God Gives the King to Honor

1 Samuel 9:1-27
    1 There was a man of Benjamin whose name was Kish the son of Abiel, the son of Zeror, the son of Bechorath, the son of Aphiah, a Benjamite, a mighty man of power. 2 And he had a choice and 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. 3 Now the donkeys of Kish, Saul's father, were lost. And Kish said to his son Saul, “Please take one of the servants with you, and arise, go and look for the donkeys.” 4 So he passed through the mountains of Ephraim and through the land of Shalisha, but they did not find them. Then they passed through the land of Shaalim, and they were not there. Then he passed through the land of the Benjamites, but they did not find them.
    5 When they had come to the land of Zuph, Saul said to his servant who was with him, “Come, let us return, lest my father cease caring about the donkeys and become worried about us.”  6 And he said to him, “Look now, there is in this city a man of God, and he is an honorable man; all that he says surely comes to pass. So let us go there; perhaps he can show us the way that we should go.”
    7 Then Saul said to his servant, “But look, if we go, what shall we bring the man? For the bread in our vessels is all gone, and there is no present to bring to the man of God. What do we have?”  8 And the servant answered Saul again and said, “Look, I have here at hand one-fourth of a shekel of silver. I will give that to the man of God, to tell us our way.” 9 (Formerly in Israel, when a man went to inquire of God, he spoke thus: “Come, let us go to the seer”; for he who is now called a prophet was formerly called a seer.). 10 Then Saul said to his servant, “Well said; come, let us go.” So they went to the city where the man of God was.
    11 As they went up the hill to the city, they met some young women going out to draw water, and said to them, “Is the seer here?”  12 And they answered them and said, “Yes, there he is, just ahead of you. Hurry now; for today he came to this city, because there is a sacrifice of the people today on the high place. 13 As soon as you come into the city, you will surely find him before he goes up to the high place to eat. For the people will not eat until he comes, because he must bless the sacrifice; afterward those who are invited will eat. Now therefore, go up, for about this time you will find him.” 14 So they went up to the city. As they were coming into the city, there was Samuel, coming out toward them on his way up to the high place.
    15 Now the LORD had told Samuel in his ear the day before Saul came, saying, 16 “Tomorrow about this time I will send you a man from the land of Benjamin, and you shall anoint him commander over My people Israel, that he may save My people from the hand of the Philistines; for I have looked upon My people, because their cry has come to Me.”  17 So when Samuel saw Saul, the LORD said to him, “There he is, the man of whom I spoke to you. This one shall reign over My people.” 18 Then Saul drew near to Samuel in the gate, and said, “Please tell me, where is the seer's house?”
    19 Samuel answered Saul and said, “I am the seer. Go up before me to the high place, for you shall eat with me today; and tomorrow I will let you go and will tell you all that is in your heart. 20 But as for your donkeys that were lost three days ago, do not be anxious about them, for they have been found. And on whom is all the desire of Israel? Is it not on you and on all your father's house?”  21 And Saul answered and said, “Am I not a Benjamite, of the smallest of the tribes of Israel, and my family the least of all the families of the tribe of Benjamin? Why then do you speak like this to me?”
    22 Now Samuel took Saul and his servant and brought them into the hall, and had them sit in the place of honor among those who were invited; there were about thirty persons. 23 And Samuel said to the cook, “Bring the portion which I gave you, of which I said to you, ‘Set it apart.’ ” 24 So the cook took up the thigh with its upper part and set it before Saul. And Samuel said, “Here it is, what was kept back. It was set apart for you. Eat; for until this time it has been kept for you, since I said I invited the people.” So Saul ate with Samuel that day.
    25 When they had come down from the high place into the city, Samuel spoke with Saul on the top of the house. 26 They arose early; and it was about the dawning of the day that Samuel called to Saul on the top of the house, saying, “Get up, that I may send you on your way.” And Saul arose, and both of them went outside, he and Samuel.  27 As they were going down to the outskirts of the city, Samuel said to Saul, “Tell the servant to go on ahead of us.” And he went on. “But you stand here awhile, that I may announce to you the word of God.”

Kish’s son, Saul, was a tall and handsome man who stood out in the sight of those who saw him, and this is the first king chosen and promised by the LORD because of the people insisting on someone other than Him to rule over them and bring them victory in battle.  They had forgotten that God gave the success and God was their true King, but God was to answer their urging in the man Saul.  It was a series of events showing loss and then a restoration of the lost donkeys of Saul’s father which brought Saul to seek guidance from Samuel to find the donkeys and for Samuel to find Saul by the LORD’s hand.  Similar to Moses being the answer to Israel’s cry for deliverance, God told Samuel that the man He pointed out would be the answer to the desperate call for deliverance from the Philistines.  That one would reign over His people.  Saul knew that he was insignificant in and of himself, not knowing that God had set him apart for this role.  Samuel honored him at a banquet, then the following day took him out of the city to go on his way.  Saul did not know what the LORD had planned for Samuel to do next, but willingly accompanied him, stopping to hear the word of God from Samuel when he was told it was to be spoken to him there on the way.  We see then that God calls and appoints rulers; God gives the king, the ruler, to a nation by His choice and enabling.  We are then to follow that ruler (Romans 13:1-5), knowing we obey as unto God.  The only time we disobey is when that ruler directs us to act immorally or when told we cannot speak the gospel (Acts 5:29), not when we are told we cannot gather in certain buildings only.  We therefore gather (Hebrews 10:24-25) wherever we can and speak the words of life to all who hear while honoring the king set over us, no matter what land we are citizens of, for we are also of the heavenly kingdom.  By honoring without true compromise we demonstrate obedience and honor to the One who sets all ruler in place.  Titus 3:1 reminds us of this.  Do we then disobey? 

Choosing Who Rules You

1 Samuel 8:1-22 

    1 Now it came to pass when Samuel was old that he made his sons judges over Israel. 2 The name of his firstborn was Joel, and the name of his second, Abijah; they were judges in Beersheba. 3 But his sons did not walk in his ways; they turned aside after dishonest gain, took bribes, and perverted justice. 4 Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah, 5 and said to him, “Look, you are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now make us a king to judge us like all the nations.”
    6 But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to judge us.” So Samuel prayed to the LORD. 7 And the LORD said to Samuel, “Heed the voice of the people in all that they say to you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me, that I should not reign over them. 8 According to all the works which they have done since the day that I brought them up out of Egypt, even to this day—with which they have forsaken Me and served other gods—so they are doing to you also. 9 Now therefore, heed their voice. However, you shall solemnly forewarn them, and show them the behavior of the king who will reign over them.”
    10 So Samuel told all the words of the LORD to the people who asked him for a king. 11 And he said, “This will be the behavior of the king who will reign over you: He will take your sons and appoint them for his own chariots and to be his horsemen, and some will run before his chariots. 12 He will appoint captains over his thousands and captains over his fifties, will set some to plow his ground and reap his harvest, and some to make his weapons of war and equipment for his chariots. 13 He will take your daughters to be perfumers, cooks, and bakers. 14 And he will take the best of your fields, your vineyards, and your olive groves, and give them to his servants. 15 He will take a tenth of your grain and your vintage, and give it to his officers and servants. 16 And he will take your male servants, your female servants, your finest young men, and your donkeys, and put them to his work. 17 He will take a tenth of your sheep. And you will be his servants. 18 And you will cry out in that day because of your king whom you have chosen for yourselves, and the LORD will not hear you in that day.”
    19 Nevertheless the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel; and they said, “No, but we will have a king over us, 20 that we also may be like all the nations, and that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles.”  21 And Samuel heard all the words of the people, and he repeated them in the hearing of the LORD. 22 So the LORD said to Samuel, “Heed their voice, and make them a king.”  And Samuel said to the men of Israel, “Every man go to his city.”

The people of God wanted someone to rule over them instead of the LORD after seeing Samuel’s sons judge Israel badly.  The sons of the prophet perverted justice, taking bribes, and refused to follow God and be the judges to lead according to His word and ways as their father did.  This led the people to be disillusioned and no longer wanted to follow the LORD.  God allowed their request for a king to rule them because they rejected His sovereign reign over them, and therefore rejected Him as their Lord and God.  Anytime God’s people reject His rule over them and seek to replace it with human government, they reject Him and His commands.  That never ends well.  These made other gods to worship and made excuses for choosing an earthly ruler over the heavenly, forgetting all He did to deliver them from bondage and give them a heavenly inheritance.  They did not view Him as holy nor as their King anymore.  The pride of life and desire of their eyes imagined what they thought better, and rejected the best.  The LORD gave Samuel the warning of what their choice of an earthly king would mean for them, the price they would pay to have and maintain such a human master, but still did not truly count the cost and demanded a substitute king over God anyway.  The LORD agreed to honor that foolish request for someone other than God to fight their battles and be their judge, shifting His righteous rule to that of sinful men and forgetting His grace and mercy and protection all those years.  The LORD gave victory in battle, not the judges.  The LORD led and fed them out of bondage and the wilderness.  Yet they chose to reject the one with the right to rule them and the judges He chose to govern them, desiring a selfish and powerless substitute.  History would bear out the consequences of leaving their first love and the price they would ultimately pay.  We can learn from this that we choose who rules us, and if we choose unwisely, there are dire consequences.  Our Lord Jesus Christ is our King of kings and LORD of Lords; how dare we put men over Him to guide our spiritual and moral living?  God indeed puts governments over us by His hand, but we must still choose who rules our soul and spirit.  His word judges us and we cannot replace that sovereign care, guidance, and rule with another’s.  And let us also never use bad spiritual leaders as reasons to choose to live apart from God’s sovereign rule over us as Israel did here with Samuel’s sons.  He is our perfect example of judge and king, and we are without excuse to reject these things.  Choose who rules you. 

