When you face troublemakers, be strong! 1 Samuel 10:17-27

26 Saul also went to his home in Gibeah, accompanied by valiant men whose hearts God had touched.
27 But some troublemakers said, “How can this fellow save us?” They despised him and brought him no gifts. But Saul kept silent.

According to the request of the Israelites who want king system, God made Saul as the first king of Israel. (17-21)

This was the system that they wanted and he was established by God, but there were people who had the same will with Saul and there were people who opposed Saul.

The people who was with Saul were powerful people who were moved by God. Those who opposed Saul were the troublemakers. But Saul was silent before them. (By that time, Saul’s attitude was good.)

When we meet this kinds of event, we should have the spirit and bravery to overcome the opposers. The foundation of spirit and bravery is the conviction that we are doing God’s will.

Shalom and God bless!

The privilege of a new person 1 Samuel 10:1-13

7 Once these signs are fulfilled, do whatever your hand finds to do, for God is with you.

Samuel said there will be four kinds of signs that shows Saul will be the king of Israel.

The fourth sign is that the Spirit of the Lord will come upon Saul in power, and he will prophesy and he will be changed into a different person. (6)

When these signs are fulfilled, he could do whatever his hand finds to do.

When the Spirit of the Lord comes, we will be changed into a different person.

Then we can do whatever God’s work our hands find to do. That is the privilege that we received.

Therefore, first be a new person full of Spirit. And do whatever your hand find to do. And be with God.

Shalom and God bless!

The imperfect system 1 Samuel 8:9-22

18 When that day comes, you will cry out for relief from the king you have chosen, and the LORD will not answer you in that day.”

There’s no perfect system made of human. God explained the king systems to people.

God told them about the labor of people, provision of luxurious food and taxation in order to keep king’s authority. And God warned them that though they would cry out for relief from the king, God will not answer them.

Later on, the sufferings that people received from the kingdom was incomparable to the faults that two sons of Samuel have committed.

We need to try our best to creat good system, but human system is not something that gives ultimate happiness. God’s reign gives us ultimate happiness.

Try your best to have God’s reign in your life in every moment.

Shalom and God bless!

Do not refuse God’s reign! 1 Samuel 8:1-8

7 And the LORD told him: “Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king.

Samuel grew old and made his sons as judges, but his sons did not follow the righteous acts of Samuel and took the bribes and perverted justice. (8:1-3)

Therefore, people asked Samuel to appoint a king to rule over them.

Their request made Samuel and God’s hearts sad.

Because they didn’t just dislike Samuel sons’ faults but also God’s reign.

We shouldn’t refuse God’s reign or leave God because of our church leaders’ faults.

Shalom and God bless!

Attitude after experiencing God (1 Samuel 7:12-17)

15 Samuel continued as judge over Israel all the days of his life.
16 From year to year he went on a circuit from Bethel to Gilgal to Mizpah, judging Israel in all those places.
17 But he always went back to Ramah, where his home was, and there he also judged Israel. And he built an altar there to the LORD.

After true repentance and true worship, Israel experienced winning the victory over the Philistines.

And Samuel took stones and named it Ebenezer, saying, “Thus far has the LORD helped us.” (7:12)

After one victory, Samuel didn’t become idle but went around several places and ruled the land. And he built an alter for the Lord and didn’t lose the attitude of worshiping God.

Therefore, while Samuel was alive, there was peace in Israel.

Like Samuel who didn’t settle after one victory, I pray that there will be no stop for our business, study and ministry.

Shalom and God bless!

To let God work 1 Samuel 7:5-11

9 Then Samuel took a suckling lamb and offered it up as a whole burnt offering to the LORD. He cried out to the LORD on Israel’s behalf, and the LORD answered him.

All Israel threw away all the Gentile gods according to Samuel’s command and assembled at Mizpah and fasted and prayed. (5, 6)

When Philistines were about to fight against Israel who gathered at one place, Samuel offered a whole offering and prayed. Afterwards, the Lord thundered with loud thunder against the Philistines and Israel won the victory. (8-10)

Through repentance and a whole worship, they were able to win the war. This is the work of God.

