The Bible

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Joshua 16-24

Land for the House of Joseph, known as the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh was provided. I wont go into details about the borders, but its all there if you wish to read. Other land was given, the daughters of Zelophedad were provided for. Zelophedad lived during the time of Moses and had only daughters. Moses devised a law that provided for female inheritance in certain situations. This would allow for property to remain within any family that had no sons born to them. Zelophedad was also within the tribe of Manasseh. The the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh (the largest of all the tribes) asked Joshua for more land and were told to go into the hills and forests to clear land and fight the Canaanites who lived there. This was in the area's of Beth Shan and the Valley of Jezreel.
The rest of the land is divided. Joshua asked for three men from each of the seven remaining tribes to study the land and divide it into seven parts. Chapters 18-19 tells us of the decisions they came up with. This includes land for the tribes of Benjamin, Simeon, Zebulun, Issachar, Asher, Naphtali and Dan. These borders are also written in these chapters. Joshua was given a city, Timnath Serah in the mountains of Ephraim.
Cities of Safety were provided as the law of Moses called for. These cities were to be safe havens for those accused of accidental murder and other crimes until a fair trail could be held. Towns for the Levites were given, also in accordance with the law of Moses (the Levites were the priests and caretakers of the Holy Tent and other work regarding the Lord). They were to inherit no land but were be provided for just the same with citites, pastures and part of the sacrifices and offerings given unto the Lord. Each tribe gave a few cities in their land to the Levites. Some cities even served double duty as both cities of safety and cities for the tribe of Levi.
The three tribes that settled east of the Jordan river asked to return home and were granted such by Joshua. These were the tribes of Reuben, Gad and E. Manasseh.They had fulfilled their obligation to fight along side their brothers in their quest to obtain the land of Canaan. Upon their return home the built an altar to the Lord at Geliloth, near the Jordan River. Now the other tribes in Canaan heard about this and became angry and afraid. They met together and decided to fight them over this, not understanding their full intentions. After meeting with Phinehas son of Eleazar the three tribes explained their intentions and agreed not to sin or become separate from their brothers in Canaan. In fact, the whole idea behind the building of the altar was to remain a part of the Israelite family in the years to come when time and distance could possibly remove the memory of who they were and what their ties were to their brothers. This is a good topic of discussion among those interested in Biblical history.
The last words of Joshua were a reminder to the tribe of Gods blessings if they were to remain in His will and obey the law. They were aslo reminded of the curses that would befall them if they did not. He also gathered them together and reminded them of where they had come from and the times that God had blessed them in battle and other conquests. Joshua and the people came together in one accord on that day and they agreed to continue to follow God and obey his teachings. Joshua died at the age of one hundred and ten years. He was buried in his own town in the Mountains of Ephraim. The Israelites served the Lord during the time of Joshua and all had seen and heard what the Lord had done for them during this time. The bones of Joseph were also buried in the Promised Land during this time. They had been carried out of Egypt during the exodus as Joseph had wished for. Eleazar, the son of Aaron also died during this time and was buried at Gibeath. This ends the Book of Joshua.

Next: the Book of Judges, chapters 1-7 --- Peace.

 

Judges 1-7

After the death of Joshua the people of Israel had found themselves without a central leadership figure. All the prophecies from the time of Moses had been fulfilled and the Promised Land was now under their feet. All that remained was to eradicate the final remnants of Canaan and of paganism. But this did not happened as planned. Israel failed to complete their mission and fell away from Gods will. The following accounts are related to this time, a period of around 300 years, from the death of Joshua to Samuel. A time the Bible tells us about in the book of Judges. "Judges" were neither kings nor rulers, but rose to prominence during times of great need, when leadership roles were thrust upon them. As God called these common people to simply obey his will and have faith in Him, these words are inspiration for us today.

