's leading. God is getting Samuel ready. This sentence indicates the
passage of time. This also sounds like the comment regarding Jesus in Luke
2:52, And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature, and in favor with God and man.
Vs. 27-36 It was bad enough that
Eli personally allowed this, but God's own people suffered as a result. Eli did
what was right in his own eyes too. Think of the contrast between this priest
and Phinehas in the book of Numbers, who saw the plague on the camp, heard the
cries of the people dying and then saw this guy take a Midianite woman into his
tent. Phinehas raced into action to save the people. Eli allowed the people to
die and sink into ignorance and spiritual adultery.
The punishment promised on Eli's
family's lineage will begin soon. It will become almost fully fulfilled as
David runs from Saul, and then, just before David's death, it will be complete.
From that point on, no other Levites of this lineage will ever serve as priest.
Just for some balance here: the sins of the fathers do not determine the fate
of any who choose to follow the Lord. One famous son who comes from the family
lineage of Eli will never serve as a priest, but did pretty well as a prophet:
Jeremiah.
Notice the references here to
food in vs. 29 and 36.
So, after receiving this
condemnation from God, Eli does nothing. Time passes by and life goes on. Maybe
God forgot.
1 Samuel 3
V. 1 This is another
"passage of time" verse. Actually, there is a kind of interchange
going on between Eli and his sons, and Samuel.
Vs. 2-3 The idea here is that
because of his eyes, Eli was using Samuel more and more. The lamp was the
lampstand in the Holy Place. Samuel had to sleep in the Holy Place to trim the
lamp before it went out. I don't get this, but apparently they were trying to
conserve oil or something and so they only filled it just before the oil was
gone. On the other side of the veil was the Holy of Holies, the ark of the
covenant and the presence of God. That is where the voice came from.
Vs. 4-9 Funny. Eli finally got
it.
Vs. 10-18 This was not only
Samuel becoming a prophet, but it was a confirmation to Eli. It is funny how
the Lord used this. Only Eli and the "man of God" would have known
what God said to him. Now, those words and that condemnation came out of
Samuel's mouth, and Eli knew without a doubt that it was the Lord who spoke to
Samuel.
So why didn't Eli run out and
remove his sons and send them both somewhere bad, into exile, like Hollywood,
or Las Vegas or Australia? This is strike two. Don't say God doesn't give
people chances to hear the Word and do it. Eli still could have honored God and
found mercy.
Vs. 19-21 Who knows how old
Samuel was and how much time had passed; but, no thanks to Eli, God was
preparing Samuel for leadership and acceptance by the people. Obviously, 1 Samuel
4:1 belongs to this block of verses. It is interesting to see how the Lord gave
Samuel his stature. His renown was that the Lord spoke to him, and the words
that Samuel communicated were sure. 1 Samuel 4:1 belongs here, too.
It is probably during this time
that Samson was roaming the earth, got dumb, got caught and died, taking the
Philistine leadership with him. Israel would have seen this as an opportunity
to rebel and break the Philistine dominance.
1 Samuel 4
Vs. 2-4 Notice that no one asked
the Lord if this battle was a good idea. After the defeat, it just seemed like
a good idea to bring the ark. Now they would be invincible, right? I think this
was the thinking behind "Raiders of the Lost Ark." The problem with
this premise is that the ark was taken into battle due to disobedience and
ignorance, and Israel lost the battle. Actually, it didn't work out any better
for the bad guys in Raiders.
Thinking our thoughts are God's
thoughts is crazy. If we have the Word, we know better. The Word warns us
against presuming on God. Just before this, it mentioned that Samuel had
established a supernatural track record of being right and speaking the Word of
God. Why didn't they go to Samuel?
Vs. 5-11 The Philistines were bad
guys and pagans but they did have some knowledge of Israel and their God. I'm
impressed with the Philistines and their courage here, but really they express
the reason they fought. This same God had allowed Israel to be their slaves.
There wasn't anything wrong with God, but there was something awfully wrong
with Israel.
Vs. 12-18 The only thing I want
to draw your attention to is the death of Eli. Verse 18 says that Eli was a fat
guy. The Lord doesn't go out of His way to mention size often. I think Eli was
fat because he ate way too much. Where did Eli get his food? From his sons.
This is just me, but I think Eli's god was his belly. The reason he didn't stop
his sons was because that would have stopped the food, and the forbidden cuts
of meat he received from them. And besides, God didn't seem to care. God's
silence and those nice cuts of meat were the reason Eli never took direct
action. Now God did something like Judo. He used Eli's own weight against him,
to bring his death.
Vs. 19-22 Phinehas' wife died
giving birth to a son at this awful time in Israel's history. She gave the boy
an awful name, the glory has departed.
Talk about being marked for life. I'm sure that was a hit in junior high
school.
Humanly speaking, this seems
like Israel's darkest hour. The high priest and his sons were dead, the ark was
captured and the armies of Israel were defeated. Everything was bad, except for
one young man who had been prepared for this moment.
After this reading today, I see
two things that are important for us as disciples. First, we should never
assume God has to bless us because we use His stuff. Israel used the ark,
assuming God would bless because they dragged it into harm's way. Because we
attend church or do something, "in the name of God," doesn't cause
God to have to bless us. Nothing replaces understanding His Word and obedience
to it.
Second, when the Lord grooms a person to follow and to lead,
it has to do with knowing God and His Word, not just having “god thoughts” and “god
feelings” based on our feeling of what God would do if we were Him. Our lives
are separated from everything and made "holy" by the Word. John 17:17 Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is
truth.
