Year 7, Day 304: 1 Samuel 18

Theological Commentary: Click Here

In this chapter, we get to hear about love.  First, we have Jonathan and David’s shared love.  They are like brothers.  Jonathan and David grow to have a great appreciation for one another, as we’ll see later.  Jonathan and David forge a covenant together.  They are truly even closer than family because of their kindred spirit.

On the other hand, we hear about Saul’s love for hating David.  I find this interesting.  Here is the boy who soothes Saul’s temper by being a great musician.  Here is a boy whole just killed Goliath and freed the people from his threat.  Yet, Saul loathes David.  What is it that causes this hero to be hated by Saul?  There are two reasons.  First of all, there is sheer jealousy.  That’s a great lesson to learn.  We will be hated by those who have a jealous eye.  The second reason, though, is far deeper.  Saul hates David because the Lord is with David and no longer with him.  David is hated because God is with him.

Then we hear about Michal’s love for David.  What I find despicable about this story is that Saul is willing to use his daughter’s love to get at David.  Saul puts a bride price for Michal as something that will draw him into direct physical conflict with the Philistines.  Saul is willing to use his daughter’s love as a tool to destroy David.  It’s very interesting to see the how people can corrupt something as beautiful as love for their own pleasure.

<><

Year 7, Day 303: 1 Samuel 17

Theological Commentary: Click Here

David and Goliath is one of the premier stories of the Old Testament, especially for young people.  I can’t begin to tell you how many young people find courage in this story.  After all, when you are young, what’s not to appreciate about this brave young man who goes off and conquers the big tall status quo?  There’s much to love in this underdog story.

That being said, let’s make sure that we understand some of the main points here.  First of all, notice that David isn’t doing this for his own glory.  This is not about David and his fame.  This is about, as David puts it, an “uncircumcised Gentile” coming up against God.  This isn’t about David, this is about God!  David is living into God’s calling for him.  That’s vitally important for understanding David’s motivation and righteousness.

Second, pay attention to the results of this battle.  First of all, the Philistines don’t live up to their word.  When Goliath is slain, they run.  They don’t serve the Hebrew people like they promised.  They run away.  They aren’t people of their word; they are people who threaten and intimidate and then run when called out.  Essentially, they are bullies and living out every bit of the role.  However, when they run they leave everything behind.  The Hebrew people are free to plunder their camp when they return from pursuing the Philistines.

Most important, though, is to note where David places his faith.  David doesn’t place his faith in Saul’s armor.  Neither does he place his faith in his own power.  I love David’s great statement of faith.  “The Lord who delivered me from the paws of the lion and the bear will deliver me from this Philistine.”  David is willing to follow God and place himself into harm’s way because he knows that God is more than capable of delivering him.  That’s the greatest part of  this whole story.

<><

Year 7, Day 302: 1 Samuel 16

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Often when I read this passage, I focus on what I believe to be one of the major themes: God looks beyond the outward appearances when judging a person.  Today I’m going to look at God’s provision instead.  I think it is neat to watch God’s hand appear in places we might not expect and then see what He does.

David is anointed.  Do you hear Samuel’s objection before he goes?  Samuel knows that if Saul hears what Samuel is doing that Saul will be angry.  God encourages Samuel to go anyways.  After all, God can protect Samuel.  Samuel goes.

However, we’re left with a dilemma after David is anointed.  How is this little shepherd boy going to learn how to rule a kingdom?  How is David going to ever learn to feel comfortable in Jerusalem amidst the people, the political agendas, the maneuvering, and the sheer mass of humanity?

God provides an answer.  Saul is tormented by a spirit.  He needs to be soothed.  The way that the spirit is soothed is through music.  What is David other than a talented musician!  God gets David into the court and into the arena where He wants him through this tormenting spirit.  David will get his court training, begin to make political alliances, and make a name for himself because of Saul’s tormenting spirit.

I find God’s ability to work through almost any circumstance absolutely amazing.  It is usually worth pausing and reflecting on just what God can actually use to accomplish His will.  Then, it’s worth realizing He is still working like that, too.

<><

Year 7, Day 301: 1 Samuel 15

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Rebellion is an interesting thing, isn’t it?  We know that rebellion is bad.  Those of us who fear God know that the punishment for rebellion is even worse.  We don’t want to know the rejection of God.  Yet, sin is tempting.  While we logically know that we shouldn’t go against God’s ways and that sin is bad for us in the long-term, rebellion is so tempting in the moment.

That’s what happens here to Saul today.  God tells Saul to go up and defeat the Amalekites.  He does.  God tells Saul to devote the things of the Amalekites to destruction.  He almost does.  Saul has no trouble destroying the common things.  But Saul falls into temptation when it comes to the king’s goods, the king’s herds, and the king himself.

Saul allows the people to convince him to take the really good plunder and not destroy it.  Even worse, when Samuel comes to Saul he claims that he obeyed God.  Even when Samuel questions Saul, he sticks to the lie.  Only when Samuel really presses in does Saul tell the truth.  For his effort, the kingdom is torn from Saul.  His offspring will not be kings of the Hebrew people.

