1 Samuel 5:1-7:17, John 6:1-21, Psalm 106:13-31, Proverbs 14:32-33
Today is the ninth day of May, welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I am Brian is great to be here with you today, from the rolling hills of Tennessee and to wherever you are, I hope it is a wonderful day as we gather to take the next step forward together. And that next step, leads us back into the new territory that we’re just getting into, the Books of Samuel and the story of the prophet Samuel’s life and he’s a very influential person in the story of the ancient Hebrew people. And we’ve already talked about that, quite a bit and gotten into the story and found Samuel’s family, his mother Hannah and how Samuel came to be and came to live in the Tabernacle in Shiloh and how the high priest Eli had some evil sons, how those evil sons to the Ark of the Covenant into battle with the Philistines and all was lost. The Ark of the Covenant was captured by the Philistines and then the high priest Eli found out about it, he fell over dead, broke his neck. So, that’s kind of what we are in right now as Samuel emerges, like this is sort of the backdrop for his life, this is how we grew up. And so, let’s pick up the story, we’re reading from the New International Version this week, 1st Samuel chapters 5, 6 and 7, today.
Commentary:
Okay so, as we continue to move into the Book of first Samuel, we’re certainly watching the story unfold, before our eyes. We started the story before Samuel was born and now Samuel is an adult. And in today’s reading, we see Samuel ascending to power, due to the great respect of the children of Israel of him, as a prophet of God. So basically, the children of Israel or the Israelites, and the Philistines were continually jostling for position in being in control. We see them in the Scriptures as one of the great enemies of the children of Israel and that’s because they bordered each other, the territory bordered Israel and Philistia, bordered each other and so, there were all kinds of skirmishes along these border towns. So, it was in one of these battles that the Ark of the Covenant was lost and it wasn’t the custom to bring the Ark of the Covenant into battle but they did and they lost and they also lost the Ark of the Covenant. And we read the whole story of how the Philistines captured it and then started taking it to their different major capital cities, there were like five main cities of the Philistines: Ashdod, Ashkelon, Ekron, Gath and Gaza. And I’ve personally have been to four of those five, if there are ruins in Gaza, I have never been to Gaza, it’s not safe to go there but I have talked to people who have been there and they say there’s really not much archaeology to be found there. But the ruins of the other four Philistine Capital Cities do exists, some of them in better archaeological situations than others. And I have like, personally, found a fascination with the Philistines because they appear so much in the Bible. But nevertheless, they take the Ark of God to their capital city of Ashdod and put them in the temple of Dagon and Ashdod has been, there are, there is archaeology there, but that…that is a modern city in Israel, right on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea and that’s when Dagon falls down right, a couple of times and the second time he’s broken up into pieces and then kinda, plague begins to break out and obviously from the narrative in the story of first Samuel we know that the Philistines are aware of the God of Israel and the God of Israel is legendary for what happened in Egypt. So, as a Philistines start moving the Ark from city to city, because plague breaks out, the people, the Philistines are starting to freak out and they don’t want anything to do with this Ark and just the presence of the Ark and Dagon’s statue falling over and being broken and plague breaking out, they have a pretty clear understanding that they are offending a very powerful God, which ultimately is what has them sending the Ark of the Covenant back to Israel. And we read that story of the cows and how they went not to the left or the right just straight to Beth Shemesh and Beth Semesh is also well, it's…it’s a place where people live, it’s modern but there’s also ongoing excavation and it’s definitely becoming a major archaeological site and of course the children of Israel are thrilled to have the Ark of the Covenant back. It’s a symbol of who they are. It’s something that has been traveling with them for centuries, all the way back to Moses and so they rejoice, but they also, some of them, 70 of them, want to take a peek and that does not work out. They had been forbidden. And so, it didn’t work out, they died. And so, that brings a bit of dread and a certain, certainly a great amount of respect for the Lord and for the Ark of the Covenant and the people of Beth Shemesh eventually and by the…the people of Kiriath Jearim to come get the Ark of the Covenant, which they do. That whole set of circumstances there, and all of the backdrop, turns the people’s hearts back to the Lord. They weren’t against the God of Israel, they just had other gods as well, which is like spiritual adultery. In fact, that’s the language that God uses about idolatry. So, if the children of Israel were a bride and God was the husband, then they were also fooling around with other lovers on the side. Samuel’s presence, the return of the Ark, creates a climate in which they reconsider. And so, from our reading today, then all the people of Israel turned back to the Lord. So, Samuel said to all the Israelites, if you are returning to the Lord with all your hearts, then get rid of the foreign God’s and commit yourself to the Lord, and serve Him only and He will deliver you out of the hands of the Philistines, and that’s what they did. Samuel summoned them to Mizpah and interceded for them. And the Philistines came to wage battle and under Samuel’s leadership, then the children of Israel defeated the Philistines, which elevates Samuel, clearly, as the leader or as the judge. A judge of Israelis, he’s the final judge of Israel. Before we and our extensive time with Samuel, we will be introduced to Israel’s first king and that is certainly coming in the days ahead.
Prayer:
And so, Father, we thank You for Your word, we thank You, we thank You, as we have before for all of the people that are in the Scriptures, all of the lives, all of the situations, all of the times. And we can look back at some of these things and really, from where we sit, they look incredibly antiquated. The world isn’t like that anymore, for the most part. We don’t do things the way that we did in the past, for the most part, and yet, when we look deeply into these stories, what we see are human beings, with human hearts, and human emotions, and human impulses, and we realize, it may look different, the way that they did things back then, but the things that drove them to do the things that they did, are very, very much still with us today, it just looks a little different. We have different technology, in different clothes, but our hearts and what motivates our hearts, remains the same. So, as we continue into these stories, come, Holy Spirit, and help us find ourselves in these stories, allow Your word to be a mirror into our own souls, changing us. We pray in the name of Jesus. 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.
