Week of 6 Pentecost - Odd - 07/05 - 11/2015

Week of 6 Pentecost - Odd

This Bible Study was originally published at

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based on the Lutheran Book of Worship two-year Daily Lectionary for personal devotions*  The daily readings are according to a Calendar  based on the Church Year, which begins on the first Sunday of Advent, usually sometime at the end of November in the year preceding the secular calendar year.
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*Lutheran Book of Worship, Daily Lectionary, p. 179-192, Augsburg Publishing House, Minneapolis, 1978.

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Podcast Download: Week of 6 Pentecost - Odd 

Sunday 6 Pentecost - Odd 
First Posted 06/25/05;

Podcast: Sunday 6 Pentecost - Odd

1 Samuel 4:12-22   -   The Death of Eli;

James 1:1-18   -    Trials are Blessings;
Matthew 19:23-30    -   Entering God’s Kingdom;

1 Samuel Paraphrase:

There had been a battle of the Philistines against Israel. A man of the tribe of Benjamin escaped the slaughter of Israel by the Philistines (1 Samuel 4:10-11) and came to Shiloh (where the temple was then located). He had torn his clothes and put dirt upon his head as a sign of mourning. Eli was sitting by the road in his customary place (by the temple door), worried about the Ark of God, which had been taken into battle by his sons, Phinehas and Hophni, who were (corrupt) priests. Eli was ninety-eight years old and had become blind.

When the man entered the city and told the news the people gave a loud cry, which Eli heard, and he asked the reason for the outcry. The Benjaminite came and told Eli that he had fled from the battle. The Philistines had defeated the Israelites, and a great many Israelites were slaughtered, including Eli’s two sons, and the Ark of the Covenant had been captured. When Eli heard the news he fell over backward from his seat, broke his neck and died. Eli had been a judge of Israel for forty years.

Eli’s daughter-in-law, the wife of Phinehas, was pregnant and nearly ready to give birth. When she heard the news that her husband and her father-in-law were dead, she went into labor and died in childbirth. The women who attended the birth told her she had given birth to a son, but she was unresponsive. She had named the child Ichabod (meaning “no glory” or alas for the glory), saying that “the glory (of God) has departed from Israel” (1 Samuel 4:21-22 because of the deaths of her husband and father-in-law and the loss of the Ark of the Covenant to the Philistines).

James Paraphrase:

The identity of James is unknown, but he was a Christian writing to Christians as spiritual heirs of Israel scattered (by persecution; Acts 8:1b) throughout the world. James urged fellow Christians to consider trials as blessings because testing causes faith to mature in steadfastness, and that we should cooperate with that process so that we will grow to complete spiritual maturity.

Believers should pray for and seek true wisdom from God, who gives generously and without reproach to those who ask. But in order to receive anything from God we must pray in faith without doubting; we must believe that God will hear and answer our prayer. Those who pray as a test to see if God will answer won’t receive anything from the Lord. Poor and humble Christians should rejoice and give thanks to God for their spiritual riches, and the rich should gladly learn humility (and generosity). Worldly status is fleeting and insignificant in comparison to eternal glory.

Those who endure trials without yielding will be blessed and will receive the reward of eternal life which the Lord has promised to those who love (and obey) him (John 14:15-17). God doesn’t tempt anyone and he cannot be tempted by evil. When we are tempted it is by our own sinful desires. Desire allowed to “germinate” sprouts forth as sin, and when allowed to grow to maturity yields a harvest of eternal death.

Let us not be deceived. The source of every good blessing and gift is God, the creator of the universe. He is eternal and unchanging. We have been created by his will, and out of his creation we have become a kind of “first-fruits” offering devoted to him through the “word of truth” (the Gospel of Jesus Christ).

Matthew Paraphrase:

Jesus told his disciples that it is hard for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven. It is comparable to the impossibility of a camel going through the eye of a needle. His disciples were amazed and asked Jesus how anyone could hope to be saved. Jesus replied that it is impossible for humans, but not for God; nothing is impossible for God.

Peter said that he and the rest of the Twelve (original disciples) had left everything to follow Jesus, and he wanted to know what they would receive. Jesus told him that in the new world (God’s eternal kingdom) Jesus would reign as king, and that the Twelve would be Judges of the twelve tribes of Israel. Those who have given up houses, land, family or friends to follow Jesus will receive back many times what they have sacrificed, and will (also) receive eternal life. “But many that are first will be last, and the last first” (Matthew 19:30).

Commentary:

Eli had been a high priest and judge of Israel, but under his leadership he had allowed his sons to corrupt the priesthood. They had been sexually immoral, and had used the priesthood for their own benefit and to exercise power over other people. The Lord judged Eli and his sons, and prophesied through Samuel that Eli’s household would be cut off from the priesthood and destroyed (1 Samuel 2:31-34). This is the fulfillment of that prophecy. Phinehas and Hophni died on the same day (1 Samuel 4:11; compare 1:Samuel 2:34).

The Lord said that the one who would survive would be spared to mourn. Ichabod, the grandson of Eli, was the survivor, orphaned on the day of his birth. (In a sense, the Benjaminite who survived the battle and gave Eli the news also qualifies.) The Lord allowed the Philistines to slaughter the Israelites and capture the Ark because they did not honor and obey the Lord, and they thought they could manipulate God’s favor by carrying the Ark into battle. The Ark, symbolizing the Spirit of God, left the congregation of Israel because of the corruption of the priesthood and the sinfulness of the congregation.

The Church is the spiritual heir of Israel, and represents the New Twelve Tribes in dispersion. Church membership is not a good luck charm against tribulation, or a propitiation of God to do our will. The mission of the Church is to make disciples of Jesus Christ who will trust and obey Jesus (Matthew 28:18-20). Discipleship calls for self-discipline and endurance. The purpose is to grow to spiritual maturity through the gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit.

Believers should be praying for and seeking divine wisdom which is revealed through the indwelling Holy Spirit, the Spirit of the Lord, who opens the minds of Jesus’ disciples to understand the scriptures (Luke 24:45) and gives them a voice and wisdom, as needed, that no one will be able to withstand or refute (Luke 21:14-15).

Worldly wisdom is not true wisdom; it only appears to be wisdom (1 Corinthians 1:18-25; 2:6-7). Has the Spirit of the Lord (the Holy Spirit) departed from our congregations and our nation because of spiritual corruption of our leaders and disobedience and contempt for the Lord and his Word among our people? Do we think we can invoke God’s favor and be victorious over our enemies by religious rituals or token symbols?

Worldly standards of judgment are contrary to God’s standards. Worldly judgment and status are fleeting but God’s judgment is eternal. Christians are to be an offering dedicated to God and his service. We are to live to please God, instead of seeking worldly recognition and approval. God is the only source of any and every good thing, through Jesus Christ. Seeking good anywhere else is bound to fail. Anything which seems good is not to be trusted, if it leads us away from the Lord and his Word.