For human to work, we need wisdom, strategies, cooperation, and knowledge about the opposite party. However, in order let God work, we need repentance to clean out sins and a whole worship to truly exalt God.

Shalom and God bless!

Serve in God’s way! 1 Samuel 6:1-21

4 The Philistines asked, “What guilt offering should we send to him?” They replied, “Five gold tumors and five gold rats, according to the number of the Philistine rulers, because the same plague has struck both you and your rulers.

When there’s a plague in the region of Philistines due to the ark of the Lord, the Philistines gave the offering in their own way and sent it to Beth Shemesh.

When the ark of the Lord was moved to Beth Shemesh by two cows, they sacrificed the cows as a burnt offering. (Verse 14)

Neither Philistines nor Israelites had the knowledge of God. They did not use bulls (Leviticus 1:3) but cows for burnt offering. Levis also put the ark of the Lord and the treasure box together at one place and let the people gave worship. (15) Part of the people opened the ark of the Lord and around 70 people died. (19)

God said “my people are destroyed from lack of knowledge.” (Hosea 4:6) Paul said Israel people are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge, so they did not submit to God’s righteousness. (Romans 10:2, 3)

Rather than mere zeal, it is more important to have zeal based on the knowledge.

Shalom and God bless!

The result of disobedience 1 Samuel 4:12-22

18 When he mentioned the ark of God, Eli fell backward off his chair by the side of the gate. His neck was broken and he died, for he was an old man and heavy. He had led Israel forty years.

When Israelites fought the war without the ark of the covenant, around 4,000 people died. And when they fought again with the ark of the covenant, Eli’s two sons and 30,000 people died and the ark was taken by the Palestines.

When one man came and told all this facts, Eli fell from his chair and broke his neck and died miserably. At that time his daughter in law died from giving birth to a child.

God revealed himself to Samuel and Samuel spoke God’s words to the whole Israel. (3:21, 4:1)

However, Eli’s two sons and the people ignored the word and disobeyed. As the result, Eli’s family was destroyed and the Israel lost greatly.

There’s hope for the people who fear God’s word and try to obey it. Become a person who fears God and obeys his words in the dark era like the time of judges.

Shalom and God bless!

In order to win? 1 Samuel 4:1-11

1 Samuel 4:3 When the soldiers returned to camp, the elders of Israel asked, “Why did the LORD bring defeat upon us today before the Philistines? Let us bring the ark of the LORD’s covenant from Shiloh, so that it may go with us and save us from the hand of our enemies.”

Israelites thought that they were not able to defeat in the battle against Philistines because they did not have the ark of the covenant.

However, the reason of the failure was not at the ark of the covenant, but was in their disobedience.

The ark of the covenant is the symbol of God’s presence. That is not a charm that people who believe in superstition use.

Israelites should look upon the ark of the covenant and obey God.

Just because we carry the Bible, that doesn’t mean we can be victorious. Just reading the Bible doesn’t mean we can be victorious. Obedience can make us victorious.

Be close to God. Lean your ears to His words. And obey.

You will be victorious. Shalom and God bless!

Respect God! 1 Samuel 2:27-36

29 Why do you scorn my sacrifice and offering that I prescribed for my dwelling? Why do you honor your sons more than me by fattening yourselves on the choice parts of every offering made by my people Israel?’

The sins of the two sons of Ellie made God enraged. Two sons fattened themselves on the choice parts of every offering made by God’s people Israel. That was the same behavior with scorning God’s sacrifice and offering.

Ellie’s silence towards his son’s sins indicates that he considers his children more precisely than God. As that result, all the family was destroyed and Ellie’s descendants came to an end.

Those who honor God God will honor, but those who despise God will be disdained. (30)

Honor God and act faithfully according to God’s heart and will. Therefore, experience how God establish your house.

Shalom and God bless!