1 Samuel 1:1-2:21, John 5:1-23, Psalms 105:37-45, Proverbs 14:28-29
Today is the 7th day of May. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I’m Brian. It is wonderful, it’s a pleasure to be here with you today as we move into the work week and as we take the next step forward, moving our way through the month of May and moving ourselves through the territory that the month of May leads us in the Bible. And that brings us to a new book. We completed the book of Ruth yesterday, a beautiful oasis coming out of the book of Judges, where we see God’s faithfulness to those who are faithful. Which brings us to the book of 1 Samuel.
Introduction to the First Book of Samuel:
We’re really heading out of this territory of the Judges, the generations that follow Moses and Joshua and into a new era where kings will be introduced into the story and that will change the complexion and the culture again. So, this 1 Samuel which sort of indicates that there’s at least a 2 Samuel and there is. And the books of 1 and 2 Samuel, these are probably not authored by the prophet Samuel. It’s unclear who the author is. It seems from a historical perspective that these manuscripts 1 and 2 Samuel were written somewhere around the time that the kingdom divided. So, if this is your first pass through the Bible, it’s like what is…what is that? We haven’t got to that yet, but we will soon enough. So the books of 1 and 2 Samuel probably not authored by the prophet Samuel. It remains unclear who the author actually is. From a historical perspective, these books were likely written somewhere where the kingdom divided. And if this is your first pass through the Bible, you’re like, divided kingdom? What is all this? We’ll get to all that. As we go forward, we’ll see that the children of Israel, these people we’ve been following all year, one nation, they’ll divide themselves. They’ll separate. As they continue to fall away from God, they also fall away from each other. And they’ll separate into two kingdoms. And it seems that during the divided kingdom is likely when the books of Samuel were written. A good number of scholars believe that the material was originally recorded maybe by three prophets of Israel - Samuel, Nathan and Gad. 1 and 2 Samuel were both written in Hebrew. And they were not written as separate texts originally. So we have 1 and Samuel and then after that we have 1 and 2 Kings. And at one time these were all grouped together as a continuous text. So, when the Old Testament was translated into Greek, out of Hebrew into Greek, that was called the Septuagint. And at that point, these texts were divided into four different books known as the books of the kingdoms. So then when the Old Testament was translated into Latin, which is called the Vulgate, then they became the books of the kings. So these texts were then known as 1 and 2 and 3 and 4 Kings. And so now that everyone’s confused, what is now known as 1 and 2 Samuel was actually 1 and 2 Kings in the Latin translations, which means that what we now know as 1 and 2 Kings was then known as 3 and 4 Kings during that era. And this all changed to the accepted way that we have the Bible delineated now with Samuel, 1 and 2 Samuel and then 1 and 2 Kings, that all happened when King James commissioned a translation of the Bible in English. And, so, the way that we have the Bible delineated now goes back to 1611. And Samuel, as we’ll soon enough see, was a very influential person. He was the final judge of Israel. He also happened to be a prophet of God and served before the Lord as a priest. And during his life, Israel had pretty much fallen into anarchy. And we’ve noticed that as we’ve gone through the book of Judges. Everyone was doing what they thought was right in their own eyes. So, Samuel steps in as a prophet and that begins to alleviate some of the anarchy because Samuel is speaking directly for God. And that is something that the children of Israel are accustomed to historically. Israel has never had a king, but they want one. And Samuel will be the one to introduce kingship into the civilization and culture of Israel. And the first king that we’ll meet, of course, is King Saul, the first king of Israel. And after him we’ll meet David, who will later become king. And we’ll watch pretty clearly, front row seat in fact, the terrible conflict that Saul has with David and all of the drama that that introduces. And speaking of kings, God warns the children of Israel not to do it. Not to take a king to rule over them. But, as usual, they take the path of their own choosing and introduce kings into their culture. And so we see spiritual guidance coming from the prophets and governance, national guidance, coming from the kings. But throughout the entire book, what’s really happening here is that a man-made kingdom is being established, the kingdom of Israel. And it will from this point on be the lens through which we’re looking at the Scriptures as we read the Old Testament. So, with all of that said, let’s dive in. We’re reading from the New International Version this week. 1 Samuel 1:1 -2:21 today.
