OCT 23. READ 1 SAMUEL 24; 1 KINGS 1-4

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1Samuel 24 David sins by taking a census. This incident needs a little discussion. The Lord was already angry at the people for some sins they committed (we don’t know what). David’s numbering of the fighting men was a reaction to that. He probably feared that God would allow the Philistines to defeat Israel b/c of their sins and he put his trust in the strength of his fighting men instead of just trusting God and trying to get the people to repent. So Gods anger “incited David to number the people” and “Satan moved David to number the people” (1 Chronicles 21:1). As in the book of Job, God sometimes allows Satan to test His people. Even Joab told David he should not do the census. The census took almost 10 months and registered 1,300,000 fighting men of Israel. David’s conscience bothered him later and he asked forgiveness from God. God gave him 3 options for his punishment and David chose 3 days of pestilence. What would you have thought if your parents gave you 3 options for punishment for something bad that you did? 70,000 died in that pestilence, and the “death angel” was about to strike the people in Jerusalem when the Lord relented. David made offerings on an altar on the threshing floor of Araunah and God stopped the plague completely. You might read this punishment and think what David thought: 24:17 Behold, it is I who have sinned, and it is I who have done wrong; but these sheep, what have they done? Please let Your hand be against me and against my father’s house.” But remember that the Lord was angry with the people b/c of their sins so the plague was part of their punishment also.

Life Lesson: Do you ever resort to trusting in your doctors or your money or your possessions or your physical strength instead of trusting in God? Maybe some things have been making the future look bleak so you start counting your money to see how you will fare with a monetary collapse. Perhaps a major illness hits you or someone you love and you put your faith in the medical profession instead of God. It’s ok to have money in reserve and to seek help from doctors, but the first thing we should do is trust God and ask Him for wisdom. Asa was lifted up in pride at the end of his reign and it says that only sought the aid of physicians and not God.

1 Kings 1 Adonijah tries to become king. David is about 70 years old and is on his deathbed, having been king for 40 years. But there is more “trouble in his house” as predicted by Nathan. David’s son Adonijah tries to make himself king even though David has said that Bathsheeba’s son Solomon will succeed him. Adonijah was a spoiled son. 1:6 His father had never crossed him at any time by asking, “Why have you done so?” And he was also a very handsome man, and he was born after Absalom.” It’s not hard to spot people like him today whose parents gave them whatever they wanted and never told them “no” or rebuked them. They become self willed and selfish. They might even turn on their parents to take their parents’ money or land or possessions. It’s not surprising that Joab tried to help Adonijah become king. He had been out of David’s favor for a long time now. Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet sided with Solomon to be king. At Bathsheeba’s urging, David had Zadok and Nathan officially anoint Solomon as the next king and have him sit on David’s throne. Adonijah had been having a feast to anoint himself as king when he heard all this, and he took hold of the horns on the corners of the altar of burnt offerings out of fear of Solomon. Solomon did not kill him at this time but sent him to his house.

1 Kings 2 David’s deathbed charge to Solomon. David charged him to punish Joab and Shimei and show kindness to the sons of Barzilli. David died at the age of 70. Solomon put Adonijah to death for asking to be given Abishag (the woman who lay with David on his deathbed to keep him warm) for his wife. Solomon than dismissed Abiathar from being high priest b/c he had supported Adonijah. Abiathar was a descendant of Eli the high priest through the lineage of Aaron’s son Ithamar. God had given the high priesthood to Aaron’s son Elezar and his descendants after Aaron died but at some undefined point in the judges it shifted to the descendants of Aaron’s son,Ithamar, which is how Eli became high priest. But now Solomon will shift the high priesthood back to the descendants of Eleazar beginning with Zadok who supported Solomon becoming king. The Zadok high priesthood remained with the descendants of Zadok (the Zadokites) for roughly 700 to 800 years, beginning in the 10th century BCE under King Solomon until it was displaced around 171–167 BCE during the rise of the Maccabees and the Hasmonean dynasty took over the high priesthood. Solomon promised not to kill Shimei as long as he remained in Jerusalem, but after 3 years he left the city and Solomon had him killed. David was not allowed to build the temple b/c he was a man of bloodshed, but Solomon had Adonijah, Joab, and Shimei killed after David died. I guess those “notches” go on David’s belt since he ordered Solomon to do that.

Life Lesson: How would you summarize David’s life. He was the only Old Testament character described as “the man after God’s own heart”. But he committed 4 sins worthy of capital punishment (for which he was forgiven) and he was a man of much bloodshed and cruelty to enemies. But only God knows the hearts, and apparently David had a very, very special heart, wanting to please God all his life (except for some really bad periods of really bad decisions). My take is that God’s grace and forgiveness is awesome if we have sincere hearts than want to please Him. We tend to judge based on how bad and how many our sins are, but God is looking at the heart. A man might have many more sins than some self-righteous church goer, and yet have a more pleasing heart for God. The parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector says it all. Luke 18:9 And He also told this parable to some people who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and viewed others with contempt: 10 “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee stood and was praying this to himself: ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other people: swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get.’ 13 But the tax collector, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, the sinner!’ 14 I tell you, this man went to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted.” So come clean. People might see you and comment on what a wonderful person and Christian you are. But what is really in your heart? Do you love God more than anything else in life? Is your #1 desire to please Him or to enjoy this world’s pleasures and riches? Is there evil in your heart that you are not repenting of? James 4:6 “God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” 7 Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Be miserable and mourn and weep; let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you.”

1 Kings 3 Solomon’s wish granted. Solomon begins his reign well. 3:3 Now Solomon loved the Lord, walking in the statutes of his father David, except he sacrificed and burned incense on the high places. AI: “Elevated ground reduced the distance between earth and the divine realm, making prayers, smoke from burnt offerings, and incense more visible and accessible to deities. Many ancient cultures (such as the Canaanites, Moabites, and neighboring Near Eastern peoples) linked specific mountain peaks or hilltops to storm, sky, or fertility gods like Baal. These sites typically included stone altars, upright sacred pillars (matzevot), incense altars (hammanim), and wooden poles (asherim) dedicated to fertility and nature goddesses.” Solomon making offerings on the high places was rooted in pagan worship and God tolerated it though He did no approve of it. It will be a practice of sinful Israelites centuries after the temple was built. Kings Hezekiah and Josiah are the biblical kings of Judah credited with removing the high places of pagan worship. King Hezekiah: Removed the high places, smashed sacred stones, and cut down the Asherah poles as part of centralizing worship in Jerusalem (2 Kings 18:4). King Josiah: Conducted a massive religious reform, destroying pagan altars, high places, Asherah poles, and shrines throughout Judah, Jerusalem, and parts of the former northern kingdom of Israel (2 Kings 23). Other otherwise righteous kings—such as Asa, Jehoshaphat, and Jotham—did not take them down during their reigns. Solomon offered a thousand burnt offerings on the high place at Gibeon and God offered to give him whatever he wished. Solomon is still humble and only asks for wisdom. God gives him wisdom and riches b/c of his humility. His wisdom is soon demonstrated in the settling of the argument between the 2 women when he proposed splitting the child in half (which he knew he would not have to really do that b/c the real mother would not allow that). What would you ask for if God gave you one wish? Money? Material possessions? Would you ask for wisdom to be able to help others?

1 Kings 4 Solomon’s power, wealth, and wisdom. Solomon’s kingdom matched the scope of the land promised to Abraham in Genesis 15:18–21, though the nature of the rule involved both direct control and subject tributary kingdoms. The Fulfillment (1 Kings 4:21): The text states that Solomon “ruled over all the kingdoms from the Euphrates to the land of the Philistines, as far as the border of Egypt.” The Promise (Genesis 15:18): God promised Abraham’s descendants the land “from the river of Egypt [Wadi of Egypt] to the great river, the Euphrates.” Granted, Israel did not actually live in all the land in Solomon’s kingdom. A lot of his kingdom were subjugated or vassal kingdoms of other nations who paid much tribute to Solomon. Solomon did have a massive army so the subjugation of those nations were a result of his great power. The provisions needed for Solomon’s massive army and household were massive. Each tribe had to supply the provisions for one month of each year. This was a source of great unrest that helped split the kingdom after Solomon died. God made him the wisest man on earth. Imagine 3,000 proverbs (like in the book of Proverbs) and 1,005 songs (like in the book Song of Solomon). King Solomon fulfilled almost every warning that the prophet Samuel gave in 1 Samuel 8 and broke the specific instructions for kings outlined in Deuteronomy 17. He drafted the sons of the people for his army, multiplied horses, used forced labor to build his palaces, confiscated fields and property, and taxed the people heavily for his monthly provisions. This would be 40 years of this but things were peaceful and prosperous. 4:25 So Judah and Israel lived in safety, every man under his vine and his fig tree, from Dan even to Beersheba, all the days of Solomon.” They went along with it until Solomon died.

