I love the first book of Samuel! These people are so real!!! This could so be a weekly TV show! Saul acting nice then plotting behind David's back! How many people do you know like that? And Abigail having to fix the problems her husband's bad attitude creates! Yep, seen that in real life too! And did you get upset when Jonathan died like I did? I so wanted David to be able to at least be there! But no--Jonathan died serving a dad that he had disagreements with all through his life because that is what was expected of him! What an honorable guy! He would have been a great friend to have, wouldn't he? I hope there is someone in all of our lives like Jonathan! I know my nephew, of the same name, is alot like him! A man of honor---a true friend---compelled to do the right thing!
And can you believe the people still honored Saul's body after he had been so hot and cold! He obviously did not lead them well in their spiritual lives. After his death, they didn't even know they could trust in God, so they fled! After all that work of Moses and Joshua and such! A serious of bad leaders can sure undermine a country, can't it? Sounds very political, doesn't it? Again, I chuckle at the timing of my thoughts and my readings! Sometimes, we have to be careful what we wish or pray for! The people begged for a king and look at what they ended up with!! Fleeing their own country!
But every good movie has a sequel--so I'm ready for Samuel 2! Let's hope David becomes king and does a better job! Although, if he doesn't mess up some where I'll be surprised--plus it will probably be a boring sequel!!
God--thank you for teaching us in such an entertaining way! Help me not get so lost in the story that I miss the lessons!
Reading the Bible in One Year-March 18
Birthdays! Spring Break! Whew! I had lots of catching up to do!
Battles! Marriages! Killings! Rapes! Whew! Who ever thought the Bible was boring?
So what's up for these poor women? Just throw 'em out to the sex perverts! Gotta be married and have babies to be worth anything to these men! Boy, it was a different world from ours! But I still look for the messages! Like how to influence others by hanging in there. By knowing the laws enough to use them in your favor. Naomi really knew how to fix the situation once she got out of her funk. I love that she was able to "rise above" again even though I know how sad and lonely she must have been.
And women could have power--look at Deborah and how she influenced many leaders into battle and beyond. She knew the law and used it for Israel's favor. Jael was no wimp either! She knew how to use the opportunities that were given to her. According to the law, her house should have been a safe house, but....
And all the trouble seems to have been caused by straying away from God and His laws. How much easier would life be if we could all just learn that lesson? Know His laws and live within them. In fact, use them for your favor. That is what the leaders of Israel did. Funny that all the kings and judges were worshiping some kind of god. Makes you wonder if those worshiping in a different way have "a bible" that tells the stories differently. They were praying to their gods to save them, too! Like in war today! I'm glad I'm not in charge and have to decide who deserves to win!
I loved Jotham's story of which tree should be in charge. It seemed all the trees had important jobs and were too busy doing important things to be king, until the thorn bush was asked. The thorn bush wasn't doing anything important and got all puffed up at being asked. He even pushed it to the limit saying if they didn't make him king he would retaliate. Funny thoughts come to mind with our presidential election being around the corner. I wonder which candidate used to be a thorn bush and which candidates were actually busy doing important works!
And I don't won't to go before mentioning Samson. Quite the character! Again, it seems his life would have been easier if he had walked a little closer to God--if He had been a true Nazirite and followed the law a little closer. He didn't seem like the sharpest crayon in the box, did he? How many times did he give in to women? How many times did his wife ask him the same question? But in the end, when he called out to God, when he broke the pattern, God responded and loved him.
I guess that is the main lesson after all---no matter how much we mess up, God really does love us. No matter how dumb we act, God really does love us. No matter how much we complain and disobey Him, God really does love us. No matter how often we break His law and stray from His guidance, He really does love us. I guess that is why the bible has stories where the characters say the same thing over and over again--"Samson, tell me how you can be captured?"and do the same things over and over again--"and they destroyed every man, woman, and child in the village and took their idols and worshiped them", and "they destroyed all the idols and vowed to worship God alone. And they had forty years of peace." Because that is probably the way God hears us--saying the same thing over and over again, and making the same mistakes over and over again--but He really still loves us! It's amazing, isn't it? Just when I want to judge the Israelites, I see how like them I am!
So, thank you, God! I am so grateful that you really love us! over and over again! AMEN!
Battles! Marriages! Killings! Rapes! Whew! Who ever thought the Bible was boring?
So what's up for these poor women? Just throw 'em out to the sex perverts! Gotta be married and have babies to be worth anything to these men! Boy, it was a different world from ours! But I still look for the messages! Like how to influence others by hanging in there. By knowing the laws enough to use them in your favor. Naomi really knew how to fix the situation once she got out of her funk. I love that she was able to "rise above" again even though I know how sad and lonely she must have been.
And women could have power--look at Deborah and how she influenced many leaders into battle and beyond. She knew the law and used it for Israel's favor. Jael was no wimp either! She knew how to use the opportunities that were given to her. According to the law, her house should have been a safe house, but....
