Wed.’s Devo -Saul’s Disobedience

Read: 1 Samuel 15:1-16:23; John 8:1-20; Psalm 110:1-7; Proverbs 15:8-10 Samuel gave Saul a message from the Lord. God wanted to settle his accounts with the Amelekites because they attacked Israel when they came out of Egypt. Saul was to attack them and completely destroy them because they were so wicked. *** Saul and his army did, but they kept the best of the animals and they captured the king, Agag. God was not pleased and told Samuel he was sorry he ever made Saul the king. *** Samuel found Saul and asked him why he didn’t kill the animals like he had told him to. Saul pulled a fast one and told Samuel he had kept the best animals to sacrifice to the Lord. He had obeyed the Lord in his own way. Samuel told him that obedience was better than sacrifices. *** Then, the real answer came out. Saul let them keep the animals because he was afraid of his own people and losing their favor. Saul begged Samuel to come back with him to sacrifice to the Lord so the people would see that Samuel honored him. Samuel refused and when Saul tried to make him stay he tore the hem of his robe. Samuel said that the Lord had torn the kingdom from him that day and chosen someone better than him. *** Saul still begged Samuel to return with him to sacrifice so the people could see that Samuel honored him. I think that by that time, Samuel felt sorry for Saul and returned with him. *** Samuel took Agag and cut him into pieces - he did what Saul should have done. Samuel went back to Ramah and mourned for Saul. *** God came to Samuel and told him to stop mourning over Saul and get up and go anoint the next king. He was to find a man named Jesse and anoint one of his sons. He was to call a sacrifice and ask Jesse to come and bring his sons. *** Jesse came and when Samuel looked through all his sons, he realized though some of them looked the part, none of them were the one God had chosen. He finally asked Jesse if he had another son. Jesse had one more who was the youngest. He was out in the field watching the sheep. When he arrived, the Lord said, he was the one. Jesse anointed David with oil and the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon David from that time on. *** Meanwhile, the Spirit of the Lord left Saul leaving him tormented by spirits. His advisors looked for someone who could come in with a musical instrument and calm him down when he had his episodes of insanity. David was chosen to do this because he could play the harp so well. His music was able to calm Saul down. How ironic that the very one who would drive him crazy later was able to calm him down now. *** In John, it was the day after the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles. They call this day Simbat Torah where they celebrate the Torah. They begin at the beginning reading in Genesis. The Pharisees brought a woman to Jesus who was caught in the act of adultery. The law in Leviticus 20:10 says that the man and woman were to be put to death. They just brought the woman showing again that they didn’t know the law. *** They were trying to trap him but he stooped and wrote in the dust with his finger. He stood up and said, let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone. Then he stooped and wrote in the dust again. *** When they HEARD what he said, they begin to leave from the oldest to the youngest. It never says they read what he wrote or if he even wrote anything to them. In Jeremiah, it says “O Lord, the hope of Israel, all that forsake thee shall be ashamed, and they that depart from me shall be written in the earth, because they have forsaken the Lord, the fountain of living waters.” (Jeremiah 17:13) *** I don’t know if he wrote names of people who were cursed in history or their names or this verse, or something else, but it was what he said that made them turn away. The oldest left first because he had more sins than the youngest, plus, he had more wisdom to know when he had been whipped. *** Then, the only one without sin who could have accused the woman asked the woman where her accusers were. There were none. Jesus told her that he didn’t accuse her either. He did tell her to go and sin no more. *** Lord, may we always remember that there is a day of judgement coming and all be judged or rewarded. Thank you, Jesus that because of you, we will be rewarded but there are many who will be judged if they don’t hear the truth through us. May we be diligent to share the hope that is in us.

