Mon.’s Devo - Changing of the Guards

Read: 1 Samuel 12:1-13:23; John 7:1-30; Psalm 108:1-13; Proverbs 15:4 Samuel stood before the people to testify that he had never deceived them, committed fraud against them or lied to them. The Lord and Saul were his witnesses that his hands were clean. *** He reminded them of what God had done for them through the leaders God had sent them like Moses and Aaron, Gideon, Bedan, Jephthah and himself. But, they rebelled and wanted a king so God has given them one. To show them how wicked they had been for asking for a king, God was going to cause it to rain and thunder that day even though it was not the rainy season. This terrified the people and they begged Samuel to pray for them that God not kill them. *** Samuel assured them they would not die, but warned them not to turn back to worthless idols or they and their king would be swept away. *** Saul was 30 years old and reigned 42 years in all. He picked 3,000 men from his army to stay and fight the Philistines sent the rest home. Saul took 2,000 of them with him to Mishmash and the others went with his son, Jonathan to Gibeah. Jonathan’s 1,000 attacked and defeated the Philistines at Gibeah which roused the Philistines to fight back. *** Saul called in all the men who had gone home to join him at Gilgal. The Philistines came with 3,000 chariots and 6,000 charioteers plus a multitude of warriors. They drove the Israelites to hide wherever they could find and some even crossed the Jordan into the land of Gad and Gilead. *** Samuel had told Saul to meet him at Gilgal and he would come and offer sacrifices to the Lord. Saul waited 7 days and was losing his men because they were afraid for their lives. Saul decided to offer the sacrifice himself for fear he would lose all his army. As soon as he finished, Samuel showed up and was very upset at Saul. He told him that this would cost him his kingdom. God was seeking a man after his own heart who he has already chosen to be the leader of Israel. Then Samuel left. *** Saul was reduced to 600 men. Only he and Jonathan had swords against the whole Philistine army. (Not good odds, especially when you have just offended the Lord.) *** In John, it was time for the Feast of Tabernacles and the disciples urged Jesus to go and show them his miracles so he could become famous and be their king. (People are always looking for a king!) *** Jesus explained that it wasn’t his time yet, but they could go. Jesus ended up going secretly and hid until the middle of the festival, then he began to preach at the Temple. People wondered why the religious leaders weren’t stopping him. *** Jesus told them that he was from God and so was his message. I love the part where he told them that Moses gave them the law, but none of them obeyed it. And, they were trying to kill him - the Word. *** The crowd asked who was trying to kill him. He wasn’t talking to them - he was talking to the religious order. He didn’t answer them directly but what he did say gave away who he was talking about. He told them that he did one miracle on the Sabbath while they circumcised on the Sabbath. The religious leaders wanted to arrest him for exposing them, but his time was not yet come. *** God keeps the calendar, not man and he does things on his calendar - not ours. *** Both of these stories show the changing of the guard from the people’s choice, to God’s choice. Saul and the religious order were the people’s choice. David and Jesus were God’s chosen leaders. We are seeing this same things happen in our day and it is glorious to see. *** Lord, our lives are in your hands. We submit ourselves to your timing and trust you.