1 Samuel 2:22-4:22, John 5:24-47, Psalms 106:1-12, Proverbs 14:30-31
Today is the 8th day of May. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I am Brian and it’s great to be here with you today and move ourselves through the center of our week together. And yesterday we started the book of first Samuel and we talked about all of that and how these books were grouped and how they were split apart and changed and stuff all over time and then we got into the story and we ended up meeting Samuel as a boy and that’s kind of where we left him. His mother Hannah had cried out to God at the tabernacle at Shiloh for a child and the Lord gave her Samuel and she dedicated Samuel to the Lord. And, so, Samuel is now growing up at the Tabernacle in Shiloh. And a lot of times we think about the temple in Jerusalem but before there was a temple in Jerusalem there was a Tabernacle in Shiloh and that lasted for over three centuries. So, Shiloh was sort of like the heartbeat in the capital of the people, the heartbeat of their spiritual existence was in Shiloh. And, so, Samuel is growing up there. And, so, we’ll pick up the story where we left off yesterday. We’re reading from the New English Translation this week. First Samuel chapter 2 verse 22 through chapter 4 verse 22 today.
Commentary:
Okay. So, our reading today gave us plenty to think about. So, in the story of Samuel in the book of first Samuel that we’re navigating through, we read of the story of Samuel’s calling and the first time he heard from God and his rise to prominence in spite of all the unethical stuff that was going on in Shiloh, right? So, Eli was the high priest. He had grown old and fat. His sons were supposed to be the next generation of priests, but they were too busy like pilfering the best of the sacrificial food and having sex with the women who assisted at the tabernacle. So, God called Samuel away from the example that he was being given and then his first prophetic word was difficult to say the least. It was the judgment upon Eli and his sons which we read about today, which happened shortly after that, the Philistines captured the ark of the covenant in battle. So, this symbol of their society and of God with them was captured. And, so, Eli’s sons were killed. Eli was old, and he had become blind and he was, according to the Scriptures, severely overweight. And, so, he fell backward and broke his neck. And, so, yeah, good times. But we’ll pick up the story tomorrow.
And then in John’s gospel Jesus spoke clearly and directly, and we should listen to Him because He starts out by saying, “like, I’m solemnly telling the truth. Like, listen, this is the truth. Those who listen to my message and believe in God who sent me, have eternal life. They will never be condemned for their sins.” May I repeat that? “They will never be condemned for their sins, but they have already passed from death into life.” That is for those who listen to Jesus message and believe in God who sent Him. The implications of what He is saying if He is telling the truth, and He swears that He’s telling the truth, and I believe Him, the implications are profound, right? If we listen to Jesus words and believe in the God who sent His son. We will never ever be condemned for sin. That is good news. It is the good news that we’re supposed to live within. It’s the good news that we’re supposed to be spreading to the ends of the earth, like there’s a way out of the chaos and madness. So, may we rejoice in that simple fact today.
And in our reading from Proverbs kinda spoke practically about our health, “a tranquil spirit revives the body”. And there’s actually a lot more being said there then we may realize because so often the stresses of our lives send us toward meltdown, send us toward the medical community where we’re looking for the pill to cure how we’re feeling of the pill to cure our ales or diminish the anxiety or whatever, or we’re looking for a procedure to correct whatever has begun to fail within us. And even though science and medicine, these are beautiful gifts from God, intentionally seeking peace within is a preventative medicine that is always available and can profoundly affect our health. Being tranquil, being still, being silent is medicine. I know this is true from personal experience. I know that this wisdom of the ages is true, but the Proverb goes on to tell us that “envy is rottenness to the bones.” And then some translators even equate it to cancer in the bones, which is kind of a big deal, right? I mean, the Bible is equating rivalry, envy, competition, like vengeful competition, jealousy, resentment, and suspicion, like the way that we kind of live a lot, the Bible’s equating that to cancer or rottenness in the bones. I mean, who signs up…who signs up for that? And yet, I mean, we…nobody does, right, except for we have to put our hands up and say, “I do. I do it all the time. I sign up for that all the time when I’m drawn into trying to compare my life to somebody else’s life. And that envy, that…that bitterness that wells up from within me about what I do not have but I think that I deserve.” That’s like signing up to get cancer at least…at least according to the wisdom of Proverbs. So, let’s invite the Holy Spirit into the areas so where we are just full of envy, where we’re just jealous or its just stewing inside of us and we won’t confess it and we won’t name it and it’s just a part of who we are. We get up in the morning and go through our day trying to compare ourselves to each other and we’re invariably coming up short or we wouldn’t be envious. According to the Bible that will eat you alive. And if you just take second here and think about it, you can feel the truth of that, right? If you think about what anxiety and envy…like all of the things that are associated…when you think about what they feel like…when you experience them in your body…when your emotions cause your body to experience these things…it feels like you’re being eaten alive. But thankfully, the Proverb at first had already given us the cure, “ask God to show what a peaceful, tranquil heart looks like and feels like acts like today. And as you release this bitterness, this bitterness in the bones the Bible talks about, as you release the bitterness of envy and jealousy, then it will be borne out in your body as well. That’s some pretty big stuff to think about today.
Prayer:
Father, we invite You into that, especially what we’re talking about here in the Proverbs because it’s something that’s like so immediate to our experience most every day. We’ve lost the plot of the story when we’re looking to each other to give us an identity. You are our Father and it is only in You that we can find our identity and ourselves. So, Holy Spirit, help us…help us to check ourselves. Help us to realize every time we are turning towards jealousy, every time we are turning toward envy, and help us to remember that when we participate in that and follow it through, we’re signing up for bitterness in our bones. It’s like signing up for cancer. Help us to remember this Father we ask in Jesus’ name. Amen.
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And that is it for today. I’m Brian I love you and I’ll be waiting for you here tomorrow.