Faith is not like wishing on a star or making a birthday wish. Faith is not getting whatever we believe if we “believe hard enough.” Faith is obedient trust in God’s Word through Jesus Christ by his indwelling Holy Spirit. If we want the Lord to answer our prayers we must believe that he hears and has the power and willingness to answer, if we ask according to his Word (see Conditions for Answered Prayer, sidebar, top right, home). 

Forgiveness and salvation from eternal condemnation and destruction are only possible through Jesus Christ (Acts 4:12; John 14:6) by the grace (free gift; unmerited favor) of God (Ephesians 2:8-9). Jesus has been God’s eternal plan from the beginning of Creation, and has been “built into” Creation (John 1:1-5, 14). God accomplishes through Jesus Christ what is impossible for mankind to accomplish on his own. It is impossible for humans to completely obey God’s Word apart from faith in Jesus, through whom we receive the gift of his indwelling Holy Spirit (Romans 8:1-11; see God’s Plan of Salvation, sidebar, top right, home).

Christians will have to surrender our desires in order to follow and serve the Lord, but the rewards now and eternally will make that sacrifice worthwhile.

Is Jesus your Lord (Matthew 7:21-23; Luke 6:46)? Are you Jesus' disciple (John 8:31)? Are you trusting and obeying Jesus (John 14:21)? Have you received the indwelling Holy Spirit since you first truly believed (Acts 19:2)? Are you making disciples of Jesus Christ and teaching them to obey all that Jesus commands (Matthew 28:18-20)? Do you know with certainty where you will spend eternity (1 John 5:11-13; Ephesians 1:13-14)?

Monday 6 Pentecost - Odd
First  Posted 06/26/05;

Podcast: Monday 6 Pentecost - Odd

1 Samuel 5:1-12    -   Ark Captured by Philistines;  

Acts 5:12-26    -     Apostles Arrested;
Luke 21:29-36   -   Parable of the Fig Tree;

1 Samuel Paraphrase:

God allowed the Philistines to attack the Israelites and capture the Ark of the Covenant because of the corruption of the priests, Phinehas and Hophni, the sons of Eli (1 Samuel 3:10-14) Samuel, raised from a small child by Eli was completely different; Samuel was a faithful and accurate prophet of God. Eli accepted the Word of the Lord.

The Philistines carried the Ark of the Covenant to Ashdod, where they brought it into the Temple of Dagon and set beside the idol. The next day they found that their idol had fallen on its face. They put the idol of Dagon back in its place, and the next morning they found that Dagon had again fallen on his face, and that his hands and head had been broken from the trunk of his body. As a result the superstitious Philistines became afraid to step on the threshold of Dagon (similar to the superstition of stepping on a crack in the sidewalk, or the carrying of the bride over the threshold.)

When the Ark was in Ashdod, the Lord afflicted the people of the city with tumors, and the people of Ashdod rebelled and refused to allow the Ark to remain. So the leaders of the Philistines had the Ark sent to Gath. Then the people of Gath began to get tumors, and demanded the removal of the Ark. The Philistine leaders sent the Ark to Ekron, and the Ekron began to suffer the tumors and demanded the removal of the Ark. They demanded that the leaders of the Philistines return the Ark to Israel. All the Philistines were deathly afraid of the Ark and the power of God, and the ones “who did not die were stricken with tumors, and the cry of the city went up to God” (1 Samuel 5:12).

Acts Paraphrase:

Solomon’s Portico was a covered porch on the east side of the temple where people gathered to discuss spiritual matters. It had been used by Jesus to teach and heal and it was used by his apostles (the original disciples) for the same purpose, although the others of the wider group of Christians were afraid to join them.

The disciples were highly regarded by the people. More multitudes of people were becoming believers. So many people were seeking healing that they brought the sick and laid them on mats along the streets hoping that, as Peter passed, his shadow might fall on some of them. Those in need of healing were being brought to Jerusalem from all the surrounding towns, and all the physically, mentally and spiritually sick were healed.

The religious authorities were filled with jealousy at the popularity and success of the disciples, so they had them arrested for a second time (for first time, see Acts 4:3) and imprisoned. But during the night an angel of the Lord released the disciples and brought them out of the jail, telling them to return to the temple and to continue proclaiming all the words of (true, eternal) life (the full gospel of Jesus). At daybreak the disciples did as the angel had told them.

That morning the high priest and the council of elders (the Sanhedrin; the official Jewish Court of religious leaders) assembled. They sent a temple guards to bring the disciples before the council, but the disciples were not in the prison, although everything had been securely locked. The members of the council were very troubled by this news, and worried about what might develop. Then someone reported that the disciples had been found teaching the people in the temple. The temple officers went and brought them to the council, but without violence because they were afraid of the people.

Luke Paraphrase:

Jesus had been answering a question about signs of the coming of the end of the age. Then he told this parable of the fig tree. When a fruit tree begins to produce leaves in the spring one knows that summer is coming soon. Likewise, when we observe the changes in the heavens and in nature on earth (which Jesus had just described) we will know that the coming of God’s eternal kingdom is at hand. That generation will not pass away until all God’s Word has been fulfilled. Jesus declared that heaven and earth (the physical universe) will pass away, but Jesus’ words are eternally true.

Jesus warned us to be careful not to become so involved in the cares and pleasures of this life that we are caught surprised and unprepared for the Day of Judgment, because everyone who has ever lived will be held accountable to the Lord for what they have done in this life (John 5:28-29). Jesus advises us to be watchful and prayerful at all times so that we can escape the condemnation which is coming upon the world, and be vindicated at the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Commentary:

God is God whether we acknowledge him or not. He’s in charge; nothing happens except by his will. God allows sin because he designed us to have free choice to obey him or not; sin is disobedience of God’s Word. God’s purpose has always been to ultimately create an eternal kingdom of people who will trust and obey the Lord.

We have all been created with eternal souls, and this life is a selection process for eternity. Each of us will learn to trust and obey the Lord and receive eternal life in his heavenly kingdom through Jesus Christ, or we will reject Jesus and refuse to obey him and spend eternity in the absence of God and of every good thing (because the Lord is only the source of every good thing; James 1:17).

God allowed the Philistines to defeat Israel because of the corruption and disobedience of the priesthood and of Israel, the congregation and nation of God’s people. This ought to be a warning to the Church and to America today; both are in a similar condition. Israel thought they could manipulate God’s favor; they thought they could have God’s power and salvation on their side without obedient trust, by carrying the Ark of the Covenant, the symbol of God’s presence, into battle. The Philistines thought that by capture and possession of the Ark they could appropriate God’s power for themselves. God is the only true, all-powerful God. He can’t be put in a box and carried about. He isn’t a genie in a bottle who can be summoned to do our will.

