1 Samuel: Lesson 17 — To Obey Is Better Than Sacrifice

The following are discussion questions from a weekly study I am leading through the book of 1 Samuel.  We meet each Wednesday evening at the Deer Run Church of Christ.

 

Here Comes A King:
A Study of the Book of 1 Samuel

Lesson 17 (To Obey Is Better Than Sacrifice)
1 Samuel 15:1-35

The Text:

1. Who does God tell Saul to attack?  What was the reason?  What does God want done with them?
    
2. How many men did Saul gather to do battle?  How victorious were they in battle?  What did Saul save?  What is God’s response? 
    
3. When Samuel goes to meet Saul, what message is he given?  When Samuel catches up with Saul, what does Saul tell him?  In response, what does Samuel ask?
    
4. What was Saul’s reasoning for his actions?  When confronted with what God had actually said, how does Saul respond?  What is his justification for his actions?  Who does Saul claim to be sacrificing to? 
    
5. What does Samuel say God really wants?  How does this compare with what Saul was willing to give?  In what manner does Saul finally admit his wrongdoing?  What message does Samuel have for Saul?  How did this affect Samuel’s attitude toward Saul?

     

The Application:

1. Are there things that have waylaid you (or attempted to) in your walk with God?  What does God want you to do with those?  Have you?  Will you?
    
2. How does it feel to be victorious in a battle with the enemy?  How do you choose who fights the battle with you?  How tempting is it to save “mementos”  of the enemy God has helped you defeat?  How would God feel about that?     
    
3. When you experience victory, who gets the credit?  Do you ever try to claim obedience when you’re still holding on to things you know you shouldn’t be?  How obvious do you think that is to others?      
    
4. Do you ever try to justify your disobedience by claiming it is for God’s benefit?  What influence do others have on your obedience?  Why do you think Saul used the phrase, “the LORD your God” in his conversation with Samuel? 
    
5. How much do you pursue obedience over sacrifice?  What should this look like in your life?  What should your attitude be toward a person who chooses to disobey?

      

Next week: 1 Samuel 16:1-13
Looking Beyond The Visible

1 Samuel: Lesson 16 — Not Such A Sweet Deal

The following are discussion questions from a weekly study I am leading through the book of 1 Samuel.  We meet each Wednesday evening at the Deer Run Church of Christ.

 

Here Comes A King:
A Study of the Book of 1 Samuel

Lesson 16 (Not Such A Sweet Deal)
1 Samuel 14:24 – 52

The Text:

1. What condition were the men of Israel in?  Why?  What had Saul said?  What was his stated motive?
    
2. What did the army find in the woods?  What did they do with it?  What did Jonathan do?  What effect did it have on him?  What response did he have when told of his father’s command? 
    
3. What was the condition of the Israelite army when evening finally came?  What did they do?  Why did they do this?  What was the problem with it? What did Saul do about it?
    
4. What was Saul’s plan after they had eaten?  What was the response of the army?  What response did the priest have?  What response did God have?  What was Saul’s assumption?   
    
5. What does Saul announce will be done to the one who has sinned?  Who does the lot fall to as they seek the guilty person?  What is Saul’s response?  Who intervenes?

    

The Application:

1. How hard is it to live up to the expectations of others?  In what ways have you put expectations on others in order to satisfy yourself?  How is this harmful to the individual, and to the body of Christ?  Are there ways in which expectations can be good?
    
2. Have you ever done something only to be told that someone else said it was wrong?  How did it make you feel?  How did you react?     
    
3. What effect does being deprived of something for any amount of time have on you?  What is the problem with being so “hungry” for something that you don’t care how you get it?  In what areas might you need to show restraint in your life?      
    
4. How do you feel when people like a plan that you have?  What if God doesn’t approve, or is silent about it? 
    
5. Why are rash statements so dangerous?  Do you think Jonathan did wrong?  How can you stand up for someone who feels condemned for doing the right thing?

     

Next week: 1 Samuel 15:1-35
To Obey Is Better Than Sacrifice

1 Samuel: Lesson 15 — Mighty To Save

The following are discussion questions from a weekly study I am leading through the book of 1 Samuel.  We meet each Wednesday evening at the Deer Run Church of Christ.

 

Here Comes A King:
A Study of the Book of 1 Samuel

Lesson 15 (Mighty To Save)
1 Samuel 13:16 – 14:23

The Text:

1. What occupation was missing from Israel?  Why?  How did this impact the Israelites readiness for battle?
    
2. What were the Philistines doing?  What did Jonathan decide to do?  Who went with him?  Who else knew about this “trip”? 
    