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Judges begins by telling us of fights wiht the Cannanites over parcels of land. The first was with Adoni-Bezek. The men from the tribe of Judah and some from Simeon fought and defeated ten thousand and captured Adoni-Bezek. They cut off his thumbs and big toes, as he had done to other kings seventy times before. The story of Caleb and his daughter Acsah, who was given in marriage to Othniel, a leader in battle. More battles are spoken of, but also spoken of is the continuing failure to remove those people from the land.
An angel prophesied to the Israelites at Bokim about their idol worship. They were warned to change their ways and to follow the Lord but they continued to disobey. Judges were chosen by the Lord to save the Israelites but He was still very angry with them.
These nations remained in the land along side of Israel, the five rulers of the Phillistines, the Canaanites, Sidon and the Hivites. At this time the Lord was angry with Israel and allowed them to be ruled by the Midianites for eight years until they cried out to God and he sent them Othniel, the first of the Judges, to win their freedom. The next was Ehud, a left handed warrior, who led them to freedom over Eglon king of Moab. Read the story of how Ehud killed Eglon by the sword and led the Israelites to victory in battle. The next was Shamgar who killed 600 Philistines with a sharp stick used for leading oxen. Deborah, the woman judge, who along with Barak the warrior and ten thousand soldiers, defeated Jabins army of Canaanites. Read the story of how Sisera, the leader of Jabins army was killed by a woman called Jael after he had fled the battle and hid out in her tent. The Song of Deborah in chapter five sings praises to God for all he has done and recounts the events of their conquests.
Later,the Midianites gained power over Israel for seven years. They robbed and raided the Israelites during this time. They stole from their tents, cities and gardens and were very cruel to them. An angel from the Lord paid a visit to a man called Gideon of the tribe of Manasseh. He told Gideon to be strong and brave. He told him that he was to lead the people to their freedom but Gideon was not sure that the message was frim God and asked for several "signs". The signs of the "offering" and the "fleece" are written here. Gideon also tore down the altars of Baal and Asherah and built and altar to God in their place. He led the Israelites against Midian and chose his army by some very unorthodox means and won the battle, surprising the enemy at night and by using trickery.

Next: Judges 8-14 --- Happy Easter!

 

