Second Samuel 20-21

God’s message to me: Not every bad situation is a result of God’s wrath. When it is learned that something bad is resulting from such wrath it is our duty to do what God wants to turn that wrath. This nation has faced many disasters of financial, natural and even hostile origin in conjunction with actions taken against God’s people Israel. In each case the problems were resolved and the country found prosperity when our leaders turned their support in favor of Israel. I suspect we will soon find the recession is the least of our worries and it may deepen greatly itself as our leaders demand Israel bow to it’s enemies. i suggest we all keep that in mind next time we enter the election polls.

Promises: God finishes what he starts. The last of the Rephiam Giant’s were among the Philistines. David Slew Goliath and his generals and soldiers killed the other 4 that David had gathered stones for the day he killed Goliath. The descendants of the fallen ones (nephilim) were targeted for destruction by God and He saw to it they were wiped out.

Commands: Do not tolerate those who rebel against God. Not only did Sheba rebel but, David’s newly appointed general failed his duties in his first command by delaying the pursuit of the Rebels. Both men were killed.

Timeless principles: You really can teach an old dog new tricks. When famine came on Israel and David learned that God brought the famine because Saul violated a treaty with the Gibeonites that had been made before God. When the Gibeonites demanded the lives of 7 descendants of Saul he turned over 7 descendants to be killed. He protected the children of Jonathan because of his oath before God to Jonathan but he didn’t carry his protection of Saul’s house to an extreme that would harm Israel.

How can I apply what I’ve learned: People are often easily lead into both good and bad. Sheba managed to get a lot of followers to rebel against David. When one wise women convinced others to execute Sheba it ended the war and the rebellion without having to destroy all the other rebels. Without bad leadership they turned quickly back to God and the king God anointed. Frankly, this is the reason the leaders have a responsibility to eliminate threats. By killing, imprisoning, banishing or otherwise getting rid of the criminals we prevent them from leading others into evil.

tomorrow: Second Samuel 22-24

Second Samuel 4-7

God’s message to me: God blessed Israel and promised to make them His people forever. Replacement theology ignores this oath which was established as a blood oath to Abraham and repeated throughout the generations.

Promises: God fulfills his promises. It doesn’t take our action to make it happen. God promised to make David king of all Israel. While forced to fight Abner and his army because the general kept starting fights, David never attempted to use force to bring the kingdom together. When god’s timing was ready David was made king over the entire nation at the age of 30 and ruled for 40 years including the 7 and a half years he ruled in Hebron over the part of the kingdom that accepted him first.

Commands: Keep your promises. But be careful about what you promise. Mephibosheth was Jonathan's son. As David Promised to watch over Jonathan’s household as his own, he took in Miphibosheth to honor his friend and fulfill his promise. David did a lot of nice things to those who were his enemies or would become his enemies. While it’s good to be a nice guy, his actions and promises served to ensure he spent his entire life fighting and running.

God’s commands are not optional. The ark was not to be touched. Even when carried it was designed to be carried on poles and not touched. Uzzah only sought to keep the ark from falling when the Oxen stumbled but was killed instantly for touching the ark.

Because of Uzzah’s death David feared to take the ark further and left it in the house of Abed Edom. When he heard the household had been blessed for having the ark he thought it might be safe to continue. When the men bearing the ark made it six steps without incident David celebrated and sacrificed to the Lord. then brought the ark to Jerusalem.

Timeless principles: murder is not the way to reward. When Ishbosheth’s general was murdered his captains sought to get on David’s good side by murdering Ishbosheth and bringing his head to the king. Ishbosheth may have been a puppet but he had done nothing wrong and the captains were more guilty of murder than the Amalakite who claimed credit for Saul’s death. At least Saul had died in battle.

How can I apply what I’ve learned: Learn to listen to God’s command. The Philistines came against Israel in the valley of the Rephaim giants. David asked God if he should go against them and God said yes. Israel won the battle. When the Philistines came back to the same spot for another fight God told David not to go directly against them but to circle around and come at them from the forest when he heard marching in the tops of the trees. He did so and the Lord went out before him to attack the Philistines and they drove them out of the land from Geba(Gibeon) to Gezer.

