My son can beat up your son

From II Samuel 21-24:

1. It is interesting that God refers to Saul and his legacy as a blood-stained house. After all, didn't David kill tens of thousands and Saul only thousands?

2. The anecdotes that are given in chapter 21 are not in order, but rather some tidbits of information, from what I am guessing. After all, David was staying in his palace and not fighting with his men when he saw Bathsheba. I am assuming that the incident occurred after the Israelites persuaded him not to go out with them when they fought.

3. There sure were some very unusually formed figures that came from the house of Rapha. I wonder what sort of man Rapha was. The picture I have in my mind is a picture of the man who was called "Jaws" in the James Bond movies.


4. It is interesting that there is a song that is credited to David in chapter 22. I wonder why this was not just put in Psalms instead of being listed here.

5. Are the last words of David truly his last words of life? See chapter 23.

6. David sure surrounded himself with some very capable fighters. It is interesting just to read about some of the exploits that are listed in chapter 23. I also wonder about the sons of Zeruiah: Joab, Abishai, and Asahel (killed by Abner). These guys were fierce! How did Zeruiah raise them, I wonder. It must've been like boot camp from the time they were little babies.

Lets try someone else

From II Samuel 18-20:

1. It is interesting that Absalom made a monument to himself. He was not that old that he could not still have a son, so I am wondering why he decided to do this. (The bible says he made it because he reasoned to himself that he did not have a son.) I am guessing he was very self-conceited.

2. How was it that David was so naive about his son? Did he really think that after his son tried to usurp the throne that he would not be killed in battle? And all this after Absalom tricked him and tried to have him killed to take over the throne!

3. It is nice to see that even though Joab was not the kindest or most caring of men, he talked some sense into David and convinced him to appear before the men and thank them for risking their lives.

4. Barzillai was a good friend and a wise man. He not only provided for the king when he was in flight, but he also refused to go up to Jerusalem.

5. Sometimes adversity is a great thing, because it shows who your true friends are. As we can see, Shimei was not really a true friend. He betrayed the thoughts of his heart when he cursed the king on his way out of the country. (He did repent before the king, but David knew that he had evil intentions in his heart. Later we shall see that David orders Solomon to kill him upon taking over as king.)

6. I wonder if Joab knew that David promised the commander of the army position to Amasa? I also wonder what his response was when he first found out about it. The bible records very clearly that he wanted his position back bad enough to kill for it.

7 It is interesting to see that David has his own priest, by the name of Ira the Jairite. I wonder why he was not satisfied with Abiathar and Zadok? After all, it was Zadok's son Ahimaaz and Abiathar's son Jonathan who risked their lives by taking a message of Absalom's movements to David, and it was Ahimaaz who outran the Cushite to deliver the message that the army had succeeded in routing the armies of Israel.

Please God

From II Samuel 14-17:

1. It is interesting that Joab was so concerned about bringing Absalom back. Yet later Joab did not want to go and talk / see Absalom, to the point that Absalom had to have his servants set Joab's barley field on fire to get him to pay attention. I am guessing that Joab wanted Absalom back to please King David. The bible talks about seeking to please God rather than men in both Galatians 1:10 and also in I Thess. 2:4.

2. An interesting note is how Ahithophel gets involved. He sides with Absalom against David. We shall find out later that it is because he is actually the grandfather of Bathsheba and perhaps harbors displeasure over the whole Uriah / Bathsheba / David affair. (See II Samuel 11:3 and II Samuel 23:34 for proof.)

3. I wonder if David was aware that Absalom was out by the road leading to the city gate telling all of the people what he was telling them. If I were King David, I probably would have given him the authority to judge (similar to the position that Joseph had in Pharaoh's court in Egypt) so that he could see how challenging it actually is. I guarantee that he would not have everyone's undivided support if he had been tasked with this. (My experience is that no matter what you do, someone is bound to be dissatisfied with your decision.) This also would have given David a break from dealing with some of these matters. Delegation is a wonderful training tool!

4. David was wise to know that he needed to flee. It seems to me that he must have had some inkling that Absalom was going to try this and that it was a danger; otherwise, why would he have any idea that he needed to flee?

5. Ziba, the servant of Mephibosheth, stated that Mephibosheth was hoping to gain the kingdom back. However, later we will find that he claimed otherwise and said his servant betrayed him. What a mess, being the king and all, and having to deal with people jockeying for position within your realm.

6. Everyone highly regarded Ahithophel's advice. It says his advice was like one who inquires of God. Does this mean that he was just very wise in the ways of the world, or does it also mean that everyone took his advice very seriously?

7. God rescued David from the plight he was in by causing everyone to listen to the advice of Hushai instead of Ahithophel. So ultimately, God is the one who saved David, not Hushai. Hushai was only the vehicle through which God accomplished his will.

8. It is interesting that, among others, Shobi son of Nahash of the Ammonites came to provide relief to David and those fleeing with him. One would think that the Ammonites would rather use this opportunity to destroy their enemy.

