June 13, 2010
Scripture:
Scripture:
Scripture:
Ephesians 5:2
We’ve been thinking this morning about the Lord’s love for us. But we can also think of his love to the Father, because He had to die for His Father as well. I say that because He needed to make the ground on which His Father could forgive us. It was so needed, and His motive was love. “Love divine all praise excelling”.
Hymn 327 - When Mothers of Salem
Prayer
So far in 1 Samuel Saul and Samuel have been the main characters. Today, we’re introduced to someone new.
1 Samuel 13:1-2
Jonathan is the new character. He is the son of Saul. Saul had reigned for two years, and had gathered some soldiers. Two thousand soldiers were under his command, and one thousand under Jonathan.
V3. The Philistines were Israel’s worst enemies, and here Jonathan had smitten a garrison (a camp or fort) of their’s. This garrison was right in the middle of Israel, so the Philistines were right in the land.
Vv.4-6. Saul calls people to help them come and fight, because the Philistines are probably going to react. The Philistines come to battle, and they have thirty-thousand chariots, six-thousand horses, and so many soldiers that they couldn’t count them.
V.6 The Israelites were afraid, and some started to run away. Back in the book of Samuel, we read about how the Philistines came to fight and Samuel prayed and God gave Israel a great victory. It doesn’t matter to God if you have many soldiers or just a few. If He’s on your side, He’ll help you win.
Vv.7-10. Now Saul was to wait for Samuel to come and offer a sacrifice, so that they could pray to God. But Saul got impatient and the soldiers got impatient and started to leave. Finally, Saul got so impatient that He did something that He should never have done. He offered a sacrifice. Then, Samuel came.
Vv.11-13. Samuel told Saul that he had disobeyed the Lord, and as a result none of his sons would get to be king. His family would not continue as the royal family. We must be patient and wait for the Lord’s will. We shouldn’t make foolish decisions like Saul.
Vv.14-16. God gave Israel Saul as king; but he was someone that the people would like, not someone who was especially godly. Now God is going to choose someone after His own heart.
Vv.19-23
The Philistines made sure that there were no blacksmiths in Israel. This way they couldn’t have weapons, because it was the blacksmiths who made things like that. The Israelites had files to sharpen some tools, but they didn’t sharpen as well as a blacksmith with proper tools would.
Our weapon against our enemy is the Word of God. Satan doesn’t want us to have this weapon and he’ll do all kinds of things to get us not to hide God’s word in our hearts. But it tells us in Psalms “Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against Thee.” May we be found using this weapon to stay away from sin.
Last week, we saw how the Jews were profaning the Sabbath. Now, in v. 23, we find that some had made an alliance with the enemy. Of course, this has an application personally: we shouldn’t be unequally yoked with unbelievers. This happens in Christianity today much too often.
On a larger level, it’s sad to see how Christendom has united with the world. Many have brought in the world’s things - such as its music - into their churches; often it seems they want to turn it into a way to make money, instead of a time to worship God. We might look at Nehemiah’s approach here and say it was radical. Sometimes, that is what is required. We won’t be called to pluck the hair off those who don’t follow the Lord, as Nehemiah did. However, we must be vigilant to teach the right doctrine.
What we are reading about happened at the end of the Old Testament; it’s a parallel to the end of the New Testament, in our times. However, this time, the Lord will deal with those who are not following His desires.
As we come to a close, Nehemiah explains that he cleansed Israel’s remnant. It’s precious that we don’t have to end reading about the evil Nehemiah was dealing with; we end with Nehemiah restoring sanctity and order.
We read of Nehemiah’s last four prayers in this chapter: vv. 14, 22, 29, & 31. Each one of these uses the word “remember.” According to Vine’s Dictionary, this doesn’t mean to recall to mind; it means to keep in mind of order for an action to take place. We see the word used in Genesis 8:1: “God remembered Noah … and God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters assuaged.” God remembered, and performed an action.
Hymn 127 - Let us sing of His love once again
Prayer