Sonshine!

Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the LORD? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams.  I Samuel 15:22 (Chapters 14:24-15)

Saul made a petty proclamation; no one (his army) was to eat anything before he avenged himself. Israel won a great victory and the men were exhausted and hungry, but afraid to hydrate and nourish themselves. Jonathan, who feared the LORD, had not heard of his father’s threatened curse and ate honey, setting in motion a death sentence. God had already withdrawn His spirit from Saul, but Saul blamed God’s silence of Jonathan. (Jonathan’s life was spared when some men spoke in his defense.)

In another military engagement, Saul’s soldiers lute the Amalekites after a victory. His men were famished and ate meat with the blood still in it, something that was strictly forbidden in Jewish Law. Saul attempted to correct this wrong by building an altar to cook the meat. When Samuel came upon the scene, Saul played it off as a humble effort to worship God. God doesn’t want shallow motions and empty words. Samuel wasn’t fooled and God certainly knew the true heart of Saul.

The LORD grieved over Saul’s actions. He withheld Himself and Samuel’s presence for the rest of Saul’s reign. God will not dwell in the midst of sin, and He will not share space with man’s perverted sense of authority and self importance. Do not justify/spin your thoughts or actions. God knows all and any attempts to make lies into truth will be met with profound consequences. On a more restful note, Truth wins………all day, every day!

Love,

Gretchen

“You acted foolishly,” Samuel said. “You have not kept the command the LORD your God gave you; if you had, He would have established your kingdom over Israel for all time.”  I Samuel 13 (Chapters 13-14:1-23)

For Saul, it was a very short walk from humble man to arrogant king. Impatience, fear and a military encounter prompted him to impersonate a priest when his army ran and hid. Saul put himself in the place of God’s authority. This spells doom for anyone who dares, then and today. It cost Saul his dynasty.

Jonathan, Saul’s son, took a more reverent approach to the dire situation the Israelite army found its self in, knowing the outcome, no matter the numbers or weapons, was in God’s mighty hand. The LORD rescued Israel.

Countenance means everything. It reveals our true belief in God’s place in our life in contrast to perception of our own ability and autonomy. A little success and suddenly you are a god, or….. hung between the Philistine army and a cliff brings great clarification as to who is God and who is not. Be the same everyday, no matter the circumstance; humble, ready with praise and standing on faith.

Have a great day!

Gretchen

“Do not be afraid,” Samuel replied. “You have done all this evil; yet do not turn away from the LORD, but serve the LORD with all your heart. I Samuel 12:20 (Chapter 12) There is much to reap from verses 23-25 as well.

Samuel has faithfully served Israel since his early childhood. Still, Israel begged for a king and God provided, but all is not well. Now old, Samuel begins his goodbye, “You have your king, but you are full of sinful ways. Idolatry has become habitual and you must reteach yourself to fear the LORD!” While your sin is great, the grace is greater!”

This ends the era of judges. Politically it was a wise move to choose a king, but religiously it was a devastatingly wrong move, a first step away from God as the only sovereign King. Samuel clearly warns that when God ceases to be King, the nation and monarchy will be wiped away. But! This old man is not ready to give up. He will pray with what breath he has left.

The Bible has over 366 ‘Do not be afraid’ phrases.” That is no coincidence. One for each day of the year and one to spare.  Samuel leaves this message with Israel, his life’s love. “DO NOT BE AFRAID! There is hope in God alone!” In other words, God’s got this if you will give it to Him.

Love,

Gretchen

Then Samuel took a flask of oil and poured it on Saul’s head and kissed him, saying, “Has not the LORD anointed you leader over His inheritance? I Samuel 10:1 (Chapters 9-11)

Israel was losing its identity as a nation. The law of the jungle reigned in Canaan and ‘might’ made ‘right’, so God selected a king. Saul was from the tribe of Benjamin which had been mostly annihilated. He had great physical stature but he wasn’t born expecting to be a king.