The Jewish religious leaders at the time of Jesus’ earthly ministry were as corrupt as Eli’s sons had been. They were using their office for personal benefit and personal power over others, and did not honor and respect God. They failed to understand the scripture they claimed authority in, and failed to recognize Jesus as the promised Messiah and eternal king. 

They were the religious “establishment.” They thought they could suppress the parts of God’s Word that didn’t serve their interests. They were jealous of the spiritual power and wisdom of the “born-again” (John 3:3, 5-8) Christian disciples. They were trying to earn their own salvation by keeping the Law of Moses; by doing “good works,” relying on their own strength instead of relying on God. They were more concerned with their popularity among the people than they were in serving and pleasing the Lord.

The disciples are examples of what all Christians should be. They knew, understood, and proclaimed the scripture through the enabling of the indwelling Holy Spirit (Luke 24: 45; Luke 21:14-15). They were guided by and obedient to the Holy Spirit rather than by worldly standards or authorities. They proclaimed the full gospel, not just the parts that people want to hear.

Jesus warned that no one can avoid God’s judgment; whether we are living or have died physically at the day of Christ’s return we will each be accountable to the Lord for what we have done in this physical life. We cannot manipulate the Lord, we cannot suppress the Lord. We can ignore and disobey God’s Word, but we cannot escape the consequences of God’s Word.

We will either trust and obey God’s Word and receive the fulfillment of the promises of God’s Word, or we will reject God’s Word, refuse to obey God’s Word and receive the condemnation of God’s Word. Jesus is the fulfillment and embodiment of God’s Word (John 1:1, 5-8, 14). Every promise and every warning in God’s Word, the Bible, will be fulfilled through Jesus Christ at his triumphant return on the Day of Judgment.

Is Jesus your Lord (Matthew 7:21-23; Luke 6:46)? Are you Jesus' disciple (John 8:31)? Are you trusting and obeying Jesus (John 14:21)? Have you received the indwelling Holy Spirit since you first truly believed (Acts 19:2)? Are you making disciples of Jesus Christ and teaching them to obey all that Jesus commands (Matthew 28:18-20)? Do you know with certainty where you will spend eternity (1 John 5:11-13; Ephesians 1:13-14)?

Tuesday 6 Pentecost - Odd 
First Posted 06/27/05;

Podcast: Tuesday 6 Pentecost - Odd

1 Samuel 6:1-16   -     Return of the Ark;

Acts 5:27-42    -   Apostles Before the Council;
Luke 21:37-22:13   -    Judas Plans Betrayal;

1 Samuel Paraphrase:

The Ark of the Covenant had been captured by the Philistines, and was in their land for seven months. It was moved around to several locations, but in each place it caused plague and trouble, so the Philistines asked their spiritual advisors what to do. The advisors told them to return Ark, accompanied by a guilt offering.

There were five Philistine lords, so the diviners told them to make five golden tumors (images of the symtoms of the plague) and five golden mice (plague is spread by fleas on mice), one of each for each lord, and send them along with the Ark, in hope of appeasing the God of Israel, who was afflicting the land of the Philistines. The spiritual counselors advised them not to be stubborn like the Egyptians, who had been ravaged by a series of plagues, but ultimately had to give in and let the Israelites go.

The Philistine priests advised the rulers to make a new cart and to use two milk cows, which had never been yoked, to pull it. The rulers were to keep the calves of the milk cows at their home. Then if the cows took the Ark to Beth-shemesh, the nearest Israelite city (rather than turning back to their home where their calves were) the Philistines would know that it was the hand of the God of Israel who was afflicting them, rather than simply misfortune. The rulers did as they were advised, and the cows went straight down the highway to Beth-shemesh.

The Israelites were reaping the wheat harvest when they saw the cart coming with the Ark, and they rejoiced. Levites removed the Ark and the gold from the cart, broke up the cart for wood and sacrificed the cows as a burnt offering.

Acts Paraphrase:

The Apostles had been arrested for preaching the gospel and healing in the temple in Jerusalem, and were brought before the Jewish high court (the Sanhedrin). The court had previously forbidden the Apostles from preaching the name of Jesus (Acts 4:1-22), but they had continued to do so, and were bringing blame for Jesus' crucifixion upon the Jewish leaders. Again, the Apostles gave the leaders the same answer as previously; the Apostles had to obey God’s will rather than worldly leaders.

Peter told them that the Jewish leaders had crucified Jesus, God’s anointed King and Savior, whom God had raised (from death) to the right hand (power and authority) of God in heaven. Jesus is God’s (only) provision for repentance and forgiveness of sins (Acts 4:12; John 14:6), and the Apostles were witnesses to these things (which constitute the Gospel of Jesus Christ), “and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him” (Acts 5:32). The council was enraged by these words and wanted to kill the Apostles then and there.

But Gamaliel, a famous and respected teacher of Jewish law, had the Apostles taken outside of the council chamber to wait, and Gamaliel told the council members to be careful about how they dealt with the Apostles. He cited another occasion when Theudas gained public notice, claiming falsely to be the Messiah. In that case he attracted a following of about four hundred people, but he was killed, and his followers dispersed and his movement came to nothing. A similar thing happened with Judas the Galilean. Gamaliel advised the council that if Jesus was a false messiah his movement would dissipate as well, but that if Jesus was truly the Messiah by God’s will, the council would be unable to prevent Jesus’ mission, and would be in danger of opposing God.

The council heeded Gamaliel’s advice. They brought the Apostles back into the council room, had them beaten, ordered them again not to preach in Jesus’ name, and released them. The Apostles left the council, rejoicing that they had been found worthy of dishonor for Jesus’ name’s sake, and they continued daily teaching and preaching, at the temple and in the community,  that Jesus is the Christ (Messiah).

Luke Paraphrase:

During the week preceding his crucifixion, Jesus taught and preached daily in the temple, but he stayed overnight on the Mount of Olives (in Bethany; Matthew 21:17).  The Passover holiday was near (when a lot of people would be in Jerusalem for the celebration), and the priests wanted to kill Jesus, but they were afraid of the people (because of Jesus' popularity among them). Judas, one of Jesus’ Twelve original Apostles, yielded to Satan’s temptation, and went to the Jewish religious authorities and offered to betray Jesus to them when no crowds were present.

On the day of Passover, when the Passover lamb was to be sacrificed, Jesus told Peter and John to prepare for Jesus and his disciples to celebrate the Passover. They asked him where he wanted them to prepare, and Jesus told them that when they entered the city, they would see a man carrying a jar of water, and they were to follow the man to his residence. They were to say that the Teacher had sent them, asking him to show them the guest room where Jesus was to eat the Passover feast with his disciples, and the man would show them a large, furnished, upper room. The disciples did as Jesus had said and found it exactly as he had told them, and they prepared for the feast. 