Dignity is not required when worshiping the Lord. David’s wife, Michal, felt it was undignified for him to dance around so wildly before the Lord. David responded by saying he was happy to be undignified for God and to be humbled while God was exalted.

more to learn for in-depth study: David was the one who finally lead Israel in capturing Jerusalem. The mountain of Zion and the City of David which was to be the capital of Israel had been left since the Israelites entered the promised land because the people lacked the will to take it. David led the army to take it from the Jebusites who believed themselves superior to Israel, their king and God.

tomorrow: Second Samuel 8-11

First Samuel 25-28

God’s message to me: God always provides a way for us to do right. David was never forced to face Saul in direct battle. God gave him opportunities to make a choice. He could have executed the King easily and without danger to himself or he could do something to embarrass the king and show that he was honorable enough not to attack the Lord’s anointed. David made the latter choice. He was never forced to defend himself directly.

David knew the embarrassment wouldn’t stop Saul for long and decided to hide in the land of the Philistines in order to avoid having to constantly run away or risk death at the hands of the king’s men. In order to ensure his safety there he asked the king to provide him a place in a small town somewhere for him and his men to live outside of the royal cities so they wouldn’t seem like a threat. In order to provide for his men David attacked the people God had told Israel to destroy when they came into the land and, after destroying the entire population of the cities he attacked, he took the loot back to the town of Ziklag which the king of the Philistines had given him. The Philistine king would ask who he had attacked and, since the enemy didn’t survive to tell the king about the fight, David would claim he had attacked or raided an Israeli settlement. That made the king happy and convinced him that Israel would hate David so that David could not be a threat to the Philistines. The king was convinced he had just gained a strong general who would be forced to serve him forever because he had nowhere else to go.

Promises: God will protect his people and provide them prosperity in adversity. Saul’s desire to kill David was unreasoning and foolish. David’s ability to show this publicly was interesting to say the least. Cutting off the corner of the king’s robe while he was “doing his business” and then showing it to him publicly to prove he could have killed him but refused was one thing. Embarrassing both the king and his general in front of the army was equally effective. David and his friend snuck into the heart of the camp and stole the kings canteen and spear from beside his royal head while he slept with his general next to him. Then he showed the entire camp what he had done and how he had refused to kill the king.

Commands: Use your brain. David could have reacted to the king’s threat with lethal force and saved himself some trouble but he chose to think things through and take tactical victories to divert attack. He could have simply hidden among the Philistines but chose to take advantage of his situation to destroy those God had condemned. He could have continued to work in secret but instead made the Philistines believe he was improving their position when he was actually doing God’s work on behalf of Israel.

Timeless principles: When God makes a decision it’s final. God took his blessing from Saul because of Saul’s disobedience. He promised to take the kingdom from Saul. After delivering that message to the king Samuel never visited him again until he died. When Saul sought God’s council in battle God would not answer as He had promised. Saul sought a medium to get council from Samuel and Samuel’s spirit simply reminded the king of what God had already said. The kingdom would be taken from him and given to David and the king and his son’s would be killed in battle.

How can I apply what I’ve learned: It is always wise to treat people well who have done good for you. David and his men had protected Nabal’s men in the wilderness. They had provided defense and friendship to the shepherds and others who had been working in dangerous territories. They treated them well and made no demands of them nor had they made any attempt to harm or rob them. As a feast day approached David asked Nabal, as their employer, to show hospitality to his men.

Nabal refused to return the favor David’s men had shown and, in doing so, insulted them. Nabal’s wife, recognizing the honor of the men who had protected her husbands servants and flocks, gathered some servants and hurried to show David the hospitality her husband had refused.(Nabal, by the way, means fool and the man lived up to his name.)

Abigail’s actions kept David from attacking Nabal and killing all the men in his house. Nabal, who had thrown himself a feast after turning David away, died 10 days after learning what his wife had done. Saul had given David’s wife to another in the course of his actions against the young hero and his multiple attempts at murder and his efforts to harm David had become well known in Israel so that David was seen as the future king and Saul was disliked. Having lost his wife and having met an intelligent and wise woman who no longer had a husband to provide her with a home and inheritance, he married Abigail. Then he married Ahinoam and began a habit of polygamy that would not make life easy in the future.

more to learn for in-depth study: Reading the books of Samuel you can glean two basic facts: First, the books were not written by Samuel(he dies in chapter 25), but about Samuel and the events that surround his life. Second you can see they were written after the time of Solomon and after the Nation of Israel had been divided.(there are multiple references to the people of Israel and the people of Judah which implies it was written after these two groups began operating as separate kingdoms. That didn’t happen until after Solomon died.)

