When you tell people what they want to hear you can gain their approval and trust but what will their devotion cost you? Absalom slowly usurps David’s authority by presenting himself to the people of Israel as a great leader and counselor. Sounds benavelont to say,”Oh that one would appoint me judge in the land, then every man who has any suit of cause could come to me and I would five him  justice.” 2 Samuel 15:4, but he is only seeking to build himself up. If I were walking past Absalom as he was speaking it would be enticing to follow this man who made all these promises. Where was David while Absalom was scheming for forty years? What did David do while he was king? Did David claim authority over his family? Absalom recruits Ahithophel, one of David’s counselors, to help him establish his own kingdom. It is interesting that Joab, the man who helped bring Absalom back to Jerusalem, is not mentioned in 2 Samuel 15 and 16. What is Joab doing while Absalom was taking over Israel?

When David flees from Jerusalem to escape his son what was he thinking? David leaves behind 10 concubines to manage the house but everyone else leaves with him. David was presented the Ark as the priests left the city but David refuses to take the ark from Jerusalem because it was for God to choose who would rule over Israel. One man named Ittai was fleeing along with the household of David and he is marked by his devotion to David. This man had just arrived to Jerusalem the day before the escape and he was choosing to live or die at David’s side despite being given an excuse to run away by David. Was Ittai an encouragement to David in a time when he didn’t know who to trust? Another act of devotion to David was shown by his friend Hushai who stays behind in Jerusalem at David’s request to give spy on Absalom. Was it difficult for David to send a friend into danger? Would you honor a friend who asks you to risk your safety on their behalf? Could you request a friend to risk themselves for you?

How do you know who to trust when life becomes filled with deception and lying? Where is hope found when sin swells into a frenzy around you making the intentions, motivations, and actions of people unclear? In 2 Samuel chapter 16 David finds Ziba, the servant of Mephibosheth, bringing provisions and claiming that his master was rising against him with Absalom to reclaim the throne for Saul’s family. How does David know if the truth is being told? What would you do in this situation? Why does David extend trust so freely to Ziba? Does this trust exhibited by David surprise you? Despite all of David’s faults he consistently relinquishes control and command of his life to God. The question of whether Ziba is being truthful is a matter for God to deal with David could keep moving forward by faith. I surely desire the trust and faith that David had to follow God in unwavering devotion.

When you are faced with constant insults, accusations, and questions of character how do you react? Do you want to lash out against the people who are attacking you? As David and the people were fleeing from Jerusalem a man named Shimei, who was of the house of Saul, began cursing David and throwing rocks at him and his companions. The constant pestering by Shimei led to David’s men wanting to kill him but again David leaves the situation for God to judged because He was the one who was ordaining all that was happening. Shimei was left alive because David trusted God to give justice to those who needed it. The next time you are face to face with someone insulting you remember that it is God who is ultimately in control and choose to rest in His authority.

All that God spoke to David through Nathan is coming to pass within David’s house. Absalom is the evil that Nathan spoke of being raised up from his own family. Absalom enters Jerusalem and takes his fathers house and the wives of David that were left behind. Absalom takes all of the concubines for his own in front of all of Israel just as Nathan said would happen. Can you see the confidence that we can gain from looking at David’s dependance on God and to wait on His faithfulness to deliver. I am thankful for the hope that we have in Jesus Christ knowing that no matter what situation I find myself I can find rest and assurance in Him because He is faithful.

It is critical that a leader is someone willing to serve and help those under their authority because the moment it becomes a quest for power the foundation of leadership crumbles. The dependance upon God that David consistently displayed in his life made him stands out over Saul. Was Saul a better leader when he first became king? As Saul drifted away from God did his leadership wain? When a leader with a shepherd’s heart also seeks to love God with all their heart, mind, soul, and strength will truly be a strong leader because their foundation is built upon God alone. These qualities that David exhibited gave him victory in Battle over the Jebusites within Jerusalem and the Philistines. How will David’s leadership stand the test of time? I look forward to seeing how the story unfold as I continue reading through the Old Testament.