OCT 22 READ 2 SAMUEL 19-23

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2 Samuel 19 David returns to Jerusalem. Joab rebuked David for his continual grieving over the death of Absalom. He said it was offensive to those who risked their lives to keep Absalom from killing David. David finally decided to return to Jerusalem as king and made a passionate appeal to his officials to bring him back, which they did. Shimei meets David at the Jordan River and begs forgiveness for when he cursed David and threw stones at him as he was fleeing Jerusalem. David swore not to kill him even though Abishai wanted to. Later on his deathbed he would turn the fate of Shimei over to Solomon who eventually did kill Shimei. Ziba and his 15 sons met David to help him cross the Jordan. Mephibosheth also met David as he was returning to Jerusalem and explained why he did not go with David when he fled Jerusalem. He said that Ziba had lied to David when he told him that Mephibosheth had gone over to Absalom. Instead, Ziba had told him that he would saddle a donkey for him to leave with David, and then Ziba just left him in Jerusalem. Since he was lame, he could not get on a donkey and leave. I’m pretty sure David believed Mephibosheth’s version of what happened, but he had already sworn to give Mephibosheth’s land to Ziba. So David just resolved to divide the land between them. Do you remember Barzilli? He had brought much food and supplies to David at Mahanaim after he fled from Absalom. David offered to take Barzilli into Jerusalem with him and care for him but Barzilli declined due to his age (80) and a desire to die in his home town. There was a lot of angry words between 10 of the tribes (apparently Benjamin was the 11th tribe not involved here) and the men of the 12th tribe, Judah, over who would get the credit for binging the king back to Jerusalem.

2 Samuel 20 Sheba’s revolt. Sheba and the Benjamites revolted against David as king. David told his main commander Amasa whom David had replaced Joab with to put down the rebellion. But Joab met Amasa and killed him. Joab is a bloodthirsty man and out of David’s control. Joab then pursued Sheba and trapped him in a city and sieged the city. A woman met with Joab and told him that the people in the city would deliver Sheba to prevent the city from being destroyed. They cut off the head of Sheba and threw it over the wall and Joab left. That ended Sheba’s rebellion. Joab is back in control as the main commander of David’s army.

2 Samuel 21 Gibeonite revenge. God told David that the famine was b/c of how King Saul had broken Joshua’s treaty with the Gibeonites (they had deceived Joshua into thinking they were from a far off city instead of the nearby cities that were to be totally destroyed) and killed man Gibeonites. David aaked them what would appease them and they asked for 7 of Saul’s descendants to be given to them to be hanged, which he did. A sad, sad story about Rizpah. The bodies of the 7 men (2 or which were Rizpah’s sons) were left out in the open. Rizpah stayed day and night, even in the rain, to keep the birds from feeding on the corpses. David heard about that and had the bones of Saul and Jonathon (that were at Jabesh-Gilead) and the bodies of the 7 hanged men buried in the grave of Saul’s father Kish. One of the descendants of Goliath tried to kill David but Abishai (Joab’s brother) killed him. David’s men killed several other Philistine giants, one of whom had 24 toes and fingers! . It makes you wonder just how many giants there were. And then we wonder where did the giants originate since everyone came from Noah and his 3 sons. Where did the DNA get in the gene pool to create all these giants?

2 Samuel 22 David’s psalm of deliverance. Psalm 18 is nearly identical to 2 Samuel 22. Both chapters record King David’s song of thanksgiving and praise to God for delivering him from his enemies (including Saul).

2 Samuel 23 is called “the last words of David” because it marks his final prophetic oracle and formal poetic testament rather than his absolute last spoken words before death. Then comes the names of the “mighty men of David”, made famous for their heroic deeds on behalf of David. You can read all their heroic deeds but one stands out to me. David was thirsty and wanted water from the well at Bethlehem where the Philistines were camped. 3 men risked their lives, broke through the Philistine camp and brought David some water from that well. David poured it out b/c he felt unworthy to drink it. I wonder what those 3 men thought when he poured it out. That might not have looked like a noble gesture to them!

OCT 21 READ 2 SAMUEL 14-18

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2 Samuel 14: Absalom’s return from a 3 year exile. Maybe a little summary of this chapter will help.

More of the “trouble in David’s house” as predicted by Nathan. Mostly about David’s son Absalom.

2 Samuel 15: Absalom’s conspiracy and David flees Jerusalem. Absalom formed his takeover of the kingdom from David in Hebron. David fled Jerusalem but left the ark in Jerusalem (just the opposite of Eli’s sons taking the ark into battle to get victory). In spite of the Bathsheeba, David is still a man after God’s own heart. Zadok the high priest (through the descendants of Aaron’s son Eleazar) and the Levites actually brought ark out of the temple and were going to bring it with David wherever he fled to, but David them to put in back in the Holy of Holies. David said, 15:25″ If I find favor in the sight of the Lord, then He will bring me back again and show me both it and His habitation. 26 But if He should say thus, ‘I have no delight in you,’ behold, here I am, let Him do to me as seems good to Him.” An humble attitude. He sent his counselor Hushai back into Jerusalem to be his spy and to thwart Absalom’s counselor Ahithophel. Here is a great map showing all the action in chapter 15. The final battle between David’s men and Absalom’s men will be fought in the forest of Ephraim on the map, which is where Absalom died.

2 Samuel 16 has a few interesting things. 1) Ziba’s lie: When King David fled Jerusalem during Absalom’s rebellion, Ziba met him with food and supplies. When David asked where Mephibosheth was, Ziba falsely claimed that Mephibosheth stayed behind in Jerusalem, hoping the Israelites would restore his grandfather Saul’s kingdom to him. Believing the lie, David hastily gave Ziba all of Mephibosheth’s land and property. The Truth Revealed (2 Samuel 19:24–30): After the rebellion ended and David returned to Jerusalem, Mephibosheth came to meet him. He showed signs of deep mourning and explained that Ziba had deceived him and left him behind because he was lame and could not saddle a donkey himself. David’s Final Judgment: Realizing he had acted too quickly, David modified his ruling and commanded that Mephibosheth and Ziba divide the land. However, Mephibosheth told the king that Ziba could keep all of it, expressing that he was simply overjoyed that David had returned home safely. Mephibosheth had the same humble qualities that his father Jonathon had. 2) Shimei curses David. Shimei was a descendant of Saul’s clan. As David fled Jerusalem, Shimei cursed David and through rocks at him. Joab’s brother Abishai wanted to kill Shimei but David would not let him. David’s attitude is humble again. He said, “If he curses, and if the Lord has told him, ‘Curse David,’ then who shall say, ‘Why have you done so?’ Let him alone and let him curse, for the Lord has told him. 12 Perhaps the Lord will look on my affliction and return good to me instead of his cursing this day.” David will not seek vengeance of Shimei. David made mistakes, but again we see a “man after God’s own heart”. He is willing to put his fate in the hands of God. How do you react when people say bad things about you or attack you personally? I had that experience with one particular person for several years. I think I might have just tried to handle in my own way instead of just turning it over to the Lord. Later, after Absalom is killed and as David is returning to Jerusalem, Shimei begs forgiveness of David. David swore to him not to kill him at that time, but on David’s deathbed he left the fate of Shimei with Solomon. . Solomon placed Shimei under house arrest in Jerusalem, warning him that he would be executed if he ever crossed the Kidron Valley. Three years later, Shimei left to retrieve runaway servants, violated the pact, and Solomon had him put to death. God took care of the vengeance on Shimei. “Vengeance belongs to the Lord.” 3) Absalom entered Jerusalem. Absalom then went in to (had sex with) the 10 concubines that David left to take care of his palace. He did that on the roof so that all Israel could see his spite for his father. Absalom had so much hatred in his heart. He hated (and killed) Amnon for raping his sister Tamar. He probably hated David for not doing anything about the rape of his sister. He probably hated David for sending him into exile for 3 years. He hated his own father David so much that he tried to kill him and take over his kingdom. David wasn’t a perfect father, but how could a son hate his own father so much? Proverbs 23:22 explicitly states: “Listen to your father who gave you life, and do not despise your mother when she is old”. Despising means holding someone as insignificant, showing contempt, or belittling them. Proverbs 30:17 warns of severe shame for those who mock their father or scorn obedience to their mother: “The eye that mocks a father and scorns to obey a mother will be picked out by the ravens of the valley and eaten by the vultures.” Proverbs 15:20 notes that “a wise son makes a glad father, but a foolish man despises his mother.”