Tues.’s Devo - Victory

Read: 1 Samuel 14:1-52; John 7:31-53; Psalm 109:1-31; Proverbs 15:5-7 Israel was still fighting the Philistines. Saul and his 600 men were camped at Gibeah. Jonathan took his armor-bearer to scout out where the Philistines were hiding. He didn’t tell anyone what he was doing. They found a small outpost of Philistines up on a cliff. Jonathan was ready to fight them whether there was a few or many because God was with him. His armor bearer was totally supportive of whatever he wanted to do. Jonathan came up with a plan. They would show themselves to the Philistines and if they asked them to come up to where they were, they would know God was going to give them the victory, but if they said they would come down to them, they would know to run. *** The Philistines told them to come up so they could teach then a lesson. That backfired on them. Jonathan and his armor-bearer climbed up and killed all 20 of them. This caused a break-through in the Spirit and the Philistines that were in the camp panicked. God shook the ground with an earthquake and they were terrified. The Philistines scattered killing each other as they went. *** Meanwhile, back at Saul’s camp, they did a roll call to see who had caused this great occurrence and found that Jonathan and his armor-bearer were missing. They rushed out to the fight and saw what was happening. Even those who had defected to the Philistines were now returning to fight for Israel. It was a great victory for Israel that day. *** Saul’s army fought the whole day and were exhausted. Saul had put them under a curse if they ate anything all day. Jonathan hadn’t been there to hear the command so he ate some honey he found in the forest and was revived. When he tried to give some to his men, they told him about the curse. Jonathan thought it was a foolish command because they needed their strength to fight. *** At the end of the day, Saul build an altar to sacrifice to the Lord. Saul wanted to go back out and fight all night, but the priest said they should ask God first. God wouldn’t answer so they knew something was wrong. They cast lots and it fell on Jonathan. Jonathan admitted he had eaten honey because he didn’t know about the curse Saul had put on them to not eat. Saul said Jonathan had to die, but the men saved him. *** They didn’t continue to fight but went home. Saul had victory against his enemies on every side for years. He continued to fight the Philistines and and draft every able man into his army. *** In John the people began to believe he was the Messiah because of all the miracles he did. The priests sent the Temple guards to arrest Jesus but they listened to his sermons. Jesus told them that he was only going to be with them for a little while longer, then he was going back to the one who sent him. They wouldn’t be able to find him then. They were so intrigued with his message, they didn’t arrest him. *** On the last day of the festival, the priests would do a water libation where six priests went down to the pool of Siloam and brought back pitchers of water and poured it around the altar. Jesus stood up and proclaimed that if anyone was thirsty, they could come to him because he was the living water. When he did this, there was much debate whether he was the Messiah or not. *** When the temple guards returned without Jesus, they told the very upset priests and Pharisees that no one spoke like Jesus did. The religious leaders mocked the guards for being afraid to arrest Jesus. They told them they were foolish, but they were the foolish ones. Nicodemus suggested they should give Jesus a trial before they convicted him. *** Lord, thank you for sending us Jesus. May we remember how hard the ground was for him when we complain about our circumstances. May we count it joy to suffer for the sake of Christ.

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.