It was all in my heart first

From II Samuel 11-13:

1. The story of Bathsheba is a story that is very well known. However, one must ask why would David send for Bathsheba after having seen her bathing. Obviously, to him she was very attractive. She was also young. However, both had already committed sin in their hearts before the act. David had seen and lusted after, so he acted upon that desire. I am also going to take a wild guess here, but I am betting that she was hoping that he would see her bathing and she was out in full sight for him. Otherwise, what girl in their right mind would bathe where people could see them. So it was a heart issue first, and then went from thoughts to actions. (Men cannot see the heart, but God can. Man, however, can see the action based upon the heart condition.)

2. It is interesting to see how noble Uriah was. He would not sleep at his house when "The ark and Israel and Judah are staying in tents...". It is interesting that he mentioned the ark first. One could easily argue that he was concerned for the things of God more than David was at this particular juncture in time.

3. I wonder if Joab knew the issue between the king and Uriah the Hittite. He sent back a message saying that it was done, but we do not see any objection by him about what was done. Perhaps he knew nothing of the situation, though I am guessing he was able to add things up later when Bathsheba had a baby after quickly marrying the king.

4. Nathan was really brave to go before the king and point out the king's wrongdoing. Keep in mind that the king had the power to strike him down at any moment. And this message was sure to offend. If the king was one who would cover up sins, he would be sure to retaliate.

5. It is interesting that the bible says about Solomon that the Lord loved him, and even had Nathan give him another name. It is amazing how God can use the results of a bad situation to cause good to come of it. I guess this could be an argument for keeping a child that is a result of rape. God can take the child and use that child for much good, even though the conception of the child was a result of evil intentions and sin.

6. It is sad to see that Amnon was so lost in his lust after his half-sister Tamar. She even said that all he had to do was go to his father and ask for her hand in marriage and he would likely grant it. I don't understand why he was so brash. I guess a heart full of evil intentions and sin is the only explanation. And then because he had abused / used her, he then hated her.

7. It is recorded that David was furious. However, nothing is said about what David did about this issue. I wonder how he should have responded. What should one do if two of their children have an incident like this? That is a very perplexing question.

8. Jonadab, who gave Amnon the idea of how to get Tamar alone, was aware of Absalom's intent to kill Amnon. I wonder why he did not warn Amnon. I also wonder if king David knew of this intent. I bet if he had examined his deepest feelings and thoughts, he could have figured it out. I also don't understand why David longed for / mourned for his son (Absalom) every day. At least the passage seems to indicate that he is mourning for Absalom, not Amnon.

Not poor at all

From II Samuel 7-10:

1. Although I keep mentioning the fact that David was sinning against God's commands because he was taking many wives, it is still evident that God was very important in his life. He put God first in his thoughts, so that in spite of his weakness with women, he was concerned about God not having a "palace" so to speak for the ark.

2. The part of God's prayer where it talks about how God is going to bless David is really tough to digest. It talks about how God will raise up an offspring of David's that will build a house for God's name. He then says that this offspring will have his kingdom established forever. Then it goes on to say that when he does wrong, God will punish him with the rod of men, with floggings inflicted by men. I have heard that the "kingdom established forever" bit is referring to Jesus. This may be the case, but I don't understand why it says later "when he does wrong...", as Jesus was a perfect man. Did it switch back again? How can we be sure when it is talking about which one? Or is it referring to David's throne being established forever IN HEAVEN?

3. David was quite successful in his military ventures. The bible states that "The Lord gave David victory wherever he went." Wow! What does it take to have that kind of success? Likely it is the idea of seeking the good of God first and your own good secondarily.

4. Ziba (who was Saul's servant previously) had fifteen sons and twenty servants. I think he did well for being a servant. I mean, probably most ordinary people did not even have that type of wealth. He was definitely not the poor, lowly servant that one thinks of when thinking of servants.

5. I wonder why chapter 10 talks about defeating the Ammonites separately from where it talks about all David's other military successes in chapter 8. I suppose it could be due to the timing of these occurrences, but it does not seem that these events are chronologically ordered, as earlier it already mentioned about Solomon being born to David even though we have not yet covered the story of Bathsheba.

Lost courage / Going to the stronghold

It was a very busy weekend, with us going first to a wedding reception and then a church evangelistic outreach put on by the Lexington Chinese Christian Church. Then yesterday we had the usual church stuff and then a get-together with some other mixed race couples in the evening.

From II Samuel 4-6:

1. How did Ish-Bosheth show that he had lost courage in such a way as to cause Israel to become alarmed?

2. I like how David treated those who murdered Ish-Bosheth. They committed murder to try and gain David's favor, but David was a righteous man and would not stand for that type of action.

3. Again we see in Chapter 5:13-14 that David continues to do things that were displeasing to God by taking more concubines and wives. Although the story has not yet been told at this point, Solomon is mentioned in the sons born to him. So these two verses are referring to events that occurred over time.