Commentary:
Alright. So, we spent a little time before we began 1 Samuel kind of talking about the territory that we’re heading into. And then we began. So, we’ve been introduced to Samuel’s story. And this wife Hannah praying for this son because she was barren and giving this son back to God at Shiloh. Now Shiloh pre-dates Jerusalem as sort of the centerpiece of worship and culture for the Israelites. And we should understand that because it was almost four centuries, right? So, almost four hundred years. Just a little shy of four hundred years Shiloh was the place where the tabernacle was. Which means this was the center of the world for these people. This is where God was worshiped. This is where they would come to. So, this is why Elkanah and Hannah, as well as all the other Israelites who worshiped God, would come annually to make this sacrifice. They’d make this pilgrimage to Shiloh. Eventually that will be Jerusalem when the temple is built but there is no temple at this point. There is the tabernacle. And it’s situated in Shiloh. Shiloh, the ancient ruins of Shiloh, still exist. Been there several times. It’s a very very lovely place to be honest. It’s surrounded by hills and it’s very beautiful. And women still go to Shiloh. Women who are maybe having infertility issues, couples who are having infertility issues. They still go and pray at Shiloh for God to give them a child. And we usually try to make it to Shiloh when we go to Israel and do a pilgrimage each year. In part because of this story, Samuel is a very very influential person in the life of the early Israelites and is revered until this day. But, I mean, the tabernacle was there, so this was the center of worship. And so the Ark of the Covenant was there. And they’ve kind of located where the tabernacle would have been. And so it’s fascinating to just root yourself in the geography and be able to spin around in a circle and go, OK, these hills are the same hills and it all looks the same. This is how it was. And it has a timeless, timeless quality to it.
And when we get to the book of John, Jesus is at a location as well, the pools of Bethesda. Which are also still in existence. At least a portion of them. This apparently was a very, very grand pool and water supply and water source into Israel, but a lot of it has been found. And they kind of know where the rest of it is but there’s houses and stuff. There’s buildings on top. And part of this has been excavated and the part that is, I mean, you can see how grand it actually was. This isn’t like a little swimming pool that you might imagine. It was like a complex. So that still exists in Jerusalem. So, Jesus is there on a Sabbath day and he’s walking around. And that would have been a place to kind of walk around. It would have been beautiful and it would have been full of people. And he finds this man who’s been unable to walk for 38 years trying to get into the pool. Jesus asks him a simple question that should echo throughout our lives today. Do you want to get well? And we know how this story goes. The man does get well and Jesus gets in trouble for healing on the Sabbath and all this. But that question still lingers. Do you want to get well? It’s actually an important question because there’s all kinds of places that we want restoration. But do we want to get well? And are we doing our part in getting well? See, this man, he’d been sitting by this pool, waiting for a miracle for a long time. That was all he could do, but he was there every day doing his part. And he was made well, even though it took a long time. So, may we linger with the question today because, you know, if there’s something going on that you need (to be) moved out of the way or something in your body you need to be healed or something in your mind or heart or spirit, it’s easy to ask the question do you want to get well and immediately say, of course I want to get well. But it’s actually a big question. Do you? What would it look like if you were well? What would have to change if you were whole, if you were well? And it’s not just physical healing. It’s wholeness that we’re talking about here. Completeness. What would getting well even look like for you, right? Because when we move this from just a concept, a nebulous concept to naming things and specifying and understanding what well might actually look like and what that might actually do for our lives, then we know what we’re really talking about. When we name it, than we can see it. We can understand, contemplate. We can dream about it. So, consider today what if Jesus where to ask you the same question. Do you want to get well? Do you even know what that might look like? Let’s invite the Holy Spirit into that question today.
Prayer:
Jesus, we do. We begin by inviting Your Holy Spirit. We know there are broken things inside of us. There’s no question about it, we know this. And we’ve desired healing and wholeness. It’s what our souls long for. It’s what we spend our life in search of. So, yes, we can say we wanna get well but we may not have even contemplated what that might look like, what that might do, where that might lead. And, so, we’re inviting Your Holy Spirit into the question today. What it might look like. Do we really want to get well in body, in mind, in heart, in spirit? Because to truly be well, we’ll have to surrender and be united with You, which is the invitation of the gospel. And that’s definitely gonna change some things. And, so, we consider and contemplate the question today as we invite Your Holy Spirit to show us a picture of what wholeness, what getting well, would look like for us so that we can see a picture of ourselves well. Come Holy Spirit, we pray. In Jesus name. Amen.