2 Samuel 17: Hushai’s counsel. David’s spy counselor Hushai contradicted the counsel of Ahithophel which was to flee David immediately before he crossed the Jordan. Hushai advised Absalom to delay and gather more men. Hushai’s counsel allowed David to flee safely over the Jordan overnight. Ahithophel committed suicide after his counsel was rejected. David is apparently frustrated, maybe even afraid of Joab, and makes Amasa his commander of his forces instead of Joab. It is noted that Barzillai brought supplies and food to David at Mahanaim (where Jacob saw the camp of angels). David had his personal household, royal officials, and 600 men so there was a great need for food. After Absalom is killed, King David rewarded Barzillai the Gileadite by offering him a permanent place at the royal court in Jerusalem, and later, by extending royal favor to Barzillai’s family. Barzillai declined the personal invitation due to his advanced age, poor health, and desire to die in his hometown near his parents’ graves. David, on his deathbed, told Solomon to Before his death, King David instructed his son and successor, Solomon, to continue showing loyalty to Barzillai’s family by allowing Barzillai’s sons to eat continually at the king’s table.

2 Samuel 18: The death of Absalom. 18:1 indicates that many more men loyal to David had come to him at Mahanaim. He now has an army of thousands, and not just the 600 Ittitite warriors who fled Jerusalem with him. He divides his army with 3 commanders: Joab, Abishai, and Ittai, but they advise David to remain behind in safety since he was the king. 5 The king charged Joab and Abishai and Ittai, saying, “Deal gently for my sake with the young man Absalom.” The final battle between David’s men and Absalom’s men takes place in the forest of Ephraim (locate that again on the map above). David’s army killed 20,000 of Absalom’s men and Absalom fled on his mule. Do you remember that Absalom was very handsome and had long hair that he only cut once per year? As he was fleeing, that hair got caught in a tree and he was left hanging from the tree by his hair. Ouch! Joab defied David’s instructions about not killing Absalaom and thrust 3 spears into the heart of Absalom as he was hanging from the tree. David has lost control of Joab but is probably afraid of him and is struck with him as one of his commanders even though he replaced him with Abishai. When the runners came to David with news of the death of Absalom, 33 The king was deeply moved and went up to the chamber over the gate and wept. And thus he said as he walked, “O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! Would I had died instead of you, O Absalom, my son, my son!” “King David loved Absalom with a deep, unconditional paternal bond, driven by natural parental affection, guilt over his own parenting failures, and the charismatic beauty of his son. (The Vineyard Camp, Medium, Wikipedia) Perhaps you have seen some father show this kind of love to a son even though the son despised his father and did many things to hurt his father. I know of one such thing just recently as the rebellious son didn’t even come to the funeral of his father but his father was still expressing his love for that son in the years before he died. Not that a father doesn’t love his daughters, but there is just something special about a father’s love for his sons.

OCT 20 READ 2 SAMUEL 9-13

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2 Samuel 9: David’s kindness to Mephibosheth. David’s good heart is seen as he wants to show “God’s kindness” to anyone still alive from the house of Saul. That is really being kind considering Saul spent 10 years trying to kill David. Jonathon’s lame son Mephibosheth was found, which I’m sure pleased David b/c of his close friendship with David. Mephibosheth spent the rest of his life eating at David’s table like one of David’s sons.

2 Samuel 10: David defeats the Ammonites and Arameans. The Ammonites humiliated David’s messengers that were sent to them by David to express sympathy for the death of their king. David then defeated the 33,000 men of the Ammonnites and hired mercenaries of the Arameans. David killed 40,000 of them.

2 Samuel 11: David and Bathsheeba. Most of us know the story of David’s sin with Bathsheeba, so no need to retell the whole story. A few observations: David broke at least 4 of the 10 commandments, two of were punishable by stoning. The 6th (not murder: David had Uriah killed on the battlefield but also several others were killed along with Uriah making David a mass murderer). The 7th (not commit adultery). The 9th (not bear false witness). He lied, deceived, and covered up his sin for a while year before Nathan came to him and condemned him. The 10th (not covet your neighbor’s wife). He deserved 4 counts of the death penalty!

2 Samuel 12: Nathan rebukes David. David already had 7 wives but he took Uriah’s only wife (aka the parable Nathan used). When Nathan confronted him with his sins, David sincerely repented and God spared him the death penalty. God forgave his sins. Stop right now and read Psalm 32 where David talked about the tole his sin had on him during the year that he hid the sin but then how God forgave him. Then read Psalm 51 where he begs for God to forgive him, to create in him a clean heart, and to restore the joy of salvation. The heading on Psalm 51 says the psalm was written after the sin with Bathsheeba. But the punishment for his sin was terrible.1) The death of his child that Bathsheeba was carrying. 2) The sword in his house: Violence and bloodshed would never depart from David’s own household (such as when Absalom killed Amnon for raping his sister). 3) Trouble and rebellion would rise against him from within his own family (such as the revolt led by his son Absalom and then his son Adonijah trying to steal the throne from Solomon when David was on his death bed). 4) His own wives would be taken and laid with in public view as a direct response to his hidden sin (In 2 Samuel 16:21–22, Absalom sleeps with ten of King David’s concubines (often referred to in related passages as his wives or women) in public on the roof of the royal palace. I must add this. I am shocked that God allowed David to keep Bathsheeba as his wife after the whole incident. He would never have been allowed to have Bathsheeba as a wife as long as Uriah lived, but after he killed Uriah, even though he was forgiven, he gets to take her as a wife. The grace of God is obvious when people repent. I have seen many marital situations where people who have divorced just have to trust in the grace of God and move on. You can’t unscramble scrambled eggs! Repent with a pure heart and sincere motive, make the best decision that you can, trust God and pray that He will accept your decision. Meanwhile, Joab and David are still fighting those Ammonites! David defeats and plunders them, consigning them to labor with saws and with iron picks and axes, and he made them work at brickmaking.

Life Lesson: Even when God forgives our sins, there may be serious consequences of our sins. Bathsheeba might have been beautiful and that night of sex with her might have been scintillating, but was it worth it???? David probably asked himself that question many, many times in the years after his sin. When you face a big temptation, ask yourself, “What might be the consequences if I yield to this temptation and sin?” How is this going to affect my wife and family if I have that affair? How might one night of drugs change my whole life? What will giving in to my boyfriend’s push for sex mean for my emotional stability in the future, especially if I don’t marry him? What might happen if I lie on my resume? How might one drunk driving incident affect my life and/or the lives of others? What will losing my temper cause (my friend did 25 years in prison b/c he lost his temper and killed a man). What might cheating in college cost me if I get caught? What impact would a hasty abortion on my life? Maybe you have already committed a serious sin and have faced or are facing the consequences right now. BTW you need to counsel your friends on this life lesson. When you see a friend being tempted to drink at a party, have sex, do drugs, commit a crime, then discuss what the consequences might be. It’s bad enough that we sin against God, but thinking about consequences of sin might deter us from sinning.

Life Lesson: Another lesson might be how David responded to the death of Bathsheeba’s child. It appears that he spent 7 nights (maybe 7 nights and days) fasting, weeping, and lying in sackcloth praying that God would spare the child. When the child died, his attendants were afraid to even tell him for fear that he would do something “desperate” (like commit suicide). 12:20 Then David got up from the ground. After he had washed, put on lotions and changed his clothes, he went into the house of the Lord and worshiped. Then he went to his own house, and at his request they served him food, and he ate. 22 He answered, “While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept. I thought, ‘Who knows? The Lord may be gracious to me and let the child live.’ 23 But now that he is dead, why should I go on fasting? Can I bring him back again? I will go to him, but he will not return to me.” I’m sure David felt the guilt of his sin every night for the rest of his life, but at least he moved on from his sin. Some people find it hard to move on after some horrible experience or sin. Paul said in Philippians 3: But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” Paul had imprisoned, tortured, and murdered Christians before he converted to Jesus. No doubt he lived with guilt for the rest of his life after his conversion, but he moved on and used the rest of his time on earth to serve God. This next slide is great!