Devoted Hearts Confess and Forsake Sin

1 Samuel 7:1-17
    1 Then the men of Kirjath Jearim came and took the ark of the LORD, and brought it into the house of Abinadab on the hill, and consecrated Eleazar his son to keep the ark of the LORD.  2 So it was that the ark remained in Kirjath Jearim a long time; it was there twenty years. And all the house of Israel lamented after the LORD.
    3 Then Samuel spoke to all the house of Israel, saying, “If you return to the LORD with all your hearts, then put away the foreign gods and the Ashtoreths from among you, and prepare your hearts for the LORD, and serve Him only; and He will deliver you from the hand of the Philistines.” 4 So the children of Israel put away the Baals and the Ashtoreths, and served the LORD only.
    5 And Samuel said, “Gather all Israel to Mizpah, and I will pray to the LORD for you.” 6 So they gathered together at Mizpah, drew water, and poured it out before the LORD. And they fasted that day, and said there, “We have sinned against the LORD.” And Samuel judged the children of Israel at Mizpah.
    7 Now when the Philistines heard that the children of Israel had gathered together at Mizpah, the lords of the Philistines went up against Israel. And when the children of Israel heard of it, they were afraid of the Philistines. 8 So the children of Israel said to Samuel, “Do not cease to cry out to the LORD our God for us, that He may save us from the hand of the Philistines.”
    9 And Samuel took a suckling lamb and offered it as a whole burnt offering to the LORD. Then Samuel cried out to the LORD for Israel, and the LORD answered him. 10 Now as Samuel was offering up the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near to battle against Israel. But the LORD thundered with a loud thunder upon the Philistines that day, and so confused them that they were overcome before Israel. 11 And the men of Israel went out of Mizpah and pursued the Philistines, and drove them back as far as below Beth Car. 12 Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen, and called its name Ebenezer, saying, “Thus far the LORD has helped us.”
    13 So the Philistines were subdued, and they did not come anymore into the territory of Israel. And the hand of the LORD was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel. 14 Then the cities which the Philistines had taken from Israel were restored to Israel, from Ekron to Gath; and Israel recovered its territory from the hands of the Philistines. Also there was peace between Israel and the Amorites.
    15 And Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life. 16 He went from year to year on a circuit to Bethel, Gilgal, and Mizpah, and judged Israel in all those places. 17 But he always returned to Ramah, for his home was there. There he judged Israel, and there he built an altar to the LORD.

The Ark was recovered and brought to a house on a hill, consecrating Eleazar to be worthy of looking after it for the twenty years it would remain there before King David tried to bring it to Jerusalem (1 Chronicles 13:3, 7, 13, 14, 15:1, 16:1).  Samuel then pronounced the LORD’s promise of deliverance if they rid themselves of false gods, prepared their hearts for Him alone, devoting themselves to serve and worship the LORD alone.  They did so, confessing their sin against Him.  Then the Philistines came to attack them, and begged Samuel to intercede in prayer for the people for salvation from their enemy.  He offered a lamb as a sacrifice and cried out to the LORD, and was answered in a loud thunder against the attacking army, confusing them enough to allow Israel to defeat them.  Samuel placed a rock of remembrance called Ebenezer for the help the LORD had given them.  This was to remind them all that the battle was God’s, not one won by their own might.  They had to learn to rely on the LORD and not themselves.  The result was victory and reclamation of lost cities and land, as well as peace with the Amorites.  Samuel went on to judge Israel the rest of his life, traveling through the land but always coming back to his home base at Ramah, where he had built an altar to worship and sacrifice to the Lord from.  We see here the need of reliance on the Lord with obedience to keep His word to avoid sin and false worship, being wholly devoted to Him.  To obey is of more value than ritual sacrifices; the heart is what is the core of the matter, for He seeks that in us for Him above all others and all else (2 Chronicles 16:9).  We are to be devoted in hope solely to the Father through the Lord Christ by the enabling of His Spirit.  We then are to be as an ark containing the written testimony of the new covenant on our hearts (Jeremiah 31:33, 2 Corinthians 3:3.  His word is written there not on stone tablets as the Ark of old, but on these renewed hearts by the work of His hand (Exodus 31:18, 1 Kings 8:9, Ezekiel 36:26, Romans 2:15).  We are His workmanship, victorious in Christ alone as 1 Corinthians 15:57 makes abundantly clear, so we then must learn from the past to rely on Him with a whole heart.  Devoted hearts also confess and forsake sin, which is repentance and our sanctification. 

Reverence or Disregard of God?

1 Samuel 6:1-21 

    1 Now the ark of the LORD was in the country of the Philistines seven months. 2 And the Philistines called for the priests and the diviners, saying, “What shall we do with the ark of the LORD? Tell us how we should send it to its place.” 3 So they said, “If you send away the ark of the God of Israel, do not send it empty; but by all means return it to Him with a trespass offering. Then you will be healed, and it will be known to you why His hand is not removed from you.
    4 Then they said, “What is the trespass offering which we shall return to Him?”  They answered, “Five golden tumors and five golden rats, according to the number of the lords of the Philistines. For the same plague was on all of you and on your lords. 5 Therefore you shall make images of your tumors and images of your rats that ravage the land, and you shall give glory to the God of Israel; perhaps He will lighten His hand from you, from your gods, and from your land. 6 Why then do you harden your hearts as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened their hearts? When He did mighty things among them, did they not let the people go, that they might depart? 7 Now therefore, make a new cart, take two milk cows which have never been yoked, and hitch the cows to the cart; and take their calves home, away from them. 8 Then take the ark of the LORD and set it on the cart; and put the articles of gold which you are returning to Him as a trespass offering in a chest by its side. Then send it away, and let it go. 9 And watch: if it goes up the road to its own territory, to Beth Shemesh, then He has done us this great evil. But if not, then we shall know that it is not His hand that struck us—it happened to us by chance.”
    10 Then the men did so; they took two milk cows and hitched them to the cart, and shut up their calves at home. 11 And they set the ark of the LORD on the cart, and the chest with the gold rats and the images of their tumors. 12 Then the cows headed straight for the road to Beth Shemesh, and went along the highway, lowing as they went, and did not turn aside to the right hand or the left. And the lords of the Philistines went after them to the border of Beth Shemesh.
    13 Now the people of Beth Shemesh were reaping their wheat harvest in the valley; and they lifted their eyes and saw the ark, and rejoiced to see it. 14 Then the cart came into the field of Joshua of Beth Shemesh, and stood there; a large stone was there. So they split the wood of the cart and offered the cows as a burnt offering to the LORD. 15 The Levites took down the ark of the LORD and the chest that was with it, in which were the articles of gold, and put them on the large stone. Then the men of Beth Shemesh offered burnt offerings and made sacrifices the same day to the LORD. 16 So when the five lords of the Philistines had seen it, they returned to Ekron the same day.
    17 These are the golden tumors which the Philistines returned as a trespass offering to the LORD: one for Ashdod, one for Gaza, one for Ashkelon, one for Gath, one for Ekron; 18 and the golden rats, according to the number of all the cities of the Philistines belonging to the five lords, both fortified cities and country villages, even as far as the large stone of Abel on which they set the ark of the LORD, which stone remains to this day in the field of Joshua of Beth Shemesh.
    19 Then He struck the men of Beth Shemesh, because they had looked into the ark of the LORD. He struck fifty thousand and seventy men of the people, and the people lamented because the LORD had struck the people with a great slaughter.  20 And the men of Beth Shemesh said, “Who is able to stand before this holy LORD God? And to whom shall it go up from us?” 21 So they sent messengers to the inhabitants of Kirjath Jearim, saying, “The Philistines have brought back the ark of the LORD; come down and take it up with you.”