John 5:24-47
Reading John is like reading a
book subtitled, "The Story of the Word Made Flesh, Who Dwelt Among
Us." There is a lot of "Word" going on here. It might be worth
your while to read John 5:1-23 from yesterday to get the context here. If you
read this whole chapter and are confused, that's good. Unless you are gifted or
brilliant or something, it takes you more than one time through to really get
the gist of what Jesus is saying. I've had to pray for help understanding this
and I've had to read it through…so far, maybe 30-50 times. It really is a
matter of how honestly you want to seek God to understand something.
As you read this, underline the
personal pronouns, me, I, my.
V. 24 This is the grand
conclusion to v. 23. Jesus, the Son, sent from the Father, gives eternal life
by His Word.
Vs. 25-30 Jesus has said that
the Father gave all judgment to the Son in v. 22. Jesus now explains this in a
way the Pharisees would understand since they believed in the resurrection.
Notice that vs. 25 and 28 both
refer to hearing the Son's voice. Jesus is saying that He is the responsible party.
V. 25 This verse talks about
hearing the voice of the Son of God.
Then it gets strange because it talks of the Father granting the Son the right
to have life in Himself and giving Him authority. If the Son is the Son of God,
God the Son, He already has that life. But, Jesus is the Word made flesh, and
as a man, that authority has to be conferred upon Him as a human representative
of God, the Son of Man. Jesus is the only human being to whom this ability and
authority has ever been conferred.
V. 27 As the human
representative of God, Jesus is the Son of Man, the coming eternal king from
Daniel 7.
V. 28 The voice that the dead
will hear is from the divine Son of God and the human Son of Man. The Pharisees
would have understood the meaning of these titles and they would have
understood Jesus claiming to be God. I'll bet as Jesus was talking, the chief
priest and scribes and Pharisees could feel their hearts hardening.
Vs. 31-40 After such a mammoth
claim, there had to be some confirming testimony. How would you know this was
true? Jesus gives four sources of testimony.
Vs. 32-35 John bore testimony to
Jesus. Jesus says that He didn't need John's testimony, but it was something
that was easily familiar to these men, something they understood. Notice too why
He used John as testimony to Himself in v. 34, that they would accept this and
be saved. Jesus was hoping for some faith.
V. 36 The signs from the Father
bore witness. This is what led Nicodemus to Jesus in John 3.
Vs. 37-38 The Father Himself
bore testimony. Whether they believed it or not, the Father sent the Son. They
could deny the testimony, but they couldn't deny that Jesus was with them. They
just refused to see the connection. The testimony was still true. Verse 38 is a
rebuke to their unbelief.
Vs. 38-40 The Scriptures bore
testimony to Jesus. This would have been an insane claim if Jesus were not God
the Son, the Son of God, the Son of Man, the Savior of mankind. But He was and
is.
Vs. 41-44 This is part of the
summary of the chapter, a chapter which deals with Jesus being glorified by the
Father by the signs He performed as He followed the Father. It is interesting
that Jesus says they did not seek for the glory that came from God. Their
entire focus was to be held in esteem by one another.
Vs. 45-47 Jesus shocked them
saying that their condemnation would come from Moses. This is interesting
because this sounds just like what Abraham told the rich man who had died. But he said to him, “If they do not listen
to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be persuaded even if someone rises
from the dead” (Luke 16:31).
What breaks the power of sin is
welcoming God's Word of deliverance, turning from our sin and welcoming Christ
into our lives as Savior and Lord. That is all conveyed through the Word. In some
terribly small but important way, like a person lying in the throes of death,
we raise our eyes in faith and acknowledgement of that Word…and life begins.
Psalm 106:1-12
For the next few days we'll be
in Psalm 106. It is interesting to me, that when Israel needed to remember the steadfast love of the Lord, they thought
back to the Exodus and wandering through the wilderness.
For us, too, there are times
when the Lord allows us to have to cling strongly, over weeks and months and
years, to His steadfast love. So, what do you remember? What do you go back to?
Many of us have one or more significant experiences, but one that I notice many
people do not mention first is their own salvation.
Israel's confirmation of God's
love was to have sprung out of their love and gratefulness for their rescue,
their salvation, and their inclusion in God's plan of redemption. That is the
same for us. And there are seasons when He allows us to go through hard times
so we can redefine ourselves, our values and our lives to the one thing that is
really the most important thing about us, Jesus.
It looks to me that this psalm
could have been written during the time that David was building unity in Israel
at the beginning of his reign. The psalm more or less ends with a reference to
the confusion in Judges. God's faithfulness through Exodus to Judges is
highlighted. Many lands had captured people from Israel, and David would have
been asking for God's grace to rebuild the nation and to lead the people back
to Israel.
On the other hand, this could
have been written after the exile as a reminder to God to show that same grace
in bringing the exiles back to Israel. I would vote for the time of David, but
after the exile works too.
Vs. 1-3 The emphasis of the steadfast love of the Lord in this call
to worship sounds like David. Also the call to praise is very familiar.
Vs. 4-5 This seems to come from
the king of Israel, asking for help to rebuild the nation and to lead them into
the promised blessing. After the exile there was no king.
Vs. 6-12 Built into the law was
the command to pray to God, confessing one's own sins and then confessing the
sins of their fathers.
Proverbs 14:30-31
So, when the earth shakes around
us and the nations rage and the thoughts of our hearts disquiet us, where do we
learn to find tranquility? Our money? Our job? Our comfort in life? Our
nationality? Those things anchor us to the earth and make our hearts thirst for
more earth.
If He is our tranquility, we
become pilgrims here on earth who are ready to share bread from the One who
shared bread with us. I was just reading Jesus saying, Whoever
loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it
for eternal life (John
12:25).
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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