Individuals vs The Majority

[JLG]

Judges Chapter 20

- Israel gathers before God at Mizpah!

- The men of Israel ask the Levite what has happened to his murdered woman!

- As a consequence the men of Israel want to go against the men of Gibeah because of what they have done!

- And they want the men who have acted badly to put them to death!

- But the Benjaminites refuse!

- And they want to fight against Israel!

- So Israel goes to Bethel to inquire of God!

- And God tells them that Judah must lead them!

- And the Benjaminites kill 22,000 men of Israel!

- And Israel is ready to fight again!

- And the Benjaminites kill 18,000 men of israel!

- But God tells Israel to go again against the Benjaminites!

- It seems to be that the Benjaminites are going to win again!

- But Israel retreats so all the Benjaminites leave Gibeah!

- And 10,000 men of Israel go to Gibeah!

- The fighting is heavy!

- And God defeats Benjamin!

- 25,100 Benjaminites are killed!

- Then Israel burn Gibeah!

- The Benjaminites flee but the men of Israel follow them and 18,000 Benjaminites are killed!

- The rest flees into the wilderness!

- Finally 25,000 Benjaminites died this day!

- And Israel stricks the cities of Benjamin and they burn cities!

 

[JLG]

Judges Chapter 21

- All the men of Israel swear the oath not to give their daughters to a man from Benjamin as a wife!

- All Israel comes to Bethel to cry out and weep because of the loss of Benjamin!

- And they make an oath that anyone who has not come up to God at Mizpah was to be put to death!

- They learn that the inhabitants of Jabeshgilead have not come!

- So 12,000 men are sent to kill the inhabitants, men, women and children!

- Only the 400 virgins are not to be killed!

- They tell the survivors of Benjamin to go to Shiloh because there is a festival there every year and set an ambush and get women for them!

- The men of Benjamin do it and they go back to their inheritance and rebuild their cities and settle in them!

- All the men of Israel go back to their homes!

- And the chapter ends by the words there was no king in Israel and everybody was doing what was right in his own eyes!

 

[JLG]

Conclusion of the book of Judges

- Israel didn’t obey God because they made a covenant with the inhabitants of Canaan and they didn’t destroy their altars!

- As a consequence, God let the inhabitants of Canaan stay in the land to ensnare Israel to spiritual prostitution!

- God would choose men to save Israel from time to time!

- But most of the time they would commit spiritual postitution!

- And the book of judges ends saying there was no human king in Israel and everyone was doing what was right in his own eyes!

- In fact, we can say the same everywhere in the Bible!

- In the Bible, Israel was used to committing spiritual prostitution!

- And humanity has always being used to spiritual prostitution!

- Let’s say spiritual prostitution is a specialty of humanity!

 

[JLG]

- What is the connection between the book of Judges and the books of Samuel?

- In Judges we get spiritual prostitution and everyone was doing what was right in his own right!

- In Samuel we are told about Samuel’s father who goes to worship and to sacrifice to God in Shiloh from year to year!

- Let’s say it is a kind of ritual!

- And Hannah prays God because she is barren and she asks God for a son she will give to God in exchange like a Nazirite!

- And God listens to her!

- We just get simple examples of faithfulness!

- And Hannah respects her vow to God!

- And when Samuel start his service for God, we are told that the word of God had become rare and his visions were not widespread!

- In fact, God seems to be away because Israel keeps committing spiritual prostitution!

- But there is still some kind of faithfulness!

- But nothing special!

- Think that the two sons of Eli are priests and they don’t care about God!

- And they act badly!

- And God doesn’t do anything!

- He lets the situation getting worse and worse!

- There is mainly a spiritual desert!

- But then he starts to speak to Samuel who is a boy!

- Think of that: no one is worthy to be honored by God!

- Except Samuel who is only a child because of his mother!

- And he tells him what is going to happen to Eli and his two sons in due time!

- But Samuel must be taught and take the lead and Israel!

- He is going to become the high priests and the judge in Israel!

- So first Samuel’s mother did the first step toward God and God the second and a lot more!

 

[JLG]

- Superficiality of humanity vs Deepness of some individuals!

- And they are lights for us!

- There are two ways!

- Light vs darkness!

- We can choose which one!

- One is easy, the other is a lot more complicated because it is necessary to make efforts to understand the Bible!

- Just free will!

- An oasis among the desert!

 

[JLG]

- Israel didn’t do anything to make things change!

- Eli did the same with his two sons: nothing!

- What does humanity do: nothing!

- But God acts!

- And God continues to appear to Samuel in Shiloh!

- Judges and the book of samuel same continuity!

- IN Samuel 7:2 we are told about 20 years before All Israel begins to seek after God!

