King James Bible Study – “And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” – Mark 8:34
Date: Friday, April 09, 2021
Chapters: 1 Samuel 4-7
Message: I Love You, LORD
Hello My Friend,
This song has been playing in my head since I started praying, [I love You, Lord, And I lift my voice, To worship You, Oh, my soul, rejoice. Take joy my King, In what You hear. Let it be a sweet, sweet sound, In Your ear.] On top of that, I have been contemplating creating a Bible app with the reading schedule as well as the Bible itself. Needless to say, the thoughts in my head are going much faster than my ability to get things done, but it has given me a new passion for my ministry that I honestly have not had in a year. There is another song that comes to mind, [Every day they pass me by, I can see it in their eyes, Empty people filled with care. Headed who knows where? On they go through private pain, Living fear to fear, Laughter hides their silent cries, Only Jesus hears….People need the Lord, People need the Lord, At the end of broken dreams, He’s the open door. People need the Lord, People need the Lord, When will we realize, People need the Lord?]
People do need the LORD, and not the one that the world made up, they need Jesus Christ. We who know the truth, must not only have a passion to teach the truth, but reach them by living true to this truth. Why? Well, People need the LORD. If we do not tell them the truth, then they will believe the lies and never get saved. Yes, it is a big responsibility, but Satan has already taken way too many souls to hell through false religion, but we cannot let him take one more soul without letting them knowing the truth of the Gospel. If they know the truth and reject it, then that is on them, at least, we gave them the opportunity to know the LORD, [Luke 9:2-5 And he sent them to preach the kingdom of God, and to heal the sick. 3 And he said unto them, Take nothing for your journey, neither staves, nor scrip, neither bread, neither money; neither have two coats apiece. 4 And whatsoever house ye enter into, there abide, and thence depart. 5 And whosoever will not receive you, when ye go out of that city, shake off the very dust from your feet for a testimony against them.]
After more than a century of Israel going from one judge to another, and going back and forth in their obedience to God, the time had finally come for God put an end to this. Eli, who had raised up Samuel, had been judge, but there was much wickedness, even his sons were corrupted, a battle broke out between Israel and the Philistines, and none of the elders could understand why it was happening, they came up with the plan, “We need God with us.” Instead of praying to God they got Eli’s sons, Hophni and Phinehas, to get the Ark of the Covenant and place it in the midst.
[1 Samuel 4:1-4 And the word of Samuel came to all Israel. Now Israel went out against the Philistines to battle, and pitched beside Ebenezer: and the Philistines pitched in Aphek. 2 And the Philistines put themselves in array against Israel: and when they joined battle, Israel was smitten before the Philistines: and they slew of the army in the field about four thousand men. 3 And when the people were come into the camp, the elders of Israel said, Wherefore hath the LORD smitten us to day before the Philistines? Let us fetch the ark of the covenant of the LORD out of Shiloh unto us, that, when it cometh among us, it may save us out of the hand of our enemies. 4 So the people sent to Shiloh, that they might bring from thence the ark of the covenant of the LORD of hosts, which dwelleth between the cherubims: and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God.]
[Wherefore hath the LORD smitten us to day before the Philistines?] They are living as heathens, worshiping false gods, making a mockery out of the Law, and worshiping God as they please and have the nerve to ask why God has allowed the Philistines to go to war with them. People who love the LORD are not sinless, but they do have enough sense to know that while Christ saved them by grace, God’s protections and mercies come through obedience to His Word, []
These, while they are fools, we have to call them ignorant because they have not been taught the truth and are only doing what was right in their own eyes. Unfortunately, it was not the right thing to do, not only did God’s judgment concerning Eli’s family being stripped from the priesthood, and his sons dying on the same day come to pass, Eli died as well. At first, the Philistines were afraid when they heard the roaring and cheering of the Ark being among them, but that made them fight even harder, and sadly, thirty thousand Israelites were killed too.
[1 Samuel 4:8-11 Woe unto us! who shall deliver us out of the hand of these mighty Gods? these are the Gods that smote the Egyptians with all the plagues in the wilderness. 9 Be strong, and quit yourselves like men, O ye Philistines, that ye be not servants unto the Hebrews, as they have been to you: quit yourselves like men, and fight. 10 And the Philistines fought, and Israel was smitten, and they fled every man into his tent: and there was a very great slaughter; for there fell of Israel thirty thousand footmen. 11 And the ark of God was taken; and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were slain. ]
[when he made mention of the ark of God,] We need to be very concerned about the fact that God’s Word is being taken out of everything from the schools to the courthouses, and even the churches.
