David's family life was fraught with turmoil.

• His son Amnon committed a grievous act against his half-sister Tamar, leading to further family strife when Absalom, Tamar's brother, avenged her by killing Amnon (2 Samuel 13:1-29).
• Absalom later led a rebellion against David, temporarily seizing the throne.
• David fled Jerusalem but eventually regained his kingship after Absalom's death (2 Samuel 15-18).

Despite these personal and political challenges, David remained a man after God's own heart, seeking God's guidance and showing repentance when confronted with his sins.

ACTS 13
16 Paul stood up and motioned with his hand and said, “Fellow Israelites, and you who fear God, listen! 17 The God of this people Israel chose our ancestors, made the people prosper during their stay in the land of Egypt, and led them out of it with a mighty arm. 18 And for about forty years he put up with them in the wilderness; 19 and after destroying seven nations in the land of Canaan, he gave them their land as an inheritance. 20 This all took about 450 years. After this, he gave them judges until Samuel the prophet. 21 Then they asked for a king, and God gave them Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years. 22 After removing him, he raised up David as their king and testified about him, ‘I have found David the son of Jesse to be a man after my own heart,, who will carry out all my will.’
23 “From this man’s descendants, as he promised, God brought to Israel the Savior, Jesus.[1]
 
David is remembered for his deep devotion to God, as reflected in the Psalms he authored.
 
PSALM 51
A PRAYER FOR RESTORATION
For the choir director. A psalm of David, when the prophet Nathan came to him after he had gone to Bathsheba.

• This is the first of fifteen consecutive psalms in Book II (42-72) attributed to David.[2]

 
 
Cleanse Me
1 Be gracious to me, God,
according to your faithful love;
according to your abundant compassion,
blot out my rebellion.
2 Completely wash away my guilt
and cleanse me from my sin.
3 For I am conscious of my rebellion,
and my sin is always before me.
4 Against you—you alone—I have sinned
and done this evil in your sight.
So you are right when you pass sentence;
you are blameless when you judge.
5 Indeed, I was guilty when I was born;
I was sinful when my mother conceived me.
6 Surely you desire integrity in the inner self,
and you teach me wisdom deep within.
7 Purify me with hyssop, and I will be clean;
wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.

• “Hyssop” was a shrub with hairy stems that could be dipped into liquid, and the priests used hyssop to sprinkle blood or water on people needing ceremonial cleansing (Lev. 14:4, 6; Num. 19:6, 18; see Ex. 12:22).
• Today’s believers find their cleansing in the work Jesus accomplished on the cross (1 John 1:5–10; Heb. 10:19–25).[3]

Restore Me
8 Let me hear joy and gladness;
let the bones you have crushed rejoice.
9 Turn your face away from my sins
and blot out all my guilt.
10 God, create a clean heart for me
and renew a steadfast spirit within me.

• 1986 – Wedding – Brown Bannister

11 Do not banish me from your presence
or take your Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore the joy of your salvation to me,
and sustain me by giving me a willing spirit.
Use Me
13 Then I will teach the rebellious your ways,
and sinners will return to you.
14 Save me from the guilt of bloodshed, God—
God of my salvation—
and my tongue will sing of your righteousness.
15 Lord, open my lips,
and my mouth will declare your praise.

• David’s sins had affected his whole person:
• his eyes (v. 3),
• mind (v. 6),
• ears and bones (v. 8),
• heart and spirit (v. 10),
• hands (v. 14),
• and lips (vv. 13–15).
• Such is the high cost of committing sin.
• David knew this, so he asked for more than cleansing, as important as that is; he wanted his entire being to be restored so he could serve the Lord acceptably.
• He wanted the joy of the Lord within him (see v. 12) and the face of the Lord smiling upon him.[4]

 
16 You do not want a sacrifice, or I would give it;
you are not pleased with a burnt offering.
17 The sacrifice pleasing to God is a broken spirit.
You will not despise a broken and humbled heart, God.

•  David was wealthy enough to bring many sacrifices to the Lord, but he knew that this would not please the Lord and that their blood could not wash away his sins.
• David wasn’t denying the importance or the validity of the Jewish sacrificial system; he was affirming the importance of a repentant heart and a spirit yielded to the Lord (Isa. 57:15).
• God could not receive broken animals as sacrifices (Mal. 1:6–8), but He would receive a broken heart![5]

18 In your good pleasure, cause Zion to prosper;
build the walls of Jerusalem.
19 Then you will delight in righteous sacrifices,
whole burnt offerings;
then bulls will be offered on your altar.[6]
 

• David was a man after God’s own heart.
• David’s sin was forgiven entirely.
• David’s lineage was the one through which God chose to send the Messiah.
• But David never got to build a home for God.

 
His reign laid the foundation for the future prosperity of Israel under Solomon.

[1] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), Ac 13:16–23.
[2] Warren W. Wiersbe, Be Worshipful, 1st ed., “Be” Commentary Series (Colorado Springs, CO: Cook Communications Ministries, 2004), 186.
[3] Warren W. Wiersbe, Be Worshipful, 1st ed., “Be” Commentary Series (Colorado Springs, CO: Cook Communications Ministries, 2004), 187.
[4] Warren W. Wiersbe, Be Worshipful, 1st ed., “Be” Commentary Series (Colorado Springs, CO: Cook Communications Ministries, 2004), 188.
[5] Warren W. Wiersbe, Be Worshipful, 1st ed., “Be” Commentary Series (Colorado Springs, CO: Cook Communications Ministries, 2004), 189.
[6] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), Ps 51.

• Chapter 25 – Samuel died
• David and Saul’s hide-and-seek continues similar to the previous week
• David ends up finding refuge with the Philistines but doesn’t really take up their side.
• Chapter 30 – David’s family is taken as hostages by the Philistines, but David rescues them and pummels the Philistines.
• Chapter 31 - recounts the tragic end of Saul and his sons in battle against the Philistines.
• Saul is wounded and takes his own life to avoid capture.
• The Philistines desecrate Saul's body, but the Israelite men retrieve and bury it honorably.
• Saul's death ended David's fugitive experiences, which is estimated to have lasted four or five years at the most.
• 2 Samuel 1-3 – Civil war between the house of and the house of David.
• Abner vs David – Abner died
• 2 Samuel 4 – Saul’s other son dies

2 SAMUEL 4
4 Saul’s son Jonathan had a son whose feet were crippled. He was five years old when the report about Saul and Jonathan came from Jezreel. His nanny picked him up and fled, but as she was hurrying to flee, he fell and became lame. His name was Mephibosheth.[1]
 
2 SAMUEL 5
4 David was thirty years old when he began his reign; he reigned forty years. 5 In Hebron he reigned over Judah seven years and six months, and in Jerusalem he reigned thirty-three years over all Israel and Judah.[2]
 
7 Yet David did capture the stronghold of Zion, that is, the city of David.[3]
 
9 David took up residence in the stronghold, which he named the city of David. He built it up all the way around from the supporting terraces inward. 10 David became more and more powerful, and the Lord God of Armies was with him. 11 King Hiram of Tyre sent envoys to David; he also sent cedar logs, carpenters, and stonemasons, and they built a palace for David. 12 Then David knew that the Lord had established him as king over Israel and had exalted his kingdom for the sake of his people Israel.
13 After he arrived from Hebron, David took more concubines and wives from Jerusalem, and more sons and daughters were born to him. 14 These are the names of those born to him in Jerusalem: Shammua, Shobab, Nathan, Solomon, 15 Ibhar, Elishua, Nepheg, Japhia, 16 Elishama, Eliada, and Eliphelet.
17 When the Philistines heard that David had been anointed king over Israel, they all went in search of David, but he heard about it and went down to the stronghold. 18 So the Philistines came and spread out in Rephaim Valley.
19 Then David inquired of the Lord: “Should I attack the Philistines? Will you hand them over to me?”
The Lord replied to David, “Attack, for I will certainly hand the Philistines over to you.”
20 So David went to Baal-perazim and defeated them there and said, “Like a bursting flood, the Lord has burst out against my enemies before me.” Therefore, he named that place The Lord Bursts Out. 21 The Philistines abandoned their idols there, and David and his men carried them off. [4]
 
2 SAMUEL 6
12 So David went and had the ark of God brought up from Obed-edom’s house to the city of David with rejoicing. 13 When those carrying the ark of the Lord advanced six steps, he sacrificed an ox and a fattened calf. 14 David was dancing with all his might before the Lord wearing a linen ephod. 15 He and the whole house of Israel were bringing up the ark of the Lord with shouts and the sound of the trumpet. 16 As the ark of the Lord was entering the city of David, Saul’s daughter Michal looked down from the window and saw King David leaping and dancing before the Lord, and she despised him in her heart.[5]
 
2 SAMUEL 7
4 But that night the word of the Lord came to Nathan: 5 “Go to my servant David and say, ‘This is what the Lord says: Are you to build me a house to dwell in? 6 From the time I brought the Israelites out of Egypt until today I have not dwelt in a house; instead, I have been moving around with a tent as my dwelling. 7 In all my journeys with all the Israelites, have I ever spoken a word to one of the tribal leaders of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd my people Israel, asking: Why haven’t you built me a house of cedar?’
8 “So now this is what you are to say to my servant David: ‘This is what the Lord of Armies says: I took you from the pasture, from tending the flock, to be ruler over my people Israel. 9 I have been with you wherever you have gone, and I have destroyed all your enemies before you. I will make a great name for you like that of the greatest on the earth. 10 I will designate a place for my people Israel and plant them, so that they may live there and not be disturbed again. Evildoers will not continue to oppress them as they have done 11 ever since the day I ordered judges to be over my people Israel. I will give you rest from all your enemies.
“ ‘The Lord declares to you: The Lord himself will make a house for you. 12 When your time comes and you rest with your ancestors, I will raise up after you your descendant, who will come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. 13 He is the one who will build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. 14 I will be his father, and he will be my son. When he does wrong, I will discipline him with a rod of men and blows from mortals. 15 But my faithful love will never leave him as it did when I removed it from Saul, whom I removed from before you. 16 Your house and kingdom will endure before me forever, and your throne will be established forever.’”[6]
 
2 SAMUEL 8
15 So David reigned over all Israel, administering justice and righteousness for all his people.[7]
 
2 SAMUEL 9

• David discovers Mephibosheth, offers him all of Saul’s fields, and even has Zibah’s (David’s servant) house work the fields.
• David also offers Mephibosheth a place at his table for every meal in Jerusalem.

 
2 SAMUEL 10

• David continues to do battle and win.

 
DAVID’S ADULTERY WITH BATHSHEBA
2 SAMUEL 11
1 In the spring when kings march out to war, David sent Joab with his officers and all Israel. They destroyed the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah, but David remained in Jerusalem.
2 One evening David got up from his bed and strolled around on the roof of the palace. From the roof he saw a woman bathing—a very beautiful woman. 3 So David sent someone to inquire about her, and he said, “Isn’t this Bathsheba, daughter of Eliam and wife of Uriah the Hethite?”

• Perhaps Bathsheba was not totally innocent, but that does not lessen David's guilt.
• Nevertheless, the writer, and God, never explicitly blamed Bathsheba for what happened.
• They only blamed David.
• It seems reasonable to assume that she could have shielded herself from view if she had wanted to do so.
• And she was not necessarily completely naked.
• She could have been washing herself using a basin.
• Since David was born in 1041 B.C. and this incident took place about 992 B.C., David was close to 49 years old when he committed adultery.

4 David sent messengers to get her, and when she came to him, he slept with her. Now she had just been purifying herself from her uncleanness. Afterward, she returned home. 5 The woman conceived and sent word to inform David, “I am pregnant.”

• "The only recorded speech of Bathsheba, brief though it is.

6 David sent orders to Joab: “Send me Uriah the Hethite.” So Joab sent Uriah to David. 7 When Uriah came to him, David asked how Joab and the troops were doing and how the war was going. 8 Then he said to Uriah, “Go down to your house and wash your feet.” So Uriah left the palace, and a gift from the king followed him. 9 But Uriah slept at the door of the palace with all his master’s servants; he did not go down to his house.

• Quietly observing the wartime soldier's ban against conjugal relations (mentioned in 1 Samuel 21:4-7).

10 When it was reported to David, “Uriah didn’t go home,” David questioned Uriah, “Haven’t you just come from a journey? Why didn’t you go home?”
11 Uriah answered David, “The ark, Israel, and Judah are dwelling in tents, and my master Joab and his soldiers are camping in the open field. How can I enter my house to eat and drink and sleep with my wife? As surely as you live and by your life, I will not do this!”
12 “Stay here today also,” David said to Uriah, “and tomorrow I will send you back.” So Uriah stayed in Jerusalem that day and the next. 13 Then David invited Uriah to eat and drink with him, and David got him drunk. He went out in the evening to lie down on his cot with his master’s servants, but he did not go home.
 
URIAH’S DEATH ARRANGED
14 The next morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it with Uriah. 15 In the letter he wrote:
Put Uriah at the front of the fiercest fighting, then withdraw from him so that he is struck down and dies.
16 When Joab was besieging the city, he put Uriah in the place where he knew the best enemy soldiers were. 17 Then the men of the city came out and attacked Joab, and some of the men from David’s soldiers fell in battle; Uriah the Hethite also died.
18 Joab sent someone to report to David all the details of the battle…
 
24 However, the archers shot down on your servants from the top of the wall, and some of the king’s servants died. Your servant Uriah the Hethite is also dead.”