We can only speculate what would have happened had Saul obeyed.  Or, what if Saul had confessed the sin when Samuel came and confronted him.  After all, the Bible is full of plenty of stories of less than perfect leaders who choose sin, repent of their sin when confronted, and find forgiveness.  But this doesn’t happen.  Saul sins, hides the sin, lies about the sin, and thinks he can fool God.  This is why Saul is rejected and the kingship will ultimately fall to another man and his offspring.

<><

Year 7, Day 300: 1 Samuel 14

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Today we see the fruition of yesterday’s sin.  Saul was afraid of the mounting Philistine army, so he attempted to force God’s hand and get His blessing.  Saul sinned unremorsefully.

Look at how God saves the Hebrew people.  God doesn’t do it with force.  In fact, God does it with a single young man and his shield bearer.  In fact, it is Saul’s own son who brings about God’s salvation.  Saul fears at the sight of the massive encampment of Philistines; God sends two men in and turns the Philistine camp into a place of panic and slaughter.

Saul really doesn’t understand God’s power.  Honestly, how many of us truly do?  The main difference, though, is that Saul is not patient enough to let God’s plan unfold.  Jonathan is, however.  Jonathan tells the shield bearer to wait if the Philistines don’t invite them in but to go forth in confidence if the Philistines invite them in.  Jonathan is willing to let God dictate the terms.  Jonathan sets himself up to either do whatever God’s will is and then let God determine the terms.

For me, that’s the big learning.  Jonathan is a patient leader who does have a heart for God’s ways.  Jonathan is willing to wait upon the Lord and follow.

<><

Year 7, Day 299: 1 Samuel 13

Theological Commentary: Click Here

In today’s passage we see one of Saul’s three great acts of rebellion.  Saul gets nervous at the sight of an enemy and panics.  He goes in and offers a sacrifice.  Rather than waiting for Samuel and abiding by God’s timing, Saul get anxious and does what seems right in his eyes.

His motivation for doing so is awful.  On the surface, it sounds reasonable.  He just wanted the favor of the Lord.  That makes it sound like he has concern with his relationship with God, doesn’t it?  However, this is no different that the Hebrew people who brought forth the ark to try and force God to fight for them!  Saul isn’t seeking God’s will, Saul is trying to force God’s favor!

Furthermore, look what happens when Saul is caught.  Saul begins to make excuses.  He doesn’t repent!  He does admit that he did it, but there isn’t any remorse in his words.  There are excuses and justifications.

This is why God rejects Saul.  Saul isn’t a man after God’s own heart.  Saul wants God to back him and makes excuses for when he conflicts God’s ways.  He’s not repentant, remorseful, or acknowledging of fault.

<><

Year 7, Day 298: 1 Samuel 12

Theological Commentary: Click Here

There is a really neat theme in this chapter.  Before we get to that theme, though, I want to recap what I hear all throughout the chapter.  Samuel comes to the people and warns them about their history with respect to their rebellion.  The people rebelled in Egypt.  The people rebelled in the wilderness.  The people rebelled under the judges.  There is a message here: human beings rebel.  We are more reliable to rebel as the size of the population grows beyond the individual to the group and to the nation.

In fact, notice that Samuel mentions their most recent rebellion.  The people have asked for a king.  Do you hear what Samuel says when the people acknowledge that their request was an error?  Samuel doesn’t console them.  Samuel agrees with them and affirms their error!  He tells them that it was indeed rebellion to ask for a king!

Now we are ready to get to the great theme in this chapter.  Samuel runs the theme of repentance all throughout this chapter.  When the people repent, God saves them.  This happens again and again.  The people repent.  They cry out. God saves them.

So it is again with this request to be king.  Samuel tells them to repent.  Samuel tells them that God will continue to protect them and be their God so long as their hearts are right and striving after Him.

For me, that’s really the capstone idea in this chapter.  God will work with us.  He will work through our mistakes.  God can overcome our poor decisions.  He can work His will through our mistakes – even in spite of them.  God doesn’t need our perfection.  God desires our repentant hearts.  That’s the key that Samuel puts forth as he speaks to the people.

<><

Year 7, Day 297: 1 Samuel 11

Theological Commentary: Click Here

We get a fairly good first glimpse of Saul the leader.  He starts out well.  I might have a personal quibble over the need to slaughter some oxen to prove his point, but that’s a secondary issue today.  The point is that Saul starts out on a pretty decent foot.

Saul hears that God’s people are being subjected and threatened.  The Spirit of the Lord comes upon Saul and Saul responds.  That’s the first thing that he does well. Saul rises up to the challenge.  Saul responds.  He answers the call of the Lord.  Saul doesn’t quench the Spirit, he fosters it.