Judges 8-14

We continue this weeks reading with the story of Gideon. As Gideon and his army of 300 chased the two Midian kings, Zebah and Zalmunna, he stopped to ask for bread and provisions for he and his warriors in the towns of Succoth and Peniel and was turned away. He warned the leaders of these towns to beware of his return after capturing the two kings. To Succoth; "I whill whip your skin with thorns and briars from the desert", and to Peniel; "I will return and pull down this tower". The kings were captured and Gideon did as he had promised to these towns. Upon his return, the Israelites wanted Gideon to rule over them but he refused and told them to serve the Lord. He made a golden vest out of the gold taken in battle and the people wosrhipped the vest so it became a trap for Gideon and his family. Israel lived in peace for forty years during the time of Gideon. He had seventy sons and many wives. One son, Abimelech was born to a slave woman. Gideon died and was buried in the tomb of Joash, his father. As soon as he died the Israelites became unfaithful to the Lord once again.
Abimelech desired to be a king and went to his relatives in the town of Shechem and spoke with them there. They decided to follow his wishes and gave him silver. He hired some reckless men to fight for him and he killed his seventy brothers one by one, by the sword, upon the same rock. One brother, Jotham, escaped and fled to the city of Beer, but first left behind a message of prophecy for Shechem and Abimilech. The "promise of the trees" (my words) can be found in Judges 9, 7-20. Jothams prophecy came true and Abimelech turned on the older leaders of Shechem.They grew tired of his cruelty and a man called Gaal and his group spoke out against Abimelech and planned to fight him, but a man called Zebul broke the news to Abimelech. He and his men set a trap for Gaal and defeated them, then attacked Shechem and burned the tower there. Abimelech was not done yet and turned his wrath towards the town of Thebez and their strong tower. But a woman pushed a grinding stoned from the tower roof and crushed the head of Abimelech. As he lay dieing he commanded his officer to kill him by the sword. In that way God had punished both Shechem and Abimelech as Jotham had promised.
Later came judges, Tola who ruled for 33 years and Jair for 22 years. Afterwards the Ammonites troubled Israel for land taken east of the Jordan River. A man called Jephthah was called upon to lead Israel against the Ammonites. Jephthah was a strong soldier from Gilead but had been shunned because he was the son of a prostitute. He had ran waway and took up with some rough men in the land of Tob. But he promised to lead Israel and become their ruler if he was successful in battle. He made a promise to the Lord; "I will give you as a burnt offering the first thing that comes out of my house to meet me when I return from the victory. It will be the Lord's". Jephthah defeated the Ammonites and upon his return home his daughter, Mizpah, came to him singing and playing the tambourine. Jephthah tore his clothes in sorrow but his daughter agreed to his promise but first asked to spend some time with her friends in the mountains to grieve because she was a virgin and would bear no children. Mizpah spent two months with her friends and then the promise was fullfilled. From this came a custom in Israel that every year the young women would remember Mispah for four days. Later the men from Ephraim were angry with Jephthah, they claimed that he failed to ask them to fight along side him against the Ammonites. But Jephthah did ask and Ephraim refused so they fought against each other. Ephraim was defeated and 42,000 from Ephraim died during this time. Jephthah died and was buried in Gilead, was ruled for six years. Later other judges came, Ibzan ruled for seven years, Elon for ten and Abdon for eight.
There was a man named Manoah from the the tribe of Dan who lived in the city of Zorah. He and his wife had no children but an angel visited his wife and told her that she would bear a son and told her what to do with him and how to raise him. They offerd a burnt offering to the Lord and Manoah's wife became pregnant and later gave birth to a son, Samson the Nazirite. Samson was strong and the Lord was with him. He saw and desired a Philistine girl whom he wanted to marry. She was from the town of Timnah so Samson went to visit her along with his parents. Along the road a young lion attacked Samson and he killed the lion. Several days later he was returning and found a swarm of bees inside the carcass. He got some of the honey and ate it along the way and then gave some to his parents. At the wedding feast, Samson gave this riddle;"Out of the eater comes something to eat, out of the strong comes something sweet". He said that if anyone could solve this riddle in seven days he would give them thirty linen shirts and thirty changes of clothes. The men of Timnah could not sovle the riddle so after four days they sought Samsons young wife and told her that they would burn her and her family if she did not give them the answer. In her fear she begged Samson and he gave in. She told them the answer and Samson became furious and killed thirty men in the town of Ashkelon and gave their clothes to the men of Timnah. He went back home and gave his new wife to his best man.

Next: Judges 15-21

 

