Who is God? And, how can we find God - Bible answers.

This episode is also available as a blog post: http://lovingscripture.com/2021/10/31/1-samuel-9-commentary/

First Samuel 9 Commentary.

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Chapter 8 closed with an action item on Samuel's agenda. He needed to find a king for the nation of Israel.

The LORD is interacting with Samuel and the prophet is fully aware of it. The LORD is interacting with Saul but he is completely unconscious of the happenings around him.

Lord had revealed this to Samuel: “About this time tomorrow I will send you a man from the land of Benjamin.” It is the ‘sending’ and the means of sending which should attract our attention. There is neither an air ticket nor an invitation letter. The meeting is unscheduled and the venue undefined. Should you blame the participants for not showing up under these circumstances? Yet on the LORD’s calendar, this appointment cast in concrete. The date is known. The venue is known. The participants are known. It is a must-happen situation.

The LORD may work in our lives in ways that appear random, unplanned, and completely ordinary. Yet this may be the very path that the LORD has ordained. Angels may be pulling the strings in the background. When donkeys are lost, probably the LORD has something planned for you.

It is probably the purpose of this scripture that the saint becomes suspicious of everything around their lives. How do you know if your letter of dismissal is actually an appointment letter for something much greater and better? How do you know your visit is the temple is in fulfillment of the scheduled meeting?

At some local church, the members noticed that the church building was shaking whenever they filled it on a Sunday morning. So they called in the civil engineer to observe the shaking and recommend structural adjustments to the building. In the process of investigating the structure, he heard the gospel and made a decision for Jesus. The building never shook again.

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This episode is also available as a blog post: http://lovingscripture.com/2021/10/30/1-samuel-8-commentary/

1 Samuel 8 Commentary

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Now there have been many of those priests, since death prevented them from continuing in office; but because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. Hebrews 7:23-24 NIV. Old age and eventually death prevented the good Judge Samuel from continuing in office. The replacements, his sons, were not very different from Hophni and Phinehas. So we are back to ground zero. A king is required. But the people are not thinking of God as their king. They are thinking of a human king.

“We want a king over us. Then we will be like all the other nations, with a king to lead us and to go out before us and fight our battles.” Ebenezer should have stood tall in reminding the people how far the LORD had brought them. He had been a real stone of help for Israel. Yet here they want a king. They want to be like everyone else. They reject an invisible but ever-present King. It is faith that instructs you to stay calm because of your awareness of the presence of the King. He leads you into your battles. You are not alone.

The Christian battle is a constant fight against the thought that the blessings must be physical before they are blessings. Faith, without which man can please God, on the other hand, thinks and rejoices in the completed work of the LORD, physical or otherwise. The saint’s brightest moment comes when she sits down to say a prayer of thanksgiving for a meal that hasn’t existed or has any chance of existing. It is all about an awareness of the presence of the King eternal, immortal, invisible God.

This chapter is speaking to us on the need to relook at our ambitions. Are we out there looking for a king? Do we want to be like the other nations around us? The moment you start admiring others, with their lands and gold, you want to stop and ask if you are not already desiring to be like them; to have a king like them. But you have a King!

Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen.

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This episode is also available as a blog post: http://lovingscripture.com/2021/10/29/1-samuel-7-commentary/

First Samuel 7 Commentary

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What may easily escape our attention is the fact that Samuel served as Israel’s Judge for a very long time. He had also served as a priest during his formative years under Chief Priest Eli. It is however his pastoral work that has been so extensively covered that many only know him as the prophet of God. This chapter takes a very quick swipe over the many years that Samuel served as Israel's Judge. You could lift this chapter and insert it in the Book of Judges without creating a mess!

Unlike Eli the Chief priest, Samuel has the sense to advise the nation on the correct response to foreign oppression: genuine repentance and a return to the true worship of the Creator God. He is very different from the other judges that the LORD has used before. None of them had the sense to understand sin as Israel’s core enemy.

The Ark remained at Kiriath Jearim for 20 years. The LORD continued to work in the life of Samuel, but not from in between the Ark's cherubim. It should be everyone's ambition to experience the LORD'S workings in the field of their vocations. Let the temple teach you how to hear the voice of the LORD but real work is out there where we need to exercise holiness. It is out there where we need to tell the world that their problems require genuine repentance and a return to the true worship of the LORD.

This episode is also available as a blog post: http://lovingscripture.com/2021/10/28/1-samuel-6-commentary/

First Samuel 6 Commentary

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You would wonder why the Philistines kept the Ark for such a long time. The guess is that they reckoned to keep Israel’s god in captivity amounted to disarming Israel. Without this god, Israel was impotent, so they must have thought. The Philistines shared the same primitive and sinful mentality with Israel that the Creator God could be housed in a box and could be captured and confined.

Then we have a long section of material coming from the diviners. The reader is warned against taking the guesswork views of the diviners for factual elements of the true worship of the LORD. They are guessing. The proposed action is actually an experiment to determine if at all the Ark is responsible for their misfortunes. They, therefore, draw on their pagan practices and deploy means to appease the supposedly offended god of Israel.

