King James Bible Study – [Mark 8:34 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.]
Date: Tuesday, April 11, 2023
Chapters: I SAMUEL 12-14
Study: Only One Way
Hello My Brother/Sister/Friend,
We can praise God for His endless mercy and grace upon all believers of His Son. We can praise God for His promise to never leave nor forsake those who are trusting Him as their Saviour. We can praise God for always forgiving us when we confess our sins. We can also praise God that He gives us the way to eternal life with Him, and that way is Jesus Christ. In fact, there is no other way to God, but through Jesus Christ and if anyone attempts to come to Him any other way, it will be the death of them, [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.]
When the Israelites came to Samuel and demanded a king like the other nations, it was God that granted their request, but that request would come with a clause, and that included the king who would reign as well. As we continue in the reading of 1 Samuel, Samuel gathers the people together, and presents Saul to them, and he was not happy at all.
[1 Samuel 12:1-5 And Samuel said unto all Israel, Behold, I have hearkened unto your voice in all that ye said unto me, and have made a king over you. 2 And now, behold, the king walketh before you: and I am old and grayheaded; and, behold, my sons are with you: and I have walked before you from my childhood unto this day. 3 Behold, here I am: witness against me before the LORD, and before his anointed: whose ox have I taken? or whose ass have I taken? or whom have I defrauded? whom have I oppressed? or of whose hand have I received any bribe to blind mine eyes therewith? and I will restore it you. 4 And they said, Thou hast not defrauded us, nor oppressed us, neither hast thou taken ought of any man’s hand. 5 And he said unto them, The LORD is witness against you, and his anointed is witness this day, that ye have not found ought in my hand. And they answered, He is witness.]
[The LORD is witness against you,] When you stand before Jesus and He asks you why He should let you into the Kingdom of God what will your answer be? Will it be that you were a faithful servant to Him? Will it be a list of all the good things that you did? Or will it be the one and only answer that will get you pass those pearly gates? That you believed in His Gospel while you were yet alive and trusted in His finished work on the cross and in the grave to save you from your dead works, and asked Him to save you? God, knows who are His and He is witness against you and His anointed is witness this day of whether or not there was a time that you accepted Him as your Saviour before you took your last breath here on earth,
[2 Timothy 2:19-21 Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity. 20 But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth; and some to honour, and some to dishonour. 21 If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master’s use, and prepared unto every good work.]
You see, as we walk with Christ after we are saved, the Holy Spirit starts nudging us to get rid of the things in our lives that cause us to hinder our walk with Him and in return He starts preparing us for His work. It is an amazing thing to discover just how much Jesus has done for us, and He will remind us of that too. Now, Samuel goes on to remind the Israelites of what God had done for them since they left Egypt, even though they have not always been very faithful to Him.
[1 Samuel 12:8-9,11-13 When Jacob was come into Egypt, and your fathers cried unto the LORD, then the LORD sent Moses and Aaron, which brought forth your fathers out of Egypt, and made them dwell in this place. 9 And when they forgat the LORD their God, he sold them into the hand of Sisera, captain of the host of Hazor, and into the hand of the Philistines, and into the hand of the king of Moab, and they fought against them. 11 And the LORD sent Jerubbaal, and Bedan, and Jephthah, and Samuel, and delivered you out of the hand of your enemies on every side, and ye dwelled safe. 12 And when ye saw that Nahash the king of the children of Ammon came against you, ye said unto me, Nay; but a king shall reign over us: when the LORD your God was your king. 13 Now therefore behold the king whom ye have chosen, and whom ye have desired! and, behold, the LORD hath set a king over you.]
[when the LORD your God was your king.] They were putting trust in a man to take care if their needs, keep them safe, and provide for them, rather than God. To show Israel that God was not pleased either God sent a thunder storm. This storm came at a time of the year when it does not rain. This was done to convince them that their sin was in asking for an earthly king to save them, and it worked too, they begged Samuel to pray for them.
[1 Samuel 12:18-20,22-23 So Samuel called unto the LORD; and the LORD sent thunder and rain that day: and all the people greatly feared the LORD and Samuel. 19 And all the people said unto Samuel, Pray for thy servants unto the LORD thy God, that we die not: for we have added unto all our sins this evil, to ask us a king. 20 And Samuel said unto the people, Fear not: ye have done all this wickedness: yet turn not aside from following the LORD, but serve the LORD with all your heart; 22 For the LORD will not forsake his people for his great name’s sake: because it hath pleased the LORD to make you his people. 23 Moreover as for me, God forbid that I should sin against the LORD in ceasing to pray for you: but I will teach you the good and the right way:]
[because it hath pleased the LORD to make you his people.] Since God loves us, He wants the best for us, and if we obey His Law, then He will take care of us, everything from our freedom to prosperity is given to us from God Himself. No, saved, born again Christian can ever say that God has not taken care of their every need, it is only when we go against God that our needs are not met, []
[God forbid that I should sin against the LORD in ceasing to pray for you:] We may not like it, but we need to continually pray for our country, the president, vice president, Congress, and all of our leaders. Hopefully, something will sink in and they will do the right thing. Let me tell you, the most honorable thing we can do as a Christian is pray for God’s people, our leaders, and even our enemies, and often. As long as God sees fit to keep us on this earth, it is important that we not only pray, but teach them the good and the right way, including how they can know how they can come into the Kingdom of God, [Matthew 5:44-45 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; 45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.]
