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March 26 - Evening
"Samuel continued as Israel’s leader all the days of his life. From year to year he went on a circuit from Bethel to Gilgal to Mizpah, judging Israel in all those places. But he always went back to Ramah, where his home was, and there he also held court for Israel. And he built an altar there to the Lord....
When Samuel grew old, he appointed his sons as Israel’s leaders. The name of his firstborn was Joel and the name of his second was Abijah, and they served at Beersheba. But his sons did not follow his ways. They turned aside after dishonest gain and accepted bribes and perverted justice.
So all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah. They said to him,
'You are old, and your sons do not follow your ways; now appoint a king to lead us,
such as all the other nations have.'
But when they said,
'Give us a king to lead us,'
this displeased Samuel; so he prayed to the Lord."
- First Samuel 7:15-17; 8:1-6 |
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A Call for Monarchy |
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Samuel traveled a 30 mile circuit between Bethel, Gilgal and Mizpah to guide and instruct Israel. Samuel’s time as judge (guide, teacher, counselor, governmental advisor, etc.) of Israel was a time of spiritual growth and advancement as a culture. Although limited due to the momentous ignorance and theological chaos of this period, Samuel’s time of leadership was a time of great improvement compared to the times of the other judges.
Samuel built an altar at Ramah, most likely to replace the fallen Tabernacle, which was near the high place of Gibeah.
As Samuel grew old it appears there was no new judge and no new anointing for a leader on the horizon, so Samuel appointed his own sons to fulfill the responsibilities. But, his sons were unjust and used their position for personal gain.
An ostracon dated from the period of the Judges was found in Khirbet Qeiyafa, a city in Judah, which contains a Hebrew inscription that seems to capture the age of corrupt judges, oppressed people and elders who established a monarchy for their society. The text on this ostracon seems to confirm the biblical account of the final days of Samuel and the early days of King Saul. The Hebrew text has been translated to read:
Do not oppress, and serve God…despoiled him/her
The judge and the widow wept; he had the power
Over the resident alien and the child, he eliminated them together
The men and chiefs/officers have established a king
He marked 60 [?] servants among the communities/habitations/generation.
(Details here, here, here and here. Photos here, here and here.) |
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"But perhaps God is strong enough to exult in monotony. It is possible that God says every morning, "Do it again" to the sun; and every evening, "Do it again" to the moon. It may not be automatic monotony that makes all daisies alike; it may be that God makes every daisy separately, but has never gotten tired of making them. It may be that He has the eternal appetite of infancy; for we have sinned and grown old, and our Father is
younger than we."
- G.K. Chesterton |
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John Wyclif (1324-1384)
• Morning Star of Reformation
• A Saxon, studied at Oxford.
• He had several major appointments including one from the king.
• One of the king’s chaplains.
• In 1374 Wyclif went for the king to negotiate peace with France and to meet with
the Pope’s agents on filling church positions in England.
• Returned to England speaking of religious reform.
• Preached in Oxford and London against the Pope’s secular sovereignty.
• In one of his tracts Wyclif called the Pope:
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“the anti-Christ"
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"the proud, worldly
priest of Rome"
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"most cursed of clippers
and cut-purses.”
• Tried for heresy in 1378
• He began to translate the Scriptures into English
(which was illegal).
• He organized traveling preachers to take his message around the country.
• He rejected:
- transubstantiation,
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priestly absolution in the confessional,
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and indulgences.
• His followers were called ‘Lollards’ and were arrested.
• He suffered a stroke in 1382 that left him partially paralyzed.
• While saying mass in his church he was struck again with paralysis and died two
days later on Dec. 29, 1384.
• Wyclif was said to have lit a fire that would never go out.
• 94 years later, in 1478, the church dug up his bones, burnt them and threw the ashes in a river . |
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Energeo (Gr) – Effective Work (Eng) – energeo is a Greek word that means “to put forth power,”
“be operative,” and “to work.” Energeo refers to work released in power that accomplishes its goal.
This word energeo is used by Paul in 2 Corinthians 1:6; Galatians 2:8 and 1 Thessalonians 2:13. |
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In Acts 21:16-30 Paul is accused and his life threatened for bringing a Gentile into the inner court of the Temple in Jerusalem which was reserved only for Jewish men. Archaeologists have found two slabs of stone inscribed with inscriptions forbidding the entrance of Gentiles. One stone has the following in a seven line inscription:
NO FOREIGNER
IS TO GO BEYOND THE BALUSTRADE
AND THE PLAZA OF THE TEMPLE ZONE
WHOEVER IS CAUGHT DOING SO
WILL HAVE HIMSELF TO BLAME
FOR HIS DEATH
WHICH WILL FOLLOW
Josephus describes it this way in his writings:
"Proceeding across this [the open court] towards the second court of the temple, one found it surrounded by a stone balustrade, three cubits high and of exquisite workmanship; in this at regular intervals stood slabs giving warning, some in Greek, others in Latin characters, of the law of purification, to wit that no foreigner was permitted to enter the holy place, for so the second enclosure of the temple was called."
- (Jos. War 5, v, 2; cf. Jos. War 6, ii, 4; Jos. Antiq. 15. xi, 5; Philo Leg. 212)
Paul alludes to this “barrier, dividing wall of hostility” in Ephesians 2:14.
(Details here and here) |
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Am I a trustworthy messenger?
Do I serve and benefit those who send me?
I will be faithful to the message and the purpose of the one who sends me. |
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"Sending a message by the hands of a fool
is like cutting off one’s feet or drinking poison."
- Proverbs 26:6 |
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Finances |
Be a light in the darkness |
Private Property |
Cameroon |
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| Reps & Sets is a daily Bible devotional for Christians from Generation Word Bible Teaching used each morning and evening. |
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