January 31, 2010
Scripture:
Ministry:
I’ve just been thinking about what we’ve been enjoying this morning in contrast with what I had for my morning reading, when I finished the book of Exodus. The first part of the book of Exodus is about how the Lord brought the Children of Israel out of Egypt. The second part tells, firstly, how Moses got the law and extensive detail for building the tabernacle. We then have the story of how they built the parts of the tabernacle. There is less detail, but still a lot of repetition. Then it tells how they brought each item to Moses for inspection, and so we get another list of the parts of the tabernacle. Then there is another list when they finally set it all up. Exodus 40:33-35. After all of that work, God came and His presence was there in the Holy of Holies of the tabernacle. He was inside, and they were outside. If there was one person who you would think could go in, it would be Moses; but he was outside. The High Priest could enter, but only on a special day, and only for a special reason, and only after being specially prepared.
Thankfully, that was only for the type, the shadow. Hebrews 3:4-6. Here we have another house, able to be built because the Lord has died and risen again; built through the Holy Ghost who has been sent to this Earth. That is why we can get those well-known words in Hebrews 10:19-20. How precious it is. We can rejoice in our portion. We are able to gather together in His Name. How much nearer could we be? What a contrast from the tabernacle, where all were outside of the presence of God. We can rejoice that we are able to enter because that One went to Calvary and died to open the way to His presence.
Hymn - 352 - O won’t you come to Jesus while your young?
Prayer
Last time we finished chapter seven of I Samuel as we looked at the circuit that Samuel traveled. There isn’t a lot that is new in chapter eight, but hopefully we can learn from some of the mistakes that the Israelites made.
I Samuel 8:1-6
Just a few chapters ago Samuel was born. Now he’s an old man. God had made Samuel judge over Israel, and he had judged righteously and served the Lord. Now, because he was old, Samuel made his sons judges over Israel. But that wasn’t for Samuel to do. It was God’s job to say who was to judge Israel. We shouldn’t just do what we want to do. We should wait for the Lord to tell us His will. Proverbs 3:5-6. We can ask the Lord to help us, either as we play or work. So from this we learn our first lesson:
Lesson 1: Seek the Lord for Direction.
Now Samuel’s sons were not good judges. V3. Lucre is money, and a bribe is when you offer to pay someone to do something for you. For example, if there was a thief, he might go to Samuel’s sons and promise them money if they said that he didn’t steal anything. That would be a bribe, and that is how they would pervert judgement. 1 Timothy 6:10. These men loved money and fell into evil. Now lets see what God would have us do. Proverbs 22:1. Samuel’s sons didn’t have a good name. The people told Samuel the things that they did wrong. How can we have a good name? By doing that which is right. This brings us to our second lesson:
Lesson 2: Choose a Good Name.
V4. The Israelites had never had a king. God would give His people a judge to help His people keep His laws. But now the people looked around at the other nations and saw that they had kings, and they wanted to be like them. V7. God was the One that was supposed to reign over them. Everything that they needed they had in God, if only they would follow Him with all their heart. We often want what we don’t have. It starts when we’re little and we want a toy that someone else has, and it stays with us for our whole lives. As the saying goes, “The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence”. God gives each one of us all that we need to be satisfied and happy. We can find all we need in our Lord. We don’t have to go looking for anything else. Here we have lesson three:
Lesson 3: Find all that You need in the Lord.
God told Samuel, “Give them a king, but tell them what he will be like.” Vv. 11-17. Six times we find the word ‘take’ in these verses. This doesn’t sound like a nice king. Vv. 19-22. Samuel shows us the good habit of prayer. He went to God in prayer before, and he goes to him again now.
Lesson 4: Go to the Lord in Prayer
So, may we learn to seek the Lord’s will in all things, to choose a good name, to find our sufficiency in the Lord and to go to Him in prayer.
God redeemed the children of Israel out of Egypt; He took them through the wilderness and into the Promised Land. We can see that He cares for those He purchases. They could count on God. In Samuel’s day, they didn’t have the faith to believe that God would lead them. But we learn here that He provided everything for them. Thinking of what we heard in I Samuel, a king couldn’t do those things for them.
We find ourselves in Egypt, the wilderness, and the Promised Land all at once, as Christians. The world is a wilderness, but only to our faith. Our old nature could really get into the things that the world has to offer; but we want to hold it in a place of death. In the wilderness, God gives us manna and water. We shouldn’t want leeks and onions (what the world has to offer) as the children of Israel did. They had God’s presence with them, in the cloud over the tabernacle. And yet they were dissatisfied.
V. 22: Then they came into the land and the Lord gave them all the nations in it. However, they still had to possess the land. How much spiritual land do we possess? It is all ours for the taking, but often there is a problem. This could be a personal problem; maybe we are not taking the manna and water he provides. Sometimes, it is a problem between believers.
We will see, in v. 23, some of God’s promises to the children of Israel. God has made important promises to us also.
Hymn 160 - Though in a foreign land
Prayer