Friday, January 22, 2010

I Samuel Chapters 28-31

How many times have you heard this chapter taught on in church? How about never!

28:6 - Saul finally turns back to God in desperation and asks Him for guidance, but what he finds out is that it is too late. He is answered with only silence because God has turned away from Saul.

28:8 - When God refuses to answer Saul...Saul decides to get really crazy. Although he knows it is evil (He has already kicked all the mediums and necromancers out of Israel) - he searches everywhere for a medium who will communicate with the dead for him.

28:12 - I think it is pretty funny that when the woman performs her ritual and Samuel actually shows up she screams. This tells me that she is a con artist (As I sure all the mediums and false priests were in this time...either con artists or connected to demonic influence)...she doesn't really expect somebody to show up, she just wants to say some mumbo-jumbo and then tell the king what he wants to hear (I'm sure that's how she has made her living, like Ms. Cleo the TV psychic). Instead, she does her thing and God allows Samuel to actually show up and the medium freaks out!

28:13 - Samuel appears to the woman in the image of a god. What does this tell us about the afterlife? Has Samuel gone immediately into the presence of God where he has been clothes in heavenly power? Has he come from a waiting place of the dead until final judgement can take place? We don't know! I have no idea. What I do know is that black and death cults are evil, and the only true source of power in this story is God working out his judgement on Saul.

28:16 - Saul goes to all that trouble to talk to Samuel and Samuel tells him the same exact them he told him when he was alive - God has rejected you and it is time for your house to come to an end. Not exactly the words that Saul wanted to hear at this point.

*What can we learn from this episode today? I think we can remember that there is one and only true source of power in this universe and it is God. God is working out His plan to bring about salvation of the world. Whatever good or bad choices people make...God is shaping the destiny of this universe to His will. There are Christians today who treat Christianity like it is a form of magic. They give their tithe expecting that God will be forced to bless them. They say prayers to try to get God to do their will. What we all need to understand is that God is not a fickle being that can be used to get whatever we want out of Him if we use the right "magical" formula. God is God and we are not...God is working throughout His creation for His name's sake, not to meet our selfish needs.

29:4 - If David and his men come into the battle as the rear-guard, they will be able to destroy the Philistines from one side while Saul destroyed them from the other. We see in verse 8 that David says he is itching to fight the enemies of his Lord. What Achish doesn't understand is that the enemies of David's Lord are Achish and the other Philistines. David's involvement could have saved Saul's life, but God had determined that it was time for judgement to be poured out on Saul and David is kept out of the battle.

30:6 - David returns to his town and finds that everything has fallen apart. The town is burned. The women and children have been stolen while they were away at war. David's men are so broken hearted that they discuss amngst themselves whether or not they should stone David to death. Not a great situation. And what does David do? He immediately turns to God fro strength and help. He always remains faithful.

30:8,11,15,23,26 - Do you want to see what a good leader looks like Saul? Here you go. Before acting David makes sure that he is doing what God wants him to do. When they come upon a sick slave of the Amelekites who have just torched David's village he shows mercy. They nurse the man back to health. Afterwards David shows intelligence by using the man as a source of information to get his people back. After they have destroyed the Amelekite raiders, David chooses to share the spoils even with the men who were not physically able to go to war (Setting a new precedent for all of Israel)...he is kind and thoughtful, he knows how to win the hearts of the people. He continues to build up his power base back in Israel by sending some of the spoils of war to the people of Judah. He is a great leader and a man of God.

31:2-4 - In a totally different vein, we see what it looks like to sacrifice everything God could have done with your life for jealousy, pride, fear, faithlessness - through the death of Saul. Everyone associated with Saul by the end of I Samuel is dead. That is the legacy that Saul's rule left behind...that is the lineage he left for his sons...a lineage of death, because he refused to be God's king. Saul wanted to be the god of his own life and we can all see how that worked out for him.

31:9 - Saul and his family are not the only ones hurt through his folly...the name of God is run into the dirt. The Philistines return with Saul's body and believe that their gods have been victorious over Yahweh. God is shamed by Saul's rebellion.

31:12 - Why do these men come out to rescue the body of the king? Jabesh-Gilead is the site of Saul's one major military victory, where he saved the people of that city. The men come out, not to contest God's judgement, but to honor the memory of the man who once saved them. A little bit of a positive note on the life of Saul, from a time when he was still willing to humble himself before God.

5 comments:

Kim said...

It is so interesting to read all of this. It feels like an epic from Greek Mythology or something, only better because its truth from God's Word!! Ha, once I was done reading this section, I couldn't stop. I love reading these boss stories.

Anonymous said...

I can't say that I ever remember reading this before. When I read something like this it just reinforces scripture applies to the world today and that things are no different in our relationship with the Creator, except that grace is now in the story.

28:19. Samuel here possibly suggests that Saul and his men will be with Samuel in heaven? But I guess that depends on where Samuel was at the moment.

ch 29. When David left the Philistine army it sign the death warrant as you mentioned, but had he not left he probably would not have been able to save the families of his men including his own wives.

Mandy said...

Thanks for the comments Kim and Tim...hey that rhymes!

Brandon

Ish said...

It's always interesting how the dominoes always fall in. Had David not left, who knows is they would have ever found their families. Would Saul and David still be at odds had David stayed and helped to defeat the Phillistines? Regardless of what did or could've happened, it is so cool to see that nothing is out of the reach of God's glory. There is nothing God can't use for his will. BALLA!

Brand al Thor said...

Amen Ish!