4. It is interesting that in Chapter 5:21 it states that the Philistines abandoned their idols and "David and his men carried them off." I wonder why it does not say that David and his men destroyed them.

5. It says that David went down to the stronghold. Where was this "stronghold", and what was it for? Was this a safe place to retreat to, or a secret hiding place, or what? It reminds me of when I was a kid and me and my friends would go out to the hideout.

6. Chapter 6:2 has a very interesting sentence structure. It says "...the ark of God, which is called by the Name, the name of the Lord Almighty..." I wonder why they did not just translate this as "called by the Name of the Lord Almighty"? I am sure there is a reason, I just don't know exactly what it is.

7. I have read in other places that the reason that Uzzah was killed was because the method that was used to transport the ark was not the way God had prescribed, and thus Uzzah was placed into harm's way when the oxen stumbled. I had also heard that for the second portion of the ark's trip (from Obed-Edom's house to Jerusalem) that it was transported properly as God ascribed. (It does say in verse 13 of chapter 6 that there were those who were carrying it, not oxen.)

8. I wonder what happened to the tabernacle. It appears that the tabernacle is already gone, as it says that the ark was placed in the tent that David pitched for it. It must have been destroyed during the times of the judges - at least that is my guess.

7. It is interesting to see how Michal despised David because he danced before the Lord. The bible says he was wearing a linen ephod, yet Michal says he disrobed "in the sight of the slave girls". I am guessing that she was unhappy because he was acting in what she felt to be an undignified manner. She seems to have been all about appearances. I wonder if she was child-less because she continued to despise David, or because he didn't give her the time of day after this point in time.

Too many wives / War is strange

From II Samuel 1-3:

1. Lying is generally not a good policy. It seems that the character that was in the first chapter who thought he was bringing good news to David and his men gambled about lying and lost - his life! Moral of the story - No time is a good time to lie.

2. How many people do you know that make up eulogies commemorating the all the wonderful things that their enemies accomplished during their lifetimes? David was a very unique person in that respect.

3. War is strange and terrible. It seems strange to me that Abner would call out to Asahel and tell him to fight with someone else. It also seems strange that when Joab and his men had surrounded Abner and his men on the hill of Ammah, Abner convinced them to give up. I always thought that when you were in a battle, you would not stop until the battle was over. But it reminds me of the most unusual thing that perhaps has ever happened on a battle front. Google WWI Christmas 1914, or check out this link.

WWI - Christmas 1914

4. It is interesting that the bible states that Abner had been strengthening his own position in the house of Saul, presumably so that if something happened to Ish-Bosheth he could take over as king. When Ish-Bosheth accuses him of sleeping with one of his father's concubines, he does not deny the fact. I wonder if, in fact, the accusation was true. If you know the story of Absalom, you will recall how Ahithophel told Absalom to sleep with his father's concubines to strengthen his position (see II Samuel 16:21).

5. It is interesting that David demands Michal of Abner. Did he miss her that much? Was it his first "true love"? I mean, after all, he had already a number of wives. (If you look in II Samuel 3:2-5, six women are mentioned having given birth to sons for him and at least three are wives from the indications here as well as in previous passages. One could also argue that Maacah had to be a wife, as she was a daughter of the king of Geshur.)

6. It is interesting that he takes Michal from her current husband to give back to David. He was really in love with her too. She must have been very attractive or desirable in some way. We see him weeping behind her all the way to Bahurim. I wonder who she really loved?

7. This brings me to another point: David's big sin with Bathsheba was previewed by this amassing of wives and women. One can look and tell that perhaps one of David's weaknesses is that he cannot really say no to an attractive woman. In reality, he has already gone against God's commands, as in Deuteronomy 17:17, God told the Israelites that a king must not "take many wives, or his heart will be led astray". One could also look at Solomon and say that "an apple does not fall far from the tree", meaning that Solomon had the same weakness.

8. It is interesting that the Israelites seemingly had already wanted David to be their king for a while. This is evidenced by what Abner says to them in II Samuel 3:17-18.

Return the favor

Today I had an opportunity to "pencil-whip" some paperwork. But I did not. After all of my reflections upon the impeccable character that David was, with all of his integrity, I could not see any good reason to "pencil-whip" this work. I refused. And God was looking out for me in this situation.

From I Samuel 28-31:

1. I wonder how David had the courage to go into battle against his kinsmen - the Israelites. He had no way of knowing that they would ask him to go back home, and I am sure more than a few of his men were not really thrilled with fighting against Israel.

2. It is quite funny that the medium who brought up Samuel at Saul's request was shocked when it actually happened. I wonder why she was so shocked. I am guessing it was because typically she did a little bit of "voodoo" magic and nothing really happened. In this case, the spirit actually came up and freaked her out. Also, I am wondering why she immediately knew it must be no other than Saul who had requested.