Commentary:

There are many signs around us that reveal God’s hand in the affairs of this world if we aren’t too spiritually blind to see; too preoccupied with our own worldly pursuits; too stubborn to learn from God’s Word. The Egyptians had repeated opportunities to learn from God’s Word during the ten plagues (Exodus 7:8-11:10). Nine times they refused to obey God’s Word, proclaimed through Moses, to let God’s people leave. The Passover was instituted by God through Moses, to spare the Israelites from the final plague. After the final plague of death of the first-born, the Egyptians did agree to let the Israelites go, but then they pursued them to bring them back, and were destroyed in the Red Sea (Exodus 14:21-29).

The Philistines were smarter than the Egyptians. It didn’t take them ten plagues to learn that God’s will is going to be done, whether we cooperate with it or not. Their spiritual advisors were better than the Egyptian’s spiritual advisors. The Philistine advisors told their rulers that when they perceived what they thought was God’s will, they should try doing it, and the results would indicate whether it was God’s will or not. (But note that God’s will is never contrary to the Bible, and will never lead us to harm ourselves or others.)

The Apostles had witnessed the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. They had experienced that what Jesus says is true and will be fulfilled. Jesus had told them beforehand that he would be crucified and would rise on the third day (Luke 9:22, 44-45; 17:25; 18:31-34). They were eyewitnesses to Jesus’ resurrection. Jesus had promised that he would give the gift of his indwelling Holy Spirit to his disciples who trusted and obeyed him, and they had personally experienced the fulfillment of that promise (Acts 2:1-21).

The disciples of Jesus had learned that when the world says one thing and God’s Word says another, they would always trust and obey God’s Word, and gladly suffer the consequences, knowing that the Lord is able and faithful to deliver them from anything they might suffer for the gospel, just as Jesus had been delivered from persecution and physical death.

The Jewish religious leaders had God’s Word, they were expecting God’s Messiah (anointed King and Savior), but they were so focused on their worldly pursuit of wealth, power and status that they refused to accept Jesus’ rebuke and correction, and were unable to recognize that Jesus was the fulfillment of God’s will. Their spiritual adviser, Gamaliel, gave them good advise in dealing with the Apostles of Jesus Christ, not to be so blinded by their own worldly ambition that they find themselves opposing God’s will, because God’s will will be done, whether we cooperate with it or not.

As Jesus prepared to enter Jerusalem the week preceding his crucifixion, he told his disciples to fetch a donkey from a nearby village. The disciples trusted and obeyed Jesus’ instructions and found them exactly as Jesus had promised (Luke 19:28-40).

Jesus knew that the religious authorities were going to have him crucified, but he went into the temple daily to preach his gospel anyway. On the Day of Passover, he gave his disciples instruction where to prepare for the feast, and they found it exactly as he said (Luke 22:7-13). One of the Twelve, Judas Iscariot, chose to cooperate with worldly rulers rather than following Jesus’ teaching.

Jesus needed to die on the cross as a sacrifice for our sins because we have all sinned and fall short of God’s righteousness (Romans 3:23; see God’s Plan of Salvation, sidebar, top right, home). Jesus became the ultimate sacrificial Passover Lamb, and his Last Supper with his disciples became “Holy Communion” (Eucharist, the “Lord’s Supper"), the central act of worship in which his disciples enter into personal spiritual communion with the Lord through his Holy Spirit, having been spared from the final plague of eternal death as the result of God’s judgment on sin.

In Communion we commemorate Jesus’ sacrifice, and our hope in the fulfillment of Jesus’ promise to celebrate it with us in the Kingdom of God, which begins now as the foretaste of the ultimate fulfillment. Jesus has revealed the truth of God’s Word; he has shown us the way to reconciliation and fellowship with God and has demonstrated the reality of resurrection from physical death, and the reality of eternal life (John 14:6).

We all have a choice of whether to trust and obey Jesus, or to join with the enemies of Jesus in this world. The choice has eternal consequences. The great news is that if we will begin to trust and obey Jesus we will come to know that Jesus is God’s one and only Lord and Savior as we begin to personally experience the fulfillment of his promises.

Is Jesus your Lord (Matthew 7:21-23; Luke 6:46)? Are you Jesus' disciple (John 8:31)? Are you trusting and obeying Jesus (John 14:21)? Have you received the indwelling Holy Spirit since you first truly believed (Acts 19:2)? Are you making disciples of Jesus Christ and teaching them to obey all that Jesus commands (Matthew 28:18-20)? Do you know with certainty where you will spend eternity (1 John 5:11-13; Ephesians 1:13-14)?

Wednesday 6 Pentecost - Odd 
First  Posted 06/28/05;

Podcast: Wednesday 6 Pentecost - Odd

1 Samuel 7:2-17   -     Samuel’s Role as Judge;
Acts 6:1-15    -    Appointment of Stephen;
Luke 22:14-23   -   The Last Supper;

1 Samuel Paraphrase:

When the Ark of the Covenant was at Beth-shemesh, seventy men died because they looked into the Ark, so the people of Beth-shemesh sent the Ark of the Covenant to Kiriath-jeorim. It stayed in Kiriath-jeorim about twenty years, in the house of Abinadab, in the custody of Eleazar, his son, whom they consecrated for that duty.

All Israel was in mourning, beseeching the Lord for help (against the Philistines). Samuel told the people of Israel that if they were truly returning to the Lord they should put away their idols, and commit themselves to trust and obey the Lord alone. So Israel did as Samuel had said. Samuel called all Israel to gather at Mizpah to pray to the Lord. They fasted and confessed their sin, and made an offering to the Lord. Samuel became a Judge of Israel at Mizpah.

When the Philistines heard that Israel had gathered at Mizpah they attacked, and the people begged Samuel to pray to the Lord to save Israel from the Philistines. So Samuel sacrificed a young lamb and prayed for Israel, and the Lord heard his prayer. As the Philistines gathered for the attack the Lord thundered against them and threw them into confusion and they fled in retreat from Israel.

Samuel set up a stone between Mizpah and Jeshanah (both near Jerusalem) and called it Ebenezer (“stone of help”) as a memorial to God’s help against the Philistines. The Lord protected Israel from the Philistines for the rest of Samuel’s life, and the cities and territories the Philistines had taken from Israel were restored to Israel. Samuel was a judge of Israel for the rest of his life, traveling a circuit to Bethel, Gilgal and Mizpah, and his home at Ramah, where he built an altar to the Lord.

Acts Paraphrase:

The church was growing rapidly and the Gentile Christians felt slighted in the daily distribution (the Christians were sharing resources with one another; Acts 4:32-5:11). The apostles called the congregation and chose seven members to supervise the distribution of food and resources. They chose seven including Philip, and Stephen, who was recognized as strong in faith and the Holy Spirit. The seven were consecrated for their office by prayer and laying on of hands.