• Some other innocent soldiers besides Uriah died because of David's orders. David was responsible for their deaths, too.

25 David told the messenger, “Say this to Joab: ‘Don’t let this matter upset you because the sword devours all alike. Intensify your fight against the city and demolish it.’ Encourage him.”
26 When Uriah’s wife heard that her husband, Uriah, had died, she mourned for him. 27 When the time of mourning ended, David had her brought to his house. She became his wife and bore him a son. However, the Lord considered what David had done to be evil. [8]
 
NATHAN’S PARABLE AND DAVID’S REPENTANCE
2 SAMUEL 12

• David had sleepless nights.
• He could see his sin written across the ceiling of his room as he tossed and turned in bed.
• He saw it written across the walls.
• He saw it on the plate where he tried to choke down his meals.
• He saw it on the faces of his counselors.

1 So the Lord sent Nathan to David. When he arrived, he said to him:
There were two men in a certain city, one rich and the other poor. 2 The rich man had very large flocks and herds, 3 but the poor man had nothing except one small ewe lamb that he had bought. He raised her, and she grew up with him and with his children. From his meager food she would eat, from his cup she would drink, and in his arms she would sleep. She was like a daughter to him. 4 Now a traveler came to the rich man, but the rich man could not bring himself to take one of his own sheep or cattle to prepare for the traveler who had come to him. Instead, he took the poor man’s lamb and prepared it for his guest.
5 David was infuriated with the man and said to Nathan, “As the Lord lives, the man who did this deserves to die! 6 Because he has done this thing and shown no pity, he must pay four lambs for that lamb.”
7 Nathan replied to David, “You are the man! This is what the Lord God of Israel says: ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I rescued you from Saul. 8 I gave your master’s house to you and your master’s wives into your arms, and I gave you the house of Israel and Judah, and if that was not enough, I would have given you even more. 9 Why then have you despised the Lord’s command by doing what I consider evil? You struck down Uriah the Hethite with the sword and took his wife as your own wife—you murdered him with the Ammonite’s sword. 10 Now therefore, the sword will never leave your house because you despised me and took the wife of Uriah the Hethite to be your own wife.’
11 “This is what the Lord says, ‘I am going to bring disaster on you from your own family: I will take your wives and give them to another before your very eyes, and he will sleep with them in broad daylight. 12 You acted in secret, but I will do this before all Israel and in broad daylight.’ ”
13 David responded to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.”
Then Nathan replied to David, “And the Lord has taken away your sin; you will not die. 14 However, because you treated the Lord with such contempt in this matter, the son born to you will die.” 15 Then Nathan went home.

• This was the turning-point in the life of David, and the clearest indication that he was different from Saul in the most essential relationship of all, that of submission to the Lord God.
• For that reason he found forgiveness, whereas Saul never accepted his guilt or the rejection that followed from it.

 
THE DEATH OF BATHSHEBA’S SON
The Lord struck the baby that Uriah’s wife had borne to David, and he became deathly ill. 16 David pleaded with God for the boy. He fasted, went home, and spent the night lying on the ground. 17 The elders of his house stood beside him to get him up from the ground, but he was unwilling and would not eat anything with them.
18 On the seventh day the baby died. But David’s servants were afraid to tell him the baby was dead. They said, “Look, while the baby was alive, we spoke to him, and he wouldn’t listen to us. So how can we tell him the baby is dead? He may do something desperate.”
19 When David saw that his servants were whispering to each other, he guessed that the baby was dead. So he asked his servants, “Is the baby dead?”
“He is dead,” they replied.
20 Then David got up from the ground. He washed, anointed himself, changed his clothes, went to the Lord’s house, and worshiped. Then he went home and requested something to eat. So they served him food, and he ate.
21 His servants asked him, “Why have you done this? While the baby was alive, you fasted and wept, but when he died, you got up and ate food.”
22 He answered, “While the baby was alive, I fasted and wept because I thought, ‘Who knows? The Lord may be gracious to me and let him live.’ 23 But now that he is dead, why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I’ll go to him, but he will never return to me.”
 
THE BIRTH OF SOLOMON
24 Then David comforted his wife Bathsheba; he went to her and slept with her. She gave birth to a son and named him Solomon. The Lord loved him, 25 and he sent a message through the prophet Nathan, who named him Jedidiah, because of the Lord.

• The birth of David's and Bathsheba's second son, Solomon (whose name comes from the Hebrew word shalom, "peace," and means "Peaceable" or "Peaceful"), was a blessing from the LORD.
• It demonstrates that God's grace is greater than all our sins

 

• The chapter ends with David and soldiers taking captive the city of Rabbah.

[1] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), 2 Sa 4:4.
[2] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), 2 Sa 5:4–5.
[3] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), 2 Sa 5:7.
[4] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), 2 Sa 5:9–21.
[5] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), 2 Sa 6:12–16.
[6] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), 2 Sa 7:4–16.
[7] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), 2 Sa 8:15.
[8] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), 2 Sa 11:1–27.

1 SAMUEL 17

• David kills Goliath

• 18 picks right up after

 
DAVID’S SUCCESS
1 SAMUEL 18
1 When David had finished speaking with Saul, Jonathan was bound to David in close friendship, and loved him as much as he loved himself. 2 Saul kept David with him from that day on and did not let him return to his father’s house.
3 Jonathan made a covenant with David because he loved him as much as himself. 4 Then Jonathan removed the robe he was wearing and gave it to David,

• Robe was symbolic of the Israelite Kingdom
• Transfer of power

along with his military tunic, his sword, his bow, and his belt.

• Jonathan was probably 20-30 years olders than David.

5 David marched out with the army and was successful in everything Saul sent him to do. Saul put him in command of the fighting men, which pleased all the people and Saul’s servants as well.
6 As the troops were coming back, when David was returning from killing the Philistine, the women came out from all the cities of Israel to meet King Saul, singing and dancing with tambourines, with shouts of joy, and with three-stringed instruments. 7 As they danced, the women sang:
Saul has killed his thousands,
but David his tens of thousands.
8 Saul was furious and resented this song. “They credited tens of thousands to David,” he complained, “but they only credited me with thousands. What more can he have but the kingdom?” 9 So Saul watched David jealously from that day forward.

• It was personal jealousy that took root in Saul's mind and led to his downfall.
• The problem was Saul's desire to be popular with the people more than with God 

 
SAUL ATTEMPTS TO KILL DAVID
10 The next day an evil spirit sent from God came powerfully on Saul, and he began to rave inside the palace. David was playing the lyre as usual, but Saul was holding a spear, 11 and he threw it, thinking, “I’ll pin David to the wall.” But David got away from him twice.

• Saul's unchecked jealousy bred the symptoms of paranoia
• He began to think that his most loyal subject was his mortal enemy.
• Contrast Jonathan's implicit confidence in David.
• The difference was that Saul saw David as a threat to his security, whereas Jonathan saw him as the savior of God's people.

12 Saul was afraid of David, because the Lord was with David but had left Saul. 13 Therefore, Saul sent David away from him and made him commander over a thousand men. David led the troops 14 and continued to be successful in all his activities because the Lord was with him. 15 When Saul observed that David was very successful, he dreaded him.

• Saul sent David out to die at the hands of the Philistines, but actually became more of a hero to the Israelites.

16 But all Israel and Judah loved David because he was leading their troops. 17 Saul told David, “Here is my oldest daughter Merab. I’ll give her to you as a wife if you will be a warrior for me and fight the Lord’s battles.” But Saul was thinking, “I don’t need to raise a hand against him; let the hand of the Philistines be against him.”
18 Then David responded, “Who am I, and what is my family or my father’s clan in Israel that I should become the king’s son-in-law?” 19 When it was time to give Saul’s daughter Merab to David, she was given to Adriel the Meholathite as a wife.

• David did not jump at the chance to marry the king's daughter, even though such a marriage would have advanced his career significantly (cf. 16:18).
• He dismissed this possibility since he could not afford the dowry.

 
DAVID’S MARRIAGE TO MICHAL
20 Now Saul’s daughter Michal loved David, and when it was reported to Saul, it pleased him. 21 “I’ll give her to him,” Saul thought. “She’ll be a trap for him, and the hand of the Philistines will be against him.” So Saul said to David a second time, “You can now be my son-in-law.”

• Evidently Saul meant that Michal would become a snare to David because, as the son-in-law of the king, David would have been a specially important target for the Philistines in battle

22 Saul then ordered his servants, “Speak to David in private and tell him, ‘Look, the king is pleased with you, and all his servants love you. Therefore, you should become the king’s son-in-law.’”
23 Saul’s servants reported these words directly to David, but he replied, “Is it trivial in your sight to become the king’s son-in-law? I am a poor commoner.”
24 The servants reported back to Saul, “These are the words David spoke.”
25 Then Saul replied, “Say this to David: ‘The king desires no other bride-price except a hundred Philistine foreskins, to take revenge on his enemies.’” Actually, Saul intended to cause David’s death at the hands of the Philistines.
26 When the servants reported these terms to David, he was pleased to become the king’s son-in-law. Before the wedding day arrived, 27 David and his men went out and killed two hundred Philistines. He brought their foreskins and presented them as full payment to the king to become his son-in-law. Then Saul gave his daughter Michal to David as his wife. 28 Saul realized that the Lord was with David and that his daughter Michal loved him, 29 and he became even more afraid of David. As a result, Saul was David’s enemy from then on.
30 Every time the Philistine commanders came out to fight, David was more successful than all of Saul’s officers. So his name became well known.[1]
 
In 1 Samuel 19-23, we see the escalating tension between Saul and David, as Saul's jealousy and fear of David grow.

• In chapter 19, Saul orders his son Jonathan and his servants to kill David.
• However, Jonathan, who has a deep friendship with David, warns him and helps him escape.
• Michal, David's wife and Saul's daughter, also aids in David's escape by deceiving her father (1 Samuel 19:1-17).
• David flees to Samuel in Ramah, where Saul sends men to capture him.
• However, each group of men, and eventually Saul himself, are overcome by the Spirit of God and begin to prophesy, unable to harm David (1 Samuel 19:18-24).
• In chapter 20, David and Jonathan devise a plan to determine Saul's intentions.
• Jonathan confirms Saul's desire to kill David and helps him escape, reaffirming their covenant of friendship and loyalty (1 Samuel 20:12-17, 30-42).
• David continues to flee from Saul, seeking refuge in various places.
• In chapter 21, he visits Ahimelech the priest in Nob, where he receives consecrated bread and Goliath's sword.
• David then seeks asylum with Achish, the king of Gath, but pretends to be insane to avoid harm (1 Samuel 21:1-15).
• In chapter 22, David gathers a group of followers at the cave of Adullam, including those in distress and debt.
• Meanwhile, Saul, in his paranoia, orders the massacre of the priests of Nob after learning they aided David.
• Only Abiathar, a son of Ahimelech, escapes and joins David, bringing the ephod with him (1 Samuel 22:1-23).
• In chapter 23, David continues to evade Saul, seeking God's guidance through Abiathar and the ephod.
• He saves the town of Keilah from the Philistines but must flee again when Saul learns of his location.
• David and his men hide in the wilderness, and Jonathan visits to encourage David, reaffirming God's promise that David will be king (1 Samuel 23:1-18).

These chapters highlight God's protection and guidance for David, despite Saul's relentless pursuit. They also emphasize the importance of friendship, loyalty, and seeking God's direction in times of trouble (1 Samuel 23:14-16).
 
DAVID SPARES SAUL
1 SAMUEL 24
1 When Saul returned from pursuing the Philistines, he was told, “David is in the wilderness near En-gedi.” 2 So Saul took three thousand of Israel’s fit young men and went to look for David and his men in front of the Rocks of the Wild Goats.

• Pics of En Gedi (Hyrax & Ibex/dessert goat)

3 When Saul came to the sheep pens along the road, a cave was there, and he went in to relieve himself.

• Nobody, even his personal bodyguard, would accompany him into the cave for this purpose.
• Walk in a pitch dark cave after being in the sunlight.

David and his men were staying in the recesses of the cave, 4 so they said to him, “Look, this is the day the Lord told you about: ‘I will hand your enemy over to you so you can do to him whatever you desire.’ ” Then David got up and secretly cut off the corner of Saul’s robe.

• A king's hem was especially ornate and identified him as the king.

5 Afterward, David’s conscience bothered him because he had cut off the corner of Saul’s robe. 6 He said to his men, “As the Lord is my witness, I would never do such a thing to my lord, the Lord’s anointed. I will never lift my hand against him, since he is the Lord’s anointed.” 7 With these words David persuaded his men, and he did not let them rise up against Saul.
Then Saul left the cave and went on his way. 8 After that, David got up, went out of the cave, and called to Saul, “My lord the king!” When Saul looked behind him, David knelt low with his face to the ground and paid homage.

• By addressing Saul as his "lord" and his "king," and by bowing with his face to the ground and prostrating himself before Saul, David demonstrated his respect for and his submission to Saul.