- And we are only told about starting!

- You can imagine the rest by yourselves!

- Samuel 7:15-17 tells us that Samuel spent his life judging Israel in Ramah and every year he would traveled to bethel, Gilgal anMizpah!

- Chapter 8:1-3 tells us that Samuel appointed his sons as judges for Israel but they acted badly not like Eli’s sons but badly!

- As a consequence, Israel asked for a human king!

- He did according to what Samuel told him for a while!

- Gradually he chose the wrong way and God rejected him!

- And Samuel would not speak to him about God’s will anymore!

- Why should it be different?

- Man’s tradition vs God’s word!

- I like when chapter 12:22 tells us God will not abandon his people!

- No but his people will abandon him as usual!

- And the next verses speak about being swept away!

- But people usually read the beginning and not the end!

- Unfortunately the end is more important than the beginning!

 

[JLG]

- In Chapter 12 Samuel warns Israel!

- They did evil but they can follow and serve God faithfully with their heart!

- But that’s free will!

- Always free will!

- And doing evil is also free will!

- In Chapter 13 Samuel reproves Saul!

- Saul’s evil is free will!

- All the time Samuel warns them but they don’t listen!

- But he keeps warning them again and again!

- No way to say we didn’t know!

- No you did it and you kept doing it!

- It is as simple as that!

- In Chapter 15 Samuel reproves Saul!

- And Saul is rejected as king!

- Is that so difficult to change?

 

[JLG]

- Saul doesn’t care!

- He keeps doing according to his will!

- And Samuel anoints David!

- But like in the case of Israel and humanity, God is patient!

- And David becomes close to Saul!

- He becomes his harpist!

- David defeats Goliath!

- And Israel speaks in better terms of David compared to Saul!

- And Saul becomes jealous of David!

- And Saul tries to kill David!

- And he will try to do it many times!

- He can see that God’s spirit is with him!

- And Jonathan, Saul’s son, and David become friends!

- And Jonathan will warn David against his father!

- And he will tell him in case of danger!

- And David marries Saul’s wife!

- But Saul will keep trying to kill David!

- He won’t change his mind!

- He doesn’t care about God even if he is king because of God!

 

[JLG]

- Saul doesn’t care!

- He keeps doing according to his will!

- And Samuel anoints David!

- But like in the case of Israel and humanity, God is patient!

- And David becomes close to Saul!

- He becomes his harpist!

- David defeats Goliath!

- And Israel speaks in better terms of David compared to Saul!

- And Saul becomes jealous of David!

- And Saul tries to kill David!

- And he will try to do it many times!

- He can see that God’s spirit is with him!

- And Jonathan, Saul’s son, and David become friends!

- And Jonathan will warn David against his father!

- And he will tell him in case of danger!

- And David marries Saul’s wife!

- But Saul will keep trying to kill David!

- He won’t change his mind!

- He doesn’t care about God even if he is king because of God!

 

[JLG]

- In Chapter 19, we can see how Saul’s hate for David grows and at the same time Jonathan’s love for David increases!

- And Jonathan speaks well of David to his father!

- And he brings David back to his father!

- And David keeps serving Saul!

- Till Saul tries to kill him again!

- We see all the time the same mistake from man!

- He always wants to follow the wrong track!

- Always the same stubbornness!

- I will do as I want!

- And David has to escape again to survive!

- And God pushes Saul to try to kill David!

- But as usual he can escape!

- God is preparing the end of Saul!

 

[JLG]

- In Chapter 20, we are told about the difference between Jonathan and his father Saul!

- Jonathan knows God is with David!

- He knows he will become king!

- His friendship with David is more important than becoming a king!

- Jonathan keeps assuring David that he will do everything to protect him and to warn him whenever possible!

- They make a covenant between each other so that David will about Jonathan’s household if he dies because of his loyal love to David!

- Finally Jonathan tells David to flee because Saul wants to kill him!

- Here we have a good example of a father who acts badly and a son who does the contrary!

- That’s what we call free will!

 

[JLG]

- In chapter 21, David asks the help of a priest, Ahimelec!

- At first, Ahimelec is afraid!

- David invents a story and he asks for some bread!

- He gets holy bread reserved to the priests!

- He also gets a sword, the sword of Goliath!

- And he keeps going away from Saul!

- A servant of Saul is there!

 

[JLG]

• At the end of chapter 21, David goes to the Philistines to King Aʹchish of Gath!
• And to be accepted among them he acts insane!
• Thus gradually David learns how to survive by playing tricks!
• We can imagine how useful it will be when he becomes king!
• But power corrupts!
• And you start to forget your youth!
• And you start to think you can do whatever you want!
• And you start to forget Yah·weh!