Saul had been told that the Lord was no longer with him. When the Philistines came against Israel, he sought God’s council but received no answer. The prophets and priests could not give him an answer, the Urim gave no answer, and no dreams came to direct him. In desperation, he went looking for a medium. All mediums and witches and soothsayers, etc. had been driven from the land by Saul’s command in accordance with God’s law but, fearing defeat, he went looking for answers from someone the Lord had forbidden. He granted her immunity in exchange for her services and she called Samuel to council the king. Samuel gave his last prophecy from beyond the grave when he told Saul that he and his sons would be killed in the battle the next day and that the armies of Israel would be defeated and captured by the Philistines.

tomorrow: First Samuel 29-31

First Samuel 4-7

God’s message to me: God is not mocked. The Philistines took the ark and put it in the temple of the false god Dagon. The next morning they found their Idol face down on the floor pointed toward the Ark as in Worship. The set up the Idol and the next day it was in the same position again with it’s hands and head broken off and just the torso lying there. They decided it might be a good idea to send the Ark elsewhere after that. Despite that, their offense against God was repaid with a plague of tumors and rats. Some think it might refer to the bubonic plague. Those who didn’t die were plagued by the tumors.

They sent it to Ekron where everyone panicked and said the people of Ashdod (where it had first been sent) were trying to kill them. They too, had the same plague and demanded the lords of the Philistines send the ark away.

The Philistines held the ark for 7 months during which time the plague did not let up. These leaders didn’t forget where the Ark came from or what God had done for His people. While the Israelites routinely turned from God and failed to give Him credit for all His miracles, the Philistines remembered the stories of every curse, plague, lost battle and miraculous destruction God had brought against Israel's enemies from the captivity in Egypt to that day. They had no intention of being as stupid as Egypt and continuing to keep the ark after it was clear God was punishing them for doing so.

Finally back in Israel at the Ark rested in Beth Shemesh. The locals had immediately broken the cart for firewood and used it to make a burnt offering to God out of the cows pulling the cart. Unfortunately for them, they decided to inspect the contents of the Ark. none but the High priest was supposed to do this and then only under certain rare circumstances. 50,000 people of Beth Shemesh died as a result of the offense and they demanded the ark be taken from them. It was there for 20 years.

It was taken to a neighboring city called Kirjath Jearim where they placed it in the house of Abinadab and consecrated his son Eleazar to take care of it.

Promises: Just as sin will bring destruction, Obedience will bring salvation. By putting away their false gods and turning back to the one true God, the Israelites were taken out from the oppression of the Philistines and their cities and land they had lost to them was returned.

Commands: Implied rather than explained. Our faith should be in God not in objects, even if they are of God. False worship and false gods including false versions of Jehovah are a surefire way to find destruction for yourself. Remember the first commandment.

Timeless principles: Once again there is a test of God. The false priests and diviners of the Philistines were no doubt inspired by God to give the answer they did when asked what to do about the ark. Two milk cows who had never been yoked would mean two milk cows(not the usual choice for pulling a wagon)who had never been hitched to anything(and wouldn’t easily accept the yoke let alone go somewhere on their own) and had their young locked in the barn(where instinct alone would make them want to go to the barn as well) and left to make their own path. Every rule of nature says these cows would head for the barn and probably overturn the cart in the process because they weren’t trained to pull one. Instead, as predicted, they headed strait for Israel and returned the Ark of the Covenant to God’s chosen people.

How can I apply what I’ve learned: Trust in God alone for my needs for only He can provide. Separate myself from anything that works towards false religion so that I do not offend God.

more to learn for in-depth study: one of the roles played by the Ark of the Covenant was weapon. More precisely it was a bit of a super-weapon. God had ordered it to be taken into battle on occasion and in each case it had been the direct cause of a great many enemy deaths. This particular occasion was something like the battle of the Alamo. The Israelites lost the battle in a way that was a lot more damaging to the Philistines than to Israel.

