1 Samuel 5:1-7:17, John 6:1-21, Psalms 106:13-31, Proverbs 14:32-33
Today is the 9th day of May. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I’m Brian. And it’s, of course, great to be here with you today as we prepare our hearts and minds and spirits to take the next step forward through the Scriptures. And we find ourselves moving our way through the story of Samuel. We’ve been reading 1 Samuel for the last few days. We’ll continue forward with 1 Samuel chapter 5, 6 and 7 today. And we’re reading from the New International Version this week.
Commentary:
Alright. So, in 1 Samuel, we’re in the middle of this kind of twisty, windy story where the Ark of the Covenant was lost in battle and then it was taken into Philistine territory, right? And then they begin to move it around because plague breaks out in these territories. So, they first take the Ark of the Covenant to Ashdod to the temple of the god Dagon. And we know the whole story of Dagon falling over. Ashdod is a place that still exists. And once the Ashdodies had had enough of the Ark of the Covenant, they sent it to Gath. Gath also still exists and is an active archeological site. This is the home of Goliath the giant. And then they took it to Ekron. The ruins of Ekron still exists. Which only leaves two other major Philistine sites which would be Ashkelon, which also still exists and Gaza, which also still exists. And once the Philistines realized that perhaps the hand of God is upon them in a negative way and maybe they should give back what they took, they prepare some guilt offerings. Strange ones, right? Gold tumors and gold rats, but whatever. And they put it on the cart and they send the cart off with some cows. And the plan is just to watch where the cows go. Of course, the cows go back to Israel to Beth Shemesh, which also still exists. And of course, the Israelites are rejoicing. The Ark of the Covenant has returned home. But that whole story turns a little weird too. People try to look inside the Ark of the Covenant and they’re stuck down. So then the Ark moves to Kiriath Jearim. And so there’s just all this moving around and all this strange stuff that’s happening. And we could say, Well, this is kind of just a transitional story. But what happens because of this is that Samuel, this little kid who was promised to the Lord at Shiloh, whose story we’ve been following these last several days, he now comes into full leadership over the Jewish people. And the first thing that he does is challenge the people to serve God and God alone. And what that creates is the casting off of all these other idols that the people have been worshiping, all the other mixture. So once again we see the people return to God with their hearts. And also what we see is the Philistines kind of seeing all this going down and trying to move in and intimidate the people like they’d always done. It just doesn’t work this time. Samuel is now leading the people. And he leads the people to push the Philistines back. And their enemies are subdued. And, of course, we’ll continue the story forward tomorrow.
Prayer:
Father, we thank You for Your Word, all of the nuances, all of the issues that it brings up, all the parallels, all of the guidance and direction, all of the truth. Thank You for all of the people that we encounter in the Scriptures because they Illuminate our own path. They’ve gone before us and we watch where they go and then we realize we get a choice about the road that we’re gonna walk on. So we invite Your Holy Spirit to come and lead us into all truth because the road that we want to walk on is the narrow path that leads to life. If You find it, and we won’t find it without Your Holy Spirit and the guidance of Your Word. So come Holy Spirit and lead us into all truth, 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:
Hi. I’m Rachel. I’ve called a couple of times…long ago. I was just listening to the May 5th podcast and, she didn’t leave her name, but there was a girl who called in and was asking for prayer for deliverance from her lust issues. I just wanted to call and say thank you for calling. I’ve been going to therapists now for couple of months. __ another therapist __ stopped cause I moved. And my most recent therapist and I have kind of come to this conclusion that I am a sex addict. And it’s been really hard on me and feeling very alone. A lot of men go through…it’s just not the same for women. And, so, thank you for calling in and having that boldness. I would have not have called in otherwise. Anyway, I don’t have the timer. So I’m gonna get cut off. Yeah. That was it. Bye.
Hello DAB family. My name is Tammy. I’m calling, Sue’s the person I’m calling actually. I’ve been listening for almost 4 years and someone called in yesterday on the 4th, his name is Terry and he was struggling with addiction and his reassurance that he was still saved. And I just wanted to encourage him that God sees him, He knows your heart. When you reach out to Him He is faithful and gracious and merciful and we can count on God’s love and peace. And I just pray that you will come in contact with people that will show you the love of God, that you feel accepted, and know that you are loved and that God loves you. I thank you. I just lost my brother two weeks ago and he struggled with the same thing and I prayed with him a couple weeks ago and I know, I have peace in my heart and know that I will see my brother again. Thank you all very much. I love this. I love this program. I love everything that it’s shown me and walked me through. Bless you all. Bye-bye.
Hello DABers. I am a Burning Bush that would not be Devoured for the Glory of Our God and King. This is Walta calling from Charlotte. I wanted to say thanks to all those who prayed for my family. We lost our mother this past…a week ago. And I’m just thanking God for peace and people who are going…hope to be there with her. I’m also praying for…for just not only our nation but the nations out there today and for our faith continue the moment __ that she died, that that faith and is a beautiful. And a peace. And I pray that peace for all those around the world that, that God will allow a revival in the hearts of many and that we will remember who our Creator is and who He is to us and that everything that seems __ peace and heart will be demolished in Jesus name. I love you guys. Talk to you soon. Bye.
Hi this is Donna from California and I’m calling in response to the caller who called on May 5th who said she was battling lust. And I’ve gotta say my sister, that is so brave of you, just so brave. It’s really, really hard for women, and I count myself included here to admit this, we battle with that. There’s just so much shame about it, like, somehow, it’s okay for man to be battling it but not a woman. You really had a lot of courage to do that and that’s the first step, you know, to call asking for help. And God will release you from this snare. It is a snare. And like any other type of addiction or sin, it’s a snare that will continually, you know, trap, but God can and will release us from that. So, anyway, I am praying for you. I am sure that lots and lots of other people are to. And you are loved and I’m so glad they called. Thank you. Thank you for making it okay for others of us to call as well. Okay. God bless you.