Second, Saul leads with wisdom.  He divides up his people so that they can attack on multiple fronts.  He communicates with the people being threatened so that they can plan the attack well and keep the enemy right where Saul wants them.  Once they run, Saul pursues them well enough that the force scatters so that it cannot reorganize.

Third, Saul leads with grace.  Do you hear the human impatience of those around him?  Those around him want to put to death those who opposed his rule.  Saul steps up and calls for cooler heads to prevail.  In doing so he shows wisdom and takes a step towards peace with his enemies.

It’s nice to see that in the beginning Saul was a good choice as leader.  He does have the capacity to lead with wisdom.  He has the capacity to be gracious.  He has the capacity to organize people underneath him.  At the beginning of his reign, he is a good leader.

<><

Year 7, Day 296: 1 Samuel 10

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Saul is anointed by Samuel.  Notice something rather interesting here, though.  Saul is anointed, but that anointing is private.  Samuel tells Saul to go home and he will come in a week to find Saul to make him king publicly before all of the Hebrew people.  I find this very interesting.  If Saul is not king until he goes before the people, then what is the purpose of the anointing?  If the anointing made him king, then what is the purpose of going before the people other than to reveal what was done in private?  But if this is the case, why sort through the tribes and not just announce Saul as king?

To be fair, I think we have two separate events happening here.  First, we have the anointing of Saul.  God’s Spirit comes upon Saul.  Saul prophesies.  He is given the keys to God’s kingdom.  A week later, Samuel comes to anoint Saul for work in arising Hebrew kingdom.  First and foremost, we see that we are talking about at least two entirely different kingdoms.

However, take a look at Saul’s reaction here.  In the first instance, Sul takes the Spirit of God and goes forth.  He prophesies.  However, he doesn’t fulfill the rest of what Samuel says.  He even goes home and tells nobody about what happened!  Saul receives a great gift from God, plays with it a little while it amuses him, and then stuffs it away without telling anyone about what happened.

Then, at his own inauguration as a human king, he hides among the luggage!  Saul doesn’t even come out to receive what God is offering to him.  I find that even more telling.  Saul incompletely receives the spiritual kingdom; Saul hides from the earthly kingdom.

I’m not trying to be overly hard at Saul.  Yes, we know that God ultimately rejects Saul asking because Saul rejects God’s ways and God’s authority.  We see evidence of that here at the very beginning.  At the same time, though, I cannot imagine how Saul must have felt going out to find donkeys and all of a sudden being able to prophesy and being told that you are going to be king.  That’s an amazing amount of newness thrust upon Saul.

What I learn in this passage is that we must be ready for God.  We don’t know what God is going to ask of us.   We also don’t know when He is going to ask it.  If we allow ourselves to become complacent, we can be overwhelmed when God comes among us and actually lose what He desires to give us.

<><

Year 7, Day 295: 1 Samuel 9

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Today we make a move towards Saul.  Saul is an interesting choice for a king.  I think the Bible is attempting to teach us a pretty obvious lesson here and we would be wise to learn it.  There is no sense making a hard lesson out of an easy one.

Saul is chosen for king because he is handsome and physically large.  The fact that he was tall likely also meant that he was proportionately stronger than other men.  Saul is chosen for his physical attributes.  He looks like a good choice.

Don’t get me wrong.  Saul will do some good things.  Saul will lead the men into victorious battle.  As God desires, He will save the people from the hands of the Philistines.  But as we’ll see, while Saul may be the pretty choice on the outside he has some pretty serious flaws within.  His flaws may not be worse than the flaws for the rest of the regular people.  However, they are bad when considering the choice for king.

I believe God is teaching the people a lesson.  They have rejected Him and His ways of bringing righteous leaders to rule over them.  Therefore, God will allow the man who looks like a good leader and who fights well to rise up.  We’ll see as we continue to read how this choice unfolds with respect to the leadership over the tribes.

<><

Year 7, Day 294: 1 Samuel 8

Theological Commentary: Click Here

1 Samuel 8 is the transition from judges to monarchy. I’ve always thought the part where God says, “They have not rejected you, they have rejected me as king,” as being very sad.  Each time I read it, however, I think I get a new depth as to what God means.

I always could empathize with Samuel.  I can see how it would feel like rejection.  He has put his whole life serving God and serving the people.  Yet, at the end of his life, the people want a king because Samuels sons are more interested in their own personal gain and not really interested in what’s best for the people.  That much has always made sense.

As I’ve matured, I’ve also gained insight into why the people are rejecting God.  After all, they want a human king over them.  They want a human leader that they can see and talk to instead of a divine God who is hidden from among us.  It’s unfortunate, but this does show us how much human beings would like to rely upon experience instead of faith.

As I’ve read it again this time, I think I see this rejection a little more deeply.  Remember that Moses was essentially a judge.  He led the people at God’s appointment.  Then there was Joshua.  Then there were a whole host of other judges who ruled for various amounts of time.  These were all leaders at God’s appointment. They ruled because they followed God and God elevated them.

