December 26, 2007

Merry Christmas Brothers and Sisters!

1 Samuel 2:1-10 (NASB95)
¹ Then Hannah prayed and said, “My heart exults in the Lord; My horn is exalted in the Lord, My mouth speaks boldly against my enemies, Because I rejoice in Your salvation. ² “There is no one holy like the Lord, Indeed, there is no one besides You, Nor is there any rock like our God. ³ “Boast no more so very proudly, Do not let arrogance come out of your mouth; For the Lord is a God of knowledge, And with Him actions are weighed. ⁴ “The bows of the mighty are shattered, But the feeble gird on strength. ⁵ “Those who were full hire themselves out for bread, But those who were hungry cease to hunger. Even the barren gives birth to seven, But she who has many children languishes. ⁶ “The Lord kills and makes alive; He brings down to Sheol and raises up. ⁷ “The Lord makes poor and rich; He brings low, He also exalts. ⁸ “He raises the poor from the dust, He lifts the needy from the ash heap To make them sit with nobles, And inherit a seat of honor; For the pillars of the earth are the Lord’s, And He set the world on them. ⁹ “He keeps the feet of His godly ones, But the wicked ones are silenced in darkness; For not by might shall a man prevail. ¹⁰ “Those who contend with the Lord will be shattered; Against them He will thunder in the heavens, The Lord will judge the ends of the earth; And He will give strength to His king, And will exalt the horn of His anointed.”

Luke 1:46-55 (NASB95)
⁴⁶ And Mary said: “My soul exalts the Lord, ⁴⁷ And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior. ⁴⁸ “For He has had regard for the humble state of His bondslave; For behold, from this time on all generations will count me blessed. ⁴⁹ “For the Mighty One has done great things for me; And holy is His name. ⁵⁰ “And His mercy is upon generation after generation Toward those who fear Him. ⁵¹ “He has done mighty deeds with His arm; He has scattered those who were proud in the thoughts of their heart. ⁵² “He has brought down rulers from their thrones, And has exalted those who were humble. ⁵³ “He has filled the hungry with good things; And sent away the rich empty-handed. ⁵⁴ “He has given help to Israel His servant, In remembrance of His mercy, ⁵⁵ As He spoke to our fathers, To Abraham and his descendants forever.”^[1]

Biblical prophecy is a funny study at times.  Mary demonstrated for us that she was a student of the Word by summarizing Hannah's song in the Manificant.  Take a close look at the two passages, I think that with a few slight exceptions, you will see that Mary conceptually quoted Hannah and applied Hannah's praise song to her own praise song for the Lord.  Look specifically at  1 Sam 2:1 compared to Luke 1:46; 2 to 48-49; 3 to 50; 4-51 to 52; 5-8 to 53-54; and 9-10 to 55. Could this be coincidence?  I do not think so.  Rather, it is a point well taken by all of us to know that the word is meant to be quoted. 

Let's look at this from two angles, first, it is a great demonstration for us regarding the importance of scripture memory.  Secondly, it is a great tool for us to learn about the greatness of God.  Now that we have looked at the Christmas angle, let's look at what was actually being said in the passage.  We will cover that in the next study.

Father, as we consider Your word, open each of our eyes so that we can see and understand Your word.

In Him,

Joe Turner.

January 2, 2008

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Happy New Year Brothers and Sisters!

The holidays are now over and we can start looking at the Bible study again.  This year has been quite busy for me, and finished with a hold-down on a seven day local.  I am glad to be writing to all of you again.  I pray that God will give me the good will to organize my time better so that this study goes out on a more timely manner.

1 Samuel 2:1-10

Hannah’s Song of Thanksgiving

     1     Then Hannah prayed and said,

“My heart exults in the Lord;

My horn is exalted in the Lord,

My mouth speaks boldly against my enemies,

Because I rejoice in Your salvation.

     2     “There is no one holy like the Lord,

Indeed, there is no one besides You,

Nor is there any rock like our God.

     3     “Boast no more so very proudly,

Do not let arrogance come out of your mouth;

For the Lord is a God of knowledge,

And with Him actions are weighed.