9 David said to Saul, “Why do you listen to the words of people who say, ‘Look, David intends to harm you’? 10 You can see with your own eyes that the Lord handed you over to me today in the cave. Someone advised me to kill you, but I took pity on you and said: I won’t lift my hand against my lord, since he is the Lord’s anointed. 11 Look, my father! Look at the corner of your robe in my hand, for I cut it off, but I didn’t kill you. Recognize that I’ve committed no crime or rebellion. I haven’t sinned against you even though you are hunting me down to take my life.
12 “May the Lord judge between me and you, and may the Lord take vengeance on you for me, but my hand will never be against you. 13 As the old proverb says, ‘Wickedness comes from wicked people.’ My hand will never be against you. 14 Who has the king of Israel come after? What are you chasing after? A dead dog? A single flea? 15 May the Lord be judge and decide between you and me. May he take notice and plead my case and deliver me from you.”

• David confronted Saul face to face… not through his people.

16 When David finished saying these things to him, Saul replied, “Is that your voice, David my son?” Then Saul wept aloud 17 and said to David, “You are more righteous than I, for you have done what is good to me though I have done what is evil to you. 18 You yourself have told me today what good you did for me: when the Lord handed me over to you, you didn’t kill me. 19 When a man finds his enemy, does he let him go unharmed?, May the Lord repay you with good for what you’ve done for me today.
20 “Now I know for certain you will be king, and the kingdom of Israel will be established in your hand. 21 Therefore swear to me by the Lord that you will not cut off my descendants or wipe out my name from my father’s family.” 22 So David swore to Saul. Then Saul went back home, and David and his men went up to the stronghold.[2]

• It was customary in the ancient Near East for a new king to kill all the descendants of the ruler whom he replaced.
• This prevented them from rising up and reestablishing the dead king's dynasty.

David had already promised Jonathan that he would not kill his descendants (20:14-17), and he now made the same promise to Saul.

[1] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), 1 Sa 18:1–30.
[2] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), 1 Sa 24:1–22.

1 SAMUEL 14
    - Jonathan and his armor bearer defeated some Philistines.

• Saul and his men joined the battle and won.

1 SAMUEL 15
10 Then the word of the Lord came to Samuel, 11 “I regret that I made Saul king, for he has turned away from following me and has not carried out my instructions.” So Samuel became angry and cried out to the Lord all night.[1]

• God regretted that He had made Saul king because of Saul's actions, not because God felt that He had made a mistake in appointing Saul as Israel's king.

 
24 Saul answered Samuel, “I have sinned. I have transgressed the Lord’s command and your words. Because I was afraid of the people, I obeyed them. 25 Now therefore, please forgive my sin and return with me so I can worship the Lord.”
26 Samuel replied to Saul, “I will not return with you. Because you rejected the word of the Lord, the Lord has rejected you from being king over Israel.” 27 When Samuel turned to go, Saul grabbed the corner of his robe, and it tore. 28 Samuel said to him, “The Lord has torn the kingship of Israel away from you today and has given it to your neighbor who is better than you. 29 Furthermore, the Eternal One of Israel does not lie or change his mind, for he is not man who changes his mind.[2]
 
35 Even to the day of his death, Samuel never saw Saul again. Samuel mourned for Saul, and the Lord regretted he had made Saul king over Israel.[3]
 
1 SAMUEL 16
1 The Lord said to Samuel, “How long are you going to mourn for Saul, since I have rejected him as king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil and go. I am sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem because I have selected for myself a king from his sons.” [4]
 
Eliab rejected:
7 But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or his stature because I have rejected him. Humans do not see what the Lord sees, for humans see what is visible, but the Lord sees the heart.”[5]
 
12 So Jesse sent for him. He had beautiful eyes and a healthy, handsome appearance.
Then the Lord said, “Anoint him, for he is the one.” 13 So Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers, and the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully on David from that day forward.[6]
 - 1029 BC – 12 years old.
 - According to Chuck Swindoll, more was written in the Bible about David than about any other character: 66 chapters in the Old Testament plus 59 references to his life in the New Testament.
 
14 Now the Spirit of the Lord had left Saul, and an evil spirit sent from the Lord began to torment him,[7]

• The removal of the God’s Spirit leaves one back to the seed of Adam and a sinful nature… which is selfishness… Doing things in your own strength.

 
21 When David came to Saul and entered his service, Saul loved him very much, and David became his armor-bearer. 22 Then Saul sent word to Jesse: “Let David remain in my service, for he has found favor with me.” 23 Whenever the spirit from God came on Saul, David would pick up his lyre and play, and Saul would then be relieved, feel better, and the evil spirit would leave him.[8]

• The importance of music – soothing, calmness and connection.

 
DAVID VERSUS GOLIATH
1 SAMUEL 17

• 1024 – 17 years old

1 The Philistines gathered their forces for war at Socoh in Judah and camped between Socoh and Azekah in Ephes-dammim. 2 Saul and the men of Israel gathered and camped in the Valley of Elah;

• Map & Pictures
• The goal of this strategically important battle was undoubtedly to secure the Valley of Elah, the natural point of entry from the Philistine homeland into the hill country of Saul’s kingdom.

then they lined up in battle formation to face the Philistines.
3 The Philistines were standing on one hill, and the Israelites were standing on another hill with a ravine between them.

• Even though Saul had already been rejected as king, he was going to force his position even further.

4 Then a champion named Goliath, from Gath, came out from the Philistine camp. He was nine feet, nine inches tall

• Not a Nephilim but probably from the people of Anakim.
• Anakim people were large and often compared to the Nephilim.

5 and wore a bronze helmet and bronze scale armor that weighed one hundred twenty-five pounds. 6 There was bronze armor on his shins, and a bronze javelin was slung between his shoulders. 7 His spear shaft was like a weaver’s beam, and the iron point of his spear weighed fifteen pounds. In addition, a shield-bearer was walking in front of him.
8 He stood and shouted to the Israelite battle formations, “Why do you come out to line up in battle formation?” He asked them, “Am I not a Philistine and are you not servants of Saul? Choose one of your men and have him come down against me. 9 If he wins in a fight against me and kills me, we will be your servants. But if I win against him and kill him, then you will be our servants and serve us.” 10 Then the Philistine said, “I defy the ranks of Israel today. Send me a man so we can fight each other!” 11 When Saul and all Israel heard these words from the Philistine, they lost their courage and were terrified.

• Since Saul was the tallest Israelite and the king, he was the natural choice for an opponent.
• But, as earlier (14:1-2), Saul was staying in the background when he should have been leading the people.

12 Now David was the son of the Ephrathite (F-ra-T) from Bethlehem of Judah named Jesse. Jesse had eight sons and during Saul’s reign was already an old man. 13 Jesse’s three oldest sons had followed Saul to the war, and their names were Eliab, the firstborn, Abinadab, the next, and Shammah, the third, 14 and David was the youngest. The three oldest had followed Saul, 15 but David kept going back and forth from Saul to tend his father’s flock in Bethlehem.

• The site of battle was 15 miles due west of David's hometown: Bethlehem.

16 Every morning and evening for forty days the Philistine came forward and took his stand.

• The number 40 often represents a period of testing in the Bible (cf. the Israelites' testing in the wilderness for 40 years, Jesus' testing for 40 days, etc.). 

17 One day Jesse had told his son David, “Take this half-bushel of roasted grain along with these ten loaves of bread for your brothers and hurry to their camp. 18 Also take these ten portions of cheese to the field commander. Check on the well-being of your brothers and bring a confirmation from them. 19 They are with Saul and all the men of Israel in the Valley of Elah fighting with the Philistines.”
20 So David got up early in the morning, left the flock with someone to keep it, loaded up, and set out as Jesse had charged him.
He arrived at the perimeter of the camp as the army was marching out to its battle formation shouting their battle cry. 21 Israel and the Philistines lined up in battle formation facing each other. 22 David left his supplies in the care of the quartermaster and ran to the battle line. When he arrived, he asked his brothers how they were. 23 While he was speaking with them, suddenly the champion named Goliath, the Philistine from Gath, came forward from the Philistine battle line and shouted his usual words, which David heard. 24 When all the Israelite men saw Goliath, they retreated from him terrified.
25 Previously, an Israelite man had declared, “Do you see this man who keeps coming out? He comes to defy Israel. The king will make the man who kills him very rich and will give him his daughter. The king will also make the family of that man’s father exempt from paying taxes in Israel.”
26 David spoke to the men who were standing with him: “What will be done for the man who kills that Philistine and removes this disgrace from Israel? Just who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?”
27 The troops told him about the offer, concluding, “That is what will be done for the man who kills him.”
28 David’s oldest brother Eliab listened as he spoke to the men, and he became angry with him. “Why did you come down here?” he asked. “Who did you leave those few sheep with in the wilderness? I know your arrogance and your evil heart—you came down to see the battle!”

• The very things with which he charged his brother—presumption and wickedness of heart—were most apparent in his scornful reproof.
• Whenever you step out by faith to fight the enemy, there's always somebody around to discourage you, and often it begins in your own home.

29 “What have I done now?” protested David. “It was just a question.” 30 Then he turned from those beside him to others in front of him and asked about the offer. The people gave him the same answer as before.
31 What David said was overheard and reported to Saul, so he had David brought to him. 32 David said to Saul, “Don’t let anyone be discouraged by him; your servant will go and fight this Philistine!”
33 But Saul replied, “You can’t go fight this Philistine. You’re just a youth, and he’s been a warrior since he was young.”

• The opposite of the fear of the Lord is the fear of man.
• No greater contrast of these opposing fears could be presented than when David confronted Goliath.
• Saul and his men feared Goliath the man, but David by virtue of his fear of Yahweh did not.

34 David answered Saul, “Your servant has been tending his father’s sheep. Whenever a lion or a bear came and carried off a lamb from the flock, 35 I went after it, struck it down, and rescued the lamb from its mouth. If it reared up against me, I would grab it by its fur, strike it down, and kill it. 36 Your servant has killed lions and bears; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, for he has defied the armies of the living God.” 37 Then David said, “The Lord who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine.”

• David doesn’t take credit for what the Lord did.

Saul said to David, “Go, and may the Lord be with you.”
38 Then Saul had his own military clothes put on David. He put a bronze helmet on David’s head and had him put on armor. 39 David strapped his sword on over the military clothes and tried to walk, but he was not used to them. “I can’t walk in these,” David said to Saul, “I’m not used to them.” So David took them off.

• Saul was still dependent on personal possessions were David was dependent on the Lord.

40 Instead, he took his staff in his hand and chose five smooth stones from the wadi and put them in the pouch, in his shepherd’s bag. Then, with his sling in his hand, he approached the Philistine.

• Shepherds used slingshots to herd their sheep.
• Stones were as big as baseballs.

41 The Philistine came closer and closer to David, with the shield-bearer in front of him. 42 When the Philistine looked and saw David, he despised him because he was just a youth, healthy and handsome. 43 He said to David, “Am I a dog that you come against me with sticks?”

• Shepherds fought off dogs (wolves).

Then he cursed David by his gods. 44 “Come here,” the Philistine called to David, “and I’ll give your flesh to the birds of the sky and the wild beasts!”
45 David said to the Philistine, “You come against me with a sword, spear, and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord of Armies, the God of the ranks of Israel—you have defied him. 46 Today, the Lord will hand you over to me. Today, I’ll strike you down, remove your head, and give the corpses of the Philistine camp to the birds of the sky and the wild creatures of the earth. Then all the world will know that Israel has a God, 47 and this whole assembly will know that it is not by sword or by spear that the Lord saves, for the battle is the Lord’s. He will hand you over to us.”
48 When the Philistine started forward to attack him, David ran quickly to the battle line to meet the Philistine. 49 David put his hand in the bag, took out a stone, slung it, and hit the Philistine on his forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell facedown to the ground. 50 David defeated the Philistine with a sling and a stone. David overpowered the Philistine and killed him without having a sword.

• Stoning was the penalty for blasphemy in Israel (Lev. 24:16; Deut. 17:7).

51 David ran and stood over him. He grabbed the Philistine’s sword, pulled it from its sheath, and used it to kill him. Then he cut off his head. When the Philistines saw that their hero was dead, they fled. 52 The men of Israel and Judah rallied, shouting their battle cry, and chased the Philistines to the entrance of the valley and to the gates of Ekron. Philistine bodies were strewn all along the Shaaraim road to Gath and Ekron.
53 When the Israelites returned from the pursuit of the Philistines, they plundered their camps. 54 David took Goliath’s head and brought it to Jerusalem, but he put Goliath’s weapons in his own tent.
55  When Saul had seen David going out to confront the Philistine, he asked Abner the commander of the army, “Whose son is this youth, Abner?”
“Your Majesty, as surely as you live, I don’t know,” Abner replied.
56 The king said, “Find out whose son this young man is!”
57 When David returned from killing the Philistine, Abner took him and brought him before Saul with the Philistine’s head still in his hand. 58 Saul said to him, “Whose son are you, young man?”
“The son of your servant Jesse of Bethlehem,” David answered.[9]

• Facing a giant or giants?
• Fear standing in your way?
• The difference between fear and hope.
• Both are projecting the future… but with different perspectives of outcome.