The Philistines who suffered tumors from having stolen the Ark and keeping it from Israel then wanted to return it to stop the likely cancerous tumor growths and boils they experienced as a result from the LORD.  They therefore planned to send it back with a trespass offering for their sin of taking it in battle, and made golden images of their judgement to acknowledge this in the form of those growths they suffered and the rodents infesting their land.  They were led to do this to give God glory and seek forgiveness, or lack of punishment at least.  Their own priests compared this to the story of God’s people being let go after the heart of Pharaoh was hardened against Israel as a warning not to do the same and suffer a similar fate.  They put the Ark on a cart and watched to see if it was from the LORD by going back to Israel, or another way to demonstrate that this was only a coincidence.  It of course was set loose and immediately headed swiftly back to the LORD’s people.  The cows were directed by God as they mooed all the way home, purposefully and without hesitation or side trips.  When it arrived in Beth Shemesh, the people of God sacrificed the cows on a nearby rock as a makeshift altar in joy for the return of the Ark of the Testimony of God’s covenant with them.  However, the LORD had given instructions that nobody was to gaze into the Ark (Numbers 4:15, 20) because it demonstrated a lack of reverence for the holy things of God in violation of the law.  They did not repent after over fifty thousand died, but instead lamented that they could not stand in His presence and asked others to come get the Ark and remove it from their presence.  They did not seem to understand that they were responsible and accountable for their disobedience and the consequences.  Instead they were sad that so many died; they failed to see first of all that they did not show reverence and obedience to the word of the LORD.  We also should learn from these and others such as Ananias and Saphira who do not count the holiness and reverence of the Lord above our own desires to do as we think best (Leviticus 10:3). God’s word is our irrefutable guide for life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3).  Do we show reverence or disregard for God? 

Idols Fall Before the LORD

1 Samuel 5:1-12
    1 Then the Philistines took the ark of God and brought it from Ebenezer to Ashdod. 2 When the Philistines took the ark of God, they brought it into the house of Dagon and set it by Dagon. 3 And when the people of Ashdod arose early in the morning, there was Dagon, fallen on its face to the earth before the ark of the LORD. So they took Dagon and set it in its place again. 4 And when they arose early the next morning, there was Dagon, fallen on its face to the ground before the ark of the LORD. The head of Dagon and both the palms of its hands were broken off on the threshold; only Dagon's torso was left of it. 5 Therefore neither the priests of Dagon nor any who come into Dagon's house tread on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod to this day. 6 But the hand of the LORD was heavy on the people of Ashdod, and He ravaged them and struck them with tumors, both Ashdod and its territory. 7 And when the men of Ashdod saw how it was, they said, “The ark of the God of Israel must not remain with us, for His hand is harsh toward us and Dagon our god.” 8 Therefore they sent and gathered to themselves all the lords of the Philistines, and said, “What shall we do with the ark of the God of Israel?”
    And they answered, “Let the ark of the God of Israel be carried away to Gath.” So they carried the ark of the God of Israel away. 9 So it was, after they had carried it away, that the hand of the LORD was against the city with a very great destruction; and He struck the men of the city, both small and great, and tumors broke out on them.
    10 Therefore they sent the ark of God to Ekron. So it was, as the ark of God came to Ekron, that the Ekronites cried out, saying, “They have brought the ark of the God of Israel to us, to kill us and our people!” 11 So they sent and gathered together all the lords of the Philistines, and said, “Send away the ark of the God of Israel, and let it go back to its own place, so that it does not kill us and our people.” For there was a deadly destruction throughout all the city; the hand of God was very heavy there. 12 And the men who did not die were stricken with the tumors, and the cry of the city went up to heaven.

The idolatrous Philistines who defeated Israel, who had left their first love, now encountered the results of God’s presence of holiness and sovereign authority.  They dared bring the Ark of the Testimony of the LORD’s covenant with His chosen people into a pagan temple of the idol Dagon (fish), a Philistine deity of fertility which had the face and hands of a man and the tail of a fish.  God was not mocked by such irreverence, and the morning light found the idol flopped face first on the ground and pointed towards the Ark as if bowing down to the Lord.  They set the lifeless statue again before the Ark as if over the LORD, and this time the stone was broken at the head and hands, as of to show it had no life or ability to do anything as a lifeless idol (Habakkuk 2:18-19, Psalm 115:4-8).  The Philistines suffered with physical ailments as well, and then were so afraid they sent the Ark away before more judgement came upon them.  They even had their priests avoid stepping where their statue fell dead in their temple.  But where they sent the Ark suffered the same afflictions and led to Ekron where they refused to suffer under the hand of the LORD as the others, demanding that it be given back to God’s people rather than suffer destruction at His hands.  The text says that their cry went up to heaven, it rose to the sky as if to some empty hope in a false diety.  They did not know nor seek the true God for deliverance.  Even today those who worship other false gods and idols of their own creation refuse to acknowledge or bow to the Creator and Sovereign Lord who made them, choosing to escape His presence or send away those of His New Covenant in Jesus the Christ.  They fear the suffering but refuse to acknowledge it is just judgement for false worship.  In the end we knew that everyone will bow to Him and confess who He is (Isaiah 45:22-24, Philippians 2:10-11), the only God and Lord of all. Merely removing the Bible or believers from the temples of learning or academia will never remove accountability to the Lord nor His authority over them.  It only keeps them without head and hands like the dumb fish idol to be able to think and act in obedient acknowledgement and resulting worship of their Lord and Master.  All of man’s idols put before Him will fall before Him.

Sin and God’s Favor

1 Samuel 4:1-22
    1 And the word of Samuel came to all Israel. Now Israel went out to battle against the Philistines, and encamped beside Ebenezer; and the Philistines encamped in Aphek. 2 Then the Philistines put themselves in battle array against Israel. And when they joined battle, Israel was defeated by the Philistines, who killed about four thousand men of the army in the field. 3 And when the people had come into the camp, the elders of Israel said, “Why has the LORD defeated us today before the Philistines? Let us bring the ark of the covenant of the LORD from Shiloh to us, that when it comes among us it may save us from the hand of our enemies.” 4 So the people sent to Shiloh, that they might bring from there the ark of the covenant of the LORD of hosts, who dwells between the cherubim. And the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God.
    5 And when the ark of the covenant of the LORD came into the camp, all Israel shouted so loudly that the earth shook. 6 Now when the Philistines heard the noise of the shout, they said, “What does the sound of this great shout in the camp of the Hebrews mean?” Then they understood that the ark of the LORD had come into the camp. 7 So the Philistines were afraid, for they said, “God has come into the camp!” And they said, “Woe to us! For such a thing has never happened before. 8 Woe to us! Who will deliver us from the hand of these mighty gods? These are the gods who struck the Egyptians with all the plagues in the wilderness. 9 Be strong and conduct yourselves like men, you Philistines, that you do not become servants of the Hebrews, as they have been to you. Conduct yourselves like men, and fight!”
    10 So the Philistines fought, and Israel was defeated, and every man fled to his tent. There was a very great slaughter, and there fell of Israel thirty thousand foot soldiers. 11 Also the ark of God was captured; and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, died.
    12 Then a man of Benjamin ran from the battle line the same day, and came to Shiloh with his clothes torn and dirt on his head. 13 Now when he came, there was Eli, sitting on a seat by the wayside watching, for his heart trembled for the ark of God. And when the man came into the city and told it, all the city cried out. 14 When Eli heard the noise of the outcry, he said, “What does the sound of this tumult mean?” And the man came quickly and told Eli. 15 Eli was ninety-eight years old, and his eyes were so dim that he could not see.
    16 Then the man said to Eli, “I am he who came from the battle. And I fled today from the battle line.”  And he said, “What happened, my son?”  17 So the messenger answered and said, “Israel has fled before the Philistines, and there has been a great slaughter among the people. Also your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead; and the ark of God has been captured.”  18 Then it happened, when he made mention of the ark of God, that Eli fell off the seat backward by the side of the gate; and his neck was broken and he died, for the man was old and heavy. And he had judged Israel forty years.
    19 Now his daughter-in-law, Phinehas’ wife, was with child, due to be delivered; and when she heard the news that the ark of God was captured, and that her father-in-law and her husband were dead, she bowed herself and gave birth, for her labor pains came upon her. 20 And about the time of her death the women who stood by her said to her, “Do not fear, for you have borne a son.” But she did not answer, nor did she regard it. 21 Then 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. 22 And she said, “The glory has departed from Israel, for the ark of God has been captured.”