Not ordered to do so, the Israelites decided they needed the Ark in battle because they knew what had happened in the past. They were placing their faith in a thing rather than in God directly. they had already lost 4,000 in battle and with the Ark on the battlefield they lost another battle along with the lives of 30,000 Israeli soldiers and the two sons of Eli who had taken the Ark to the battlefield. When word was brought to Eli about what had happened he didn’t have much reaction to the loss of his sons but “fell over” when he heard the ark had been taken. When he fell his neck broke and he died at 98 years old.

News of the defeat drove the wife of Eli’s son Phinehas into early labor. She gave birth to a son she named Ichabod because the ark had been captured, Eli and her husband and brother in law were all dead and she said, “the glory has departed from Israel for the ark of God has been captured.”

tomorrow: First Samuel 8-11

Judges 9-10

God’s message to me: My job is what God gives me to do. Pursuing other things because I can is a path to disaster. Attacking others to promote myself is completely wrong. If I am not enough on my own destroying others will not make me more. The trick is to use what I have to it’s best effect and let God ceal with others.

Promises: “Vengeance is mine”, says the Lord. “I will repay.” Abimelech was in the position of a king with the backing of the locals and his family plus a military at his disposal. Jotham didn’t have much chance of being the Avenger of blood for his family against those odds. Instead he put it in God’s hands to decide if Abimilech was where he belonged and to deal with him if he wasn’t. God fulfilled Jotham’s curse on Abimilech and his followers and kept Jotham safe in the meantime.

Commands: Don’t assume authority that God hasn’t given you. God intends us all to be priests and kings in his kingdom and he has jobs for us here but assuming authority He reserved for another can be real trouble.

Timeless principles: The fact that you can do something doesn’t mean you should. Even if you can find a lot of people who agree with your actions you need to be certain it is your job. Just as Abimilech got those around him to make him king I think we can all remember someone who got into elected office and didn’t belong. Likewise I have known a few pastors who did the job for a few years and wound up losing the position later because they weren’t meant to hold it. Most had bad experiences on their way out as a result of doing things they shouldn’t have because they weren’t supposed to be there.

How can I apply what I’ve learned: God places us in positions we are often uncomfortable with. Some of those positions involve leadership. We often find ourselves surprised at how well we do in positions we felt unqualified to hold.

By the same token, there are times when we feel we could do a job better than the person who is in it. Most often these are jobs with authority. The appropriate way to handle this is to add our support to the leaders and WORK WITH THEM (not against them or in spite of them) to help them accomplish the job they are doing. If they don’t belong there God will put the appropriate person there. In the meantime, doing what God has gifted us to do will attract the attention of those who need those things done.

Those who do their best with what they have find their abilities and responsibilities increased. Do well in a little and God will give you much.

more to learn for in-depth study: Gideon had 70 sons and many wives. He even had a son by a concubine in Shechem. Abimelech has his own part of the story later. With all his mistakes Gideon did a few things right besides leading the army. After defeating the Midinites the Israelites tried to make him king. He refused the job and told them God would rule them.

Abimelech, son of the concubine, decided he could be king and convinced the people of his town to make him king. He killed all but one of Gideon’s other sons so that none could take his place. The last son called a curse on him for the evil he did to his father and on the people that made him king for repaying Gideon’s valor with treachery. Abimilech was king 3 years before people started turning against him. He tried to reinforce his rule with force and destroyed the city that made him king and was killed trying to take another city. God fulfilled the curse brought on him by his act of murder and attempt to take power that wasn’t his.

After Abimilech came Tola who judged Israel for 23 years and then Jair who judged Israel for 22 years and had 30 sons who rode 30 donkeys and had 30 towns called Havoth Jair in Gilead. After Him the Israelites again began worshipping the gods of the surrounding peoples. They worshipped the Baals, the Ashtoreths, The Syrian, Sidonian and Moabite Gods as well as the Ammonite and Philistine gods.

God gave them into the Oppression of the Philistines and the Ammonites who oppressed them 18 years even crossing the Jordon to harass the tribes that were there. When they cried to God for help He told them to try calling the false gods they had served after he delivered them from each of the oppressors that had come upon them from Egypt until that time. The Israelites got rid of the false gods and idols and served God and begged His help until He could no longer ignore their misery. As the people of Israel prepared for war against their oppressors they asked “who will lead us as an army?”

Thus the passage ends just prior to one of my favorite judges. Whenever I read about Jephtha I get a mental picture of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson as the Scorpion King, striding out to defend Israel.

tomorrow: Judges 11-13