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Journaling through the Bible Chronologically in 2025, Day 135

May15

Day 135.  Reading 2 Samuel 13-15

 
Read Today’s Scriptures.  Consequences.
 

       And now the trouble begins. God forgave David of his gross sins because he truly repented and confessed. But remember how David raged at the rich man in Nathan’s story, and said he owed the poor man four-fold of what he’d stolen?  Now, God tells David FOUR consequences of his sin. (2 Samuel 12:5-6 and 10-14)

  1. The “sword will not depart from his house; death and division in his family.
  2. His wives will be taken away in a humiliating way.
  3. Enemies will rise against him in his own household.
  4. His baby with Bathsheba will die.

We’ve seen ONE of them fulfilled already. (the baby died)  And now the next one – death and division in his own family.

 

2 Samuel 13.

David’s FIRST son, Amnon inherited some bad traits of his father. (Perhaps he watched all that his father hand done, and saw that no punishment was meted out. He WAS king, after all.) 

Amnon lusted for a woman too, his 1/2 sister, Tamar. He called for his cousin Jonadab, who gave him evil advice on how to lure Tamar and take her. Amnon followed that, and although Tamar cried “NO!” he raped her, ruining any prospects she might have had. Then he cast her out.  

Now Tamar was a full sister to Absalom, David’s third-born (but second living) son. (His mother was the daughter of the Syrian king, Talmai.)  Tamar ran to her brother and stayed in his house for the rest of her life.

David heard about the incident and got angry, but it doesn’t seem he did anything about it.  (Was he seeing himself in his son, hating and feeling guilty for what his own sin had caused, and paralyzed to respond?)

Absalom hated his brother Amnon and would not talk to him. Instead, he plotted a slow-burning revenge that would end Amnon’s life at a party Absalom held two years later for all his half-brothers.  (Absalom had also invited his father. Did he plan to kill HIM as well?  But David declined.)

At first, David thought the gruesome news was that ALL his sons were dead, but his slimy nephew, Jonadab came to him and said “Let not m’lord suppose that they have killed ALL the king’s sons, for Amnon ALONE is dead.  Absalom determined this from the day he violated his sister Tamar. (A pause, perhaps?) Don’t take it to heart. Only Amnon is dead.”  (David had said a similar thing to Joab after Uriah’s death.)

Soon all the other sons of David who were at the party appeared, weeping and wailing for Amnon. (“See, I told you,” said Jonadab.)  And David also wept bitterly for Amnon.  REALLY!!

And Absalom fled to his grandfather, Talmai, in Geshur, in the territory of Syria.  Maybe Tamar went along since he was her grandfather as well. They stayed for three years.

Having committed pre-meditated MURDER, the “avenger of blood” (another son? the king?)  had the right to stalk and kill Absalom if he stayed in Israel. (Numbers 35:21).

 

2 Samuel 14.

(The spirit of King David longed to go to Absalom, but he did not.)

Action-man, Commander Joab thought it time to do something about the breach in the house of David.  He devised a plan (Boy, David’s nephews were always planning sneaky things!)  Joab paid a woman to tell a story to the king – much like Nathan had, but not a story from God.

She was to say SHE, a widow and had two sons. One had killed the other and now the first son was being chased by the avenger of blood.  She didn’t want to lose BOTH her sons. (She’d be a helpless widow.) “Please, let the king invoke the LORD your God, that the avenger of blood kill no more, and my son is not destroyed.”

David falls for the story. “As the LORD  lives, not one hair of your son shall fall to the ground.” (A king’s pardon.)

Then like Nathan, she tells the true story, about Absalom. “The king convicts himself since he does not bring his banished son home.”

Again David catches on. “Is the hand of Joab with you in all this?”

“It was your servant Joab who commanded me. It was he who put all these words in my mouth.”

Then David told Joab to bring Absalom home. Thrilled, Joab went to Geshur and brought back Absalom, but….. David said, “Let him live in his own house. He is not to come into my presence.”

Absalom simmered at this treatment, and he began plotting (for two years again).  He sent for Joab TWO TIMES, but the Commander wouldn’t respond.  So he told his servant, “Go, set Joab’s barley field on fire.”  And of course, Joab now shows up, burning up himself.  “WHY???”

“Go ask the king why he brought me from Geshur if I am to be so treated.  I want an audience with him.  Make it happen!“

Joab did.

Absalom went.

David kissed Absalom.

(Another son NOT judged for his wrong. Did David blame himself?)

 

2 Samuel 15.

David did as he’d answered in the woman’s false story.  Not one hair** on Absalom’s head fell to the ground….he was not punished in any way for murdering Amnon!!!   There was now a murderer in the court. He’d done it once, he could do it again.

(** Whoa! did Absalom HAVE HAIR!!  He cut it every year, and it weighed TWO POUNDS! And Absalom was vain about his hair.)

Absalom now began the process to de-throne his father, King David. 

  1. He got himself a chariot, horses, and 50 men to run before him.
  2. He rose early and stood at the gate of the city diverting people who came with problems to solve, FROM going to the King, and TO himself, saying he was on THEIR side.
  3. Whenever a man would come near to pay homage to him, Absalom would raise him up and kiss him. And so he STOLE the hearts of the men of Israel.
  4. He asked permission and got it from David, to go pay a “vow to the LORD” in Hebron, meaning to stage a coup there. He even enlisted David’s prime advisor, Ahithophel.
  5. He enticed 200 men to go with him and sent messages to all Israel saying that when they heard the sound of the trumpet, they were to say, “Absalom is king at Hebron!  (Where David started out.)

Well, finally a messenger comes to David saying, “The hearts of the men of Israel have gone after Absalom.”

Did David, call for Joab?

Did he raise an army to quell this uprising?

Did he even enquire of the LORD??

No.  He gathered all his servants and said, “Arise and let us flee, or else there will be no escape for us from Absalom.  Go quickly!”

BUT THE KING LEFT TEN CONCUBINES TO KEEP THE HOUSE. (These were considered his wives … remember the #2 consequence (above) that God spoke of because of his sin? The fulfillment is coming.)

The king’s bodyguard filed out with him (the Cherethites and Pelethites, led by Benaiah). Also, came 600 armed Gittites from Gath (Philistines) led by Ittai, who had sworn allegiance to David. For his faithful service, David later made Ittai commander of a third of his army. And the king passed the brook Kidron towards the wilderness.

  • (Can you picture this? David is in Jerusalem, the capital city, where the Tent and the Ark of God are. He and the crowd in front and following him leave through the Eastern Gate, and cross the Kidron Brook and Valley and up the Mount of Olives. This is where Jesus entered on Palm Sunday, from Bethany, riding on a donkey. David might have passed a young olive orchard and olive press (Gethsemane) on his way.)

Abiathar and Zadok the priest, and the Levites came after, bearing the Ark of God on their shoulders!  But David told them to take the Ark back into the city.  “If I find favor in the eyes of the LORD, He will bring me back and let me see both it and His dwelling place.  But, if not, behold here I am, let Him do to me what seems good to Him.”

David is remembering and accepting the consequences of his great sin, weeping as he goes.

  • David also sets up a spy link with Zadok and his two sons to send him news of what is happening in the city. 
  • Then he hears about his chief counselor going over to Absalom!  He prays that God would “turn his counsel into foolishness.” 
  • Then David sends Hushai, his second counselor back to the city,  pretending to be another helper to Absalom, to “defeat the counsel of Ahithophel.”  Hushai is to send any news to David, via Zadok’s sons.  

So Hushai, David’s friend, came into Jerusalem, just as Absalom was entering……..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 

Journaling through the Bible Chronologically in 2025, Day 133

May13

Day 133. Reading 2 Samuel 11-12, and 1 Chronicles 20

Read Today’s Scriptures. A sad day for King David

2 Samuel 11.

(Well, I’ve dallied long enough. I need to read this disheartening story of my favorite character in the Bible, after Jesus.  He sinned – grossly – as I have.  Oh, why do we take our eyes off God and His Word and indulge our sinful flesh?  God is so merciful and forgiving, but, the consequences of sin must come!)