Sun.’s Devo - The New Man

Read: 1 Samuel 10:1-11:15; John 6:43-71; Psalm 107:1-43; Proverbs 15:1-3 Samuel had taken Saul aside to give him the word of the Lord. He anointed him to be the ruler over Israel by pouring a flask of oil on his head. Then he gave him specific details about what would happen on his way home. The events happened just like he said. *** Saul met the group of prophets in Gibeah. They were prophesying and the Spirit of the Lord came upon Saul and he prophesied with them and become a new man. Saul became a new man as he agreed with his own mouth what God was saying about him and what He would do. *** That is how we transform into the “new man” God want us to be. We agree with what scriptures and prophecies say about us. *** Then Saul went to the place of worship where he saw his uncle. His uncle wanted to know where he had been since they had been looking everywhere for him. He told him he had met with Samuel who told him the donkeys had been found. He left off the rest of the story. *** Later, Samuel called all the people of Israel to come to Mizpah and hear the Lord’s response for a king. He chose Saul by lot and found Saul hiding among the baggage. Samuel presented Saul as the one the Lord was chosen because they asked for a king. The people shouted “Long live the king”, but there were a few who were not impressed with Saul and scorned him. *** The Ammorites had gouged out the right eye of the people living in Gad and Reuben on the east of the Jordan River. About 7,000 of them had escaped to the other side of the Jordan and settled in Jabesh-gilead. Nahash, the king of the Ammonites was determined to get these men back and came with an army to Jabesh-gilead. Jabesh begged to make a covenant of peace with them. The Ammonites said they would if they let them gouge out their right eyes. The men of Jabesh asked for seven days to see if anyone would come to their rescue. *** They sent messengers to Gibeah begging for help. Saul was there and the Spirit of God came upon him. He took two oxen and cut them into pieces and threatened to do this to the oxen of the person who didn’t show up to fight for Jabesh-gilead. God made the people afraid of Saul and 330,000 showed up to fight. *** The men of Jabesh told the Ammonites that they would surrender the next day. When the Ammonites came, they were met with Saul’s army and greatly defeated. *** The people then wanted to kill the men who had scorned Saul when he was anointed king. Saul wouldn’t let them and led the people to Gilgal to renew their covenant with the Lord. In John, Jesus continued his speech explaining who he was. He explained that no one can come to him unless they are drawn by the Father. They will be raised up in the last day and they will be taught the Scriptures by God. They were the people who accept him who God sent. All who believe in Jesus will receive eternal life because He is the bread of life sent down from heaven. The people who ate manna in the wilderness still died even though the manna was a picture of Jesus. But, now anyone who eats the bread Jesus gives will never die. *** This teaching was a stumbling block to many of them who thought he actually meant they had to eat his flesh. Jesus told them those who ate his flesh and drank his blood would receive eternal life. If they couldn’t make the leap to understand what he was saying spiritually, they would not receive the benefits. *** Even the disciples had a hard time with what Jesus said. He told them that if they were offended by this then what will they think when they see Jesus ascending to heaven again. He explained that his words were spirit and life and had to be understood spiritually. That is why they had to be given access by God to understand. *** Many did turn away from believing in Jesus. When Jesus asked his 12 if they would leave also, Peter spoke up for the rest and said that only He had the words of eternal life. Jesus then exposed the fact that one of his twelve was a devil, speaking of Judas Iscarot. *** Lord, thank you for giving us eyes to see and the ability to see your words are truth and life. Open the eyes of the unbelievers to be able to accept your words of life. Help us to become the “new man”. Read: 1 Samuel 10:1-11:15; John 6:43-71; Psalm 107:1-43; Proverbs 15:1-3 Samuel had taken Saul aside to give him the word of the Lord. He anointed him to be the ruler over Israel by pouring a flask of oil on his head. Then he gave him specific details about what would happen on his way home. The events happened just like he said. *** Saul met the group of prophets in Gibeah. They were prophesying and the Spirit of the Lord came upon Saul and he prophesied with them and become a new man. Saul became a new man as he agreed with his own mouth what God was saying about him and what He would do. *** That is how we transform into the “new man” God want us to be. We agree with what scriptures and prophecies say about us. *** Then Saul went to the place of worship where he saw his uncle. His uncle wanted to know where he had been since they had been looking everywhere for him. He told him he had met with Samuel who told him the donkeys had been found. He left off the rest of the story. *** Later, Samuel called all the people of Israel to come to Mizpah and hear the Lord’s response for a king. He chose Saul by lot and found Saul hiding among the baggage. Samuel presented Saul as the one the Lord was chosen because they asked for a king. The people shouted “Long live the king”, but there were a few who were not impressed with Saul and scorned him. *** The Ammorites had gouged out the right eye of the people living in Gad and Reuben on the east of the Jordan River. About 7,000 of them had escaped to the other side of the Jordan and settled in Jabesh-gilead. Nahash, the king of the Ammonites was determined to get these men back and came with an army to Jabesh-gilead. Jabesh begged to make a covenant of peace with them. The Ammonites said they would if they let them gouge out their right eyes. The men of Jabesh asked for seven days to see if anyone would come to their rescue. *** They sent messengers to Gibeah begging for help. Saul was there and the Spirit of God came upon him. He took two oxen and cut them into pieces and threatened to do this to the oxen of the person who didn’t show up to fight for Jabesh-gilead. God made the people afraid of Saul and 330,000 showed up to fight. *** The men of Jabesh told the Ammonites that they would surrender the next day. When the Ammonites came, they were met with Saul’s army and greatly defeated. *** The people then wanted to kill the men who had scorned Saul when he was anointed king. Saul wouldn’t let them and led the people to Gilgal to renew their covenant with the Lord. In John, Jesus continued his speech explaining who he was. He explained that no one can come to him unless they are drawn by the Father. They will be raised up in the last day and they will be taught the Scriptures by God. They were the people who accept him who God sent. All who believe in Jesus will receive eternal life because He is the bread of life sent down from heaven. The people who ate manna in the wilderness still died even though the manna was a picture of Jesus. But, now anyone who eats the bread Jesus gives will never die. *** This teaching was a stumbling block to many of them who thought he actually meant they had to eat his flesh. Jesus told them those who ate his flesh and drank his blood would receive eternal life. If they couldn’t make the leap to understand what he was saying spiritually, they would not receive the benefits. *** Even the disciples had a hard time with what Jesus said. He told them that if they were offended by this then what will they think when they see Jesus ascending to heaven again. He explained that his words were spirit and life and had to be understood spiritually. That is why they had to be given access by God to understand. *** Many did turn away from believing in Jesus. When Jesus asked his 12 if they would leave also, Peter spoke up for the rest and said that only He had the words of eternal life. Jesus then exposed the fact that one of his twelve was a devil, speaking of Judas Iscarot. *** Lord, thank you for giving us eyes to see and the ability to see your words are truth and life. Open the eyes of the unbelievers to be able to accept your words of life. Help us to become the “new man”.

