Tag: 1 Samuel

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10/18 Reading (1 Samuel 31; 2 Corinthians 3)

1 Samuel 31: Saul dies in battle with the Philistines in this chapter. It’s pretty brutal actually. After he is wounded by archers he impales himself with his own sword. His armor-bearer does the same to himself. All of Saul’s sons were also killed. The philistines remove Saul’s head and take it and his body back to their temple and put them on display. Thankfully, men from an Israelite town, Jabesh-gilead, snuck in and took Saul’s head and body and treated him properly.

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10/17 Reading (1 Samuel 28-30; 2 Corinthians 2)

1 Samuel 28: The third verse in this chapter is very similar to the first verse in chapter 25, which really threw me for a loop: “Now Samuel had died, and all Israel mourned him and buried him in Ramah, his hometown” (CEB study bible, p. 464 OT; 1 Sam. 28.3).

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10/16 Reading (1 Samuel 25-27; 2 Corinthians 1)

1 Samuel 25: I find this chapter to be pretty interesting. First, it starts with the following statement: “Now Samuel died, and all Israel gathered to mourn for him. They buried him at his home in Ramah. David then left and went down to the Maon wilderness.” (CEB Study Bible, p. 459 OT; 1 Sam. 25.1) That’s it! Nothing else about Samuel, a key figure during this time of Israel. I’m kinda surprised by the lack of information about Samuel when he dies.

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10/14 Reading (1 Samuel 22-24; Psalms 45-48)

1 Samuel 22: Saul is really starting to lose it. Clearly he wants nothing more than to kill David. Jealousy and power has definitely gone to his head. Just flat out nuts. In this chapter he had one of his people kill the priests of Nob. Actually, he slaughtered them. Again, Saul has clearly lost his mind.

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10/13 Reading (1 Samuel 19-21; 1 Corinthians 16)

1 Samuel 19: Clearly Saul’s anger and jealousy began to make him crazy because he continues to try to kill David nonstop. Eventually David escapes with the help of his wife (Saul’s daughter) and finds Samuel. Saul sends messengers to arrest David but they are taken over by God’s spirit and go a little crazy (referred to as a prophetic frenzy). Each group of messengers experience this until Saul goes to see David and Samuel himself. Saul also suffers from this and gets naked in front of Samuel.

NOTE: I thought Samuel never saw Saul again, at least according to 1 Sam. 15?

1 Samuel 20: David and Jonathan (Saul’s son), who are very close, talk about Saul’s obsession with killing David. Jonathan initially denies it, which is strange because Saul asked him to kill David personally in chapter 19. So I’m a little confused on this one. Jonathan is determined to prove David wrong, but agrees to “test” Saul a little and see his reaction. David is supposed to dine with the king at the feast associated with the new moon. They agree that David will miss it and Jonathan will say that he is with his own family. If Saul is ok with it, then David is wrong. If Saul gets really angry, then David is right. Well, Saul got angry, so David was right.

1 Samuel 21: Just some general discussion of David running and trying to hide from Saul. He does get the sword of Goliath at his first stop, which is kinda cool.

1 Corinthians 16: Right away the Paul addresses the importance of collecting money for the poor in Jerusalem. It’s just assumed this will happen. Perhaps because they all know it’s the right thing to do. Imagine that! Paul then talks about his hope to come and visit and sends a final greeting to the people. Pretty straight forward chapter.

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10/12 Reading (1 Samuel 16-18; 1 Corinthians 15)

NOTE: I had a lot to say on this reading.

It has become pretty much a daily occurrence for our President to attack the media. This is typically done on twitter. However, in my opinion, what’s transpired these last few days is the worst he’s ever said. His desire to pretty much end any negative coverage of his administration is definitely getting out of hand. But these statements along with other statements where he’s challenged the judicial and legislative branches of our government bother me. He’s acting more like a King or Dictator than a President. Reading about Saul reminds me a little of what we are currently experiencing. Saul’s lust for power was ultimately his downfall. I wonder if that will happen with Trump. Only time will tell.

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10/11 Reading (1 Samuel 13-15; 1 Corinthians 14)

1 Samuel 13: Saul begins his campaign against the Philistines. The Philistines march out to meet Saul and his army with what seems to be a larger army. Many Israelites fled out of fear. Saul waited for Samuel to come and offer a sacrifice to God, but when Samuel was late, Saul did it himself. Samuel showed up and got angry with Saul. He told Saul that since he disobeyed God’s command (I’m guessing the sacrifice was only supposed to be done by Samuel), Saul’s dynasty would not last.

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10/10 Reading (1 Samuel 10-12; 1 Corinthians 13)

1 Samuel 10: Saul is anointed king by Samuel. Samuel explains some of the signs he will see and tells Saul to wait 7 days for him. Samuel brings all of the tribes together and initially admonishes them again for selecting a human king over God. He then brings forward the Benjamin tribe, then the Matri family, and then selected Saul. Not everyone was happy with this decision, with some refusing to give him any gifts of appreciation.

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10/9 Reading (1 Samuel 7-9; 1 Corinthians 12)

1 Samuel 7: After 20 long years of the Ark remaining in Kiriath-jearim, Israel “yearned for the Lord” (CEB Study Bible; 1 Sam 7.2). Samuel told the people to stop worshipping the foreign gods and they did. He told them to assemble in Mizpah so we could pray to God for them. Upon hearing of everyone gathering in one location, the Philistines decided to attack everyone there and defeat Israel once and for all. I’m guessing 20 years made them forget what happened when they possessed the Ark, because this was a bad idea!! While Samuel prayed to God for help, he struck down the Philistines. The Israelite soldiers attacked and killed the Philistines. This led to the return of the various towns the Philistines had captures from Israel.

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10/7 Reading (1 Samuel 4-6; Psalms 41-44)

1 Samuel 4: This is the beginning of a troubling time for Israel. They lose in a massive battle to the Philistines. Remembering that bringing the Ark of the Covenant along to a battle worked in the past, Israel did this again. However, they lost and actually lost the Ark to the Philistines. Eli’s sons are both killed in battle and Eli falls out of his chair and breaks his neck upon learning of the death of his sons and the loss of the Ark.

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