T H E S T O R Y READ THE STORY. EXPERIENCE THE BIBLE.

MOVEMENT 2: The Story of Israel (Genesis 12-Malachi)

God builds a brand-new nation called Israel. Though this nation, he will reveal his presence, power, and plan to get you back. Every story of Israel will point to the first coming of Jesus – the One who will provide the way back to God.

CHAPTER SUMMARY:

Blessing. This was meant to be the distinguishing mark of the people of God. God’s covenant with Israel required obedience and promised ultimate blessing. Yet…the period of the judges is anything but a time of obedience and blessing in Israel. More fitting descriptions are: Barrenness. Blindness. Battles. Bereavement. Blessing was hard to come by in those days. God’s people had abandoned God himself…and “everyone did as he saw fit” (Judges 21:25). Few remembered God’s commands. Even fewer obeyed.

But God always has a few. One was a woman named Hannah. She had long endured the grief of childlessness accompanied by the taunts of her husband’s other wife. On one of her visits to worship at God’s house in Shiloh…Eli, the priest…mistook her devotion for drunkenness. She had poured out her heart first in desperate prayer and then to Eli and vowed that she would dedicate her son to the LORD. Eli assured her that her prayer would be heard. God did give Hannah a son and she kept her word. She named the boy Samuel and took him to serve in the tabernacle under the high priest, Eli.

God spoke to Samuel one night when he was still a boy. God told Samuel that Eli and his sons would be judged and his priestly line would soon end. And as it always does, God’s word came true…this time through the Philistines. Israel lost their first battle with the Philistines at Aphek and blamed their loss on the absence of the ark of covenant. Their own absence of obedience went unnoticed. They faced the Philistine army again…this time with the ark as their good luck charm and lost both the battle and the ark. Eli had grown old and blind, and the devastating news of Israel’s defeat, the death of his sons and the loss of the ark of covenant left Eli dead on the spot.

Samuel took Eli’s place…but Israel was dissatisfied and asked for a king. Samuel knew better and expressed his opposition. God knew he’d been rejected. Israel knew only that they wanted to be like their pagan neighbors…the very people they were not to emulate. God warned that their demand for a king would be costly…that they would be exploited to the point of slavery. The people ignored God’s warnings and still insisted on having an earthly king to fight their battles. Saul was anointed by Samuel and began well. He was affirmed by miraculous signs from God. He fought the Ammonites and gave God credit for their victory. Samuel reminded the people that God had not rejected them…even though they had turned away from him. He encouraged them again to follow God and serve him from the heart and God affirmed Samuel’s words with unheard of thunder and rain during harvest.

Saul’s honeymoon as king was short-lived. During another battle with the Philistines, Saul got nervous…Samuel was late. So Saul took his authority too far and took matters—and offerings—into his own hands…violating the role God had reserved for the priests. Samuel confronted Saul…he backpedaled, made excuses, and tried to justify his sin, but wound up losing a dynasty. Saul’s path of half-hearted obedience and fear-based leadership grew longer by the year and more twisted with every step.

God rejected Saul as king. Saul’s reign was Israel’s opportunity to see that monarchy is no better than anarchy when a man after God’s own heart is not on the throne. God had already chosen such a man…an unlikely shepherd boy who would one day become Saul’s successor. His throne would endure and would point God’s people again to the Shepherd King who was yet to come.

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ICEBREAKER:

In the early 1800s Charles Caleb Colton coined the phrase, “Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.” Of course…he was simply observing what had been part of human nature for all of history. People tend to do what the people around them are doing…for better or for worse!

Companies spend millions of dollars on marketing trying to figure out how to get more women to buy their perfume, more kids to purchase their brand of soft drink (pop), more people to think of their restaurant when they are hungry…how to get every member of the human family to all decide to do the same thing and still see themselves as unique.

It is the human need to fit in that makes parents nervous when their kids are growing up. You want your sons and daughters around kids who make good choices because you know that when your kids make friends they will start to dressing like them…talking like them…and thinking like them before you know it. For this same reason a parent’s blood runs cold when a daughter or son starts hanging out with a group of kids who are making poor and dangerous decisions.