The sin of Eli’s sons was not to be atoned for by sacrifice; it was quite unforgivable for their rejection of the LORD and His Spirit of holiness, for they despised the offerings and the one they were offered to.  Samuel’s prophecy now came to pass as Israel sought to fight against the Philistines.  The Philistines defeated them in the first fray, so they brought the Ark of Testimony with them, relying on God to protect and honor them in battle when they neglected to honor Him.  Bit the sons of Eli accompanied it.  Israel shouted loudly as if the Ark was a talisman to rely upon apart from obedient and humble hearts of holiness and a hatred of sin.  The Philistines were afraid because they heard of God’s people and the miracles the LORD did for them in battle, so they rallied their courage and defeated God’s people who had departed from Him, lifting His hand of protection.  The Ark of God was taken and Eli’s sons were killed that day as was predicted.  When aged Eli heard of the Ark leaving Israel, he fell back and broke his neck; he did not fall at hearing of the loss of his sons, but of the loss of God’s presence and favor which the Ark represented.  His daughter-in-law, Phinehas’ wife, gave birth and named the child Ichabod, meaning Inglorious or loss of glory, because Israel lost God’s glory by their turning away from Him.  It was more than just the enclosure of the Ark, but the written Law of the covenant of the testimony between God and man which was broken by Israel (Exodus 24:7-8, 24:21-22, 31:18).  They lost their Portland victory by their disobedience and tolerance of sin as in the sons of Eli who ministered the worship of sacrifices.  Repentance was needed.  We learn then that continued sin has consequences (Romans 6:1, 23, Acts 5:1-5).  God is holy, and we are called to live likewise to honor Him and worship faithfully and truly.  Let us not look the other way when those in positions to serve Him live sinfully without repentance or honor of the Lord that His glory is upheld and we do not suffer the loss of His hand watching over us.  This is a lesson on willing and unrepentant sin and God’s favor.

Called to See, Hear, and Obey

1 Samuel 3:1-21 

    1 Now the boy Samuel ministered to the LORD before Eli. And the word of the LORD was rare in those days; there was no widespread revelation. 2 And it came to pass at that time, while Eli was lying down in his place, and when his eyes had begun to grow so dim that he could not see, 3 and before the lamp of God went out in the tabernacle of the LORD where the ark of God was, and while Samuel was lying down, 4 that the LORD called Samuel. And he answered, “Here I am!” 5 So he ran to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” And he said, “I did not call; lie down again.” And he went and lay down.
    6 Then the LORD called yet again, “Samuel!”  So Samuel arose and went to Eli, and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” He answered, “I did not call, my son; lie down again.” 7 (Now Samuel did not yet know the LORD, nor was the word of the LORD yet revealed to him.)
    8 And the LORD called Samuel again the third time. So he arose and went to Eli, and said, “Here I am, for you did call me.”  Then Eli perceived that the LORD had called the boy. 9 Therefore Eli said to Samuel, “Go, lie down; and it shall be, if He calls you, that you must say, ‘Speak, LORD, for Your servant hears.’ ” So Samuel went and lay down in his place.
    10 Now the LORD came and stood and called as at other times, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel answered, “Speak, for Your servant hears.”
    11 Then the LORD said to Samuel: “Behold, I will do something in Israel at which both ears of everyone who hears it will tingle. 12 In that day I will perform against Eli all that I have spoken concerning his house, from beginning to end. 13 For I have told him that I will judge his house forever for the iniquity which he knows, because his sons made themselves vile, and he did not restrain them. 14 And therefore I have sworn to the house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli's house shall not be atoned for by sacrifice or offering forever.”
    15 So Samuel lay down until morning, and opened the doors of the house of the LORD. And Samuel was afraid to tell Eli the vision. 16 Then Eli called Samuel and said, “Samuel, my son!”  He answered, “Here I am.”  17 And he said, “What is the word that the LORD spoke to you? Please do not hide it from me. God do so to you, and more also, if you hide anything from me of all the things that He said to you.” 18 Then Samuel told him everything, and hid nothing from him. And he said, “It is the LORD. Let Him do what seems good to Him.”
    19 So Samuel grew, and the LORD was with him and let none of his words fall to the ground. 20 And all Israel from Dan to Beersheba knew that Samuel had been established as a prophet of the LORD. 21 Then the LORD appeared again in Shiloh. For the LORD revealed Himself to Samuel in Shiloh by the word of the LORD.

Samuel was called by the LORD but did not know it was Him, thinking instead it was Eli calling.  Since there was almost no revelation of God through prophets at that time of Israel’s distance from God due to their rebellion against Him, it would not be common knowledge that this could be God speaking to Samuel to see Him and then hear and obey what he was called to do.  Even today, many are called by God but don’t know how to respond unless someone points them to the words of the gospel in the scriptures.  Even Romans makes this evident that someone must bring the message clearly (Romans 10:14-15) to respond to the calling and see the truth revealed by God to hear and obey the gospel by faith with opened eyes.  Samuel therefore went to Eli twice, thinking it was a man’s calling, for He did not know the LORD yet.  Eli saw what was happening and understood the second time, pointing Samuel to see what was going on by instructing Him to tell the LORD that he hears and to ask what the He wants him to do.  God pronounced the final judgement on Eli’s house as promised in chapter two, stating clearly that the sin would not be forgiven or covered by sacrifices.  Though Samuel held back from speaking to Eli, Eli told him to speak plainly and he did.  Eli accepted the judgement because he knew it was true and deserved as it came from the LORD.  After this first prophecy, Samuel spoke many more things given by God, and all came true because they were from the LORD and not man.  This was a prophet, one whose words always came to fruition because prophets were spokesmen for Him.  This was all according to the word of the one calling, just as now we speak the words given as ministers of the word of truth, the gospel as written and empowered by His Spirit in us (1 Peter 4:11, 1 Thessalonians 2:13, Ephesians 3:5, Colossians 1:26).  We learn therefore from Samuel and the prophets that we are called out as chosen to see, hear, and obey the gospel (Romans 8:28-30).  He calls and we only know it is Him speaking by His word and Spirit revealing Him to us to respond with the faith and ability He provides to see, hear, and obey the gospel message.  There is such grace in His calling! 

Wicked Sons and One True to the Lord

1 Samuel 2:12-36 

    12 Now the sons of Eli were corrupt; they did not know the LORD. 13 And the priests’ custom with the people was that when any man offered a sacrifice, the priest's servant would come with a three-pronged fleshhook in his hand while the meat was boiling. 14 Then he would thrust it into the pan, or kettle, or caldron, or pot; and the priest would take for himself all that the fleshhook brought up. So they did in Shiloh to all the Israelites who came there. 15 Also, before they burned the fat, the priest's servant would come and say to the man who sacrificed, “Give meat for roasting to the priest, for he will not take boiled meat from you, but raw.”  16 And if the man said to him, “They should really burn the fat first; then you may take as much as your heart desires,” he would then answer him, “No, but you must give it now; and if not, I will take it by force.”  17 Therefore the sin of the young men was very great before the LORD, for men abhorred the offering of the LORD.
    18 But Samuel ministered before the LORD, even as a child, wearing a linen ephod. 19 Moreover his mother used to make him a little robe, and bring it to him year by year when she came up with her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice. 20 And Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife, and say, “The LORD give you descendants from this woman for the loan that was given to the LORD.” Then they would go to their own home.  21 And the LORD visited Hannah, so that she conceived and bore three sons and two daughters. Meanwhile the child Samuel grew before the LORD.
    22 Now Eli was very old; and he heard everything his sons did to all Israel, and how they lay with the women who assembled at the door of the tabernacle of meeting. 23 So he said to them, “Why do you do such things? For I hear of your evil dealings from all the people. 24 No, my sons! For it is not a good report that I hear. You make the LORD'S people transgress. 25 If one man sins against another, God will judge him. But if a man sins against the LORD, who will intercede for him?” Nevertheless they did not heed the voice of their father, because the LORD desired to kill them.

    26 And the child Samuel grew in stature, and in favor both with the LORD and men.

    27 Then a man of God came to Eli and said to him, “Thus says the LORD: ‘Did I not clearly reveal Myself to the house of your father when they were in Egypt in Pharaoh's house? 28 Did I not choose him out of all the tribes of Israel to be My priest, to offer upon My altar, to burn incense, and to wear an ephod before Me? And did I not give to the house of your father all the offerings of the children of Israel made by fire? 29 Why do you kick at My sacrifice and My offering which I have commanded in My dwelling place, and honor your sons more than Me, to make yourselves fat with the best of all the offerings of Israel My people?’ 30 Therefore the LORD God of Israel says: ‘I said indeed that your house and the house of your father would walk before Me forever.’ But now the LORD says: ‘Far be it from Me; for those who honor Me I will honor, and those who despise Me shall be lightly esteemed. 31 Behold, the days are coming that I will cut off your arm and the arm of your father's house, so that there will not be an old man in your house. 32 And you will see an enemy in My dwelling place, despite all the good which God does for Israel. And there shall not be an old man in your house forever. 33 But any of your men whom I do not cut off from My altar shall consume your eyes and grieve your heart. And all the descendants of your house shall die in the flower of their age. 34 Now this shall be a sign to you that will come upon your two sons, on Hophni and Phinehas: in one day they shall die, both of them. 35 Then I will raise up for Myself a faithful priest who shall do according to what is in My heart and in My mind. I will build him a sure house, and he shall walk before My anointed forever. 36 And it shall come to pass that everyone who is left in your house will come and bow down to him for a piece of silver and a morsel of bread, and say, “Please, put me in one of the priestly positions, that I may eat a piece of bread.” ’ ”