Just look at what our nation is going through right now because they demanded a king over God, although we have president instead of a king, we are quickly falling under a dictatorship. For two years, Saul had it good, there was no fighting, he had a son named, Jonathan, he was the head of the army of their tribe, Jonathan attacked a camp where the Philistines were stationed, it was then that Saul boasted about it. However, when the Philistines heard the noise, they gathered a huge army together in retaliation.
[1 Samuel 13:1-3,6-7 Saul reigned one year; and when he had reigned two years over Israel, 2 Saul chose him three thousand men of Israel; whereof two thousand were with Saul in Michmash and in mount Bethel, and a thousand were with Jonathan in Gibeah of Benjamin: and the rest of the people he sent every man to his tent. 3 And Jonathan smote the garrison of the Philistines that was in Geba, and the Philistines heard of it. And Saul blew the trumpet throughout all the land, saying, Let the Hebrews hear. 6 When the men of Israel saw that they were in a strait, (for the people were distressed,) then the people did hide themselves in caves, and in thickets, and in rocks, and in high places, and in pits. 7 And some of the Hebrews went over Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead. As for Saul, he was yet in Gilgal, and all the people followed him trembling.]
[When the men of Israel saw that they were in a strait] Fear can cause us to make some very unwise decisions, which is why it is best that we think the matter through and turn to God for guidance. Jonathan, was the only Godly son that Saul had, he was even more godlier than Saul, and Saul was about to mess things up not only for himself, but his entire family. He was supposed to wait for Samuel, but after waiting seven days his army started taking off and that was when he took things into His own hands.
[1 Samuel 13:9-13 And Saul said, Bring hither a burnt offering to me, and peace offerings. And he offered the burnt offering. 10 And it came to pass, that as soon as he had made an end of offering the burnt offering, behold, Samuel came; and Saul went out to meet him, that he might salute him. 11 And Samuel said, What hast thou done? And Saul said, Because I saw that the people were scattered from me, and that thou camest not within the days appointed, and that the Philistines gathered themselves together at Michmash; 12 Therefore said I, The Philistines will come down now upon me to Gilgal, and I have not made supplication unto the LORD: I forced myself therefore, and offered a burnt offering. 13 And Samuel said to Saul, Thou hast done foolishly: thou hast not kept the commandment of the LORD thy God, which he commanded thee: for now would the LORD have established thy kingdom upon Israel for ever.]
[and that thou camest not within the days appointed,] I have to admit that patience is not one of my strong suits. Oh, I have no problem waiting, but the more affliction I face for being in God’s will the less patience I have. I have even told God a time or two that I was tired of being tried by the devil, by the world, and even tested by Him. Then He bluntly reminds me that other people have it far worse than I do. There are literally millions of people standing before Jesus, getting a huge awakening by discovering that they have lost their right into His kingdom forever and are being cast into hell because they took it upon themselves to bring burnt and peace offerings to God instead of trusting in Christ as their Saviour, [Matthew 7:22-23 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? 23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.]
God has an abundance of grace in that no matter how many times we mess up, He is forgiving, ready ,and willing to accept our confession and move on. However, those who continue to disregard that without one morsel of guilt will find out the hard way that His mercies do have limits for the unrepentant. After Saul had taken things into his own hands in regards to the sacrifices, God, had already determined that He would remove him and his family from reigning over His people. Now, we learn more about Johnathan, led by God.
[1 Samuel 14:1,3,6,8-10 Now it came to pass upon a day, that Jonathan the son of Saul said unto the young man that bare his armour, Come, and let us go over to the Philistines’ garrison, that is on the other side. But he told not his father. 3 And Ahiah, the son of Ahitub, Ichabod’s brother, the son of Phinehas, the son of Eli, the LORD’S priest in Shiloh, wearing an ephod. And the people knew not that Jonathan was gone. 6 And Jonathan said to the young man that bare his armour, Come, and let us go over unto the garrison of these uncircumcised: it may be that the LORD will work for us: for there is no restraint to the LORD to save by many or by few. 8 Then said Jonathan, Behold, we will pass over unto these men, and we will discover ourselves unto them. 9 If they say thus unto us, Tarry until we come to you; then we will stand still in our place, and will not go up unto them. 10 But if they say thus, Come up unto us; then we will go up: for the LORD hath delivered them into our hand: and this shall be a sign unto us.]