When the people come to Samuel and say that they want a king, they are essentially saying that either they are tired of God’s way of finding righteous leaders or that they are losing faith in God’s ability to find righteous leaders from among the people.  They are telling Samuel that they would rather rely upon a system where they are governed by birthright than by God’s finding of righteous people.

I think that this is part of what God means when He says that the people have rejected Him.  They are tired of the random righteous leader system.  They would rather know the potential evil and be led by it than to wait for God’s righteousness to rise to the surface.  In a sense, this chapter is about the comfort that comes through the impatience of the sure thing instead of the anxiety that comes through waiting for God’s hand to deliver His best option.  It’s always easier – though not better – to take the evil we know than to wait for God.

<><

Year 7, Day 293: 1 Samuel 7

Theological Commentary: Click Here

1 Samuel 7 is a great chapter to look at the concept of returning to the Lord.  The chapter begins with the ark being reclaimed.  This is evidence of the Lords greatness.  This is also evidence to the people that God is big enough to take care of His own things without their help.  God restores His own ark to His own people.

In response, the people consecrate Eleazar to tend the ark.  Remember that Eli’s sons were killed.  When Eli heard about the event, he himself died.  The people needed a new priest, so they consecrate Eleazar.

Enter Samuel.  Samuel comes forward and ceases the opportunity.  Listen closely to the directive that Samuel asks.  “If you are returning to the Lord, then put away the foreign gods.”  Samuel begins the return to the Lord with what should happen.  He begins by leading them into repentance.

Samuel doesn’t pat them on the back and say, “Ok, let’s just try again.”  Samuel comes alongside of them and says, “Before we try again, let’s look at fixing what went wrong.”  The definition of insanity is trying the same thing over again and expecting different results.  Samuel knows this.  When the people consecrate Eleazar, Samuel steps up and tells them that if they want different results, then they need to modify their behavior.

I love chapters like this.  They remind us just how much repentance is important.  Yes, God loves us as we are.  He wants us to know salvation.  But He doesn’t want us to stay as we are.

<><

Year 7, Day 292: 1 Samuel 6

Theological Commentary: Click Here

This chapter is the capstone chapter for the Hebrew people’s folly that we saw a few chapters back.  Remember when the ark was stolen by the Philistines?  It was brought forth because it was believed that God would need to protect His ark and would therefore make the Hebrew people victorious.  Today we see that God can protect the ark in more than one way.

Yesterday we saw the way that the ark plagued the Philistines.  Today we see the plan to return it.  They decide to stick it in a cart and send the cows on their way.  Note the absence on human involvement once they point the cows in the right direction.  There is a bit of a discussion about how the lack of human involvement will be used to assure that the plagues are from God and not coincidence.  However, I personally believe that after all that the ark has done, nobody really wants to climb into the wagon and be closer to the ark than is absolutely necessary.  God can protect His ark so well that His opponents don’t really want to even be in its vicinity.

Also notice that the Philistines give a sacrifice of gold as they send the ark back.  They don’t just send the ark away, they make gold figures of mice and tumors and send the gold back along with the ark.  These Philistines are more than happy to pay for their atonement.

Here’s the ultimately amazing point in all of this.  The Philistines didn’t have to hear some Hebrew person come and tell them about the power of the ark.  They saw.  They knew.  They felt it.  God was able to get His message across just fine without needing any help from us. 

God is just fine on His own.  He doesn’t need us.  The fact that He wants to include us in His plan most of the time is really quite an honor.  We are invited by God. He is powerful enough to get His message across on His own as this passage portrays.  He wants us to be a part of His life.

<><

Year 7, Day 291: 1 Samuel 5

Theological Commentary: Click Here

What an incredible follow-up to the chapter yesterday.  Why is God not concerned about saving His ark?  Why can God avoid the human trap the Hebrew people laid for Him when they tried to force His hand of protection over them?  God can rescue His own ark from oppression.  God can make the Philistines give the ark back all on His own!  He doesn’t need us to protect the ark.  He doesn’t even need to protect it Himself.  God is quite capable of getting His message to be among the Philistines.

The thing that I love about this passage is that it is set up yesterday.  When the ark comes, the Philistines know the power that comes with it.  Yesterday we hear that the Philistines know that the God who fought and won against Egypt has just joined the battlefield.

Perhaps this gives them more reason to capture the ark.  Perhaps they think, as most ancient cultures do, that if they capture the gods of another nation that they can control its gods, too.  They take the ark and make the same mistake as the Hebrew people. 

God will not be strong-armed.  He will not be used.  God sends curses among the Philistines and the ark goes from place to place.  By the end, people start refusing to even let the ark remain near them!  God is concerned about righteousness, not about His people always winning or His ark always being revered.  God’s emphasis is on His righteousness and His ways, not anything else.

<><

Year 7, Day 290: 1 Samuel 4

Theological Commentary: Click Here

This is an interesting chapter when we compare the human impulse versus the will of God.  Here’s what I mean.  The Hebrew people gather for battle against the Philistines.  The Philistines rout the Hebrew people.  The Hebrew people gather together and wonder what on earth went wrong and why God abandoned them.

