Category: 1 Samuel

In this passage, Saul demonstrated his unsuitability as King over Israel. While Saul started out in tentative obedience to God’s commands, his unlawful sacrifice showed he was unable to obey God even in trying times, and another would have to be sought. His disobedience led to dire straits for Israel, one which God would dig…

God’s goodness and his graciousness are presented to us in the Bible, which shows us how God has been faithful to his people, even when they have not been faithful to him. God is someone we can rely on, but not someone we can take advantage of.

Saul had been proclaimed king, but everyone went back home to their day jobs and carried on as if nothing had changed. In this passage, Israel enjoys salvation from their enemies, led by a king empowered by God. This act unites the nation in reaffirming their allegiance to their new king. It reminds us that…

Samuel had rebuked Israel for seeking a king previously, and once again took up the opportunity. Samuel reminded Israel that it was God who had freed them from captivity in Egypt, and brought them to the land they lived in. God was the one who ought to have led them. Yet they had rejected God…

Israel in Samuel’s day were also looking for their own type of king, not the divine leadership which God provided. They wanted a king like the nations, and God granted them their request to teach them a lesson. But it was also a means of advancing his salvation plan. In Chapter 9 and 10 of…

The reality of kingship, and of government in general, is the focus of 1 Samuel 8. Israel sinfully wanted a king just like the nations around them, because they lacked trust in God to lead them and to fill the leadership vacuum which Samuel’s fast-approaching death would cause. Samuel passed on God’s warning about the…

In 1 Samuel 8, a leadership crisis arose as Samuel grew old and his sons showed themselves unsuitable. So Israel sought a king, as the nations around them desired. Ultimately, this was a rejection of God’s leadership. It serves as a reminder that it is God who leads and provides leaders, because sometimes when we…

It is a terrible thing to experience God’s displeasure and judgement. And yet, despite our sinfulness and our deserving of punishment, God graciously shows his love and affection for us. Through repentance of sin and faithfully seeking God, we enjoy renewed fellowship and the reminder of God’s repeated blessing in our lives and the lives…

In 1 Samuel 6 we see examples of the unbelieving world and God’s covenant people both offending God. The Philistines, suffering God’s judgement, sent the Ark back to Israel with their own ideas of what sacrifices might avert God’s wrath. Meanwhile the Israelites failed to treat the Ark as God had instructed them, and suffered…

It seems like the Church of Christ is on the back foot in the West today. Many treat the Church, Christians, and God’s standard of holiness and morality as a joke. Even many professing Christians casually and easily bow to the desires and pleasures of the day. We live in a Pagan culture; one where…