In times of celebration when people are happy and finding great joy in the Lord to you ever feel bitter, sad, or angry? When the Ark of the Lord was brought to Jerusalem it was a time of great celebration compared to the despair and loss that was felt when the Ark was taken captive by the Philistines. It was a time for music and dancing in the streets because God was in their midst and a shepherd king was ruling over Israel. How would you feel if you were in the city as the Ark entered? Michal, Saul’s daughter and David’s first wife, did not find joy and happiness when the Ark of the Lord came to Jerusalem. She was jealous and ashamed of David’s celebration before God. Why could she not find joy in the Lord? Were the concerns and worries of life so consuming to Michal that she looked away from God? In moments when I lose focus on God and look toward the temporary instead of the eternal I  easily lose joy in life because the worries that consume my mind become all I look at. In the moments when you feel down and you lack joy in the midst of joyful moments I encourage you to turn back to God and give up the worries that cloud your mind and focus on the faithfulness of God.

The renown of the God of Israel was known far and wide through out the promised land. The Philistines must have had a strong desire to possess the Ark of the Lord as a trophy signifying their victory over the Israelites. The Ark is captured and taken to the Philistine city of Ashdod. The Ark was placed before Dagon, the god of the Ashdodites. While the Ark was in the presence of the statue of Dagon the statue kept falling over eventually breaking. God did not tolerate idolatry in His presence in the land of the Philistines and He doesn’t tolerate it today. What idol are you clinging to within your heart thinking it can coexist with God? It is folly to try and live a life devoted to God when you cannot commit wholly to Him because you are clinging to your idols. The Ark of the Lord was transfered between cities within the land of Philistine but wherever it went peril and dismay for the people followed with tumors and discord in the city.

What do you do when you have the Ark of the Lord which you have taken from the Israelites and wish to return it? This is the dilemma that faced the lords of the Philistines who sought to rid themselves of the curse they were under. The priests and diviners of Philistine were the ones to instruct their lords that the Ark must be returned to the Israelites along with a guilt offering, “So you shall make likenesses of your tumors and likenesses of your mice that ravaged the land, and you shall give glory to the God of Israel; perhaps he will ease His hand from you, your gods, and your land.” 1 Samuel 6:5  These words were spoken by the priests and diviners of the gods of the Philistines. Did the Philistines at this moment have a greater fear of God than the Israelites? It is amazing to hear that these people who didn’t follow God knew they needed to honor and glorify Him if they were to survive. Do you remember to glorify God in the midst of your day?

The Ark of the Lord and the gold guilt offering was placed in a new cart pulled by milch cows which have never been yoked in preparation to send back to Israel. I love how the cart with the Ark is released in a way that would point to the source of the problem for the Philistines; if the cart went to Israel they would know that God was causing their calamity because of their taking of the Ark. The scripture points out that the cart by all human reasoning should never head to Israel. The cows chosen to pull the cart had never been yoked so it would be unlikely that the pair would work in unison. These cows were also giving milk to their calfs which they were separated from.Wouldn’t the natural instinct of these two cows be to stay near their offspring? All doubt left the Philistines when the pair of cows made straight for Israel not turning to the left or the right. It is amazing to see how God works to glorify Himself through the diverse events that encompass the Israelites.

What were the Israelites thinking during the absence of the Ark of the Lord from them? Did they reflect upon their wrong doing? The people of Beth-shemesh were working in the fields when they noticed the Ark coming to them on the cart. The people were at a low point with a deep sadness because of the Ark being taken. How much joy was express at the sight of the Ark coming back to Israel? The men of Beth-shemesh used the wood of the cart and the two cows in a sacrifice to God but even in this moment some people disobeyed God by looking inside the Ark and they died. The Israelites needed to be reminded that the Ark was not just a figure piece to itself be worshiped but a holy item of God that has to be respected and handled just as God told Moses to instruct the Levites. In the end 50,070 men of Beth-shemesh were struck dead because of their lack of respect for God and In what ways do we disrespect god today? Will the death of all these people who disregarded God’s commands be a catalyst for change? In what ways do we trivialize our faith in God as the people of Beth-shemesh did? Do we respect the Bible as the word of God to man or is it just something that we carry to and from church on the weekend? It is absolutely necessary that faith becomes an active and integral part of our lives so that we will inherently cling to God in the midst of the troublesome times of life.

“Now the boy Samuel was ministering to the Lord before Eli. And word from the Lord was rare in those days, visions were infrequent” 1 Samuel 3:1  Samuel was growing up in a time where historically God had made himself known through visions, but there currently were infrequent visions from God. Is the decline of the Israelites adherence to God’s commands and statutes the reason for the lack of visions from God? Were the people not listening to God because they were so full of their own comings and goings just as it was written in Judges 21:25, “In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.”

