“And all Israel heard it said that Saul had defeated the garrison of the Philistines, and also that Israel had become a stench to the Philistines. And the people were called out to join Saul at Gilgal.” (ESV – Read the chapter)
What we see over the course the of the next three chapters is the unraveling of Saul. It starts small, but there are cracks in his image almost immediately. Here we see one of the first. Read the rest…
Evil is present everywhere in our world. We can’t escape it. We can only try and deal with the aftermath. This fact has long seemed deeply at odds with the idea of a good and loving God. The problem of evil is one of the thorniest challenges that has long seemed a roadblock to the Christian faith. In this new series, Grace in Hard Times, with the help of the book of Job, we are going to examine through the context of this epic story one powerful answer to the problem. In this first part of the conversation, we start with a bit of perspective.
What to Do When the Wheels Fall Off
A few years ago the news came out that Elizabeth Elliot had passed away at age 88. Elliot had been serving the Lord in various capacities for nearly her entire life. What she is perhaps best known for, though, is having been married for a short time to Jim Elliot. Jim was every bit as dedicated a servant of the Lord as Elizabeth was, but his story did not end in the same way hers did. In 1955, Jim and four other missionaries, including Nate Saint, were attempting to make contact with the Huaorani tribe deep in the jungles of Ecuador. After making several initial peace offerings by lowering gifts in a bucket from their plane, the pair finally decided it was time to make personal contact with the tribe. On the morning of January 3, 1956, they landed and met with some of the tribe members for the first time. They were received with excitement and it was looking like things were going to go smoothly. This road for the advance of the Gospel was appearing most promising. But just five days later everything fell apart. When the tribe warriors came out of the woods that morning to the Amazonian beach the missionaries were using as a landing strip and campsite, they did not come for peace. They came to shut down this outsider intrusion into their private lives. Nate, Jim, and the three other men with them were murdered in cold blood, speared to death by the Huaorani warriors. They each left behind a wife and a total of 10 kids among them. These five men had committed their lives to serving Jesus and advancing the Gospel regardless of the costs. They were selflessly committed to this goal and yet this was their end. Read the rest…
“He brought the tribe of Benjamin near by its clans, and the clan of the Matrites was taken by lot; and Saul the son of Kish was taken by lot. But when they sought him, he could not be found.” (ESV – Read the chapter)
This was Saul’s big moment. He’d been anointed by Samuel to be the first king of Israel. He’d now been chosen by lot—the process by which the people determined the will of the Lord. And when his big moment came…he was nowhere to be seen. Read the rest…
“And the people of Israel inquired of the Lord (for the ark of the covenant of God was there in those days, and Phineas the son of Eleazar, son of Aaron, ministered before it in those days), saying, ‘Shall we go out once more to battle against our brothers, the people of Benjamin, or shall we cease?’ And the Lord said, ‘Go up, for tomorrow I will give them into your hand.'” (ESV – Read the chapter)
The people were surely confused by now. They felt they were doing their righteous duty by punishing the people of Benjamin militarily for not condemning the terrible acts of the evil men of Gibeah, but also for refusing to turn them over so the rest of the nation could hold only them accountable. Their refusal amounted to a defense of their actions which essentially made the whole tribe guilty of them. But now, even after seeking the Lord together for direction twice and feeling assured of His presence to guide them, they had lost in battle against the Benjaminites twice…badly. Read the rest…
“When Samuel became old, he made his sons judges over Israel. The name of his firstborn son was Joel, and the name of his second, Abijah; they were judges in Beersheba. Yet his sons did not walk in his ways but turned aside after gain. They took bribes and perverted justice.” (ESV – Read the chapter)
How ironic and tragic it is that Samuel fell into the same error as Eli! While it appears he was even more faithful to the Lord as a judge than Eli was, Samuel’s sons were given positions as judges over Israel because of who their father was and, like Eli’s sons, were unfaithful failures in the positions as well. Read the rest…
The Nexus 