[1] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), 1 Sa 15:10–11.
[2] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), 1 Sa 15:24–29.
[3] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), 1 Sa 15:35.
[4] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), 1 Sa 16:1.
[5] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), 1 Sa 16:7.
[6] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), 1 Sa 16:12–13.
[7] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), 1 Sa 16:14.
[8] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), 1 Sa 16:21–23.
[9] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), 1 Sa 17:1–58.

ISRAEL’S DEMAND FOR A KING
1 SAMUEL 8
1 When Samuel grew old, he appointed his sons as judges over Israel. 2 His firstborn son’s name was Joel and his second was Abijah. They were judges in Beer-sheba. 3 However, his sons did not walk in his ways—they turned toward dishonest profit, took bribes, and perverted justice.

• The people would probably not have insisted on having a king at this time if Samuel's sons had proved to be as faithful to the Mosaic Covenant as their father had been.
• The text says that they served as judges in Beersheba, but Josephus wrote that they served at Bethel and Beersheba.
• Eli's sons had also proved unworthy.
• Parental influence is important, but personal choices are even more determinative in the outcome of one's life.
• Whereas the writer censured Eli for his poor parenting (3:13), he did not do so with Samuel.
• Evidently he did not consider Samuel responsible for his son's conduct, or perhaps he did not want to sully the reputation of this great judge.

4 So all the elders of Israel gathered together and went to Samuel at Ramah. 5 They said to him, “Look, you are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways. Therefore, appoint a king to judge us the same as all the other nations have.”
6 When they said, “Give us a king to judge us,” Samuel considered their demand wrong, so he prayed to the Lord.

• The request displeased Samuel, probably because he saw this request as a desire to change the form of Israel's government without divine initiative.

7 But the Lord told him, “Listen to the people and everything they say to you. They have not rejected you; they have rejected me as their king. 8 They are doing the same thing to you that they have done to me, since the day I brought them out of Egypt until this day, abandoning me and worshiping other gods.

• The rejection of Samuel was the rejection of godly leadership; the choice of Saul was the choice of ungodly leadership.

9 Listen to them, but solemnly warn them and tell them about the customary rights of the king who will reign over them.”
10 Samuel told all the Lord’s words to the people who were asking him for a king. 11 He said, “These are the rights of the king who will reign over you: He will take your sons and put them to his use in his chariots, on his horses, or running in front of his chariots. 12 He can appoint them for his use as commanders of thousands or commanders of fifties, to plow his ground and reap his harvest, or to make his weapons of war and the equipment for his chariots. 13 He can take your daughters to become perfumers, cooks, and bakers. 14 He can take your best fields, vineyards, and olive orchards and give them to his servants. 15 He can take a tenth of your grain and your vineyards and give them to his officials and servants. 16 He can take your male servants, your female servants, your best cattle, and your donkeys and use them for his work. 17 He can take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves can become his servants. 18 When that day comes, you will cry out because of the king you’ve chosen for yourselves, but the Lord won’t answer you on that day.”

•  The people would also regret their request because their king would disappoint them.

19 The people refused to listen to Samuel. “No!” they said. “We must have a king over us. 20 Then we’ll be like all the other nations: our king will judge us, go out before us, and fight our battles.”
21 Samuel listened to all the people’s words and then repeated them to the Lord. 22 “Listen to them,” the Lord told Samuel. “Appoint a king for them.”
Then Samuel told the men of Israel, “Each of you, go back to your city.”[1]
 
SAUL ANOINTED KING
1 SAMUEL 9
1 There was a prominent man of Benjamin named Kish son of Abiel, son of Zeror, son of Becorath, son of Aphiah, son of a Benjaminite. 2 He had a son named Saul, an impressive young man. There was no one more impressive among the Israelites than he. He stood a head taller than anyone else.

•  Saul himself was physically impressive: unusually tall and handsome.
• His exact age remains a mystery, though the writer called him "young."
• God gave the people just what they wanted: Saul looked like a king.
• Whereas Hannah had asked for a son directly from God (1:28), the Israelites had asked for a king from Samuel (8:5).
• The narrative begins with Saul's father, Kish, losing some donkeys and sending Saul and a servant to find them.
• After an unsuccessful search, they decide to seek the help of the prophet Samuel, who is known for his wisdom and guidance (1 Samuel 9:3-6).

 

• God had already revealed to Samuel that He would send a man from Benjamin to be anointed as the first king of Israel.
• When Saul arrives, God confirms to Samuel that Saul is the chosen one (1 Samuel 9:15-17).
• Samuel invites Saul to a meal and later privately anoints him as king, explaining that God has chosen him to lead and deliver Israel from the Philistines (1 Samuel 9:19-10:1).
• Samuel gives Saul several signs to confirm his anointing, including encounters with prophets and specific events that would occur on his journey home.
• These signs come to pass, and the Spirit of God comes powerfully upon Saul, transforming him and enabling him to prophesy (1 Samuel 10:2-10).

 

• When Saul returns home, he does not immediately reveal his anointing as king to his family, keeping the matter private for the time being (1 Samuel 10:14-16).

 

• Saul's transformation by the Spirit underscores the necessity of God's empowerment for leadership and service (1 Samuel 10:6-7).

 
SAUL RECEIVED AS KING
1 SAMUEL 10

• Samuel anointed Saul with oil.
• Anointing with oil was a symbolic act in Israel, and elsewhere in the ancient Near East, that pictured consecration to service.
• The only things anointed with oil before this anointing were the priests and the tabernacle.
• The oil symbolized God's Spirit, and anointing with oil represented endowment with that Spirit for the purpose of enablement.
• 1 John 2:27 -  As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you don’t need anyone to teach you. Instead, his anointing teaches you about all things and is true and is not a lie; just as it has taught you, remain in him.[2]

17 Samuel summoned the people to the Lord at Mizpah

• Mizpah was the scene of Israel's previous spiritual revival and victory over the Philistines (7:5-13).
• Perhaps Samuel chose this site for Saul's public presentation to the nation because of those events.
• The tabernacle may have been there as well.

18 and said to the Israelites, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘I brought Israel out of Egypt, and I rescued you from the power of the Egyptians and all the kingdoms that were oppressing you.’ 19 But today you have rejected your God, who saves you from all your troubles and afflictions. You said to him, ‘You must set a king over us.’ Now therefore present yourselves before the Lord by your tribes and clans.”
20 Samuel had all the tribes of Israel come forward, and the tribe of Benjamin was selected. 21 Then he had the tribe of Benjamin come forward by its clans, and the Matrite clan was selected. Finally, Saul son of Kish was selected. But when they searched for him, they could not find him. 22 They again inquired of the Lord, “Has the man come here yet?”
The Lord replied, “There he is, hidden among the supplies.”
23 They ran and got him from there. When he stood among the people, he stood a head taller than anyone else., 24 Samuel said to all the people, “Do you see the one the Lord has chosen? There is no one like him among the entire population.”
And all the people shouted, “Long live the king!”
25 Samuel proclaimed to the people the rights of kingship. He wrote them on a scroll, which he placed in the presence of the Lord. Then Samuel sent all the people home.
26 Saul also went to his home in Gibeah, and brave men whose hearts God had touched went with him. 27 But some wicked men said, “How can this guy save us?” They despised him and did not bring him a gift, but Saul said nothing.[3]
 
1 SAMUEL 11
1 Nahash the Ammonite came up and laid siege to Jabesh-gilead. All the men of Jabesh said to him, “Make a treaty with us, and we will serve you.”
2 Nahash the Ammonite replied, “I’ll make one with you on this condition: that I gouge out everyone’s right eye and humiliate all Israel.”
3 “Don’t do anything to us for seven days,” the elders of Jabesh said to him, “and let us send messengers throughout the territory of Israel. If no one saves us, we will surrender to you.”

• Saul was told what the Ammonite men said.

 
6 When Saul heard these words, the Spirit of God suddenly came powerfully on him, and his anger burned furiously. 7 He took a team of oxen, cut them in pieces, and sent them throughout the territory of Israel by messengers who said, “This is what will be done to the ox of anyone who doesn’t march behind Saul and Samuel.”

• Saul linked himself with Samuel because Samuel was the recognized spiritual leader of the nation.
• By referring to Samuel, Saul was probably hinting that this battle had divine approval.

As a result, the terror of the Lord fell on the people, and they went out united.
8 Saul counted them at Bezek. There were three hundred thousand, Israelites and thirty thousand men from Judah. 9 He told the messengers who had come, “Tell this to the men of Jabesh-gilead: ‘Deliverance will be yours tomorrow by the time the sun is hot.’ ” So the messengers told the men of Jabesh, and they rejoiced.
10 Then the men of Jabesh said to Nahash, “Tomorrow we will come out, and you can do whatever you want to us.”
11 The next day Saul organized the troops into three divisions. During the morning watch, they invaded the Ammonite camp and slaughtered them until the heat of the day. There were survivors, but they were so scattered that no two of them were left together.
 
SAUL’S CONFIRMATION AS KING
12 Afterward, the people said to Samuel, “Who said that Saul should not reign over us? Give us those men so we can kill them!”
13 But Saul ordered, “No one will be executed this day, for today the Lord has provided deliverance in Israel.”
14 Then Samuel said to the people, “Come, let’s go to Gilgal, so we can renew the kingship there.”

• What Samuel called for was a ceremony to renew the Mosaic Covenant.
• It was to be similar to those that had taken place in Joshua's day (Josh. 8 and 24) in which the nation would dedicate itself afresh to Yahweh and His Law as a nation (cf. Deut. 29).

15 So all the people went to Gilgal, and there in the Lord’s presence they made Saul king. There they sacrificed fellowship offerings in the Lord’s presence, and Saul and all the men of Israel rejoiced greatly.[4]
 
SAMUEL’S FINAL PUBLIC SPEECH
1 SAMUEL 12
1 Then Samuel said to all Israel, “I have carefully listened to everything you said to me and placed a king over you.
 
13 “Now here is the king you’ve chosen, the one you requested. Look, this is the king the Lord has placed over you. 14 If you fear the Lord, worship and obey him, and if you don’t rebel against the Lord’s command, then both you and the king who reigns over you will follow the Lord your God. 15 However, if you disobey the Lord and rebel against his command, the Lord’s hand will be against you as it was against your ancestors.

• The key to Israel's future blessing would be fearing Yahweh, serving Him, listening to His voice through the Mosaic Law and the prophets, and not rebelling against His commands.
• The major message of 1 and 2 Samuel thus comes through again clearly in Samuel's final words to the nation, as we would expect.

 
23 “As for me, I vow that I will not sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you. I will teach you the good and right way. 24 Above all, fear the Lord and worship him faithfully with all your heart; consider the great things he has done for you. 25 However, if you continue to do what is evil, both you and your king will be swept away.”[5]
SAUL’S FAILURE
1 SAMUEL 13
1 Saul was thirty years old when he became king, and he reigned forty-two years over Israel. 2 He chose three thousand men from Israel for himself: two thousand were with Saul at Michmash and in Bethel’s hill country, and one thousand were with Jonathan in Gibeah of Benjamin. He sent the rest of the troops away, each to his own tent.
3 Jonathan attacked the Philistine garrison in Gibeah, and the Philistines heard about it. So Saul blew the trumpet throughout the land saying, “Let the Hebrews hear!”, 4 And all Israel heard the news, “Saul has attacked the Philistine garrison, and Israel is now repulsive to the Philistines.” Then the troops were summoned to join Saul at Gilgal.
5 The Philistines also gathered to fight against Israel: three thousand chariots, six thousand horsemen, and troops as numerous as the sand on the seashore. They went up and camped at Michmash, east of Beth-aven.
6 The men of Israel saw that they were in trouble because the troops were in a difficult situation. They hid in caves, in thickets, among rocks, and in holes and cisterns. 7 Some Hebrews even crossed the Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead.
Saul, however, was still at Gilgal, and all his troops were gripped with fear. 8 He waited seven days for the appointed time that Samuel had set, but Samuel didn’t come to Gilgal, and the troops were deserting him. 9 So Saul said, “Bring me the burnt offering and the fellowship offerings.” Then he offered the burnt offering.

• His sin is not that he offers the sacrifice prematurely (because he does wait until the time set by Samuel is up.).
• His sin is that he disrespects Samuel's authority by offering the sacrifice himself."

10 Just as he finished offering the burnt offering, Samuel arrived. So Saul went out to greet him, 11 and Samuel asked, “What have you done?”
Saul answered, “When I saw that the troops were deserting me and you didn’t come within the appointed days and the Philistines were gathering at Michmash, 12 I thought, ‘The Philistines will now descend on me at Gilgal, and I haven’t sought the Lord’s favor.’ So I forced myself to offer the burnt offering.”

• In explaining his actions to Samuel Saul he gave three reasons:
• 1) He feared that his army was deserting him,
• 2) Samuel had delayed his coming,
• 3) and the Philistines were preparing to attack (v. 11).
• He claimed that in view of these conditions he had worked up his courage and finally offered the burnt offering.

13 Samuel said to Saul, “You have been foolish. You have not kept the command the Lord your God gave you. It was at this time that the Lord would have permanently established your reign over Israel, 14 but now your reign will not endure. The Lord has found a man after his own heart, and the Lord has appointed him as ruler over his people, because you have not done what the Lord commanded.”