3. As Jonathan approaches the base of the cliff where the Philistine outpost is, what does he propose to do?  What is his reasoning?  How does his armor-bearer respond?
    
4. When Jonathan and his armor-bearer show themselves to the Philistines, what do the Philistines say to them?  What had Jonathan decided in advance to do if this is what the Philistines said?  What was the immediate result at the top of the cliff?  What did God do beyond that?  How widespread was it?   
    
5. What was Saul’s response when he saw the Philistine army in retreat?  When Saul took his men into battle, what did they find?  Who won the victory that day?

   

The Application:

1. Do you always have everything that you think you need?  Does not having certain “necessary things” keep you from doing what you know God wants?
    
2. How does knowing people’s lives are being raided by the enemy make you feel?  Who would you trust to go with you to confront a specific “raiding party”?     
    
3. What does it mean in your life that “Nothing can hinder the LORD from saving, whether by many or by few”?     
      
4. What do you do when someone mocks you or ridicules your faith?  Why is it important to decide ahead of time how you will respond to such behavior? 
    
5. When victories are won, why is it so tempting to look for a person or group to give credit to before we look to God?  When you are rescued from the enemies you face, why is it so important to recognize God as the rescuer regardless of what means He uses to accomplish it?

    

Next week: 1 Samuel 14:24-52
Not Such A Sweet Deal

Hearing Voices

“Hearing Voices” was the title of lesson 4 in the 1 Samuel study I am leading on Wednesday evenings at Deer Run.

Have you ever answered a phone call where the caller immediately launches into a full-speed conversation assuming you know who they are — and you don’t?  You listen intently for clues to the caller’s identity.  There’s a familiarity to it but you just can’t place it.  Your mind races through a mental checklist of the people you know.  The name . . . the name is on the tip of your tongue but it just won’t quite come out of your mouth.  And then it happens.  The pause.  The awkward silence just before the inevitable statement/question that you know is coming, “You don’t know who this is, do you?”.

“Wow!  I should have known.”  “How did I not know?”  “I’m so embarrassed.”  “How could I have not known?”

Granted, sometimes it is all about the phone connection and poor acoustics which make the person not really sound like themself . . . sometimes.  More often than not, we must admit that we were not as familiar with the person as we thought.  Regardless of the amount of time spent together, we’ve not really listened to them.  We’re not used to the sound of the voice.  The words spoken do not flow in a manner that we recognize.  The “voiceprint” is strange and unrecognizable to us.

While this can be mildly embarrassing and somewhat awkward when it takes place between friends, what about when we don’t recognize God’s voice?  This was the case with Samuel as he came to serve God as he lives with Eli the priest.  We read that “the word of the LORD was rare” in those days.  It is in that setting that God calls to Samuel with a message.  As God calls Samuel’s name, he does not recognize the voice and assumes that it must be Eli calling him.  It took three attempts before even Eli surmised that it must be God calling to Samuel so on the fourth call Samuel finally acknowledges God and listens to what He has to say.

Before we come down too hard on Samuel, what about us?  How often do we miss the message God is trying to speak into our life?  How often do we struggle with the questions of life and how God should be involved in each aspect of it?  We have the advantage of God’s Word and His Spirit to lead us and teach us about the very nature of God.  Yet still we wonder, we question, we even doubt if God has anything to say at all.  

We hear many voices in our life but struggle to recognize which belongs to God.  So many of them sound reasonable, but which one sounds most like God?  Which one really is God?  If we’re trying to figure it out with our own reasoning or intellect, we will likely fail every time.  The way we know isn’t that complicated.  We spend time with God.  We read His Word.  We listen to what He says to us through it.  We allow His Spirit to fill us and continually remind us of the nature of God revealed through His Word and the life of His Son, Jesus.  The more we know God, the easier it becomes to recognize His voice.  In John 10, Jesus calls himself the “good shepherd”.  He says that the sheep will follow the shepherd that they belong to, and that cares for them, because they recognize his voice.  It is time with the shepherd, and the shepherd with the sheep, that makes this recognition automatic and without question.

As you consider the direction of your life, are you hearing voices?  Are you spending deliberate time with God with the purpose of knowing Him?  I pray that you and I are “sheep” that hear His voice, recognizing and obeying it because it is a voice we are very familiar with.