This passage makes it perfectly clear that the priest Eli’s sons did not know the LORD, though they served in the temple.  Just being in a position and doing the work did not make them of God; their evil actions of self-serving greed and immoral sexual lifestyles to abuse those women coming to the tabernacle for the LORD.  They hated the sacrifices and the LORD in the process by living contrary to His word of command and will of holiness.  Such exist within He church still today, wolves seeking sin instead of Him; but none escape the consequences of certain judgement if they do not repent (Hebrews 10:26-27, 30-31, 9:27-28).  But Samuel grew up with a heart to honor and serve the LORD, and his mother who had dedicated him to be devoted to Him visited every year to give him a fresh robe to minister in.  Eli prayed for her who was barren, and she had five more children, fruitful and multiplying.  Eli warned his sinful sons of God’s certain judgement, yet they scoffed at the God they refused to believe in or serve until they met their determined end which God had prepared in the hardening of their hearts.   They truly were vessels of destruction (Romans 9:22) to teach His people to fear and serve Him with hearts completely His as in the contrasting example of Samuel in verse 26 here.  Samuel grew in favor with God and man as he grew in body, a shadow of the boy Jesus Christ to come (Luke 2:52).  He honored God and took His sacrifices and service to heart, not pursuing the passing pleasures of sin (Hebrews 11:25).  Bit because Eli did not discipline his sons nor stop their evil in God’s house in defilement of His holiness and good name, God sent a servant to Eli to announce the end of the line for his descendants in their longevity and well being.  All would afterwards suffer judgement.  The sons would both die at the same time, and the LORD would instead put a priest in place who would be faithful according to the heart and mind of God.  This is a foreshadowing of the Christ, the Messiah, to come as a priest like Melchizedek (Hebrews 6:20, 7:15-21) in a house certain and eternal in His rule and ministry.  Therefore, there is much to learn in this passage contrasting the vessels of destruction and of grace, comparing the wicked sons to the faithfulness of one true to the Lord. 

Hannah's Prayer and Ours

1 Samuel 2:1-11

1 And Hannah prayed and said:

      “My heart rejoices in the LORD;
      My horn is exalted in the LORD.
      I smile at my enemies,
      Because I rejoice in Your salvation.

      2 “No one is holy like the LORD,
      For there is none besides You,
      Nor is there any rock like our God.

      3 “Talk no more so very proudly;
      Let no arrogance come from your mouth,
      For the LORD is the God of knowledge;
      And by Him actions are weighed.

      4 “The bows of the mighty men are broken,
      And those who stumbled are girded with strength.

      5 Those who were full have hired themselves out for bread,
      And the hungry have ceased to hunger.
      Even the barren has borne seven,
      And she who has many children has become feeble.

      6 “The LORD kills and makes alive;
      He brings down to the grave and brings up.

      7 The LORD makes poor and makes rich;
      He brings low and lifts up.

      8 He raises the poor from the dust
      And lifts the beggar from the ash heap,
      To set them among princes
      And make them inherit the throne of glory.
      “For the pillars of the earth are the LORD'S,
      And He has set the world upon them.

      9 He will guard the feet of His saints,
      But the wicked shall be silent in darkness.
      “For by strength no man shall prevail.

      10 The adversaries of the LORD shall be broken in pieces;
      From heaven He will thunder against them.
      The LORD will judge the ends of the earth.
      “He will give strength to His king,
      And exalt the horn of His anointed.”

11 Then Elkanah went to his house at Ramah. But the child ministered to the LORD before Eli the priest.

After God’s blessing adorned Hannah’s life in the grace of a son, Samuel, she sang as Moses and Israel with praises to the LORD after the deliverance through the Red Sea (Exodus 15:1-18).  Here she begins with praise and thanksgiving for the child as an answered longing of her heart, rejoicing in the great deliverance and victory over the taunting enemy of her rival and the obtaining of an heir.  This also enabled her to share in the will of God to be fruitful and multiply to fill the earth as was given to Adam and Eve in the beginning.  She glories in His holiness in verse 2 as the only true God and rock of salvation next, then moves to admit humility in speech and to seek accountability in action in verse 3.  In verse 4 Hannah extols the sovereign might of the LORD, and in verse 5 she speaks of those dependent on Him receiving their daily bread and fruitfulness.  Verse 6 demonstrates her faith and hope in God to give life as well as take it, being able to even resurrect the dead!  Then verse 7 and 8 tell how He meets the needs of the poor and helpless, lifting them up in honor and glory because He is able to do so - He owns everything and everyone in the world.  Verse 9 praises the LORD for His watch are over His chosen ones made holy, set apart for Himself, while also judging and providing retribution to those set on evil and wickedness against His word and will.  The last verse of the song reinforces this by declaring the justice of God meted out on His enemies and final judgement upon the entire world while exalting His anointed ruler over the people, a picture and foreshadowing of the Messiah, the Christ.  This part of the story ends with Hannah and her husband returning home while the child Samuel stays to serve the LORD as promised, dedicated and devoted to Him.  We can rejoice in our salvation, our deliverance from a fruitless life and transformation to one of spiritual multiplication, for we have been reborn and renewed by His Spirit (Titus 3:5).  We will see the final judgement against His enemies not of His chosen ones (Revelation 6:10) who are against us, who attack and mock us.  In this song of thankful praise we also learn of our accountability in humility and actions, our dependency on the Lord for daily bread to sustain us, our certain hope of resurrection, and the motivation to praise and glorify His name in all things because of His Anointed One who delivered us and will deliver us (2 Corinthians 1:10).  Amen and amen! 

Devoted to God

1 Samuel 1:19-28 

    19 Then they rose early in the morning and worshiped before the LORD, and returned and came to their house at Ramah. And Elkanah knew Hannah his wife, and the LORD remembered her. 20 So it came to pass in the process of time that Hannah conceived and bore a son, and called his name Samuel, saying, “Because I have asked for him from the LORD.”
    21 Now the man Elkanah and all his house went up to offer to the LORD the yearly sacrifice and his vow. 22 But Hannah did not go up, for she said to her husband, “Not until the child is weaned; then I will take him, that he may appear before the LORD and remain there forever.”
    23 So Elkanah her husband said to her, “Do what seems best to you; wait until you have weaned him. Only let the LORD establish His word.” Then the woman stayed and nursed her son until she had weaned him.
    24 Now when she had weaned him, she took him up with her, with three bulls, one ephah of flour, and a skin of wine, and brought him to the house of the LORD in Shiloh. And the child was young. 25 Then they slaughtered a bull, and brought the child to Eli. 26 And she said, “O my lord! As your soul lives, my lord, I am the woman who stood by you here, praying to the LORD. 27 For this child I prayed, and the LORD has granted me my petition which I asked of Him. 28 Therefore I also have lent him to the LORD; as long as he lives he shall be lent to the LORD.” So they worshiped the LORD there.

After hearing God’s favor to answer Hannah’s prayer for a child by the word of the LORD through Eli the priest, she and her husband returned home to Ramah.  The LORD did as He does, and faithfully answered the prayer with conception.  She progressed to term and delivered a son who she named Samuel, meaning “Heard by God.”  He was her answer to prayer.  Afterwards she nursed him until he ate solid food and was weaned, about two years old or so.  Then she waited to go to the yearly sacrifice where she had promised her son to be dedicated and devoted to the LORD and to leave him there permanently as she had vowed by an unbreakable promise to God with the promise of God to establish his word to her for him.  After Samuel was weaned she took him and sacrificed to the LORD in Shiloh, a city in Ephraim which was a temporary home of the Ark of the Covenant and the Tabernacle, where worship and sacrifices were made before the temple in Jerusalem.  Hannah then handed him over to Eli as promised to be the LORD’s, devoted to serve Him in the temple with Eli.  Then they worshipped there, gratefully and humbly bowing down to acknowledge the majesty of God and their thankfulness for His grace and blessing of the child and His dedication of service.  We learn from this example that God is faithful (1 Corinthians 1:9, Hebrews 10:23) and worthy to be praised (2 Samuel 22:4, Psalm 18:3, Hebrews 13:15).  The song of Hannah in the next chapter expresses her joy In worshipful thanksgiving and exaltation of the name of the LORD in response, a guide for our own response to His devoting His Son for the sacrifice of our salvation that we might in turn devote our new lives to His service which is reasonable and vowed to Him as our Lord and Master (Romans 12:1, 1 Corinthians 6:20).  We should be devoted to God in Christ in worshipful service as called and promised in response in our salvation. 

