Tag: Philistines

1 Samuel 16

From this point on the main character of 1 Samuel is David, mainly in his relationship with Saul. He is considered the greatest kings of the Israelites.

Have you ever thought of having children?  What God would say about them?  What does He say about you?
 
From this point on the main character of 1 Samuel is David, mainly in his relationship with Saul. He is considered the greatest kings of the Israelites. We see in chapter 15 that he is anointed by Samuel and begin his service before Saul as a musician. After his battle with Goliath and the Philistines in chapter 17, the remainder of the book shows his dealings with Saul as he lives his life as a fugitive from Saul.
 
David is anointed king in this chapter and enters into Saul’s court. God rejected Saul as king in chapter 15 due to his disobedience and non repentance. He then removes His Spirit from him in chapter 16. Saul’s court knew that God had rejected him and sent an evil spirit to torment him. When we are not walking by the power of God, those around us can tell something is amiss. When we refuse to repent and attempt to suppress the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives, they know something is wrong. What do our words and actions show others about our lives?
 
God calls David as king, the rightful king, and gives to him His Spirit who indwells him from that day forward. David is from the tribe of Judah and of the town of Bethlehem. He is rightfully king by prophecy (Genesis 49.8-12) and king by character (1 Samuel 13.14 and 16.7). First Samuel 16.13 describes a man after God’s own heart. This is a man who allows God to live in and through him. First Samuel 16.18 displays how this manifested itself in David’s life.
 
  • I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite  (he was in line to be king; he had heritage)
  •  who is skillful in playing  (he used his gifts to bring others closer to God and people recognized it and were able to praise God because of it)
  •  a man of valor (he did not live in fear–see chapter 17–but trusted God to do what He promised much like Joshua believed what God said in Joshua 1 and Paul said in 2 Timothy 1.7)
  •  a warrior (he trained himself to become better at what was expected of him–see chapter 17)
  •  prudent in speech (he spoke wisely, without haste–James 1.19)
  •  and a man of good presence (he was respectable and respected)
  •  and the Lord is with him (this is the most important, God was with him because he joined God in His work. God wasn’t with David’s vision, but David was in alignment with God’s goal).
This chapter introduces David as king. The next chapter appears to be out of chronological order but is placed here to affirm David as king, as Saul’s replacement. More on that tomorrow.
 
How are people in your sphere of influence seeing God in you today? 

1 Samuel 14

Have you ever been caught between a high rock and a thorny place? This is where we find Jonathan, the son of Saul, today. He is in a crag whose sides are named Bozez, “Height,” and Seneh, “Thorn.”

Have you ever been caught between a high rock and a thorny place? This is where we find Jonathan, the son of Saul, today. He is in a crag whose sides are named Bozez, “Height,” and Seneh, “Thorn.”
This map will show where he was and what happened in chapter 14.
The chapter starts out normal. Jonathan does not tell his father that he is leaving. He goes with his armor bearer toward the Philistine camp. The detailed description is given of where Saul was and where Jonathan was. Jonathan then shows theological insight. Verse six gives us his words to the armor bearer: “. . . nothing can hinder the Lord from saving by many or by few.” His armor bearer is obedient to Jonathan. The passage does not tell whether the armor bearer had the same faith or was being loyal to Jonathan (remember, he is a prince). As Christians, would we follow the faith of someone because we were loyal to him or her? Is it wise if we are not sure of that what they are saying is biblical? Should we search it out first?
Things get a little confusing. Jonathan places his fleece before the Lord and tells his armor bearer that if the Philistines call them to come to their camp then the Lord has given Jonathan and his armor bearer the victory; if not, stand back.
When they enter, they are told to come; the come, kill twenty. Confusion, an earthquake, and panic occur. The men under Saul see, take roll, then find out who was doing this. Then they join the battle and route the Philistines. Those who had refused to join the fighting now saw victory and ran to join the forces.
It is after this miraculous victory that Saul makes a vow, an oath, that is quite ridiculous. It goes beyond what God would ask and is beyond Saul’s control. It is like Jephthah’s vow in Judges 10-12. I wrote

The vow Jephthah made should remind us not to make rash vows. We need to take every thought captive to determine if it is alignment with God’s Word (2 Corinthians 10.4-5).