David’s steps down:

In the springtime of the year…

When KINGS go out to battle…

David sent Joab and his servants with him, and all Israel.

(1.) But David remained in Jerusalem.

Bored and restless, the king got up from his couch (while all Israel was fighting!), and went up to the rooftop to look at his “golden” city in the late afternoon light. His eyes fell upon a woman bathing on  HER rooftop. (This was her ritual cleansing after her monthly period, so she was very fertile.)

(2.) As David’s eyes lingered, he saw that she was very beautiful. 

(3.) Continuing to watch her, David called one of his servants. “Who is that woman?”

“She is Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the WIFE of Uriah, the Hittite (one of YOUR mighty men).”

(4.) He decides. “Bring her here.”

(5.) Regardless of David’s many wives, he committed adultery and lay with Bathsheba, knowing she was the wife of another man. Then he sent her home.

A couple months later David gets a message from the lovely lady. “I’m pregnant.” (All her neighbors and family knew that Uriah was away in the army. If they saw she was pregnant, they would accuse her (rightly) of adultery.  She could be stoned.) It was now David’s problem.

(6.) David racked his brain for a solution and came up with a devious one. He sent a message to Commander Joab to send Uriah home. (Surely he will sleep with his wife, and everyone will think the baby is his.)

But David’s mighty (and loyal) man was more virtuous than the king.  While all his fellow soldiers were out fighting, he would NOT go and enjoy the pleasures of “hearth and home.” He slept down with David’s servants.  Even when David “wined and dined” him, getting him drunk, Uriah refused to go home.

(7.) So David devised murder in his heart.  He sent Uriah back to the front with a message to Joab. “Put Uriah in the forefront of the fighting, then draw back, so that he is killed.”

Joab, with barely a raised eyebrow, obeyed.  And so it happened that Uriah was murdered. Then Joab sent a message to the king about the war and added a PS, that Uriah was dead.

The messenger returned to Joab with David’s, “Sorry to hear that but don’t let it bother you. Soldier on!”

Ah, problem handled! 

After a short but “decent” time of mourning, David sent for the widow, Bathsheba and made her HIS wife. In time, she gave birth to a son.

“But the thing that David had done DISPLEASED the LORD.”

 

2 Samuel 12.

Sin has a way of finding you out.

God sent the prophet Nathan to David (the former shepherd boy) with a story about two men and a lamb.

  • “There was a rich man who had many flocks of sheep. And there was a poor man with but ONE little ewe lamb, which he’d raised much like a member of his family. The little lamb would drink from his cup, and lie in his arms, like a little daughter.
  • “Then someone came to visit the rich man. He wanted to be a good host, but he did NOT want to serve him a lamb from his own flock. So, he took the poor man’s only little pet, killed it, carved it up, and roasted and served the tender meat to his guest.”

DAVID:  “As the LORD lives, the man who has done this deserves to die!! And he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity.”

Silence for a moment… then,

NATHAN:  “YOU are the man!

And David listened on in horror to what God said in accusation of HIM.

NATHAN:  Thus says the LORD, “I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you out of the hand of Saul. And I gave you your master’s house and your master’s wives into your arms and gave you the house of Israel and of Judah. And if this were too little, I would add to you as much more.  Why have you despised the WORD of the LORD to do what is evil in his sight?  

Then the indictment…

“You have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and have taken his wife to be your wife, and have KILLED HIM with the sword of the Ammonites. 

And the consequences…

Now, therefore, the sword SHALL NEVER DEPART FROM YOUR HOUSE, because you have despised me, and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife. Behold, I will raise up evil against you OUT OF YOUR OWN HOUSE. I will take YOUR WIVES before your eyes and give them to your neighbor, and he shall lie with your wives in the sight of the sun. For YOU did it secretly, but I WILL do this thing before all Israel and before the sun.”

(I can so picture David’s shocked face at his sin being discovered, and his body crumbling to the floor as the LORD his God questioned him and reminded him of all the LORD had done for him, and then, told him the horrible dark consequences of his sinful actions.)

DAVID;  I have sinned against the LORD!

(Can you imagine how David’s heart was breaking in anguish, sorrow, and repentance?  How could he have so sinned against the LORD his God, whom he loved with all his heart?)

I am totally amazed and blown away, at God’s GRACE, and the immediacy of His response to David’s admission of sin.

NATHAN:  “The LORD also has put away your sin; YOU shall not die.” (WHAT MERCY!!)  “Nevertheless, because by this deed you have utterly scorned the LORD, the child that is born to you SHALL die.”

And Nathan left.

Bathsheba’s baby got sick. Very sick.  David fasted and prayed for the boy, and laid on his face all night. For a week he did not rise nor eat.

On the seventh day, the baby died.

When he was told, David got up, washed himself, and changed his clothes. He went to the House of the LORD and worshipped God.  Then he went home and ate the food put before him.

The servants:  You fasted and wept for the child while he was alive; but when he died, you arose and ate. What is this?

DAVID:  “While the child still lived, I fasted and wept, for I thought “Who knows whether the LORD will be gracious to me, that the child will live?”  But now he is dead. Why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? No. I shall go to him, but he will not return to me.”

In time, Bathsheba had another son and they named him, Solomon.  “And the LORD loved him and sent a message by Nathan the prophet to call him “Jedidiah,” or “beloved of the LORD.

(I think this was a comfort to David, who “could have” thought that any child of this union might have been cursed by God.)

###

The rest of 2 Samuel 12, tells about Joab fighting and coming near to defeating Rabbah, the capital city of the Ammonites.  He sent a message to David to gather some men and camp against the city to take it, so that KING DAVID and not JOAB would get the credit.

David does this, and when the huge golden crown (with a precious stone in it) was brought from the Ammonite king, it was placed on David’s head.  David also brought out the spoils and made the people slaves to work at the brick kilns. Then the king returned to Jerusalem.

Joab did a good job “covering” for David (who should have been fighting all along), and making him “look good for the people”.  But Joab KNEW about Uriah and surmised about Bathsheba. 

(Just another reason why David hated Joab, his nephew and commander of his army.)

 

1 Chronicles 20.

This chapter only briefly mentions “David staying in Jerusalem in the Spring, when kings went out to battle, and Joab defeating the Ammonites, then David getting the crown.“

But it tells also of successful wars with the Philistines where a bunch of giants (one with 6 fingers on his hands and 6 toes on his feet) were struck down by the hand of David’s men.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

Journaling through the Bible Chronologically in 2025, Day 116

Apr26
Day 116.  Reading Psalms 73, 77, 78.
 

Read today’s scripture.

How do these Psalms about trouble, heartache, and persecution speak to you?

Psalm 73.

Have you ever felt like this?

  • Truly God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart. But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled; my steps had nearly slipped. For I was envious of the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. 

Then the Psalmist continues to describe the “arrogant and wicked” in verses 4-12. (See if you recognize them as you read those verses.)

  • All in vain have I kept my heart clean and washed my hands in innocence. For all day long I have been stricken and rebuked every morning.
  • But when I thought HOW to understand this, it seemed to me a wearisome task, UNTIL I WENT INTO THE SANCTUARY OF GOD; then I discerned their end.

And his glorious ending thoughts!

  • YOU hold my right hand. YOU guide me with your counsel, and afterward, YOU will receive me to glory.
  • Whom have I in heaven but YOU?  And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides YOU.
  • My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion forever. 

.

Psalm 77.

Have you done or felt these things when you are suffering in some way?

  • I cry aloud to God, and he will hear me.

This is the Psalmist’s hope, but he admits to the opposite. 

