[NOTE: For those who are continuing the 1-year Bible reading plan we started on April 1, 2018, just go to the end of this entry and you will find the Day 348 – 1 Timothy 4-6; Luke 7 summary!]
Today we move to 1 Samuel. The next six books we encounter: 1 & 2 Samuel, 1 & 2 Kings, and 1 & 2 Chronicles, take us through the life and times of Israel from the days just prior to the establishment of the monarchy, through the fall of the Northern Kingdom (Israel), and the Southern Kingdom (Judah). These books are historical narrative. 1 & 2 Kings, and 1 & 2 Chronicles offer much of the same material, but differ in their details. 1 & 2 Samuel starts with the life of Samuel, one of the greatest prophets in the history of Israel. As we will see, Samuel was called by God to select the first and second kings of Israel: Saul and David. King David became the greatest king in the nation’s history, and the one everyone used as a point of comparison for the Messiah. The Messiah was often referred to as “The Son of David,” even though he was in the same sense “The Son of Solomon,” “The Son of Rehoboam,” and so on. Let’s turn now to the first three chapters of 1 Samuel.
In 1 Samuel 1, we read the account of Elkanah, Hannah, and Peninnah. Elkanah was the husband of both Hannah and Peninnah. Peninnah had children but Hannah did not. That led Peninnah to ridicule Hannah, because in that culture not having a child, and a son in particular, was cause for ridicule. Hannah took her barren condition to the Lord. Her prayer was so desperate that Eli, the priest at Shiloh, thought she was drunk. She was sobbing and praying with her lips moving, but not making any sound. He started to ridicule her as well for being drunk, but Hannah told him she was crying out to the LORD for a son. Eli offered a blessing over her, that her prayer would be answered. It was! Hannah bore a son, and she named him Samuel, which means “The LORD hears.” What an appropriate and powerful name. As part of her prayer to the LORD for a son, Hannah had promised to dedicate the child to the LORD. She kept the promise and when Samuel had been weaned, she took him back to Eli, so Eli could bring him up as a priest. It’s hard to imagine making a vow to dedicate one’s child to the LORD at such a young age. Yet, it shows us Hannah’s trust in Him and Hannah’s obedience. At the moment, she had no idea how important her son would be to Israel. The only thing she knew was the LORD could answer her prayers, and as He did, she would respond by trusting her son to Him.
The first half of 1 Samuel 2 records the beautiful prayer of Hannah. The words in it recount God’s faithfulness, and how He cares for those who are downtrodden. About a thousand years later, another young woman of Israel would recite her own prayer, that would incorporate some of Hannah’s words and ideas, because of God giving her a son. That woman would be named Mary, and her son’s name would be Jesus! In the remainder of the chapter, we read about Eli’s sons and their unfaithfulness in their work as priests. They desecrated the sacrifices of people, and they seduced some of the young women who came to worship. Meanwhile, Samuel served Eli faithfully, At the close of the chapter a man of God came along and pronounced a curse on Eli and his family. While Eli was faithful, he did nothing to stop his sons from serving wickedly before the LORD. Because of that, Eli’s family would no longer be priests, and all would die an untimely death. The curse is harsh, but remember, God was establishing a holy people, and those serving in the priesthood must be faithful. The lesson we learn from this passage is we are called to call our children to faithfulness. If they are not faithful, we cannot permit them to continue in positions of prominence in the LORD’s work. This passage hits so close to home for me, because our two daughters are not following the LORD at this time. We continue to pray for them, and we continue to call them to return to the Lord. We also continue to love them and to stay in relationship with them. We do not even consider giving them the opportunity to serve in any kind of leadership in the church–not that they would want to do so right now.
1 Samuel 3 records the first encounter Samuel had with the LORD. It’s a bit amusing if you step back from it and think about it. Samuel was still quite young, and we’re told the word of the LORD wasn’t common in those days. In other words, the LORD didn’t often speak to people directly. But one night as Samuel was sleeping the LORD called out to him, “Samuel.” Samuel had no idea it was the LORD. How would he? The LORD had never spoken to him. He made a reasonable assumption: Eli is calling me. So, he went to Eli and asked what he wanted. Eli said he hadn’t called Samuel and told him to go back to bed. This happened again, with the same result. Then it happened again, and Elirealized it was the LORD. He told Samuel if he heard the voice again to say, “Speak LORD, your servant listens.” What a powerful statement. Often in my prayer times, when I want to simply listen to the LORD, I will say the same thing, “Speak LORD, your servant listens.” The LORD did speak to Samuel. He gave Samuel the same message of the bleak future Eli’s family would experience. Their judgment was coming.