2 Samuel 13: Amnon rapes Tamar. This next slide shows David’s family. Tamar was Amnon’s half-sister. Absalom and Tamar were full blooded brother and sister. That explains the hatred Absalom had for Amnon when he heard about the rape. He never said anything to Amnon, but was plotting to kill him and did kill him 2 years later. It says that David was furious when he found out about the rape of Tamar, but he did nothing. Why not? Did he feel that he was unable to discipline his sons b/c of what he had done with Bathsheeba? It is interesting that David mourned many days for the death of Amnon. Absalom fled for 3 years to Geshur so that is an indication that David was angry with Absalom for killing Amnno. But at the same time, longed to go to Absalom, for he was consoled concerning Amnon’s death. Maybe that was near the end of Absalom 3 years of exile. David is having nothing but trouble in his household just as Nathan predicted.

Life Lesson: It says, 13:15 Then Amnon hated her with intense hatred. In fact, he hated her more than he had loved her. Amnon said to her, “Get up and get out!” The truth is that he never truly loved her to begin with. It was pure lust, not love. It is hard to tell the difference between lust and love when you are single and dating. Perhaps you will have that lustful desire for someone that you are physcially attracted to. That is to be expected. But make sure that you really love them and that your potential mate really loves you. How can you determine that? You can’t be sure, but one indication is that your boyfriend never pushes you to have sex before marriage. The girl can really help by saying a firm “no”. If he can’t handle that “no”, then you don’t want to marry him anyway. This is all a much bigger life lesson for boys than girls. You don’t usually run into the situation where the girl wants to have sex and the boy doesn’t (such as with Joseph and Poliphar’s wife!) Lust wants what satisfies a boy’s lustful sexual desires, what makes him happy. Love wants what is best for your girlfriend in the long run. I read a book where the author studied hundreds of cases where the girlfriend reluctantly gave in to have sex with her boyfriend after he pushed her to have sex. Almost always, the boy dumped the girl after the sex (ever how long the sexual episodes lasted). The girls is stuck with an emotions issue that will stay with her as she loses her virginity and faces difficult memories when she eventually marries someone. He probably goes away without much guilt or bad memories. It’s a “double standard” on these issues at time, isn’t it? Advice: Avoid all situations where lust could arise to the point of sinning. Do friend dating with couples instead of solos. Guys, make yourself leave when you feel that lustful temptation coming on. Free advice and counseling!

OCT 19 READ 2 SAMUEL 4-8

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2 Samuel 4 Death of Ishbosheth. It gets worse! 2 of Ishbosheth’s men stabbed him to death while on his bed resting. They brought his head to David, expecting a reward. Would you care to guess what David did? Do you remember what he did to the man who brought the crown of Saul to David, claiming to have killed Saul? Yes, he killed them, cut off their hands and feet and hung their bodies by the pool in Hebron. David had Ishbosheth’s head buried in the tomb of Abner at Hebron. Mephibosheth was Jonathon’s son who was lame in both feet due to a fall when his nurse fled with him from Jezreel when he was 5 years old.

2 Samuel 5 David anointed king over all 12 tribes. So all 12 tribes come to David at Hebron and made a covenant with David and anointed him king over all 12 tribes. 5:4 David was thirty years old when he became king, and he reigned forty years. 5 In Hebron he reigned over Judah seven years and six months, and in Jerusalem he reigned over all Israel and Judah thirty-three years.” David conquered Jerusalem and made it his capital. The city was built on a naturally fortified ridge surrounded by deep valleys and steep slopes, making it very difficult for enemies to attack. Fresh Water Access: Jerusalem had a dependable, year-round water supply from the Gihon Spring located just outside the eastern wall of the City of David. David’s general, Joab, led an elite force that sneaked into the city by climbing through an underground water channel or shaft connected to the Gihon Spring. David “inquired of the Lord twice and defeated the Philistines both time.

2 Samuel 6: David brings the ark to Jerusalem. The next two slides tell the journey of the ark from Shloh to Jerusalem. Thie first slide reviews how the ark ended up at Kiriath-Yearim for 20 years.The 2nd slide tells how David brought the ark from Kiriath-Yearim to Jerusalem. They are carrying the ark on a cart instead of with poles as God commanded. The oxen stumbled and Uzzah grabbed the ark to keep it falling and God struck him dead for his “irreverent act”. That’s one of those hard to explain events. It seems innocent enough that Uzzah would try to keep the ark from falling to the ground even though they were carrying it improperly. God knows the hearts and maybe Uzzah was a bad person who deserved what he got. Maybe God just wanted to make an example to others about following his commands more closely. Then there is David dancing in a linen ephod when the ark gets to Jerusalem. Michal despised him for that because she felt his uninhibited, public dancing before the Ark of the Covenant was a shameful and vulgar breach of royal dignity. 6:20 Michal daughter of Saul came out to meet him and said, “How the king of Israel has distinguished himself today, going around half-naked in full view of the slave girls of his servants as any vulgar fellow would!” God made her barren b/c of her criticism of David.

2 Samuel 7 God’s promise to David. 2 Samuel 7 has one of the most important predictions in the Old Testament. David felt bad b/c he had a nice cedar house but the ark of the covenant was in a tent (the tabernacle). He wanted to build a temple for God. God basically said, “Have I ever asked the Israelites to build me a temple? If I wanted one, I would have told you so.” But then he said that he would allow Solomon to build the temple. That’s kinda weird:”I don’t want a temple but I am going to let Solomon build one anyway!” Kinda like giving Israel a king: “I don’t want a king but I’m giving you one anyway!” Is God thinking that a permanent structure temple might be a better way of trying to keep Israel worshipping the one true God? If so, that worked sometimes but many other times the Israelites are building pagan altars in the temple of God! We know that Solomon is a main part of the fulfillment of this prediction b/c it says, “if he commit iniquity” I will punish him. That could not refer to Jesus who was sinless. The Jesus part of this prophecy is this:7:16 Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me; your throne will be established forever.’” Luke 1 confirms this to be a Messianic prophecy: Luke 1:30 But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. 31 You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.” Peter confirmed this to be Messianic of Jesus in Acts 2:
29 “Men and brethren, let me speak freely to you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. 30 Therefore, being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his body, according to the flesh, He would raise up the Christ to sit on his throne, 31 he, foreseeing this, spoke concerning the resurrection of the Christ, that His soul was not left in Hades, nor did His flesh see corruption.” So Peter is telling the Jews that the promise in 2 Samuel 7 was fulfilled when Jesus arose and ascended to the right hand of the Father and that he began sitting on the throne of David when he ascended. It was spiritual throne in heaven and not an earthly throne over an earthly kingdom which is what the Jews were expecting. Jesus would be king forever over his spiritual kingdom, the church. Psalm 89:“I have made a covenant with My chosen; I have sworn to David My servant, 4 I will establish your seed forever And build up your throne to all generations.” David, after being told this by Nathan, prayed a very. humble, grateful prayer praising God for all that He had done for Israel and David and asking God to bless David’s house forever as promised.

2 Samuel 8:David’s victories. 1 Chronicles 22:8: David tells Solomon that God said to him, “You have shed much blood and waged great wars. You are not to build a house for My Name, because you have shed much blood on the earth in my sight.” When you read 2 Samuel 8, you see what God was talking about. An agnostic might struggle with all this killing, but times were different back then. God had chosen Israel as his holy nation. He need to keep Israel strong until the Messiah Jesus would come through the Jewish nation. That meant defeating the enemies of Israel back then. Also remember that these nations that David killed so many of were some of the same nations that God had told Israel to completely destroy when they entered Canaan (like the Ammonites, Amalekites, and Philistines)but they did not do that. So these nations are still there and they want to destroy Israel. Some of Israel’s enemies at the time of David were Edomites, Moabites, Arameans who wanted to destroy Israel. David is killing those enemies who wanted to destroy God’s holy nation, so remember that as you read about all the bloodshed.

OCT 18 READ 1 SAMUEL 30-31; 2 SAMUEL 1-3

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1 Samuel 30 Ziklag. Achish sent David back to Ziklag where David’s wives and the families of his men were living. While David had been off with Achish, Amalekites had raided Ziklag and taken captive David’s two wives and the families of the 600 men fighting with him. His men spoke of stoning David. He inquired of the Lord using the high priest ephod to see if he should pursue the Amalekites, and was told to do so. He took 400 men, leaving 200 exhausted men with the baggage, and rescued the captives, slaughtering the Amalekites. The 400 men who went did not want to share the spoils with the 200 who stayed with the baggage, but David said “The share of the man who stayed with the supplies is to be the same as that of him who went down to the battle. All will share alike.” 25 David made this a statute and ordinance for Israel from that day to this.” David shared the spoils from the raid with the people of Judah living in cities of Judah. That’s a great principle today. Many go off into foreign fields to do the Lord’s work and many, for whatever reasons, stay back in the US and support those who go. They share the “spoils” of success equally. I read every day where EEM partners in Europe deliver Bibles and see the joy of those receiving them. I get to share in that great work by supporting EEM.

