[MEST] 1 Samuel
1 Samuel 14: 24-52
In the past, we’ve seen how stupid actions brought trouble... now we’ll see how stupid words bring trouble...
Read Matt. 12:34. What do you get from this?
A Foolish Vow > [Read 1 Samuel 14:24-35]
In verse 24, what do Saul’s words reveal about his heart?
Why did Saul impose this vow on the Israelites?
With this mass fasting and the presence of the ark, what did Saul think would happen?
But Jonathan and his armour-bearer already had victories over the Philistines twice, without all that. What does this show?
No sensible commander would deprive his army of food and energy whilst fighting... if this command was from God, how would we know?
What do verses 24, 28 and 31 tell us about the state of the Israelite soldiers?
When dealing with the Lord, we can have confidence or presumption. How?
Next we see Jonathan and his armour-bearer join the troops and Jon eats some honey. Why didn’t one of the soldiers warn him earlier?
Not only did Saul’s foolish vow cause his soldiers to be weak and unable to pursue the Philistines, but it also gave them an abnormal craving for food. How does this play out?
A Foolish Judgement > [Read 1 Samuel 14: 36-52]
So, by now we would assume that Saul had realised the mistakes he’d made by delaying at Gibeah and imposing the foolish vow. So what does he do now?
What does the priest, Ahijah, think?
So, Saul knew that Jonathan was missing when he made his vow. What could this tell us?
What do we see happening in verse 39 and why?
Why all this whittling down with the ephod?
Why do we get this weird family tree thing at the end of the chapter?
Thursday, 24 February 2011
Thursday, 17 February 2011
1 Sam 14: 1-23
[MEST] 1 Samuel
1 Samuel 14: 1-23
It’s not fun or enjoyable seeing the character of King Saul drop lower and lower. He started with such promise; young, strong, handsome and loyal... but it seems all that fame, money and power has gone to his head. Already we’ve seen him demonstrate his unbelief and impatience (ch13) and now it just gets worse!
Thank goodness for Jonathan...
Most of this chapter tells us about Jonathan, Saul’s oldest son. What do we already know about him from last week?
First we see that Jonathan initiates the attack...
[Read 1 Sam 14:1-15]
Jonathan decided to go and “see” the Philistine outpost. Why?
Then we see that Jonathan didn’t tell his dad where he was going. Why?
Saul was chilling under a pomegranate tree with his 600 men while Jonathan was crossing the enemy lines with one man. What does this tell us?
Again we see Saul with a priest and an ephod, but what’s going on? What does this tell us about Saul?
Read Lev. 26:7-8 and Deut. 28:7. How do these verses relate to this story as Jonathan and his armour-bearer are coming up to the Philistine outpost?
What is Jonathan’s plan once they’re inside the Philistine’s territory?
How do the Philistines respond to them?
[Activity] > Can you think of other examples where people chosen and called by God are treated this way?
By not taking Jonathan and his armour-bearer seriously what happened?
Saul watches the battle...
[Read 1 Sam 14: 16-19]
What could the Israelite lookouts and King Saul be thinking as they saw the Philistines retreating?
This was the second time that Jonathan had gone off and acted on his own. How might Saul be feeling?
Saul had a priest with an ephod and called for the ark. What could Saul have been doing? What did he actually do?
What were the motives behind Saul’s actions?
Israel enters the battle...
[Read 1 Sam 14: 20-23]
As Israel begins to pursue the “confused” Philistines, what do we see happen?
What does this tell us about these types of soldiers?
How could Saul have dealt with these soldiers? What does he do instead and why?
Saul is confusing. One day he will rush in like a horse... and then the next day he will hold back like a mule. Why?
Who won this battle?
Saul and his army chased the Philistines all the way to Beth Aven (15 miles) and by the time they caught up with them, they did win, but not the sort of victory they would have wanted...
1 Samuel 14: 1-23
It’s not fun or enjoyable seeing the character of King Saul drop lower and lower. He started with such promise; young, strong, handsome and loyal... but it seems all that fame, money and power has gone to his head. Already we’ve seen him demonstrate his unbelief and impatience (ch13) and now it just gets worse!