[1 Samuel 4:14,17-22 And when Eli heard the noise of the crying, he said, What meaneth the noise of this tumult? And the man came in hastily, and told Eli. 17 And the messenger answered and said, Israel is fled before the Philistines, and there hath been also a great slaughter among the people, and thy two sons also, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead, and the ark of God is taken. 18 And it came to pass, when he made mention of the ark of God, that he fell from off the seat backward by the side of the gate, and his neck brake, and he died: for he was an old man, and heavy. And he had judged Israel forty years. 19 And his daughter in law, Phinehas’ wife, was with child, near to be delivered: and when she heard the tidings that the ark of God was taken, and that her father in law and her husband were dead, she bowed herself and travailed; for her pains came upon her. 20 And about the time of her death the women that stood by her said unto her, Fear not; for thou hast born a son. But she answered not, neither did she regard it. 21 And she named the child Ichabod, saying, The glory is departed from Israel: because the ark of God was taken, and because of her father in law and her husband. 22 And she said, The glory is departed from Israel: for the ark of God is taken.]
[The glory is departed from Israel:] [Glory; the divine presence; or the ark, the manifestation of it.] The power or the glory of God is not in His Word, it is in THE WORD, who is Jesus Christ. You can read the Bible all you want, it will do nothing if you do not believe in it and are not trusting Christ as your Saviour, [John 1:11-13,17 He came unto his own, and his own received him not. 12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: 13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. 17 For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.]
I always love reading chapter 5, people are so ignorant, and while God is dead serious about not having other gods before Him, it does have a sense of humor in this. The Philistines thought that the Ark was just another idol, they not only placed it in the same building that they worshiped their god in, they placed it next to their idol, only it did not work out so well.
[1 Samuel 5:1-4,6-7,9 And the Philistines took the ark of God, and brought it from Ebenezer unto Ashdod. 2 When the Philistines took the ark of God, they brought it into the house of Dagon, and set it by Dagon. 3 And when they of Ashdod arose early on the morrow, behold, Dagon was fallen upon his face to the earth before the ark of the LORD. And they took Dagon, and set him in his place again. 4 And when they arose early on the morrow morning, behold, Dagon was fallen upon his face to the ground before the ark of the LORD; and the head of Dagon and both the palms of his hands were cut off upon the threshold; only the stump of Dagon was left to him. 6 But the hand of the LORD was heavy upon them of Ashdod, and he destroyed them, and smote them with emerods, even Ashdod and the coasts thereof. 7 And when the men of Ashdod saw that it was so, they said, The ark of the God of Israel shall not abide with us: for his hand is sore upon us, and upon Dagon our god. 9 And it was so, that, after they had carried it about, the hand of the LORD was against the city with a very great destruction: and he smote the men of the city, both small and great, and they had emerods in their secret parts.]
[And the Philistines took the ark of God,] Did you ever wonder why God allowed them to take the Ark when if anyone other than a Levite would touch it would die instantly? Well, we will see as we continue reading that this would be a form of judgment, in every town people died wherever the Ark was. In fact, it went from town to town withing Philistine territory for seven months, and every where it went people died.
[1 Samuel 6:1-5,9 And the ark of the LORD was in the country of the Philistines seven months. 2 And the Philistines called for the priests and the diviners, saying, What shall we do to the ark of the LORD? tell us wherewith we shall send it to his place. 3 And they said, If ye send away the ark of the God of Israel, send it not empty; but in any wise return him a trespass offering: then ye shall be healed, and it shall be known to you why his hand is not removed from you. 4 Then said they, What shall be the trespass offering which we shall return to him? They answered, Five golden emerods, and five golden mice, according to the number of the lords of the Philistines: for one plague was on you all, and on your lords. 5 Wherefore ye shall make images of your emerods, and images of your mice that mar the land; and ye shall give glory unto the God of Israel: peradventure he will lighten his hand from off you, and from off your gods, and from off your land. 9 And see, if it goeth up by the way of his own coast to Bethshemesh, then he hath done us this great evil: but if not, then we shall know that it is not his hand that smote us: it was a chance that happened to us.]
[peradventure he will lighten his hand from off you,] How sad that it never occurred to them to just get rid of the false gods and turn to Him, but then that is the majority of the people who do believe that God exists. In fact, they know how powerful God is, and yet continue to reject Him. Well, not entirely, they often have to convince themselves that the judgment was not from God, but just happened by chance so that they can feel good about themselves having rejected His Word. People need the LORD, but they need to know the truth, it is not enough just to believe that He exists, we must believe that every Word is true, down to the very last thou, [Proverbs 30:5 Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him.]
Now, the Philistines had the Ark out of their hands and thought that they were off the hook. And now, the people of Bethshemesh thought they had God’s power within them, they even went as far as using those offerings given to them by the Philistines and offering them up to God.