A Heartfelt Prayer’s Answer

1 Samuel 1:1-18
    1 Now there was a certain man of Ramathaim Zophim, of the mountains of Ephraim, and his name was Elkanah the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephraimite. 2 And he had two wives: the name of one was Hannah, and the name of the other Peninnah. Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children. 3 This man went up from his city yearly to worship and sacrifice to the LORD of hosts in Shiloh. Also the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, the priests of the LORD, were there. 4 And whenever the time came for Elkanah to make an offering, he would give portions to Peninnah his wife and to all her sons and daughters. 5 But to Hannah he would give a double portion, for he loved Hannah, although the LORD had closed her womb. 6 And her rival also provoked her severely, to make her miserable, because the LORD had closed her womb. 7 So it was, year by year, when she went up to the house of the LORD, that she provoked her; therefore she wept and did not eat.   8 Then Elkanah her husband said to her, “Hannah, why do you weep? Why do you not eat? And why is your heart grieved? Am I not better to you than ten sons?”
    9 So Hannah arose after they had finished eating and drinking in Shiloh. Now Eli the priest was sitting on the seat by the doorpost of the tabernacle of the LORD. 10 And she was in bitterness of soul, and prayed to the LORD and wept in anguish. 11 Then she made a vow and said, “O LORD of hosts, if You will indeed look on the affliction of Your maidservant and remember me, and not forget Your maidservant, but will give Your maidservant a male child, then I will give him to the LORD all the days of his life, and no razor shall come upon his head.”
    12 And it happened, as she continued praying before the LORD, that Eli watched her mouth. 13 Now Hannah spoke in her heart; only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard. Therefore Eli thought she was drunk. 14 So Eli said to her, “How long will you be drunk? Put your wine away from you!”
    15 But Hannah answered and said, “No, my lord, I am a woman of sorrowful spirit. I have drunk neither wine nor intoxicating drink, but have poured out my soul before the LORD. 16 Do not consider your maidservant a wicked woman, for out of the abundance of my complaint and grief I have spoken until now.” 17 Then Eli answered and said, “Go in peace, and the God of Israel grant your petition which you have asked of Him.” 18 And she said, “Let your maidservant find favor in your sight.” So the woman went her way and ate, and her face was no longer sad.

The story of Samuel begins with a wife who was unable to have children and her husband’s second wife with children who taunted her continually.  She was loved much by her husband, receiving twice as much as Peninnah her rival as described here.  The provocations wore Hannah down over the years until she poured out her heart to the LORD for a child, promising to give him back to Him.  She would rather have a child who lived apart from her in God’s house than her own, just to have one to love, even if seen infrequently and cared for at a distance.  She knew that serving the LORD was the most important concern, and the provoking would end as God was so honored.  Eli the priest saw her inaudible prayer and trembling lips and jumped to the conclusion that Hannah was drunk, but when he heard her story, he put his assumptions aside and gave her the LORD’s blessing for answered prayer.  He did not even know the request, just that she had poured out her heart and soul to the LORD God and knew such desire for Him had to be answered.  We will see just how and the results as this story unfolds. We learn that a healthy yearning for the Lord is answered accordingly and can trust He will work His planned will through a heart given to Him.  Do we give Him our all in return, grateful for His grace in Christ Jesus?

Redemption and Famous Inheritance

Ruth 4:1-22 

    1 Now Boaz went up to the gate and sat down there; and behold, the close relative of whom Boaz had spoken came by. So Boaz said, “Come aside, friend, sit down here.” So he came aside and sat down. 2 And he took ten men of the elders of the city, and said, “Sit down here.” So they sat down. 3 Then he said to the close relative, “Naomi, who has come back from the country of Moab, sold the piece of land which belonged to our brother Elimelech. 4 And I thought to inform you, saying, ‘Buy it back in the presence of the inhabitants and the elders of my people. If you will redeem it, redeem it; but if you will not redeem it, then tell me, that I may know; for there is no one but you to redeem it, and I am next after you.’ ” And he said, “I will redeem it.”
    5 Then Boaz said, “On the day you buy the field from the hand of Naomi, you must also buy it from Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of the dead, to perpetuate the name of the dead through his inheritance.” 6 And the close relative said, “I cannot redeem it for myself, lest I ruin my own inheritance. You redeem my right of redemption for yourself, for I cannot redeem it.”
    7 Now this was the custom in former times in Israel concerning redeeming and exchanging, to confirm anything: one man took off his sandal and gave it to the other, and this was a confirmation in Israel.  8 Therefore the close relative said to Boaz, “Buy it for yourself.” So he took off his sandal. 9 And Boaz said to the elders and all the people, “You are witnesses this day that I have bought all that was Elimelech's, and all that was Chilion's and Mahlon's, from the hand of Naomi. 10 Moreover, Ruth the Moabitess, the widow of Mahlon, I have acquired as my wife, to perpetuate the name of the dead through his inheritance, that the name of the dead may not be cut off from among his brethren and from his position at the gate. You are witnesses this day.”
    11 And all the people who were at the gate, and the elders, said, “We are witnesses. The LORD make the woman who is coming to your house like Rachel and Leah, the two who built the house of Israel; and may you prosper in Ephrathah and be famous in Bethlehem. 12 May your house be like the house of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah, because of the offspring which the LORD will give you from this young woman.”
    13 So Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife; and when he went in to her, the LORD gave her conception, and she bore a son. 14 Then the women said to Naomi, “Blessed be the LORD, who has not left you this day without a close relative; and may his name be famous in Israel! 15 And may he be to you a restorer of life and a nourisher of your old age; for your daughter-in-law, who loves you, who is better to you than seven sons, has borne him.” 16 Then Naomi took the child and laid him on her bosom, and became a nurse to him. 17 Also the neighbor women gave him a name, saying, “There is a son born to Naomi.” And they called his name Obed. He is the father of Jesse, the father of David.  18 Now this is the genealogy of Perez: Perez begot Hezron; 19 Hezron begot Ram, and Ram begot Amminadab; 20 Amminadab begot Nahshon, and Nahshon begot Salmon; 21 Salmon begot Boaz, and Boaz begot Obed; 22 Obed begot Jesse, and Jesse begot David.

The redemption of the famous inheritance in Bethlehem is set in motion here that the Messiah, the Christ, of the lineage of King David would come.  The seemingly innocuous events of Naomi losing her husband Elimelech in a foreign land due after seeking to escape a famine (like Joseph before him) and her daughter-in-law following her back to Bethlehem after Naomi’s sons died - all these small events were for the LORD’s sovereign purpose.  Nobody could foresee how the redemption of a foreign woman who followed Israel’s God would lead to this!  The closest relative refused to redeem Naomi and take on Ruth as wife to perpetuate the lineage, but Boaz was ready and willing as he recognized faithfulness and ensured the inheritance through Ruth would be established as the command to be fruitful and multiply to fill the earth.  This inheritance, however, also recognized that this would be as Rachel and Leah through whom Israel was built, and make Ruth famous in Bethlehem.  This fame was in Bethlehem where our Savior later entered the world as a man through the faithfulness of Boaz and Ruth and because of God’s sovereign plan.  We see in Matthew 1:1, 5-6, and 16 that this fame was the inheritance of the Christ, the anointed one through the line of David, whose physical inheritance from Adam’s line was preserved in this series of predetermined events.  We learn, therefore, that the plan of all history is planned and executed by God’s sovereign will for a certain inheritance in Christ for His chosen people (Matthew 1:21, Acts 20:32, 26:18, Ephesians 1:11, Colossians 1:12, 1 Peter 1:3-4).  The scriptures tell the story of how God’s will is worked out through the lives of ordinary men and women in their faithfulness (as well as failure), and gives us hope and wonder in His sovereign grace!  Such is the example of Ruth.  Amen.  

Redemption and Expectations

Ruth 3:1-18
    1 Then Naomi her mother-in-law said to her, “My daughter, shall I not seek security for you, that it may be well with you? 2 Now Boaz, whose young women you were with, is he not our relative? In fact, he is winnowing barley tonight at the threshing floor. 3 Therefore wash yourself and anoint yourself, put on your best garment and go down to the threshing floor; but do not make yourself known to the man until he has finished eating and drinking. 4 Then it shall be, when he lies down, that you shall notice the place where he lies; and you shall go in, uncover his feet, and lie down; and he will tell you what you should do.” 5 And she said to her, “All that you say to me I will do.”
    6 So she went down to the threshing floor and did according to all that her mother-in-law instructed her. 7 And after Boaz had eaten and drunk, and his heart was cheerful, he went to lie down at the end of the heap of grain; and she came softly, uncovered his feet, and lay down. 8 Now it happened at midnight that the man was startled, and turned himself; and there, a woman was lying at his feet. 9 And he said, “Who are you?” So she answered, “I am Ruth, your maidservant. Take your maidservant under your wing, for you are a close relative.”
    10 Then he said, “Blessed are you of the LORD, my daughter! For you have shown more kindness at the end than at the beginning, in that you did not go after young men, whether poor or rich. 11 And now, my daughter, do not fear. I will do for you all that you request, for all the people of my town know that you are a virtuous woman. 12 Now it is true that I am a close relative; however, there is a relative closer than I. 13 Stay this night, and in the morning it shall be that if he will perform the duty of a close relative for you—good; let him do it. But if he does not want to perform the duty for you, then I will perform the duty for you, as the LORD lives! Lie down until morning.”
    14 So she lay at his feet until morning, and she arose before one could recognize another. Then he said, “Do not let it be known that the woman came to the threshing floor.” 15 Also he said, “Bring the shawl that is on you and hold it.” And when she held it, he measured six ephahs of barley, and laid it on her. Then she went into the city. 16 When she came to her mother-in-law, she said, “Is that you, my daughter?” Then she told her all that the man had done for her. 17 And she said, “These six ephahs of barley he gave me; for he said to me, ‘Do not go empty-handed to your mother-in-law.’ ” 18 Then she said, “Sit still, my daughter, until you know how the matter will turn out; for the man will not rest until he has concluded the matter this day.”