  • In the day of my trouble I seek the LORD.
  • In the night my hand is stretched out without wearing, and my soul refuses to be comforted. 
  • When I remember God, I moan: when I meditate, my spirit faints. 
  • You hold my eyelids open; I am so troubled that I cannot speak.
  • I said, “Let me remember my song in the night; let me meditate in my heart.” 
  • Then my spirit made a diligent search…..

Here, the Psalmist turns to his knowledge of His Lord and asks questions that have a resounding “NO!” answer.

  1. Will the Lord spurn forever and never again be favorable?
  2. Has His steadfast love forever ceased?
  3. Are His promises at an end for all time?
  4. Has God forgotten to be gracious?
  5. Has He in anger shut up his compassion?

And those “No” questions gave him hope and comfort.  Hear him “preach to himself!”  USE THESE TO PREACH TO YOURSELF TOO!!

  • I WILL REMEMBER the deeds of the LORD; yes, I will remember Your wonders of old.
  • I WILL ponder all your work, and meditate on your mighty deeds.
  • YOUR WAY, O God, is holy.
  • WHAT GOD is great like our God?
  • YOU are the God who works wonders; you have made known your might among the peoples. 
  • YOU with Your arm redeemed your people…

.

Psalm 78.

(A good LONG psalm, looking forward to the next generation.)

  • Give ear, O my people, to my teaching; incline your ears to the words of my mouth!

The hope of this Psalm.

  • I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter dark sayings from of old, things that we have heard and known, things that our fathers have told us.  We will not hide them from our children but tell the coming generation the glorious deeds of the LORD, and His might, and the wonders that he has done……..which He commanded our fathers to teach to their children, that the next generation might know them, the children yet unborn, who will rise and tell them to THEIR children, so that they should SET THEIR HOPE IN GOD, and not forget His works, but keep His commandments.

The Psalm goes on to tell how the Israelites of old, SINNED against God, REBELLED, TESTED, and SPOKE AGAINST God until He was full of wrath against them. 

  • And their main sin:  “They did not believe in God and did not trust his saving power.“

This is a huge “beware” to us today!!!

  • AND YET HE FED them grain from Heaven and water from the Rock (both pictures of Jesus Christ).  YET, HE, BEING COMPASSIONATE, ATONED for their iniquity and did not destroy them;
  • He restrained His anger often and did not stir up ALL his wrath.
  • He remembered that they were but flesh, a wind that passes…

The psalm goes on to tell how Israel tested God again and again, provoked Him, and did not remember His power, They turned away, acted treacherously, twisted like a bow strong, and rebelled against the Most High God…..  And He rejected Israel, the tent of Joseph, and the tribe of Ephraim.

So sad, but so like us sometimes.   But then…..

  • He chose the tribe of Judah, Mount Zion, which He loves. He built his sanctuary like the high heavens…
  • He chose David, His servant. He took him from the sheepfolds and brought him to shepherd Jacob, His people, and Israel, His inheritance. 
  • With an upright heart he (David) shepherded them and guided them with a skillful hand.

 

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In a few days, we will get back to the story of King David. 

 

 

Journaling through the Bible Chronologically in 2025, Day 109

Apr19
Day 109.  Reading 1 Samuel 28-31 and Psalms 18.
 

Read today’s scripture.

Did anything in these chapters bother you, cause you to question, or give you closure?

1 Samuel 28.

Remember how we ended yesterday? The Philistine King Achish said, “David shall always be my servant.” Well God has other plans for David, and here’s how He brings them about.

David had been going out and fighting Israel’s enemies while letting Achish think he was fighting against Israel. So when the big push against Israel came, the king signed up David as his bodyguard and his 600 men as part of the Philistine army.

(Pause here while we see what is happening in Israel’s King Saul’s camp.) 

Saul gathered all of Israel at Gilboa (his hometown) to fight the Philistines. But when he SAW their army, he was afraid. His heart trembled greatly. (No David to fight for him this time. In fact, if he’d looked, he might have seen David in the hoard. Don’t worry, God’s going to take care of that.)

Saul tries to “inquire of the LORD,” but the LORD does not answer him, either by a dream, or by the Urim, or by prophets. (Remember Samuel died.) Who else was there?  Who could tell him GOD’s will?  Oh! A witch! A necromancer who could bring up the dead!  NOT!!!

(Read what God says about witches, necromancers, mediums, charmers, sorcerers, fortune tellers, diviners, or omen interpreters in Deut. 18:10-11, Lev. 19:31 and 20:27, Exodus 22:18)  “Don’t go to them! Remove them from Israel! Kill them all!”)

It’s pretty clear that this is a huge no-no, but Saul is at his disobedient end. He has nowhere to turn except repentance to God, and he does not choose that option.  “Seek out for me a woman who is a medium that I may inquire of her.”

It’s interesting, his servants know right where one is, in En-dor. (Even this witch knows that Saul had “cut off the mediums and necromancers from the land.”  Obviously, he’d missed one.)

Saul disguises himself, goes to her, and tells her to bring up the spirit of someone he tells her.  She’s no dummy and is reluctant, but Saul swears “by the LORD” not to punish her.  Oh boy!!!  

“Bring up Samuel.”  And the witch is terrified when Samuel actually appears.  She’s used to her demons impersonating people.  She screams and accuses Saul. But the hapless king reassures her.

SAMUEL: Why have you disturbed me by bringing me up?

SAUL: I am in great distress for the Philistines are warring against me and God has turned away from me and answers me no more, either by prophets or dreams. TELL ME WHAT I SHALL DO!

SAMUEL:  Why do you ask ME since the LORD has turned from you and become your enemy?  The LORD has torn the kingdom out of your hand and given it to David…BECAUSE YOU DID NOT OBEY HIM and carry out his wrath against Amalek.  The LORD will give Israel to the Philistines tomorrow. You and your sons will “soon be with ME.” 

Not what Saul wanted to hear! He collapses.

1 Samuel 29.

Meanwhile, in the Philistines’ camp, the commanders object to “those Hebrews” being among them. 

King Achish said “Is this not David, the servant of Saul, king of Israel who has been with me these years since he deserted. I have found no fault in him.”

But the commanders insisted the king send them back from the battle “lest he become an adversary to us. Is this not David of whom they sing and dance, “David has struck his ten thousands (of us!)”

(This is how God was protecting David from having to fight his own people.)

Achish relented, apologized to David, and sent him back, so as not to displease his commanders.  “Arise before dawn and depart as soon as you have light.”

So David did.  (Thank You, LORD!)

1 Samuel 30.

When David and his men returned to their home in Ziklag, they discovered the town burned and all their goods and families taken away. (No one had be killed – see the hand of the LORD!)  But his men were so distraught that they spoke of stoning David!!!

David “strengthened himself in the LORD his God.”  Then he asked Abiathar the priest, the son of Ahimelech (remember, he was the only one to escape when Saul had Doeg kill all the priests for helping David),  “Bring the ephod and inquire of the LORD. Shall I pursue this band?  Shall I overtake them?”

The LORD answered, Yes. So they set out, David and the 600.  At Besor, 200 of the men were left behind “with the baggage” because they were too exhausted to go on.   And (wow!) they found an Egyptian man in the open country, dying of hunger and thirst.  It seems he was a slave to one of the Amalekites, who’d left him behind to die.  When David promised not to desert him, he said he would lead them to the Amalekite camp.

He did. They were spread out in the valley, eating and drinking and dancing.

David struck them down from twilight until the evening of the next day. Not a man escaped, except a few who got on camels and rode off.  All the loot (and people) they had taken from David was there, including his two wives, Abigail and Ahinoam. 

So the 400 and David took it all back, plus loot from the Amalekites.  David told the 400 to share the loot with the 200 who’d stayed behind, but they were reluctant to at first. David insisted, saying that all who fought AND all who protected the baggage would share alike. (It actually became a statute for Israel from that day on.)

When they got back to Ziklag (I assumed they rebuilt it), David sent presents of the spoil to the elders of Judah for all the places he and his men had looted while in the service of the Philistines (more than 13).  WOW.