• Saul lost his kingdom for want of two or three hours' patience.

 
19 No blacksmith could be found in all the land of Israel because the Philistines had said, “Otherwise, the Hebrews will make swords or spears.” 20 So all the Israelites went to the Philistines to sharpen their plows, mattocks, axes, and sickles. 21 The price was two-thirds of a shekel for plows and mattocks, and one-third of a shekel for pitchforks and axes, and for putting a point on a cattle prod. 22 So on the day of battle not a sword or spear could be found in the hand of any of the troops who were with Saul and Jonathan; only Saul and his son Jonathan had weapons.

• This monopoly continued with some success until the time of David when Israel began to produce iron objects rather freely (cf. 1 Chron. 22:3).

23 Now a Philistine garrison took control of the pass at Michmash.[6]

• It always comes down to doing things (including leadership) in your own strength and your own time to doing things in the Lord’s strength and the Lord’s time.

[1] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), 1 Sa 8:1–22.
[2] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), 1 Jn 2:27.
[3] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), 1 Sa 10:17-27.
[4] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), 1 Sa 11:1–15.
[5] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), 1 Sa 12:1–25.
[6] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), 1 Sa 13:1–23.

1 Samuel chapters 1 and 2 introduce us to the story of Hannah, a woman deeply distressed by her inability to have children.

• In her anguish, she prays fervently to the Lord, promising that if He grants her a son, she will dedicate him to the Lord's service.

1 SAMUEL 1
10 Deeply hurt, Hannah prayed to the Lord and wept with many tears. 11 Making a vow, she pleaded, “Lord of Armies, if you will take notice of your servant’s affliction, remember and not forget me, and give your servant a son, I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, and his hair will never be cut.”[1]

• God hears her prayer, and she gives birth to Samuel, whom she later brings to the temple to fulfill her vow.

20 After some time, Hannah conceived and gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel, because she said, “I requested him from the Lord.”[2]
 
27 I prayed for this boy, and since the Lord gave me what I asked him for, 28 I now give the boy to the Lord. For as long as he lives, he is given to the Lord.” Then he worshiped the Lord there.[3]
 
Chapter 2 begins with Hannah's prayer of thanksgiving, a beautiful expression of praise and acknowledgment of God's sovereignty and faithfulness (1 Samuel 2:1-10).

• The narrative then shifts to the corruption of Eli's sons, who are priests but act wickedly, contrasting with the growing favor of young Samuel, who serves the Lord faithfully (1 Samuel 2:12-17, 26).

 
1 SAMUEL 2
12 Eli’s sons were wicked men; they did not respect the Lord 13 or the priests’ share of the sacrifices from the people. When anyone offered a sacrifice, the priest’s servant would come with a three-pronged meat fork while the meat was boiling 14 and plunge it into the container, kettle, cauldron, or cooking pot. The priest would claim for himself whatever the meat fork brought up. This is the way they treated all the Israelites who came there to Shiloh. 15 Even before the fat was burned, the priest’s servant would come and say to the one who was sacrificing, “Give the priest some meat to roast, because he won’t accept boiled meat from you—only raw.” 16 If that person said to him, “The fat must be burned first; then you can take whatever you want for yourself,” the servant would reply, “No, I insist that you hand it over right now. If you don’t, I’ll take it by force!” 17 So the servants’ sin was very severe in the presence of the Lord, because the men treated the Lord’s offering with contempt.[4]
 
26 By contrast, the boy Samuel grew in stature and in favor with the Lord and with people.[5]
These chapters highlight themes of faith, prayer, and God's faithfulness in answering prayers.

• They also set the stage for the rise of Samuel as a significant prophet and leader in Israel, emphasizing God's ability to work through humble and faithful individuals to accomplish His purposes.

27 A man of God came to Eli and said to him…[6]
35 “ ‘Then I will raise up a faithful priest for myself. He will do whatever is in my heart and mind. I will establish a lasting dynasty for him, and he will walk before my anointed one for all time.[7]
 
SAMUEL’S CALL
1 SAMUEL 3
1 The boy Samuel served the Lord in Eli’s presence. In those days the word of the Lord was rare and prophetic visions were not widespread.
2 One day Eli, whose eyesight was failing, was lying in his usual place. 3 Before the lamp of God had gone out, Samuel was lying down in the temple of the Lord, where the ark of God was located.
4 Then the Lord called Samuel, and he answered, “Here I am.” 5 He ran to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.”
“I didn’t call,” Eli replied. “Go back and lie down.” So he went and lay down.
6 Once again the Lord called, “Samuel!”
Samuel got up, went to Eli, and said, “Here I am; you called me.”
“I didn’t call, my son,” he replied. “Go back and lie down.”
7 Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, because the word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him.

•  It probably means that the boy had not yet come to know Yahweh as he was about to know Him, having heard His voice speaking directly to him 

8 Once again, for the third time, the Lord called Samuel. He got up, went to Eli, and said, “Here I am; you called me.”
Then Eli understood that the Lord was calling the boy. 9 He told Samuel, “Go and lie down. If he calls you, say, ‘Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.’ ” So Samuel went and lay down in his place.
10 The Lord came, stood there, and called as before, “Samuel, Samuel!”
Samuel responded, “Speak, for your servant is listening.”
11 The Lord said to Samuel, “I am about to do something in Israel that will cause everyone who hears about it to shudder. 12 On that day I will carry out against Eli everything I said about his family, from beginning to end. 13 I told him that I am going to judge his family forever because of the iniquity he knows about: his sons are cursing God, and he has not stopped them. 14 Therefore, I have sworn to Eli’s family: The iniquity of Eli’s family will never be wiped out by either sacrifice or offering.”
15 Samuel lay down until the morning; then he opened the doors of the Lord’s house. He was afraid to tell Eli the vision, 16 but Eli called him and said, “Samuel, my son.”
“Here I am,” answered Samuel.
17 “What was the message he gave you?” Eli asked. “Don’t hide it from me. May God punish you and do so severely if you hide anything from me that he told you.” 18 So Samuel told him everything and did not hide anything from him. Eli responded, “He is the Lord. Let him do what he thinks is good.”
19 Samuel grew. The Lord was with him, and he fulfilled everything Samuel prophesied. 20 All Israel from Dan to Beer-sheba knew that Samuel was a confirmed prophet of the Lord. 21 The Lord continued to appear in Shiloh, because there he revealed himself to Samuel by his word
 
1 SAMUEL 4
And Samuel’s words came to all Israel.[8]
 
THE ARK CAPTURED BY THE PHILISTINES
Israel went out to meet the Philistines in battle and camped at Ebenezer while the Philistines camped at Aphek. 2 The Philistines lined up in battle formation against Israel, and as the battle intensified, Israel was defeated by the Philistines, who struck down about four thousand men on the battlefield.
3 When the troops returned to the camp, the elders of Israel asked, “Why did the Lord defeat us today before the Philistines? Let’s bring the ark of the Lord’s covenant from Shiloh. Then it will go with us and save us from our enemies.” 4 So the people sent men to Shiloh to bring back the ark of the covenant of the Lord of Armies, who is enthroned between the cherubim. Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God. 5 When the ark of the covenant of the Lord entered the camp, all the Israelites raised such a loud shout that the ground shook.
6 The Philistines heard the sound of the war cry and asked, “What’s this loud shout in the Hebrews’ camp?” When the Philistines discovered that the ark of the Lord had entered the camp, 7 they panicked. “A god has entered their camp!” they said. “Woe to us! Nothing like this has happened before. 8 Woe to us! Who will rescue us from these magnificent gods? These are the gods that slaughtered the Egyptians with all kinds of plagues in the wilderness. 9 Show some courage and be men, Philistines! Otherwise, you’ll serve the Hebrews just as they served you. Now be men and fight!”
10 So the Philistines fought, and Israel was defeated, and each man fled to his tent. The slaughter was severe—thirty thousand of the Israelite foot soldiers fell. 11 The ark of God was captured, and Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, died.
 
ELI’S DEATH AND ICHABOD’S BIRTH
12 That same day, a Benjaminite man ran from the battle and came to Shiloh. His clothes were torn, and there was dirt on his head. 13 When he arrived, there was Eli sitting on his chair beside the road waiting, because he was anxious about the ark of God. When the man entered the city to give a report, the entire city cried out.
14 Eli heard the outcry and asked, “Why this commotion?” The man quickly came and reported to Eli. 15 At that time Eli was ninety-eight years old, and his eyes didn’t move because he couldn’t see.
16 The man said to Eli, “I’m the one who came from the battle. I fled from there today.”
“What happened, my son?” Eli asked.
17 The messenger answered, “Israel has fled from the Philistines, and also there was a great slaughter among the people. Your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, are both dead, and the ark of God has been captured.” 18 When he mentioned the ark of God, Eli fell backward off the chair by the city gate, and since he was old and heavy, his neck broke and he died. Eli had judged Israel forty years.
19 Eli’s daughter-in-law, the wife of Phinehas, was pregnant and about to give birth. When she heard the news about the capture of God’s ark and the deaths of her father-in-law and her husband, she collapsed and gave birth because her labor pains came on her. 20 As she was dying, the women taking care of her said, “Don’t be afraid. You’ve given birth to a son!” But she did not respond or pay attention. 21 She named the boy Ichabod, saying, “The glory has departed from Israel,” referring to the capture of the ark of God and to the deaths of her father-in-law and her husband. 22 “The glory has departed from Israel,” she said, “because the ark of God has been captured.”[9]
 
In 1 Samuel, chapters 5 to 7, we see the journey of the Ark of the Covenant after the Philistines captured it.

• In chapter 5, the Philistines place the Ark in the temple of their god Dagon, but the statue of Dagon falls before the Ark, and the people of Ashdod are afflicted with tumors.
• Realizing the power of the God of Israel, the Philistines move the Ark to different cities, but each city experiences similar plagues (1 Samuel 5:1-12).

 
1 SAMUEL 5
11 The Ekronites called all the Philistine rulers together. They said, “Send the ark of Israel’s God away. Let it return to its place so it won’t kill us and our people!” For the fear of death pervaded the city; God’s hand was oppressing them. 12 Those who did not die were afflicted with tumors, and the outcry of the city went up to heaven.[10]
In chapter 6, the Philistines decide to return the Ark to Israel, sending it back on a cart with offerings of gold as a guilt offering.

• The Ark arrives in Beth-shemesh, where the people rejoice, but some are struck down for looking into the Ark, highlighting the holiness of God and the importance of reverence (1 Samuel 6:13-19).

 
1 SAMUEL 6
13 The people of Beth-shemesh were harvesting wheat in the valley, and when they looked up and saw the ark, they were overjoyed to see it. 14 The cart came to the field of Joshua of Beth-shemesh and stopped there near a large rock. The people of the city chopped up the cart and offered the cows as a burnt offering to the Lord.

• The ark was extremely important in Israel's national life. It was where Yahweh manifested His presence, and it symbolized God's presence.

15 The Levites removed the ark of the Lord, along with the box containing the gold objects, and placed them on the large rock. That day the people of Beth-shemesh offered burnt offerings and made sacrifices to the Lord. 16 When the five Philistine rulers observed this, they returned to Ekron that same day.
17 As a guilt offering to the Lord, the Philistines had sent back one gold tumor for each city: Ashdod, Gaza, Ashkelon, Gath, and Ekron. 18 The number of gold mice also corresponded to the number of Philistine cities of the five rulers, the fortified cities and the outlying villages. The large rock, on which the ark of the Lord was placed is still in the field of Joshua of Beth-shemesh today.
19 God struck down the people of Beth-shemesh because they looked inside the ark of the Lord. He struck down seventy persons. The people mourned because the Lord struck them with a great slaughter.[11]
 
Chapter 7 describes the Ark's journey to Kiriath-jearim, where it remains for twenty years.

• During this time, Samuel calls the Israelites to repentance, urging them to turn away from foreign gods and serve the Lord alone.
• The people respond, and Samuel leads them in a time of national repentance and prayer.
• God delivers Israel from the Philistines..

 
1 SAMUEL 7
12 Afterward, Samuel took a stone and set it upright between Mizpah and Shen. He named it Ebenezer, explaining, “The Lord has helped us to this point.”

• Map

13 So the Philistines were subdued and did not invade Israel’s territory again. The Lord’s hand was against the Philistines all of Samuel’s life. 14 The cities from Ekron to Gath, which they had taken from Israel, were restored; Israel even rescued their surrounding territories from Philistine control. There was also peace between Israel and the Amorites. [12]
These chapters emphasize God's holiness, the importance of reverence, and the power of repentance and turning to God for deliverance.

• They also highlight Samuel's role as a spiritual leader who guides Israel back to faithfulness.

[1] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), 1 Sa 1:10–11.
[2] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), 1 Sa 1:20.
[3] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), 1 Sa 1:27–28.
[4] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), 1 Sa 2:12–17.
[5] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), 1 Sa 2:26.
[6] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), 1 Sa 2:27.
[7] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), 1 Sa 2:35.
[8] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), 1 Sa 3:1–4:1.
[9] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), 1 Sa 4:1–22.
[10] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), 1 Sa 5:11–12.
[11] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), 1 Sa 6:13–19.
[12] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), 1 Sa 7:12–14.

The name "Ruth" may mean "friendship," "comfort," or "refreshment."