[it may be that the LORD will work for us:] You see, Jonathan knew that if they had any chance to defeat the Philistines it would be from God. Let me tell you, even our defeats are used by God to establish us, not for His Kingdom, but for our leading others to His Kingdom. Like it or not, we are Christ’s ambassadors and the best way that we are able to show Christ is actually by Him picking us back up after we have been defeated, [2 Corinthians 7:10-11 For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death. 11 For behold this selfsame thing, that ye sorrowed after a godly sort, what carefulness it wrought in you, yea, what clearing of yourselves, yea, what indignation, yea, what fear, yea, what vehement desire, yea, what zeal, yea, what revenge! In all things ye have approved yourselves to be clear in this matter.]
Well, Jonathan’s plan actually worked, he and his armourbearer killed twenty men, then something incredible happened, the Philistines started fighting and killing each other. This is another one of those instances where they were killing themselves. Saul, hearing all the commotion, sent his men in and made another mistake.
[1 Samuel 14:14-18,20 And that first slaughter, which Jonathan and his armourbearer made, was about twenty men, within as it were an half acre of land, which a yoke of oxen might plow. 15 And there was trembling in the host, in the field, and among all the people: the garrison, and the spoilers, they also trembled, and the earth quaked: so it was a very great trembling. 16 And the watchmen of Saul in Gibeah of Benjamin looked; and, behold, the multitude melted away, and they went on beating down one another. 17 Then said Saul unto the people that were with him, Number now, and see who is gone from us. And when they had numbered, behold, Jonathan and his armourbearer were not there. 18 And Saul said unto Ahiah, Bring hither the ark of God. For the ark of God was at that time with the children of Israel. 20 And Saul and all the people that were with him assembled themselves, and they came to the battle: and, behold, every man’s sword was against his fellow, and there was a very great discomfiture.]
[Bring hither the ark of God.] Everything was going just fine until Saul showed up, demanding that they bring the Ark of the Covenant. Does any of this sound familiar? Did not they make this mistake before in thinking that the Ark was the very presence of God? All Saul had to do was repent and ask God to forgive him and God would have changed things for him, instead he takes things into his own hands again.
[1 Samuel 14:23-27 So the LORD saved Israel that day: and the battle passed over unto Bethaven. 24 And the men of Israel were distressed that day: for Saul had adjured the people, saying, Cursed be the man that eateth any food until evening, that I may be avenged on mine enemies. So none of the people tasted any food. 25 And all they of the land came to a wood; and there was honey upon the ground. 26 And when the people were come into the wood, behold, the honey dropped; but no man put his hand to his mouth: for the people feared the oath. 27 But Jonathan heard not when his father charged the people with the oath: wherefore he put forth the end of the rod that was in his hand, and dipped it in an honeycomb, and put his hand to his mouth; and his eyes were enlightened.]
[So the LORD saved Israel that day:] Even though they were still facing a battle, God, delivered them from the Philistine and would have kept on doing so. You know, we can know what the Bible says all we want, but unless we apply it to our walk it is useless. When Jonathan heard that rash vow from his father he thought that it was absurd and encouraged them to eat. Well this caused a huge problem because they were so hungry that the second they saw food they turned into savages, literally killing animals and eating the meat raw. Saul, knew that they were not to eat blood and tries to get God’s attention by building an altar and offering a sacrifice.
[1 Samuel 14:33-35,37-39 Then they told Saul, saying, Behold, the people sin against the LORD, in that they eat with the blood. And he said, Ye have transgressed: roll a great stone unto me this day. 34 And Saul said, Disperse yourselves among the people, and say unto them, Bring me hither every man his ox, and every man his sheep, and slay them here, and eat; and sin not against the LORD in eating with the blood. And all the people brought every man his ox with him that night, and slew them there. 35 And Saul built an altar unto the LORD: the same was the first altar that he built unto the LORD. 37 And Saul asked counsel of God, Shall I go down after the Philistines? wilt thou deliver them into the hand of Israel? But he answered him not that day. 38 And Saul said, Draw ye near hither, all the chief of the people: and know and see wherein this sin hath been this day. 39 For, as the LORD liveth, which saveth Israel, though it be in Jonathan my son, he shall surely die. But there was not a man among all the people that answered him.]
[But he answered him not that day.] If you want God to hear you then you need to come to Him the way He tells you to come to Him. You do not get to God through your own works, a priest, a pastor, or a religion, and you do not get to Him through your own belief of who you think He is. You get to God through your faith in the Gospel of His Son and His Son alone, [John 10:8-10 All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers: but the sheep did not hear them. 9 I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture. 10 The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.]
Today’s Prayer: God, Thank You for Your mercy and grace, and for the liberty You have given me when I accepted Your Son as my Saviour. You know that I want to live my life as You would have me, if you were to evaluate me right now I know You will find a willing heart, but I also know there are some things that I need to work on. There are no excuses for disobeying Your commands, especially when I learn of something You do not approve of. Lord, Keep my heart tender and open to You, reveal to me anything that I need to repent of, and forgive me of my sins. Give me Your power to withstand the evils of the world, let me not put my trust in man, rather in You, my God and my King. Lead me and guide me, help me to improve on my weaknesses and train me how to increase my skills to serve You with all my heart, mind, and soul. I ask these things in Your name, Jesus. Amen.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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