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And that’s it for today. I’m Brian. I love you and I’ll be waiting for you here tomorrow.
Community Prayer and Praise:
Yes. This is David in South Carolina. I’ve been listening to the Daily Audio Bible since September of last year. And the first thing I want to say is, this is awesome. I just can’t tell you how much I get out of this every day. But I am calling this morning specifically for Terry. I was listening to May the 4th. He called in and he says he’s a truck driver. He said that he became a Christian when he was about 15. Got involved with drugs and alcohol about 18. __ assured his salvation. First of all, God can do that for you, but just know, you know, there’s a lot of people like you. I am dealing with my son. I just picked him up yesterday. He just got out of prison. And he’s about the same. So, I just want you to know, I’m going to be praying for you just like I’m praying for my son, every day. You are right there. And just know there’s nothing that God can’t do. You know that you are okay. So, I just wanted you to know that. I just could not resist. I’ve been working through this for the last couple weeks. Getting good at this. And I heard that this morning, __ regarding everything __ that he’s going through. As far as I’m concerned your my adopted son and I’m going to be praying for you just like him. And again, I want to thank you guys for what you’re doing here. This is awesome what you do. What a great ministry. Thank you very much.
Hello Daily Audio Bible. This is Terry. It’s Friday the 4th. I’ve just finished, been listening to the reading. That was me, the first one asking for prayer. I had called in Wednesday. I want to give you a praise report. Wednesday, I got in touch with a dear friend that I’d heard of grew up with knowing. She’s like a mother to me. And we talked. And I realized there was not peace in my heart. I was not saved. I hadn’t repented. But I want you all to know that I have…just know in my heart that I’m a child of God and that if I was to die right now I would be in heaven with my Lord. Thank you for putting my prayer request out there. I know that the whole Daily Audio Bible people, the audience couldn’t get to hear it. But all it took was Brian or whoever took my call. I know you’re all praying for me. Thank you. Thank you. Just thank you. God bless you. You all have a blessed day.
Hello, everyone this is BTD, Brian the Truck Driver. Hey, I’m calling in for Terry. I just heard you call in, Terry the truck driver. Terry, I just wanted to tell you that, being a truck driver myself, I completely understand what it’s like being out on the road and feeling lonely, but I want you to know that this Daily Audio Bible is a family. And we as a family are there with you man. So, you’re not alone. You’ve got us and you can always turn to us. You’ve also good God, He hasn’t left you. Something that I heard a long time ago, somebody told me, God doesn’t move. So, if we feel like God is near, who’s the one that moved? It’s us. So, all we’ve got to do is run back to Him. So, Terry all you gotta do man, run back to God. He’s full of loving and forgiving arms. And hy man if you need somebody to talk to, reach out to me on Facebook. Brian Schilling. Just look for me on Facebook. I’m the guy with a black shirt and the guitar. All right man I’ll be praying for you. Maybe I’ll hear from you maybe not. Hey everybody I love you. And I’ll talk to you again soon. Bye.
I am Karen from Australia. I’d like to share my heart with Terry the truck driver. Terry, we don’t go to heaven because we do good and we don’t go to hell because we do bad. We go to heaven because we made in Jesus our Lord and Savior and became a memory of his family. So, when received Jesus as your Savior almost 35 years ago, you became his brother and a child of God. Before you were born Jesus had already paid the price for your sin. All your sin, past, present, and future has already been forgiven and God can only see you as being righteous because you are in Jesus and He is in you. God doesn’t condemn you and He wants you to stop condemning yourself. Jesus doesn’t look on the things that you do or say. He looks on your heart and knows you better than you know yourself. He hears the cry of your heart, but uou make it hard for Him to help you believing the lies of the devil. Jesus wants you to believe Him. He wants you to truly believe that He took your sin away forever. He wants to truly believe He loves you unconditionally and eternally. He wants you to truly believe that He will never, He will never leave you or abandon you. He wants you to let go of all the sin you are holding against yourself and hand it all to Him. Trust of Jesus. He is faithful. Love you brother.