     4     “The bows of the mighty are shattered,

But the feeble gird on strength.

     5     “Those who were full hire themselves out for bread,

But those who were hungry cease to hunger.

Even the barren gives birth to seven,

But she who has many children languishes.

     6     “The Lord kills and makes alive;

He brings down to Sheol and raises up.

     7     “The Lord makes poor and rich;

He brings low, He also exalts.

     8     “He raises the poor from the dust,

He lifts the needy from the ash heap

To make them sit with nobles,

And inherit a seat of honor;

For the pillars of the earth are the Lord’s,

And He set the world on them.

     9     “He keeps the feet of His godly ones,

But the wicked ones are silenced in darkness;

For not by might shall a man prevail.

     10     “Those who contend with the Lord will be shattered;

Against them He will thunder in the heavens,

The Lord will judge the ends of the earth;

And He will give strength to His king,

And will exalt the horn of His anointed.” NASB95^[1]

That's right, we are going over the same stuff again.  Only this time I will focus more on the practical side of the passage as it applies to all believers, both in the biblical times and in the modern times.

To start with, this song is arranged in a loose "didactic" pattern that centers on verse 6.  If you look at verse 6, it gives the gist of the entire passage and brings everything into perspective.  The verses build in a pyramid structure that centers focus on verse 6, I will point this out by referring to the similar verses. Hannah understood that the Lord was the one who gives life and the one who takes life. Due to His judgment, those who turn against Him will end up in hell or those who follow Him will be raised with Him.  Everything circles around the Lord, He has control over every area of life. 

This concept is easy to understand at face value, but when you consider the implications, it has raised huge conflicts in the assembly of believers.  One of the major contention points between the Calvinist and Armenians is centered on the point of predestination or predetermination.  Back further than that, the conflict was evident in the church.  Paul wrote toward this exact point, and it has been argued through the history of Christianity to the present day.  I don't claim to understand it.  Yet we must recognize that God is sovereign over all, therefore He is ultimately in control of all creation.  God is in control of life, death, and everything in between.  He permits men to follow Him or to deny Him.  The mystery gets complicated when we consider those who are going to hell, and those who have turned their backs on God.  Here are a few verses from the Gospels:

Romans 8:28

     28     And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.

Romans 9:18

     18     So then He has mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires.

Ephesians 1:11

     11     also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will,

James 1:9-10

     9     But the brother of humble circumstances is to glory in his high position;

     10     and the rich man is to glory in his humiliation, because like flowering grass he will pass away.

James 4:10

     10     Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you.

Revelation 4:11

     11     “Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and because of Your will they existed, and were created.” ^[2]

Verses 1-2, and 10: Back to Samuel, Let's look at the way that these verse tie together.  What is the purpose of the "horn" from a biblical perspective?  In our thinking, we consider a horn something that makes noise.  In the biblical days, a horn was a container that held oil.  Jesus spoke of the parable of the ten virgins and we can see the use of the oil to fuel their lamps, Matthew 25:1-13.  The important point in this is that the oil enabled the virgins to stay prepared for the coming groom.  It would be similar today to running out of fuel during the night.  Strength is represented by the ability to stay alert. The fuel that drives the believer is the Lord.  Another way of looking at a horn is through the idea that a horn gives an animal strength over another one.  The horns on a ram for example are designed to protect the ram as well as being offensive weapons against enemies.

I think though that the main idea is that God is our rock, our foundation so to speak.  Picture a battle scene in the Old Testament times.  The rock that you stand on gives you firm footing, if it is an elevated rock, then you are over the enemies and have a strategic advantage over them.  Jesus spoke of a house built on a rock compared to one built upon sand, Luke 6:46-49.   If our foundation is built upon God, then nothing can stand against us because the life that we live is drawn from God.

Verses 3-4a and 9:  Think about these verses for a few moments.  Who are the ones that are arrogant?  How many of us take off with the basis of our own knowledge to fight our battles with weapons built out of understanding that is based upon the teachings of the world rather than the teachings of God?  Too often our Bibles collect dust while expositors of the Bible and well meaning self help books direct our thinking away from God and toward humanistic philosophies. 