• It appears to have been a Moabite name and not a Hebrew name originally.
• The only other Old Testament book that was named for a Gentile (non-Israelite) is Job.
• The Book of Ruth was attached to the end of the Book of Judges in the Hebrew Bible.
• Books of the Bible picture
• Later the Jews placed Ruth in the third major division of their canon, the Kethubim (Writings).
• In most Hebrew Bibles, Ruth occurs immediately after Proverbs and before Song of Songs in the Writings, the third section of the Tanak [Hebrew Bible].
• This placement associates Ruth with Proverbs 31, the poem of the virtuous woman, and the Song of Songs, in which the woman takes the lead in the relationship.

 

• Twenty-three of its 85 verses mention God.
• Of these, only 1:6 and 4:13, which bracket the book, are the narrator's comments.
• All the rest appear in the characters' speeches.
• Contrast the Book of Esther, which also teaches the providence of God, but does not mention God even once.
• This is one of the only two books in Scripture which bear the names of women.
• Those two are Ruth and Esther; and they stand in marked contrast.
• Ruth is a young Gentile woman who is brought to live among Hebrews and marries a Hebrew husband in the line of royal David.
• Esther is a young Hebrew woman who is brought to live among Gentiles and marries a Gentile husband on the throne of a great empire.

 

• The Ruth narrative provided a gratifying reminder that even in the darkest times God was at work in the hearts of His faithful remnant.

 
NAOMI’S FAMILY IN MOAB
RUTH 1
1 During the time of the judges, there was a famine in the land. A man left Bethlehem in Judah with his wife and two sons to stay in the territory of Moab for a while. 2 The man’s name was Elimelech, and his wife’s name was Naomi. The names of his two sons were Mahlon and Chilion. They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem in Judah. They entered the fields of Moab and settled there. 3 Naomi’s husband, Elimelech, died, and she was left with her two sons. 4 Her sons took Moabite women as their wives: one was named Orpah and the second was named Ruth. After they lived in Moab about ten years, 5 both Mahlon and Chilion also died, and the woman was left without her two children and without her husband.
 
RUTH’S LOYALTY TO NAOMI
6 She and her daughters-in-law set out to return from the territory of Moab, because she had heard in Moab that the Lord had paid attention to his people’s need by providing them food. 7 She left the place where she had been living, accompanied by her two daughters-in-law, and traveled along the road leading back to the land of Judah.
8 Naomi said to them, “Each of you go back to your mother’s home. May the Lord show kindness to you as you have shown to the dead and to me. 9 May the Lord grant each of you rest in the house of a new husband.” She kissed them, and they wept loudly.
10 They said to her, “We insist on returning with you to your people.”
11 But Naomi replied, “Return home, my daughters. Why do you want to go with me? Am I able to have any more sons who could become your husbands? 12 Return home, my daughters. Go on, for I am too old to have another husband. Even if I thought there was still hope for me to have a husband tonight and to bear sons, 13 would you be willing to wait for them to grow up? Would you restrain yourselves from remarrying? No, my daughters, my life is much too bitter for you to share, because the Lord’s hand has turned against me.” 14 Again they wept loudly, and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her. 15 Naomi said, “Look, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods. Follow your sister-in-law.”
16 But Ruth replied:
Don’t plead with me to abandon you
or to return and not follow you.
For wherever you go, I will go,
and wherever you live, I will live;
your people will be my people,
and your God will be my God.
17 Where you die, I will die,
and there I will be buried.
May the Lord punish me,
and do so severely,
if anything but death separates you and me.

• Ruth, being a Moabitess, was a descendant of Lot, who chose to leave the Promised Land because he thought he could do better for himself elsewhere (Gen. 13:11-12).
• Ruth now reversed the decision of her ancestor and chose to identify with the promises of Yahweh that centered in the Promised Land.

18 When Naomi saw that Ruth was determined to go with her, she stopped talking to her.
19 The two of them traveled until they came to Bethlehem. When they entered Bethlehem, the whole town was excited about their arrival, and the local women exclaimed, “Can this be Naomi?”
20 “Don’t call me Naomi. Call me Mara,” she answered, “for the Almighty has made me very bitter. 21 I went away full, but the Lord has brought me back empty. Why do you call me Naomi, since the Lord has opposed me, and the Almighty has afflicted me?”
22 So Naomi came back from the territory of Moab with her daughter-in-law Ruth the Moabitess. They arrived in Bethlehem at the beginning of the barley harvest.[1]
 
RUTH AND BOAZ MEET
RUTH 2
1 Now Naomi had a relative on her husband’s side. He was a prominent man of noble character from Elimelech’s family. His name was Boaz.
2 Ruth the Moabitess asked Naomi, “Will you let me go into the fields and gather fallen grain behind someone with whom I find favor?”
Naomi answered her, “Go ahead, my daughter.” 3 So Ruth left and entered the field to gather grain behind the harvesters. She happened to be in the portion of the field belonging to Boaz, who was from Elimelech’s family.
4 Later, when Boaz arrived from Bethlehem, he said to the harvesters, “The Lord be with you.”
“The Lord bless you,” they replied.
5 Boaz asked his servant who was in charge of the harvesters, “Whose young woman is this?”
6 The servant answered, “She is the young Moabite woman who returned with Naomi from the territory of Moab. 7 She asked, ‘Will you let me gather fallen grain among the bundles behind the harvesters?’ She came and has been on her feet since early morning, except that she rested a little in the shelter.”
8 Then Boaz said to Ruth, “Listen, my daughter. Don’t go and gather grain in another field, and don’t leave this one, but stay here close to my female servants. 9 See which field they are harvesting, and follow them. Haven’t I ordered the young men not to touch you? When you are thirsty, go and drink from the jars the young men have filled.”

• Boaz is instituting the first anti-sexual-harassment policy in the workplace recorded in the Bible.

10 She fell facedown, bowed to the ground, and said to him, “Why have I found favor with you, so that you notice me, although I am a foreigner?”
11 Boaz answered her, “Everything you have done for your mother-in-law since your husband’s death has been fully reported to me: how you left your father and mother and your native land, and how you came to a people you didn’t previously know. 12 May the Lord reward you for what you have done, and may you receive a full reward from the Lord God of Israel, under whose wings you have come for refuge.”
13 “My lord,” she said, “I have found favor with you, for you have comforted and encouraged your servant, although I am not like one of your female servants.”
14 At mealtime Boaz told her, “Come over here and have some bread and dip it in the vinegar sauce.” So she sat beside the harvesters, and he offered her roasted grain. She ate and was satisfied and had some left over.
15 When she got up to gather grain, Boaz ordered his young men, “Let her even gather grain among the bundles, and don’t humiliate her. 16 Pull out some stalks from the bundles for her and leave them for her to gather. Don’t rebuke her.” 17 So Ruth gathered grain in the field until evening. She beat out what she had gathered, and it was about twenty-six quarts of barley.

• This was the equivalent of at least half a month's wages in one day.

18 She picked up the grain and went into the town, where her mother-in-law saw what she had gleaned. She brought out what she had left over from her meal and gave it to her.
19 Her mother-in-law said to her, “Where did you gather barley today, and where did you work? May the Lord bless the man who noticed you.”
Ruth told her mother-in-law whom she had worked with and said, “The name of the man I worked with today is Boaz.”
20 Then Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, “May the Lord bless him because he has not abandoned his kindness to the living or the dead.” Naomi continued, “The man is a close relative. He is one of our family redeemers.”
21 Ruth the Moabitess said, “He also told me, ‘Stay with my young men until they have finished all of my harvest.’ ”
22 So Naomi said to her daughter-in-law Ruth, “My daughter, it is good for you to work with his female servants, so that nothing will happen to you in another field.” 23 Ruth stayed close to Boaz’s female servants and gathered grain until the barley and the wheat harvests were finished. And she lived with her mother-in-law.[2]
 
RUTH’S APPEAL TO BOAZ
RUTH 3
1 Ruth’s mother-in-law Naomi said to her, “My daughter, shouldn’t I find rest for you, so that you will be taken care of? 2 Now isn’t Boaz our relative? Haven’t you been working with his female servants? This evening he will be winnowing barley on the threshing floor. 3 Wash, put on perfumed oil (Midnight in Moab), and wear your best clothes. Go down to the threshing floor, but don’t let the man know you are there until he has finished eating and drinking. 4 When he lies down, notice the place where he’s lying, go in and uncover his feet, and lie down. Then he will explain to you what you should do.”

• Touching and holding his feet was an act of submission.

5 So Ruth said to her, “I will do everything you say.” 6 She went down to the threshing floor and did everything her mother-in-law had charged her to do. 7 After Boaz ate, drank, and was in good spirits, he went to lie down at the end of the pile of barley, and she came secretly, uncovered his feet, and lay down.
8 At midnight, Boaz was startled, turned over, and there lying at his feet was a woman! 9 So he asked, “Who are you?”
“I am Ruth, your servant,” she replied. “Take me under your wing,, for you are a family redeemer.”
10 Then he said, “May the Lord bless you, my daughter. You have shown more kindness now than before, because you have not pursued younger men, whether rich or poor. 11 Now don’t be afraid, my daughter. I will do for you whatever you say, since all the people in my town know that you are a woman of noble character. 12 Yes, it is true that I am a family redeemer, but there is a redeemer closer than I am. 13 Stay here tonight, and in the morning, if he wants to redeem you, that’s good. Let him redeem you. But if he doesn’t want to redeem you, as the Lord lives, I will. Now lie down until morning.”

• (1) He had to be a near kinsman.
• (2) He had to be willing to redeem.
• (3) He had to be able to redeem.
• (4) He had to be free himself.
• (5) He had to be able to pay the price of redemption.

14 So she lay down at his feet until morning but got up while it was still dark. Then Boaz said, “Don’t let it be known that a woman came to the threshing floor.” 15 And he told Ruth, “Bring the shawl you’re wearing and hold it out.” When she held it out, he shoveled six measures of barley into her shawl, and she went into the town.
16 She went to her mother-in-law, Naomi, who asked her, “What happened, my daughter?”
Then Ruth told her everything the man had done for her. 17 She said, “He gave me these six measures of barley, because he said, ‘Don’t go back to your mother-in-law empty-handed.’ ”
18 Naomi said, “My daughter, wait until you find out how things go, for he won’t rest unless he resolves this today.” [3]
 
RUTH AND BOAZ MARRY
RUTH 4
1 Boaz went to the gate of the town and sat down there. Soon the family redeemer Boaz had spoken about came by. Boaz said, “Come over here and sit down.” So he went over and sat down. 2 Then Boaz took ten men of the town’s elders and said, “Sit here.” And they sat down. 3 He said to the redeemer, “Naomi, who has returned from the territory of Moab, is selling the portion of the field that belonged to our brother Elimelech. 4 I thought I should inform you: Buy it back in the presence of those seated here and in the presence of the elders of my people. If you want to redeem it, do it. But if you do not want to redeem it, tell me so that I will know, because there isn’t anyone other than you to redeem it, and I am next after you.”
“I want to redeem it,” he answered.
5 Then Boaz said, “On the day you buy the field from Naomi, you will acquire Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of the deceased man, to perpetuate the man’s name on his property.”,
6 The redeemer replied, “I can’t redeem it myself, or I will ruin my own inheritance. Take my right of redemption, because I can’t redeem it.”
7 At an earlier period in Israel, a man removed his sandal and gave it to the other party in order to make any matter legally binding concerning the right of redemption or the exchange of property. This was the method of legally binding a transaction in Israel.
8 So the redeemer removed his sandal and said to Boaz, “Buy back the property yourself.”
9 Boaz said to the elders and all the people, “You are witnesses today that I am buying from Naomi everything that belonged to Elimelech, Chilion, and Mahlon. 10 I have also acquired Ruth the Moabitess, Mahlon’s widow, as my wife, to perpetuate the deceased man’s name on his property, so that his name will not disappear among his relatives or from the gate of his hometown. You are witnesses today.”
11 All the people who were at the city gate, including the elders, said, “We are witnesses. May the Lord make the woman who is entering your house like Rachel and Leah, who together built the house of Israel. May you be powerful in Ephrathah and your name well known in Bethlehem. 12 May your house become like the house of Perez, the son Tamar bore to Judah, because of the offspring the Lord will give you by this young woman.”
13 Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife. (rest) He slept with her, and the Lord granted conception to her, and she gave birth to a son. 14 The women said to Naomi, “Blessed be the Lord, who has not left you without a family redeemer today. May his name become well known in Israel. 15 He will renew your life and sustain you in your old age. Indeed, your daughter-in-law, who loves you and is better to you than seven sons, has given birth to him.” 16 Naomi took the child, placed him on her lap, and became a mother to him. 17 The neighbor women said, “A son has been born to Naomi,” and they named him Obed. He was the father of Jesse, the father of David.
 
DAVID’S GENEALOGY FROM JUDAH’S SON
18 Now these are the family records of Perez:
Perez fathered Hezron,
19 Hezron fathered Ram,
Ram fathered Amminadab,
20 Amminadab fathered Nahshon,
Nahshon fathered Salmon,
21 Salmon fathered Boaz,
Boaz fathered Obed,
22 Obed fathered Jesse,
and Jesse fathered David.[4]

• Ruth became an example of what God intended Israel to be in the world: a blessing to others and blessed herself.
• God was faithful to bring this to pass because Ruth exercised faith in Him.
• Rest is God's reward for those who follow Him faithfully, as Hebrews 3 and 4 make clear.