Ruth was given direction from her mother-in-law to go to Boaz with whom she had found favor in a specific way.  Naomi wanted security for Ruth and most likely knew that this was the LORD’s doing to bring them together.  She was to follow him and wait until he slept, then lay under the blanket at his feet (not next to him, for that would be interpreted as sexual instead of relational).  When Boaz awoke, he understood her desire for protection by him as a close relative to redeem her as a widow (Deuteronomy 25:5, Matthew 22:23-24) after losing her husband in a foreign land.  Boaz knew of another who was closer and had to first see if he would redeem her, though he saw her as a virtuous and desirable young woman who could easily have sought a younger man her own age.  He swore by the LORD to perform this duty with eagerness but was also set on following God’s order of doing things.  He honored God in his actions despite his desires, and wanted likewise to honor Ruth.  He returned to Naomi very early in the morning so as not to cause a scandal, and took much grain with her as a gift for Naomi, reminiscent of a dowry of sorts.  Naomi told her to patiently await the outcome, knowing that Boaz would not rest until the matter was resolved because of his desire for her.  We see in this series of events orchestrated by the Lord that the people involved were adamant about honoring Him in their choices and actions as they followed the path set straight before them (Proverbs 3:5-6).  This example teaches us to be patient and faithful to follow the scriptures of God’s will in our walk that we might find redemption in Christ and fruitfulness through our willing obedience in sanctification afterwards.  We trust the Lord for redeeming us and finalizing it in our glorification in the end.  Therefore we live accordingly, not in our unbridled desires but in departing from iniquity and ordering our footsteps by the scriptures.  What He has for us is far better than our circumstances or expectations! 

Loss and Gain by Sovereign Grace

Ruth 2:1-23
    1 There was a relative of Naomi's husband, a man of great wealth, of the family of Elimelech. His name was Boaz. 2 So Ruth the Moabitess said to Naomi, “Please let me go to the field, and glean heads of grain after him in whose sight I may find favor.” And she said to her, “Go, my daughter.”  3 Then she left, and went and gleaned in the field after the reapers. And she happened to come to the part of the field belonging to Boaz, who was of the family of Elimelech.
    4 Now behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem, and said to the reapers, “The LORD be with you!” And they answered him, “The LORD bless you!”  5 Then Boaz said to his servant who was in charge of the reapers, “Whose young woman is this?”  6 So the servant who was in charge of the reapers answered and said, “It is the young Moabite woman who came back with Naomi from the country of Moab. 7 And she said, ‘Please let me glean and gather after the reapers among the sheaves.’ So she came and has continued from morning until now, though she rested a little in the house.”
    8 Then Boaz said to Ruth, “You will listen, my daughter, will you not? Do not go to glean in another field, nor go from here, but stay close by my young women. 9 Let your eyes be on the field which they reap, and go after them. Have I not commanded the young men not to touch you? And when you are thirsty, go to the vessels and drink from what the young men have drawn.”  10 So she fell on her face, bowed down to the ground, and said to him, “Why have I found favor in your eyes, that you should take notice of me, since I am a foreigner?”
    11 And Boaz answered and said to her, “It has been fully reported to me, all that you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband, and how you have left your father and your mother and the land of your birth, and have come to a people whom you did not know before. 12 The LORD repay your work, and a full reward be given you by the LORD God of Israel, under whose wings you have come for refuge.”  13 Then she said, “Let me find favor in your sight, my lord; for you have comforted me, and have spoken kindly to your maidservant, though I am not like one of your maidservants.”
    14 Now Boaz said to her at mealtime, “Come here, and eat of the bread, and dip your piece of bread in the vinegar.” So she sat beside the reapers, and he passed parched grain to her; and she ate and was satisfied, and kept some back. 15 And when she rose up to glean, Boaz commanded his young men, saying, “Let her glean even among the sheaves, and do not reproach her. 16 Also let grain from the bundles fall purposely for her; leave it that she may glean, and do not rebuke her.”
    17 So she gleaned in the field until evening, and beat out what she had gleaned, and it was about an ephah of barley. 18 Then she took it up and went into the city, and her mother-in-law saw what she had gleaned. So she brought out and gave to her what she had kept back after she had been satisfied.  19 And her mother-in-law said to her, “Where have you gleaned today? And where did you work? Blessed be the one who took notice of you.”  So she told her mother-in-law with whom she had worked, and said, “The man's name with whom I worked today is Boaz.”
    20 Then Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, “Blessed be he of the LORD, who has not forsaken His kindness to the living and the dead!” And Naomi said to her, “This man is a relation of ours, one of our close relatives.”  21 Ruth the Moabitess said, “He also said to me, ‘You shall stay close by my young men until they have finished all my harvest.’ ”  22 And Naomi said to Ruth her daughter-in-law, “It is good, my daughter, that you go out with his young women, and that people do not meet you in any other field.” 23 So she stayed close by the young women of Boaz, to glean until the end of barley harvest and wheat harvest; and she dwelt with her mother-in-law.

After returning with her mother-in-law Naomi, Ruth found an opportunity to glean leftover grain from the fields.  She hoped to find favor with someone as she gathered food for her and Naomi, not knowing that her father-in-law had a rich relative who owned some of those fields.  This man Boaz noticed her and inquired who she was from the reapers who cut the grain ahead of her; they told him that she was the foreigner who came from Moab with Naomi, and he heard of how she was working tirelessly all day gathering leftover grain.  Leviticus 19:9-10 made it a command to leave some grain for the poor and foreigner as a way to show grace and goodness for the truly needy, and he followed this by not only allowing Ruth to continue, but also to purposely drop extra for her to pick up.  He told Ruth that he guaranteed her safety from young men’s advances and that he showed grace to her because of how she helped her mother-in-law since Naomi’s loss of husband and sons.  He honored her faithfulness, even though she was not of the people of the LORD.  He blessed her and wished God’s goodness on her for leaving her family and joining the LORD’s people for refuge (Psalm 91:1, 4) under His wings of protection.  Ruth was able to gather far more than expected due to the goodness of Boaz, and told Naomi his name.  Naomi praised the LORD and shared that hos man’s kindness was a close relative, and this seemingly chance meeting was of the LORD whose grace was for the living as well as the dead; Naomi had given up hope and felt dead, yet now saw God’s hand of unwarranted goodness in favoring Ruth.  Naomi advised Ruth to follow the desire of Boaz and stay with his people in the gleaning through the entire harvest season.  She did so and provided for the two of them.  We see here that chance meetings are predetermined arrangements of the LORD for His higher purposes and to display the goodness of His blessings of grace to those He calls; His purpose is often not seen in the midst of the situation, but we can be assured that all is worked for good to those He calls and puts His hand on (Romans 8:28).  In Ruth’s case, this ultimately leads to the lineage of king David and the Messiah, and that out of a source of suffering turned into blessing worked for the good of God and her and even Naomi who had turned bitter in her loss.  The gain was so much better in the end!  This then is a tale of loss and gain by His sovereign grace.

Sovereign Grace and Mercy

Ruth 1:1-22 

    1 Now it came to pass, in the days when the judges ruled, that there was a famine in the land. And a certain man of Bethlehem, Judah, went to dwell in the country of Moab, he and his wife and his two sons. 2 The name of the man was Elimelech, the name of his wife was Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Chilion—Ephrathites of Bethlehem, Judah. And they went to the country of Moab and remained there. 3 Then Elimelech, Naomi's husband, died; and she was left, and her two sons. 4 Now they took wives of the women of Moab: the name of the one was Orpah, and the name of the other Ruth. And they dwelt there about ten years. 5 Then both Mahlon and Chilion also died; so the woman survived her two sons and her husband.
    6 Then she arose with her daughters-in-law that she might return from the country of Moab, for she had heard in the country of Moab that the LORD had visited His people by giving them bread. 7 Therefore she went out from the place where she was, and her two daughters-in-law with her; and they went on the way to return to the land of Judah. 8 And Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go, return each to her mother's house. The LORD deal kindly with you, as you have dealt with the dead and with me. 9 The LORD grant that you may find rest, each in the house of her husband.”  So she kissed them, and they lifted up their voices and wept. 10 And they said to her, “Surely we will return with you to your people.”
    11 But Naomi said, “Turn back, my daughters; why will you go with me? Are there still sons in my womb, that they may be your husbands? 12 Turn back, my daughters, go—for I am too old to have a husband. If I should say I have hope, if I should have a husband tonight and should also bear sons, 13 would you wait for them till they were grown? Would you restrain yourselves from having husbands? No, my daughters; for it grieves me very much for your sakes that the hand of the LORD has gone out against me!”
    14 Then they lifted up their voices and wept again; and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her.  15 And she said, “Look, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods; return after your sister-in-law.”