The congregation in Jerusalem was growing rapidly, and many priests of Judaism were converted. Stephen did great miracles by his anointing of the Holy Spirit. Jews from several synagogues in Jerusalem began a dispute (about religion) with the Christians, but were unable to withstand Stephen, who spoke with the wisdom and power of the Holy Spirit (see Luke 21:15). So they conspired to destroy Stephen by making false accusations, saying that Stephen had blasphemed Moses and God, and they stirred up the Jews against Stephen.

The religious authorities arrested him and tried him in the council (Sanhedrin, the Jewish court). They brought false witnesses against Stephen, and they testified that Stephen had said that Jesus would destroy the temple and would change the customs Moses had delivered to them (from God). Looking at Stephen everyone in the council saw that his face was like that of an angel.

Luke Paraphrase:

When Jesus and the Twelve disciples sat down to eat the Passover feast, Jesus told them that he had looked forward to eating this last meal with his disciples, before his suffering began. He told them he would not eat another Passover feast until it was fulfilled in God’s kingdom. Jesus took a cup of wine and gave thanks to God and passed it for his disciples to share, saying that he wouldn’t drink wine again until the kingdom of God was established.

Jesus took bread and gave thanks; then he broke it and passed it to his disciples, saying, “This is my body” (Luke 22:20). Jesus told his disciples that one of them would betray him. Jesus said that what was about to happen was necessary and God’s will, but it would be spiritual disaster for the one who chose to betray him. The disciples began to question among themselves who it was who would betray Jesus.

Commentary:

There are serious consequences for allowing the wrong people to have control and authority over spiritual matters. The seventy at Beth-shemesh didn’t have a proper regard for the holiness of God represented by the Ark and that disregard destroyed them. The Philistines had learned that lesson and had returned the Ark to Israel.

The people of Israel were suffering from the attacks of their enemies, the Philistines. The Israelites had allowed corruption in the priesthood by the sons of Eli. They had used the rituals and outward symbols of religion to try to manipulate God to their advantage (1 Samuel 4:1-11).

The trouble Israel was having with the Philistines was a spiritual problem. The people of God had become careless in their obligation to God. They were in a Covenant with God which required their obedient trust, but they were being disobedient and committing spiritual adultery by possessing and serving idols. Samuel told the people that if they wanted to avoid further trouble from their enemies they should repent, get rid of their idols, and return to obedient trust in the Lord.

Samuel was the right kind of leader for God’s people. He had a personal relationship with the Lord and he called the people to repent and return to obedient trust in the Lord, in contrast to the sons of Eli, who considered the priesthood as a means of enriching themselves and manipulating others. After the sons of Eli had been killed and had lost the Ark to the Philistines, Eleazar was the person consecrated under Samuel’s spiritual leadership to have charge of the Ark after its return. Under that spiritual leadership the Philistines were no longer a threat to Israel, by God’s power.

The young Church in Jerusalem was threatened by division between Gentile and Jewish Christians over the operation of Church programs. The congregation chose several people from among them to oversee these programs. They were selected for their spiritual qualifications as well as their temporal abilities (they were Gentile Christians to ensure that the Gentile Christians weren’t overlooked) and were dedicated by prayer and the laying on of hands.

The Church was under attack by “Philistines” outside (and perhaps within) the congregation. They could not withstand and prevail against Stephen because he was a “born-again” (John 3:3, 5-8) Christian who had received the fulfillment of the promise of the indwelling Holy Spirit (John 14:15-17, 21, 23), and his conduct before the Sanhedrin (Acts 7:2-53) demonstrated the fulfillment of the promise that the Holy Spirit would give his disciples voice and wisdom that none could withstand (Luke 21:12-19).

The Jewish religious authorities couldn’t refute Stephen, but they refused to heed his call for repentance and correction. Instead, Stephen’s word of Truth (see John 14:15-17) made them hate and murder him, fulfilling Jesus’ prophecy that his disciples would be hated and killed for his name’s sake (Luke 21:16-19).

The charge that Jesus would destroy the temple and would change the customs of Moses was the truth. At the moment of Jesus' death on the Cross, the temple veil was torn in two, from top to bottom (Luke 23:45), by God’s act, signifying that the way to personal fellowship with the Lord had been opened through Jesus (John 10:1-2, 7, John 14:6). Jesus had instituted, at the Last Supper, a New Covenant (1 Corinthians 11:23-26), not based on Law, but on God’s grace (unmerited favor) through faith (obedient trust) in Jesus Christ (Ephesians 2:8-9), fulfilling God’s Word through Jeremiah (Jeremiah 31:31-32).

The temple was destroyed in 70 A.D. by the Romans, the Jews were scattered throughout the world. Israel ceased to exist as a nation, until they began to return following World War II. The temple has never been rebuilt. The sacrificial system on which the Old Covenant of Law was based requires the temple.

Jesus knew that he was going to be killed by the Jews; he had told this to his disciples several times on the way to Jerusalem (Luke 18:31-34; 9:22, 44-45; 17:25). He told his disciples that one of them would betray him. God’s plan of salvation (see God’s Plan of Salvation, sidebar top right, home) required that Jesus be crucified, but God knows the human inner nature, and knew that someone would “volunteer.” Jesus loved his disciples and at the last possible time he tried to warn his betrayer of the spiritual consequences of his betrayal, but Jesus’ warning was not heeded.

These texts should be a warning to the Church and also to America (and all “Christian” nations), of the consequences of disobedience of God’s Word, and the danger of bad choices in leadership, if we expect God’s providence and if we hope to prevail against the “Philistines.” We need to hear and respond to God’s call to repent, get rid of our idols, and return to obedient trust in the Lord.

Are we disciples of Jesus Christ, or are we his betrayers? Are we willing to hear the Lord’s words of warning and be corrected and revived, or do we reject and oppose them? Are we making disciples of Jesus Christ and choosing our leadership from those who have been “born-again” and “anointed” by the Holy Spirit, or do we choose leaders who make us feel good and tell us what we want to hear.

Is Jesus your Lord (Matthew 7:21-23; Luke 6:46)? Are you Jesus' disciple (John 8:31)? Are you trusting and obeying Jesus (John 14:21)? Have you received the indwelling Holy Spirit since you first truly believed (Acts 19:2)? Are you making disciples of Jesus Christ and teaching them to obey all that Jesus commands (Matthew 28:18-20)? Do you know with certainty where you will spend eternity (1 John 5:11-13; Ephesians 1:13-14)?

