1 SAMUEL 26:1-28:25
#9 HACHILAH WHICH FACES JESHIMON: "Hachilah" means "dark" and "Jeshimon" means "to be desolate", or "let death seize me". This place in David's journey represents the dark night of the soul when we learn that all we really have is God and He is enough. Psa 16:7, "I will bless the LORD, who hath given me counsel: my reins also instruct me in the night seasons." David completely trusts God to establish him and give him his inheritance. He believed that Saul would eventually get tired of looking for him.
ABISHAI: A remarkable young man - David's nephew, son of his sister Zeruiah. His name means "Source of Light". He later became captain of David's "Mighty Men" (2Sam 23:18) and was a totally devoted follower of David. He accompanied David in his night season.
SAUL: "I have played the fool". Because David had only dealt righteously and mercifully with Saul, Saul said he had sinned in trying to kill him. But David knew better than to trust a crazy man! And "Saul returned to his place". (death)
#10 GATH/ZIKLAG: "Ziklag" is the city that the King of Gath gave David for his residence. It's name means "Winding, rather than Straight." David has already been on the run for 11-3/4 years and asks "How long will God forget me?" (Psa 13) and doesn't realize he is just 16 months from the throne! In Ziklag David is in despair and unbelief when he arrives. He lived as an outlaw, killing and robbing the people around him. He doesn't know it, but the one "make-me-or-break-me trial is yet to come - His final test. What will you do when it appears you've lost it all?
SAUL AND THE WICKED WITCH: Heaven was closed to the rejected King, so he resorted to hell. Saul wanted to talk to Samuel, but the medium did not contact Samuel, GOD DID. Samuel told Saul, "Why bother me when you know that God has rejected you and become your enemy?" YIKES!!!! Then he told Saul, "Tomorrow you and your sons will be with me!" (in death - not in heaven)
RESPONSE: It is clear that when God is against you, you are walking in deep darkness. Saul was not only crazy, but he was terribly disoriented. That darkness eventually takes you over and you are as good as dead.
JOHN 11:1-53
Chapters 1-10 are proofs that Jesus is the fulfillment of every feast, every type and shadow of Judaism, and every promise God ever made. Jesus began and ended at the same site.
"I AM THE RESURRECTION AND THE LIFE" : Another "I AM" statement that John exclusively includes in his goal to convince us to "BELIEVE". Chapters 11 and 12 deal with Jesus' authority over life and death. Jesus does not just BRING life and BRING resurrection - He IS Life and He IS the resurrection. He is the One bringing Life and He has the power over life and death. Furthermore, the death of Jesus was not a tragedy, but a great victory. Jesus' death, burial, resurrection, and ascension are manifestations of the glory of God! (v.33) Jesus was "troubled" ("stirred up", "outraged"). He was facing His arch-enemy: DEATH, right in the teeth! He has come to earth to defeat DEATH. Jesus was deeply moved in His spirit - and actually wept because He would defeat the kind of suffering He observed that moment.
NOTE: Jesus said He would be glorified in Lazarus' sickness (V. 4). His actual behavior appeared to contradict the love of God, in staying away instead of running to heal Lazarus. By waiting until Lazarus was dead four days, everyone knew this was no "near-death experience". Lazarus had started to decompose! Jesus asserted that He IS "the Light of the World" and His reasons for going to Bethany were decided in the LIGHT of understanding, not in the disorientation of night.
THOMAS: You gotta love him! "Let's go with Jesus so we may die with Him!" The surrounding people at the tomb, though, were divided in whether the resurrection of Lazarus made them believe! Believing is not an evidence problem, it is a self-centered attitude problem (a moral problem).
RESPONSE: Either believe Jesus or kill Him. That seems to be the reaction even today! It is impossible to have NO OPINION or to be neutral. Not then. Not now. If you don't want to know the Truth about Jesus, you can't know it! You will always find excuses to stay ignorant about Him.
PSALM 117:1-2
The shortest chapter in the Bible! It is also the central chapter of the Bible, and contains a central Truth. It is quoted in Rom 15:11 as proof that ALL people, without exception, must "Praise the Lord!" God has always loved Gentiles.
PROVERBS 15:22-23
Where a big decision is concerned, we must not stubbornly follow our own heart and disregard the wisdom and intelligence of honest friends. When the "answer" comes from one of those honest friends - and when they give it "in due season" - when it's needed - it is good.
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