1 Samuel 31.

Meanwhile, north of Ziklag, the Philistines fought Israel. The men of Israel fell slain on Mount Gilboa. They overtook Saul and his sons, Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malchishu, and killed them. They pressed hard against Saul and he was seriously wounded by Philistine archers. 

Saul pled with his armor-bearer to kill him, so the Philistines would not “mistreat him.”  But the man refused to kill the king. Saul committed suicide. Then the armor-bearer did likewise. 

“Thus Saul died, and his three sons, and his armor-bearer, and all his men, on the same day.” just as God had said through Samuel.  (God never let any of Samuel’s words fall to the ground, even after his death!)

When the men on the other side of the valley saw their leader dead, they abandoned their cities and ran away. The Philistines came and lived in them.

The next day the Philistines found the body of Saul, cut off his head, and put it and his armor in the house of their idols, then hung his body on the wall. 

(Can you imagine if David had been there??? Praise God, He had removed him from SEEING Saul and Jonathan dead and mistreated.)

Later the people of Jabesh-Gilead, whom Saul had helped at the beginning of his reign, came by night, took the bodies of Saul and his sons from the wall, and burned them. They took their bones and buried them under the tamarisk tree in Jabesh, and fasted seven days.

And so ignominiously ends the rule of Israel’s first king, and his line.

Why? Because he had twice disobeyed God’s specific word through Samuel, and then continuously refused to repent.  (We will see David grievously sin against God too, but he repents. He suffers the consequences, but always turns back to his God.)

  • O LORD, let Saul’s life be a warning to us, and to me. When I sin, even grievously, cause me to remember to turn to you, confess, repent, then walk in obedience.

Psalm 18.

  • David:  “I love You, O LORD, my strength. The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold!
  • I call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised, and I am saved from my enemies. 
  • In my distress I called upon the LORD; to my God, I cried for help. From His temple, He heard my voice, and my cry to him reached His ears.
  • He rescued me from my strong enemy and from those who hated me; for they were too mighty for me.
  • For it is You who light my lamp; the LORD my God lightens my darkness. For by You, I can run against a troop, and by my God, I can leap over a wall.
  • This God, His way is perfect, the word of the LORD proves true; He is a shield for all those who take refuge in Him.
  • The LORD lives, and blessed by my rock, and exalted be the God of my salvation.
  • For this I will praise you O LORD, among the nations, and sing to Your Name. Great salvation He brings to His king, and shows steadfast love to his anointed, to David and his offspring forever.

 

Journaling through the Bible Chronologically in 2025, Day 102

Apr12
Day 102.  Reading 1 Samuel 15 – 17
 

Read today’s scripture.

How do you see God’s faithfulness, despite man’s failures, today?

1 Samuel 15.

Chapter 14 ended with the summary, “There was hard fighting against the Philistines all the days of Saul” (and Israel’s army has yet to encounter Goliath).  But Saul needs to deal with another people whom God had vowed to destroy – the Amalekites.

Why?  The Amalekites were descendants of Esau. Esau and Jacob/Israel were twin brothers, but there was no family love between the original men and none between their descendants.  When God brought the Israelites out of Egypt and they were still untried and weak, the Amalekites attacked them. God helped Israel to push back the attack with Joshua and a rag-tag, quickly-assembled army, and Moses holding up his staff over the scene (with the help of Aaron and Hur). But God cursed them.

  • Deuteronomy 25:17-19. (Moses speaking) “Remember what Amalek did to you on the way as you came out of Egypt., how he attacked you on the way when you were faint and weary, and cut off your “tail,” those who were lagging behind, and he did not fear God. THEREFORE when the LORD your God has given you rest from all your enemies around you, in the land that [He} is giving you for an inheritance to possess, you shall blot out the memory Amalek from under heaven; you shall not forget.”

The time had come. Israel’s first king is charged with the task.

Samuel told Saul, “Go and strike Amalek and devote to destruction ALL that they have. Do not spare them, but kill both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.”  

So Saul took 210K men and defeated the Amalekites in nearly all of their territory.  YAY!!

“And he took Agag the king of the Amalekites ALIVE and devoted to destruction of all the people with the edge of the sword. And Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep, oxen, fattened calves, lambs….and all that was good, AND DID NOT UTTERLY DESTROY THEM (the Amalekites).” 

Wait, Saul didn’t kill the king?  (And he missed a few hundred others, according to later incidents.)

Samuel heard about it and he was mad. “I regret that I have made Saul king.”  He cried to God all night, then arose in the morning and went to Saul’s camp at Gilgal.

  • Saul: “Blessed be you to the LORD. I have performed the commandment of the LORD.”
  • Samuel: “What then is this bleating of sheep in my ears, and the lowing of oxen I hear?
  • Saul:  “They brought them from the Amalekites, for the people spared the best of the sheep and oxen … to sacrifice to the LORD your God.“
  • Samuel:  “STOP! I will tell you what the LORD said to me this night.”
  • Saul: “Speak.“
  • Samuel: “The LORD anointed you king over Israel. The LORD sent you on a mission.  Why then did you NOT OBEY THE VOICE OF THE LORD. Why did you pounce on the spoil and do what was EVIL in the sight of the LORD?”
  • Saul: “I HAVE obeyed. I HAVE gone on the mission. I have brought Agag the king of Amalek and devoted the rest to destruction.  BUT THE PEOPLE took spoil to sacrifice to the LORD your God.”
  • Samuel: “Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, AS IN OBEYING?  Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice.  Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, He has also rejected YOU from being king.”
  • Saul: “I have sinned and transgressed the commandment of the LORD … because I feared the people.  Now, please pardon my sin.“
  • Samuel: You have rejected the word of the LORD, and the LORD has rejected you from being king.” Then, when Saul ripped a piece of Samuel’s robe in trying to get him to stay,
  • Samuel said: “The LORD has torn the kingdom from you this day and given it to another, one better than you.”

After that, Samuel called for King Agag and hacked him to pieces. (Yes, that old man had the strength and will to do what Saul had not.)  Then Samuel left.  He did not see King Saul until the day of his death. (But, Samuel grieved over Saul … his “beautiful, tall and handsome man” the one HE had anointed prince of Israel….)

1 Samuel 16.

God remonstrated His prophet.

“How long will you grieve over Saul.  I will send you to Bethlehem to Jesse, for I’ve chosen a king for myself from his sons.  Take a heifer and tell him you’ve come to make a sacrifice to the LORD.  Then anoint FOR ME the one I show you.”

Samuel obeyed.

At the sacrifice celebration, Samuel looked at Jesse’s oldest son, Eliab. Perhaps he was tall and handsome too, for God spoke sharply to His prophet. “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the LORD sees not as man sees. Man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on  the heart.”

And so it happened to all of Jesse’s son brought to Samuel from the oldest downward.  God rejected all seven.

Samuel was confused. He was SURE this was the family.  He was SURE God had rejected all the sons. Hmm.

“Are ALL your sons here, Jesse?” 

“Well, there remains only the youngest, but behold he’s a lad and he out tending the sheep.”

“Send and get him,” charged Samuel and they did.  This boy was ruddy (rosy-cheeked), had beautiful eyes, and was handsome (with blond curls, the Jews say). (Not like Saul at all.)

“This is the one. Anoint him,” said the LORD.

So Samuel anointed the lad in the presence of his family. And the Spirit of the LORD rushed onto David from that day forward.  After the sacrifice, Samuel got up and went home.

MEANWHILE, back at Gilgal, the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and a harmful spirit from the LORD tormented him.   His servants began looking for a musician who could play soft music on a lyre to calm him.

One of them mentioned that he’d seen such a man, the son of Jesse, the Bethlehemite, who was skilled at playing the lyre.  He was also a man of valor, prudent in speech, a man of good presence, and the LORD is with him.

