“RUNNERS take your marks,” the starter barks his signal, and the crowd turns quiet attention to the athletes walking towards the line. “Get set”… in position now, muscles tense, nervously anticipating the sound of the gun.  It resounds!  And the race begins.  In any contest, the start is important, but the finish is even more crucial.  Often a front-runner will lose strength and fade to the middle of the pack.  And there is the tragedy of the brilliant beginner who sets the pace for a time, but does not even finish.  He abandons the race burned out, exhausted, or injured.

The book of 1 Samuel is about great beginnings… and tragic endings. It begins with Eli as high priest during the time of the judges.  As a religious leader, Eli certainly must have begun his life with a close relationship to God [Wall].  In his communication with Hannah, and in his training of her son Samuel, he demonstrated a clear understanding of God’s purposes and call (Chapters 1, 3).  But his life ended in ignominy as his sacrilegious sons were judged by God and the sacred ark of the covenant feel into enemy hands (Chapter 4).  Eli’s death marked the decline of the influence of the priesthood and the rise of the prophets in Israel.

Samuel was dedicated to God’s service by his mother, Hannah. He became one of Israel’s greatest prophets.  He was a man of prayer who finished the work of the judges, began the school of the prophets, and anointed Israel’s first kings.  But even Samuel was not immune to finishing poorly.  Like Eli’s family, Samuel’s sons turned away from God; they took bribes and perverted justice.  The people rejected the leadership of the judges and priests and clamoured for a king “as all the other nations have” (8.5).

Saul also started quickly. A striking figure, this handsome (9.2) and humble (9.21; 10.22) man was God’s choice as Israel’s first king (10.24).  His early reign was marked by leadership (Chapter 11) and bravery (14.46-48).  But he disobeyed God (Chapter 15), became jealous and paranoid (Chapters 18, 19), and finally had his kingship taken away from him by God (Chapter 16).  Saul’s life continued steadily downwards.  Obsessed with killing David (Chapters 20-30), he consulted a medium (Chapter 28) and finally committed suicide (Chapter 31).

Among the events of Saul’s life is another great beginner – David. A man who followed God (13.14; 16.7), David ministered to Saul (Chapter 16), killed Goliath (Chapter 17), and became a great warrior.  But we’ll have to wait until the book of 2 Samuel to see how David finished.

As you read 1 Samuel, not the transition from theocracy to monarchy, exult in the classic stories of David and Goliath, David and Jonathan, David and Abigail, and watch the rise of the influence of the prophets. But in the midst of reading all the history and adventure, determine to run your race as God’s person from start to finish.

VITAL STATISTICS

PURPOSE: To record the life of Samuel, Israel’s last judge; the reign and decline of Saul, the first king; and the choice and preparation of David, Israel’s greatest king

AUTHOR: Possibly Samuel, but also includes writings from the prophets Nathan and Ga (1 Chronicles 29.29)

SETTING: The book begins in the days of the judges and describes Israel’s transition from a theocracy (led by God) to a monarchy (led by a king)

KEY VERSES: “And the LORD told him: ‘Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king… Now listen to them; but warn them solemnly and let them know what the king who will reign over them will do’ “ (8.7,9).

KEY PEOPLE: Eli, Hannah, Samuel, Saul, Jonathan, David

THE BLUEPRINT

Eli and Samuel (1.1-7.17) We see a vivid contrast between young Samuel and Eli’s sons.  Eli’s sons were selfish, but Samuel was helpful.  Eli’s sons defrauded people, but Samuel grew in wisdom and gave the people messages from God.  As an adult, Samuel became a prophet, priest, and judge over Israel.  A person’s actions reflects his character.  This was true of Samuel and Eli’s sons.  It is also true of us.  Strive, like Samuel, to keep your heart pure before God.

1. Samuel’s birth and childhood
2. War with the Philistines

Samuel and Saul (8.1-15.35) Saul showed great promise.  He was strong, tall, and modest.  God’s Spirit came upon him, and Samuel was his counsellor.  But Saul deliberately disobeyed God and became an evil king.  We must not base our hopes or future on our potential.  Instead, we must consistently obey God in all areas of life.  God evaluates obedience, not potential.

Saul and David (16.1-31.13) David quickly killed Goliath, but waited patiently for God to deal with Saul.  Although David was anointed to be Israel’s next king, he had to wait years to realise this promise.  The difficult circumstances in life and the times of waiting often refine, teach, and prepare us for the future responsibilities God has for us.