Thursday 6 Pentecost - Odd
First  Posted 06/29/05;

Podcast: Thursday 6 Pentecost - Odd

1 Samuel 8:1-22   -     Israel Wanted a King;

Acts 6:15-7:16    -    Stephen’s Preaching;
Luke 22:24-30   -    Greatness in God’s Kingdom;

1 Samuel Paraphrase:

When Samuel got old, he made his sons, Joel and Abijah, judges, serving in Beersheba. But his sons didn’t follow Samuel’s example. Instead, they used their office for personal gain, taking bribes and perverting justice. The elders of Israel went to Ramah (Ramathaim-zophim; about 5 miles northwest of Jerusalem), Samuel’s birthplace and home, and asked to have a king to rule them, like their neighboring nations, since Samuel’s sons were perverting justice.

Samuel prayed to the Lord about it, and the Lord told him to do what the people asked. The people were rejecting the Lord as their king, and the Lord had more reason to be offended than Samuel. Israel was continuing a pattern of unfaithfulness to the Lord since the day the Lord brought them out of Egypt. The Lord told Samuel to warn Israel the consequences of a monarchy, but to allow them to institute it.

Samuel warned Israel that the king would require the sons of Israel to serve as his attendants, man his army, plow his ground and harvest his crops, and make the implements of war to equip his army. He would require Israel’s daughters to cook and bake for him, to serve him and to produce the items of luxury the king would require. He would take the best fields, vineyards and orchards for himself. He would tax Israel’s harvest and herds to provide for his officers and servants. Israel would become his slaves.

Israel would come to regret having a king, but the Lord would refuse to hear and give them relief, because they had chosen for themselves and had not listened to God’s warning. The people refused to heed God’s warning and demanded a king, because they wanted to be like their neighboring nations, so the Lord told Samuel to do what they requested.

Acts Paraphrase:

Stephen had been arrested by the Jewish religious authorities and had been brought before the Jewish court (the Sanhedrin) on charges of blaspheming God and Moses. When given the opportunity, Stephen began to respond by reviewing the history of God’s dealings with Israel, beginning with the call by God to Abraham to leave his homeland in Mesopotamia to go to a land the Lord promised to show him and to give to his descendants, although Abraham did not have children.

The Lord told him that his descendants would be aliens in another land who would be enslaved for four hundred years. Then the Lord would judge that nation and would bring his people back to the Promised Land. The Lord gave Abraham the covenant of circumcision, and Abraham circumcised Isaac, the heir God had promised. Isaac became the father of Jacob (Israel) who became the father of the heads of the twelve tribes.

The sons of Jacob sold their brother, Joseph, into slavery in Egypt, but God was with Joseph and gave him wisdom and favor with Pharaoh, who made Joseph governor of Egypt and Pharaoh’s household. Then a famine arose in the region including Egypt and Canaan, and Jacob sent his sons to buy grain from Egypt (which Joseph had stored up in Egypt in obedience to God’s revelation).

On the second trip of the sons of Jacob to Egypt, Joseph revealed himself to them and introduced them to Pharaoh, who invited them to bring their households to Egypt. At that time the members of Israel consisted of seventy-five people. Jacob died in Egypt, but his body was brought back and buried in the Promised Land.

Luke Paraphrase:

During Jesus’ “Last Supper,” the celebration of the Passover in Jerusalem with his disciples before his crucifixion, his disciples started arguing about who among them was the greatest. Jesus told his disciples that “the kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over their citizens, and their leaders are addressed with noble titles. In the kingdom of God, the greatest will be those with childlike obedient trust in the Lord (Luke 18:17) and the leaders will be those who are servants of others. In this world the greatest are served by those who are least, but Jesus, God’s anointed eternal king, came as a servant.

Jesus told his disciples that they, who persevered in faith (obedient trust), sharing in the trials which Jesus endured, would also share in Jesus’ kingdom, glory and fellowship.

Commentary:

The reality of life in this world is that what appears to be good becomes enslaving (consider Genesis 3:1-21). We will all be subject to someone or something. Leaders who don’t obey God’s Word become tyrants; they use their office for personal gain and justice is perverted. We must choose whether to follow God’s Word and submit to God’s Lordship in Jesus Christ, or to follow the pattern of the world around us. Israel ignored God's warning and did what they thought was in their best interest, but later discovered themselves enslaved by the system they created.

Joseph was sold into slavery by his brothers, but he trusted and obeyed God, and God freed him from imprisonment and gave him wisdom and favor with Pharaoh. By understanding and heeding God’s warning of the coming famine he stored enough grain to provide for God’s people.

The invitation to live in Egypt sounded like a good idea at the time, but worldly leaders come and go; a new Pharaoh was not sympathetic toward God’s people, and they found themselves enslaved in Egypt.

God hears and answers the prayers of his people, if they are trusting and obeying the Lord. But if they defy his warning and act contrary to his Word he has no obligation to hear and respond when they complain about the consequences (see Conditions for Answered Prayer, sidebar, top right, home).

The history of Israel’s enslavement and God’s deliverance from Egypt is also a metaphor for life in this world. We are all, in one sense, slaves in the “Egypt” of this world. If we trust and obey the Lord Jesus Christ, he will free us from the bondage of sin and death, and lead us through the “wilderness” of this life and into the Promised Land of his eternal kingdom in heaven.

Stephen is an example of a faithful disciple sharing in the suffering of Jesus in this world. The Jewish religious authorities during Jesus’ earthly ministry are an example of leaders who claim to be serving God, but who are using their office for personal gain and perverting justice. When people say one thing but do something else, it is what they do which reveals what they truly believe; “the tree is known by its fruit” (Matthew 12:33).

Jesus is Lord and King, whether we acknowledge him or not. His Lordship is not oppressive, but freeing. That doesn’t mean that we can do whatever we please, but it will prevent us from doing things which will enslave and destroy us. If we follow him, he will deliver us from slavery and oppression and provide for us in the midst of “famine.” We can be certain and secure in knowing that he will bring us safely into his eternal “Promised Land.” If we will share in Jesus’ trials, we will share in his kingdom, glory and fellowship in eternity.

Is Jesus your Lord (Matthew 7:21-23; Luke 6:46)? Are you Jesus' disciple (John 8:31)? Are you trusting and obeying Jesus (John 14:21)? Have you received the indwelling Holy Spirit since you first truly believed (Acts 19:2)? Are you making disciples of Jesus Christ and teaching them to obey all that Jesus commands (Matthew 28:18-20)? Do you know with certainty where you will spend eternity (1 John 5:11-13; Ephesians 1:13-14)?

Friday 6 Pentecost - Odd
First Posted 06/30/05;

Podcast: Friday 6 Pentecost - Odd

1 Samuel 9:1-14   -    Saul Comes to Samuel;

Acts 7:17-29    -   Stephen Preaches about Moses;
Luke 22:31-38   -    Jesus Prophesies Peter’s Denial;

1 Samuel Paraphrase:

Saul was the married son of Kish, of the tribe of Benjamin. His father’s donkeys had strayed and Saul and a servant went to find them. They passed through the hill country of Ephraim but could not find them. Saul decided that they should return home, but the servant suggested that there was a man of God (Samuel) with a reputation for foretelling the future who might give them a word from God concerning their journey. Saul asked the servant what they could give to the man of God in payment for his services, since Saul and his servant had consumed their provisions. The servant had a small piece of silver and they decided to give him that.