Saul’s oath is if anyone eats before the evening has come that person should be cursed. Read put to death. If you remember, Jonathan was not in the camp when Saul made the curse. He was caught between a hard high place and a thorny place. Since he did not hear the oath, he ate the honey. He was informed by other troops of what his father had said. He then turned and stated that his father was causing grief in the land and the victory would have been greater had he allowed the troops to do what was normal–eat of the spoils for physical and psychological strength. Twice the troops are described as faint (28 and 31). Due to Saul’s enlargement of God’s command by Saul, the troops ate meat with blood, which is against the ceremonial law. The troops were so hungry, and they could not wait for the food to be properly prepared. Saul saw this and built a barbecue pit to cook the meat for the troops.
Saul then desires to complete the task of defeating the Philistines. The priest tells him to ask God. We need people who remind us to slow down to ask God what His will is and what direction He is working so we might join Him instead of demanding that He join us (and we fail and get frustrated). God says not to pursue. Saul gets angry and seeks God’s will about why they should not go. It is found that Jonathan disobeyed Saul’s command, in ignorance. He was still responsible for obeying the command even though he did not know the command nor did he agree with the command. Do we hold this for ourselves too? We may not know of nor agree with a school’s policy, a traffic ordinance, a family rule, but we are still responsible for keeping it.
Jonathan admits he broke the command and is accepting of the death penalty. The troops stop Saul from killing Jonathan because Saul was in the wrong and Jonathan was in the right.
The chapter ends with Saul’s victories in battle and his family tree.

1 Samuel 13

Chapter 13 introduces Saul’s character and who he relies on for help in time of need. As you read through this chapter, ask yourself if you would have done the things Saul did. If your answer is that you would not have, explain why you believe you are above his sins. Many of us refer to 1 Corinthians 10.13 as a promise to us that we don’t have to fall and that God won’t place us in a situation where we would fall. However,

Chapter 13 introduces Saul’s character and who he relies on for help in time of need. As you read through this chapter, ask yourself if you would have done the things Saul did. If your answer is that you would not have, explain why you believe you are above his sins. Many of us refer to 1 Corinthians 10.13 as a promise to us that we don’t have to fall and that God won’t place us in a situation where we would fall. However, the context explains something else. First Corinthians 10.12 warns that if we are proud and do not think we would commit a particular sin because we are not vulnerable to it, it is there we will fall. Then, the promise of verse 13 is ineffective because we placed ourselves in that position, not God.

Verse one is not a complete text in the Hebrew and after studying the text and various translations there is no real solution for what the verse says. This is not problematic due to the nature of the verse. It contains no theology, merely a dating reference. The structure of the Hebrew suggests that the first number is how old Saul was when he began to reign. The second number mentions how many years he reigned up to an event. Looking at the verse this way, we can read the verse this way: Saul was x years old (we know he was not a young man because his son, Jonathan was of fighting age-verse 2) when he began to reign and he reigned two years over Israel when and an event took place, some view the event as the anointing of David as king in chapter 16. I view it as the stand against the Philistines in this chapter and the next two chapters. Acts 13.21 informs us that Saul reigned forty years. Some look at the number forty merely as a long period of time and not an actual number of years based on how they translated 1 Samuel 13.1. Again, it is not a matter of theology but a matter of chronology.

Up to this point, Saul may merely have been ruling over the Benjamites. This chapter now proclaims that all Israel is following him in war and accepting his leadership. The kingdom as not united before he became the king, it was united during his reign.

This chapter, as mentioned above, shows us the true character of Saul. Saul enjoys great popularity and military victories at the beginning of his career as seen in chapter 11 and later chapters.

The men are frightened because of the sheer number of Philistines with chariots, horses, and weaponry. They hide wherever they can, and tremble. This is where Saul’s fatal flaw of pride shines through. He is to wait for Samuel to come and offer sacrifices. He refuses to wait for him to offer the sacrifices and places on himself the responsibility of the priest. This is against Jewish law. He is not only a king from a non kingly line but appoints himself as a priest from a non priestly line. This Benjamite attempts to rule but is not from Judah and attempts to give sacrifice but is not from Levi. This is true arrogance. He places himself above the laws of God and make himself a law unto himself.

His impatience led him to do things he should not have done. His lack of trust in God’s Word and God’s man will lead to his destruction. He feared that God would not be able to keep the army together, that God would not bless them, that they would be defeated if he didn’t break the commands of God. How often do we do what we know to be wrong because of our impatience, pride, and lack of trust in God? This is humanity. This is Saul. We are this.