 

• The Book of Ruth reveals God's grace in providing a redeemer.
• First, He provided Boaz, to redeem Ruth and Naomi.
• Then, through Ruth, He provided David to set Israel free from her enemies.

Finally, through David, He provided Jesus Christ to set the world free of its slavery to sin.

[1] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), Ru 1:1–22.
[2] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), Ru 2:1–23.
[3] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), Ru 3:1–18.
[4] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), Ru 4:1–22.

Judges 13-16 deals with the 6th apostasy of Israel.

• Dan was one of the strongest tribes with the movement into Canaan.
• But due to their helplessness against the Amorites, they eventually settled in the north.
• Maps
• List of Judges
• We see Israel moving from judges to kings with Samson, Samuel, and Saul.
• Samson 1123 BC – 1085 BC
• Began judging in 1105 BC

 
BIRTH OF SAMSON
JUDGES 13
1 The Israelites again did what was evil in the Lord’s sight, so the Lord handed them over to the Philistines forty years. 2 There was a certain man from Zorah, from the family of Dan, whose name was Manoah; his wife was unable to conceive and had no children. 3 The angel of the Lord appeared to the woman and said to her, “Although you are unable to conceive and have no children, you will conceive and give birth to a son. 4 Now please be careful not to drink wine or beer, or to eat anything unclean; 5 for indeed, you will conceive and give birth to a son. You must never cut his hair, because the boy will be a Nazirite to God from birth, and he will begin to save Israel from the power of the Philistines.”

• Samson only began to deliver Israel from the Philistines.
• At the end of his life and story, conditions in Israel were even worse than at the beginning.
• The Philistines continued their oppression of the Israelites into King David's reign.

 
Verses 6-25

• The woman went and told her husband.
• Manoah prayed and asked for Him to return
• He returned to his wife and she went and got Manoah.
• The angel of the Lord repeated everything to Manoah.
• Manoah prepared a feast on an altar just as Gideon did in Judges 6.
• A flame consumed the offering and the angel ascended into heaven with the flame.
• Manoah thought they were going to die, just like Gideon thought.
• His wife assured him they would not because their child had to be born.
• Then Samson was born.
• "little sun" or "sunny boy."
• Naming Samson after the sun, we have a dangerous dabbling in paganism.
• Not a good sign.
• Samson's name also means "the strong (daring) one."
• Normally Israelites took the Nazirite vow voluntarily and only for a short period of time.
• But Samson was to be a lifelong Nazirite.

 
SAMSON’S RIDDLE
JUDGES 14
1 Samson went down to Timnah and saw a young Philistine woman there.

•  Timnah was only about four miles southwest of Samson's hometown of Mahaneh-dan.

2 He went back and told his father and his mother, “I have seen a young Philistine woman in Timnah. Now get her for me as a wife.”

• His intention reveals disregard for his divine calling in life, which was to save Israel from the Philistines.

3 But his father and mother said to him, “Can’t you find a young woman among your relatives or among any of our people? Must you go to the uncircumcised Philistines for a wife?”
But Samson told his father, “Get her for me. She’s the right one for me.”

• Turned to self instead of God.

4 Now his father and mother did not know this was from the Lord, who wanted the Philistines to provide an opportunity for a confrontation. At that time, the Philistines were ruling Israel.
5 Samson went down to Timnah with his father and mother and came to the vineyards of Timnah. Suddenly a young lion came roaring at him, 6 the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully on him,
“Spirit of the Lord” is referenced 39 times in the OT.
and he tore the lion apart with his bare hands as he might have torn a young goat. But he did not tell his father or mother what he had done. 7 Then he went and spoke to the woman, because she seemed right to Samson.
8 After some time, when he returned to marry her, he left the road to see the lion’s carcass, and there was a swarm of bees with honey in the carcass.

• Bees normally do not inhabit cadavers; flies and maggots do.
• So, the presence of bees and honey in a dead lion's carcass was an attention-getting phenomenon.
• Evidently the carcass of the lion had been picked clean by predators and had dried out thoroughly in the hot sun.
• When Samson scraped the honey out of the lion's carcass with his hand, he may have violated part of his Nazirite condition.
• Like bees in a carcass, Israel was to inhabit a country of idolaters, a country that became habitable for God's community only through the death of God's enemies.

9 He scooped some honey into his hands and ate it as he went along. When he came to his father and mother, he gave some to them and they ate it. But he did not tell them that he had scooped the honey from the lion’s carcass.

• Now Samson has not only defiled himself but also his parents.

10 His father went to visit the woman, and Samson prepared a feast there, as young men were accustomed to do. 11 When the Philistines saw him, they brought thirty men to accompany him.
12 “Let me tell you a riddle,” Samson said to them. “If you can explain it to me during the seven days of the feast and figure it out, I will give you thirty linen garments and thirty changes of clothes. 13 But if you can’t explain it to me, you must give me thirty linen garments and thirty changes of clothes.”

• It was also common in ancient times for people to present riddles as entertainment.
• This type of riddle was a question or statement intentionally phrased so as to require ingenuity in discovering its answer or meaning, and it was typically presented as a game.

“Tell us your riddle,” they replied. “Let’s hear it.”
14 So he said to them:
Out of the eater came something to eat,
and out of the strong came something sweet.
After three days, they were unable to explain the riddle. 15 On the fourth day they said to Samson’s wife, “Persuade your husband to explain the riddle to us, or we will burn you and your father’s family to death. Did you invite us here to rob us?”

• The writer called the Timnite Samson's "wife," even though the engaged couple had not yet consummated their marriage.

16 So Samson’s wife came to him, weeping, and said, “You hate me and don’t love me! You told my people the riddle, but haven’t explained it to me.”
“Look,” he said, “I haven’t even explained it to my father or mother, so why should I explain it to you?”
17 She wept the whole seven days of the feast, and at last, on the seventh day, he explained it to her, because she had nagged him so much. Then she explained it to her people. 18 On the seventh day, before sunset, the men of the city said to him:
What is sweeter than honey?
What is stronger than a lion?
So he said to them:
If you hadn’t plowed with my young cow,
you wouldn’t know my riddle now!

• In calling her [his "wife"] a 'heifer' he was ridiculing her for her untamed and stubborn spirit 

19 The Spirit of the Lord came powerfully on him, and he went down to Ashkelon and killed thirty of their men. He stripped them and gave their clothes to those who had explained the riddle. In a rage, Samson returned to his father’s house, 20 and his wife was given to one of the men who had accompanied him.[1]
 
SAMSON’S REVENGE
JUDGES 15
Verses 1-13

• Eventually, Samson stopped pouting and returned for his wife but her Father had already given her over to one of Samson’s friends.
• The Father offers her younger sister to Samson.
• Samson was mad.
• He captured 300 foxes, placed torches between their tales and sent them off into the grain fields.
• The Philistines figured out who did this and went and killed the Father and daughter by burning them.
• Samson proceeded to avenge his "wife's" death by ruthlessly slaughtering many more of the Philistines.
• Then he took refuge in a cave nearby.
• The Philistines attacked the Israelites in Lehi and explained they did this as revenge for what Samson did to their men.
• 3,000 men of Judah found Samson in the cave and tied him up with 2 new ropes.
• They promised not to kill Samson.
• They turned him over to the Philistines.

14 When he came to Lehi, the Philistines came to meet him shouting. The Spirit of the Lord came powerfully on him, and the ropes that were on his arms and wrists became like burnt flax and fell off. 15 He found a fresh jawbone of a donkey, reached out his hand, took it, and killed a thousand men with it. 16 Then Samson said:
With the jawbone of a donkey
I have piled them in heaps.
With the jawbone of a donkey
I have killed a thousand men.
17 When he finished speaking, he threw away the jawbone and named that place Jawbone Hill. 18 He became very thirsty and called out to the Lord, “You have accomplished this great victory through your servant. Must I now die of thirst and fall into the hands of the uncircumcised?” 19 So God split a hollow place in the ground at Lehi, and water came out of it. After Samson drank, his strength returned, and he revived. That is why he named it Hakkore Spring, which is still in Lehi today. 20 And he judged Israel twenty years in the days of the Philistines.[2]
 
SAMSON AND DELILAH
JUDGES 16

• Samson went to Gaza (heart of Philistine territory… slept with a prostitute.
• Samson's weakness contrasts with his strength throughout this chapter.
• Here we see his moral and spiritual weakness.
• Samson's liaison with the prostitute signifies Israel's lusting after other gods for the sake of personal gratification and self-centered desires.
• The men wanted to attack Samson
• In the middle of the night he picked up the city gates and set them up on hill for all Gazaites to see.

4 Some time later, he fell in love with a woman named Delilah, who lived in the Sorek Valley.

• Samson now allowed a third woman to seduce him.
• Josephus called her a harlot.

5 The Philistine leaders went to her and said, “Persuade him to tell you where his great strength comes from, so we can overpower him, tie him up, and make him helpless. Each of us will then give you 1,100 pieces of silver.”

• A person could live comfortably on 10 pieces of silver a year (cf. 17:10).
• Taking $25 thousand as the average annual wage, the governors' total offer to Delilah would approach $15 million.

6 So Delilah said to Samson, “Please tell me, where does your great strength come from? How could someone tie you up and make you helpless?”
7 Samson told her, “If they tie me up with seven fresh bowstrings that have not been dried, I will become weak and be like any other man.”
8 The Philistine leaders brought her seven fresh bowstrings that had not been dried, and she tied him up with them. 9 While the men in ambush were waiting in her room, she called out to him, “Samson, the Philistines are here!” But he snapped the bowstrings as a strand of yarn snaps when it touches fire. The secret of his strength remained unknown.
10 Then Delilah said to Samson, “You have mocked me and told me lies! Won’t you please tell me how you can be tied up?”
11 He told her, “If they tie me up with new ropes that have never been used, I will become weak and be like any other man.”
12 Delilah took new ropes, tied him up with them, and shouted, “Samson, the Philistines are here!” But while the men in ambush were waiting in her room, he snapped the ropes off his arms like a thread.
13 Then Delilah said to Samson, “You have mocked me all along and told me lies! Tell me how you can be tied up.”
He told her, “If you weave the seven braids on my head into the fabric on a loom—”
14 She fastened the braids with a pin and called to him, “Samson, the Philistines are here!” He awoke from his sleep and pulled out the pin, with the loom and the web.
15 “How can you say, ‘I love you,’ ” she told him, “when your heart is not with me? This is the third time you have mocked me and not told me what makes your strength so great!”
16 Because she nagged him day after day and pleaded with him until she wore him out, 17 he told her the whole truth and said to her, “My hair has never been cut, because I am a Nazirite to God from birth. If I am shaved, my strength will leave me, and I will become weak and be like any other man.”
18 When Delilah realized that he had told her the whole truth, she sent this message to the Philistine leaders: “Come one more time, for he has told me the whole truth.” The Philistine leaders came to her and brought the silver with them.

• Satan ruins men by rocking them asleep, flattering them into a good opinion of their own safety, and so bringing them to mind nothing and fear nothing, and then he robs them of their strength and honour and leads them captive at his will.

19 Then she let him fall asleep on her lap and called a man to shave off the seven braids on his head. In this way, she made him helpless, and his strength left him. 20 Then she cried, “Samson, the Philistines are here!” When he awoke from his sleep, he said, “I will escape as I did before and shake myself free.” But he did not know that the Lord had left him.

• There was no magic in his hair.
• It was only a symbol of his separation to God.

 
SAMSON’S DEFEAT AND DEATH
21 The Philistines seized him and gouged out his eyes. They brought him down to Gaza and bound him with bronze shackles, and he was forced to grind grain in the prison. 22 But his hair began to grow back after it had been shaved.
23 Now the Philistine leaders gathered together to offer a great sacrifice to their god Dagon. They rejoiced and said:
Our god has handed over
our enemy Samson to us.
24 When the people saw him, they praised their god and said:
Our god has handed over to us
our enemy who destroyed our land
and who multiplied our dead.
25 When they were in good spirits, they said, “Bring Samson here to entertain us.” So they brought Samson from prison, and he entertained them. They had him stand between the pillars.
26 Samson said to the young man who was leading him by the hand, “Lead me where I can feel the pillars supporting the temple, so I can lean against them.” 27 The temple was full of men and women; all the leaders of the Philistines were there, and about three thousand men and women were on the roof watching Samson entertain them. 28 He called out to the Lord, “Lord God, please remember me. Strengthen me, God, just once more. With one act of vengeance, let me pay back the Philistines for my two eyes.”

• This is the only time we ever read of Samson praying before he used his strength.
• Now his strength was disciplined by faith, but it took failure to teach him this response.

