Bible Study-1 Sa.15:18-35 “Obedience”

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Then Samuel said unto Saul, Stay, and I will tell thee what theLordhath said to me this night. And he said unto him, Say on./And Samuel said, When thou wast little in thine own sight, wast thou not made the head of the tribes of Israel, and theLordanointed thee king over Israel?¹⁸And theLordsent thee on a journey, and said, Go and utterly destroy the sinners the Amalekites, and fight against them until they be consumed.

Samuel refers to his talk in 9:20 to which we have this answer from him,”And Saul answered and said, Am not I a Benjamite, of the smallest of the tribes of Israel? and my family the least of all the families of the tribe of Benjamin? wherefore then speakest thou so to me?”

¹⁹Wherefore then didst thou not obey the voice of theLord, but didst fly upon the spoil, and…

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Bible Study-1 Sa.15 Synopsis

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Samuel gives Saul a specific task,’ now therefore hearken thou unto the voice of the words of the Lord’ and it was to exterminate the Amalekites who had treated the nation of Israel on their coming out of Egypt with utmost viciousness..(Ex.17:8; 25:18). “ Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass(v.3).”

Before going into war Saul urged the Kenites thus, “Go, depart, get you down from among the Amalekites, lest I destroy you with them: for ye shewed kindness to all the children of Israel, when they came up out of Egypt. So the Kenites departed from among the Amalekites In v.7 we read And Saul smote the Amalekites from Havilah until thou comest to Shur, that is over against Egypt’.

One point we need make of…

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Bible Study-1 Sa.14:23-52 Saul adjures the people

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So the Lord saved Israel that day: and the battle passed over unto Bethaven.

Rashness of Saul we shall see coming between him and the Lord of Israel. The Spirit in guiding Jonathan was not seeking to trip him up. Having set him as the personification of soul in order to lead us to the narrative thread of David (Jesus as ‘the rod out of the stem of Jesse,-Is.11:1) is set against his father whose lapses in judgment are owing to his overwhelming concern for the flesh. The Lord in saving Israel that day did not need them rely on their arms. Jeremiah says,’Thus saith the LORD; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the LORD(Je.17:5). His adjuring the people and binding them to an oath primarily arose from his half-hearted trust in God. Whereas Jonathan as a living soul relied…

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Bible Study-1 Sa.14 “Synopsis”

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This chapter is packed primarily with three events each throwing up varied spiritual significance so it will be easier to follow under three headings, Firstly we have the king’s son Jonathan precipitating the conflict; the second is centered around the Rock named Rimmon where King Saul is holed up with six hundred; lastly the Hebrews turning sides to join with Israel, after being awe stricken by God who creates panic following an earth quake.

I Being Led By the Spirit.

Jonathan sets out the camp without telling anyone followed by his armor-bearer. We have already covered the significance of two rocks one facing towards the Philistines garrison and the other facing towards his father at Gibea. Jonathan trusts God shall take care of them. He wants to show themselves to the enemy,”If they say thus unto us, Tarry until we come to you; then we will stand still in our…

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Bible Study-1 Sa.14 “Jonathan”

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In this chapter we see Jonathan making the right moves inspired by the Spirit. In the narrative the Spirit guides him alongside Saul, his father where his role has its spiritual significance. The two witnesses Bozez and Seneh accordingly foretell the rise and fall of their fortunes. We shall see places and persons are not placed for themselves. In this context also it bears out as true.

Jonathan is the personification of the soul of man. Jesus Christ as the firstborn of all creation is the visible image of the invisible God. In this verse from the Book of the Judges,”And his soul was grieved for the misery of Israel (Jud.10:16b)” this soul is what Jesus Christ signifies.

Soul as a concept delineates the Father Son relationship so all emotions which the Spirit attaches to God has to do with Salvation. So it can only be understood in the Son…

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Bible Study- 1 Sa.14:4-5 “Bozez and Seneh”

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v.1 “Now it came to pass upon a day, that Jonathan the son of Saul said unto the young man that bare his armour, Come, and let us go over to the Philistines’ garrison, that is on the other side. But he told not his father.”

So we have to assume that Jonathan took the initiative to check out the enemy camp by himself. In vv2-3 we are told that Saul was camped about a rock with six hundred men,’in the uttermost part of Gibeah under a pomegranate tree.’ Ahiah, his priest ‘wearing an ephod’ also was present. None knew Jonathan was gone.

Jonathan and his armor-bearer comes to a place where the two rocks serve as two witnesses, names of which given by the Spirit are Bozez, and the name of the other Seneh. ”The forefront of the one was situate northward over against Michmash, and the other southward…

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Bible Study-1 Sa.13 Synopsis

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v.1 “Saul reigned one year; and when he had reigned two years over Israel,”

Among learned circles the above verse has raised many eyebrows whether it belonged to the preceding chapter and Andrew Clark suggests,’This should begin the chapter, and be read thus: “And when Saul had reigned two years over Israel, he chose him three thousand,” The Septuagint has left the clause out of the text entirely, and begins the chapter thus: “And Saul chose to himself three thousand men out of the men of Israel.”Is it the last word?

‘Many hands make the light work’ may pass for a bromide but no textual criticism can match what is God-breathed. As God document the intent of the Spirit is as follows and St Paul writes, “And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is…

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Bible Study- 1 Sa.13:7- 9 “fear”

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Where a child of God lays his trust entirely in God his faith has become one with His. What was the quality of His faith? “Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear(He.11:3).” Before the Power and Wisdom of God, nothing is impossible. He commanded light to appear and it was so. His glory, which notwithstanding He dwells in unapproachable light, became visible. It is thus things are seen because God willed it so. So we qualify the word of God as glorious gospel.It is an extension of His holiness. For example Jesus Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. Glory of His grace has a face and the life defining the gospel as the Son showed, to which anyone may have part.

Gospel of God which St…

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Bible Study-1 Sa.13:4-15 Bethel and Bethhaven

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“And all Israel heard say that Saul had smitten a garrison of the Philistines, and that Israel also was had in abomination with the Philistines. And the people were called together after Saul to Gilgal. /And the Philistines gathered themselves together to fight with Israel, thirty thousand chariots, and six thousand horsemen, and people as the sand which is on the sea shore in multitude: and they came up, and pitched in Michmash, eastward from Bethaven.⁶ When the men of Israel saw that they were in a strait, (for the people were distressed,) then the people did hide themselves in caves, and in thickets, and in rocks, and in high places, and in pits(vv.4-5)”.

Beth-aven meaning house of nothingness; In terms of geography the wilderness explains it. When Joshua cast lots in Shiloh before the Lord this place became part of the inheritance for the tribe of Benjamin. “And…

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Bible Study-1 Sa.13:1-2 “Saul and Jonathan”

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“Saul reigned one year; and when he had reigned two years over Israel,”v.1

The Spirit in repeating his reign in the manner presented above serves a purpose.

‘Saul reigned one year’,

Equivalent of this we have in the genealogy of Adam.”In the likeness of God made he him(Ge.5:1) By repeating it ‘when he had reigned two years’ the Spirit is shifting the emphasis to Jonathan his son introduced in v.2. It is consistent with the narrative mode “And begat a son in his own likeness, and after his image(5:3). In the likeness of man where Adam bears relationship as double for the Son. Seth in place of Abel is presenting the first of many sons of Christ in the Body, the Church. (Christ the Head or firstborn among many brethren is the man component in the Fellowship of God with Man).

To sum: God willed Saul as the…

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