3. David's men illustrate how they were not totally interested in going to fight alongside the Philistines by their response when they get back and find out that their families have been abducted by the Amalekites. They talked of stoning David! The most interesting statement is in verse 6 of chapter 30 when it says "But David found strength in the Lord his God."

4. I like how David made the rule that all share in the plunder. Ultimately, David was very wise in realizing that in order for one group to be successful, there needs to be another group who stays behind and facilitates. This is not just true in war, but really in any and every venture. In order to get ahead, someone must stay behind and do the basics that are required just to maintain the current position. In our family, though I am able to go out and (hopefully) do great things and accomplish much in my workplace, I cannot do it without my wife back on the home front helping by cooking dinner and cleaning the house and doing the laundry. It is much more of a thankless job without any glory or real sense of accomplishment, but it is still a necessary job. I thank God for her. She is wonderful! (And I am reminded even more of this as today is our anniversary.)

5. David was wise in culling favor of those friends that he had in Israel by sending them some plunder. This would go a long ways perhaps in the coming months and years when he is "campaigning" to be the king of the land.

6. I understand that Jonathan was killed by the Philistines. However, I am guessing that he put up a really spectacular fight. Just knowing how he approached a battle just the same way as David did - without fear - makes me think that it must have taken a whole lot to bring him down.

7. The men of Jabesh Gilead were finally able to return the favor to Saul that he paid them when he first became king. When they heard that his body was hanging in a temple of one of the gods in Beth Shan, the bible says that their valiant men journeyed all night to the place where his body was and removed it from the wall. They then smuggled it back to Jabesh Gilead and burned the body and buried the bones. They risked their lives just as Saul had risked his life in protecting them against Nahash the Ammonite, as recorded back in chapter 11.

Don't mess with the threads!

From I Samuel 24-27:

1. David had a very sensitive conscience. Perhaps this is why he was a man after God's own heart. This can be evidenced by his being conscience-stricken after having cut off a piece of Saul's robe. I mean, Saul was trying to kill him, and yet he had a guilty conscience for cutting off a piece of the guy's robe!

2. David was also either very brave or fool-hearty. He followed Saul out of the cave and told him how he had spared his life. If Saul had wanted to, he had the power in his hands to strike him down right there. I guess that this shows David's extreme trust in God.

3. David, being the type of person he was, was very trustworthy. He promised Saul that he would not cut off his family. If I were Saul, I think that I would be very satisfied with a promise like that from a guy like that. Yet he decides later to chase him again.

4. Abigail was a very wise woman, and would have made a very good wife. However, I still wonder why David decided to marry other women also. The only explanation that I can really come up with is that it was an accepted norm back in those days. Either that or he thought if one was good, more than one must be great. (Of course this is not true, otherwise God would have created five or ten matches/wives for Adam in the garden of Eden and then said it was very good.)

5. Again in Chapter 26 David shows his bravery / foolhardy nature by sneaking right into the middle of Saul's camp at night. He really trusted God, I guess.

6. I guess I never noticed this detail before, but when David went to live among the Philistines, he went to plead on his behalf to the son of the king of Gath. All this time I thought that he was dealing directly with the king of Gath. I wonder, later in life when David was king of all Israel, how this played out when they warred against each other?

That is just crazy!

From I Samuel 21-23:

1. I wonder why Ahimelech trembled when he saw David. Did he already know what was going to happen? Otherwise, what would he have to fear? Did he know already of the rift between David and Saul? If he knew, how many others knew in the nation? It seems that quite a few became aware of this fact over time, especially since a number of different areas of people offered to turn David in to Saul.

2. It appears that as long as men had kept themselves from women, they were allowed to eat the bread that had been consecrated. I wonder what was involved in making "consecrated bread", or if it was just designated this way because it had been on the altar or in the holy area.

3. It is interesting that David acted the madman before Achish king of Gath. I wonder what made him decide to act crazy. I would be more afraid that he would kill me because I was just a crazy person. I mean, acting crazy is just insane!

4. I bet David's toughest time was during the time that he was in Gath and then when he first escaped to the cave of Adullam. At first, he was all by himself and had no one he could trust and no one to lean upon. That would have been tough. It would be kind of like the movie "Fugitive".

5. I wonder why the prophet Gad told him to leave the stronghold and go into the land of Judah. Was God wanting David to secure more favor with the people, or was there some other reason?

6. It is interesting that Saul persuades all of his men to help him by telling them that David will not give them special favors. He is just like our politicians today. Instead of doing what is right and letting his actions speak for themselves; instead, since he is not doing right, he has to motivate his men with promises of bribery.

7. I like how David rescues the city of Keliah, but it is sad that when he inquires of God he finds that the people of the city will surely hand him over to Saul. Doesn't anyone have any gratitude anymore?