 

[JLG]

• In Chapter 22, we see David who keeps following Yah.weh!
• He goes where he is told to go by Yah.weh’s prophet!
• On the contrary, Saul does according to his own will!
• He keeps going away from Yah.weh!
• When he is told about Ahimelec, he wants him and all the priests of his father’s house to be brought to him!
• And he accused him of conspiracy!
• He doesn’t care about what Ahimelec says!
• And Saul tells his guards to kill Ahimelec and all the priests of Yah.weh!
• He opposes Yah.weh, he fights Yah.weh!
• And he thinks he won’t have a very bad end!
• This attitude is so usual!
• And then people are surprised when they have a very bad end!
• How blind!
• But so was Israel!
• And Judah !
• And mankind!
• And as if it was not enough, he strikes Nob the city of the priests and destroys everything!
• Men, women, children, infants and animals!
• But he will pay for that and his sons too!
• Yah.weh’s justice!
• And Yah.weh’s day won’t be different!
• Yah.weh’s justice!
• It won’t be any surprise even if for the majority it will be a surprise!
• But it is written everywhere in the Bible!
• Always the same warning!
• And they don’t listen!

 

[JLG]

• In Chapter 22, after the murders of the priests, one son of Ahimelec can escape and goes to David!
• And David tells him that he will be under his protection!
• David adds he is responsible for the murders because he saw Doeg and he knew he was going to tell Saul!
• Thus David assumes his responsibilities!
• He is a man of honor!
• But he will become king!
• And gradually he will lose this quality!
• It is something difficult to get!
• But when you get power, it is also easy to lose!
• It is like accurate knowledge!
• It is hard to get it!
• You need to study the Bible a lot!
• Because the Bible is multidimensional!
• But it is difficult to understand that!
• People usually prefer to stay at the surface!

 

[JLG]

• In Chapter 23, the Philistines are fighting against Keilah!
• So David asks Yah.weh if he must fight against them!
• And Yah.weh tells him to go!
• But his men are afraid!
• So David asks Yah.weh a second time!
• And Yah.weh tells him to go!
• There we can see that David tries his best to follow Yah.weh’s will!
• He does not do it according to his own will!
• But when he becomes king, gradually he will start to act according to his own will and not according to Yah.weh’s will!
• And then he will get into big trouble!
• We must not forget the example of David!

 

[JLG]

• In Chapter 23, Saul knows that David is in Keilah!
• And he thinks that Yah.weh has handed him over to him because he has trapped himself in the city!
• How is it possible to think that way?
• Yah.weh has rejected him!
• David has always escaped his attempts to kill him!
• People always make a film in their heads!
• But if you don’t make Yah.weh’s will, you can forget it!
• Same with mankind!
• On the contrary, David asks Yah.weh what the leaders of Keilah will do and if Saul will come against him!
• And Yah.weh tells him what’s going to happen!
• So David leaves the city with his men and escapes!
• Finally, Saul hears about David's escape so he doesn’t come against him!
• Two completely different attitudes!
• We should remember this episode!

 

[JLG]

• In Chapter 23, David keeps hiding in the wilderness!
• Saul keeps searching for him!
• But Yah.weh doesn’t give him into his hands!
• Jonathan goes to meet David at Horesh and encourages him!
• He tells him he will be king of Israel!
• Then they make a covenant before Yah.weh!
• Some men come to Saul and tell him where David is!
• And he asks them to find out exactly where he is!
• Then he will go with them!
• Then Saul chases after David!
• He gets pretty close to David!
• Then a messenger comes to Saul to tell him that the philistines have made a raid on the land!

 

[JLG]

• In Chapter 24, David keeps hiding in the wilderness!
• When Saul returns from pursuing the Philistines, he starts again searching after David!
• He takes 3,000 men with him!
• David and his men are hiding in the cave!
• Saul is near the cave and he wants to relieve himself!
• David’s men want to take advantage of the situation and kill Saul!
• And David cuts off the edge of Saul’s sleeveless coat!
• But he prevents his men from killing Saul because he is the anointed of Yah.weh!
• Then David calls out after Saul and shows him the edge of his coat he has just cut!
• Then Saul begins to weep loudly!
• And Saul goes back home and David his way!

 

[JLG]

• In Chapter 25, David sends some men to Nabal to get some food because he protected his shepherds when they were with them!
• But he refuses!
• So David wants to kill him!
• But Abigail, Nabal’s wife, is faster!
• She gets some food for David and his men!
• She asks David to forgive her husband!
• David praises her!
• Ten days later, Yah.weh strikes Nabal who dies!
• And David proposes Abigail to become his wife!
• So She becomes his second wife, Ahinoam being the first one!
• Abigail is a good example to remember!
• She was wise!