TODAY’S READING: I SAMUEL 5-10 (don’t worry, it’s only 126 verses!)
OVERVIEW:
God wreaks havoc on His enemies through the Ark of the Covenant; Samuel leadsIsraelin reformation and worship;Israeldemands an earthly king and Saul is chosen by God.
HIGHLIGHTS & INSIGHTS:
The glory has departedIsrael(end of Chapter 4). Ichabod has been born at the death of his father, uncle, grandfather and mother. In one fail swoop, Samuel is ushered in as judge, priest and ruler. While God is establishing His man, He is wreaking havoc in the lives of His enemies. They have taken theArkin battle, and have found that nothing is more uncomfortable than the presence of God in the house of the devil (II Cor.6:14).
Samuel calls God’s people back to Him and as they respond to His Word, they are restored, and once again, are protected by God in a miraculous manner (II Chron.7:14). In the end, however, the sins of Samuel’s spiritual father, Eli, are visited upon Samuel and his sons sin in a manner similar to Eli’s sons (Deut. 5:9), and given this excuse the children of Israel reject their God and choose to ask for an earthly king (Phil. 3:19).
Ignoring all the warnings of how oppressive their choice of having an earthly king rather than God as king would be, the children ofIsraelare given Saul. Once again, even thoughIsraelhas chosen God’s second best plan, God makes provision to give them a king who could chose to lead them to Him.
To the echoes of “God save the king” (I Sam.10:24), Saul begins his reign.
CHRIST IS REVEALED:
We see Christ in all that Samuel was meant to be – judge, priest, and prophet. John 5:30; Hebrews7:26and Acts 7:37.