If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. 2 Chronicles 7 verse 14. This is what we know. We also know that rituals and gifts, being proposed by the pagan diviners and priests, are wrong methods.

The LORD does nevertheless play along and the Ark finds its way to Beth Shemesh. But here we have another problem. The Israelite men of Beth Shemesh irreverently look into the Ark. The LORD strikes many of them. Sin is always punished, regardless of the offender. Even the very son of God was punished for being sinful – being sinful on your behalf. It is a fact that the world has so terribly missed. Sin is always punished. But the gospel is that one suffered on man’s behalf. You only appease the LORD by saying yes to the Jesus option which is by genuine repentance. Any other method, including methods like the ones being proposed by the pagan diviners here or there, is simply religious idiocy.

Like the pagan cities of Ashdod, Gath, and Ekron, the Israelite city of Beth Shemesh no longer want the Ark. So the Ark makes its way to Kiriath Jearim.

The Glory or presence of the LORD is very interesting. It is such a calming influence of peace and tranquility. It brings with it wholeness of both mind and body. It is everything man has needed! How we seek it! But at the same time, to the irreverent and sinful, the Presence is actually death.

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This episode is also available as a blog post: http://lovingscripture.com/2021/10/27/1-samuel-5-commentary/

First Samuel 5 Commentary

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The battle between Israel and the Philistines is ended. The Philistines emerge victoriously. Israel is left licking her wounds while burying her dead. The Philistines take with them what they think is Israel's defeated god – the revered Ark of the Covenant.

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1 Samuel 4 Commentary

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Eli dies. His two sons, the wicked priests, Hophni and Phinehas also die. The Ark of the LORD is captured. 34,000 soldiers die in battle. A son is born to Phinehas’ wife. He is named Ichabod, meaning, ‘the Glory has departed from Israel.’

Eli’s death is caused by the sad news of the capture of the Ark of the LORD. He had sat watching by the side of the road, fearing for the Ark of the LORD. This in itself is strange. Why fear for an empty box? Eli should have known better. The wickedness of the people, especially his own sons, had emptied the Ark of its sanctity. And without the presence of the LORD, the famed Ark was nothing but a specially designed box.

Eli’s mindset is shared with the elders of Israel. They feel the LORD is like a Canaanite god who can be transported around, even by two extremely wicked men. This scenario is perfectly mirrored by a man who reduces the El-Shaddai God to a power bank for some personal battles. The LORD is not an ATM for luck in one’s life engagements. You cannot have both; a no to holiness and a yes to power. The elders of Israel feel they need to drag this God into battle, just in case transport is required. Everything Israel is doing here is religious nonsense.

You would wish the priest Eli cared more about the wickedness of his own sons. But no. Eli’s religion revolves around an empty Ark. Like the elders of the nation, Eli still feels the LORD is present when the LORD is long gone. The Glory resides among the people by godliness. How can Eli forget these simple but foundational elements of Israel’s worship?

The only thing that made the Sanctuary at Shiloh important was the Ark. It was housed within layers of holiness; the holy place and then the Most Holy place. The Ark was most important for its content: the Law, inscribed on two tablets of stone. It is this law that demanded obedience. Without obedience, the Glory isn’t there. Therefore, the Glory had been missing from Israel’s national life long before Ichabod’s untimely birth.

Eli’s religion is very strange. But really, this is what happens when the Glory disappears. Man must find all sorts of replacements. For pagans, replacements consist of countless acts of evil in shapes and colors only limited by man’s imagination. For believers, replacements come in form of religious activity and objects such as sacraments, services, and charity works. They are still religious in nature but removed from the realities of God’s will and purposes as revealed in His word. Such is the case at hand. The religion of the box and not that of the contents of the box, the Law.

The saint’s calling is to protect the contents of the box and not the box. The law must be carried in our hearts. When the enemy captures our churches – the church-going, conferences, workshops, and public prayer; will believers still be believers? It should be simple. Eli messed it. His wicked sons were wicked. Phinehas’s wife didn’t know it. The elders of Israel missed it. The Presence, (Glory), is by the word of the LORD, (the Law or simply the Ten Commandments). Israel didn’t keep it. It wasn’t there because Israel didn’t keep it. The Glory must be kept – by obedience.

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This episode is also available as a blog post: http://lovingscripture.com/2021/10/25/1-samuel-3-commentary/

1 Samuel 3 Commentary

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In those days the word of the LORD was rare, probably because there was no one to listen. Samuel is living during the time of the Judges. Israel’s spirituality is at its lowest; not just amongst the people but importantly at the House of God itself. But in Samuel is a young man able to listen. So the LORD does speak and the message is that of judgment on the house of Eli.

We can take great interest in the fact that the LORD calls Samuel by name. Indeed He knows my name.

But why does the LORD want Samuel to know what the LORD is about to do? For your information purposes? No. Samuel is taking over from Eli. The LORD explains why this is going to happen. The reason is not that sin happened but importantly, because when sin happened, Eli did nothing. This is really very important. The biggest scandal is not that we fall but that we do nothing when we fall. Therefore, the message to the young leader is that there is a need for action to restore the fear of the LORD in the community. Then events such as the one about to happen can be avoided.