Out of these questions we begin to diverge between God’s ways and the ways of humans.  The human beings gather around and decide that God must have something against them because He failed them.  Therefore, the call for the ark to come forward.  They think that surely God will defend His ark.  They are wrong.  The Hebrew people die in battle, their priests are killed, and the ark is captured.

The mistake that the Hebrew people make is to miss something obvious.  They fail to think that perhaps god wasn’t actually on their side.  This smacks of human arrogance.  If the Hebrew people are God’s people and they worship Him, why wouldn’t God want them to win, right?  The reality is that God is not on our side.  God invites us to be on His side.  God is on the side of righteousness.  When we are righteous, we are on His side.

What a fundamental and catastrophic flaw in the ways of mankind.  We think that we are earning favors from God.  We think that by worshipping Him we are earning some sort of divine debt that we can call upon to repay.  That’s just not right.  Our reward is being invited to participate in His righteousness.

The Hebrew people forget this.  They bring forth the ark without consulting God.  They do as they please, trying to force the hand of God.  The net result is that the Hebrew people lose the battle and lose the ark.  What is the ark to an all-powerful and all-knowing God?  Is God any less God because His ark is captured by another group of finite human beings?  Of course not.  They think that they can force the hand of God and instead they see what happens when we try  to force His hand instead of joining His hand in His work.

<><

Year 7, Day 289: 1 Samuel 3

Theological Commentary: Click Here

I other blogs posts on this chapter, I have focused on Samuel and his faithfulness.  To be sure, that is absolutely the main point of this chapter.  This chapter is first and foremost about God’s understanding that He needs to raise up a final judge to lead the Hebrew people.  Samuel is a faithful young man and has lived – as much as humanly possible – up to the expectations of human faithfulness.

Today I am going to focus on Eli.  For the most part, Eli has been a great priest of God.  He has done well in raising Samuel in the ways of the Lord.  He has served before God well and respected God’s ways.  Certainly, he’s not perfect.  Yet, as far as his own life is concerned, Eli has succeeded.

In this passage, though, God gives a bit of a critique about what Eli could have done better.  While God knows that he cannot hold Eli accountable for his sons’ actions, God can hold Eli accountable for not speaking out against his sons.  God holds Eli accountable for allowing them to continue to serve in spite of their rampant and unrepentant sin.  God blames Eli for not standing against them and preventing them from being religious role models when he knew full well about their sin.  Eli cannot force his children to behave, but Eli can decide whether or not they are capable of leading God’s people.

Here is a profound point.  We all know the famous cliché: you can lead a horse to water but you cannot make them drink.  Parents cannot be responsible when their children become adults and make poor choices, so long as they did their best to raise them up in God’s ways.  However, Parents can be held accountable for not continuing to hold their children accountable when they see unrepentant sin in their lives.  Parents can be held responsible when they stand idly by and do not intervene when sin is affecting the lives of their children.

For the record, I think this lesson applies to all people who are positions of leadership, not just parents.

God wants us to live a life that reflects His ways.  He wants us to encourage others to do the same.  He knows that we cannot force others to do the same.  He doesn’t want us to stand idly by approving while others live in unrepentant sin.

<><

Year 7, Day 288: 1 Samuel 2

Theological Commentary: Click Here

There’s something cool about being honest with God.  When we are actually honest with God, He gets an opportunity to demonstrate why He is God.  When we allow ourselves to confess our humanity to Him, He gets an opportunity to expose why the divine is so much better than the human.  Do you recall one of the places where I said yesterday that I was perplexed?  I said I was perplexed how a woman who mourned because she could not have children would so readily give up the child God gave her?  I still stand by that.  I don’t know many people in the world today that would be so willing to give up a child that came to them after being proven to be barren so long.  It’s perplexing.

But look at what God does.  As I said yesterday, observe how God uses that.  God inspires Hannah to use that moment of sacrifice as an incredible moment of worship of God.  Only God can take a hard moment in a person’s life and turn it into a moment of praise.  Second, God opens her womb and blesses her again and again with more children.  God shows us that He provides he doesn’t just give us enough, His provision abounds.  This lesson is made even more powerful because the impetus for this blessing is an action that perplexes us greatly.

The rest of this chapter deals with Eli.  This is a sad part of a story, but it also teaches us a good bit about humanity.  Eli is a faithful priest.  Eli is abiding with God.  But his sons are not.  Here we go again with a story about how the faithfulness of the parent does not automatically transfer to become the faith of the child.  Eli’s sons are not interested in serving God; they only want to use their position to serve themselves.

However, God does not abandon Eli.  He does condemn Eli’s family.  In fact, He closes the door on Eli’s genetic line.  But He does not abandon Eli.  God gives Eli something far better.  God gives Eli spiritual family.  Whereas Eli’s own biological family weren’t interested in being spiritual family to him, God has given Samuel to Eli.  God says it Himself.  He will raise up a priest who will do according to His will.