The moment he offers the sacrifice Samuel arrives. Saul makes an excuse for his sin and blames it on Samuel. Sounds like Adam and Eve. It is here that God rejects Saul and, in two chapters, will choose a man after His own heart to be king and replace the house of Saul.

The Israelites, who are under the oppression of the Philistines, muster themselves for war. But, they have no weapons due to this oppression. This small army is preparing itself for an ill-equipped war, outnumbered, and with a leader who was just rejected by God. And, we find out later, they won! It is not by our might, our deeds, our self that victory comes but, rather, by Him who indwells us (1 John 4.4 and 5.1-5).

This side note: Saul’s family was never intended to be the permanent kingly line for it was not of the tribe of Judah. God had answered the cries of the people for a king with what they thought would be a good king (tall and wealthy). God had planned for a king to come from Judah and to establish him on the throne, and that king will be David. In order to bring this about the line of Saul had to be cursed and rejected by a sin of Saul’s choosing. Although God had foreordained David’s kingship and Saul’s rejection, Saul willingly chose to sin against God and bring these consequences on his family.

1 Samuel 5-7

Samuel begins his role as the spiritual leader of Israel in a context of war, defeat, and embarrassment as we saw these last two days.

Samuel begins his role as the spiritual leader of Israel in a context of war, defeat, and embarrassment as we saw these last two days.

The reading for today, chapters 5-7 offers a glimpse into the humor of God. In Deuteronomy 28.27 God speaks of ulcers or hemorrhoids as a plague for those from the nation of Israel who rebel against Him. Here it is a curse brought on by God against those who stood against Him. The Philistines were afflicted with hemorrhoids as long as they held onto the Ark. Chapter five shows the inability of man to understand the difference between a living God and a manmade idol (read Jeremiah 10). Their idol, Dagon-a fish, fell over the first night and they picked-up the statue and place it where it belonged. The next night, the idol fell and broke with its head and hands severed, they again replaced it. After this, fear spreads in Ashdod. They then shipped the Ark to varied Philistine cities. Wherever the Ark went, the plagues followed. The people lived in fear of what might happen yet held on to their idols.

What are we holding on to even though it is evident it is worthless and powerless to help and actually stunts our growth? Could it be an actual idol made of stone? Ideas? Beliefs about God that are not true? Beliefs about ourselves that are not accurate?

Chapter six tells us this went on for seven months. The spiritual leaders of the Philistines decide to send the Ark back home. They place the Ark on an ox cart and the Spirit leads the Ark back to Shiloh. They include items that represented the judgment on the cart too. Golden mice and hemorrhoids. Chapter five excludes the mice. It doesn’t mean that they were not there, it means that chapter five didn’t mention them. Each city makes a golden mouse and a hemorrhoid. Five of each were included with the Ark.

The Philistines knew the history of Israel in Egypt and realized how great Israel’s God is and they did not want to live under His judgment. They hedge their bets in this chapter. If the cows that were yoked to the cart went toward Israel then the judgment was from God, if not then chance happened. Chance is not a biblical word. God is in control of all things or else He is not God. What area of your life do you attribute to “chance” and are not giving God His sovereign due? How well do you know your spiritual heritage from the Scriptures and your family?

Back to the story, the cart and cows head straight to Israel, to the city of Beth-Shemesh. The priests in this city slaughtered the cows for sacrifice to the Lord that day and the Philistines returned home realizing that the God of Israel is truly powerful.

It seems internal strife raged as the inhabitants of Beth-Shemesh were slaughtered by the city of Kiriath-jearim. The Ark was placed in the latter city for 20 years. Israel mourned this even though the Ark was in an Israelite city with a Levite in charge of it.

Samuel is introduced in chapter seven as a judge. He is the last judge of Israel, as we will see in the next chapter. All his days were successful because he leaned on God for help in all situations. Not all was pleasant but all was successful because he was faithful to God (1 Corinthians 4.1–2). He judged/ruled as a circuit judge. Looking at a map, we see that these four cities are in an east-west position in central Israel (think Samaria) just above the Dead Sea and Jerusalem (see the map).

The name of the stone is interesting.  It is “Ebenezer,” which means the “Stone of Help.”  It also refers to the place from which we will not back down.  Where in your life have you decided not to back down?

How have you shown yourself faithful? Remember, it is not accomplishing goals or achieving accolades, it is being faithful through good and bad times to what He has called you to accomplish.