When Saul was sent by God to exterminate the Amalekites. While he defeated them in battle, he took their king as prisoner and the best of their livestock and goods as plunder. He further raised a monument to himself at Carmel. When confronted by Samuel, he deflected the blame to his troops. This disobedience and lack of character caused God to reject Saul as king and choose David as his replacement.

It appears that someone had come to Corinth after Paul had left and called his apostleship into question. This first part of the letter addresses Paul's afflictions during the course of his ministry and the fact that he was comforted by God and sustained by the prayers of believers within the churches he had planted.

Joseph weeps seven times. In every case his tears are in response to his relationship with his family. Even though he has available all of the power and resources of Egypt, he cannot make his brothers accept him. Similarly, God has all of the power and resources in the universe, yet He does not coerce us into having a relationship with Him. This Biblical concept is the origin of the American belief that government requires the consent of the governed. Inspired by Rabbi Sacks.

This section begins with Jonathan destroying a Philistine garrison in the Saddle of Benjamin. That action caused the Philistines to send a large punitive expedition into central Israel. All Israel was clearly intimidated. In a second move Jonathan again destroyed a Philistine garrison which sowed confusion among the Philistines. Saul took advantage of that confusion to attack. In his zeal, he ordered that none of his army should eat until the battle was over. This was both rash and foolish because his men became exhausted and were unable to fully exploit their victory.

Paul addresses the importance and nature of the resurrection. Although he had preached about the resurrection when he planted the church in Corinth, someone had subsequently cast doubt on the entire concept. In chapter 15, Paul affirms the fact that there were hundreds of witnesses to Christ's resurrection. He then explained why that was important. Finally, he discussed the nature of the resurrection body that believers were to receive.

When Joseph finally has all eleven of his brothers kneeling before him, he has a choice to make. He can move them to Goshen without acknowledging his identity or he can forgive them. His choice to forgive is made possible because he was able to reframe being sold into slavery as being part of God's larger plan. In so doing, he freed himself from bitterness and resentment.

Although neither God nor Samuel was pleased with Israel's request for a king, in choosing Saul God gave the project its best chance of success. Saul was from the buffer tribe of Benjamin; he was tall, handsome and brave; he was modest in that he didn't want the job.

As with everything else in this letter, there was apparently division over Spiritual manifestations. It seems that those who had the 'flashier' gifts were exalting themselves over those who had the quieter ones. This seems especially to have been the case with tongues. Paul makes it clear that spiritual gifts are not for the benefit of the one who receives them, but rather are for the building up of the body.

During Joseph's life, God took him through a crash course in character development. A key feature of this course was that it was neither easy nor pleasant. Similarly, Christ says the Way is hard and few will find it. That doesn't mean it is hidden. The Way is clearly laid out in Scripture. It means that while salvation is a gift from God, carrying that gift to fruition is hard and many will not succeed.

When Samuel became old and it was obvious that his sons were not suitable to follow him, Israel asked that he get them a king so that they could be like all the other nations. God was displeased but told Samuel to do what they wanted. The system of judges, while subject to corruption just like every other human institution, structurally provided the greatest potential human liberty. A monarchy was a step away from that liberty and a distancing from God.