The holy man lived in Ramah, a city on the side of a hill. The water source was below the city and there was a sanctuary on the hilltop. Saul and the servant encountered women coming out to draw water and asked about the "seer" (a prophet of God). They were told that he was about to go up to offer a sacrifice. The women told them to enter the city and they would encounter the man of God on his way up the hill to the sacrificial feast. Saul and the servant did so, and encountered Samuel coming out, as the women had said.

Acts Paraphrase:

Stephen, one of the “Seven” who had been chosen by the Church to administer the programs of the church, had been falsely accused by the Jewish religious authorities of blaspheming God and Moses. He was making his defense in the Jewish Council (Sanhedrin; Jewish judicial court), reviewing the history of God’s dealings with Israel.

God had promised to give the descendants of Abraham the Promised Land (Canaan), and as the time of the fulfillment of that promise approached, the Israelites had grown in number in Egypt where they had taken refuge from famine. A new Pharaoh arose, who had no regard for the Israelites. Pharaoh required the Israelites to abandon their male infants (to reduce the threat of revolt). Moses was exposed at three months of age, but was found and adopted by Pharaoh’s daughter, and brought up and educated in the Pharaoh’s household.

At forty years of age, Moses decided to visit his Israelite brethren. He saw an Egyptian master abusing an Israelite, and Moses intervened and killed the Egyptian. Moses “supposed that his brethren understood that God was giving them deliverance by his hand” (Acts 7:25).

The next day Moses went forth again and saw two Israelites quarreling, and again he intervened. He asked them why they would hurt each other rather than cooperating. But the one who had been wronging the other asked Moses what right he had to judge them, and asked if Moses wanted to kill them as he had the Egyptian the previous day. When Moses heard this, he fled into exile in Midian (for forty years), where he fathered two sons.

Luke Paraphrase:

At the “Last Supper,” the celebration of the Passover of Jesus and his disciples on the night of Jesus’ betrayal, Jesus told Peter that Peter (and the disciples) would face trial and temptation by Satan, but that Jesus had prayed for Peter, that his faith would be preserved, and that after he had been tested he might strengthen the other disciples. Peter declared that he was prepared to go to prison and death with Jesus, but Jesus told him that Peter would deny knowing Jesus three times that night “before the cock crows” (Luke 22:34).

Jesus reminded his disciples that when he had sent them out in pairs (the “seventy;” Luke 10:1-12), that they had needed no provisions, but from now on they would they would encounter hostility and must be prepared to persevere by their own resources. Jesus told them that everything in scripture about Jesus would be fulfilled, including the prophecy of Isaiah 53:12 that Jesus would be regarded as a criminal.

Commentary:

The hand of God was working to accomplish God’s will. Although Israel had demanded a king, contrary to God’s warning, God allowed them to have a king and then guided the selection. Samuel was recognized as a prophet of the Lord, because what he prophesied was fulfilled. Fulfillment is the hallmark of God’s Word.

Stephen was a fulfillment of Jesus’ promise that his disciples would be arrested and brought to court where they would testify by the Holy Spirit who would give them what to say in that hour (Mark 13:11-13; Luke 21:12-19). Moses supposed that the Israelites would recognize that God was working through him for their deliverance, but they did not. If they had, they might have been freed from slavery in Egypt forty years earlier (Acts 7:30). Stephen was following the example of Jesus and was proclaiming God’s Word, but the religious authorities still refused to accept it.

Jesus spoke the Word of God, but the Jewish religious authorities didn’t recognize and accept it. Jesus told his disciples that everything in the scriptures about the messiah would be fulfilled. Jesus prophesied three or four times that he would be killed and would rise again on the third day (Luke 18:31-34; 9:22, 44-45; 17:25), and his resurrection was witnessed by over five hundred people (1 Corinthians 15:3-8). Everything Jesus preached and taught his disciples is true and is fulfilled for those who trust and obey Jesus. Jesus predicted Peter’s denial, and that prophecy was fulfilled (Luke 22:54-62).

Jesus is the embodiment and fulfillment of God’s Word (John 1:1-5, 14; Colossians 2:8-9). Jesus is God’s only provision for our forgiveness and reconciliation with God, and salvation from eternal death and destruction (Acts 4:12; John 14:6; see God’s Plan of Salvation, sidebar, top right, home). Are you seeking and following the guidance of God’s Word in your daily life?

Is Jesus your Lord (Matthew 7:21-23; Luke 6:46)? Are you Jesus' disciple (John 8:31)? Are you trusting and obeying Jesus (John 14:21)? Have you received the indwelling Holy Spirit since you first truly believed (Acts 19:2)? Are you making disciples of Jesus Christ and teaching them to obey all that Jesus commands (Matthew 28:18-20)? Do you know with certainty where you will spend eternity (1 John 5:11-13; Ephesians 1:13-14)?

Saturday 6 Pentecost - Odd
First Posted 07/01/05;
Podcast: Saturday 6 Pentecost - Odd

1 Samuel 9:15-10:1  -    Samuel Anoints Saul;

Acts 7:30-43   -     Stephen’s Sermon;

Luke 22:39-51   -   Jesus’ Betrayal;

1 Samuel Paraphrase:

The day before Saul came, the Lord had revealed to Samuel that a man from the tribe of Benjamin would come the next day. Samuel was to anoint him to be “prince” of Israel, and he would save Israel from the Philistines, in God’s answer to the prayers of the people. The next day when Saul arrived, the Lord told Samuel that this was the man the Lord had told Samuel about, who would reign over Israel. Saul approached Samuel and inquired where the “seer” (prophet of God) could be found.

Samuel said that he was the seer that Saul was seeking, and invited him to come up to the sacrificial feast at the sanctuary on the mountaintop and eat with him. Then in the morning Samuel would tell Saul what he was seeking to know, after which he could leave. Samuel told Saul to stop worrying about the donkeys he was seeking for they had been found. Samuel told Saul that Saul and his household would have the best of everything in Israel. Saul replied that he was from the humblest family of the smallest tribe of Israel, and wondered why Samuel had prophesied thus.

Samuel took Saul up to the sanctuary and gave him the seat at the head of the table of thirty guests who had been invited. Samuel asked the cook to bring the portion that had been set aside for Saul. That evening Saul came down from the sanctuary with Samuel and slept on the upper floor of Samuel’s house. At dawn Samuel woke Saul, and he and Saul walked toward the outskirts of the city. Samuel sent Saul’s servant on ahead, and he and Saul stopped so that Samuel could tell Saul God’s Word. Then Samuel took a vial of (olive) oil and anointed Saul’s head and kissed him and told him that the Lord had anointed Saul to be prince of Israel.