Sat.’s Devo - Jesus, the Bread of Life

Read: 1 Samuel 8:1-9:27; John 6:22-42; Psalm 106:32-48; Proverbs 14:34-35 Samuel had sons and like Eli they didn’t share his devotion to the Lord. They used their position to gain wealth unlawfully. *** Samuel was getting old, so the elders of Israel met with Samuel to discuss Israel’s future. They wanted a king like the other nations had. Samuel went to the Lord with their request and he told Samuel not to worry because they were not rejecting him, but the Lord. They had repeatedly abandoned the Lord for other gods so he was to give them what they wanted, but first he must warn them what a king would do. A king would draft their sons into his army, force them into labor to take care of his property, take their daughters and force them to serve him and take a tenth of their income to run his government. He warned the people, but they still wanted a king, so Samuel agreed to give them one and sent them home. *** Meanwhile, there was a wealthy man named Kish from the tribe of Benjamin who had a son named Saul. Saul was tall and handsome and looked like a king. His father sent him to look for his donkeys that had strayed away. His servant went with him throughout the land but they didn’t find the donkeys. He decided to go home before his father began to worry about him. His servant remembered that Samuel lived close by and they could ask him since he was a seer. They scrounged up some silver to give him as a present. *** God had prepared Samuel for Saul’s visit. He told him to anoint him to be the leader over Israel. He would rescue them from the Philistines. *** There was to be a public sacrifice at the place of worship and Samuel was officiating. He met Saul just as the Lord had said would happen and asked Saul to eat with him. He told him the donkeys he had been looking for were found and that he and his family were the hope of all Israel. 
 *** This got Saul’s attention. He stayed for the sacrifice and was given the finest cut of meat and was seated in the place of honor. After the meal, Samuel brought Saul to his house to stay the night. In the morning he woke him up to send him on his way. He took him aside to give him the word the Lord had given him. *** In John, the people who had been fed the day before were looking for Jesus. They had seen the disciples get in their boats and go across the lake. They couldn’t find Jesus so they went to see the disciples. They found Jesus on the other side and asked him how he got there. Jesus didn’t tell them he walked across the water, instead, he addressed the real reason they were following him. They wanted what he could give them naturally, like food. He tried to get them to believe in Him who God sent. They wanted a miraculous sign, as if he hadn’t just showed them one. They brought up the fact that Moses gave them bread from heaven every day. Jesus told them that Moses didn’t give them anything, God did, and now God was offering them the real bread. They didn’t get it. Jesus explained that he was that real bread - the bread of life. He came down from heaven to save the ones God had given him. If they believe in him they could have eternal life. They had a hard time with this statement. *** In both of our readings, the people wanted a leader to rule over them and give them benefits. In the Old Testament God wanted to be their king, but they wanted a natural king. In the New Testament, Jesus wanted to be their salvation, but they wanted tangible evidence. They both could not see that the spiritual brings the natural, not the other way around. *** Lord, thank you that you have opened our eyes to see and given us a heart to believe in you. Thank you for the gift of eternal life. May we feast on all the things you say and do and may we enjoy living in your presence.