Saul sent messengers to Jesse to get David from watching the sheep.  So David came to Saul and entered his service. Saul loved him greatly, and he became his armor-bearer.  Whenever the harmful spirit was upon Saul, David came, took up the lyre, and played.

So Saul was refreshed and was well, and the harmful spirit departed from him. (temporarily)

1 Samuel 17.

You know it, right? The story of David and Goliath?

The Philistines were back (after that awful defeat begun by young Jonathan).  They were back in Judah. And Saul gathered his army in line of battle against the Philistines.  But the invaders had brought a secret weapon: one of their giants from their city of Gath.  Goliath was 9.5 feet tall.  He was clothed in armor weighing more than 150#.  And he stood arrogant and shouted to the army of Israel.

“Am I not a Philistine and are not you servants of Saul? Choose a man and let him fight me. If he can kill ME, we will be your servants. (hahaha)  But if “I” kill him, YOU shall be OUR servants.  I DEFY THE RANKS OF ISRAEL THIS DAY.  GIVE ME A MAN THAT WE MAY FIGHT.”

Okay, you guessed it. The army of Saul was terrified. (Hopefully, by then they had more than two swords among them!!)  For forty days, the giant came forward and took his stand, morning till evening. And Israel stood frozen in their lines. (Forty days is significant. Forty = testing.)  Saul promised his beautiful youngest daughter to the man who would come out and defeat the giant.  But no one stepped up.

Meanwhile, back in Bethlehem, old Jesse was worried about his sons in the army.  He sent David with a donkey loaded with goodies, to check on them.  He arrived at the camp just as Goliath was shouting his challenge. 

David asked, “What shall be done for the man who kills this Philistine and takes away the reproach of Israel?”  The soldiers told David about King Saul’s offer of his daughter.  Maybe David was familiar with the beautiful girl from the times he was called to court to play the lyre for the king.

His brothers scolded David, saying he’d only come to gawk at the giant. But David responded, “Who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?”

News of this got back to King Saul and he sent for David. (Saul didn’t recognize him as the lyre player.) 

David:  “Don’t be afraid. I will go and fight with this Philistine.”

Saul: “You are not able for you are but a youth.”

David:  “I used to keep sheep for my father. When a lion or a bear came and took a lamb from the flock, I went after him and struck him and saved the lamb.  I’ve struck down both lions and bears, and this Philistine shall be like one of them … for he has defied the armies of the living God.  The LORD who delivered me from the paw of the bear and the lion will deliver me from the hand of the Philistine.”

Saul:  “Go, and the LORD be with you.”  (Saul tried to make David wear his armor, but it was way too big and clumsy. And David had never moved about in armor before.  He took it off.)

You know the story.

The challenge. The one stone of five into the sling. The fall of the giant. The final coup de gras with the giant’s head rolling and David holding the giant’s heavy sword high.

And it all happened, “that the earth may KNOW that there is a God in Israel, and that all this assembly may KNOW that the LORD saves not with sword and spear. For the battle is the LORD’s and He will give you [enemies] into our hand.”

Of course, then, the men of Israel rose and pursued the Philistines all the way to Gath and the gates of Ekron.

Saul, seeing it all, asked his commander, Abner, “Whose son is that?’

Abner: “I don’t know.”

Saul: “Well, find out!’

When David returned from killing the giant, Abner brought him to the king.

“Whose son are you?”

“I‘m the son of your servant Jesse, the Bethlehemite.” (The one who has been coming to play the lyre for you when you go crazy!  But he probably didn’t say that.)

(Sounds to me like Saul was conscripting David into his army.)

—

(Hey, didn’t David’s daring-do, and his confidence in God remind you of Jonathan in yesterday’s reading? Jonathan had said, “the LORD is able to deliver by many or by a few. Let’s go!”  These two young believers in the LORD and His strength will meet in tomorrow’s reading.  And a godly, tight bond will form.)

  • O LORD, that I might trust in You so completely that all fear is gone.  I also pray that I will be obedient in all you ask.  You are a great God!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Journaling through the Bible Chronologically in 2025, Day 99

Apr9
Day 99.  Reading 1 Samuel 4 – 8

Read today’s scripture.

How do you see God’s faithfulness today?

1 Samuel 4.

Wow.

Since Samson had left only a “dent” in the Philistine armies when he died, they continued to be a thorn in the flesh of Israel along Israel’s southwestern border. Now these mighty men invaded Judah from Aphek (the north-eastern-most Philistine town) and defeated them, killing 4K Israeli soldiers.

Israel panicked and instead of turning to God, they got the “brilliant” idea to bring out the Ark of the Covenant. So those wicked sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, brought the Ark of God out of the Tabernacle at Shiloh to the battleground at Ebenezer.

A GREAT, HUGE CHEER broke out from Israel. And it scared the Philistines to death!  They knew and remembered the stories of how Israel’s God defeated the great Pharoah of Egypt and shook in their sandals.

“A god has come into the camp! Woe to us! Woe to us! Who can deliver us from these mighty gods? Take courage and be men, O Philistines, lest you become slaves to the Hebrews as they have been to you; BE MEN AND FIGHT!”  And so they fought. This time, 30K Israeli soldiers died, plus the sons of Eli.

And…the Ark of God was captured!  

When it was told to the fat, 98-year-old Eli that his sons were dead, and most importantly, that the Ark was in Philistine hands, he fell over backward, broke his neck, and died. (Just as the young Samuel had prophesied.)

“The Glory had departed from Israel! The Ark of God had been captured!”

But God wasn’t a helpless captive. He would NOT let his “throne” be desecrated.

1 Samuel 5.

The Philistines took the Ark to Ashdod, their nearest city, and put it into the temple of their god, Dagon, as a “trophy.”  But, when they went in the next morning, they saw their idol had fallen face down, in worship, before the Ark of God.

Whoa!  Looking around in fear, they set their idol back up on its pedestal.

The next morning, they found the same thing, except the idol’s head and hands were broken off and placed in the doorway.  Not only this, but the people of Ashdod began getting tumors all over them. EEK!  “Get rid of that thing!”

So the Ark of the God of Israel was taken to Gath.  The same thing happened there – tumors on the men and boys.  Those citizens also freaked out and sent God’s Throne to Ekron. Now, the third of the five Philistine cities suffered too. The hand of God was very heavy on them, and those who did not die were struck with those dreaded tumors.

All the lords of the Philistines decided they MUST send the Ark of the God of Israel … BACK to Israel. Seven months of suffering was ENOUGH!

1 Samuel 6.

The Philistine priests and diviners told them how to return the Ark.  They were to build a cart, hitch up two milk cows (with calves locked in the barn), put the Ark of the God of Israel on the cart, along with five gold items (for each of the cities – Ashdod, Gaza, Ashkelon, Gath and Ekron) as “guilt” offerings, and send it off.  If the cows returned home to their calves (which would be natural), they would know that the tumors, etc. were NOT from God, but a mere coincidence.  But if the cart did not return, they would KNOW, that the God of Israel was responsible.

The cows – with their calves crying in the distance – took the cart with the Ark (without turning to the right or left) STRAIGHT to the Levite town of Beth-shemesh, in Judah.  Farmers who were reaping there, stopped and rejoiced to see it. They sacrificed the cows on the wood from the cut-up cart as a burnt offering to the LORD.

When the Philistines who followed saw this, they returned to Ekron, satisfied.

However, 70 men of Beth-shemesh came to look (ogle?) at the Ark of God, a great sin of presumption. (See Numbers 4:20)  This lack of awe and respect caused God to flash out and kill all 70.  Yikes!   The people there cried out, “Who can stand before the LORD?  Where can we send the Ark?

They sent to the inhabitants of Kiriath-jearim in the heart of Judah. The men came and took the Ark of the LORD. They put it into the house of Abinadab after consecrating his son Eleazar to have charge of it. It stayed there until King David brought it to Jerusalem (See 2 Samuel 6:1-19)

Why they didn’t return it to Shiloh, we don’t know.