1 Samuel 31 Mt Gilboa: The death of Saul and his 3 sons. As Samuel predicted, Saul and his 3 sons died at Mt Gilboa in a battle with the Philistines. Saul took his own life so a Philistine could not kill him. The Philistines found him, cut off his head and fastened the bodies of Saul and his sons to a wall. The men of Jabesh-Gilead (the city Saul rescued from having their right eyes put out) came and took down the bodies, burned and buried them. Thus ends the life of King Saul.

2 Samuel 1 An Amalekite brings Saul’s crown to David and claims that he killed Saul at Saul’s request having been critically wounded. We know that was not true (Saul killed himself) but the Amalekite thought David would give him a reward so he lied. Instead David had him killed for “killing the Lord’s anointed”. Then David took up a “lament” for Saul and Jonathon that is recorded in the book of Jashur. There are many such books that were not considered worthy of being put in the Old Testament canon. 3 times he says, “How the mighty have fallen”. He especially grieved over the death of Jonathon. 1″25 Jonathan lies slain on your heights. 26 I grieve for you, Jonathan my brother; you were very dear to me. Your love for me was wonderful, more wonderful than that of women.” It is sad that some try to make this imply homosexual love between Jonathon and David. The Law of Moses clearly condemned homosexuality. They just had a special, deep, non-sexual bond of spiritual brotherhood, political alliance, and covenant loyalty (comparable to ancient Near Eastern friendship pacts) rather than erotic love. (Marc Sims, Cross Examined)

Here is a great slide that I will use for David’s life as king in 2 Samuel.

2 Samuel 2 David is anointed in Hebron as king but only of the tribe of Judah. He will be king over Judah only for 7 1/2years. Saul’s commander Abner makes Saul’s son Ish-Bosheth (obviously not one of Saul’s sons killed at Mt Gilboa) king over the other 11 tribes. Ishbosheth will only reign as king for 2 years and then there was 5 years of civil war before David is made king over all 12 tribes after being king over Judah for 7 1/2 years. The 5 year gap between when Ishbosheth died and David became king over all 12 tribes has been explained with several different theories that we won’t get into here. There was so much violence during this time. Abner, Ishbosheth’s commander, and Joab, David’s commander, meet and each sends out 12 men who battle hand to hand. 2: 16 Then each man grabbed his opponent by the head and thrust his dagger into his opponent’s side, and they fell down together.” Abner and Joab were just sitting back watching the slaughter like people watch WWF violence, nothing but a sport. Joab’s brother Asahel chased Abner and Abner told him to stop b/c he did not want to kill him. He wouldn’t stop and Abner killed him, thrusting the butt of his spear through Asahel’s stomach, implying that he is trying to get away from Asahael, not even facing him when he rams the butt end of his spear backwards into Asahel. Joab and Abner agree to stop fighting for the time being.

2 Samuel 3 David’s wives. There was also a lot of polygamy. David had 8 wives and many concubines. I don’t understand why God allowed that, especially why he allowed concubines which were just basically mistresses. David had 19 named sons and many more sons by his concubines. Even David violated one of the warnings Moses gave Israel about the bad things that a king would do, i.e. have many wives.

Sounds like a soap doesn’t it? Abner is angry with Ishbosheth b/c he criticized Abner for sleeping with his concubine. Ishbosheth was afraid of Abner and said no more. So Abner switches allegiance to David and to getting all 12 tribes to accept David as king. But David makes that conditional on returning his wife Michal to him (Saul had given her to Paltiel) which Abner did. Kinda sad: 3:16 Her husband, however, went with her, weeping behind her all the way to Bahurim. Then Abner said to him, “Go back home!” So he went back.” David sends Abner away in peace to persuade the 11 tribes to make David their king. Joab was angry with David for letting Abner go, accusing him of just being a spy. So Joab gets Abner to come back to Hebron and killed Abner for killing Joab’s brother Asahel! David claimed innocence in the killing of Abner and put a curse of Joab’s family. David mourned the death of Abner. 3: 37 So on that day all the people there and all Israel knew that the king had no part in the murder of Abner son of Ner.” That was an important political move on David’s part to get the 11 tribes to trust him. David admitted that Joab and his brothers were “too strong” for him and he was basically afraid of Joab.

Stay tuned for the next episode of this soap! Keep readying the texts and the blogs!

OCT 17 READ 1 SAMUEL 25-29

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We continue to name and number the places David fled to during the 10 years that Saul was pursuing him


10. Wilderness of Paran 1 Sam 25. A very rich but harsh, evil business man, Nabal, refused to give David sheep for his men even though David’s men could have raided Nabal’s sheep in the fields but did not. David gets 400 of his men ready to go kill Nabal and his servants, and take what they want. Nabal’s wife, Abigail, brought plenty of food to David without Nabal knowing, and asked him not to kill Nabal. David concluded that the Lord had sent her to keep him from seeking vengeance in anger, and thanked her for her discernment. Many New Testament verses tell us not to ever seek revenge against our enemies or seek retaliation. When Abigail returned to Nabal and he found out what she had done, his heart died within in and the Lord struck him dead 10 days later. David took Abigail as his wife, along with Ahinoam, b/c Saul had given his wife Michal to Palti. Here’s a map showing where the wilderness of Paran was located.

Here’s a map of places David fled to in 1 Samuel 24-27.


11. Wilderness of Ziph 1 Sam 26 The Ziphites told Saul where David was, and Saul took 3000 men to pursue him. David’s spies told him where Saul’s camp was, so David sneaked in and took Saul’s spear and jug of water, even though Abishai was telling him to kill Saul. From a distance David called out to Abner, showing him the spear and jug. Saul, as in the cave in 1 Sam 24, seems penitent again, and leaves.


12. Gath 1 Sam 27 David decides that his only choice is to escape to the Philistine king of Gath for protection, and Saul, upon hearing that, no longer searched for him. The king Achish gave David the city of Ziklag so David’s wives and the families of his men would eventually all be living in Ziklag. While telling Achish that he is raiding Israelites, he actually is raiding non-Israelite enemies of Achish, killing everyone both men and women there so there would be no witnesses. The Philistines prepared for war against Israel, and Achish trusted David to be his bodyguard for life and David agreed.

1 Samuel 28 Saul goes to the medium at Endor.

King Saul visits a hidden medium at Endor to summon the dead prophet Samuel for military advice on the eve of a battle against the Philistines. 

The Background

  • The threat: The Philistine army gathered for war against Israel, and King Saul grew deeply afraid.
  • God’s silence: Saul tried to seek guidance from God through dreams, prophets, and sacred lots, but received no answer.
  • The hypocrisy: Out of desperation, Saul turned to necromancy—despite having previously banned and expelled all mediums and sorcerers from Israel on pain of death. Moses had condemned mediums, spiritists, etc. in Deuteronomy.

The Encounter at Endor

  • The disguise: Saul disguised himself, traveled by night with two men, and found a medium (the “Witch of Endor”).
  • The oath: The woman initially hesitated out of fear of Saul’s own laws, but Saul swore an oath by God that no harm would come to her.
  • The summoning: Saul asked her to bring up the spirit of Samuel. The woman saw the apparition, realized her visitor was Saul, and cried out in shock. Saul calmed her and asked what she saw.  Her shock proves that she had not been able to actually raise someone from the dead before this IMO.

The Prophecy and Aftermath

  • The message: The spirit of Samuel rebuked Saul for turning to the occult after God had departed from him. 
  • The doom: Samuel foretold that the Lord would hand Israel over to the Philistines, and that Saul and his sons would die in battle the very next day. 
  • The end: Overwhelmed with terror and despair, Saul collapsed to the ground. True to the prophecy, the Israelite army was routed at Mount Gilboa the next day, and Saul committed suicide to avoid capture. Jonathon was killed in the battle also.