<><

Year 7, Day 287: 1 Samuel 1

Theological Commentary: Click Here

There are things about this chapter that utterly perplex me.  First of all, why would a woman allow her identity to be so torn up simply because she could not bear a child.  I realize, of course, that the reason I struggle with this is because I live in a different culture with different expectations.  However, I can’t be too far off the truth, either.  After all, isn’t that what Elkanah says to Hannah?  Doesn’t he say that he has worth to her more than ten sons?  To put it in modern perspective, does a woman’s worth come only from their ability to bear children?  Of course not!

Another thing that perplexes me is why one wife would torment another for being barren.  I get it, I just don’t understand it.  I know some people are cruel and enjoy feeling the lift they receive by putting other people down.  But I don’t understand why.  Why are some people so shallow that they would rather lower other people’s status than elevate their own by elevating the status of the people around them?

A third thing that perplexes me is why a woman would so freely give away a child that she prayed for and agonized over.  Again, I get it.  She gives the boy as a gift to the Lord.  She’s doing something that God can use, certainly.  It’s not a wrong choice; it is just a choice that perplexes me.  It does make me wonder if she cares more about the status of being able to produce a child more than she cares about the son.  But, in saying that, I am judging her motivations, and those aren’t mine to judge.  I’ll never know that answer, and it isn’t even my place to know that answer.

All of that said, those things that perplex me do not overcome what God is doing.  God will take this gift of a child and turn him into an incredible leader among His people. That point overtakes all that I may have said before.  Regardless of our choices and our movements, God will work His hand.

<><

Year 7, Day 286: Ruth 4

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Ruth 4 is a great chapter for many reasons.  The most obvious of these reasons is that we get to see the overarching plan of God at work. God has brought this faithful Moabite to His people for a reason.  Through this faithful Moabite and her new faithful husband, God would bring about the Davidic line of kings.  Out of this line, God would eventually bring about Jesus.  God is at work in this story at far deeper levels than caring for a simple Moabite woman.  Don’t get me wrong.  That absolutely is the short-term objective.  But God has more at stake here than just the short-term objective.  That’s cool.

Another reason that this chapter is neat is because of the perspective of Boaz.  He’s willing to redeem. However, he wants to redeem so that he can care for Noami and Ruth.  He’s in it for the redeemer role.  He’s looking to be the embodiment of grace, love, and mercy.  What a tremendous example.

Here’s another neat perspective on this chapter, although by neat I mean interesting, not good.  Look at the conversation prior to Boaz being declared the redeemer.  There is another who as more right to the role.  When he hears about the land, he’s all interested.  Land means wealth and status.  This redeemer will absolutely take the land and the increase in status that it would bring.  However, when the redeemer hears of the link to Ruth and Noami, he loses interest.  He’ll take the land for the increase of his own status, but he’s not interested in the role of redeemer.  How sad it is when our perspective is on the wrong kind of treasure!

Furthermore, the man is certainly lying about his motivations, to make himself look good.  He says that he can’t take on the burden because of the potential implications to the inheritance of his children.  In other words, he doesn’t want to introduce the possibility that children from a different wife might lay claim to the land that his original children will inherit.  While there is logic in this, which is how we know he’s trying to save face, we also know that it is a hollow argument.  After all, with Ruth comes more land!  Any offspring produced to Ruth wouldn’t lay claim onto his current children’s inheritance at all!  These new children would inherit the land that comes with Ruth.  The man is willing to speak a few easily trusted facts to cover up the fact that he’s more interested in the land than the role of kinsman redeemer.  What an honest perspective of humanity we have here.

<><

Year 7, Day 285: Ruth 3

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Every time that I read the story of Ruth I fall in love all over again.  This story is about humbleness, righteousness, faithfulness, and God’s provision.  Maybe it is because it follows so closely on the heels of Judges, but I find the story of Ruth to be almost fairytale-ish in what happens.  It is so good to see decent people live decent lives and find that their world works out just fine.  Ruth doesn’t have to step over people to get ahead.  Ruth just needs to be honest and respectful and faithful and humble.

What does she do well in this passage?  So many things!  First, Ruth seeks the wisdom and counsel of a wiser Naomi.  Second, she listens to the counsel that she receives.  Third, she acts humbly and goes just to Boaz’s feet.  Fourth, she waits humbly for Boaz to notice her and elevate her.  Fifth, she remembers Naomi, who gave her the good advice to begin with.  Sixth, she once more waits patiently and listens to the counsel of Naomi at the end of the chapter.  Ruth is an incredible icon of living a humble and faithful life.

Ruth also does something that allows Boaz to live humbly and nobly at the same time.  Ruth doesn’t chase after the younger men.  She is wise and content to go to Boaz, who by his own words, isn’t one of the younger men.  Because Ruth is willing to go to Boaz and not one of the younger men, she has gone to a man who is actually in a position to help her.  Her faithful humbleness continues to exude in everything that she does.

