May 3 - May 10 Along Comes A King....Saul

The latest readings we finish up Judges, cruse through Ruth - it's a short book:), and climb right into 1 Samual. In Judges there is more idol worshiping and Israel was without a king so all the people did whatever seemed right in their own eyes. How many of you know that spells Trouble! More towns were conquered, people forgot God and worship more idols or other peoples idols. We her about deception, rape and murder. Lot's of evil stuff goes on when God's not in the midst. The tribe of Benjamin had lost it's way and God was angry. The Israelites attacked the men of Benjamin but were beaten back. They went to fight against them again and were beaten back again. 40,000 Israelites were killed in those two battles. Then all the Israelites went up to Bethel and wept in the presence of the Lord and fasted until evening. They also brought burnt offerings and peace offerings to the Lord. The Israelites went up seeking direction from the Lord.(In those days the Ark of the Covenant of God was in Bethel, and Phinehas son of Eleazar and grandson of Aaron was the priest.)
The Lord said, "Go! Tomorrow I will hand them over to you." And the next day the Israelites destroyed the tribe of Benjamin killing 25,000 of their strongest warriors, leaving only 600 men who escaped to the rock of Rimmon, where they lived for four months. The Israelites returned and slaughtered every living thing in all the towns-the people, the livestock, and everything they found. They also burned down all the towns they came to.
Then the tribes of Israel meet at Mizpah and held an assembly in the presence of the Lord. At that time they had taken a solemn oath in the Lord's presence, vowing that anyone who refused to come would be put to death. So they sent 12,000 of their best warriors and they completely destroyed all the males and every woman that was not a virgin. They found 400 young virgins and they were given to the tribe of Benjamin as wives because the people felt sorry for Benjamin because the Lord had made this gap among the tribes of Israel. That wasn't enough women so the remaining men caught a women of Shiloh that came for the annual festival and kept them as wives. "In those days Israel had no king; all the people did whatever seemed right in their own eyes."

In the days of Ruth judges ruled in Israel and a severe famine came upon the land. Elimelech a man from Bethlehem left his home and went to live in Moab with his wife Naomi and two sons. Elimelech died and Naomi's two sons married moabite women, Orpah and Ruth. Ten years later both her sons died leaving Naomi with her daughter in-laws. They heard the Lord had blessed Judah with good crops again so they took a road heading back there. On the way Naomi said to both girls "Go back to your mother's homes. And may the Lord reward you for your kindness to your husbands and to me. May the Lord bless you with the security of another marriage." They both refused they wanted to go with Naomi and be with her people. While still there Orpah reluctantly did leave kissing them goodbye.
"Look" Naomi said to Ruth, "your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods. You should do the same."
But Ruth replied, "Don't ask me to leave you and turn back. Wherever you go, I will go; wherever you live, I will live. Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God. Wherever you die, I will die and there I will be buried. May the Lord punish me severely if I allow anything but death to separate us!"
Things move forward and Ruth eventually becomes the wife of Boaz a wealthy and influential man in Bethlehem. God blesses them with a son they name Obed. He became the father of Jesse and the grandfather of David.

1 Samual gives a record of Hannah the wife of Elkanah. She is one of two wives of Elkanah but was unable to give Elkanah children unlike Peninnah who had children with him. Peninnah would taunt Hannah as they went to the Tabernacle. Hannah was deep in anguish and prayed to the Lord "O Lord of Heaven's Armies, if you will look upon my sorrow and answer my prayer and give me a son, then I will give him back to you. He will be yours for his entire lifetime, and as a sign that he has been dedicated to the Lord, his hair will never be cut." From this came the 1980's rock bands...ok just kidding:) When Elkanah slept with Hannah, the lord remembered her pea, and in due time she gave birth to a son and named him Samuel.

Hannah nursed Samuel until he was weaned. She then brought the child to the Tabernacle in Shiloh and gave him to Eli to serve the Lord by assisting Elin the priest. Eli's sons were scoundrels and had no respect for the Lord. This cost Eli his heritage the Lord vows to have his family die off at young ages and have both his sons die the same day. Meanwhile Samuel served the Lord. The Lord visits Samuel and tells him "I am about to do a shocking thing in Israel. I am going to carry out all my threats against Eli and his family, from beginning to end. I have warned him that judgement is coming upon his family forever, because his sons are blaspheming God and he hasn't disciplined them. So I have vowed that the sins of Eli and his sons will never be forgiven by sacrifices or offerings."
As Samuel grew up the Lord was with him and everything Samuel said proved to be reliable.
So it moves on and Israel is at war with the Philistines. Eli's two sons are both defeated in battle the same day and the Ark of the Covenant is stolen. Talk about robbing from the wrong house! Eli heard the news and fell back from his seat and broke his neck and died. The Philistines took the Ark and placed it by the idol of Dagon in their temple. The statue is found fallen face down in front of the Ark and his head and hands had broken off and were lying in the doorway. People started dieing and becoming afflicted with tumors. The Ark of the Lord remained in Philistine territory for seven months in all. So they sent it back with a gift, a guilt offering to stop the plague.
Samuel says to the people of Israel if they are serious about wanting to return to the Lord they have to get rid of all the idols. So they did. Samuel pleaded with the Lord to save them and he did. They defeated the Philistines.
Samuel grows old and the elders of Israel tell him to give them a king to judge them like the other nations have. They just don't get that the Lord is their King. The Lord tells Samuel to do everything they ask so he does. He appoints Saul the son of a wealthy, influential man named Kish from the tribe of Benjamin as king because the Lord tells him to.

New Testament - We're still in John and he is talking about Jesus' journey. A famous quote so to speak is one that's held up at basketball games all the time John 3:16 "For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life." Talk about love for a sinful race that was created in perfection but fell into sin.

John 5:24 "I(Jesus) tell you the truth, those who listen to my message and believe in God who sent me have eternal life. They will never be condemned for their sins, but they have already passed from death into life."

Jesus as usual is firing out the parables which are so crucial to our salvation if we would only choose to listen. Written almost 2000 years ago but as relevant today as it was the day He spoke the words! He goes on to do many miracles. In this reading He has the massive fish fry and feeds 5000 with five loaves and two fish and had 12 baskets of scraps left over! Back up Costco we have a bulk producer like you've never seen!

Jesus explains to his disciples "I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry again. whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. But you haven't believed in me even though you have seen me. However those the Father has given me will come to me, and I will never reject them. For I have come down from heaven to do the will of God who sent me, not to do my own will. and this is the will of God, that I should not lose even one of all those he has given me, but that I should raise them up at the last day. For it is my Father's will that all who see his Son and believe in him should have eternal life. I will raise them up at the last day."

Well that's a lot of reading and I'm catching up I'll post the next stuff soon. As I continue to read and pray I become more and more at peace with things going on in my life and the world understanding that God is in control. That doesn't mean I should just sit around and wait for things to happen. We definitely need to stand up and do with great Fervor the stuff that God places on our hearts! And we should do it all in the name of God. I'm not here to receive praise I'm here to give God the praise for the incredible things He does for me and my family! I've got an incredible beautiful wife and two crazy kids thanks to Him!