[1 Samuel 6:15,19-20 And the Levites took down the ark of the LORD, and the coffer that was with it, wherein the jewels of gold were, and put them on the great stone: and the men of Bethshemesh offered burnt offerings and sacrificed sacrifices the same day unto the LORD. 19 And he smote the men of Bethshemesh, because they had looked into the ark of the LORD, even he smote of the people fifty thousand and threescore and ten men: and the people lamented, because the LORD had smitten many of the people with a great slaughter. 20 And the men of Bethshemesh said, Who is able to stand before this holy LORD God? and to whom shall he go up from us?]
[because they had looked into the ark of the LORD,] Well, that was a big no no. First, there is only one sacrifice that is accepted by God, and that is Jesus Christ. Second, there is only one way that we can stand before the holy LORD and live, and that is Jesus Christ. And third, ignorance to the first and second point saves no one. If you truly say that you love the LORD, then you will believe and accept the fact that no one gets to God and lives to tell about it in heaven any way without Jesus, [John 14:6-7 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. 7 If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him.]
The people of Bethshemesh finally called for help, in which a priest sanctified himself and was able to keep the Ark with him for twenty years. Something rather interesting happened during those twenty years, the people lamented for God, meaning they were mournful of not having Him near them. [1 Samuel 7:1-5 And the men of Kirjathjearim came, and fetched up the ark of the LORD, and brought it into the house of Abinadab in the hill, and sanctified Eleazar his son to keep the ark of the LORD. 2 And it came to pass, while the ark abode in Kirjathjearim, that the time was long; for it was twenty years: and all the house of Israel lamented after the LORD. 3 And Samuel spake unto all the house of Israel, saying, If ye do return unto the LORD with all your hearts, then put away the strange gods and Ashtaroth from among you, and prepare your hearts unto the LORD, and serve him only: and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines. 4 Then the children of Israel did put away Baalim and Ashtaroth, and served the LORD only. 5 And Samuel said, Gather all Israel to Mizpeh, and I will pray for you unto the LORD.]
[and I will pray for you unto the LORD.] There is something more powerful than our preaching the Gospel, and this prayer. We need to pray for them, we need to pray for the lost, we need to pray for those who are caught up in false religion, we need to pray for the backsliders, we need to pray for our nation, meaning those who are of God. By our praying for them, their hearts open to God and His Word, well, the ones that actually do want God in their lives. When Samuel started praying, they people begged him not to stop praying for them, especially when the Philistines lined up against them. Samuel offered up the first acceptable offering up to God, and the people fasted too, that was when God heard them and not only delivered them from the Philistines, but it was a slaughter.
[1 Samuel 7:8-10,13,15,17 And the children of Israel said to Samuel, Cease not to cry unto the LORD our God for us, that he will save us out of the hand of the Philistines. 9 And Samuel took a sucking lamb, and offered it for a burnt offering wholly unto the LORD: and Samuel cried unto the LORD for Israel; and the LORD heard him. 10 And as Samuel was offering up the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near to battle against Israel: but the LORD thundered with a great thunder on that day upon the Philistines, and discomfited them; and they were smitten before Israel. 13 So the Philistines were subdued, and they came no more into the coast of Israel: and the hand of the LORD was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel. 15 And Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life. 17 And his return was to Ramah; for there was his house; and there he judged Israel; and there he built an altar unto the LORD.]
[and offered it for a burnt offering wholly unto the LORD:] It is only when we offer ourselves wholly unto God and come to Him with the proper sacrifice that He hears us. Meaning, it is only when we accept the perfect sacrifice of His Son, Jesus Christ that He hears us. Then we can sing, [I love You, Lord, And I lift my voice, To worship You, Oh, my soul, rejoice. Take joy my King, In what You hear. Let it be a sweet, sweet sound, In Your ear.] [1 Peter 3:12-16 For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil. 13 And who is he that will harm you, if ye be followers of that which is good? 14 But and if ye suffer for righteousness’ sake, happy are ye: and be not afraid of their terror, neither be troubled; 15 But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear: 16 Having a good conscience; that, whereas they speak evil of you, as of evildoers, they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good conversation in Christ.]
Jesus Christ Magnified: [1 Samuel 7:9 And Samuel took a sucking lamb, and offered it for a burnt offering wholly unto the LORD: and Samuel cried unto the LORD for Israel; and the LORD heard him.]
Today’s Prayer: God, I love You, Lord, And I lift my voice, To worship You, Oh, my soul, rejoice. Take joy my King, In what You hear. Let it be a sweet, sweet sound, In Your ear. Thank You for giving me a way that I may come freely to You not only to sing to You, but to speak to You one on one. As there is only one way to come to You, let us whom have accepted Your Son as our Saviour never cease to pray for the lost, and preach Your truth to those who need Jesus. Lord, Lead us and guide us, let Your power shine through us that we boldly speak like we never have before to lead one more soul to Your Son. I love You, LORD, and ask these things in Your name, Jesus.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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