The enemies of the Lord are defeated through knowledge that comes from the Lord.  The truth of life is drawn from the Lord.  God is our rock of salvation.  Everything is based on the Lord.  Life is centered on the Lord for the believer.  These are simple statements, and I am sure everyone will agree with them.  Yet in practical life, we often assent to these truths, but fall back into the "I can do it myself" mode.  This point in the song is a point of evaluation.  Which area do we fit in?  Are we in those who consider the Lord the horn of our salvation?  Or are we those who lean on our own understanding as our salvation? 

Verses 4b-5, 7-8: I hope by now that you can see how the structure is shaped.  Who is it that God is focused upon?  God is not focused upon the ones in the limelight, the rich and famous, no, rather, God is focused intently on the little people.  He is focused upon those who are the rejects of society.  One other point on this is that God treats the rich and the poor exactly the same.  The qualifying point of who God lifts up is focused upon who each person makes as Lord of their lives. 

Verse 6 is the central point of the song.  God is in control of all.  Focus on who is in control.  Those who are arrogant and stand against God are put down.  Those who focus on the Lord as salvation are lifted up.  Free will is mixed up in the mix.  The extent of free will is arguable depending on who you are talking with.  For the most part, we have the ability to accept or to reject God.  Our fate rides on our decision.  Ultimately though, nothing can happen without God allowing it to happen. 

Hannah understood the awesome power of God, and gave her son back to God.  Eli does not seem to be a great man of God.  It seems rather silly to give him a son to raise when he had already raised two sons that were evil.  God was greater than Eli, Hannah understood this.  We will discuss this further in the next discussion.

I covered a lot of ground in the discussion of the song.  If you wish to discuss it further or to comment on it, please respond back and I will post your thoughts.  If you wish to keep them private, note that in the comment and I will reply directly back to you.

Father, as we consider Your word, open our eyes so that we can evaluate if our lives are built upon You or upon the teachings of our world.

In Him,

Joe Turner.

1 Samuel 2:11-36

January 4, 2008

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Good Evening Brothers and Sisters,

1 Samuel 2:11-36 (NASB95)
¹¹ Then Elkanah went to his home at Ramah. But the boy ministered to the Lord before Eli the priest. ¹² Now the sons of Eli were worthless men; they did not know the Lord ¹³ and the custom of the priests with the people. When any man was offering a sacrifice, the priest’s servant would come while the meat was boiling, with a three-pronged fork in his hand. ¹⁴ Then he would thrust it into the pan, or kettle, or caldron, or pot; all that the fork brought up the priest would take for himself. Thus they did in Shiloh to all the Israelites who came there. ¹⁵ Also, before they burned the fat, the priest’s servant would come and say to the man who was sacrificing, “Give the priest meat for roasting, as he will not take boiled meat from you, only raw.” ¹⁶ If the man said to him, “They must surely burn the fat first, and then take as much as you desire,” then he would say, “No, but you shall give it to me now; and if not, I will take it by force.” ¹⁷ Thus the sin of the young men was very great before the Lord, for the men despised the offering of the Lord. ¹⁸ Now Samuel was ministering before the Lord, as a boy wearing a linen ephod. ¹⁹ And his mother would make him a little robe and bring it to him from year to year when she would come up with her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice. ²⁰ Then Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife and say, “May the Lord give you children from this woman in place of the one she dedicated to the Lord.” And they went to their own home. ²¹ The Lord visited Hannah; and she conceived and gave birth to three sons and two daughters. And the boy Samuel grew before the Lord. ²² Now Eli was very old; and he heard all that his sons were doing to all Israel, and how they lay with the women who served at the doorway of the tent of meeting. ²³ He said to them, “Why do you do such things, the evil things that I hear from all these people? ²⁴ “No, my sons; for the report is not good which I hear the Lord’s people circulating. ²⁵ “If one man sins against another, God will mediate for him; but if a man sins against the Lord, who can intercede for him?” But they would not listen to the voice of their father, for the Lord desired to put them to death. ²⁶ Now the boy Samuel was growing in stature and in favor both with the Lord and with men. ²⁷ Then a man of God came to Eli and said to him, “Thus says the Lord, ‘Did I not indeed reveal Myself to the house of your father when they were in Egypt in bondage to Pharaoh’s house? ²⁸ ‘Did I not choose them from all the tribes of Israel to be My priests, to go up to My altar, to burn incense, to carry an ephod before Me; and did I not give to the house of your father all the fire offerings of the sons of Israel? ²⁹ ‘Why do you kick at My sacrifice and at My offering which I have commanded in My dwelling, and honor your sons above Me, by making yourselves fat with the choicest of every offering of My people Israel?’ ³⁰ “Therefore the Lord God of Israel declares, ‘I did indeed say that your house and the house of your father should walk before Me forever’; but now the Lord declares, ‘Far be it from Me—for those who honor Me I will honor, and those who despise Me will be lightly esteemed. ³¹ ‘Behold, the days are coming when I will break your strength and the strength of your father’s house so that there will not be an old man in your house. ³² ‘You will see the distress of My dwelling, in spite of all the good that I do for Israel; and an old man will not be in your house forever. ³³ ‘Yet I will not cut off every man of yours from My altar so that your eyes will fail from weeping and your soul grieve, and all the increase of your house will die in the prime of life. ³⁴ ‘This will be the sign to you which will come concerning your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas: on the same day both of them will die. ³⁵ ‘But I will raise up for Myself a faithful priest who will do according to what is in My heart and in My soul; and I will build him an enduring house, and he will walk before My anointed always. ³⁶ ‘Everyone who is left in your house will come and bow down to him for a piece of silver or a loaf of bread and say, “Please assign me to one of the priest’s offices so that I may eat a piece of bread.” ’ ”^[1]