The judgment on the house of Eli would have been avoided had Eli taken action. Judgment on the sinner can be avoided if the sinner takes action. This seems to be the main point of the message from the LORD.

Eli’s response is that of general resignation and defeat. At this stage, there is very little that can be done. But there was a time when the possibility existed for action. It was never taken. Really? The Bible does record that Eli did call his sons and rebuked them over their sin. 1 Samuel chapter 2 verses 22 to 25. Wasn’t this action good enough? There is one important lesson here. Mere acknowledgment of sin without an attempt to resolve it is not good enough. The saint must be ruthless about sin. Mere talk of repentance without actual repentance would not stand in defense of anyone.

Leaders carry an extra responsibility. Eli was undoubtedly a good man. And as a person, he would pass for a god-fearing man. But it is his leadership that can be questioned. Church leaders must know they are accountable. Sin without must be hated as much as sin within. Eli’s responsibility was to protect the glory of God at all times. He failed. This may be speaking to the saint living in a world that regards sin as nothing. Our reaction must be of righteous anger and constant inner discomfort. Truce with sin isn’t an option. Judgment awaits. The LORD has spoken.

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This episode is also available as a blog post: http://lovingscripture.com/2021/10/24/1-samuel-2-commentary/

1 Samuel 2 Commentary

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Eli’s sons were scoundrels; they had no regard for the Lord. This cannot be good news. The priesthood has failed. The priest was meant to be the voice through which the LORD spoke to the people. The fact that the LORD begins to speak to Samuel is an indictment of an establishment that had become very ungodly. The LORD would talk to the people but not through this priesthood.

This episode is also available as a blog post: http://lovingscripture.com/2021/10/23/1-samuel-1-commentary/

1 Samuel 1 Commentary.

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What may easily escape our attention is the fact that the great prophet Samuel was a Nazirite. Like Samson, his mother never used a razor on his head. He was dedicated to the LORD all his life. Like Manoah and his wife, Elkanah and his wife, Hannah could not have children. The women are said to have been barren. By the LORD’s direct intervention, Samson was born. And he failed. Is the LORD restarting project Samson with Samuel? Well, the usage of similar molds for both Judges may suggest similarities in purpose. What we cannot doubt is the LORD’s liking for barrenness as a platform for His workshop.

So out a dead womb, the LORD raised a Judge, priest, and a prophet. Samuel was God’s special gift to mankind. The Book that bears his name gives us details of his special function at a time when the nation required leadership both on and off the field of state governance. The cry of the Book of Judges is that Israel had no king and everyone did as they saw fit. Samuel is the LORD’s answer to the people’s cry.

Aren’t we ignoring the fact that the boy Samuel was actually the LORD’s answer to Hannah’s intense prayer? No. It is actually one workspace for the LORD. The intercessor does well to learn the fact that we only succeed when we align our prayers with the will of the LORD. We should celebrate Hannah’s prayer as a triumph of God’s will over man’s selfishness and vanity. Understand the word selfishness as a word describing man’s desire to exist by self and for self, and independent of God. He was created to exist in the presence of God, in the Garden of perfect serenity.

Hannah’s prayer to give the boy completely over to the LORD is reflecting the thought that man needs a way back to where he belongs. We can understand the word vanity as a chase after wind. Peninnah’s life of fullness yet a life of complete emptiness exemplifies it all. It is all vanity.

The chapter deliberately mentions Eli’s sons as priests serving the LORD at Shiloh. Peninnah’s name and her bad attitude are deliberately highlighted to awaken us to the realities around the work of Samuel. But we are just beginning.

Chapter one is a good starting point for prayer. The LORD loves to work from zero situations. Barrenness, be it actual or simply implied, is a terrible situation but the LORD uses it as His workshop. Isaac’s mother was barren. Jacob’s mother had problems with childbearing. Samson’s mother was barren. Samuel’s mother was barren. John the Baptist’s mother was barren. Jesus’ mother was a zero-situation. All were god-fearing. We can pray to this God who thrives in dead and zero situations.

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This episode is also available as a blog post: http://lovingscripture.com/2021/10/22/ruth-4-commentary/

Ruth 4 Commentary.

The Book of Ruth holds value for many of us born outside the physical family of Abraham. Like Ruth, we have come into the Assembly of God’s people and have taken center stage. The naturally disadvantaged can look to this book and find hope that one’s tribe or nationality should not cause them to miss out. The generosity of the LORD has fixed it. Neither is a mixed background reason good enough to exclude oneself from the commonwealth of God’s people.

We can find the God of Naomi. We can stick to Him. And our lives are never the same. As for the long-term, it is the seed that Ruth carried in her womb that would become the Redeemer of the entire human race. As the boy, Obed brought joy to Naomi, so the boy born in a manger, in Bethlehem, to the distant descendant of Boaz, Joseph, would bring joy to them that believe.

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