[Linux4christians] Saturday - 1 Samuel 31

[pastordavid at bibleseven.com]

    Saturday


      1 Samuel 31



The Death of Saul

31:1 Now the Philistines were fighting against Israel. The men of Israel 
fled from the Philistines and many of them fell dead on Mount Gilboa. 
31:2 The Philistines stayed right on the heels of Saul and his sons. 
They struck down Saul's sons Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malki-Shua. 31:3 
Saul himself was in the thick of the battle; the archers spotted him and 
wounded him severely.

31:4 Saul said to his armor bearer, "Draw your sword and stab me with 
it! Otherwise these uncircumcised people will come, stab me, and torture 
me." But his armor bearer refused to do it, because he was very afraid. 
So Saul took his sword and fell on it. 31:5 When his armor bearer saw 
that Saul was dead, he also fell on his own sword and died with him. 
31:6 So Saul, his three sons, his armor bearer, and all his men died 
together that day.

31:7 When the men of Israel who were in the valley and across the Jordan 
saw that the men of Israel had fled and that Saul and his sons were 
dead, they abandoned the cities and fled. The Philistines came and 
occupied them.

31:8 The next day, when the Philistines came to strip loot from the 
corpses, they discovered Saul and his three sons lying dead on Mount 
Gilboa. 31:9 They cut off Saul's head and stripped him of his armor. 
They sent messengers to announce the news in the temple of their idols 
and among their people throughout the surrounding land of the 
Philistines. 31:10 They placed Saul's armor in the temple of the 
Ashtoreths and hung his corpse on the city wall of Beth Shan.

31:11 When the residents of Jabesh Gilead heard what the Philistines had 
done to Saul, 31:12 all their warriors set out and traveled throughout 
the night. They took Saul's corpse and the corpses of his sons from the 
city wall of Beth Shan and went to Jabesh, where they burned them. 31:13 
They took the bones and buried them under the tamarisk tree at Jabesh; 
then they fasted for seven days.



      Prayer


Lord, sometimes You express Your permissive will, allowing humankind to 
make choices and deal with the consequences, and sometimes You declare a 
certain path and it is always done. May I pray and study, gaining 
knowledge and understanding so that Your Holy Spirit will grant me the 
wisdom to recognize the difference.



      Commentary


Saul went to war with the Philistines without the blessing and 
protection of the Lord God, indeed God had prophesied through a vision 
of Samuel that he and his sons would be killed and his army fall to the 
enemy.

As prophesied Saul's sons were killed, as was Saul, and Saul was 
decapitated. His body (head and torso) and that of his sons were hung on 
the city wall of Beth Shan.

Israelites in Jabesh Gilead, apparently not involved in the battle, 
heard what had been done with the bodies and traveled by night to 
recover and burn the bodies, then they fasted for seven days.



      Interaction


        Consider

Saul was doomed from the moment the battle began because the Lord God 
had decided that his time as king had ended.


        Discuss

Do you think it was wise for the warriors from Jabesh Gilead to risk 
their lives to recover the bodies of Saul and his sons?



        Reflect

The Lord God allowed the pagan Philistines to serve as His instruments 
to remove Saul from leadership.


        Share

When have you experienced or observed the Lord God working His will in 
the lives of Hid people through the instrument of non-believers?



      Faith in Action


        Prayer:

Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to you a place where a non-believer either 
has been or is being used as an instrument of the Lord God in your life.



        Action:

Today I will raise a prayer of thanks or a prayer for protection and 
wisdom for the non-believer whom the Lord God has chosen as His 
instrument in my life.


        Be Specific ______________________________________________________


             Sunday's text will be: 2 Samuel 1



-- 

Draw nearer to the Lord and He will bless you,
Have an http://Ultrafidian.com Day!
David M. Colburn, DMin. MaCo
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Personal Site: http://bibleseven.com
Bible Resources: http://bible.org
Teacher's Verse: John 7:16
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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