1 Samuel 7.

After that, Samuel – “the voice of God” – said to the people, “If you are returning to the LORD with all your heart, then put away the foreign gods and the Ashtaroth from among you and direct your heart to the LORD, and serve Him only. He will deliver you out of the hands of the Philistines.”

So the people did what Samuel said.

Then Samuel gathered all of Israel together and said, “I will pray to the LORD for you.”  They fasted and confessed their sin against God at Mizpah.

When the Philistines heard the people were gathered there, they came up to fight them.  The people – scared of the hoards – cried to Samuel to cry to the LORD to save them.  Samuel did and the LORD answered him.

The LORD thundered with a mighty sound against the Philistines, threw them into confusion, and routed them.  The men of Israel pursued them and struck them down.  And so, the Philistines were subdued and did not again enter the land of Israel all the days of Samuel, and there was peace with them.

Samuel set up a stone at Ebenezer (not the one in 4:1) and said, “Till now the LORD has helped us.” (Ebenezer means “stone of help.”

Have you heard of the old hymn, “Come, Thou Fount”? Here is the second verse:

  • “Here I’ll raise my Ebenezer, hither by Thy help I’m come;
  • And I hope by Thy good pleasure, safely to arrive at home.
  • Jesus sought me when a stranger, wand’ring from the fold of God.
  • He, to rescue me from danger, interposed His precious blood.”

Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life. He went on a circuit year by year to Bethel, Gilgal, and Mizpah, returning to Ramah where his home was.

1 Samuel 8.

When Samuel was old, he made his sons judges over Israel; Joel (“the Lord is God”) and Abijah (“my Father is the Lord”).  But God had not chosen them, and they did not walk in the ways of their father. They “turned aside after gain” and took bribes and perverted justice.”

(How did this happen? Did the godly Samuel neglect to discipline his sons, as Eli had?  It’s so sad. But God is sovereign, and His plan must not have been for the time of judges to continue.)

The people of Israel saw Joel and Abijah and how they acted, and heartlessly said to Samuel,  “Behold, you are old and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now appoint for us a KING to judge us like all the nations.”

Samuel was heartbroken. He prayed to God, and God told him to “Obey the voice of the people in all they say. For they have not rejected YOU, but they have rejected ME from being king over them. Obey their voice, only WARN THEM SOLEMNLY and show them the ways of the king who shall reign over them,”

So Samuel warned them about having a king.

  • He will take your sons and appoint them to his chariots and to be his horsemen and soldiers.
  • He will appoint for himself commanders of thousands and fifties, and some to plow his ground and reap his harvest and to make implements of war.
  • He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers.
  • He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive orchards and give them to his servants.
  • He will take the tenth of your grain and of your vineyards and give it to his officers and servants.
  • He will take your male servants and female servants and the best of your young men and your donkeys and put them to HIS work.
  • He will take the tenth of your flocks and you shall be his slaves.
  • And in the day you cry out because of your king whom you have chosen for yourselves, the LORD will not answer you.

It’s like they didn’t even hear him.  “NO, but there SHALL be a king over us, that we also may BE LIKE ALL THE NATIONS, and that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles!”

Samuel repeated these words to God.

And God said, “Obey their voice and make them a king.”

Journaling through the Bible Chronologically in 2025, Days 96 & 97

Apr7
Day 96 and 97.  Reading Judges 19 – 21 and Ruth 1 – 4
 

Read today’s scripture.

How are you encouraged in the book of Judges?

How is God shown as faithful in the book of Ruth?

DAY 96.

Judges 19.

Wow, today, we finish Judges.  I’m glad we do. This section is really horrible.  It shows so clearly what happens when people turn from God and “everyone did what was right in his own eyes.”

This is a story about a despicable Levite (not the same one who traveled north with the Danites).  This one lived in the hill country of Ephraim. He took a concubine (servant with benefits) from the tribe of Judah. She was unfaithful to him and ran home. The Levite went there to get her and was kind to her, but the woman’s father kept him staying day after day and night after night eating and drinking. Finally the Levite got tired of that and left with the woman.

In another town in the land of Benjamin, they were forced to spend the night in the town square until a nice old man said it wasn’t safe and invited them to stay with him.  So they were eating and drinking and making merry.

And then….  (Replay Sodom at Lot’s house.)  Men from the city came seeking the Levite. These aberrant men lusted after him. The old man went out to calm them down and offered his two daughter for them to “use.”  But their lust was not satisfied and demanded the man.  Then the Levite threw  out his concubine forcibly. The men abused her all night until she died.

Next morning, the Levite saw her lying at his doorstep. “C’mon let’s go.” But she didn’t move. He three her body on his donkey and took her home.  THERE, HE TOOK A KNIFE LAND CUT HER UP INTO PIECES!!!!!  THEN HE SENT ONE OF EACH OF THE TWELVE PIECES THROUGHOUT ISRAEL TO THE TRIBES.”

Judges 20.

Well, all the men of Israel came out – from Dan to Beersheba (far north to far south) – over 400K men.

“This is what happened when I stayed in a town in Benjamin.” the Levite said.

After a lot of palaver, talking, and deciding, including inquiring the High Priest about what to do, Israel gathered together and fought against Benjamin, destroying over 25K of the men of valor. Then they struck the cities, and men and beasts with the edge of their swords. And finally set all the towns on fire.

Judges 21.

Then when the remaining Benjamite people wept, saying, “O LORD, the God of Israel, why has this happened in Israel, that today there should be one tribe lacking in Israel?”

“What shall we do?”  Their great idea was to go up to an area that had not sent men to fight, kill all the men and wives, and bring back the virgins to the remaining men of Benjamin.  They did, and brought back 400 virgins.  Peace was proclaimed and the women were given to the tribe of Benjamin.  And, oh my, there was still not enough. So the army went and captured 200 more virgins from Shiloh and gave them to fill the quota.

The people of Benjamin took the wives, returned to their inheritance and rebuilt the towns and lived in them.  And the army of tribes went back home and did likewise.

There was no king.

Everyone did what was right in their own eyes.

(NO ONE thought to inquire of the LORD, turn to Him, seek His face…. or even read His Law.)

I am so glad this is the last of the book of Judges.

Tomorrow we’ll begin a book of HOPE after DISPAIR … a godly woman meets a godly man, and the royal line is established. Praise God!

###

DAY 97.

Ruth 1.

“In the days when the judges ruled, there was a famine in the land.”  The text doesn’t say exactly, but figuring backward, the story could have happened during the judgeship of Tola (23 years) and Jair (22 years) from Judges 10: 1-5. 

A (local?) famine was in the land, and a man, Elimelech (my God is king). his wife, Naomi (pleasant), and their two grown sons, Mahlon (sick) and Chillion (pining) from the tribe of Judah (important) living in Bethlehem decided to migrate to Moab until the famine was over.  Sadly, Elimelech died there.  Naomi’s sons married Moabite women, Orpah (stubborn) and Ruth (friendship), but it doesn’t seem any children were born from these unions.  Finally, the two sons also died.

Three widows. In a pagan land.

It’s been ten years. Naomi decides to go home.  She sends her daughters-in-law back to their homes in hopes they can remarry and have good lives. Orpah hugs her and leaves. But Ruth refuses, even when Naomi insists and tells her the bleak story of what their lives would be like in Israel as widows.

Nope. Ruth remains firm. “Do not urge me to leave you, or to return from following you. For where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God.  Where you die, I will die and there be buried.  May the LORD do so to me and more also if anything but death parts me from you.”

WOW. How many young women love their mothers-in-law like that today?

Naomi gives in and the two make their way back to Bethlehem. Naomi tells the women of the town to call her “Mara” (bitter) “for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. I went away full and the LORD has brought me back empty.”

It was near the end of April, the time of barley harvest (the famine had ended!).