13 Ziklag 1 Sam 29-30. The Philistine lords joining Achish in the battle against Israel demanded that David not be allowed to go into battle with them b/c of his reputation of killing Israel’s enemies (1 Samuel 29). Achish told David that he could not go. David acted offended, but it must have been a relief for him b/c he would have been forced to kill Israelites if he had gone. Achish then sends David back to Ziklag so his days in Gath are finished. Meanwhile, while David was off with Achish, Amalekites had raided Ziklag and taken captive David’s two wives and the families of the 600 men fighting with him. His men spoke of stoning David. He inquired of the Lord using the high priest ephod to see if he should pursue the Amalekites, and was told to do so. He took 400 men, leaving 200 exhausted men with the baggage, and rescued the captives, slaughtering the Amalekites. The 400 men who went did not want to share the spoils with the 200 who stayed with the baggage, but David said “The share of the man who stayed with the supplies is to be the same as that of him who went down to the battle. All will share alike.” 25 David made this a statute and ordinance for Israel from that day to this.” David shared the spoils from the raid with the people of Judah living in cities of Judah. That’s a great principle today. Many go off into foreign fields to do the Lord’s work and many, for whatever reasons, stay back in the US and support those who go. They share the “spoils” of success equally. I read every day where EEM partners in Europe deliver Bibles and see the joy of those receiving them. I get to share in that great work by supporting EEM.

I actually added 1 Samuel 30 to today’s reading.

OCT 16. READ 1 SAMUEL 20-24

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1 Samuel 20: Saul had already tried to kill David several times. Jonathon found out that Saul was still trying to kill David and Saul even tried to kill Jonathon for siding with David. Jonathon let David know by a pre-arranged sign when shooting arrows that he was in danger and should flee. They had one last emotional, tearful meeting after the arrows and pledged their loyalty and love to each other. Jonathon is a great person. He would have been the next king and yet he kept Saul from killing David who would be king instead of Jonathon. He was a great friend to David. David then begins 10 years of fleeing from Saul. Instead of studying by chapters, I will number the places david went to during that 10 years. Here is a map that shows each of the places.

1. Nob 1 Sam 21.  Ahimelek the priest gives David  the forbidden shewbread that only the priests could eat. Saul’s commander Doeg the Edomite was present. Ahimelech also gave David the sword of Goliath. The heading of Psalm 52 is “When Doeg the Edomite had gone to Saul and told him: “David has gone to the house of Ahimelek.” showing that David wrote this psalm while in Nob. Many of the psalms have headings that reflect the places David fled from Saul to.


2. Gath 1 Sam 21. David flees to the Philistine city of Gath and fakes insanity to keep King Achish from killing him. He scribbled on the gate and let saliva run down his beard as a madman. Why does David resort to such tactics instead of just trusting God to protect him? The heading of Palm 56 is “when the Philistines seized him in Gath” showing that the wrote that psalm in Gath. The same with the Psalm 34 heading: “…When he feigned madness before Abimelech [Achish], so that he drove him out, and he went away.”


3. Cave of Adullum 1 Sam 22. David gathers a “Robin Hood” army of 400 men who were in debt, discontented, and distressed. His army will grow to 600 eventually but Saul is chasing him with several thousand men.


4. Mizpah in Moab 1 Sam 22. David leaves his parents with the king of Moab for safety. We don’t know why David trusted the king of Moab b/c the Moabites were enemies of Israel. Was there some connection b/c of Ruth the Moabite who was David’s great grandmother? Mizpah is not on the map but it is in Moab.


5. Gibeah 1 Sam 22. Saul has Doeg kill Ahimelech and 85 priests. One priest escaped and told David. David feels guilty for causing their deaths. 22:19 He (Saul) also put to the sword Nob, the town of the priests, with its men and women, its children and infants, and its cattle, donkeys and sheep. Have you ever unintentionally caused hurt or harm to someone and felt guilty later?


6. Keilah 1 Sam 23. David “inquires” of the Lord and rescues Keilah from Philistines. Saul comes to Keilah to kill David. David “inquires of the Lord” (23:2,4), and God tells him Keilah will surrender him to Saul so David escapes with his men who now number 600. Things always went better when David inquired of the Lord for knowing where to go and what to do instead of relying on his own tactics.


7. Wilderness of Ziph 1 Sam 23. Jonathon makes his last visit to David to encourage him and make a covenant. Jonathon humbly tells David that David will be the next king and offers to be second to him. Jonathon would have been the next king so that is true humility to “play second fiddle” as we say. The heading of Psalm 54 is “…When the Ziphites went and told Saul, ‘Is David not hiding among us?'” showing that psalm was written in Ziph.


8. Wilderness of Maon. 1 Sam 23. Ziphites tell Saul that David was in Ziph and then that he has gone to Maon. Saul surrounds David at Maon but news of a Philistine raid make him withdraw. The heading of Psalm 63 is “When he was in the Desert of Judah.” showing that it was written at this time.


9. Engedi 1 Sam 24. Saul goes into a cave to “relieve himself”, probably laying his robe aside, the cave David and his men are hiding in. David secretly cuts off the edge of his robe. His men tell him that this is the Lord giving Saul into his hand, but David’s conscience bothers him b/c Saul is still the Lord’s anointed. Saul left the cave, and David confronted him, showing him the robe with the edge cut off, asking Saul why he was so intent on killing him since he had never sinned against Saul. Saul seems penitent, and says that one day David will be king and left. But later he continued his pursuit of David trying to kill him. The headings of Ps 57, 142 “when he (David) had fled from Saul into the cave” tell us that David wrote those 2 psalms, crying out to God for help, while at Engedi.

Psalm 18 has the heading: “He sang to the Lord the words of this song when the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul.” He wrote this psalm at some time and place when fleeing from Saul.

We will cover 4 more of the places David fled to in the next blog. A lot of historical facts but think of how David must have felt while fleeing Saul for 10 years, constantly fearing for his life. He knows he will be the next king but he refused to kill Saul twice in the cave.

OCT 15. READ 1 SAMUEL 15-19

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1 Samuel 15: Saul’s 2nd big sin. God told Saul to go utterly destroy all the Amalekites including women, children, and animals b/c of what they did attacking Israel “for what they did to Israel when they waylaid them as they came up from Egypt.” The history of Israel and Amalek is interesting. AI:

The attack is recorded primarily in Exodus 17:8–16 in the Hebrew Bible, where the Amalekites assault the Israelites at Rephidim shortly after they leave Egypt. (Wikipedia)

  • The Main Account (Exodus 17:8–16): The text states that Amalek came and fought with Israel at Rephidim. Moses sends Joshua to lead the fighters while Moses, Aaron, and Hur watch from a hill holding the staff of God. (Wikipedia) Israel wins the battle as long as Moses holds up the staff. When Moses’ hands get weak, Aaron and Hur support his hands to hold up the staff.
  • The Retelling (Deuteronomy 25:17–19): This passage looks back at the event and specifies that the Amalekites targeted the weak, tired, and lagging stragglers at the rear of the Israelite camp rather than the main front. (GotQuestions.org) God told Israel, 25:19 When the Lord your God gives you rest from all the enemies around you in the land he is giving you to possess as an inheritance, you shall blot out the name of Amalek from under heaven. Do not forget!”
  • The Outcome: Joshua defeats the Amalekites in battle, and God instructs Moses to write down a memorial of the event, vowing perpetual opposition to Amalek. (Bible Study Tools) Moses built an altar named Jehovah Nissi (meaning “The Lord is my Banner”. In ancient warfare, a banner or flag (nes) was placed on a high pole at the front lines to give soldiers an identity, a focus of hope, and a visible place to gather. (Grand Canyon University) The name signifies that God Himself is the army, the defense, and the rallying standard—meaning victory comes through His power rather than human strength. (The Bible Show, GotQuestions.org)
  • The Amalekites not completely destroyed when Isreal entered Canaan. In Numbers 13:29 and Numbers 14:25, Amalekites are still documented living in the Negev and southern hill country, and the Book of Joshua does not record their complete eradication. (Nave’s Topical Bible)
  • The Period of the Judges: The Amalekites reemerge repeatedly as a persistent regional threat: In Judges 3:13, the Amalekites ally with Eglon, king of Moab, and the Ammonites to defeat Israel and capture the “City of Palms” (Jericho). The judge Ehud kills the fat Eglon and defeats the Moabites giving peace in Israel for 80 years. In Judges 6:3–5, the Amalekites join forces with the Midianites and “people of the east” to repeatedly raid, pillage, and devastate Israel’s crops and livestock every planting season. (BibleRef.com, Jewish Virtual Library, Bible Hub) Gideon battles with the Amalekites and Midianites, kills 135,000 of their men giving Israel peace for 40 years. Apparently Amalekites survived b/c Saul was later commanded to wipe them out.
  • 1 Samuel 15: God commanded Saul to totally destroy the remaining Amalekites but he spared their King Agag and the best of the animals. When confronted by Samuel, Saul argued that he had “completely destroyed the Amalekites”. He admitted sparing King Agag and the best of the animals to offer to the Lord. 22 But Samuel replied: “Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the Lord? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams. 23 For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance like the evil of idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, he has rejected you as king.” Saul said, “I have sinned” and made the excuse that “I was afraid of the men and so I gave in to them.” Samuel put Agag to death. 15:35 Until the day Samuel died, he did not go to see Saul again, though Samuel mourned for him. And the Lord regretted that he had made Saul king over Israel.”
  • Amalekites during the reign of King David. Amalekites were still present during the reign of David. “While hiding from King Saul and serving as a mercenary under the Philistine King Achish of Gath, David led regular raids against the Amalekites, Geshurites, and Girzites, killing populations to keep his actions hidden from Achish. (Bible Hub) The Amalekites raided David’s city of Ziklag and captured his wives and famililes of his men whom David rescued but 400 Amalekites escaped. “Shortly after the Ziklag victory, an Amalekite soldier arrived in David’s camp with Saul’s crown and bracelet. He claimed that Saul was wounded at the Battle of Gilboa and had asked the Amalekite to finish him off.” (Wikipedia) David had the Amalekite killed. During David’s reign as king of Israel, military pressure and subsequent campaigns severely diminished the Amalekites, leaving only scattered remnants that eventually faced final destruction by the Simeonites during the later reign of King Hezekiah. According to 1 Chronicles 4:42–43, a force of 500 Simeonites They killed the remaining Amalekites who had escaped earlier conflicts, marking the end of their presence in that region. The Book of Esther later mentions Haman the Agagite (an “Agagite” being linked to the Amalekite king Agag).

