Peoples Choices (Book of Samuel)

[MatthewG]

God makes a promise to kill Eli's family, when he came to Samuel one night. The Lord called to samuel two times, and Eli realized it was the Lord calling Samuel, so he told him "when you hear your name again, say Speak, your servant is here." And it was so. The Lord came telling Samuel that because of Eli and his not disciplining his sons, who were scoundrels and blaspheming God, that he would kill the entire line of Elis. Family. Hannah prayed to the Lord for a baby, and the Lord remembered one day, when Elkanah had laid with her, and brought for Samuel. Before going on the annual trip, Hannah waited for Samuel to be weaned, then left him there afterwards with Eli the priest. Samuel, woke up the next morning and remember what the Lord had said, and Eli calls Samuel to him. Eli says "The Lord strike you dead if you hold anything back from me", and Samuel told him that his family would be killed. Eli replies "Let him do what is best." During the war of the Philistines and the Israelites, 30,000 where slain, and the Philistines took the Ark of God, for themselves, placing it in Ashdod in the temple of Dagon, only to come in the next morning and seeing the statue on its face fallen over. The next morning after that, his hands were broken off near the temple door. Then plagues of tumors started coming upon the people and they had to get rid of the Ark. When Eli found out the ark had been taken, and heard the messenger from the battlefield had said his sons Hopni and Phinnas also had died. He fell over off of his chair on the gate next to him breaking his neck. The wife of one of the sons, heard the news of the her father, and her husband, she went in to childbirth right then, and named the child "Where is the Glory", as she passed away, Ichbod was his name, a baby boy.




Wild ride in Samuel. The choices of the people are amazing in this story, of history.

When capturing the ark of God, it was passed around to five towns before the Philistines decided, what will we do with this? Bring it back to Israel? They went to their people at the time (Advisors I guess); and they said send two calves that just had been born, make a cart, and make 5 gold tumors, and 5 gold rats, and if the cows go to Beth-mesha, we know that it was the hand of the Lord that caused these plagues. They followed the cows and it entered into to Beth-mesha, and the people rejoiced, however some of the people opened and looked into the Ark, and God struck 70 people dead then, and the people mourned.

At one point during another episode of war, Samuel prayed on behalf of the people, and God sent a thunderous voice which caused the israelites to be confused, and the Israel armies took over and gained some territory back for themselves. However, the people still desired to have a King, and when they consulted Samuel about this due, he told them they would have a bad king rule over them. He consulted God about this and said "they dont want me to be king over them, ever since they left egypt with my hand guiding the way, they want a king over them do as they say."

 

[MatthewG]

Before Hannah ever had a child there was the other wife of Elkanah, who would always taunt her and make fun of her, so much she would always be crying in distress, that was when one day, during their annual gathering at the temple, she prayed to the Lord a great prayer. Eli the priest saw her, and said woman are you drunk because she saw her lips moving and not words coming out. She said no sir, I was praying to the LORD, and I am in great anguish and distress, and then Eli said, may the God of Israel grant you prayer, and he said go in peace. Elkanah and her laid together one day, and she named the Boy samuel when she founded to be pregnant, because "She asked the Lord for him" - Samuel.

 

[MatthewG]

Every annual trip made after leaving Samuel at the tabernacle, Hannah would bring her son a new coat every time she would visit. Also in her prayer, came true way when God's voice caused confusion upon the Philistines the day they had lost, when Samuel interceded for them.

 

[MatthewG]

It's very interesting also to read what the Lord had said, when the people had come to want a king.

He said give the people what they want, they rather have a King and not have me as their King, to Samuel.

God allowed people to choose what they wanted to do, and he acts accordingly to these decisions it is quite amazing when you go through reading the story for yourself.

Like the Philistines, passing around the Ark of the Covenant, God sends plagues of tumors upon each city where the Ark did not belong, and he also kills those who looked into it after it returned back to closer to where it should be in the land of Israel and not the land of the Philstines, what happens is one town passes it to another town, but God still strikes them with plagues, for the Ark of the Covenant was not theirs to begin with, and they set up calves, to take the ark to Beth-meshea, and the calves end up going that direction in which they knew the plagues had been dropped on them where from YAhava, himself...

Therefore after delivering the ark to different locations several times; it seems that it is possible for us today, to try to do things different by our own merit however, if we are not at the source of where the truth is, there is an issue it requires us to go back to where we find the source of life, of course that is Jesus Christ. Those who seen the ark come into beth-meshea, they rejoiced! However, when some of them looked upon in the Ark (which they were not to do I guess) God also killed 70 of them that day, and many mourned.


It's all about choice with God. We listen to him, or we go our own way, he is patiently waiting for us to come to him, but eventually as Hannah prayed "The Lord Gives death and life", and that is something we can not avoid, death. Life we can gain spiritually here through Jesus Christ.

 

[MatthewG]

So the Ark finally was moved to Kiriath Jeraim, and when the people saw that this had happened, and the 70 men were killed when they opened the Ark of the Lord, they cried out saying Who is able to stand in the presence of the Lord, this holy God? Where can we send the Ark from here?

So they sent messengers to Kiriath Jeraim, to come get the Ark, and it was ordained by Eleazar, the son of Abidnadab, and it stayed there for a long time - twenty years in all, and during all that time Israel mourned because it seemed that Yahava abandons them.