While we are looking at this passage, keep watch for the way that the story flips between the bad sons and the good Samuel.  The writer is making a point that all of us need to take to heart. Many have charged Christians with being hypocrites, and with good cause.  Part of the message of our study today has to do with that idea.

Verses 11-17: Eli's sons made several violations of the Law, and were deemed to be men who did not know God.  These men were very bad men, ones who shook their fist in the face of God and in the faces of the people of God.  They made no secret of their sin.  They violated the law in several ways. They ate the portions of meat before they were sacrificed.  They also ate portions of meat that was not theirs and ate portions of meat with the fat on them, Exodus29:27; Leviticus 7:31-32.  If anyone tried to get them to comply with the law, they threatened them with violence.  These men quite obviously were not men of God.  However, the common man would not know that.  I would wager to say that the average worshipper coming in to make an offering before the Lord would consider the sons of Eli to have been righteous men.  The message that they were sending the people was one of compromise and one disregarding the laws of the Lord.  Verse 17 calls the sin of these men "very great" before the Lord.  It's something worth thinking about.  When men of the "cloth" violate God's word, the world takes quick notice and discredits all of Christianity because of it.  We could name many preachers who have gone down the tubes due to various sins ranging from embezzlement to sexual sins. The world is quick to condemn these men, Christians are quicker, and in the end they are not given any room for repentance by either party (most of the time).

Think on this though, sin is sin regardless the size of the sin.  God forgives sin.  Yet on the same token, God will not ignore purposeful blatant sin. 

Verses 18-21:  Here is the good boy.  I want to point out a few things about his family though.  Samuel had a mission, and his life was devoted to it.  His family trusted in the Lord and gave support to Samuel as well as continuing their yearly sacrifices.  These were the "faithful givers" to the ministry.  Notice also that Eli answers according to their devotion.  We can't be sure of Eli's motives behind his answer, but it sounds like a pat phrase that is given out to pacify believers.  Notice though, God honored Eli's prayer and gave Hannah five children.  Samuel also grew before the Lord. 

Don’t get me wrong on this, Eli was probably a righteous man, one full of wisdom.  I am taking the opposite stand just to throw a different perspective on the passage.  I believe it is healthy to look at passages from different points of view.  This offers us an opportunity to see beyond traditional teaching and perhaps will enable us to avoid or loosen chains that bind our spiritual lives.    