The next morning Eli asked Samuel if the LORD had spoken, and if so, what He had said. Eli also warned him to tell the truth, so Samuel did. From that moment forward the LORD spoke to Samuel often, and gave Samuel credibility not only with the people who came to Shiloh, but eventually with all of Israel.
In John 20, we have the joy of rereading the account of Jesus’ resurrection! To me the most poignant moment in John’s account of the resurrection is when Mary Magdalene sees Jesus and thinks He is the gardener. She asks Him where they have taken the body, so she may go and bring it back. Jesus speaks to Mary. He only says one word, but that one word shows Mary who it is. The word was, “Mary.” Jesus spoke her name, and Mary recognized Jesus. She knew the sound of compassion that had led her back from prostitution and demon possession. Can you imagine what that must have been like? In our own lives, Jesus speaks our names. He knows each of us by name. He calls each of us by name. People often say, “If you were the only person who needed to be saved, Jesus would have died for you.” That statement is true, and one day, those of us who have trusted Jesus as Savior and Lord, will stand before Him and hear Him call our name. Mary had a glimpse of that moment on the first resurrection morning. May we live our lives in such a way that when we face Jesus it will be the greatest moment of our eternity!
Day 348 – 1 Timothy 4-6; Luke 7
In 1 Timothy 4, Paul gives Timothy a “laundry list” of practices he ought to follow to be effective in his leadership as a pastor. They include avoiding false teaching, and not letting folks look down on you because of your youth.
In 1 Timothy 5, Paul gives specific recommendations on how to relate to older men and women–as if they were your father or mother, and how to address the matter of widows in the church. Paul went to great lengths in defining what was and was not a widow and addressed younger widows in particular by telling them to remarry, so they would not be led astray. These recommendations don’t contradict what Paul said about marriage in 1 Corinthians, but they do show us there were some contextual differences between churches as we might expect. Paul also points out in the beginning of 1 Timothy 6 how slaves ought to respect and respond to their masters. This is really the completion of 1 Timothy 5, because the remainder of 1 Timothy 6 addresses the matter of wealthy members of the church.
In the remainder of 1 Timothy 6, Paul speaks about those who are wealthy or are “rich” in this world. He reminds him that the love of money is the root of all sorts of evil. Money is not evil. As someone has said, “Money is like a brick. It is neither good nor bad in and of itself. A brick can be used to build a house or break a window. It isn’t the brick that is good or bad, but the motivation of the one using it.” In the same way, Paul admonishes Timothy to instruct those with worldly wealth, which includes nearly all of us who are reading this, if we’re Americans, to be generous, to enjoy what God has given us, to use it to do good. So often when church people start talking about money, they get bogged down in defining what tithing is and whether we ought to tithe on the net or the gross. Here’s the short truth about wealth: When we realize it is allGod’s in the first place, and we use it as faithful and generous stewards or managers, our lives are so much better than when we listen to the world and either hoard it or waste it. Money is a tool to be used in serving Jesus, our Master. Money is a great servant and a terrible master.
As we return to Luke 7, Jesus heals a Roman centurion’s servant, showing us His desire to see God’s Kingdom come was not reserved to Jews only. Next, Jesus raised a widow’s son from the dead, showing us His concern for widows. Then John the Baptist’s disciples come to Jesus and ask Him a piercing question from John: Are you the Messiah or not? John had been expecting a conquering hero Messiah, a Messiah who would restore Israel to prominence. Jesus wasn’t that. Jesus’ response was to quote Isaiah, a messianic passage from Isaiah to show John He was the Messiah, but not in the way John expected. Jesus used the moment to affirm John’s ministry. The final encounter of the chapter finds Jesus as a wealthy man’s dinner guest, when a “sinful” woman comes in and makes a scene, by kissing Jesus’ feet, washing them with her tears, and drying them with her hair. The rich man thinks to himself that Jesus would know what kind of woman this was, if He were truly a prophet. Jesus tells the man a story about two men who owed their master a debt. One owed a great debt, the other a small debt. The master forgave both debts. Jesus asked which servant would love the master more? The man said the one who was forgiven more. Jesus affirmed the answer, and then affirmed the woman for her great love and said her sins, which were many were forgiven, because of her great love.