Bad Boys

Our third lesson from 1 Samuel is subtitled “Bad Boys”.  As Samuel grows up serving the LORD under the care of Eli, the sons of Eli the priest are living in ways that treat God, and the people of Israel, with great contempt.  They use their positions for personal gain and for their own pleasure at the expense of the people they were supposed to serve.  They used their authority to “bully” any who would question their tactics and requirements.  They counted on the people fulfilling the requirements of God’s law in bringing their sacrifices while they ignored the rules and regulations God had set for them as priests in accepting and offering the sacrifices to God on behalf of the people.  They were the poster boys for the phrase, “power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely”!

As I read through this story in 1 Samuel, the question, “Where’s dad?”, keeps running through my mind.  As the reading continues, it becomes obvious that “dad” is there all along.  Eli is living life and going about his daily tasks; perhaps oblivious to the actions of his boys at times, but more often deliberately turning a blind eye to their activities because he is benefitting from some of what they do!  When the public complaints reach a critical mass and begin to tarnish his image, he makes a show of reprimanding his sons – but in a “too little, too late” manner.  I can almost hear him now . . .  “They’re really good boys at heart.”  “They don’t really intend to cause so much trouble.”  “Deep down they mean well — I mean, look at all the nice meals they bring me.”

Take away the Bible names and references and what do you have?  It’s a story that is far too familiar and lived out far too often in our world today.  If  I look at it in the large-scale picture, I see so many of our modern-day politicians — using the power and influence of their position for their own benefit.  Yet even knowing that, how often do we as voters look the other way because we benefit from some of the “special projects” they support?  Everyone is opposed to government waste, pork projects, and whatever else you want to call it, until it directly benefits them and then don’t you dare talk of cutting it!

But I digress!   It is easy to look at others, point fingers, and say, “shame on you”.  But what about closer to home?  Where to you see yourself in the story?  I would say for most of us it is probably at different, and even multiple, places at varying times in our life.  At times it is easy to be the bad boys — the disobedient children who don’t care because we like the perceived benefit that comes from our actions.  We have the power and ability to do what we want and no one is going to stop us!  At other times we may be more like the dad — those near and dear to us are doing wrong and everyone knows it but they’re just too cute to really do much about it.  Besides that, the “supplies” they bring home from work help stretch an already tight budget — I sure wouldn’t want them to get all “legalistic” on me now, would I?

God calls us to be holy as He is holy.  Not an easy task.  As a matter of fact, an impossible task without the indwelling power of His Spirit within us.  Part of the job of the Holy Spirit is to convict the world of sin, righteousness, and judgement. (John 16:8)  When we are faced with decisions regarding those things which are good and just and the things which are only for our temporary selfish benefit, God’s Spirit and His Word speak to us to guide us in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.

It is easy to look around and take the path that everyone else seems to be travelling.  A path where we blend in and we hope no one notices just how far off course we really are.  My prayer and challenge for each of us is that we look higher and take that narrow path, the path that few find.  It is this path that shows the world that our purpose is much higher . . . our destination is eternal life with our Lord and Saviour!

Returning The Gift

I’ve been posting discussion questions from the Wednesday evening small group I am leading through the book of 1 Samuel at Deer Run.  I am going to begin writing a series of blog articles to correspond with each week’s discussion questions.  Some time back I wrote the first article, Caution: Objects In Life May Not Be What They Appear, dealing with lesson 1.

This blog post contains some thoughts connected with lesson 2.

It is easy to get surrounded by, and caught up in, the hustle and bustle of Christmas.  Christmas parties, events, concerts, and programs all clamour for our attention at a rate that often makes it hard to even catch our breath.  In the midst of all the busy-ness, many of us struggle to find just the right gift.  We want something full of meaning and value.   Something that will be cherished and held on to for years to come. 

Imagine receiving that perfect gift — the one you have been longing for your entire life.  Experience the joy, the satisfaction, the relief of having your long-standing request answered.   Okay?  Do you have it?  Now give it back!

I can hear you because the sound is an echo of me.  WHAT!?!?  Are you crazy?

That tends to be my reaction to the stuff of “value” that I receive, but what about the things of real value?  In the book of 1 Samuel, Hannah is childless and longs for a child.  We find her pouring out her heart to God asking for the one thing she wants most.  God hears, and answers, her prayer by giving her a son — Samuel.  But wait . . . part of her request was a promise to give this child back to God.  She seemed to know that this gift she was asking for would not be hers to keep.  Her willingness to not only make the promise, but to keep it and give Samuel to the service of the Lord was a blessing to the entire nation as Samuel would lead them in an extended time of peace.