1. Samuel anoints David
2. David and Goliath
3. David and Jonathan become friends
4. Saul pursues David
5. Saul’s defeat and death

MEGATHEMES

King

EXPLANATION: Because Israel suffered from corrupt priests and judges, the people wanted a king. They wanted to be organised like the surrounding nations.  Though it was against his original purpose, God chose a king for them.

IMPORTANCE: Establishing a monarchy did not solve Israel’s problems. What God desires is the genuine devotion of each person’s mind and heart to him.  No government or set of laws can substitute for the rule of God in your heart and life.

God’s Control

EXPLANATION: Israel prospered as long as the people regarded God as their true king. When the leaders strayed from God’s law, God intervened in their personal lives and overruled their actions.  In this way, God maintained ultimate control over Israel’s history.

IMPORTANCE: God is always at work in this world, even when we can’t see what he is doing. No matter what kinds of pressures we must endure or how many changes we must face, God is ultimately in control of our situation.  Being confident of God’s sovereignty, we can face the difficult situations in our lives with boldness.

Leadership

EXPLANATION: God guided his people using different forms of leadership: judges, priests, prophets, kings. Those whom he chose for these different offices, such as Eli, Samuel, Saul, and David, portrayed different styles of leadership.  Yet the success of each leader depended on his devotion to God, not his position, leadership style, wisdom, age, or strength.

IMPORTANCE: When Eli, Samuel, Saul, and David disobeyed God, they face tragic consequences. Sin affected what they accomplished for God and how some of them brought up their children.  Being a real leader means letting God guide all aspects of your activities, values, and goals, including the way you bring up your children.

Obedience

EXPLANATION: For God, “to obey is better than sacrifice” (15:22). God wanted his people to obey, serve, and follow him with a whole heart rather than to maintain a superficial commitment based on tradition or ceremonial system.

IMPORTANCE: Although we are free from the sacrificial system of the Jewish law, we may still rely on outward observances to substitute for inward commitment. God desires that all our work and worship be motivated by genuine, heartfelt devotion to him.

God’s Faithfulness

EXPLANATION: God faithfully kept the promises he made to Israel. He responded to his people with tender mercy and swift justice.  In showing mercy, he faithfully acted in the best interests of his people.  In showing justice, he was faithful to his word and perfect moral nature.

IMPORTANCE: Because God is faithful, he can be counted on to be merciful towards us. Yet God is also just, and he will not tolerate rebellion against him.  His faithfulness and unselfish love should inspire us to dedicate ourselves to him completely.  We must never take his mercy for granted.

WARNINGS have many forms – lights, signs, sights, sounds, smells, feelings, and written words. With varied focus, their purpose is the same – to advise alertness and caution because of imminent danger.  Responses to these warnings will also vary, from disregard and neglect to evasive or corrective action.  How a person reacts to a warning is usually determined by the situation and the source.  An impending storm is treated differently from an oncoming car, and the counsel of a trusted friend is heeded much more than the flippant remark by a stranger or the fearful guess of a child.

Second Peter is a letter of warning – from an authority none other than the courageous, experienced, and faithful apostle. And it is the last communication from this great warrior of Christ.  Soon thereafter he would die, martyred for the faith.

Previously Peter had written to comfort and encourage believers in the midst of suffering and persecution – an external onslaught. But three years later, in this letter containing his last words, he wrote to warn them of an internal attack – complacency and heresy.  He spoke of holding fast to the non-negotiable facts of the faith, of growing and maturing in the faith, and of rejecting all who would distort the truth.  To follow this advice would ensure Christ-honouring individuals and Christ-centred churches.

After a brief greeting (1.1), Peter gives the antidote for stagnancy and shortsightedness in the Christian life (1.2-11). Then he explains that his days are numbers (1.12-15) and that the believers should listen to his messages and the words of Scripture (1.16-21).

Next, Peter gives a blunt warning about false teachers (2.1-22). They will become prevalent in the last days (2.1, 2), they will do or say anything for money (2.3), they will spurn the things of God (2.2, 10, 11), they will do whatever they feel like doing (2.12-17), they will be proud and boastful (2.18, 19), and they will be judged and punished by God (2.3-10, 20-22).

Peter concludes his brief letter by explaining why he has written it (3.1-18) – to remind them of the words of the prophets and apostles that predicted the coming of false teachers, to give the reasons for the delay in Christ’s return (3.1-13), and to encourage them to beware of heresies and to grow in their faith (3.14-18).

Addressed to those who “have received a faith as precious as ours”, 2 Peter could have been written to us. Our world is filled with false prophets and teachers who claim to have the truth and who clamour for attention and allegiance.  Listen carefully to Peter’s message and heed his warning.  Determine to grow in your knowledge of Christ and to reject all those who preach anything inconsistent with God’s word.