In Judges 3 God calls to Samuel as he sleeps in the temple of the Lord where the Ark resided saying, “Here I am.” Samuel did not yet know God so He assumed it was Eli the priest who was calling to him. Two more times God calls to Samuel as he slept when finally Eli tells Samuel that it is the Lord speaking to him. How did Samuel and Eli feel when they both knew that God was speaking? Samuel was just a boy and I would imagine he would be fearful and Eli may have been jealous to have this boy being spoken to instead of himself. God tells Samuel, “Behold, I am about to do a thing in Israel at which both ears of everyone who hears it will tingle. In that day I will carry out against Eli all that I have spoken concerning his house, from beginning to end.” 1 Samuel 3:11,12  God was about to fulfill all that he promised to do to Eli in 1 Samuel 2 because of the disobedience of Hophni and Phinehas. Does the disobedience and disregard for God of Eli’s sons, Hophni and Phinehas, point to bad parenting and a lack of following God on Eli’s part? I believe that some aspect of a parent’s ability to raise their children will always be evident in the behavior of the child but how much disobedience is inherent in the child? Upon hearing the words that God spoke to Samuel, how would you react if you were Eli? Would you blame shift the guilt to your sons or say that it was not fair to have this happen? Eli responds to these words from God by acknowledging that God is truly God and He can do what he chooses to do.

The words that God spoke to Samuel are played out in Judges 4 where the Israelites go to battle the Philistines. The men of Israel go to fight the Philistines and are defeated. The people cannot comprehend why they have been defeated but they assume that they will have victory if the Ark of the covenant is present. The fact that the people were not following God’s commands and that the blessing of God had been removed doesn’t occur to the men but they assume that the Ark’s presence automatically ensures God’s favor. How often do we make assumptions about our relationship with God thinking that function and practice are of greater importance than a relationship Him. The Israelites are defeated, Hophni and Phinehas are both killed, and the Ark is taken by the Philistines in fulfillment of all that God spoke to Samuel and Eli. Upon hearing that the Ark was taken Eli fell backwards from his chair and broke his neck and God was proved to be faithful to do all that He says. This is a dark time for the people of Israel. Have the Israelites fully realized that they are not abiding in God as they should and this is the reason for their troubles just as Moses’ Song foretold? The wife of Phinehas bore as son at the end of chapter 4 and named him Ichabod stating, ” The glory has departed from Israel.”

What does all of this mean for me today? I have thought a lot about what type of father I will become when I have children. Will I impart a God fearing legacy to my children and grandchildren? I need to cling God in order to even have a chance of building a God fearing legacy. I am always reminded of my favorite quote when I think about my legacy: “If my life is motivated by an ambition to leave a legacy, what I would probably leave is a legacy of ambition. But, if my life is motivated by the power of God’s spirit in me and the awareness of the indwelling Christ, if I allow His presence to guide my motives, that’s the only time I think we really leave a great legacy.” – Rich Mullins What will your legacy be? Will you stand up for what you believe and raise your children up in the fear of the Lord?

Then the story in Numbers gets even more incredible. Moses enters the tent of meeting and God speaks with him from above the mercy seat between the two cherubim upon the Ark of the Testimony. How did Moses feel by now? He had spoken with God frequently and most notably at a burning bush. I don’t know if I could ever take it lightly to come before God’s presence. It makes me look upon my own life and how I approach God. Do I come to God in prayer with awe and wonder? Do I thirst for time in His presence?

Numbers chapter 8 we have all of the Levites cleansed and taken into the service of the Tabernacle. The Levites were presented as a wave offering before the Lord from the Israelites. The Israelites were instructed to place their hands upon the Levites. This must have been an incredibly solemn and personal moment between the Israelites and the Levites. It was no animal that was being offered to God it was the Levites being presented to be worthy of service. It is interesting looking back at the laws laid down in Leviticus about sacrifices. When an offering was made it became holy and the possession of the priests and used by God. The Levites were given as a gift from God to Aaron and his sons to perform service. I do not know if I can convey my amazement about how this truly amazes me. The Levites were an offering! Not and offering like the pagans who offered people as blood sacrifices these Levites were set apart in service to God. Looking forward to the promised Messiah, Jesus Christ, He also served humanity in love by dying on the cross.

I am throughly enjoying taking this time to read through the Bible and blog about it as I read. I pray that you too find this an encouragement and may you be spurred to know God in a more personal way through reading through the Bible.

Lord help me to stay apart of your wondrous story by keeping close to you. I thank you Lord for all that you do and I am so thankful for You.