So, what have you asked of God?  What have you received from God?  Are you grasping on to it, trying desperately to keep it to yourself?  Or are you returning it back to God for His use?  The Bible teaches that “every good and perfect gift comes from above”.  God is the provider of all good things.  His desire is for us to return them to Him and allow Him to use them in ways that far exceed what we could do with it on our own. 

One of the great gifts we have is our life.  God has given us life itself and He asks us to trust Him enough to give our life back to Him.  Jesus said, “whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.”  God can, and desires to, do great things in our life if we will surrender fully to Him.  The apostle Paul puts it this way, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20) 

God’s greatest gift to mankind was the sending of His son Jesus to be born, to live, to die, to rise again so that payment could be made for my sin.  It is my choice to return the gift of my life for Him to use according to His great design and plan.  How about you?

 

 

1 Samuel: Lesson 14 — The Cost Of Impatience

The following are discussion questions from a weekly study I am leading through the book of 1 Samuel.  We meet each Wednesday evening at the Deer Run Church of Christ.

 

Here Comes A King:
A Study of the Book of 1 Samuel

Lesson 14 (The Cost Of Impatience)
1 Samuel 13:1 – 55

The Text:

1. How old was Saul when he became king?  How long did he serve as king?  Why might that information be included at this point in the story?
    
2. How many men does Saul select to serve with him?  How does he assign them?  What does he do with the rest of the men that are present?
      
3. Who is Jonathan?  What does he do?  How does Saul react to this?  How does Saul convey the news?  Is it good news or bad news?
    
4. What do the Philistines do?  How many of them?  What is the response of the Israelite people?  . . .  Of the Israelite army?   
    
5. How long does Saul wait for Samuel?  What does Saul do?  Why?  When did Samuel arrive?  What message does Samuel have for Saul?  What did all of this do to the number of men who stayed with Saul?

  

The Application:

1. When is the best time in life to start something significant?  Is longevity a good measure of something’s success?  Why or why not?
    
2. Why is it important to have people who will stand with you?  How easy/hard is it for you to share your resources of any kind with someone else?  Are some things easier to share than others?  
        
3. How likely are you to take the lead in confronting wrong?  What are the possible outcomes of confronting wrong?  What seems to be most common in your experience?  How does knowing that help in future circumstances?    
    
4. Have you ever taken a public stand for what is right according to God only to have it seem like the world rises up against you because of it?  What has been, or would be, your reaction?  What can be done to remain courageous in the face of opposition?
    
5. How hard is it for you to wait?  How often do you tend to live by the motto, “It’s better to ask forgiveness than permission”?  Why is that dangerous?  How important is obedience to you?  . . . To God?

   

Next week: 1 Samuel 13:16-14:23
Mighty To Save

1 Samuel: Lesson 13 — Famous Last Words

The following are discussion questions from a weekly study I am leading through the book of 1 Samuel.  We meet each Wednesday evening at the Deer Run Church of Christ.

 

Here Comes A King:
A Study of the Book of 1 Samuel

Lesson 13 (Famous Last Words)
1 Samuel 12:1 – 25

The Text:

1. As Samuel finishes up his time of leadership, what does he state he has done?  What questions does he ask of the people?  Why?  What is their response?
    
2. What history does Samuel relay to the people?  What is his point?  What is he confronting them with evidence of? 
    
3. What action/reaction was behind the Israelites wanting a king?  How was this different from their response to previous troubles?
    
4. What conditions do Samuel give to the people in order for things to go well for the nation under their new king?  What is the consequence of not following these conditions?   
    
5. What did Samuel want the people to realize by God sending thunder and rain?  What was the response of the people?  What is Samuel’s response to them?

  

The Application:

1. What makes “last words” important?  What does it mean to live a life of integrity today?  How do people view you?
    
2. What evidence do you have in your life of “all the righteous acts performed by the LORD for you”?  How has God rescued you when you have turned to him in genuine need?   
       
3. How tempting is it to want a “world’s solution” to a problem that needs a “God solution”?  Why do we do that even when we know the effectiveness of God’s solutions in the past?    
    
4. How important is fearing the LORD and serving and obeying him?  Can doing that help counteract bad requests and decisions?  What is the purpose of God’s hand against a person that chooses to rebel against him?
    
5. What does it take for God to get your attention?  Do you ever feel you need someone else to go to God for you because you are not sure of your standing with him?  What does verse 22 mean to you?

   

Next week: 1 Samuel 13:1-15
The Cost Of Impatience