VITAL STATISTICS

PURPOSE: To warn Christians about false teachers and to exhort to grow in their faith in and knowledge of Christ

AUTHOR: Peter

TO WHOM WRITTEN: The church at large and all believers everywhere

DATE WRITTEN: About A.D. 67, three years after 1 Peter was written, possibly from Rome

SETTING: Peter knew that his time on earth was limited (1.13, 14), so he wrote about what was on his heart, warning believers of what would happen when he was gone – especially about the presence of false teachers. He reminded his readers of the unchanging truth of the gospel.

KEY VERSE: “His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness” (1.3).

KEY PEOPLE: Peter, Paul

SPECIAL FEATURES: The date and destination are uncertain, and the authorship has been disputed. Because of this, 2 Peter was the last book admitted to the canon of the New Testament Scripture.  Also, there are similarities between 2 Peter and Jude.

THE BLUEPRINT

While Peter wrote his first letter to teach about handling persecution (trials from without), he wrote this letter to teach about handling heresy (trials from within). False teachers are often subtly deceitful.  Believers today must still be vigilant against falling into false doctrine, heresy, and cult activity.  This letter gives us clues to help detect false teaching.

1. Guidance for growing Christians (1.1-21)
2. Danger to growing Christians (2.1-22)
3. Hope for growing Christians (3.1-18)

MEGATHEMES

Diligence

EXPLANATION: If our faith is real, it will be evident in our faithful behaviour. If people are diligent in Christian growth, they won’t backslide or be deceived by false teachers.

IMPORTANCE: Growth is essential. It begins with faith and culminates in love for others.  To keep growing we need to know God, keep on following him, and remember what he taught us.  We must remain diligent in faithful obedience and Christian growth.

False Teachers

EXPLANATION: Peter warns the church to beware of false teachers. These teachers were proud of their position, promoted sexual sin, and advised against keeping the Ten Commandments.  Peter countered them by pointing to the Spirit-inspired Scriptures as our authority.

IMPORTANCE: Christians need discernment to be able to resist false teachers. God can rescue us from their lies if we stay true to his word, the Bible, and reject those who distort the truth.

Christ’s Return

EXPLANATION: One day Christ will create a new heaven and earth where we will live for ever. As Christians, our hope is in this promise.  But with Christ’s return comes his judgment on all who refuse to believe.

IMPORTANCE: The cure for complacency, lawlessness, and heresy is found in the confident assurance that Christ will return. God is still giving unbelievers time to repent.  To be ready, Christians must keep on trusting and resist the pressure to give up waiting for Christ’s return.

REAL heroes are hard to find these days. Modern research and the media have made the foibles and weaknesses of our leaders very apparent; we search in vain for men and women to emulate.  The music, film, and sports industries produce a steady stream of “stars” who shoot to the top and then quickly fade from view.

Judges is a book about heroes – 12 men and women who delivered Israel from her oppressors. These judges were not perfect; in fact, they included an assassin, a sexually promiscuous man, and a person who broke all the laws of hospitality.  But they were submissive to God [Wall], and God used them.

Judges is also a book about sin and its consequences. Like a minor cut or abrasion that becomes infected when left untreated, sin grows and soon poisons the whole body.  The book of Joshua ends with the nation taking a stand for God, ready to experience all the blessings of the promised land.  After settling in Canaan, however, the Israelites lost their spiritual commitment and motivation.  When Joshua and the elders died, the nation experienced a leadership vacuum, leaving them without a strong central government.  Instead of enjoying freedom and prosperity in the promised land, Israel entered the dark ages of her history.

Simply stated, the reason for this rapid decline was sin – individual and corporate. The first step away from God was incomplete obedience (1.11-2.5); the Israelites refused to eliminate the enemy completely from the land.  This led to intermarriage and idolatry (2.6-3.7) and everyone doing “as he saw fit” (17.6).  Before long the Israelites became captives.  Out of their desperation they begged God to rescue them.  In faithfulness to his promise and out of his loving-kindness, God would raise up a judge to deliver his people and, for a time, there would be peace.  Then complacency and disobedience would set in, and the cycle would begin again.

The book of Judges spans a period of over 325 years, recording six successive periods of oppression and deliverance, and the careers of 12 deliverers. Their captors included the Mesopotamians, Moabites, Philistines, Canaanites, Midianites, and Ammonites.  A variety of deliverers – from Othniel to Samson – were used by God to lead his people to freedom and true worship.  God’s deliverance through the judges is a powerful demonstration of his love and mercy towards his people.