<><

Year 7, Day 284: Ruth 2

Theological Commentary: Click Here

In Ruth 2, we get the overarching story of God’s provision.  Turn after turn, God blesses this young Moabite woman.  He allows her to find Boaz, who looks upon her with compassion.  Boaz allows her to glean among the other women.  He even allows her to glean the easy finds – a few of the bundles that had been brought in from the field.  Turn after turn Ruth finds herself blessed.

What is neat about this story is how Ruth responds.  When she is full, she doesn’t simply go back to her place for the night.  Ruth picks up what was left over after she is blessed and takes it home to Naomi.  Ruth is blessed; but in her blessing Ruth is looking to whom she can bless.  Ruth receives God’s provision and in doing so becomes a blessing to others.

This is such a beautiful concept to see.  It is easy to be blessed.  Any human being on the face of the earth can receive blessing.  What is special to see is someone who receives blessing with an eye for passing it along.  Who is blessed and in being blessed looks to be a blessing?

To take a step back from this scene, again I want to remind myself that this Ruth is a Moabite.  Tis woman being lifted up in the book of the Bible is not actually a Hebrew woman.  She becomes a very important part of the Hebrew family, but she is not inherently a part of it.  It is good to remember that the aspects of God are found throughout His creation; they are not limited to the people who claim the right to be like God.

<><

Year 7, Day 283: Ruth 1

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Compared to the end of Judges, Ruth is a breath of fresh air.  We have spent that last week or more talking about the rash behavior and thoughtlessness of God’s own people.  Today we meet Ruth.  Ruth is a Moabite, not from among God’s people.  In her, though, we see the glimmer of truth and hope.

Ruth is shown kindness and love while being the daughter-in-law of Naomi.  This is what convinces her to stay with Naomi as she heads home.  Naomi’s faithfulness evokes a response in Ruth and Ruth obeys.  She is willing to follow Naomi back to her home people because she desires to cling to faith, hope, and love.

This gives us two great lessons.  First of all, what a great testimony for why we need to be a people of faith, hope, and love.  When we act in those manners to the people around us, some will cling to it.  Some will take notice.  Some will allow us to reach into their life and pass along the faith, hope, and love to them.

The second lesson that we can learn is that even in the faithlessness of a generation we can still find people of faith.  The Hebrew people were godless and without good leadership.  Yet, we have Naomi.  She is a person who has great faith, hope, and love.

<><

Year 7, Day 282: Judges 21

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Judges 21 is an awful chapter. Don’t get me wrong.  As I say in my theological commentary linked above, it’s a part of God’s Word and therefore God’s truth.  It’s a true chapter.  That being said, it is an awful chapter.

This chapter shows us what it is like to be between a rock and a hard place.  The Hebrew people thought they were doing right when they took an oath to not give wives to the people of Benjamin for their rebellion.  However, in doing so they condemned the tribe of Benjamin to eventual destruction.  In trying to follow God, the people make a rash decision and put themselves between watching their brothers go extinct and going against a pledge that they made against God.

Every time that we act before we think we potentially place ourselves between a rock and a hard place.  Life is hard enough to navigate when we do go about making rational decisions.  When we make irrational decisions, life only gets harder.  It truly pays to think.

As often happens, we see this position cause the Hebrew people to make another rash decision.  They offer up a tribute to God.  When a tribe doesn’t show up, they decide to go out and slaughter the men of that tribe to provide women to the Benjaminites.  But two wrongs seldom make a right!  Killing more people to make amends is seldom ever the true solution, especially when that solution isn’t from god.

Judges 21 is an awful perspective about humanity.  We try to solve our own problems, seldom without the wisdom we need.  We make rash decisions to try and fix problems we make.  We really should turn to God.  However, as the chapter ends, we find another source of truth.  Often we are just doing right in our own eyes.

<><

Year 7, Day 281: Judges 20

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Judges 20 is essentially an extension of the story we read yesterday.  When God’s people hear about the sin of Gibeah, they gather for battle.  They desire to do something about this evil growing and living in Gibeah.

Note, however, that we can learn about the perspectives of human beings.  While most of God’s people gather to oppose Gibeah, the tribe of Benjamin stands with Gibeah.  The Benjaminites choose to stand with their brothers instead of choosing to stand with God’s ways.  If we are not careful, we can easily slip into the perspective of choosing family over God.  If we are not careful, family can become like an idol to us.  If we are not careful, we learn to justify the sins of our family because they are family.  If we are not careful, we gain a blind spot towards our family and become of little help to them when they are tempted by sinfulness.

Another thing that we can learn from this story is that God will always be the ultimate victor.  At first, it seems like the people of Gibeah will get away with their crime.  At the end of the last chapter, their crime had gone unpunished.  As the troop gather for battle we see the not once but twice the Benjaminites rout the people of God.  However, what is really going on here is that the people of Gibeah are being set up for utter destruction.  God doesn’t want to just teach them a lesson and put them in their place.  God wants to judge their whole city for their crimes and livelihood.  God is the ultimate victor in this story.