Regardless of the motive that Eli had, God demonstrates the He blesses believers in spite of the structure of the local church.  This sends us a clear message, our trust and our faith is to be placed in the Lord, not in the pastor or in the denomination.  If we look at the church business, we will certainly find fault.  However, if we serve the Lord, He will bless us in spite of the organization of the local church.  I have heard a lot of believers who point fingers at the local church and give a long list of why they do not fellowship any longer.  Folks, it is not about the local church.  It's about our relationship with God.

Verses 22-25:  Notice that the actions of the sons do not get any better.  They violated first of all God's ceremonial laws by their actions toward the sacrifices.  Now they violate the laws further by making themselves unclean by being involved with prostitutes right in the tents doors.  Imagine these men performing their daily tasks in the temple with the people knowing that they were sleeping with prostitutes.  Let’s see, ceremonial unclean, rebellious, and sexually impure, they keep compounding the list.

Deuteronomy 21:18-21 (NASB95)
¹⁸ “If any man has a stubborn and rebellious son who will not obey his father or his mother, and when they chastise him, he will not even listen to them, ¹⁹ then his father and mother shall seize him, and bring him out to the elders of his city at the gateway of his hometown. ²⁰ “They shall say to the elders of his city, ‘This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious, he will not obey us, he is a glutton and a drunkard.’ ²¹ “Then all the men of his city shall stone him to death; so you shall remove the evil from your midst, and all Israel will hear of it and fear.

Eli was required by law to deliver his sons over to be stoned to death.  They violated several laws and demonstrated that they were stubborn, rebellious, and gluttonous according to the passage so far.  Eli sinned by refusing to discipline his children.  The passage demonstrates clearly that Eli was not deceived into thinking that his sons were righteous.  He allowed them to continue to minister even though he knew of their actions.

Verse 26:  Good son, Samuel grew in spite of his surroundings in the Lord.

Verses 27-34:  Look at verse 27 especially.  Wasn't Eli supposed to be a "man of God"?  Apparently, due to his sin of not doing something about his sons, God was sending another man of God to deliver a message of doom.  I could not help but notice as I read through this that there is room for repentance or changing his actions in this passage.  He has been given the judgment in advance which offers an opportunity to correct improper behavior.  Yet the charge that he valued his sons more than God seems to ring true because he does not even lift a finger to change the situation.  Eli seems to accept the judgment without noticing that he still had the power to make a change.  Please note that he had the power to change because God changed His mind regarding Eli's position of priesthood. 

God offers each one of us many opportunities to correct our errors.  Often these errors are pointed out by the Word or by conviction of sin in some other way.  If we choose not to follow God's leading to correct our actions, then we are doing just as Eli was doing.  We refuse to follow God because we exalt our own desires above His.  Eli idolized his children, whatever we allow to stand in place of doing God’s will becomes our idol.

Verses 35-36:  Good son.  God promises to replace Eli with another person who is going to walk after God's ways.  The final dig of this passage is clear, God was going to replace Eli and family by one who is willing to follow Him.

Look at the contrasts between the good and the bad in this passage and think back on the song of Hannah.  God raises up those who will follow Him out of unlikely sources.  Those of great means who are in positions of leadership can be taken out if they quit following the ways of the Lord.  This is a universal truth that spans all Christian churches.  It is also a truth that has transcended the ages and is just as true today as it was in the day of Samuel.  Our job is simple.  As believers, we are to follow the Lord.  What can we learn from the passage?  If you are hung up on the old law being abolished, then you can probably reason this study away.  I hold though that these principles are outside the law and hinge on the very nature of our walk with God.  

Henry Varley said to evangelist D. L. Moody, “The world has yet to see what God can do with and for and through and in a man who is fully and wholly consecrated to Him.” Moody asked God to make him that man, and the Lord gave him his request. God used Moody in a marvelous way, and his work is still being blessed around the world.^[2]

Father, as we consider Your word today, impress on each of us the importance of following you from our hearts and not just from tradition.

In Him,

Joe Turner.