Tanakh (Old Testament) Reading
1 Samuel 9 – 10
1 Samuel 11 – 13; Psalm 38
1 Samuel 14; Psalm 124
1 Samuel 15 – 16; 1 Chronicles 1; Psalm 39
1 Samuel 17; 1 Chronicles 7
B’rit Hadashah (New Covenant, or New Testament) Reading
Acts 8
Acts 9
Acts 10
Acts 11
Acts 12
Thoughts about 1 Samuel 9 through 17, and 1 Chronicles 1 & 7
As I said last week, we’re in my favorite part of the Tanakh! I love the life of David, including all the things that lead up to it.
This week we saw Samuel anoint Saul as the first king of Israel. He’s young, very good-looking, very tall, very handsome, and apparently humble. God tells Samuel to tell Saul a bunch of things that would happen as he went back home. They all occurred exactly as prophesied, then, “As it happened, as soon as he had turned his back to leave Sh’mu’el, God gave him another heart; and all those signs took place that day. When they arrived at the hill, and there in front of him was a group of prophets, the Spirit of God fell on him and he prophesied along with them.” (1 Samuel 10:9,10 CJB; I added the bold text for emphasis.) What could go wrong?
Saul got off to a great start, but began to fail after he was well established as king. God began to prepare David.
Samuel anoints David as the new king; he stays at home and continues taking care of sheep. He’s off to a good start.
From my perspective, 1 Samuel 17 is one of the most exciting chapters in the whole Bible. It’s not just a kid’s story.
What do you think about Samuel in his older years? What about the rise and decline of Saul? (And did you notice the unnamed servant who brought Saul to Samuel?) What about David’s father and his seven older brothers? What about young, small, not-yet-a-warrior David against tall, gigantic, veteran-warrior Goliath?
Thoughts about Psalms 38, 124, and 39
I don’t understand the pattern of reading Psalms 38 and 39. They were written by David, but they sound as if it was during a miserable, guilt-ridden time in his life; probably after the Uriah and Bathsheba incident. That series of events is decades in the future in David’s life.
Psalm 124 is a “song of ascents” by David. Good stuff!
Do you have any comments about these psalms?
Thoughts about Acts 8 through 12
Our pastors are currently teaching through the Books of Acts. Sunday, May 9 was in Acts 17, so we’re almost caught up in our reading to match the sermons.
There’s too much action here to summarize easily, so I’ll just mention one thing that fascinates me. In chapter eight, we meet the man usually known as “the Ethiopian eunuch.” What should we actually call him? Here are the verses:
(26) An angel of Adonai said to Philip, “Get up, and go southward on the road that goes down from Yerushalayim to ‘Azah, the desert road.” (27) So he got up and went. On his way, he caught sight of an Ethiopian, a eunuch who was minister in charge of all the treasure of the Kandake, or queen, of Ethiopia. He had been to Yerushalayim to worship; (28) and now, as he was returning home, he was sitting in his chariot, reading the prophet Yesha‘yahu. Acts 8:26-28 CJB
Who was he? A public official who was IN CHARGE OF ALL THE TREASURE. Does that sound like a lot of responsibility and influence? Absolutely.
Why had he gone up to Jerusalem to worship? This dates back to the time of Solomon, when the queen came to see if what she had heard about Solomon was actually true. It was; she was amazed. (The accounts are in 1 Kings 10:1-13 and 2 Chronicles 9:1-12.) Ethiopia followed YHWH from that time.
Why would the Secretary of the Treasury be in Jerusalem during the Passover? The Bible doesn’t tell us, but there’s a possibility that the Ark of the Covenant had been moved to Ethiopia for safekeeping during a previous invasion. If the Messiah had come to bring freedom from the foreign conquerors to the nation, maybe—MAYBE!—it was time to return the Ark.
One more thing: Ethiopia became a Christian nation, probably partly due to Philip’s testimony, which would have been carried back home by this influential government official. The Christian church is still strong there today. I had a co-worker who was a member of the Orthodox Church, who was born in that ancient land.
What do you think of these chapters in Acts?