Ruth 2.

A close relative of Naomi’s husband (important), whose name was Boaz (strength) was someone she could “maybe” go to for help. He was “a man of valor” (like Gideon and Jephthah) and could manage and protect his property. He’d never married, or maybe was a widower too.

Naomi sent Ruth to his barley fields to “glean.” God’s law said that farmers were to leave the corners of their fields, and any grain that dropped, for the poor to pick up. (See Leviticus 19:10-11, 23:22)  Ruth labored long and well in Boaz’s field.  Later he happened to pass by and saw her. He asked his men who she was and learned her story, 

Boaz went to Ruth and told her to stay and work in his fields only. His men would not interfere, and if she got thirsty, she was to go to the water the young men had drawn and drink. 

Ruth bowed deeply and asked why he was so kind. He told her he’d heard about her faithfulness to Naomi. “The LORD repay you and may a full reward be given you by the LORD under whose wings you have come to take refuge.”

At the noon break, he invited her to eat bread, roasted grain, and wine with the reapers. When she returned to work, Boaz told his workers, “Let her work among the sheaves too, and do not reproach her. Also, pull out some stalks from the bundles and leave them for her to pick up.”

After gleaning all day (back-breaking work) she went to the threshing floor and beat out the grain. This she took to Naomi (about 30-40 pounds!).  Naomi was astounded at the amount and told her to stay in his field. So Ruth worked there until the end of the barley harvest.

Meanwhile, Naomi’s heart lifted. Boaz was a near redeemer in her family. That meant he could rescue them. He could marry Ruth, and their firstborn would be accounted to Abimelech’s line, like a grandchild to Naomi, so her husband’s name wouldn’t be lost in Israel. After that, the children would be for Boaz.

Ruth 3.

Naomi tells Ruth about Boaz as their redeemer and explains what she should do to let him know that she is available and willing for him to redeem. 

He was willing and gave her a pledge of 6 measures of barley.  He explained that there was one glitch (a closer redeemer) that he had to take care of first. She should be patient.

Ruth 4.

Boaz went to the gate of the city – where business was transacted – and approached the man who was a closer redeemer. He told the man about Ruth and Naomi and asked if HE wanted to be the redeemer.

At first, the man was willing, but when he learned there was no offspring from Elimelech, and he would need to provide one, he turned down the offer.  He had children of his own, and didn’t want to split up their inheritance for the dead man’s offspring.

Boaz was formal, but inside he was rejoicing. Ruth could be his. And sure enough, soon they were married.  And the LORD gave her conception, and she bore a son. Naomi was once again blessed by the LORD, and when she held the baby boy, her own grandson, she rejoiced.

They named him Obed.  He was the father of Jesse, who was the father of David, who would become KING in Israel (and ancestor of the Messiah, Jesus).

  • Wow, what a wonderful ending, after those horrid accounts in the book of Judges.  During all that sin and forsaking of the law, God had His eye on one family, descended from Judah through Perez, Salmon (with Rahab), Boaz, and on to David, a “man after God’s own heart” and eventually to the “Son of David,” to the Savior, His only begotten Son, Jesus. PRAISE HIM!

Yay! We’ve now finished the  8th and 9th books of the Bible, in our Chronological Reading!

Journaling through the Bible Chronologically in 2025, Day 95

Apr5
Day 95.  Reading Judges 16 – 17 
 

Read today’s scripture.

Is there anything that encourages you from the book of Judges?

Judges 16.

Oh, Samson. Your lustful eyes and arrogant pride will be your downfall. (Literally.)

Samson goes down to Gaza, the southernmost Philistine city, and there he sees and uses a prostitute. When the people learn their arch-enemy is in town, they surround the house, thinking they will kill him at dawn. But Samson wakes at midnight, goes to the gates of the town (which are closed/locked for the night), pulls up the posts, and carries them and the gates to the top of a nearby hill.  So much for locking him in!

Then, in another place, Samson sees and falls for Delilah. Instead of trying to “take” Samson at dawn, as the people of Gaza, these Philistines offered to pay Delilah $35K to discover the “trick” to his strength.

She woos him, plays on his pride, and using her feminine wiles, has him “confess” three times the key to his strength. She calls the men, but Samson breaks the bindings like wax. She is peeved (seeing that cash melt away) and eventually tricks Samson into telling the true source of his strength – his Nazarite Vow, which forbids him cutting his hair.

Samson sleeps, Delilah calls a barber then the Philistines. Yep, he’s as weak as a babe.  The last thing Samson sees before losing his eyes is Delilah counting her money.  Betrayed!!!  Such glee among the Philistines! They make him “perform” and then put him to work like an ox, grinding grain at the mill in prison.

(Was Jesus thinking of Samson when He said, “If your eye offends you, gouge it out.”? (See Matthew 5:27-29)

But Samson’s hair begins to grow.  And perhaps repentance and submission to God too.

Years later at a great feast for their god, Dagon, who has the head of a man and the body of a fish, the great crowd gets bored and calls for some entertainment. Samson.  The blind man, with a head of hair to his shoulders (DIDN’T THEY SEE THAT???) is brought in to perform and be mocked.  They laugh and cheer and guzzle their wine.

“Young man,” Samson whispers, “let me feel the pillars with my hands so I may rest.“

The boy places Samson’s hands on the two center columns.

He pretends to sag with exhaustion.

“O LORD God,” he prays silently, “please remember me and please strengthen me only this once, O God, that I may be avenged on the Philistines for my eyes.”

God hears him. 

Samson grasps the pillars with his hands and leans forward.

“Let me die with the Philistines!” He prays.

And he pulled with all this strength … and the house fell down.

“The dead whom Samson killed at his death were more than those whom he had killed during his life.“

His brothers buried him in the tomb of his father, Manoah. He was a national hero who died for his God and country. 

DID YOU KNOW? Samson is on the list of the heroes of the Faith in Hebrews 11:32, along with Gideon, Barak, and Jephthah.

Judges 17.

This story is evidence that the people of Israel had NOT been reading the Law of God annually.  They had no idea about His commands, statutes, rules, and laws.

Micah, a man from the tribe of Ephraim was a thief to begin with.  He stole 1,100 pieces of silver from his mother but returned it. She was so happy that she dedicated some of it to make a silver image. An idol!! She put it in her son’s house along with the ephod he made and a bunch of other household idols. This inspired Micah to ordain his son as a priest. (MAN!!! How far can they go from the LAW OF THE LORD??)

“There was no king in Israel in those days. (So) Everyone did what was right in his OWN EYES.

Then a true Levite living in Judah’s land journeyed to the land of Ephraim. When Micah saw him, he thought, “Wow, here is a real priest!!” He invited the man to stay with him. The smug Micah then thought to himself, “Now I know that the LORD will prosper me because I have a Levite as a priest.” SERIOUSLY??

Judges 18.

Dan, the tribe from which Samson came, “was seeking for itself an inheritance to dwell in, for until then, no inheritance among the tribes of Israel had fallen to them?”

(WHAT??  What about that small area on the coast including Joppa? Judges 1:34 tells us that they were indeed given that land, but THEY HAD FAILED TO SECURE IT and let the Amorites press them up into the hill country.)

Anyway, now this very small tribe was looking for some land they could easily take. Spies left Zorah (Samson’s town) and came to Micah’s house. They asked the wayward Levite priest living there for God’s direction. “Oh, all is cool,” said the Levite. “Go in peace. The journey on which you go is under the eye of the LORD.”

So the five spies went waaaayyyyyyy north into the land of the Sidonians (not the land that God had given to Israel).  The people there were isolated and quiet. Cool. No problem.  They returned to their fellow Danites and said, “Let’s go up against this people, for we’ve seen the land and it is very good. Don’t be slow to go and possess the land.  The people are unsuspecting. The land is spacious. We will lack nothing there.” 