I'm not a very good aim

From I Samuel 17-20:

1. I wonder why forty days had passed and Goliath was still taunting the Israelites, yet war had not been joined. It would seem that they were waiting around for someone to challenge Goliath, and since no one would, they would just sit there opposing each other indefinitely.

2. I also wonder how everyone was so afraid of Goliath when it is very obvious that although he was strong, he was loaded down with not only his size, but also the weight of all the stuff he was carrying. If an archer was accurate enough, he could fell him also, because Goliath surely could not move very quickly with all of that weight. (I am not trying to take anything away from what David did - because there can be no doubt that it was nothing short of amazing - especially since David did not wear any traditional war armor or anything.)

3. It is interesting that in the same passage that it talks about Saul becoming jealous of David upon coming back from the battle in which David slays Goliath, it also talks about how Saul had given him a high rank in the army and how successful he was in all he was sent to do. I wonder if this means that he already had some military experience, or if this was after his victory over Goliath. If so, it must have been some time before king Saul got upset about the attribution of many victories to David.

4. I wonder what sort of commander David was. I mean, it would seem he was a army man's commander - meaning that he fought right alongside the men that were with him. It must have been very different from the picture that I have developed of Saul and his method of leading by forceful direction.

5. I get the impression that either Saul was not a very good shot with the javelin, or he was too slow in his movements. Not only did he miss in trying to pin David, in his anger at Jonathan being David's friend he also threw his spear and missed Jonathan.

Be sure to trust God

From I Samuel 13-16:

1. From the descriptions given in I Samuel, I can see why Jonathan and David were good friends. They seemed to have the same boldness and fearless nature.

2. Saul's first recorded sin - that of offering the sacrifice instead of waiting for Samuel - was a sin committed out of lack of trust. It was not trusting that God would see him through. I wonder how many times we fail to trust God and hence, sin against Him.

3. It seems strange that the Israelites would go to the Philistines to sharpen their farming implements, did not have a blacksmith, and yet they would go to war against another nation. This might be the definition of crazy!

4. I wonder why Saul made the oath that no one should eat before evening. I mean, it was obvious that the troops were hungry, and everyone knows that an individual is not as productive if they are hungry. A guy I used to work with used to say, "You've got to put fuel in the tank if you want the machine to run". The same is true here. I wonder if the battle might have turned out even better if they had not taken this oath. Additionally, the ultimate outcome was even more disturbing. All of the men were so famished that they began to eat the meat with the lifeblood still in it - in direct disobedience to God. It makes me think that Saul was somewhat of an overbearing type of ruler. It sure is a good thing that the army men stood up for Jonathan, or Saul surely would have killed him.

5. I imagine that Saul was not seeing that he sinned against God the second time he sinned, when he did not kill all the best of the sheep and cattle. I believe he fully intended to sacrifice all of these cattle. However, that is not what God had asked him to do. We need to be very careful to do EXACTLY what God says in the bible. It reminds me of a commercial where they ask if the equipment can do such and such. Each time the brand that is in competition with the one that the commercial is for has a representative who says "Not exactly" when asked if it can do that. When Samuel asked Saul if he had killed all the sheep and cattle, he should have said "Not exactly". The only really obvious direct disobedience was that of leaving the king alive.

6. Samuel mourned for Saul. Since Samuel died before Saul did, that means that Samuel considered Saul to no longer be the one in control of Israel, and almost seems to indicated that Samuel treated him as dead.

7. I wonder how the fact that Samuel anointed David was kept quiet. I mean, all of the people in the town, or at least a number of them, were there when this incident happened. I also bet that David and his family were pretty nervous when Saul called for David to go play the harp for him. I would imagine everyone would be pretty concerned that somehow Saul found out and was planning to kill him.

You want my right eye? Right!

From I Samuel 10-12:

1. Samuel tells Saul about the things that he is going to do when he leaves his presence. It is interesting to see that he says that Saul will prophesy with a procession of prophets. He states that afterwards he will be "changed into a different person". I wonder what happens there, and I wonder what he was changed from. Why did God select Saul? What was it that God saw in him?

2. It is also interesting that it says that God changed Saul's heart as he turned to leave Samuel. I wonder what was changed. How was it changed? I am wondering because I know that later Saul was rejected by God.

3. It is interesting to read that Saul was accompanied by some valiant men whose hearts God had touched. It appears that God was working to assist this new kingship, even though he was not totally pleased with them asking for a king.

4. Why is it that Nahash the Ammonite wanted to gouge out the right eye of each person in Jabesh Gilead? Was he trying to win friends in Jabesh Gilead? (I am thinking that this would not work.) It reminds me of the man who got his entire left side amputated. - He is alright now. (Therefore, if your right eye is gouged out, you cannot see alright.)

5. I wonder what was so special about God sending thunder and rain. I mean, God does that all the time. What was so special about this particular time? I am wondering what caused the people to be so "in awe" after this incident. I mean, after all the other miracles and amazing things that God had done for the Israelites, what was so spectacular about a thunder and rain storm.

