Good morning! Though it’s a different book, 2 Samuel 1-2 picks up today where we left off yesterday at the end of 1 Samuel. David is in Ziklag after defeating the marauding Amalekites, while Saul and his three sons have just been killed by the Philistines.
Category: Daily Bible
1 Samuel 27-31
Good morning! Today’s passage concludes the book of First Samuel with chapters 27-31. Here we see David finding shelter once more with the wary Philistines, then the battle with the Philistines that leads to the deaths of Saul and his sons. Saul’s erratic journey concludes, but not before the narrator humanizes him further and gives him an honorable end.
1 Samuel 24-26
Good morning! The stories in today’s Daily Bible passage (1 Samuel 24-26) emphasize David’s righteousness as he seeks to follow his calling to leadership in Israel, and yet not overthrow God’s previously anointed king, Saul. These stories about David’s sound, faithful heart both reflect and further establish his reputation as the greatest leader Israel ever had, even in light of his many later flaws.
1 Samuel 21-23
Good morning! Thank you for your reflections and feedback each day, particularly yesterday. It’s great to see how this group continues to inspire and encourage each other in our reading together. Today’s passage (1 Samuel 21-23) shows how the rivalry between Saul and David escalates into a near civil war, with deadly implications for other Israelites caught up in the conflict.
1 Samuel 18-20
Good morning! We are one-quarter through the whole Bible today—no foolin’! 😉 Today also happens to be one of my favorite sections of the Bible ever, because I see myself and my “tribe” in this biblical story. Our passage (1 Samuel 18-20) focuses on David and Jonathan’s love for one another, and how Jonathan risks his father’s murderous rage to save David’s life. I read this as a gay man, and the whole narrative of their relationship (as well as how Jonathan’s father treats him) suggests that their love was known yet shameful and forbidden nonetheless. Countless others have not seen a gay relationship in these texts so I won’t insist that my interpretation is the only one, but leading biblical scholars are seeing this now as the best and simplest way to understand the story here. I’ll be interested to hear your thoughts!
1 Samuel 15-17
Good morning! Saul really hits the skids with God in today’s passage (1 Samuel 15-17), after which Samuel anoints God’s chosen replacement, and we see David’s epic battle with Goliath. The nature of David’s conduct and character reveal what God finds attractive and righteous, at least according to these narratives.
1 Samuel 12-14
Good morning! Today’s passage (1 Samuel 12-14) suggests the eclipse of Samuel as judge and prophet, as Saul and his son Jonathan take center stage instead. We also start to see some of the limitations of Saul as a king, particularly his penchant for impulsive actions whose consequences are not well thought through.
1 Samuel 8-11
Good morning! Today in 1 Samuel 8-11 we finally see the transition of “political” authority from Samuel the judge to Saul, Israel’s first king. “Political” is in quotation marks because there was no sacred-secular split in the manner of formal American structures today. Both Saul and Samuel are understood as leaders with divine authority who follow God, but after this time Saul and other kings will take over public leadership of Israel, while still relying on prophets like Samuel to convey God’s will to them and the people. This relationship will work well sometimes, but also cause mighty problems when prophets and kings disagree about the right course of action for the country. Royal leaders could use coercive military force to get their way, but prophets always had the “trump card” (so to speak) of divine authority on their side (if the people and/or king believed they truly knew God’s wishes).
1 Samuel 5-7
Good morning! Today’s passage (1 Samuel 5-7) emphasizes the successful rise of Samuel as a widely-accepted judge over the Hebrews, and their dominance over the Philistines (with much supernatural help) under Samuel’s leadership. Chapters 5-6 focus on the ark of the covenant as a proxy for God’s favor, and then the third chapter underscores Samuel’s role.
1 Samuel 1-4
Good morning! Today we start the books of Samuel, which bridge from the time of the judges to the first two kings of a united Israel, Saul and David. These books chart a move away from power by virtue of an inherited priestly office to power based more on God’s choice of righteous leaders. Today in 1 Samuel 1-4 we see a great failing of the “old way” under corrupt priests, but the “new way” of royal authority will reveal its own problems in due time. From here through the rest of the Hebrew Scriptures, prophets have less formal authority over Israel’s leaders, but speak more reliably as the voice of divine morality.
Pastor Oby Ballinger 