Prayer and Encouragements:
I’m still a little behind but I just listened to May 2nd and wow! You guys have blessed me so much. It, I think I took up about every single one of your call-ins. That was just, I almost had a loss for words that you guys were just thinking about me so much. I’m just so blessed that God was able to talk me through all you guys. I just kept on hearing my name, I was like, whoa, they’re actually praying about me. But I just, you guys have given me so much more assurance and peace in what you guys have said. I can’t, I’ll have to go back and listen, I can’t, like, remember it all on the top of my head. But you guys have blessed me so much. I know that God, God’s got me. And ah, you guys have made my day, so much, made my week. Thank you guys so much.
Good morning Daily Audio Bible friends and brothers and sisters in Christ. I’m Vicki from the desert and I want to give a praise report and I also want to encourage any families or people who are struggling with alcoholism or drug addiction. I was involved in the drug world and drank alcoholically for many years. I started probably at 13 and continued until I was about 35. Today, May 5th, I am celebrating 31 years of being clean and sober and I’m so grateful. And I have used twelve-step programs but at the heart of it is, that there was no human power that could help me. The only power that helped me was my God, my Jesus and I prayed for Him to lift this obsession, to set me free from the binds of alcoholism and drug addiction and He has. And He has kept clean and sober for the last 31 years and it is possible, all things are possible with God. And I’d like to say that that’s really the only way that’s possible. We need to cry out to God and we need to ask Him to remove this obsession, to drink and use drugs and destroy ourselves. Thank you, Daily Audio Bible, love you all. Bye Bye.
Good morning, everyone, this is Kelly from the High Desert in California. First time calling and I’m calling because my spirit was prompted after listening to the May 5th recording of a gentleman asking for prayer for his wife. They just became parents; they have a 4-month-old baby girl. And his wife is going through some post-partum depression. I can totally relate and I understand, I went through that myself. After having two babied, back-to-back. I can totally understand what she’s going through. And I wanted to uplift her and her husband in prayer. I’m sorry I did not quite catch the name. Heavenly Father, we just come before You, Lord God, to give You the praise and the glory Father. We thank you Lord God, for Your mercies are new everyday Lord. I just come before You Lord God, to uplift this new mother, Lord. Father, she has a new baby at home Lord God, a four-month-old baby girl Father. A gift from You to her, Lord. Father, and I just want to lift her up to You and lay her at Your feet, Lord God. Father, we come against the spirit of anxiety, Lord. We come against the spirit of fear, Father. In Your name, Lord God, we bind those spirits, right now, in the name of Jesus. We send them back to the pit of Hell, Lord. They have no room in this mother’s heart or this mothers faith. Father, I ask that You would encourage her, Lord. To comfort her, Lord God, and to hold her in the palm of Your hands, Father. Father, we just ask, Lord God, that You continue to reveal Yourself to her in Scriptures, in dreams Lord God. Even when she stares out into the, just stares out of the window, Lord God, that she she’s You, Lord God, in the air, in the sky, in the clouds, Lord God. Let You be a reminder that she is loved and Father, You are there with her in each and every step of this and You strengthen her as a mother, Lord.
Hi, I’m Borrowed Wisdom. This prayer is for Kathy from Kentucky. Heavenly Father, we are glorified under your name with thanksgiving in my heart. I pray to Thee for Kathy. Lord, she’s dealing with shame because of an addiction and that’s the past. Being in recovery and getting help is the first start of victory. And I thank You Lord, that Thou has given her the strength to go ahead and seek for help and to go forwards and not backwards. Lord Jesus, You went to the cross on Calvary for us all. And Thou word says to look unto Thee, Lord Jesus. The author and finisher of our faith. Who for the joy, that was set before us, endured the cross despite the shame and He’s set down at the right hand of the throne of God. Heavenly Father, I just bless, praise, honor and worship Your holy name. I thank You for victory in all that You have done for us. I pray that Kath, oh God, would remember that the prize for the high __ in Thee Christ Jesus is worthy and that shame takes no form in her mind, body, soul and spirit. We rebuke the spirit of fear, we rebuke the spirit of despising, deception, manipulation, and anything that is coming against her in the name of Jesus Christ. And we proclaim the joy of the Lord, which is her strength and for her to hold on, carry on and be strong, not in herself but in You. In Jesus name I pray. Amen.
Hello DAB family, this is Saved by Grace from California. Just want to pray for the gentleman who is asking for prayer for his brother who has a rare disease and he’s in the hospital. Father, in the name of Jesus, we just come to You, thanking You and praising You for Your healing power. Lord, we lift our brother up to You and we pray for Your healing power to restore his whole body, whole. Father, we pray that You would touch him from the top of his head to the very souls of his feet. Let Your healing power, just penetrate through him, removing all sickness and disease. We pray that You give wisdom to the CDC to the doctors, that they would know and find a cure or a treatment, Father, that would bring, that would restore his body, Lord. We believe, Father God, and we thank You. And we give You the glory in advance for this victory over this situation, Lord. Be with the family, give them peace and comfort them and help them to look to You, Father God, and not the circumstance or the situation. These things we pray, in Jesus name. Amen.