Thank goodness for Jonathan...
Most of this chapter tells us about Jonathan, Saul’s oldest son. What do we already know about him from last week?
First we see that Jonathan initiates the attack...
[Read 1 Sam 14:1-15]
Jonathan decided to go and “see” the Philistine outpost. Why?
Then we see that Jonathan didn’t tell his dad where he was going. Why?
Saul was chilling under a pomegranate tree with his 600 men while Jonathan was crossing the enemy lines with one man. What does this tell us?
Again we see Saul with a priest and an ephod, but what’s going on? What does this tell us about Saul?
Read Lev. 26:7-8 and Deut. 28:7. How do these verses relate to this story as Jonathan and his armour-bearer are coming up to the Philistine outpost?
What is Jonathan’s plan once they’re inside the Philistine’s territory?
How do the Philistines respond to them?
[Activity] > Can you think of other examples where people chosen and called by God are treated this way?
By not taking Jonathan and his armour-bearer seriously what happened?
Saul watches the battle...
[Read 1 Sam 14: 16-19]
What could the Israelite lookouts and King Saul be thinking as they saw the Philistines retreating?
This was the second time that Jonathan had gone off and acted on his own. How might Saul be feeling?
Saul had a priest with an ephod and called for the ark. What could Saul have been doing? What did he actually do?
What were the motives behind Saul’s actions?
Israel enters the battle...
[Read 1 Sam 14: 20-23]
As Israel begins to pursue the “confused” Philistines, what do we see happen?
What does this tell us about these types of soldiers?
How could Saul have dealt with these soldiers? What does he do instead and why?
Saul is confusing. One day he will rush in like a horse... and then the next day he will hold back like a mule. Why?
Who won this battle?
Saul and his army chased the Philistines all the way to Beth Aven (15 miles) and by the time they caught up with them, they did win, but not the sort of victory they would have wanted...
Wednesday, 9 February 2011
1 Samuel 13
[MEST] 1 Samuel
1 Samuel 13
“Why Saul?...Why?”
Here we see the start of the decline of king Saul... in just one chapter we’ll see; pride, unbelief & impatience, deception & lies, and foolishness...
PRIDE > [Read 13: 1-4]
Saul had reigned for 2 years when he set up his army. Over 300,000 men had “volunteered.” But here we see that Saul only chose 3,000 men and then divided them between him and Jonathan. Why?
What did this “gathering of an Israel army” do to the surrounding nations?
Here is the first time we’re introduced to Jonathan. What sort of stuff are we told about him?
What does attacking a Philistine outpost show us?
Even though Jonathan seems to have accomplished quite a big task... it gets hardly mentioned. Why?
In verse 3, King Saul calls the Israelite army “Hebrews” instead of “Men of Israel.” Why? What’s the significance of this?
UNBELIEF & IMPATIENCE > [Read 13: 5-9]
The Philistines camped at Micmash (less than 20 miles away from the Israelite army) and the obviously outnumbered the Israelites. What did the Israelites do?
Samuel told Saul that he had to wait for him for 7 days. How might Saul have been feeling?
Why did Samuel take so long to meet him?
Read James 1: 1-18. How does this passage relate to this story?
So, in the last chapter, we saw King Saul lead his 300,000 strong army to victory... but now his army is just 600 men. What did Saul need to learn from this?
Saul didn’t want to go into battle without first making an offering to God. What could this tell us?
Later we’ll see that Samuel reminds Saul that God is looking for obedience, not sacrifice. What does this mean in this story? What does this mean in our lives?
If Saul had just waited a few more minutes, everything would have been ok, but his impatience cost him dearly. How can this individual impatience be connected to Israel as a nation? And how can we relate to this?
DECEPTION & LIES > [Read 13: 10-12]
Saul’s first lie was in his way of greeting Samuel. How? How are we guilty of this?
Saul’s second lie was with his blame and excuse making. How? How are we guilty of this?
Saul’s third lie was this “compelled to offer the burnt offering.” How? How are we guilty of this?
Saul is very good at making excuses... but not too good at anything else! He’s quick to blame others... but doesn’t like being blamed himself. This is our human condition and it spans right back to Adam & Eve. How?