So 600 Danites, armed with weapons of war went up and arrived at the house of Micah. The 600 men went into his house and took the ephod, the household gods, and the carved silver image.

“What are you doing?” asked the Levite.

“Keep quiet. Come with us. You can be a priest of a whole tribe in Israel, and not just one man. “

“Cool!” said the priest. He took the artifacts and went with the Danite troops.

Micah, of course, was not happy.  “Why are you taking my priest and my gods?“

The Danites told him to be quiet or else he’d “lose his life.”

The Danites then went up to the people of Laish, a quiet and unsuspecting people, and struck them with the sword and burned their city.  There was no deliverer for them since Sidon was so far away. 

The Danites rebuilt the city and named it Dan. They set up the carved image and had the priests as their own. And so they remained until the day of the captivity of the land. 

 

 

 

 

Journaling through the Bible Chronologically in 2025, Day 93

Apr3
Day 93.  Reading Judges 10 – 12 
 

Read today’s scripture.

What encourages you from the book of Judges?

Before I go on to today’s reading, I want to share this children’s church song.  I hadn’t ever remembered reading about that 1-verse judge, Shamgar (Judges 3:31) who fought the Philistines for Israel. (We studied him three days ago.)

And then I came across this song while looking for something else.  I wonder how many kids singing this, KNOW about this Canaanite Judge for Israel!! I just had to add it here!

 

Amazing, huh?

Judges 10.

Six more mostly short-term judges follow Gideon’s family and fill in before Samson.  After God fulfilled the curse Jotham made on Abimelech and the people of Shechem, the judge Tola arose to save Israel.  He was a man of Issachar but he lived in Ephraim.  He judged Israel for twenty-three years.

After him, Jair from Gilead (East Manasseh) judged Israel for twenty-two years. (He was known for his thirty sons who rode on thirty donkeys and ruled thirty cities.

Then … the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the LORD and served Baals and Ashtaroth, and the gods of Syria, Sidon, Moab, Ammon, and Philistia. They forsook the LORD and did not serve Him, so His anger was kindled against them.  And … God gave them over to the Philistines and Ammonites who “crushed and oppressed them for eighteen years.”

The Ammonites crossed the Jordan River to fight against Judah and Benjamin and Ephraim. And Israel (surprise, surprise) called out to the LORD.  “We have sinned against you because we have forsaken our God and served Baals.”

But God was tired of rescuing them. He said, “I will save you no more.  Go and cry out to the gods whom you have chosen; let them save you in the time of your distress.”

That was a serious blow, and Israel got serious. “We have sinned; do to us whatever seems good to You. Only please deliver us this day.” (And they put away the foreign gods from among them.)

Judges 11.

And once again God raised up a judge for His people (Oh, the depths of His mercy and grace!)  Jephthah was a Gileadite (East Manasseh) and a mighty warrior.  After a time the Ammonites made war with Israel and they fetched Jephthah (after some bargaining) to help. 

Jephthah sent a long message to the kings of Moab and the Amorites, explaining how it came about that Israel took their land in the time of Moses … 300 years earlier!  But they would NOT LISTEN to reason.  So Jephthah decided to go to war.  He made a VOW that when he returned victorious, the first thing that came out of his house would be a sacrifice to the LORD.

Yikes!

Well, the LORD caused him victory in his battles and he defeated twenty cities of the Ammonites with a great blow.  He came home, and out walked – not a chicken, a cow, or a sheep – but his one and only offspring, his daughter.  GULP!!!

Now, Jephthah “could have gotten out of that foolish vow had he known the law of the LORD, which gives account for such thing.  He could have admitted sin and made a sacrifice for it, and saved his only child.”  But alas, he did NOT KNOW the law and after giving his daughter two months of solitary introspection out in the country to mourn her virginity…………… he sacrificed her. NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

Jephthah judged Israel for six years.

Judges 12.

Next there was a bit of intra-tribal fighting.  Soldiers of Ephraim were again miffed that Jephthah hadn’t called them to fight the Ammonites with him. They vowed to burn him and his house with fire.  What??? He tried to explain, but they got into a tussle fighting each other and 42K Ephraimites ended up being killed!!! 

(I guess none of the other tribes ever called them for help because they were such poor fighters!)

After that came Ibzan of Bethlehem. He had thirty sons and thirty daughters. He judged Israel seven years.

Then, Elon from Zebulun. He had judged Israel ten years. 

Next up was Abdon the son of Hillel from Ephraim.  He had forty sons and thirty grandsons who rode on seventy donkeys. He judged Israel eight years. 

Yes, I know. I’m tired keeping track of all the one-term judges.  Tomorrow we’ll start the study of Samson, the worst judge yet, albeit, the most well-known.

  • O LORD, help me to learn more about You, and hide more of Your Word in my heart, so I don’t sin against You.

 

Journaling through the Bible Chronologically in 2025, Day 92

Apr2
Day 92.  Reading Judges 8 – 9 
 

Read today’s scripture.

What encourages you in today’s reading in Judges?

Judges 8.

And so, on with Gideon.  He’s valiant now, but beginning to slip. He and his 300 men chase the two kings of Midian. He met some men of the tribe of Ephraim who were mad at him for not calling them to battle. (He only called Naphtali, Asher, and Manasseh.)  

Gideon chased the kings across the Jordan River but the men were, by this time, exhausted and very hungry.  He asked the people of Succoth and Penial for some food for his men.  They refused and Gideon vowed to “pay them back” with violence on his return (which he did). He attacked the remaining Midianite army and the two kings fled. Gideon’s men caught them, and the rest of the army fled in a panic.

On his return, Gideon dealt cruelly to Succoth and Penial, then told his young son to kill the two kings. But Jether was scared, so Gideon did the deed himself.

WARNING, GIDEON – temptation is coming.  The men of Israel said to Gideon, “rule over us.”  And at first, he was cool.  “I will not rule over you, and my son will not rule over you; The LORD will rule over you.”

Good start, Gideon, but then he asked for part of the gold from their spoil. He made an Ephod (only priests were to have them!).  Soon all of Israel “whored after it” for it had “become a snare to Gideon and his family.” 

But, the land had rest for forty years.

Gideon left behind 70 SONS from his wives and one more from a concubine.  This man was Abimelech.  Remember him.

And the people of Israel turned again and whored after the Baals. They did not remember the LORD their God who had delivered them from their enemies.

Judges 9.

Abimelech (Gideon’s son by a female servant) went to Shechem where his mother lived and stirred up the people. “Which is better for you, that all the 70 sons rule over you or ME? Remember that I am your bone and your flesh.“

“You!” they cried.

So, Abimelech hired a gang of worthless men and went south. They killed all of his half-brothers, missing only the very youngest, Jotham, who escaped.  And THE PEOPLE (not God) made him king at Shechem. 

Young Jotham, went to the top of Mount Gerizim and yelled out a parable about Abimelech and the leaders in Shechem, pointing out his murderous deeds.  He proclaimed a curse on them.  “Let fire come down from Abimelech and devour the leaders of Shechem and let fire come out from the leaders of Shechem and devour Abimelech.”

Then Jotham ran away. 

Abimelech ruled for three years. Then GOD sent an evil spirit between him and the leaders and they dealt treacherously with him. Anger stirred up strife. Each ambushed the other and plotted against the other.  Abimelech finally set fire to Shechem. The people ran for safety in their tower. Abimelech set it afire too, but before it fell a woman took a millstone and dropped it down onto Abimelech and crushed his skull. 

After that, the others who were with him left and went home.  

God returned the evil of Abimelech on his head and the evil of the men of Shechem on their heads.

And so, God fulfilled the curse of Jotham, Gideon’s son.

Sigh.

What a horrible time to live in Israel. After the LORD had fulfilled all His promises to them, they kept turning farther and farther away from Him.  He rescued them with flawed judges, but soon they were back at the evil their hearts craved.

  • O LORD, keep me firm. May my heart NOT stray from You!