A few questions: 1) Why didn’t God forgive Saul when he admitted that he had sinned and begged forgiveness? God forgave David of adultery, murder, lying, and coveting but he didn’t forgive Saul of this seemingly much less serious of sin. I can only assume that God knew that Saul was not sincere in this “repentance”. We call it “crocodile tears”: Crocodile tears means a fake or insincere display of sadness, grief, or remorse. God knows men’s hearts and whether they are sincere or not. 2) Why was this partial obedience considered by God to be so serious? I mean, Saul did kill many of the Amalekites and a lot of the weaker animals. Perhaps his men really did want to offer to God the animals they spared (but that is probably doubtful). The answer is that God expects complete, full obedience to His commands. We sin when we flagrantly disobey God even in the smallest way. Saul was arrogant and defensive when talking to Samuel which shows his disregard for obeying the Lord. This was an attitude and heart problem and not just a minor disobedience. Even today, the grace of God saves us under the new covenant even though we don’t perfectly obey every commands. But an humble Christian will sincerely try to obey ever single command of the Lord. We can’t say, “Oh that’s just a small sin; it doesn’t matter if I break that command.” Jesus said, John 14:15 “If you love me, keep my commands.” Don’t ever say, “Well I obeyed most of what Jesus commanded and that’s enough”. 3) Is this a command of God for Israel to commit genocide? I read Christian commentators who try to rationalize this command and say that it wasn’t really a genocide but I find that hard to defend. If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, then it is a duck. It was a command to commit a genocide of the Amalekites. It is especially horrifying that the children were to be destroyed. We can say that the children are better off dying before they reach the age of accountability and that God takes innocent childdren to heaven, but it is still the slaughter of young children and babies. But the difference in that genocide and historical genocides is found in the justice of an Almighty God who rules the world. God is the judge of all the earth (stated by Abraham in Genesis 18:25). God has the right to judge peoples and nations and destroy them when He decides to. The Amalekites (and other Canaanites nations) had been seeped in idolatry for centuries. They had the same opportunity to believe in the one true God Yahweh just like Rahab did, but instead chose to fight Israel. God had a certain point where He would no longer tolerate a nation’s sin and would execute justice by wiping them out. Genesis 15:16 In the fourth generation your descendants will come back here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure.” The Amalekites had reached their “full measure” of sins. The same would be true of all the Canaanite nations that God commanded Joshua to totally annihilate (genocide). God’s command for Israel to commit genocide was not out of racial hatred like historical genocides but was the execution of Divine justice.

1 Samuel 16: Samuel anoints David as king. God sent Samuel to the house of Jesse to anoint David as the next king David was from the tribe of Judah, which Genesis 49:10 specified that the kings should come from Judah. Saul was a Benjamite, the wrong tribe and it makes you wonder why God told Samuel to anoint Saul knowing the kingly line could was not predicted to come from the family of Saul, a Benjamite. I think the anointing of Saul as king was to give Israel a bad king to show that God’s original plan was better. God gave Saul every chance to be an obedient king, even giving him miraculous Spirit powers, but God knew all along that Saul would turn bad and be rejected by God as king. God knew the kingly line would not continue through Saul’s descendants. Sometimes we ask God for something that is not really in our best interests or that is not the plans of God, and God grants our request just to show us we were wrong and teach us a lesson. A classic example of this is found in Numbers 11. In the wilderness the Israelites complained about only having manna to eat and no meat, so God gave them quail 3 feet deep and 15-20 miles square. While they were greedily gorging on the quail, God struck them with a plague and many died there at Kibroth-Hattaavah (which means “graves of greed). So be careful what you ask God for. You might be asking “with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures” (James 4:3). You might have good intentions on what you ask for, but it might not be God’s plan or in your own best interests, so always close your request “thy will be done”.

Life Lesson: Samuel saw Jesse’s son Eliab and thought surely he was the one to anoint. God said, 16:“Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” How true that is! We judge people by how they look, by our prejudices. We tend to admire someone who is beautiful, smart, or talented. They might have evil hearts but we still admire them just b/c of their “outward appearance”. Or we look down on someone b/c of their outward appearance. A classic example: Do you remember Susan Boyle who originally auditioned on Britain’s Got Talent in 2009. You could tell from their expressions and raised eyebrows that the audience and judges judged her and looked down on her b/c of her plain appearance. She then sang, “I Dreamed a Dream” from Les Misérables and they were stunned with her talent. All of a sudden they praised and applauded her and she went on to become a star. Jeremiah 17:10 – “I the Lord search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways”. Proverbs 21:2 – States that while people think their ways are right, “the Lord weighs the heart”. I am so guilty of judging people by outward appearance. I tend to judge people who are obese, who talk too much, who beg on the streets, who are politicians, who are high paid located preachers, and the list goes on instead of trying to find out if someone has. good heart. I confess that I need to do better! Jesus said in Matthew 7:1 7 “Do not judge, or you too will be judged. 2 For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” I need to be more concerned about the log that is in my eye before criticizing the speck in someone else’s eye. What about you?

So Samuel anointed David. 1 Samuel 16:13 So Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers, and from that day on the Spirit of the Lord (miraculous powers) came powerfully upon David. Samuel then went to Ramah (his hometown). 14 Now the Spirit of the Lord had departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord tormented him.” This is not an evil spirit that kept Saul from making his own freewill choices even though it was from God. God has the right to send an evil spirit on someone who has rejected Him. Paul spoke of those who believed the lying signs of the “man of sin” who would decieve Jews before 70 AD: 2 Thessalonians 2:11 For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie.” But they still had the ability to make freewill choices. From 1 Samuel 16:14 on, Saul had an evil spirit and would have fits of rage. David was brought in to play his lyre (a “portable” harp) and calm Saul. 1 Samuel 16:23 Whenever the spirit from God came on Saul, David would take up his lyre and play. Then relief would come to Saul; he would feel better, and the evil spirit would leave him.” David entered Saul’s service going back and forth from his home with Jesse.

Does 1 Samuel 17 occur chronologically before 1 Samuel 16? The basis for this possibility comes from something Saul said after David defeated Goliath. 1 Samuel 17:In 1 Samuel 17:55–58, King Saul asks, “Whose son is this young man?” and asks David who his father is, even though David had previously played the lyre for him and become his armor-bearer in 1 Samuel 16:21–23. Did Saul not rccognize David if David had been playing the harp for him? Maybe Saul was asking more about David’s family lineage since he had promised wealth and his daughter in marriage to whoever defeated Goliath. Thus David answers ““I am the son of your servant Jesse the Bethlehemite.” Maybe Saul was always in an evil spirit induced rage when David would come play he harp for Saul and Saul really didn’t recognize who had been playing the harp for him. David did not live permanently at the royal court as a full-time standing soldier. He split his time between playing music/serving Saul and going back home to tend his father’s sheep in Bethlehem (1 Samuel 17:15). I think that is the better explanation and thus 1 Samuel 17 does occur chronologically after 1 Samuel 16 just as it is recorded in the Hebrew Bible.