16 But Ruth said:
      “Entreat me not to leave you,
      Or to turn back from following after you;
      For wherever you go, I will go;
      And wherever you lodge, I will lodge;
      Your people shall be my people,
      And your God, my God.
      17 Where you die, I will die,
      And there will I be buried.
      The LORD do so to me, and more also,
      If anything but death parts you and me.”
18 When she saw that she was determined to go with her, she stopped speaking to her.

    19 Now the two of them went until they came to Bethlehem. And it happened, when they had come to Bethlehem, that all the city was excited because of them; and the women said, “Is this Naomi?”
    20 But she said to them, “Do not call me Naomi; call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. 21 I went out full, and the LORD has brought me home again empty. Why do you call me Naomi, since the LORD has testified against me, and the Almighty has afflicted me?”  22 So Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabitess her daughter-in-law with her, who returned from the country of Moab. Now they came to Bethlehem at the beginning of barley harvest.

The recollection of Ruth’s life is important because it is part of the physical lineage of Jesus Christ, the Messiah (Matthew 1:5-6).  It begins with the beginning of her mother-in-law, Naomi, how her husband of the tribe of Judah took her from Bethlehem to Moab because of a great famine.  They brought their two sons who married local women after the death of their father, who might have objected to their marriage to those not of God’s people Israel.  God had greater plans.  The sons also died and Naomi had nothing left to keep her in a foreign land, so she made preparations to return to what would become later known as the city of David, Ruth’s eventual descendant.  Naomi heard that the LORD had given His people food again, and hoped to go back to the land of Judah to spend the rest of her life among friends and with her people of God.  Her daughter-in-law Orpah finally stayed, but Ruth was set on accompanying Naomi with Ruth’s adopted people and assumed God.  She was adamant about this as her speech convinced Naomi to stop trying to talk her out of it, but Ruth did not consider the tie broken just because she had no blood connection to her without her son as husband anymore.  She was committed to the point of death to follow Naomi and the path God had put in place for her to follow after Him at her side.  When they arrived in Bethlehem, Naomi was recognized greeted warmly after ten years, but her loss of husband and sons led her to believe that the LORD dealt her a bitter hand with emptiness; she took on the name of Mara (bitter) in place of her own name which meant pleasant.  Naomi believed that God had done bad things to her because He was displeased with her (“testified against me”).   But they had come to Bethlehem right at the beginning of the time for harvest, and not just of the crops.  God’s sovereign plan was set in motion not against Naomi in judgement, but for her and Ruth for a far greater predetermined outcome which was to bring the Savior of His people to the world!  We learn that God’s plans are not always apparent in adverse situations which seem to show He is judging and afflicting us, and we miss the fact that adversity is a way we learn of His absolute rule and control of these events for a more perfect plan than the easy road we prefer with the health and wealth of personal prosperity.  His ways and reasoning are not ours (Isaiah 55:8-9), so we know we will trust Him (Job 13:15) in spite of the circumstances.  This is walking by faith.  We trust Him because we have seen His faithfulness over and over in scripture as well as in our own lives.  We may despair as Naomi, but we can also have hope with trust like Ruth who also was once not the people of God (1 Peter 2:10) by His sovereign grace and mercy! 

Preserving the Remnant

Judges 21:1-25
    1 Now the men of Israel had sworn an oath at Mizpah, saying, “None of us shall give his daughter to Benjamin as a wife.” 2 Then the people came to the house of God, and remained there before God till evening. They lifted up their voices and wept bitterly, 3 and said, “O LORD God of Israel, why has this come to pass in Israel, that today there should be one tribe missing in Israel?” 4 So it was, on the next morning, that the people rose early and built an altar there, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. 5 The children of Israel said, “Who is there among all the tribes of Israel who did not come up with the assembly to the LORD?” For they had made a great oath concerning anyone who had not come up to the LORD at Mizpah, saying, “He shall surely be put to death.” 6 And the children of Israel grieved for Benjamin their brother, and said, “One tribe is cut off from Israel today. 7 What shall we do for wives for those who remain, seeing we have sworn by the LORD that we will not give them our daughters as wives?”
    8 And they said, “What one is there from the tribes of Israel who did not come up to Mizpah to the LORD?” And, in fact, no one had come to the camp from Jabesh Gilead to the assembly. 9 For when the people were counted, indeed, not one of the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead was there. 10 So the congregation sent out there twelve thousand of their most valiant men, and commanded them, saying, “Go and strike the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead with the edge of the sword, including the women and children. 11 And this is the thing that you shall do: You shall utterly destroy every male, and every woman who has known a man intimately.” 12 So they found among the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead four hundred young virgins who had not known a man intimately; and they brought them to the camp at Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan.
    13 Then the whole congregation sent word to the children of Benjamin who were at the rock of Rimmon, and announced peace to them. 14 So Benjamin came back at that time, and they gave them the women whom they had saved alive of the women of Jabesh Gilead; and yet they had not found enough for them. 15 And the people grieved for Benjamin, because the LORD had made a void in the tribes of Israel.
    16 Then the elders of the congregation said, “What shall we do for wives for those who remain, since the women of Benjamin have been destroyed?” 17 And they said, “There must be an inheritance for the survivors of Benjamin, that a tribe may not be destroyed from Israel. 18 However, we cannot give them wives from our daughters, for the children of Israel have sworn an oath, saying, ‘Cursed be the one who gives a wife to Benjamin.’ ” 19 Then they said, “In fact, there is a yearly feast of the LORD in Shiloh, which is north of Bethel, on the east side of the highway that goes up from Bethel to Shechem, and south of Lebonah.”
    20 Therefore they instructed the children of Benjamin, saying, “Go, lie in wait in the vineyards, 21 and watch; and just when the daughters of Shiloh come out to perform their dances, then come out from the vineyards, and every man catch a wife for himself from the daughters of Shiloh; then go to the land of Benjamin. 22 Then it shall be, when their fathers or their brothers come to us to complain, that we will say to them, ‘Be kind to them for our sakes, because we did not take a wife for any of them in the war; for it is not as though you have given the women to them at this time, making yourselves guilty of your oath.’ ”
    23 And the children of Benjamin did so; they took enough wives for their number from those who danced, whom they caught. Then they went and returned to their inheritance, and they rebuilt the cities and dwelt in them. 24 So the children of Israel departed from there at that time, every man to his tribe and family; they went out from there, every man to his inheritance.
    25 In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.

After the sin of Gibeah of the Benjamites and the resulting war which left so many of them dead, the remnant which had fled to the rock of Rimmon (Judges 20:47-48).  Because of the vile wickedness of their sin, the other tribes of Israel refused to let them marry their daughters, and the tribe of Benjamin seemed due to be lost without being able to replenish themselves with children for the future. God’s people grieved.  The loss was beyond merely regrettable; Israel would not be complete without all receiving their inheritance, for the promised land and future of them was in the whole, not just part.  Finally a solution was found at Shiloh (1 Samuel 1:3), where young women of Israel came to dance, and it was determined that the remnant would go take wives from among those, not breaking the oath not to give wives to the Benjamites.  They took them instead, finding a loophole of sorts to honor their vows, yet preserve His people whole.  This is another example of why vows should not be made hastily or without consideration of the consequences (Deuteronomy 23:21, Ecclesiastes 5:4-4).  Fortunately, they found a way to still preserve the remnant of Benjamin.  All these things were done while God’s people had no judge to provide guidance and before they had a king to rule them (though surely they should have seen that the LORD ruled them as their true King).  As the book sadly ends with a melancholy note, everyone simply did what they saw as right without any standard of rule to live by because they had no ruler set over them to set out God’s laws and enforce them.  This was spiritual and national anarchy.  The download spiritual and moral spiral of their nation through successively worse judges led to this point; though there were some who ruled better, the majority trended downward and away from following God’s law and commands to keep and live (Deuteronomy 27:26, Leviticus 18:5, Galatians 3:12).  Fortunately, we now do the work of God by believing in His Son and the work He did in our place for our reconciliation and not by earning it.  We exercise God-revealed and given faith to live, for He calls out His remnant still for our inheritance in Christ Jesus together as His people.  We should therefore never do what is seemingly right in our own lives, but instead live by faith in action which hangs on His every word with the intent to follow, for we have the King of kings ruling over us!