Lost donkeys began Saul’s journey to the throne.  His father sent him, along with a servant, to find the missing beasts. Miles away, God spoke to Samuel, informing him that a young man would arrive. Between signs and confirmations, Saul comes to understand the weight that has fallen on his shoulders. 

Samuel goes through great ceremony to express to all of Israel that Saul is God’s chosen leader, and for the first time since Joshua, the nation is united. Still, everyone is not on team Saul. God takes care of that too. The city of Jebesh is threatened by the Ammonites. Sweeping in at the last minute, Saul and his forces win a magnificent victory, sealing his recognition as Israel’s new government.

Saul is an explicit example of God qualifying the called. If you’re called you will become qualified.

Love,

Gretchen

And the LORD told him: “Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king.  I Samuel 8:7

Samual, a devout servant of God and spiritual leader of Israel, was growing old and his sons were not upright men. Israel wanted no part of weak leadership, but they lost sight of their call to have only one ruler for all ages, God. Instead they looked around and saw other nations of strength and gave credit to their earthly kings. Israel asked Samual to name a king before he died.

One man being totally subordinate to another, voiding all free will and civil rights, is never a healthy relationship. God did not want this for Israel and warned them of the entrapments that would follow, but He chose to give them what they asked for.

Israel’s request for a king reverberated as a rejection of Samuel’s work. God comforted Samuel with the words above. Long before Samuel, or any man, felt the pain of someone’s sin, that sin already grieved our Heavenly Father. God has judged it and ruled with perfect justice. Pain IS very personal, as are our reactions. BUT, know that God is profoundly aware of all you suffer, in a more intimate manner than you can ever comprehend. Find power in laying your hurts before Him, as a sacrifice of faith, for He alone can unravel the mess and set things right again.

Love,

Gretchen

So the Israelites put away their Baals and Ashtoreths, and served the LORD only. I Samuel 7:4 (Chapters 4-7)

The power of Israel’s God was known far and wide since the days of the Egyptian plagues, but the Israelites were suffering defeat in battle against the pagan Philistines.  In answer to their defeats, they devised a plan to carry the most sacred thing they had in front of their army as they went into battle. They degraded the Ark of the Covenant to the status of talisman. Instead of victory, Eli, his two sons, and a daughter-in-law died, along with thousands of other Israelites, and the Ark was captured. Israel was left in complete devastation.

The Philistines took the Ark as a war trophy and presented it before their own god, Dagon. God is not an inanimate object that accompanies bragging rights. Dagon is found face down (an appropriate posture of worship) before the Ark the morning after the ceremony.  On the second night, Dagon is dismembered in the manner of a subdued king. (No question about who is God and who is not!) The Ark was removed and relocated, but death and disease followed.

In desperation, the Philistines return the Ark to Israel with a guilt offering and Samuel leads the nation in sacrifice, worship and repentance. Israel responds and rids themself of the Canaanite gods, returning to obedience and fear of the LORD. But the Philistines threaten Israel’s resolve. God uses the occasion to show just what He will do for those who remain faithful. The Philistines were defeated. (7:7-11)

One of my favorite events is Samuel’s raising of an altar, Ebenezer, stone of help, a place to remind the faithful of what God had done so far and affirm that He will response to their righteousness in the future.  If you’re looking for a new landscaping idea, an Ebenezer is a good one.

Love,

Gretchen

“Do not keep talking so proudly or let your mouth speak such arrogance, for the LORD is a God who knows, and by Him deeds are weighed.” I Samuel 2:3 (Chapter 1-3)

Hannah was the barren wife of Elkanah. She prayed for a child with the promise that her firstborn would be given to the LORD. Eli, the high priest blessed her and she conceived. The child, Samuel, was taken to the Tabernacle at Shiloh, while still a toddler, and there he grew to be one of Biblical history’s most noble men. Eli’s own two sons were so wicked they were killed in a single day and left the house of Eli cursed for all time. Eli was held accountable for knowing and ignoring their behavior.