FOOLISHNESS > [ Read 13: 13-14]
How is Saul showing his foolishness?
After this sin of Saul, Samuel announces God’s judgement. What was it?
Now that their ruler had failed, we see how this mighty army of Israel was actually very insecure...
A Dwindling Army > [Read 13: 15-16]
Saul’s army had gone from over 300,000 to 3,000, and was now just 600. The Philistine army was “like sand on the seashore.” This scenario is similar to Gideon’s... but what are the differences?
[Read 13: 17-18, 23] < A Threatened Army
The Philistines sent “raiding parties” to the north, south, east and west... the Israelites were completely surrounded. What lesson was God trying to teach them? What can we learn from this?
A Deprived Army > [Read 13: 19-22]
It was bad enough that Saul didn’t have much of an army... but now we see they lacked equipment too! How can we see comparisons between this and the church today? But, read Eph. 6: 10-17. What does this tell us?
1 Samuel 13
“Why Saul?...Why?”
Here we see the start of the decline of king Saul... in just one chapter we’ll see; pride, unbelief & impatience, deception & lies, and foolishness...
PRIDE > [Read 13: 1-4]
Saul had reigned for 2 years when he set up his army. Over 300,000 men had “volunteered.” But here we see that Saul only chose 3,000 men and then divided them between him and Jonathan. Why?
What did this “gathering of an Israel army” do to the surrounding nations?
Here is the first time we’re introduced to Jonathan. What sort of stuff are we told about him?
What does attacking a Philistine outpost show us?
Even though Jonathan seems to have accomplished quite a big task... it gets hardly mentioned. Why?
In verse 3, King Saul calls the Israelite army “Hebrews” instead of “Men of Israel.” Why? What’s the significance of this?
UNBELIEF & IMPATIENCE > [Read 13: 5-9]
The Philistines camped at Micmash (less than 20 miles away from the Israelite army) and the obviously outnumbered the Israelites. What did the Israelites do?
Samuel told Saul that he had to wait for him for 7 days. How might Saul have been feeling?
Why did Samuel take so long to meet him?
Read James 1: 1-18. How does this passage relate to this story?
So, in the last chapter, we saw King Saul lead his 300,000 strong army to victory... but now his army is just 600 men. What did Saul need to learn from this?
Saul didn’t want to go into battle without first making an offering to God. What could this tell us?
Later we’ll see that Samuel reminds Saul that God is looking for obedience, not sacrifice. What does this mean in this story? What does this mean in our lives?
If Saul had just waited a few more minutes, everything would have been ok, but his impatience cost him dearly. How can this individual impatience be connected to Israel as a nation? And how can we relate to this?
DECEPTION & LIES > [Read 13: 10-12]
Saul’s first lie was in his way of greeting Samuel. How? How are we guilty of this?
Saul’s second lie was with his blame and excuse making. How? How are we guilty of this?
Saul’s third lie was this “compelled to offer the burnt offering.” How? How are we guilty of this?
Saul is very good at making excuses... but not too good at anything else! He’s quick to blame others... but doesn’t like being blamed himself. This is our human condition and it spans right back to Adam & Eve. How?
FOOLISHNESS > [ Read 13: 13-14]
How is Saul showing his foolishness?
After this sin of Saul, Samuel announces God’s judgement. What was it?
Now that their ruler had failed, we see how this mighty army of Israel was actually very insecure...
A Dwindling Army > [Read 13: 15-16]
Saul’s army had gone from over 300,000 to 3,000, and was now just 600. The Philistine army was “like sand on the seashore.” This scenario is similar to Gideon’s... but what are the differences?
[Read 13: 17-18, 23] < A Threatened Army
The Philistines sent “raiding parties” to the north, south, east and west... the Israelites were completely surrounded. What lesson was God trying to teach them? What can we learn from this?
A Deprived Army > [Read 13: 19-22]
It was bad enough that Saul didn’t have much of an army... but now we see they lacked equipment too! How can we see comparisons between this and the church today? But, read Eph. 6: 10-17. What does this tell us?
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