Our heavenly Father knows us. He understands the human tendency to imitate what we see and is concerned that we follow his example. Sadly…we are often enticed to follow the example of our culture instead. DIGGING IN:

1. First Samuel 1 (The Story, p.129-131) tells Hannah’s heartbreaking account of barrenness and how her prayer for a child is finally answered. What strikes you about Hannah’s character and faith?

2. Compare the three fathers in the story: Elkanah, Eli and Samuel. What were their best and worst traits? Which of these traits do you wish you had more of?

3. What does Eli teach Samuel about listening to God (1 Samuel 3:1-10; The Story, p.131-132). What can you learn about communicating with God as you see Samuel’s story unfold?

4. The Israelites and the Philistines both treated the Ark of the Covenant more like a good-luck charm than the sacred presence of the LORD. How might people today try to manipulate God for similar gain?

5. How do you think Samuel would have described the “state of the union” at the end of his time as judge? Where do you see God’s grace in his statement after the battle with the Ammonites?

6. How does Samuel feel about the leaders of Israel’s request to give them a king so they can be like all the others nations? How does God feel about it? Do you ever struggle to be like the culture around you instead of letting God rule your life?

7. You are on the search committee for the first king of Israel. What would you look for in your applicants? What were Saul’s actual qualifications?

8. How does Samuel’s description of the consequences of having an earthly king instead of a heavenly King parallel the actions of those who govern in your modern world today?

9. Saul does not follow God’s instructions…which leads to Samuel telling him that he will lose his throne because God has rejected him as king. Imagine you have a friend like Saul…who keeps taking matters into his own hands and ignoring what God’s word tell him. What advice would you give him?

10. One of Saul’s big mistakes was distorting and misrepresenting God as cruel and greedy rather than showing he is

just and holy. Why is God so concerned about his people giving an accurate portrayal of who he is? What can you do to present God to the world with greater clarity and accuracy?

11. God desire is to reveal his presence, power, and plan to the world and through this to restore people’s

relationship with him. How do you see God do each of these in this chapter of The Story:

♦ Reveal his presence…

♦ Display his power…

♦ Execute his plan to get us back… PERSONAL REFLECTIONS & JOURNAL INSIGHTS:

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♦ PERSONAL ACTION:

The human capacity to self-deceive and rationalize sin is staggering. This pattern cost Saul his kingship. Reflect this week on any patterns in life where you tend to rationalize sin (behaviors, practices, shopping patterns, clothing choices, language, hobbies, anything you might do because somebody else is doing it). If God convicts you of an area of your life that this is happening (something that is unhealthy, ungodly, or offensive)…confess it and ask for his strength to change.

PRAYER:

Almighty God, Help me to emulate you and your Son and not the people around me whose approval I think I need. You and your approval is all I need in my life. Give me the patience, courage and faith to listen to your guidance in my life through the words you speak to me in your holy Scriptures and through others around me whose hearts are after your own. I come to you in the confidence of my Savior who is also my strength. Amen.

CHAPTER 11, FROM SHEPHERD TO KING Journal your answers to these questions as you read through the chapter this week. You may wish to read one day and journal the next…or spread the questions over the whole week.

1. Contrast God’s view of David with man’s view of David. Would you say you are winsome in the world’s eyes? How does God see you?

2. Who or what are the giants in your life which need to be faced with courage? How can you equip yourself to do this?

3. Think of a time when jealousy has somehow overtaken you. How can focusing on the Upper Story help conquer these feelings?

4. Review the exchange between David and Saul at En Gedi (p.153-154). What does Saul’s response to David’s offer of grace teach you about God’s grace?

5. “The Lord does not look at the things human beings look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart” (p.145). What words or acts of encouragement can you offer today to others (from family to strangers) based on God’s view of them?

6. When David wanted to build God a temple, God redirected him…just as God sometimes constrains your best intentions because he wants you to serve him in other ways. How has God redirected you? Looking back…was this initially disappointing?

7. After Nathan delivered God’s revelation…David went to the LORD in humble awe and praise (p.159-160). Praise God using your own words by writing a short Psalm.

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