We pick up the story of Samson here as he returns to his wife's father and asks to see her. The father refuses and offers her younger sister in her place. Samson becomes furious and plots his revenge. He ties together 150 pairs of foxes by their tails and to each of them he ties a lit torch. He sets them free in the grain fields of the Phillistines and the crops are destroyed by fire. The Phillistines seek out the father of the young wife of Samson and exact revenge upon them for his deeds. The Phillistines gather and set out for Judah. They ask for Samson and he is bound and taken to them by the men of Judah. Samson breaks free and kills 1000 Phillistines with the jaw bone of an ass.
Later Samson visits Gaza (and a prostitute there) where the men of the city plot his demise for the next day. Samson however decides to stay only until midnight and tears down the doors of the city gate and carries them off towards the hill that faces Hebron. Sometime later he falls for a Phillistine woman by the name of Delilah and marries her. She is tempted to reveal his source of strength by the enemies of Samson. After some time and several false leads, Samson reveals the sorce and Delilah has his hair cut off while he slept. He is taken prisoner and his eyes were gouged out by his captors. He is forced to hard labor and mocked by the Phillistine leaders. One day as many were gathered to offer sacrifices to the Phillistine god Dagon, Samson prays to his God for one last act of might against them. By this time his hair had grown long and his strength had returned. The Phillistines called for him to perform and he dislodged the two main weight bearing pillars of their temple. As the roof collapsed 3000 were killed on that day as was Samson. Samson judged for twenty years in Israel.
We next move on to the story of a man called Micah and his idols. Micah had set up some silver idols and started a pagan religion on his own. He even garnered the services of a Levite (Jonathan) to act as his priest. This story is believed to have taken place earlier in the period of the judges, before many of the judges mention before in this book. We read how the Levite is approached by the men from the tribe of Dan, who had abandoned their inheritance east of the Jordan river and were seeking out a new place to dwell. They take the Levite and the idols and continue the pagan idol worship while their search for land centered on Laish. They capture Laish and take it for their own. They continued to worship the idols made by Micah all the time that the house of God was in Shiloh.
Next comes the story of another Levite (not named) and his concubine. She had left him and returned to her father in Bethlehem. When he found her there they decided to return home some time later. As they traveled along the road they searched for a safe city to spend the night. They reached Gibeah (in Benjamin) and met a man there who offered them rest for the night at his house. During the night, some wicked men from the city decended upon the house and called for the owner to turn over the visitor to them. He refused and offered the concubine instead. She was found dead the next morning and the Levite cut her body into 12 parts and sent each part to a different tribe in Israel. Then all the Israelites from Dan to Beersheba decided to attack the men on Bejamin for this terrible act. 4000 gathered and fought the men of Benjamin and eventually defeated them after heavy losses on both sides. Gibeah was taken as 25,100 Benjamites fell, but 600 escaped into the desert near Rimmon.
The story takes a strange twist in ch. 21 as the Israelite men wept for Benjamin and decided that they needed wives to continue their heritage. But none would surrender their own daughter(s) for that purpose so they devised a plan to attack Jabesh Gilead and kill everyone there except for the young virgins. (Jabesh Gilead had sent no soldiers to fight Benjamin.) The plan was carried out but there still were not enough women to go around. The men of Israel directed the remaining men of Benjamin to go to Shiloh where there was a festival going on. "Go and hide in the vineyards and watch. When the girls of Shiloh come out and join in the dancing, rush in from the vineyards a seize a wife and return to your own land in Benjamin". So this is what they did.

Next: Ruth 1-4, 1 Samuel 1-5

 

Book of Ruth

We begin the Book of Ruth with a man called Elimelech, his wife Naomi and their two sons, Mahlon and Killion. During this time there was a shortage of food in Judah so Elimelech and his family left for Moab and they settled there. While there Elimelech died and the two sons each married Moabite women, Orpah and Ruth. After about ten years the two sons died and Naomi was left alone with the two young women. She had planned to return home to Bethlehem in Judah and begged the two women to return home to their families as well. Orpah kissed Naomi and then left, but Ruth satyed with her as they traveled to the land of Judah together.
Upon their return, life was hard and Ruth had to rely on the leftover grain in the fields for her and Naomi. One day as she was in the fields the owner, a man named Boaz saw her. He ordered his workers to be kind to her and to leave her plenty to take with her. Boaz was the rich relative of Naomi and was very kind to Ruth, he told her to only come to his fields and she ate at his table. This pleased Naomi and she devised a plan for both Ruth and the unsuspecting Boaz.
Naomi tells Ruth to go to Boaz while he lays down to sleep and that Boaz would tell Ruth what she should do. Boaz is awakened as the young woman lies in his bed and he is startled but pleased. He tells Ruth that there is another close relative who should take care of her but if that did not work out that he would be pleased to marry her and keep her for himself.
The next day he sends her away and then goes to the city gate to meet with the older leaders there. As the relative passes by, Boaz calls to him and offers Ruth but after talking with Boaz he declines and the agreement is settled right there before the city elders. They marry and Ruth gives birth to a son some time later. She names the boy Obed and Naomi is blessed among the women of Bethlehem. "Praise the Lord who gave you this grandson. May he become famous in Israel. He will give you new life and will take care of you in your old age because of your daughter-in-law who loves you. She is better than seven sons because she has given birth to a grand son." Obed went on to be the father of Jesse and Jesse was the father of David.

