One Year Bible, May 8

1 SAMUEL 2:22-4:22                                                                                                   

TRANSITION:  This is the time when we are most likely to turn back, to rely on the flesh to get us through. To blame the devil and fight against change. Let's admit it. No one likes change. It is painful. And so, our flesh tries to defend the status quo. Everyone else has to change to suit us! Change to having a KING (Jesus is Lord), means we have to learn submission and obedience. Believe me! It has to be learned! Even Jesus had to learn it. "Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered; And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him;" (Heb 5:8-9)

LEARNING OBEDIENCE: Our attitude toward God is revealed in our attitude toward authority.  2:29 is very telling: "Wherefore kick (obstinate rebellion) ye at my sacrifice and at mine offering, which I have commanded in my habitation; and honourest thy sons above me, to make yourselves fat with the choicest of all the offerings of Israel my people?" God said, "They that despise me shall be lightly esteemed." (despised, will no longer regard with care)

VISITATION:  2:21 says that the Lord "visited" Hannah and she conceived and had three sons and two daughters in addition to Samuel. This is another word for "came upon" and "to embrace".  What happens is a close Divine inspection of the person, and then any apportionment that is due, whether good or evil. "Thou hast granted me life and favour, and thy visitation hath preserved my spirit." (Job 10:12)  "And what will ye do in the day of visitation, and in the desolation which shall come from far? to whom will ye flee for help? and where will ye leave your glory?" (Isa 10:3) A visitation is to draw near for the purpose of Divine intervention to fulfill a divine intent, usually with great intensity. It looks like divine LIFE is the result of some visitations. However, it was also called a "visitation" when God comes to give out punishments too!

SAMUEL:  The first of the office of prophets, an era that continued for 300 years. Everyone from Dan to Beer-sheba "knew that Samuel was established to be a prophet of the Lord." In fact, "the Lord did let none of his words fall to the ground." The Lord honored Samuel. Samuel was submitted to Eli the priest, and honored him, even though Eli was EVIL. Eli was a spiritual couch potato, 98 years old, totally blind, and fat. His 40 years of priesthood were over because he preferred his sons over God. Samuel still honored and submitted to the OFFICE and obeyed as if it were God.

THE ARK OF THE LORD:   It came to be treated as a lucky rabbit's foot. The people preferred the symbol, rather than the Lord. Wherever the Ark was, the saying was, "The Lord has come into this camp."   This is because the Ark represented God's Presence, God's authority, God's victory over His enemies.   Eli and his sons died in it's presence.  They had carried it onto the battlefield without a cover, right out in the open!

RESPONSE:   Hebrews chapter 12 is written for people who are learning obedience the hard way - and having to endure the chastening (spanking) of the Lord. It says there that He will spank us until He purges out the resentment of having to do what we are told!  You see, it isn't enough to be obedient; we must have a submissive attitude about it too.  Be willing and obedient (Isa 1:19).  When our attitude is rebellious, whether we obey or not, we are treated as if we were DISobedient - and it says we will be "lightly esteemed". That word means "disdained" "to hold in contempt".  That means God won't think about us anymore, and won't care what happens to us!  YIKES!!!  This is commented on in Psa 78:59-51: "When God heard this, He was wroth, and greatly abhorred Israel: So that He forsook the tabernacle of Shiloh, the tent which He placed among men; And delivered His strength (the Ark) into captivity, and His glory into the enemy's hand."

So what does it mean to be "SUBMISSIVE"?  To voluntarily yield. To rest content in a humble state. To be willing and surrendered. It goes with Phil 2:3, "in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves." Don't compete for position. OR: Never defend yourself. Never demand you own way. Never complain.

JOHN 5:24-47                                                                                                                
CONTEXT: John's whole purpose in writing this Gospel "But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name." (John 20:31) "BELIEVE" - nowhere is this word used more than in the Gospel of John.  It is from the word "FAITH".  That means that "belief" (as well as "faith")  is a CHOICE based on knowledge of the facts.  Jesus has just confronted unbelief with a staggering claim about his power over life and death.

THE ISSUES IN UNBELIEF: Now He will answer two critical issues: (1) That He is trustworthy and believable. (2) There is evidence for what He is saying.

(1) He is trustworthy. He has no ulterior motives for what He is saying. (5:30) He isn't just wanting to manipulate or control ("His own will") He isn't self-serving or wanting His own way.

(2) Evidence: V.31-40  "The Father who sent Me has borne witness of Me."  AND "The very works that I do” suggest that God is behind them.  But, God's voice and God's written Word all testify and have ALWAYS testified of Jesus, and they missed it!

THE REAL, PERSONAL ISSUE:  V.41-47: How can they hear the voice of God when they are so consumed with hearing the approval of those around them? When their need for approval and respect from people takes all their attention, how can they hear God? They thirst for glory from one another and God's opinion doesn't mean anything to them. He isn't important enough. They listen to football players, movie stars, school teachers --- but not to God or God's Word.

RESPONSE:   I guess I just never thought about what Jesus was up against. There hadn't been an honest prophet in the Land for hundreds of years until John the Baptist. Then Jesus comes along and says they are doing it all wrong. Sometimes He gets violent, and sometimes He is gentle and tender. But He never backs down. If Jesus is "THE WAY, THE TRUTH, AND THE LIFE" -  then their way must have been wrong;  what they called Truth wasn't;  and their lives were perishing!   All that Jesus is saying must have sounded anti-establishment, anti-status quo!   He is a threat that won't go away.

We can say the same: If HE is THE WAY (and He is), then OUR WAY is the wrong way! If HE is THE TRUTH (and He is), then anything that subverts what God says, or disagrees with it, is NOT TRUTH.  If HE is THE LIFE (and He is), then anything that doesn't come from Jesus' hand, or through His effort and energy in me will perish!

PSALM 106:1-12                                                                                                            
MAN'S DISOBEDIENCE:  Man's long struggle against the Light of Truth.   A history of man's failure and sin, and God's faithfulness.   Man was unfaithful as a new Christian, and is still prone to wander IN THE LAND.

SIN: To forfeit because of falling short. To be exposed to danger.

INIQUITY: Crooked and perverse. Wrongdoing and lawlessness. Turning aside from Truth.

TRANSGRESSION: To fall away. Overstepping the limits or boundary that separates sanctification from sin and licentiousness.

WICKEDLY (v.6): To violate. To have inner chaos and unquiet. To be restless. "But the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt. There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked." (Isa 57:20-21)

RESPONSE:   I love v.10, "And he saved them from the hand of him that hated them, and redeemed them from the hand of the enemy." Because this refers to the Egyptians and Pharaoh, we know this is talking about the devil and his crowd, not people. Oh nuts! We are supposed to BLESS and LOVE the people who hate us!

PROVERBS 14:30-31                                                                                                        
Envy eats like cancer. This word is actually "jealousy" and refers to defending something that I think is mine. "Envy", on the other hand, is wanting something that belongs to someone else.   It is jealousy that eats like cancer - because it is always being threatened. "Soundness", on the other hand, refers to being whole.  The Hebrew root word is "rapha" which means "healed, delivered, complete, whole." Soundness in the heart affects the whole body!

When we worship and honor God, we are merciful. Mercy to ALL people, is an outward expression of our ESTEEM for God.