Kingwood Bible Study

HOLIDAY BREAK - Tuesday Meetings Resume January 5

We’re taking a break from our Tuesday night meetings for the next two weeks while many of our regular members are traveling to visit relatives for the holidays.  We will resume with our regular Tuesday schedule on January 5, 2010.  Our Sunday morning meetings will continue during this time as usual.

Learning from 1 Samuel 16 - David Anointed by Samuel (pt.1)

…So he asked Jesse, “Are these all the sons you have?” “There is still the youngest,” Jesse answered, “but he is tending the sheep.” Samuel said, “Send for him; we will not sit down until he arrives.” - 1 Samuel 16:11

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Learning from 1 Samuel 16 - Samuel Anoints David (pt. 2)

“…When they arrived, Samuel saw Eliab and thought, “Surely the Lord’s anointed stands here before the Lord.” But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” Then Jesse called Abinadab and had him pass in front of Samuel. But Samuel said, “The Lord has not chosen this one either.” Jesse then had Shammah pass by, but Samuel said, “Nor has the Lord chosen this one.” Jesse had seven of his sons pass before Samuel, but Samuel said to him, “The Lord has not chosen these.” - 1 Samuel 16:6-10

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Learning from 1 Samuel 15 - Saul’s Rebellion

1 Samuel 15:23 - “For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance like the evil of idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, he has rejected you as king…”

Saul sinned and lost everything God had given him. The prophet Samuel even called Saul’s sin “idolatry,” even though Saul had not worshipped any statue or graven image. How was Saul guilty of idolatry? Why was his sin so serious that God permanently rejected him? This study examines these two questions.

Saul’s sin was a common one for religious people. He simply followed his own opinions and will. He departed a little from what the Lord revealed. He offered sacrifices to God, and he thought God should be satisfied. Yet he sacrificed something the Lord had said He did not want. Human religion does not care what God really wants; religion gives God what it wants to give, and expects God to accept anything. When it came to obedience, Saul would obey parts of what the Lord revealed, and he thought God should be satisfied with that. He did not understand that neglecting the other parts of God’s will constituted simple “disobedience.” God sent Saul into a battle with a specific enemy, and told him to take no plunder and no captives. Yet Saul took a little plunder to offer as a sacrifice to God, and a few captives who were royalty, who seemed special. Saul disobeyed, deviated from God’s plan. The prophet Samuel calls this idolatry.

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Learning from 1 Samuel 14 - God Did Not Answer Him That Day

1 Samuel 14:36-37 - Saul said, “Let us go down after the Philistines by night and plunder them till dawn, and let us not leave one of them alive.” “Do whatever seems best to you,” they replied. But the priest said, “Let us inquire of God here.” So Saul asked God, “Shall I go down after the Philistines? Will you give them into Israel’s hand?” But God did not answer him that day.

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Learning from 1 Samuel 14 - Saul’s Foolish Oath

1 Samuel 14:24 - “Now the men of Israel were in distress that day, because Saul had bound the people under an oath, saying, “Cursed be any man who eats food before evening comes, before I have avenged myself on my enemies!” So none of the troops tasted food…”

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Learning from 1 Samuel 13 - The Contrast Between Saul and David

Acts 13:20-22 - “After this, God gave them judges until the time of Samuel the prophet. Then the people asked for a king, and he gave them Saul son of Kish, of the tribe of Benjamin, who ruled forty years. After removing Saul, he made David their king. He testified concerning him: ‘I have found David son of Jesse a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do.’”

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Learning from 1 Samuel 11 - Nahash and Spiritual Blindness

1 Samuel 11:2 – “But Nahash the Ammonite replied, “I will make a treaty with you only on the condition that I gouge out the right eye of every one of you and so bring disgrace on all Israel…”

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Learning from 1 Samuel 3 - Responding to God’s Voice

1 Sam. 3:9-10 - “Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening…”

In this story, Samuel is a little boy who lives at the Tabernacle in Israel and helps with chores. This was the twilight of the period of the Judges in Israel, a time of great spiritual confusion. The priests in that day had lost connection with God. The Bible says that it was very rare then for anyone to hear directly from God. The people had stopped listening. The priests themselves were unfaithful. There were awful scandals surrounding the new generation of priests, and the old generation had grown weak, lazy, and ineffective.

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Learning from 1 Samuel 3 - Where Eli Went Wrong

1 Samuel 3:1-2 – “The boy Samuel ministered before the Lord under Eli. In those days, the word of the Lord was rare; there were not many visions. One night Eli, whose eyes were becoming so weak that he could barely see, was lying down in his usual place…”

The book of 1 Samuel contrasts the ministry of the boy Samuel, who listened to God and functioned as a prophet, with the ministry of the old priest named Eli, who served in the Tabernacle during a period of apostasy (falling away from God) in Israel’s early history. Most of Eli’s ministry occurred during the period covered by the book of Judges, an era of spiritual confusion, curses, and disobedience. Eli was over 90 years old in this story, so he began ministering a generation earlier.

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