 

Book of Samuel 1-5

There was a man called Elkanah from the mountains of Ephraim. He had two wives, Hannah and Penninah. Penninah bore him sons but Hannah could not and Hannah was teased by Penninah. Once while they traveled to the house of the Lord in Shiloh, Hannah became upset and would not eat. She fell at the entrance to the Lord's house and prayed to the Lord there. She was crying and no words would come from her lips but she prayed on. The priest, Eli saw her and told her to get up and stop drinking. "Stop getting drunk! Throw away your wine!" Hannah assured him that she was sober and told him of her prayer. Eli tells her to go and wishes her well. "May the God of Israel give you what you asked for". Hannah promises to give her child to God if she becomes pregnant and they return home the next day. Hannah does become pregnant and gives birth to a son, she named him Samuel. After the child is able to eat on his own she returns him to the Lords service by giving him to Eli, in Shiloh, as she had promised.
Hannah gives thatnks to the Lord in ch. 2: "The Lord filled my heart with joy; I feel very strong in the Lord". Now back in Shiloh, Eli's two sons Hophni and Phineas were evil and did what the Lord said was wrong. They stole from the offerings and had sex with the girl servants at the Lord house. Eli hears a message from God that He will destroy the house of Eli for his sons wrong.
One night as Samuel slept, he heard a voice call to him. Three times Samuel went to Eli thinking that he was the one who called out to him. Eli realized that God was speaking to Samuel so he told Samuel what to do. Samuel replied unto the Lord and was given a prophcy against Israel. God continued to show himself to Samuel during this time.
At that time Israel went out to fight the Phillistines and had lost a battle and 4000 fighting men, so they decided to go and get the Ark of the Covenant and bring it to the battle with them. "Then God will save us from our enemies".
The Phillistines were frightened but fought hard and defeated Israel. 30,000 lost their lives that day and the Ark was taken by the Phillistines. Hophni and Phineas, sons of Eli were killed on that day and when Eli heard the news he fell over dead. On that day, the prophecy against the house of Eli and Israel had come true.
After that, the Phillistines had taken the Ark back to Ashdod and placed it in the temple of their god, Dagon. The next day, their statue of Dagon was found lying on his face, so they stood him up again. The next day they found that Dagon had fallen again and this time his head and hands were broken off and lying at the temple door. They had also broken out in sores on their skin. They had become afraid of the Ark and moved it to the city of Gath and then to Ekron. The Phillistines were terrified of the Ark and cried out for it to be returned to the Israelites.

 