1 Samuel 17: David kills Goliath. Perhaps the most well known event in the Old Testament. No need to retell the story here but there is a great lesson. Why did David say that he could defeat Goliath? 1 Samuel 17:34 But David said to Saul, “Your servant has been keeping his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, 35 I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it. 36 Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God. 37 The Lord who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine.” David credits God (and the supernatural miraculous Spirit God gave him) with his ability to kill the lion and the bear. He has full confidence that God will give him the wisdom and ability to kill the giant! 45 David said to the Philistine, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. 46 This day the Lord will deliver you into my hands, and I’ll strike you down and cut off your head. This very day I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds and the wild animals, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel. 47 All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves; for the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give all of you into our hands.” David used a stone, not a sword or spear although he did cut Goliath’s head off with Goliath’s own sword. King Saul was camped with the army of Israel in the Valley of Elah (1 Samuel 17:2) when “Abner took him and brought him before Saul, with David still holding the Philistine’s head.”

Life Lesson: Do you have the same confidence in the Lord that David had when you are fighting life’s battles? One of the things I thank God for in my daily prayers is God giving me “narrow escapes”. Many times God rescued me from some problem or danger. You would think that would give me the confidence that He will rescue me from future problems or danger, but often I panic when I have a new problem or danger. What battles are you facing? Do you trust in the Lord to help you win those battles. David still had to sling a stone at Goliath but he did so trusting that God would kill Goliath, and He did. Does God helping you in the past help you muster courage and confidence as you face new problems or dangers?

1 Samuel 18: Saul tries to kill David. After defeating Goliath, Saul 1 Samuel 18:2 From that day Saul kept David with him and did not let him return home to his family.” His going back and forth to his home with Jesse ended. He also met his best friend and confidant in Saul’s son Jonathon. David “loved him as himself”. Saul gives him a high rank in his army and David uses that miraculous Spirit powers to kill many Philistines. That’s when the “green eyed monster” of envy raised its head. Saul heard the women giving more praise to David than Saul and Saul became suspicious of David taking his kingdom. 18:9 And from that time on Saul kept a close eye on David.” The very next day Saul tried twice to spear David to the wall but failed. He offered his daughter Merab in marriage to David if he would fight the Philistines for him, thinking surely David would get killed in battle. But then he gave Marob to another man. Saul offered his other daughter Michal to David if he would bring him 100 Philistine foreskins! David brought him 200 foreskins and married Michal. 18:9 And from that time on Saul kept a close eye on David.

1 Samuel 19: David gets Michal as his wife and flees to Samuel at Ramah. Jonathon persuaded Saul that David was no threat to him and briefly David was welcome back in Saul’s court. Saul tries again to spear David. Saul sent men to capture David at the house of David and Michal, but Michal helped him escape. Michal said that David threatened to kill her if she did not help him escape. David fled to Samuel at Ramah. Saul sent men three times to capture David but all 3 times the men started prophesying and got sidetracked. Saul found out that David and Samuel were at Naioth and went there to kill David, but he also began prophesying naked a day and night in Samuel’s presence.

That’s long but I hope it is interesting to read about the Amalekites and then discuss those 3 questions.

Keep up with your daily reaading and corresponding blog articles.

OCT 14 READ 1 SAMUEL 10-14

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1 Samuel 9-11: Samuel anoints Saul as king. After meeting and eating with Saul (chapter 9), Samuel then anointed him to be the first king of Israel. Samuel gave Saul 3 signs to confirm his anointing, the most unusual of which was that Saul would meet some prophets with musical instruments and Saul would prophesy with them! God changed Saul’s heart (1 Samuel 10:9) with supernatural ability (i.e. whenever the Spirit of God would come upon him) and boldness to lead the people as king but that would not last long. All 12 tribes came together at Mizpah for the official anointing of Saul, but he had hidden himself among the supplies. He wasn’t hard to spot b/c he was a head taller than anyone else. 10:24 Samuel said to all the people, “Do you see the man the Lord has chosen? There is no one like him among all the people.” Is Saul a sincere, humble person at this time? Even when “scoundrels” despised Saul as king, Saul kept silent and did not try to kill them like he tried to kill David later. Saul seems like the perfect candidate for what the people wanted as their king. Soon after being anointed, the Spirit of God came on him miraculously and he mustered 3,000 men to go rescue the men of Jabesh-Gilead who had been threatened by the Ammonites with having their right eyes put out. Saul slaughtered the Ammonites. He was that king they wanted to go fight their battles with their enemies. Again, Saul humbly refused to kill those who objected to him being king.

1 Samuel 12: Samuel gave his farewell address. He called on the Lord to send thunder and rain to confirm that Israel had done an evil thing by asking for a king. The people asked Samuel to pray for them. Samuel said, 12:23 As for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by failing to pray for you. And I will teach you the way that is good and right.” We should never stop praying for people, even evil, rebellious people. I can think of several people right now who it seems have sinned and fallen from grace. They are not repenting or changing their sinful lives in spite of many warnings. It is easy to just quit praying for them, thinking that it is hopeless. But intercessory prayer can still change things.

1 Samuel 13: Saul’s first big sin. Saul was 30 when he became king and reigned 40 years as king. The Philistines had come up against Israel with many more men and chariots than Israel had. The men of Israel “were quaking with fear, hiding in caves, and deserting” Saul’s army of 3,000 down to only 600 men. Samuel had told Saul to wait 7 days for Samuel to come offer a burnt offering to ask God for victory in the battle, but Saul panicked and offered the burnt offering himself. Samuel condemned his action and told him that God was going to remove him as king and choose a man “after God’s own heart”. None of Saul’s 600 men had swords or shields b/c the Philistines had not allowed Israel to have blacksmiths. Things looked desperate.

1 Samuel 14: Victory over the Philistines. In the meantime, Jonathon, Saul’s son, had gone to the Philistine camp to seek a sign that God was going to deliver Israel. God gave him a sign and he and his armor-bearer killed 20 Philistines. God caused a panic to strike the Philistines and they began to scatter in total confusion, killing each other with their swords. The Israelites, however, were faint in hunger b/c Saul had made a foolish oath that no one should eat until he avenged himself of his enemies (his pride showing up). Jonathon did not know about the oath and ate some honey. The hunger of the Israelites caused them to kill and animals with the blood still in them, which was a sin under the Law. Saul asked God why He had not answered his prayer, and Saul assumed that it was b/c of “sin in the camp” (as with the sin of Achan in Judges). Lots were cast and Jonathon was chosen as the guilty party and Saul sentenced him to die for breaking the oath of not eating. The Israelites would not let Saul kill Jonathon. Again, it looked like Saul was just what the people wanted in a king. 14:23 47 After Saul had assumed rule over Israel, he fought against their enemies on every side: Moab, the Ammonites, Edom, the kings of Zobah, and the Philistines. Wherever he turned, he inflicted punishment on them.48 He fought valiantly and defeated the Amalekites, delivering Israel from the hands of those who had plundered them.” They did not know that God had already rejected Saul for his disobedience in not waiting for Samuel to offer the burnt offering. He was what we would call a “lame duck” king (still officially in office but already fired!). Saul had 2 daughters, Merab and Michal. His father was Kish. His commander of his army was Abner.

Saul is an intriguing character. He had the miraculous power of the Spirit and could have been a successful king. He seemed humble when first anointed, but then his lack of faith in God showed with his first big sin of not waiting for Samuel. God still gave Saul victories over the Philistines, but God said that he would be removed as king. In the rest of 1 Samuel, we will see a very evil Saul. In 2 Samuel 1:9 after Saul’s death in battle, David said “How the mighty have fallen”. Over time, it shifted from a literal mourning of fallen warriors into a general idiom when a major corporation goes bankrupt, a corrupt politician is disgraced, or a dominant sports team suffers a massive losing streak. Or when a Christian is lifted up with pride, quits trusting in God, and falls from grace. In other words, when pride causes a person to fall from a lofty status. Pride would be the cause of the fall of Saul from favor with God. A warning to all of us: Let him that thinks he stands take heed lest he fall (1 Corinthians 10:12).