The Philistines had all their soldiers and chariots, “numerous as the sands of the seashore”, and the Israelites were running scared and running out of places to hide. Somehow Saul managed to muster up his troops who were still quaking in fear. He patiently waited seven days for Samuel to arrive and perform his priestly obligations, but after waiting for so long in fear, he finally gave up on waiting for Samuel and performed the offertory ceremony himself. I’ve often asked myself, why was Samuel late and why does Saul after having waited for seven days couldn’t wait a few more hours for Samuel to arrive?
Tag: Benjamin
A King is Crowned – 1 Samuel 11&12
In his farewell speech Samuel recounted all the good that God had done for His people and how they had always reciprocated His grace on them with betrayal at every corner. He warned them not to test the anger of the Lord and reminded them of all the destruction that came upon them when they walked away from God and held on to their precious idols.
The Hunt for a King – 1 Samuel 9-10
Israel’s desire to be like other nations led them to reject God and have a mortal human ascend the throne. Samuel was handed the task of finding Israel a new king, one that would lead them to battles. Among the twelve tribes of Israel, the tribe of Benjamin was one of the smallest with a history of seditious revolt against the other eleven tribes. However, God’s ways are unfathomable to us, as no one would have expected the first king of Israel to come from the tribe of Benjamin.
Genesis 48 & 49 – The Scepter Will Never Depart
The final chapters of the book of Genesis don’t really give us any insights into the lives of Jacob and his sons in Egypt but if we read carefully they do give us a glimmer of hope for a promise to come.
Genesis 45 & 46 – The Big Reveal
The basic principle behind Machine learning is to use past mistakes to figure out the right path. That’s how our mind also works when it comes to the people who have hurt us. We pretend that we are over it, but deep down our minds are still storing their mistakes and our future actions will be based on this data, all this to avoid getting hurt by them in the future.
Genesis 44 – The Slave Becomes the Master
From selling Joseph out of jealousy to trading prison sentence with Joseph’s younger brother out of loyalty, we see a huge shift in the attitude of Judah.
Genesis 43 – Here We Go Again
In trying to hide his identity, Joseph kept delaying God’s plan in the lives of his family members.
The outward show that we put on may prevent us hurt from the people around us but it also prevents us from admitting our weaknesses and coming to God for a solution.
Genesis 35 – Return to Our Bethel
Like Jacob, it’s time for all of us to return to our Bethel, the place where we first met God.