And all the trouble seems to have been caused by straying away from God and His laws. How much easier would life be if we could all just learn that lesson? Know His laws and live within them. In fact, use them for your favor. That is what the leaders of Israel did. Funny that all the kings and judges were worshiping some kind of god. Makes you wonder if those worshiping in a different way have "a bible" that tells the stories differently. They were praying to their gods to save them, too! Like in war today! I'm glad I'm not in charge and have to decide who deserves to win!
I loved Jotham's story of which tree should be in charge. It seemed all the trees had important jobs and were too busy doing important things to be king, until the thorn bush was asked. The thorn bush wasn't doing anything important and got all puffed up at being asked. He even pushed it to the limit saying if they didn't make him king he would retaliate. Funny thoughts come to mind with our presidential election being around the corner. I wonder which candidate used to be a thorn bush and which candidates were actually busy doing important works!
And I don't won't to go before mentioning Samson. Quite the character! Again, it seems his life would have been easier if he had walked a little closer to God--if He had been a true Nazirite and followed the law a little closer. He didn't seem like the sharpest crayon in the box, did he? How many times did he give in to women? How many times did his wife ask him the same question? But in the end, when he called out to God, when he broke the pattern, God responded and loved him.
I guess that is the main lesson after all---no matter how much we mess up, God really does love us. No matter how dumb we act, God really does love us. No matter how much we complain and disobey Him, God really does love us. No matter how often we break His law and stray from His guidance, He really does love us. I guess that is why the bible has stories where the characters say the same thing over and over again--"Samson, tell me how you can be captured?"and do the same things over and over again--"and they destroyed every man, woman, and child in the village and took their idols and worshiped them", and "they destroyed all the idols and vowed to worship God alone. And they had forty years of peace." Because that is probably the way God hears us--saying the same thing over and over again, and making the same mistakes over and over again--but He really still loves us! It's amazing, isn't it? Just when I want to judge the Israelites, I see how like them I am!
So, thank you, God! I am so grateful that you really love us! over and over again! AMEN!
Reading the Bible in One Year-March 11
So what about that Joshua! I've written thoughts about him before. Like the persistence he had to have to just walk around the walls of Jericho instead of fighting. He was a warrior after all. But sometimes we are called to just be a presence, not necessarily do much. And sometimes we are called to obey, even if the task seems beneath our talent. Because sometimes the events in our lives are not happening for us to learn as much as those around us and the Israelites certainly needed to be reminded over and over again about obedience! Joshua was reminded over and over to be strong and courageous, but I bet his real inward battle was about just following the will of God against his own instinct.
And then there was "the map maker's dream" section. I guess the details were as important about who lives where as the tabernacle directions were. Seriously, you could draw a pretty clear map of the distribution of the land to the tribes just using Joshua's book. I felt like I had gone into the real estate office to look up a plat of land!! And they seemed to have thought of everything! One amazing thing--that they just drew lots for some of it! I guess that's where we get the idea of drawing straws to see who gets what. If it works for a whole community, I guess it would work for almost anything.
I was also interested in the 6 cities of refuge. It was great that those were given to the Levites, the priests. It reminded me of the way cities in Medieval times were centered and controlled by the church. The book, Pillars of the Earth, by Ken Follett gave me great insight and context for this situation and I wondered if the Israelite cities of refuge took this form without of course the emphasis on the grand cathedral building because this would take away from the temple's importance. Something very clearly established when the monument was built across the Jordan and a war was almost caused!
Also of great interest to me was the way the city of Hebron was always highlighted. In the version I was reading it was always called by both its old name and the new name Hebron. And it was designated again and again as a city of refuge. Very comforting to me since we have come to worship at Hebron Presbyterian Church and it has become a refuge in many ways to our family. It is a very quiet spot in a very busy world in which we can hear the voice of God and He provided us with this connection at a just the right time. I wonder if you need a spot like that in your life?
Dear God--thank you for your detailed plans for your people. Thank you that I can say that I am one of those people who you have planned for. I pray for refuge for all your children in this world that can be so overwhelming. Amen
I was also interested in the 6 cities of refuge. It was great that those were given to the Levites, the priests. It reminded me of the way cities in Medieval times were centered and controlled by the church. The book, Pillars of the Earth, by Ken Follett gave me great insight and context for this situation and I wondered if the Israelite cities of refuge took this form without of course the emphasis on the grand cathedral building because this would take away from the temple's importance. Something very clearly established when the monument was built across the Jordan and a war was almost caused!
Also of great interest to me was the way the city of Hebron was always highlighted. In the version I was reading it was always called by both its old name and the new name Hebron. And it was designated again and again as a city of refuge. Very comforting to me since we have come to worship at Hebron Presbyterian Church and it has become a refuge in many ways to our family. It is a very quiet spot in a very busy world in which we can hear the voice of God and He provided us with this connection at a just the right time. I wonder if you need a spot like that in your life?
Dear God--thank you for your detailed plans for your people. Thank you that I can say that I am one of those people who you have planned for. I pray for refuge for all your children in this world that can be so overwhelming. Amen
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