<><

Year 7, Day 280: Judges 19

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Judges 19 is a chapter that always makes me feel uneasy.  When I read it, I wonder what its place is in the Bible.  It seems to take death too lightly.  It seems to promote a comedy of errors.  It just doesn’t have the right feel at all.

In part, I think that’s the point. The story revolves around a Levite.  The Levite’s life, however, shows very little evidence of a relationship with God.  For example, we are told that the Levite has a concubine.  However, the Bible also speaks of the concubine’s father as the Levite’s father-in-law.  This is likely evidence that there was a marriage, but it was a marriage of legality and not a marriage of love.  This was likely an arranged marriage where the Levite never truly develops any kind of love for his wife.  She remains a concubine because he does not take her emotionally into his life for a full wife.  Even when the father-in-law pleads for the Levite to stay among them and develop relationship, the Levite is focused on returning home.  There is little relationship there.

We get further evidence of this Levite’s heart as they pass into Gibeah.  Granted, the people of Gibeah are clearly in the wrong as they look to have a lustful night of homosexual relations with the Levite.  Yet, the Levite himself shows just as much contempt for God’s ways when he pushes his concubine out among them.  He forces her to go out and be violated so that the lust of the people will be appeased.  He has no concern for her at all.  There is no love there.  There is no reflection of relationship with God in this act.

Even more, see how this Levite acts when he comes out onto the threshold the next morning!  He looks to the concubine and says, “Get up.”  There is no compassion.  There isn’t even any concern in his voice for her.  When she doesn’t move, he takes her dead body, sits it on top of his donkey, goes home, and cuts up her body!  There is no evidence of mourning.  He is solely focused on showing the people of God the brutality of the people of Gibeah.

We can absolutely become too focused on the law.  We can take such a legalistic approach to life that we lose all compassion.  We can become so focused on the black and white spaces of right and wrong that we utterly lose all perspective on love, grace, and mercy.  The Levite is a tragic role in this story, a person who has lost attachment to the joy of life that God has placed within him.

<><

Year 7, Day 279: Judges 18

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Two questions are raised within me as I read through Judges 18.  Both questions deal with faith.  Both questions deal with our human motivation within our relationship with God.

The first question is born out of the question that the Danites ask the priest when they come to plunder Micah.  “Would you rather be the priest of 1 or the priest of 600?”  Not that I think that Micah is the world’s most faithful person, but I don’t think I’d like to be the priest of 600 thieves and bullies, either!  The greater point that we hear in this is the human idea that bigger is better.  Are 600 automatically better than 1?  What if God’s calling is to the 1?  What if the 600 have no respect for God?  Yet, at first pass, human beings almost always pick the greater quantity instead of the lesser.

The second question comes out of Micah’s response to his gods and priest being taken away.  “What have I left if you take away my gods and my priest?”  This phrase reveals a great deal about Micah’s relationship with God.  Can mankind take away our relationship with God?  If God is the source of our power, life, and salvation, then who can take away those things?  Micah is more worried about the material representations of life than true life itself!

Don’t get me wrong on either of these points.  Human nature is to fall in line with the assertion of the Danites.  We think more is better.  Human nature also tends to focus on the tangibles and forget about the intangibles.  Both are short-sighted opinions, however.  We should be more focused on things like where God is calling and how God can provide for us.

<><

Year 7, Day 278: Judges 17

Theological Commentary: Click Here

This is an obscure little story.  It’s probably a story that you’ve seldom if ever read before.  It’s a bit of a confusing story and if we aren’t in the habit of looking at motivation we can easily get lost in the story.

There is a young man whose name is Micah.  To show his moral character, we are to understand that he steals from his own family.  Of course, he is the son from a woman who is in the habit of pronouncing curses upon people who wrong her.  To give him a little credit, at least he does return the money he stole.  Granted, had he not stolen it in the first place, he wouldn’t have needed to return the money.

His mother takes a small amount of the money and gives it to a smith to make an idol.  This should cause a little more concern.  The fact that Micah goes out and finds his own personal Levite should concern us a bit more.  The fact that Micah then ordains this Levite under the auspices of his household god should really concern us.  Things are going south pretty quickly now.

If we aren’t careful, this sounds like the story of a grateful woman who dedicates some money for religious practices and whose son is so interested in the faith that he supports a Levite all on his own.  But that isn’t what is going on here at all.  This is a superstitious family doing right in their own eyes.  This is a young man who thinks he can buy his way into grace.  Do you see how this chapter ends?  Micah believes that now that he has his own Levite that God will notice him.

We need to be careful with our faith.  If we aren’t careful, we end up thinking that we can impress God with our surroundings.  We end up living life with the wrong motivation.  We end up doing right in our own eyes and maybe even fooling the people around us while we’re at it.

<><