I learned it from Eli

From I Samuel 7-9:

1. Samuel was a judge in Israel for all of his life, according to what is recorded in Chapter 7. However, apparently he learned how to raise his children from Eli. In the beginning of Chapter 8 it talks about how Samuel's sons did not do what was right, but instead the perverted justice.

2. Samuel was upset with the people for rejecting him, but it sounds like they were not rejecting him, according to the passage. It sounds like they are rejecting his sons. I wonder why the bible says that they are rejecting God as their leader. It seems to me that if the sons of Samuel were perverting justice and the Israelites are looking for another leader instead of them, this would be a good thing. But only God sees the heart, so I am sure God knew what was really going on.

3. I wonder why prophets used to be called seers and what changed that terminology.

4. Saul was so humble in the beginning, not wanting any glory or attention for himself. How did he go so bad later? Why didn't he just continue to seek God's favor?

Ichabod / Dagon idol

I have been reflecting upon what I had written this past week, and I discovered something I had not thought of before. Before Boaz met Ruth, he was ruthless!

From I Samuel 4-6:

1. The wife of Phinehas was pregnant and about the time that she learned of her husband and father-in-laws deaths, she gave birth to a son. She named him Ichabod and died shortly afterwards. Is it me, or isn't it strange that she even bothered to name him at all. I mean, if I am dying, I probably would not be too concerned with naming anyone. If I were in that situation, my child would probably be named "Aaaaauugh".

2. In Chapter 5 we may discover possibly where a formerly popular saying might have come from. The idol Dagon was an idol of the Philistines. They put the ark of God into the temple of Dagon, and then the next morning they found Dagon laying face down in front of it. After the second night, they found the idol toppled again, this time with his head and hands broken off and lying on the threshold. I am guessing that he was not a light figure to re-position. I can just hear the priests calling all to help: "The Dagon idol has fallen over again!" I wonder if he was ever implicated in cotton-picking later, or if his dad got burned. (That dad-burned, cotton-picking Dagon idol!)

3. It is amazing to see how the ark of God really made believers of the Philistines. They did not even worship God, yet they were terrified of having it in their presence because it might harm them OR THEIR GOD! Their actions indicated God existed even though they did not worship Him or choose to trust in Him. Now we have people who claim to believe in Him and go to church, and yet their actions do not indicate that God even exists. I am also amazed at the great wisdom that the Philistine priests and diviners had. They instructed the Philistines to offer a guilt offering and not to harden their hearts as the Egyptians and Pharaoh did.

4. I wonder what the seventy at Beth Shemesh died of. I mean, was it tumors again, or some other oddity. Not that it really matters, because in reality they died by incurring the Lord's wrath.

I can't help it / My words fell to the ground

From I Samuel 1-3:

1. I may have mentioned this fact before, but I have noticed that whenever a man had more than one wife, he had family problems. It seems that the family Hannah was a wife in was no exception, as the other wife had a serious problem with her, and must have seen her as a rival. This is illustrated in Ch. 1:6 when it talks about how the other wife provoked her.

2. I wonder why Eli thought that Hannah was drunk. Was that common in the temple area? I would have assumed that they were praying if I saw their lips moving but they were not saying anything out loud. Perhaps that came from seeing his sons drunk one too many times, or something.

3. I wonder at what age the boy Samuel was considered weaned. I mean, if Eli did such a poor job of training up his own sons, how did he succeed with Samuel? Or was Samuel a little older than my perception used to be as a child. I always assumed that he was 3 years old or so when he went to live at the temple. But in reality he could have been as old as six or seven. Then this would explain his clinging to God while Eli's sons went the way of wickedness. On the other hand, the bible states in Ch. 1:24, "After he was weaned, she took the boy with her, young as he was..."

4. The bible records that Eli rebuked his sons, but they ignored him. It also says that it was the Lord's will to put them to death. The way it states this, it seems that the Lord made the sons of Eli to ignore him, but in reality, they chose to ignore, so God chose to put them to death. I hate it when people say that God has full control and man has no control even over his own actions. The reason I hate this is because there are many who use it as a cop-out. "I can't help it. God made me do it." NOT TRUE! God gave man free will, and man chooses what man does. And man having free will in no way takes away from the authority of God, or the fact that God is in overall control.

5. In chapter 2:35 it states that God will raise up a faithful priest who will serve and "minister before my anointed one always." I wonder who this "anointed one" is. Is it Jesus? Is he saying that Samuel would serve before Jesus in heaven? Or is he talking about Jesus in a present tense type of way, foreshadowing that Jesus is the anointed and all who serve serve before Him?

6. Samuel is told that Eli and his entire family will be punished because Eli failed to restrain his sons. It seems to me that people in our society today do not realize that their children are their responsibility to control. This verse illustrates that God expects us to train up our children properly and discipline them when they do wrong. Otherwise it is very possible that we will be punished by God along with them.