Fri.’s Devo - From Victory to Victory

Read: 1 Samuel 5:1-7:17; John 6:1-21; Psalm 106:13-31; Proverbs 14:32-33 The Philistines took the Ark of God from the battleground where they captured it to the town of Ashdod. Ashdod means “powerful” but it was no match for the Almighty! They placed the Ark in their temple of Dagon beside Dagon’s statue. Dagon was their god of fertility and was represented with the face and hands of a man and the tail of a fish. *** The next morning Dagon’s representative was face down in front of the Ark. They must have had a battle that night and Dagon lost. The Philistines set him back up for another bout and the next morning they found that Dagon had lost his head and hands and was lying face down in front of the doorway. (He was probably trying to escape the power of God.) *** Then the Lord’s hand fell upon the people and they got tumors. They knew it was because of the Ark, so they sent the Ark to Gath. They got tumors too, so they tried to pass the Ark on to Ekron, but the people saw it coming. They begged the Philistine rulers to send the Ark back to the Israelites before it killed them all. *** The Ark stayed with the Philistines for 7 months and they learned to fear the Lord. They sought a way to send the Ark back as to not offend God any further. They knew they needed to send an offering with it so they make five gold tumors and five gold rats like those who had spread the plague among them. They sent five to represent the five main cities of the Philistines to cover all their bases. They put the Ark on a new cart and let two cows drive the cart. They chose cows who had just given birth and that had never had a yoke on them before. They put their new calves in a pen and hitched the mothers to the cart. Naturally, this would have been a complete disaster, but because God was in control, the cows steadily walked the cart down the road straight to the border of the Israelites. *** Bethshemesh was the nearest town to the border and the cows went to a field owned by Joshua. The people saw it coming and were elated. The Levites took the Ark down and the chest of gold and set them on a rock. They took the cart and broke it apart to make a fire and offered the two cows on the altar as a sacrifice to the Lord. *** The Lord killed 70 of the men from Bethshemesh because they looked into the Ark. This brought the fear of the Lord upon the people of Bethshemesh. They called for the men to Kiriath-jearim to come and get the Ark. It stayed in Kiriath-jearim at the home of Abinadab for twenty years. *** The people felt that God had abandoned them. Samuel told them that if they really wanted to return to the Lord they had to get rid of all their false gods and images of Ashtoreth and turn their hearts to the Lord and make him their only God. *** Samuel had everyone meet in Mizpah and renew their covenant with the Lord. As they were celebrating and sacrificing to the Lord, the Philistines attacked. God fought for Israel and used thunder to confuse the Philistines. Israel defeated them. They restored the Israel the towns of Ekron and Gath and other land that the Philistines had stolen from them years before. *** This is such an important observation. When we recommit ourselves to the Lord, the devil will attack us immediately to regain the ground he is losing. For us, it is a great opportunity to not only win but to get back all he has stolen from us. Attacks are God’s way of getting us to fight for what we have lost and reclaim it. *** Samuel moved a large stone and placed it between the towns of Mizpah and Jeshanah and called the rock Ebenezer which means “the stone of help”. Samuel judged Israel for the rest of his life. *** In John, Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem for the Passover and stopped to preach to a group on the far side of the Sea of Galilee. Jesus asked Philip where they could buy bread to feed all these people. Philip said they would have to work for months to be able to feed them. Peter spoke up and said that there was a boy there with a lunch of five loaves and two fish, but what was that to this huge crowd. *** Once they realized the impossibility of the situation, Jesus told everyone to sit. He thanked God for what they had and began breaking it and giving it out. Five thousand ate that day and they picked up 12 baskets of leftovers. With man, things are impossible, but with God - NOTHING is impossible. *** The people saw this sign and wanted to make him their king but he slipped away. *** Once again, God does some great thing and the devil comes to steal their victory. It came in the form of a storm. The disciples quickly forgot the miracle of the bread and fish and were fighting for their lives, but Jesus showed up walking on the water and as soon as he stepped into the boat, the storm stopped. Not only that but they were immediately at their destination. They not only overcame the storm but gained distance and didn’t have to strive anymore. *** Lord, help us to remember that worrying is exhausting and steals our strength and our faith. May we stand on your promises and not back down. The victory is yours!

