“You have done a foolish thing,” Samuel said. “You have not kept the command the Lord your God gave you; if you had, he would have established your kingdom over Israel for all time. But now your kingdom will not endure; the Lord has sought out a man after his own heart and appointed him […]
Read More Sam’s 1st Epic 13 – Forgetting Your PlaceBut be sure to fear the Lord and serve him faithfully with all your heart; consider what great things he has done for you. Yet if you persist in doing evil, both you and your king will perish.” (1 Samuel 12:24-25 NIV) It must have been a very emotional occasion. Samuel wasn’t dying. One of the […]
Read More Sam’s 1st Epic 12 – Samuel’s WarningIn many ways, for King Saul, it was the best of times. Newly acknowledged as King over Israel, he faced his first crisis and this would be crucial in deciding what kind of king he would be. His people under siege to the Ammonite under a threat of great humiliation. Saul’s response to the siege […]
Read More Sam’s 1st Epic 11 – Saul to the RescueSamuel said to all the people, “Do you see the man the Lord has chosen? There is no one like him among all the people.” Then the people shouted, “Long live the king!” (1 Samuel 10:24 NIV) Chapters 9-11 form a neat trilogy of the rise of the king. Chapter 10 is the truly transformative […]
Read More Sam’s 1st Epic 10 – The Appointment of SaulWhen Samuel saw Saul, the LORD told him, “Here is the man of whom I spoke to you! He it is who shall restrain my people.” (1 Samuel 9:17) “We want a king, just like our neighbours!” the people demanded, so God let them have it. In letting them have it, that was not to […]
Read More Sam’s 1st Epic 09 – When Samuel Met SaulBut the people refused to listen to Samuel. “No!” they said. “We want a king over us. Then we will be like all the other nations, with a king to lead us and to go out before us and fight our battles.” (1 Samuel 8:19-20 NIV) Samuel took it personally. After years of his wise […]
Read More Sam’s 1st Epic 08 – Rejecting the KingYeah, when I read the word I could only remember A Christmas Carol and Ebenezer Scrooge. (In fact there was also a house tune that had a line that said ‘He’s a scrooge, He’s a scrooge, He’s Ebenezer Scrooge.’ Not that I was into house music much in the past, but a good friend of mine […]
Read More Sam’s 1st Epic 07 – EbenezerMake models of the tumors and of the rats that are destroying the country, and give glory to Israel’s god. Perhaps he will lift his hand from you and your gods and your land. Why do you harden your hearts as the Egyptians and Pharaoh did? When Israel’s god dealt harshly with them, did they […]
Read More Sam’s 1st Epic 06 – Return of the ArkThere was a thinking in the day that said that the battle of nations was also a battle of the gods. It’s not too dissimilar to the thought that the Cold War of the second half of the 20th Century was about whose nation’s god/idea was greater capitalism or communism. Thus when one nation conquered […]
Read More Sam’s 1st Epic 05 – Whose God is Greater?She named the child Ichabod, saying, “The glory has departed from Israel!” because the ark of God had been captured and because of her father-in-law and her husband. And she said, “The glory has departed from Israel, for the ark of God has been captured.” (1 Samuel 4:21, 22 ESV) Any cheery, happy-go-lucky, ‘always look […]
Read More Sam’s 1st Epic 04 – Ichabod
