ESV Chronological Plan, Day 85 | 1 Samuel 1-4

LOOK | WHAT DOES IT SAY?

Read 1 Samuel 1:1-4:1

THINK | WHAT DOES IT MEAN?

The value of reading chronologically. There are a lot of ways to read through the Bible in a year, and each of them brings out something a little bit different. It's good to mix it up each year because each plan will help you see different things. Reading canonically (from Genesis straight through to Revelation, in order) will give you the chance to form a little bit of a relationship with each book of the Bible at a time as you walk through the plan. It will also keep you from bouncing around between genres too much; it will give you most of the history first, then the devotionally rich wisdom books, then the more difficult to understand prophets, and then finally the New Testament Gospels, Acts, and Letters (and Revelation, whose final chapters are a fantastic send-off). You could also go through a themed plan that will generally try to break up the Old Testament, with some New Testament material stuck in between. This keeps you from having to go 2/3rds of the year before you get to the Gospels. I like this, and I have my own plan that usually starts with Mark, goes into the Torah (Genesis-Deuteronomy), uses that material to help us understand Hebrews and Matthew, goes back into the Old Testament histories, then hits the four major prophets before jumping into Revelation, the Gospel of John, and John's letters, then finishes up the minor prophets before hitting Luke and Acts (with the rest of the New Testament letters inserted or coming afterwards, chronologically). There is also a great value to doing what we are doing here, reading the Bible chronologically. In this plan, we are starting to see how different events relate to each other in a way that we wouldn't understand any other way. So the idolatrous and fratricidal legacy of the maniacal King Jerubbaal (otherwise known as Gideon!) and his son -who he named "my daddy's the king!" Abimelech- in Judges sets the stage for the love story of Ruth, through which God is slowly bringing to fruition the bloodline of his chosen King, the initial representation of which will be David who will be raised up by Samuel, who we are just now meeting in 1 Samuel, which will bring an end to the leaderless days in which "everyone did what was  right in his own eyes, for there was no king in Israel" (Judges 17:6). Doesn't that just enrich the story in an entirely different way from what you normally get? Then when we jump back into some of the really dark stories ahead in Judges, we'll read them in a different way knowing that God is already at work at this time getting people ready for David. This format will also be very helpful for putting the prophets and their ministries in context, which Steinmann's chronological Bible reading plan does better than any of the other ones, as well as giving us a fuller picture with information from all the Gospels of Jesus' earthly ministry and the situations that gave rise to Paul's letters.

Eli breaks my heart. To me, Eli is the most tragic out of all of the people in the Bible, because he falls under the clear judgment of God even though it is clear that he loves the Lord very much. But after Eli rebukes his sons for their awful corruption (1 Samuel 2:22-25), God confronts him for still being too "hands off" in dealing with his sons, saying "you scorn my sacrifices... and honor your sons above me... those who despise me shall be lightly esteemed... [so] the days are coming when I will cut off your strength and the strength of your father's house, so that there will not be an old man in your house... in distress you will look with an envious eye on all the prosperity that shall be bestowed on Israel, and there shall not be an old man in your house forever. The only one of you whom I shall not cut off from my altar shall be spared to weep his eyes out to grieve his heart, and all the descendants of your house shall die by the sword of men" (1 Samuel 2:29-33). So, this is not just a light sort of judgment. In fact, the text goes on to imply that the surviving line of Eli's house will not only universally die young, but that they shall be continually despised and impoverished. And Eli, because he loves the Lord, humbly accepts this judgment: "It is the LORD. Let him do what seems good to him" (1 Samuel 3:18). Why is the judgment so severe on someone who clearly loved the Lord so much? Because Eli, as the high priest, had the authority to deal with his sons in the manner that was appropriate for two corrupt, sexually predatorial, thieving, abusive leaders who were (under their father) occupying the highest office in the land--the sentence was death, which would have been personally painful for him. It also likely would have wiped out his own blood line, and necessitated adopting someone to raise up in their place--someone like Samuel, who God had already provided. (1 Chronicles 6:16-29 already considers Samuel, descended from the tribe of Ephraim, to be a Levite based on his relationship with Eli.) But Eli, in not dealing with the situation for personal reasons, showed in his actions that despite his deep love for God, in practice he valued his sons, and his own continued family name, above the wellbeing of the people and above the name of God. I think there's a good caution here for leaders in the church, and for parents, and for anyone in significant areas of responsibility--God will not hold those guiltless who turn a blind eye to the evil done by others, especially when they are in the position to do something about it.

DO | HOW DO WE RESPOND?

How can we respond in our worship, attitude, and actions? IN OUR ATTITUDES I think that the first reflection would give us more of a hunger to read through the Bible, not just once but many times, knowing that there are a whole variety of ways that we can glean new things from what we see in there. The second reflection would also make us more wary of keeping our mouth shut and averting our gaze when it is in our power to make a difference for good--God may hold us personally responsible for the brokenness that we permit to continue, especially when it is in our power to change it. IN OUR WORSHIP the first reflection would increase our sense of awe that God, through multiple different authors, languages, genres, locations, and times, would weave such an intricately structured book that we could draw so much from it by looking at it in so many different ways--and yet be completely unified, without error or contradiction. The second reflection would give us a healthy respect for God. He does not hold us guiltless when it is within our power to do right. IN OUR ACTIONS the first reflection would cause us to make time to read Scripture more eagerly. There are many plans and systems that work for different people, so you can find the one that works the best for you. The second reflection may lead you to think of a situation that you can deal with that you know you've been putting off. If you can make a difference, but you have been neglecting to do so for personal reasons (i.e. you know you would succeed but you're not sure you want to disappoint/offend/hurt someone or be thought of negatively), ask whether God might be holding you responsible to do something about it.

PRAY | HOW DOES THIS BRING US TO GOD?

Whether in response to anything pointed out here, or to something else in your Bible reading time, take a few moments before you close up your Bible to pray in response to God. If you need a format for prayer, both the ACTS, CALL, and PRAY methods are helpful ways to stay consistent.

-Sean

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P.S. Whether or not you are regularly following along with this reading plan, I hope that the LOOK, THINK, DO, PRAY format is helpful. If you decide to adopt this in your own reading practice, let me know how it works for you. If you change it up, let me know what you've found helpful in adapting it!