7. Wow! Chapter 3:19 states "The Lord was with Samuel as he grew up, and he let none of his words fall to the ground." Can you imagine God being with you like that! That is what I long for, not just because whatever he said went, but also because one can only imagine how close he was to God. Cool!

Not stingy at all / Here, take my sandal

From the book of Ruth:

1. I wonder what sort of man Boaz was. From what the scripture says, it does not appear that he is married, yet he is not a very young man. (See Ch 3:10) He apparently has some wealth or at least land, anyways, since he has servants that are harvesting his crops. I wonder why he is not married or otherwise engaged and yet seems to be older. It does not appear that he was avoiding marriage, as he was very interested in Ruth when she showed interest in pursuing a relationship. What was his story? A career-minded middle ager? A widower? I suspect he is a very motivated career person who is now looking to start a family. (See Ch. 3:18) He "will not rest until the matter is settled today."

2. There is a perception in many circles that Jewish people can be very stingy and "money-grubbers" so to speak. However, from the account we are given of Boaz's first responses to seeing Ruth gleaning in his fields, it actually illustrates the opposite. He is very generous to her, a foreigner in need. (Keep in mind that he does not know that in the future she will be his wife, nor does he expect it.)

3. Ruth is really amazing. Think of how tough life must have been for her, leaving not only her family but also her country of birth and going to a foreign land where people speak in a different language and have different customs. Yet she is understanding of what she has chosen and even illustrates her lowly position in society. (See Ch. 2:13)

4. The book of Ruth is really a very nice love story. It is not all mushy or anything like that, but it shows how God can provide the right person at the right time in one's life, if that is what one wants / needs.

5. I think I know why we no longer do deals with sandals. Can you imagine trying to buy some land from a guy with athlete's foot. Man!

6. Ruth later gave birth to a boy they named Obed. This was the grandfather of King David. Coming from my perspective, I always wanted a number of sons (which God has blessed me with) so that I could be sure that the legacy of the Bossley clan could be remembered. However, this story illustrates that it is not number that is important, but rather quality. I bet many other families had many sons, but there was only one King David.

Do as you see fit / Take my wife

From Judges 16 - 21:

1. I don't understand the beginning of Chapter 17. It seems Micah took his mother's silver, and she uttered a curse after finding it gone. Then when he told her it was him that took it, she blessed him. Then she gave the money back to him to make an idol, but he gave it back to her. So she finally went out and had the idol forged by a silversmith. Why all of the complications?

2. It appears that the Danites had their own gods and priests, different from what other Israelites worshiped.

3. Although this has nothing to do with the passage read, it drives me - an English major - nuts. Why is worshiped spelled with only one 'p' and shipped spelled with two? The standard rule would make the word have a long 'i' sound. I suspect that there were a group of uneducated people who were really into worshiping, and kept spelling it wrong, so it stuck. I hate the way English usually has about five exceptions to any rule. For instance, the long 'o' sound - how is it spelled? Take words like though, so, blow and toe. And yet we complain about how foreigners need to learn English. Taht is jsut worng!

4. The fact that they had no king and everyone did as they saw fit is mentioned multiple times, in 17:6, 18:1, 19:1 and 21:25. The next item illustrates this fact.

5. The story in Chapter 19 is one of the most bizarre and horrifying stories the bible has to tell. I don't understand why it ended up the way it did. First of all, why didn't the host use force (if necessary) to chase those evil men away? Were there that many of them? Did he have no allies around? Why would it ever enter his mind to offer his virgin daughter and / or the visitor's concubine? Why did the guest finally send his concubine out?

6. Why does it only mention that the woman fell down, but does not state that she died? Was she still alive? Other than raping her, what else did they do to her? Or did the master kill her by cutting her up later to send to all the tribes of Israel?

God can work his will, even through the Libertarians!

From Judges 13-15:

1. I wonder about Manoah. Did he not trust his wife that it was really an angel that came to her? I think the angel's instructions were pretty clear. Why did he need clarification?

2. The angel, when asked what its name was, said it is beyond understanding. What does that mean? I never realized that there was anything to understand from a name.

3. Manoah's wife seems smarter than Manoah, not only because of item # 1 above, but also because when he thinks they are going to die because they have seen an angel of the Lord, the wife brings a little bit of common sense to the picture. (Besides that, if they would surely die upon seeing an angel of the Lord, why did he request of God that the angel come back?)

4. Samson's first wife did not have very good friends. They threatened her after they had agreed to a wager with Samson. Also, why didn't she just tell Samson after the threat was made. He obviously was able to protect her and her family. And you would think Samson would learn something from how she had tricked him into giving the answer.