As you read the book of Judges, take a good look at these heroes from Jewish history. Take note of their dependence on God and obedience to his commands.  Observe Israel’s repeated downward spiral into sin, refusing to learn from history and living only for the moment.  But most of all, stand in awe of God’s mercy as he delivers his people over and over again.

VITAL STATISTICS

PURPOSE: To show that God’s judgment against sin is certain, and his forgiveness of sin and restoration to relationship are just as certain for those who repent

AUTHOR: Possibly Samuel

SETTING: The land of Canaan, later called Israel. God had helped the Israelites to conquer Canaan which had been inhabited by a host of wicked nations.  But they were in danger of losing this promised land because they compromised their convictions and disobeyed God.

KEY VERSE: “In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as he saw fit” (17.6).

KEY PEOPLE: Othniel, Ehud, Deborah, Gideon, Abimelech, Jephthah, Samson, Delilah

SPECIAL FEATURE: Records Israel’s first civil war

THE BLUEPRINT

The Military Failure of Israel (1.1-3.6) The tribes had compromised God’s command to drive out the inhabitants of the land.  Incomplete removal of evil often means disaster in the end.  We must beware of compromising with wickedness.

1. Incomplete conquest of the land
2. Disobedience and defeat

The Rescue of Israel By the Judges (3.7-16.31) Repeatedly we see the nation of Israel sinning against God and God allowing suffering to come upon the land and the people.  Sin always has its consequences.  Where there is sin we can expect suffering to follow.  Rather than living in an endless cycle of abandoning God and then crying out to him for rescue, we should seek to live a consistent life of faithfulness.

1. First period: Othniel
2. Second period: Ehud and Shamgar
3. Third period: Deborah and Barak
4. Fourth period: Gideon, Tola, and Jair
5. Fifth period: Jephthah, Ibzan, Elon, and Abdon
6. Sixth period: Samson

The Moral Failure of Israel (17.1-21.25) Despite the efforts of Israel’s judges, the people still would not turn wholeheartedly to God.  They all did whatever they thought was best for themselves.  The result was the spiritual, moral, and political decline of the nation.  Our lives will also fall into decline and decay unless we live by the guidelines God has given us.

1. Idolatry in the tribe of Dan
2. War against the tribe of Benjamin

MEGATHEMES

Decline/Compromise

EXPLANATION: Whenever a judge died, and people faced decline and failure because they compromised their high spiritual purpose in many ways.  They abandoned their mission to drive all the people out of the land, and they adopted the customs of the people living around them.

IMPORTANCE: Society has many rewards to offer those who compromise their faith: wealth, acceptance, recognition, power, and influence.  When God gives us a mission, it must not be polluted by a desire for approval from society.  We must keep our eyes on Christ who is our Judge and Deliverer.

Decay/Apostasy

EXPLANATION: Israel’s moral downfall had its roots in the fierce independence that each tribe cherished.  It led to everyone doing whatever seemed good in his own eyes.  There was no unity in government or in worship.  Law and order broken down.  Finally idol worship and man-made religion led to the complete abandoning of faith in God.

IMPORTANCE: We can expect decay when we value anything more highly than God.  If we value our own independence more than dedication to God, we have placed an idol in our hearts.  Soon our lives become temples to that god.  We must constantly regard God’s first claim on our lives and all our desires.

Defeat/Oppression

EXPLANATION: God used evil oppressors to punish the Israelites for their sin, to bring them to the point of repentance, and to test their allegiance to him.

IMPORTANCE: Rebellion against God leads to disaster.  God may use defeat to bring wandering hearts back to him.  When all else is stripped away, we recognise the importance of serving only him.

Repentance

EXPLANATION: Decline, decay, and defeat caused the people to cry out to God for help.  They vowed to turn from idolatry and to turn to God for mercy and deliverance.  When they repented, God delivered them.

IMPORTANCE: Idolatry gains a foothold in our hearts when we make anything more important than God.  We must identify modern idols in our hearts, renounce them, and turn to God for his love and mercy.

Deliverance/Heroes

EXPLANATION: Because Israel repented, God raised up heroes to deliver his people from their path of sin and the oppression it brought.  He used many kinds of people to accomplish this purpose by filling them with this Holy Spirit.

IMPORTANCE: God’s Holy Spirit is available to all people.  Anyone who is dedicated to God can be used for his service.  Real heroes recognise the futility of human effort without God’s guidance and power.