Thur.’s Devo - The Rise of Samuel - a True Prophet

Read: 1 Samuel 2:22-4:22; John 5:24-47; Psalm 106:1-12; Proverbs 14:30-31 Eli had heard of all the terrible things his sons were doing. They were blaspheming the Lord by seducing the young women who assisted at the entrance of the Tabernacle. We already read where they stole the meat to be sacrificed for themselves. Eli told them to stop but he never disciplined their actions so they just continued. *** God sent a prophet to rebuke Eli for not disciplining his sons and told him that God was going end his family dynasty as the priests. All the members of his family would die young and would miss the prosperity that he was going to pour out on Israel. The ones who lived would grow blind and their hearts be broken. They would see their children die a violent death. In fact, his two sons, Hophni and Phinehas would die on the same day. *** God would give the honor of the priesthood to someone who would be faithful to Him and serve the kings he anoints forever. This person was Samuel who was growing up in the Tabernacle to fear and honor the Lord. *** God spoke to Samuel one night for the first time. Thinking it was Eli who called him, he went to his bed to ask what he wanted. Eli finally understood that God was trying to talk to Samuel so he sent him back to ask God to speak to him. *** God did speak to Samuel and told him that he was going to carry out the words the prophet had told Eli. Judgement was coming upon his family and there is no sacrifice that will save them. *** The next morning, Eli got Samuel to tell him what the Lord said. Eli knew it would come true. In fact, Samuel became a renown prophet whose words always came true. *** Meanwhile, Israel was at war with the Philistines and they were defeating Israel so badly that Israel decided to take the Ark with them into battle. Instead of it helping them win, they were greatly defeated and the Ark was taken by the Philistines. Hophni and Phinehas were both killed that same day in battle. *** When Eli hear the new, he fell over and died. When Phinehas’ pregnant wife heard the news she went into labor and died giving birth to a son she had named Ichabod. Ichabod means “the glory has gone”. *** God’s Word is true and just. When people obey it, their nation prospers and is safe. When they allow sin and turn from God, their nation is judged and is cursed. We have been a nation just like Israel who turned from God and his Word and allowed wickedness to rule. We are turning that around in great measures. This year our President offered prayers and praise to God for the death and resurrection of Jesus. Last year, the president declared the same day as a day of the celebration of sin. Thank God, we are headed in the right direction and we will see how God prospers a nation who makes the Lord their God. *** In John, Jesus talked of the day when the dead would rise from their graves to experience resurrection. This happened when Jesus resurrected. He went to hell and preached to those who were in chains waiting his death. He took all who believed to heaven with him. *** By the testimony of two, a thing is established. Jesus was one and John the Baptist was the other witness. John told the people what Jesus would do, and now he was doing it, proving that John was right. *** The religious leaders searched the scriptures thinking their knowledge would bring them salvation, but they rejected the one the Scriptures was talking about so all their knowledge would do them no good. One day, Moses will stand and accuse them for not believing who he wrote about, which was Jesus. *** Lord, help us to see with our spiritual eyes and not believe the traditions of men. You are doing a new thing in the land, may we not miss it.