 

[MatthewG]

Samuel passed along the warning from the Lord saying,

This is how a king will reign over you, the king will draft your sons and assign them to his chariots, and his charioteer, making them run before his chariots - meaning it seems that humans would be the ones who would run the Chariot for the King, rather than use of animals.

Some will be generals and captains, some will be forced to pow in his fields and harvest his crops,

remember in the beginning how God as a King just allowed Adam and eve to exist amongst the animals of the land where the Garden and eden was set up near the tigerus river? And he supplied them with food, and they did not have to work.

God desires us to find rest in believing and looking towards him and his son.

Samuel goes on to say the king will take your daughters from you and force them to cook and bake and make perfumes for him.

He will take away the best of your fields and vineyards, and olive groves and give them to his own officials. It's egyptian slavery all over again, it seems like from God's warning to Samuel.


When that day comes you will beg for relief from this king, and they said refusing SAmeuls warning, "Even so we still want a king to be like other nations around us". Our King will judge us and lead us into battle.


And the Lord replied, do as they say and give them a king.

It reminds me of when Jesus who was the King of Kings, came from being the Word of God, down and born by the holy spirit in Mary becoming flesh named Jesus, and he was the King, and they hated him, but he came to give them relief.

Relief from what? The worldly ways of doing things, and resting in the spiritual rest that Yeshua gives "Come to me all ye who are heavily burdened"

 

[MatthewG]

In a sense this still happens today among many different nations who are run by a leader which people, like in america they will fight between liberal and democratic, but thank God, Jesus was never political.

He was always for the Kingdom of Heaven, and he said his kingdom was not from this world. While things tend to happen and go their own way, there is a King and Lord of all kings and lord to look towards, the Lord Yeshua, to find rest and peace in your own heart with God amongst all the things that the world itself does, and I believe that is some good lessons that are founded here in 1 samuel about the peoples choice, and God's choice as well, he decides to kill all of family line of Eli.

Some may say that is wrong for God to do, but who are you to judge God in the first place? He gives you life every day, and one day that life will be taken back again, and you as the individual you are will be judged before God and placed where you belong. Either outside of the Kingdom or inside of the Kingdom, and the fire that comes from God is still there for all outside to experience, and perhaps those inside who may want to get closer to God?

I dont know for sure but noticing some things about the temple (outer court - the way), (inner court - truth), holy of holies (life), perhaps you can travel closer to him.

Either way, even Paul encourages timothy to pray for all those who are in authority,

1 Timothy 2:1-2 (NIV): Pray For Those in Authority"I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people — for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness."

 

[MatthewG]

Saul comes onto the scene, he and his servant are coming from the tribe of Benjamin and they are looking for some lost donkeys, and they search but they can not find them. Then they have an idea to come by to go see the seer, which is what prophets were called back then. They had heard of a man that spoke and everything that he said would come true, so they went and sought him.

 

[MatthewG]

Samuel judges Israel, by telling them to put away their idols, of Baal and the Ashtoreths, and serve the LORD only, and told them to gather all of Israel to Mizpah, and I will pray to for the LORD for you.

They did so, Saul came along, from the line of Benjamin, from a man who was named Kish, a mighty man of power. He had a choice and a handsome son whose name was Saul. There was not a more handsome person than he among the children of Israel, from his shoulders upward, he was taller than any of the people. There were donkeys that were lost, and as they were looking they did not find them. They came to the land of Zuph, and Saul said to the servant who was with him, let's go back and stop looking for the donkeys and my father started to become worried about us.

The servant replied back that there is an in this city, a man of God and is an honorable man, and all he says surely comes to pass, let us go there and perhaps he will show us the way that we should go.

It's so interesting how when Jesus judged the Pharisees, because of their idol worship as well, and made the temple a den of thieves instead of a house of pray, and the fact he sent his disciples to go and get a donkey that was unridden, and that while Saul was handsome as a king that was coming up, Jesus was a King that was undesirable as far as beauty. Samuel was an honorable man who made prophecies, and Jesus was not a man who received any honor from man, and he too also made prophecies.

The disciples when they were told to find the donkey, and say the Lord is of need and they may take. They did not desire to give up like Saul had decided going to want to go back to his father. The servant of saul, though must have heard about Samuel, who helped in interceding for Israel by telling them to put away their idols, and on that day the armies won over some territory so they went to seek him. Just as Jesus promised those who he came to, follow me, and I will make you fishers of men, they left their place and followed him leaving behind everything trusting that he was the messiah.

 

[MatthewG]

https://www.tiktok.com/video/7274805533528313118 https://www.tiktok.com/video/7274812188412431646

 

[MatthewG]

During the war, Saul decides, while waiting for Samuel to show up, to go through with doing the sacrifice offering himself. Which was not right to do as it was for the priest to do. Shortly after Samuel shows up, and tells Saul that his Kingdom will come to ruin, and it would be given over to someone whom is a person who a man after God's own heart.

There is a reason why things are to be done in a proper way, there is no way to skip over the gate.

 

[MatthewG]

https://www.tiktok.com/video/7274953154402274590

 

[MatthewG]

https://www.tiktok.com/video/7277503810728201503