5. Referring to the last item, it is obvious that Samson was slow in learning about women trying to trick him. Delilah kept on testing his statements and then turning it back on him like he was an uncaring person. If I were Samson, I would've turned it back the other way. Why do you keep testing me? You don't trust me? Then why should I trust you? Why do you want to know anyways? And what business is it of yours? Why do you keep testing this fact? Why do you want me to be powerless? I could never live with someone like that. Thank God for Paula!

6. The bible says that Samson led Israel for twenty years. Yet he slept with prostitutes and always was chasing after Philistine girls. He had broken most of the portions of the creed that was part of being a Nazirite, and he was not really very interested in living according to God's commands, from what we are shown. I guess sometimes God allows and uses those who are not necessarily the best role models. That does not mean that he is pleased with their actions. No where does the bible say that Samson is "a man after God's own heart" as it states about David. I may be going out on a limb here, but one could successfully argue that God had a plan of using President Bush, even though he has broken many constitutional laws by allowing prisoner torture and illegal wiretapping. One could also argue that God had a plan of using President Clinton even though he was not faithful to his wife and tried to cover it up. (Though they are in opposing parties, I do not believe that either of these men would be called "men after God's own heart", but yet God uses them to work his will.) It is unfortunate that as voters we can only look at the outward appearance and not the heart. Personally, I think the last president that we had who was truly somewhat upright and just in all of his dealings was Jimmy Carter.

A man from Jair / Say "Shibboleth"

From Judges 10-12

1. Tola, son of Puah, son of Dodo. Man, this family probably had many talents, but naming does not seem to be among those talents. Can you imagine the first day at school? "Hi, my name is Puah..." and after the class finally was restored to order, you continue, "and my dad's name is Dodo..." I wonder how complicated it was to change names back then.

2. I noticed that there are number of people that it talks about in these chapters that had X number of sons / grandsons who all rode donkeys. (Abdon and Jair) I am going out on a limb to guess that riding donkeys indicated that you were someone of some importance / wealth / ability. At least, I hope this is the significance. If I told someone that I had three sons and a daughter who all rode donkeys today, the laughter would probably never stop. I am guessing that camels and horses were either not vogue yet or just for the very wealthy.

3. Jephthah is very wise in his response to the King of the Ammonites, and I agree with his statements. The king of the Ammonites was just trying to make up excuses for his agression. Serves him right, getting his butt kicked in battle.

4. Jephthah is very stupid in his oath that he made to God. What did he think was going to be the first thing to come out of his house to greet him upon his safe arrival back home, his dog / lamb / bull? Give me a break!

5. The trick that the Gileadites used to catch the Ephraimites was a good one. It reminds me of how Chinese say the word for "it is" - in pinyin it is "shi". If you were trying to distinguish people of northern mainland from people of Taiwan, you could have them say this word. It would be a similar outcome to the "Shibboleth / Sibboleth" trick.

6. There once was a man named Jair,
Who sat in a judgment chair;
With thirty good sons,
He stuck to his guns,
And he ruled more than twenty years there.
(Sorry, but I couldn't help it - the name Jair was too tempting.)

Escape to Beer

From Judges 7-9:

This encompasses the story of Gideon defeating the Midianites, a relatively well-known story if you had regularly attended Sunday school as a child. It is nice to look at it again though, and review the details.

1. I cannot imagine 300 soldiers defeating a group of the size that is mentioned here. It seems preposterous, but that is exactly why God did it this way - so there would be no mistaking that it was Him.

2. It is interesting that the people in the camp that Gideon went to spy on spoke about the dream at that time. First of all, the dream was unusual and the fact that they were talking about it. But the most amazing thing was that the other person after hearing the dream stated that it meant that Gideon son of Joash was going to conquer them. How did these guys even know of Gideon son of Joash? Was the guy making a prophecy, and he did not even know Gideon, or had he known Gideon, or was it that the scouts for the Midianites and Amalekites already knew that Gideon had amassed troops somewhere nearby?

3. The Ephraimites were upset with Gideon that he had not invited them to the rout. However, I am surprised that he did not invite them. I wonder why, if they were so willing to fight with them. Though Gideon was very wise in his response to them when they complained.

4. It talks about how Gideon used an old route used by the nomads to reach the force of fifteen thousand men with Zalmunna and Zebah. I wonder if this was unknown to them, and how Gideon knew about it. I also wonder why he had to take that way. Was he afraid of attacking them directly, or was it a very strong, fortified position, or what?

5. Gideon wasn't so smart in making the ephod. One would think that after having seen all that God did for him, he would have been a little more concerned for following God.

6. Abimelech was a loose cannon. He almost sounds like an outlaw, terrorizing and killing the residents of the area and just raising trouble. Thank goodness for millstones! Though it would have made a much better story if Jotham had finally gotten revenge for all of his other siblings. On the other hand, it would illustrate that revenge is okay, which is not true.

7. The bible records that Jotham escaped and lived in Beer. I detect a possible joke here. I mean, I have met a number of people who had family issues and escaped via "Beer". (I do realize that is the name of a location, but it still sounds funny.)