29 Samson took hold of the two middle pillars supporting the temple and leaned against them, one on his right hand and the other on his left. 30 Samson said, “Let me die with the Philistines.” He pushed with all his might, and the temple fell on the leaders and all the people in it. And those he killed at his death were more than those he had killed in his life.
31 Then his brothers and his father’s whole family came down, carried him back, and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the tomb of his father Manoah. So he judged Israel twenty years.[3]

• In God's sovereignty the Holy Spirit came on men for particular tasks, and this provision was not necessarily proportionate to one's spirituality.
• The Spirit's power enabled men to inspire Israel and to perform great feats of strength.
• But it was a temporary provision, and Samson and later Saul tragically discovered that the Lord had left them.
• The essence of the Samson syndrome lies right here: the presumption that one can indulge the flesh and at the same time know the Spirit's fulness.

[1] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), Jdg 14:1–20.
[2] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), Jdg 15:1–20.
[3] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), Jdg 16:1–31.

These chapters highlight the Israelites' struggle to remain faithful to God amidst the influences of the surrounding nations and set the pattern of recurring cycles of disobedience and deliverance that define the era of the judges.
 

• List of Judges

 
MIDIAN OPPRESSES ISRAEL
JUDGES 6
1 The Israelites did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. So the Lord handed them over to Midian seven years, 2 and they oppressed Israel. Because of Midian, the Israelites made hiding places for themselves in the mountains, caves, and strongholds. 3 Whenever the Israelites planted crops, the Midianites, Amalekites, and the people of the east came and attacked them.

• Maps (two)

4 They encamped against them and destroyed the produce of the land, even as far as Gaza. They left nothing for Israel to eat, as well as no sheep, ox, or donkey. 5 For the Midianites came with their cattle and their tents like a great swarm of locusts. They and their camels were without number, and they entered the land to lay waste to it.

• The effective domestication of the camel had been accomplished somewhat earlier deep in Arabia and had now spread to tribal confederacies to the south and east of Palestine, giving them a mobility such as they had never had before.

6 So Israel became poverty-stricken because of Midian, and the Israelites cried out to the Lord.
7 When the Israelites cried out to him because of Midian, 8 the Lord sent a prophet to them. He said to them, “This is what the Lord God of Israel says: ‘I brought you out of Egypt and out of the place of slavery. 9 I rescued you from the power of Egypt and the power of all who oppressed you. I drove them out before you and gave you their land. 10 I said to you: I am the Lord your God. Do not fear the gods of the Amorites whose land you live in. But you did not obey me.’”

• God sent an unnamed prophet to them to explain the reason for their discipline.
• Yet this particular prophet did not deliver the people.

 
THE LORD CALLS GIDEON
11 The angel of the Lord came, and he sat under the oak that was in Ophrah, which belonged to Joash, the Abiezrite (A-Bye-Ezrite).

• Map
• Ophrah was a village over which Gideon's father apparently exercised a strong influence (cf. v. 31).

His son Gideon was threshing wheat in the winepress in order to hide it from the Midianites.

• Gideon's name means "Hacker."
• God used him to cut down the altar of Baal and then the Midianites.
• Who would thrash wheat at a wine press? To be less conspicuous.

12 Then the angel of the Lord appeared to him and said, “The Lord is with you, valiant warrior.”

• How do you picture Gideon?
• What if he was not?
• One of the great truths of Scripture is that when God looks at us, He does not see us for what we are, but for what we can become, as He works in our lives.

13 Gideon said to him, “Please, my lord, if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened? And where are all his wonders that our ancestors told us about? They said, ‘Hasn’t the Lord brought us out of Egypt?’ But now the Lord has abandoned us and handed us over to Midian.”
14 The Lord turned to him and said, “Go in the strength you have and deliver Israel from the grasp of Midian. I am sending you!”
15 He said to him, “Please, Lord, how can I deliver Israel? Look, my family is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the youngest in my father’s family.”

• Referred to as a 2nd Moses

16 “But I will be with you,” the Lord said to him. “You will strike Midian down as if it were one man.”

• Verse 12 – “The Lord is with you.”
• Verse 16 – “But I will be with you.”
• This is the reality of the New Covenant Church and they don’t accept it either.

17 Then he said to him, “If I have found favor with you, give me a sign that you are speaking with me. 18 Please do not leave this place until I return to you. Let me bring my gift and set it before you.”

• Gideon still wasn’t quite sure it was the Lord.

And he said, “I will stay until you return.”
19 So Gideon went and prepared a young goat and unleavened bread from a half bushel of flour. He placed the meat in a basket and the broth in a pot. He brought them out and offered them to him under the oak.

• The food that Gideon offered his visitor was what a person would normally set before a guest whom one wished to honor in a special way, in that culture.
• The Lord was just chillin’ under the ol’ oak tree.

20 The angel of God said to him, “Take the meat with the unleavened bread, put it on this stone, and pour the broth on it.” So he did that.

• Everything is saturated with broth (even the ground)

21 The angel of the Lord extended the tip of the staff that was in his hand and touched the meat and the unleavened bread. Fire came up from the rock and consumed the meat and the unleavened bread. Then the angel of the Lord vanished from his sight.
22 When Gideon realized that he was the angel of the Lord, he said, “Oh no, Lord God! I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face!”

• Gideon thought he was going to die.

23 But the Lord said to him, “Peace to you. Don’t be afraid, for you will not die.” 24 So Gideon built an altar to the Lord there and called it The Lord Is Peace. It is still in Ophrah of the Abiezrites (A-Bye-Ezrites) today.
 
GIDEON TEARS DOWN A BAAL ALTAR
25 On that very night the Lord said to him, “Take your father’s young bull and a second bull seven years old. Then tear down the altar of Baal that belongs to your father and cut down the Asherah pole beside it. 26 Build a well-constructed altar to the Lord your God on the top of this mound. Take the second bull and offer it as a burnt offering with the wood of the Asherah pole you cut down.” 27 So Gideon took ten of his male servants and did as the Lord had told him. But because he was too afraid of his father’s family and the men of the city to do it in the daytime, he did it at night.

• All together there were four indignities against Baal here:
• 1) His altar was to be thrown down;
• 2) An altar to the true God was to be built over the destroyed altar;
• 3) A prime bull, the sacred animal in Baalism, was to be offered on this altar, being sacrificed, not to Baal, but to the God of Israel;
• 4) The Asherah poles, which represent Baal, were to be used as the firewood for the sacrifice.

28 When the men of the city got up in the morning, they found Baal’s altar torn down, the Asherah pole beside it cut down, and the second bull offered up on the altar that had been built. 29 They said to each other, “Who did this?” After they made a thorough investigation, they said, “Gideon son of Joash did it.”
30 Then the men of the city said to Joash, “Bring out your son. He must die, because he tore down Baal’s altar and cut down the Asherah pole beside it.”
31 But Joash said to all who stood against him, “Would you plead Baal’s case for him? Would you save him? Whoever pleads his case will be put to death by morning! If he is a god, let him plead his own case because someone tore down his altar.” 32 That day Gideon was called Jerubbaal, since Joash said, “Let Baal contend with him,” because he tore down his altar.
 
THE SIGN OF THE FLEECE
33 All the Midianites, Amalekites, and people of the east gathered together, crossed over the Jordan, and camped in the Jezreel Valley.

• Map

34 The Spirit of the Lord enveloped Gideon, and he blew the trumpet and the Abiezrites rallied behind him. 35 He sent messengers throughout all of Manasseh, who rallied behind him. He also sent messengers throughout Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali, who also came to meet him.
36 Then Gideon said to God, “If you will deliver Israel by me, as you said, 37 I will put a wool fleece here on the threshing floor. If dew is only on the fleece, and all the ground is dry, I will know that you will deliver Israel by me, as you said.” 38 And that is what happened. When he got up early in the morning, he squeezed the fleece and wrung dew out of it, filling a bowl with water. 39 Gideon then said to God, “Don’t be angry with me; let me speak one more time. Please allow me to make one more test with the fleece. Let it remain dry, and the dew be all over the ground.” 40 That night God did as Gideon requested: only the fleece was dry, and dew was all over the ground.[1]

• Gideon's fleece is not a sign of faith.
• It is the opposite.
• It is not a search for God's will.
• It is a desperate grasp for security by one who knows clearly what that will is but who is reluctant to do it.

 
GOD SELECTS GIDEON’S ARMY
JUDGES 7
1 Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) and all the troops who were with him, got up early and camped beside the spring of Harod.

• Pictures and Video

The camp of Midian was north of them, below the hill of Moreh, in the valley. 2 The Lord said to Gideon, “You have too many troops for me to hand the Midianites over to them, or else Israel might elevate themselves over me and say, ‘I saved myself.’ 3 Now announce to the troops, ‘Whoever is fearful and trembling may turn back and leave Mount Gilead.’ ” So twenty-two thousand of the troops turned back, but ten thousand remained.
4 Then the Lord said to Gideon, “There are still too many troops. Take them down to the water, and I will test them for you there. If I say to you, ‘This one can go with you,’ he can go. But if I say about anyone, ‘This one cannot go with you,’ he cannot go.” 5 So he brought the troops down to the water, and the Lord said to Gideon, “Separate everyone who laps water with his tongue like a dog. Do the same with everyone who kneels to drink.” 6 The number of those who lapped with their hands to their mouths was three hundred men, and all the rest of the troops knelt to drink water. 7 The Lord said to Gideon, “I will deliver you with the three hundred men who lapped and hand the Midianites over to you. But everyone else is to go home.” 8 So Gideon sent all the Israelites to their tents but kept the three hundred troops, who took the provisions and their rams’ horns. The camp of Midian was below him in the valley.
 
GIDEON SPIES ON THE MIDIANITE CAMP
9 That night the Lord said to him, “Get up and attack the camp, for I have handed it over to you. 10 But if you are afraid to attack the camp, go down with Purah your servant. 11 Listen to what they say, and then you will be encouraged to attack the camp.” So he went down with Purah his servant to the outpost of the troops who were in the camp.
12 Now the Midianites, Amalekites, and all the people of the east had settled down in the valley like a swarm of locusts, and their camels were as innumerable as the sand on the seashore. 13 When Gideon arrived, there was a man telling his friend about a dream. He said, “Listen, I had a dream: a loaf of barley bread came tumbling into the Midianite camp, struck a tent, and it fell. The loaf turned the tent upside down so that it collapsed.”
14 His friend answered, “This is nothing less than the sword of Gideon son of Joash, the Israelite. God has handed the entire Midianite camp over to him.”
 
GIDEON ATTACKS THE MIDIANITES
15 When Gideon heard the account of the dream and its interpretation, he bowed in worship. He returned to Israel’s camp and said, “Get up, for the Lord has handed the Midianite camp over to you.” 16 Then he divided the three hundred men into three companies and gave each of the men a trumpet in one hand and an empty pitcher with a torch inside it in the other hand.
17 “Watch me,” he said to them, “and do what I do. When I come to the outpost of the camp, do as I do. 18 When I and everyone with me blow our rams’ horns, you are also to blow your rams’ horns all around the camp. Then you will say, ‘For the Lord and for Gideon!’ ”
19 Gideon and the hundred men who were with him went to the outpost of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch after the sentries had been stationed. They blew their rams’ horns and broke the pitchers that were in their hands. 20 The three companies blew their rams’ horns and shattered their pitchers. They held their torches in their left hands and their rams’ horns to blow in their right hands, and they shouted, “A sword for the Lord and for Gideon!” 21 Each Israelite took his position around the camp, and the entire Midianite army began to run, and they cried out as they fled. 22 When Gideon’s men blew their three hundred rams’ horns, the Lord caused the men in the whole army to turn on each other with their swords. They fled to Acacia House in the direction of Zererah as far as the border of Abel-meholah near Tabbath. 23 Then the men of Israel were called from Naphtali, Asher, and Manasseh, and they pursued the Midianites.
 
Judges 7:24 – 8:21 goes into more detail of the different battles of Gideon.
 
GIDEON’S LEGACY
22 Then the Israelites said to Gideon, “Rule over us, you as well as your sons and your grandsons, for you delivered us from the power of Midian.”
23 But Gideon said to them, “I will not rule over you, and my son will not rule over you; the Lord will rule over you.” 24 Then he said to them, “Let me make a request of you: Everyone give me an earring from his plunder.” Now the enemy had gold earrings because they were Ishmaelites.
25 They said, “We agree to give them.” So they spread out a cloak, and everyone threw an earring from his plunder on it. 26 The weight of the gold earrings he requested was forty-three pounds of gold, in addition to the crescent ornaments and ear pendants, the purple garments on the kings of Midian, and the chains on the necks of their camels. 27 Gideon made an ephod from all this and put it in Ophrah, his hometown. Then all Israel prostituted themselves by worshiping it there, and it became a snare to Gideon and his household.
28 So Midian was subdued before the Israelites, and they were no longer a threat. The land had peace for forty years during the days of Gideon. 29 Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) son of Joash went back to live at his house.
30 Gideon had seventy sons, his own offspring, since he had many wives. 31 His concubine who was in Shechem also bore him a son, and he named him Abimelech. 32 Then Gideon son of Joash died at a good old age and was buried in the tomb of his father Joash in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.
33 When Gideon died, the Israelites turned and prostituted themselves by worshiping the Baals and made Baal-berith their god. 34 The Israelites did not remember the Lord their God who had rescued them from the hand of the enemies around them. 35 They did not show kindness to the house of Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) for all the good he had done for Israel. [2]
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[1] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), Jdg 6:1–40.
[2] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), Jdg 7:25–8:35.