Samuel 6-14

Now the Phillistines had been keeping the Ark in their possession for seven months and had become afraid of it, so they decided to return it to the Israelites. They made some golden models in the form of the skin growths that had plagued them and rats that had also infested theirs cities. They palced these models inside the Ark, built a cart, hitched two cows to it and sent it on its way back towards Beth Shemesh in Israel. Upon the arrival of the Ark, there was a celebration, some even looked inside and seventy men died by the Lord's hand because of this.
The men of Kiriath Jearim came and took the Ark to Abinadab's house and made his son Eleazar the guardian of it. It stayed there for nearly twenty years and Israel began following the Lord once again. Samuel spoke to them and reminded them to rid the land of all other foriegn gods (Ball and Ashtoreth). They assembled at Mizpah and agreed to serve the Lord. But the Phillistines heard about this meeting and came up to attack them there. The Lord sent a mighty thunder and frightened the Phillistines, so they ran as Israel chased them, killing them along the way. The Lord was against the Phillistines all of Samuels life and he served the Lord in a way that none other had. He judged in Israel for many years.
As Samuel grew older he made judges of his two sons, Joel and Abijah, but they did what the Lord said was wrong. They took money for wrong judgments and were dishonest men. The people came to Samuel and asked for a king to lead them, "You're old and your sons dont live as you do. Give us a king to rule over us like all the other nations". But Samuel prayed to the Lord and this was the message he recieved, "He (the king) will take one tenth of your flocks and make you his servants....When that time comes you will cry out to the Lord because of the king you chose. But the Lord will not answer you then". But the people refused to take no for an answer and Samuel agreed to appoint them a king.
A man named Kish, from the tribe of Benjamin, had a son named Saul. Saul stood taller than the rest and there were none better than he. Saul was sent out by his father one day to look for some missing donkeys. He and a servant decided to ask the man of God for a vision as to where they were. But little did they know that the man of God (Samuel) had an important message for Saul. As they approached Samuel near the city gate the Lord spoke to Samuel and told him, "This is the man I told you about. He will organize my people". Samuel told Saul not ot worry about the missing donkey because that one day all the wealth in Israel will belong to him and his family. The next day Samuel said to him that he would become the chosen king of Israel and other prophecy. He annointed Saul with oil and prophesied to him as he sent Saul home. "Three men on their way to worship God at Bethel will meet you". He also told Saul to wait for seven days once he returned home and then he would tell him what to do. Saul is made king of Israel in front of all the peopl at Mizpah and Samuel explained all the rights and duties before those that were gathered there.
About one month later, Nahash and his Ammonite army troubled the Israelites at the town of Jabesh. They offered to make a peace treaty with him but this was his answer, "I will make a treaty with you only if I'm allowed to poke out the right eye of each of you. Then all of Israel will be ashamed". Once Saul got word of this he called together an army and attacked Nahash, defeating them before the heat of the day. Afterwards, Saul and all the people met together at Gilgal and there was a celebration before the Lord.
Samuel gave a farewell speech to all the people and reminded them of Gods blessings upon Israel down through time and warned them not to turn away from Him in the future. The people asked for forgiveness and asked Samuel to pray for God to have mercy on them.
Saul was thirty years old when he became king and he ruled Israel for forty-two years. Jonathan (Sauls son) attacked the Phillistines at Geba, but they gathered strength and amassed a huge army to fight Israel at Micmash and Saul became afraid. He waited on Samuel for seven days and decided to give the offering himself. Samuel arrived soon afterwards and scolded Saul for acting foolishly, "You have'nt obeyed the command of the Lord your God. If you had obeyed Him, the Lord would have made your kingdom continue in Israel always, but now your kingdom will not continue". Israel did not have many weapons but they used their plows, hoes and axes to fight the Phillistine armies. Jonathan attacks the Phillistines once again and sent a panic throughout their camp. Saul hears the noise and asks "Check to see who is missing from the camp". When he found out that it was Jonathan he gathered his army and joined the battle. Saul made an oath before the Lord that no one would eat that day until the battle was finished, but his men became weary. Jonathan, not knowing about the oath, found some honey and ate some to reagain strength. That day Israel defeated the Phillistines and Saul asked the Lord for direction but he got no answer. He asked "Lets find out what sin has been done today....even if my son Jonathan did the sin, he must die." But no one in the army spoke. Saul asked the Lord to separate the men and only he and Jonathan remained. "What sin have you done?" Saul asked. "I only tasted a little honey from the end of my stick. And must I die now?" Saul said, "Jonathan, if you dont die may God punish me terribly?". But the men from the army pled for Jonathans life and he was shown mercy and did not die. Saul fought many battles against the enemies of Israel. He fought against Moab, the Ammonites, Edom, the Phillistines and the Amalekites. when he saw strong, brave men he took them into his army.