Samuel came to be Israel’s last and greatest judge and the first great prophet after Moses. His story reveals, again and again, God’s divine ability to see mankind with complete transparency. There are no secrets from the One who created us. God knows each heart.

The verse above is part of Hannah’s song of praise for the gift of her blessed son.  She recounts the wonder of God’s character. Her emptiness, misery, and shame are replaced with life, joy and honor and what God can do for one woman, He can do for all men.

Love,

Gretchen

In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as he saw fit.  Judges 21:25 (Chapters 17-21)

These last five chapters of the era of judges tell of lawlessness and total abandonment of God’s law. Even the Levites left the service of the tabernacle and entered into a low state of religion and morality. There are no heroes mentioned.

There has now been a total breakdown of leadership and guidance among God’s people. They became a law unto themselves, setting their own standard of permissiveness and attempting to exploit the blessing of God.  God is not to be toyed with.  He will not allow the good He has given to be used against others for self glorification.

When leadership broke down, man’s desire replaced the relevance of God’s initiatives. The Israelites assimilated themselves to the people of Canaan, something God warned against, and the tribal unity of Israel disintegrated. Again and again, Israel depended on God to comply to their behavior. God is totally free from man’s demands. He hears us when we humble ourselves and acknowledge that He alone is creator of all things and alone, He is worthy of worship and praise.

Have a beautiful day,

Gretchen

Then Samson prayed to the LORD, “O Sovereign LORD, remember me. O God, please strengthen me just once more and let me with one blow get revenge on the Philistines for my two eyes.” Judges 16:28 (Chapters 13-16)

Samson was a maverick judge, set apart by God from the moment of his conception. But, his story is one of dysfunctional relationships with pagan women and revenge against his enemies. He was given great power to conquer the Philistine oppressors of Israel, but by his reckless and disrespectful behavior, he lost his power and connection to God.

This man that could slay lions barehanded and catch foxes, tie their tails together and light them on fire to avenge a wrong, then kill 1,000 men with the jawbone of a donkey, was brought to total enslavement when his eyes were gouged out and he was harnessed to a prison mill like an animal. All because his carnal instincts drove him instead of God.

The Philistines were an advanced civilization along the Mediterranean Sea and were moving inland by means of infiltration rather than war. They worshiped the god Dagon. Samson was brought up from his pit as part of an entertainment in Dagon’s temple. As his last earthly act, he cried out to God to return his strength and he pushed the temple’s columns down killing himself and thousands of others.

Over and over, Israel tried to use God for their own ends, instead of being a truly covenant nation with God as their sovereign. It is only by acknowledging God and His choices and values that He acts. Trying to control the Creator of the universes is folly. It is in submission that we gain everything.

Love,

Gretchen

But Ruth replied, “Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Were you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. Ruth 1:16

In the time of the judges, a man from Bethlehem named Elimelech relocated his family due to a famine.  While in a foreign country, his two sons married Moabite women. Over time Elimelech and both his sons died, leaving three widows, one old and two young.  The mother-in-law, Naomi, decided to return to her home, Bethlehem, and encouraged the young women to go back to their own mother’s houses. One did, but Ruth chose Naomi and her God.

The beautiful story of faith in God’s sustaining goodness is only four chapters long and I strongly encourage each of you to read it in full. Together, Naomi and Ruth forged a new life among Naomi’s kinsmen. An upright man of integrity, Boaz, becomes Ruth’s kinsmen redeemer. This means that he totally freed Ruth from any earthly obligation or another’s claim, so that he could make her his own, his wife. 

As a bit of significant trivia, Boaz was the son of Rahab, the prostitute from Jericho, and he became the grandfather of Jesse, who was the father of King David.

Two women of non-Jewish heritage stepped out in faith. How do we offer our highest praise to the One who gives us everything? We move forward in blind faith, knowing He created us for His purpose and will use us for the Glory of His Kingdom.

Love,

Gretchen