Acts Paraphrase:

Stephen, one of the Seven deacons chosen to administer the programs of the church in Jerusalem, had been charged by the Jewish religious court with blaspheming God and Moses. When given the opportunity, Stephen made his defense by recounting the history of God’s dealings with Israel. Stephen said that Moses had killed an Egyptian who was abusing an Israelite, but the Israelites rejected him as their leader, so he had fled to Midian, where he married and had two sons.

Moses had been in exile for forty years, when an angel of the Lord appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai as a flame in a burning bush. Moses was attracted to this sight, and when he drew near the Lord spoke to him, identifying himself to Moses as the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Moses was afraid to look. The Lord told Moses to remove his shoes because he was standing on holy ground.

Moses, who had been rejected as a leader by his people, had been designated ruler and deliverer by the Lord through the angel that appeared to Moses in the burning bush. Moses led Israel out of Egypt after doing many great miracles, and led them through the Red Sea, supernaturally parted, and through the wilderness for forty years. Moses was the Leader who prophesied that the Lord would raise up another prophet like Moses. Moses received "living oracles" from the angel on Mount Sinai which he delivered to Israel. Israel’s forefathers rejected Moses’ leadership in the wilderness at Mount Sinai; they turned to Egypt in their hearts, and made and worshiped an idol of a golden calf. Stephen quoted Amos 5:25-27 to show that from the very beginning and throughout their wilderness wandering they were spiritually unfaithful and worshipped idols.

Luke Paraphrase:

After eating the Passover feast with his disciples on the night of Jesus’ betrayal, they went out to the Mount of Olives, as was his custom. Jesus told his disciples to pray that they not succumb to temptation, and then he went a short distance away to pray. Jesus prayed that if possible, that God the Father remove the destiny Jesus knew was coming to him, but he committed himself to accept God’s will, rather than his own. An angel appeared to Jesus, to strengthen him. Jesus prayed in great spiritual agony, and his sweat fell like great drops of blood. Then he arose and came to his disciples who were sleeping because of melancholy, and told them to rise and pray to avoid temptation.

While Jesus was saying that, a crowd came, led by Judas Iscariot, one of the Twelve disciples. Judas went to Jesus to kiss him, but Jesus rebuked him for intending to betray Jesus with a kiss. The disciples saw what was going to happen and they asked Jesus if they should fight in resistance. One of them attacked with a sword and cut off the ear of the high priest’s slave, but Jesus told them to stop, and he healed the slave’s ear. Jesus said to the Jewish religious leaders who had come to arrest him that they had many opportunities to arrest Jesus in public since he had been in the temple every day, but they had chosen to do it in darkness and away from public view, and they were able to only because it was their “hour” and the power of darkness.

Commentary:

Samuel is an example of a “man (or woman) of God.” He trusted and obeyed God’s Word, and the Lord revealed his will to Samuel. The Lord had told him that the person God had chosen to be “prince” would come to Samuel the next day, and Samuel had prepared for that fulfillment. Samuel was prepared to worship the Lord with a sacrificial feast, and had set aside the choice portion for the person God had designated to be king. Then Samuel fulfilled God’s command to anoint Saul, “the Lord’s anointed.” Saul would rule as king, but the Lord was the true King of Israel, in relation to whom Saul was a prince.

In a way, Samuel is a forerunner of “born-again” (John 3:3, 5-8) Christian disciples. In the days of Samuel the Word of the Lord was rare and infrequent, but through the gift of the Holy Spirit, Jesus’ disciples have the same personal fellowship and guidance from the Lord which Samuel had. Through the "anointing" of the indwelling Holy Spirit we become members of the King's royal family.

Stephen is another illustration of a “born-again” Christian, proclaiming God’s Word by the inspiration and empowerment of the Holy Spirit. Stephen is an example of the  fulfillment of Jesus’ prophecy that his disciples would be arrested and tried before various worldly authorities and would be inspired by the Holy Spirit in that hour (Mark 13:11-13; Luke 21:12-19).

Saul is a forerunner of the Messiah (or Christ, which means “anointed” in Hebrew and Greek, respectively). Saul was the “Lord’s anointed,” and God raised him up to save God’s people from the Philistines (1 Samuel 9:16). Moses is also a forerunner of the Christ who would lead his people out of slavery to sin and death in the “Egypt” of worldly government, through the “sea” of Christian Baptism, through the “wilderness” of life in this world, through the “river” of physical death, and into the “Promised Land” of God’s eternal kingdom in heaven.

Israel had rejected God as their king, in favor of a human, worldly king (1 Samuel 8:7). In Egypt, they rejected Moses as their leader and accused him of trying to kill them (Acts 7:27-28), because they failed to recognize that God had raised Moses to deliver them from Egypt (Acts 7:25). Israel spent another forty years in slavery in Egypt, before the Lord called Moses to deliver Israel.

Because they failed to trust and obey God when he told them to enter and possess the Promised Land the first time, they were condemned to wander for forty years in the wilderness until all that disobedient generation had died in the wilderness (Numbers 14:26-35).

The Lord had promised through Moses to raise up another prophet like Moses (Acts 7:37), the Messiah, “the Lord’s anointed,” eternal Savior and King of Israel. Jesus is the Messiah, the fulfillment of that promise. But the religious leaders of Israel rejected and crucified him. There was a sign nailed to Jesus’ Cross, declaring him “The King of the Jews” (Luke 23:38).

Stephen was falsely condemned (and killed) for (allegedly) blaspheming God and Moses, by the people who had condemned and killed their Savior, Messiah and eternal King. They had only been able to arrest Jesus because it was their “hour,” by God’s will, to fulfill his ultimate purpose. They arrested Jesus in the dark, because they knew that what they were doing would not withstand public scrutiny. Stephen’s sermon demonstrated that he was not blaspheming God or Moses, but the religious leaders executed him anyway.

The Lord has given us his Word so that we can know his will and purpose, revealed in Jesus Christ, so that we can have a reliable basis on which to make life decisions. The hallmark of God’s Word is that it is always fulfilled. We have been given a choice whether to accept God’s anointed Savior and Lord as our king and our leader. We will either trust and obey the Lord or we will die eternally in bondage to sin and the spiritual wilderness of this world. God’s Word promises that Jesus will return to judge the earth. Are you prepared for the coming of the Lord’s anointed eternal King?

Is Jesus your Lord (Matthew 7:21-23; Luke 6:46)? Are you Jesus' disciple (John 8:31)? Are you trusting and obeying Jesus (John 14:21)? Have you received the indwelling Holy Spirit since you first truly believed (Acts 19:2)? Are you making disciples of Jesus Christ and teaching them to obey all that Jesus commands (Matthew 28:18-20)? Do you know with certainty where you will spend eternity (1 John 5:11-13; Ephesians 1:13-14)?