 

1 Samuel 15-21

Samuel said to Saul, "The Lord sent me to appoint you king over Israel. Now listen to His message. Samuel gave Saul the orders to destroy the city of Amalek and everything there...."Do not let anything live." but Saul only carried out most of the orders and even let king Agag live, so Samuel came against Saul with this maessage from God. "What pleases the Lord more: burnt offerings and scrifices or obedience to His voice? It is better to obey than to sacrifice. It is better to listen to God than to offer the fat of sheep. Disobedience is as bad as the sin of sorcery. Pride is as bad as the sin of worshipping idols. You have rejected the Lords command. Now He rejects you as king." After this, Samuel never saw Saul again but he was sad for him and the Lord was very sorry that He had made Saul king.
The Lord directed Samuel to go to Bethlehem, to the house of Jesse and appoint one of his sons to be the new king. So Samuel fills his container with oil and sets out for Jesse's house. After seeing all but one of the sons of Jesse pass by, David is called to pass before Samuel. The Lord tells Samuel, "Go, appoint him, because he is the one." David was the youngest and was tending to sheep at the time. Samuel took the oil and appointed David in front of his brothers there. From that day on, the Lord's spirit was in David, so Samuel returned to Ramah. Now the spirit of the Lord had left Saul and he was troubled with an evil spirit. His servants told him of David who could play the harp for him and calm his troubled mind, so he sent for David. David served Saul in this way and the king grew to like David.
The Phillistines were making trouble for Israel and they gathered the armies for war. There was a Phillistine warrior named Goliath who stood 9' 4", his coat of armor weighed 125 pounds and the head of his spead another 15 pounds. He mocked the Israelites and their God each day and they feared him greatly. No one would confront this man. One day as David was bringing some bread to his brothers on the front line of battle, Goliath came and David heard his bragging. David went to the king and asked to fight the giant but was mocked himself and could not even wear the armor of the king. He told them this, "The Lord saved me from the lion and the bear and He will save me from this Phillistine." David took his sling and 5 small stones from the stream and went to face Goliath as both armies watched. The giant laughed and told David that he would feed his body to the birds, then he charged at the boy. David grabbed a stone and his sling, he whipped the stone at the giant and struck him in the forehead, sending Goliath face first into the ground. He then took the sword of Goliath and cut off his head. The Phillistines ran as the army of Israel chased and defeated them.
David was a hero and talked with Saul and his son, Jonathan. David and Jonathan became close and their bond grew strong, but Saul grew to fear David. He would try to pin him to the wall with his spear but each time David would escape. All the people of Israel grew to love David also but Saul's anger and hatred grew. Saul devises a plan to give a daughter to David as a wife so he could use her to trick David and kill him. David rejected the first one but accepted the second, Michal. Michal was loyal to David and helped him escape the traps of Saul.
Many times Saul would set traps for David but each time he would escape. Even Sauls own son, Jonathan would help David escape. David fled to Samuel in Ramah and Saul followed him but the people would not turn him over to Saul.
David returns to Jonathan and Saul is angered as David refuses to eat with him at the New Moon festival and plans to kill him. Jonathan helps David escape once again. They make a pact of friendship, "May the Lord hold Davids enemies responsible". Jonathan asked David to repeat the promise for him and each loved the other as much as they did themselves. After this, they both went their separate ways as David fled and Jonathan went back into town.
David went to Nob to see Ahimelech the priest. Ahimelech was afraid and asked David why he was alone. "The king gave me a special order. He told me, 'No one must know what I am sending you to do or what I told you to do.' " David asked for food and the only food there was the holy bread but the priest gave it to David. One of Sauls servants was there that day, Doeg, the chief of Sauls shepherds. So David left but not before asking for a weapon, he was given the sword of Goliath by Ahimelech. David leaves and goes to Gath and meets with Achish, their king. They were also afraid of David so he acts like he has gone mad and Achish turns him away.

 

I appologize for the lack of posting this week. It has been a busy one with my son playing legion ball, my daughters graduation and daily visits with my 90 year old granmother who was ill, plus some late nights down at the rock pile. My grandmother passed on to glory this morning around 7:30. I'll continue The Bible very soon.