One Year Bible Readings and Commentary for Thursday, May 12th
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Click Here to Read 1 Samuel 12-13
Samuel's Farewell Address
As Samuel gives his last words to the Israelites it is as if you can tell he knows what is about to happen in Israel. Yet he wants to give one last message that will compel them to trust in the Lord and obey him alone. The people all affirm that Samuel is a man after God's own heart and had been faithful.
Then Samuel recounts God's faithfulness to Israel with prophets like Moses and Aaron leading them out of Egypt. But then Israel started worshipping idols and were defeated by the foreign kings of Moabites, Philistines, and Ammonites. For this reason they wanted a king, even though the Lord was the king over them. Samuel closes by reminding them that if they obeyed the Lord, he would defend their cause. But if they rebelled and worshipped idols, both they and their king would die.
Samuel Rebukes Saul
Saul attacks the Philistines with the help of 2,000 men were with him, and 1,000 men with Jonathan in Benjamin. After the initial attack, the Philistines brought a huge army to attack the Israelites. The soldiers were shaking in the boots and were hiding out in caves and thickets, among the rocks, and in pits and cisterns. Clearly the situation was not good.
Meanwhile, Samuel had told Saul he would meet him at Gilgal and to wait for him there. After 7 days Saul grew impatient and decided to take matters into his own hands. He offered burnt offerings and other sacrifices at the tabernacle though he wasn't a priest. When Samuel finally got there he rebuked Saul for his foolish and impulsive decision. Samuel told him the consequences of his disobedience was that the kingship would be taken from him and given to a man "who was after God's own heart!"
At the end of the day Saul was left with 600 men. Not only were they outnumbered but the Philistines had much better technology when it came to their weaponry.
The Philistines had superior military technology and they wanted to keep it that way. Since they were a seafaring people, the Philistines traded with the technologically sophisticated cultures to the west, especially the Greeks. They imported weapons and know-how from those distant lands. - Guzik
By carefully guarding their military technology, the Philistines kept the Israelites in a subservient place.
Things were so bad for the Israelites that only Jonathan and Saul had a sword in their hands.
Israel paid a heavy price for their leader Saul's decision making. Most importantly it was a sign that they were no longer trusting in the Lord. When God was with them it didn't even necessarily matter how many men they had, or what type of weaponry they owned. God was the secret to their success.
It is the same with us. Though we may feel, weak, scared or unequipped to do what God calls us to do, if we rely on Him we can do things we could never think or imagine. It will be clear that our power to do these things was not from Him!
Click Here to Read John 7:1-30
As the festival of tabernacles drew near, Jesus told his disciples to go up to Jerusalem, but he stayed behind. His disciples urged him to go where the Jews were gathered, so he could do more signs among them and win them over. But Jesus told them it was not the right time yet.
Jesus was on His Father's time table not those around him, as sincere at they might have been.
At a later time Jesus went to the festival. Midway through the festival Jesus got up in the temple to teach. We don't know if he was invited or just stood up to teach. He spoke as one having authority, which the people noticed and commented on. But Jesus told them that He was not teaching in his own power or authority, but spoke only the words God enabled him to speak. Jesus rebuked them by telling them that though they received the teaching of Moses, none of them obeyed it.
The crowd accuses Jesus of being demon possessed. A quick change of their view of him. But Jesus is quick to point out they accused Him of breaking the Law of the Sabbath by healing on the Sabbath, yet they circumcised a boy, if the 8th day fell on a Sabbath. Jesus is pointing out the contradictory nature of their teaching and judgment of him.
Is Jesus the Messiah?
Jesus' teaching in the temple left people scratching their heads. They wondered why the Jewish leaders had let him teach, if they were so against him. But they also thought that since they knew where he had come from that he could not be the Messiah. When Jesus claimed he had come from God and was sent by God, the leaders decided he had gone too far and it was time for them to act. But they also realized it was not yet time the right time. It shows that God was sovereign over all of the events happening. Jesus' time was coming soon but not yet.
Click Here to Read Proverbs 15:4
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