Tag: Diving

1 Samuel 25-27 Deep Diving Bible Study by Gordon Ramsay

1 Samuel 1-3 Deep Diving Bible Study


 

Good Morning Siblings! 

Today’s readings are 1 Samuel 25-27

Rabbit Trails

I’m gonna dive right into today! Today, my notes are more of a general overview of the readings so keep that in mind as you go through. 

🌿There is something in our reading today that, unless we are paying close attention, may slip by us in our modern translations. Whenever Abigail says “LORD” in all caps, in the original text she was saying YHWH’s personal name!
Now, keep in mind that this was during a time (much like now) when most people worshipped multiple gods so the term “god” or even “lord” was a generic and could be applied to pretty much anything or any number of false gods. 

🌿HOWEVER, by Abigail using YHWH’s PERSONAL name, she is also:

  • Reminding David of who He belongs to
  • Reminding David of who they both answer to
  • Reminding David that they are each set apart from the culture of their time

Folks, we all need to pray for the Father to send people like this into our lives. 

Now do you see how important it is that we at least know His personal name (aside from the fact that He originally had it in the Bible nearly 7000 times)? Click here for a refresher on that. 

🌿I’ve noticed a lot of people asking how His name is pronounced lately. While folks can tell you how they think it is pronounced, there is credible research to support many different pronunciations and the truth is that at this point in history, we just don’t know (see that refresher article). So while many folks will be happy to tell you how they pronounce it, I encourage you to read that link for a starting point on understanding what His name is and why we don’t know how to pronounce it. Then, do your own research and spend some time in prayer asking the Father for His guidance.

I fully understand the urge to ask folks so you can “get it right”, but wisdom like that can only come from one source and there are no shortcuts. It’s a journey. Commit to the journey with Him and you’ll never regret it, even if some trails are longer and more complicated than you anticipated. 

🌿1 Samuel 25:1 In the process of hiding out with his men, David has found himself in an area which is populated with shepherds looking over the sheep of Nabal. We see in 1 Samuel 25:16 and 1 Samuel 25:21 that he and his men have watched over not only Nabal’s shepherds but also his property while they were among them. And now it is shearing time and David is asking for some provisions for his party. He notes that it is a feast time and I immediately thought that this must be referring to one of YHWH’s feasts but it could be that he is referring to the tradition of holding a feast at the time of shearing. I didn’t have time to dive too deeply into researching this to see if there was evidence either way or if a date of this encounter could be surmised based on dates given elsewhere in the text. 

🌿When we see this story of Nabal and David, I think most of us (I know this is true for myself) are outraged and even offended that Nabal did not extend hospitality to David and his men. We see the beautiful Abigail saving the day and saving her husband’s life from David’s sword in the process.

However, in stepping back and looking at this story objectively, we see that while Nabal was rude, he didn’t commit any crimes against David. He did dishonor David and it appears a very out of character David was angered enough by this to go on a killing spree. By stopping him from doing this, Abigail prevented Him from shedding innocent blood, which would have put him under bloodguilt – something that would not only affect his descendants but most certainly his anointing to be king. 1 Samuel 25:26-31

We see in the dialogue that David fully realized that Abagail had done for him as well. 1 Samuel 25:33

How many times have we been under YHWH’s anointing in a task only to be distracted when our flesh takes offense to something in some way? This is why it is so important to keep communication open with the Father at all times, to submit to the Holy Spirit and to know the teachings of YHWH, because knowing and obeying YHWH’s word will keep us out of 110% of the trouble we tend to get into when we work on our own accord.

The language used in this exchange is important because that is where we can glean a great lesson if we have ears to hear and eyes to see. David knew that his salvation rested in wholly trusting in the Father. 1 Samuel 25:31. It is the same for us. 

31 my lord shall have no cause of grief or pangs of conscience for having shed blood without cause or for my lord working salvation himself. 

🌿So here is the lesson: Keep your focus on YHWH and Kingdom matters. Don’t be distracted by the world’s battles because the world will make those battles look like they are equal to if not more important than or even IDENTICAL to the Father’s battles. The Father may assign you a task, hand you your armor and show you exactly where to go, but if you take your eyes off Him, the world will have you running in the opposite direction and you’ll think you’re still following YHWH.  Make no mistake, the more the Father moves and the closer we get to His will and the return of our Messiah, the louder and more noble the world will make its battles appear in order to distract us from following Him.

🌿In fact, as we continue reading and move into 1 and 2 Kings we will see the world setting up direct counterfeits of YHWH’s commandments, feasts, and entire faith system. What will Israel do? Surely, having followed the Father and being set apart as His chosen people, they will recognize the counterfeits, right? Yes, in some cases they do. Well do they rebuke them then? Nope. They effectively shrug their shoulders and say “Eh, that’s good enough”, and intentionally leave the path laid out by YHWH for the path laid out by man. Do you see us in Israel? Do you realize that we actually are Israel today*? 

*Sidenote: Please do not mistake this for replacement doctrine, which exists in direct contradiction to the word of YHWH. We have in no way taken Israel’s place as YHWH’s chosen people, but rather have been grafted into this tree that YHWH planted at the beginning of time. See Romans 11, Isaiah 56, and Genesis through Revelation. 😉

So how will we know? How will we be able to tell if we are following the Father or off on a diversion?

My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. John 10:27

Whoever is of God hears the words of God. The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God.” John 8:47

But he said, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!” Luke 11:28

For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. Hebrews 4:12

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. Romans 12:1-2

Let me hear what God the Lord will speak, for he will speak peace to his people, to his saints; but let them not turn back to folly.Psalm 85:8

When you spend time with the Father every day, when you are faithful to Him, you learn to recognize His voice. You learn to see His hand. And you know Him how He wants us to know Him. Just like a dear loved one. I didn’t just know my grandaddy by looking at him. I recognized his smell, his voice, the temperature of his skin, the texture of the shirts he wore, the weight of the impression on the couch when he sat down beside me. I could walk in a room and know if he had just left that room. I knew when he entered a room without having to look up. Why? He was dear to me. I didn’t just know of him. I knew him.  And how much more closely does our Father long to be to us? 

In His word, He had given us ways to test the things of this world and discern the things that are of Him. Our job is to read His word, study it, believe it, and live by it. Reading His word, every day, will have us hearing His voice, every day. It will become familiar in ways we never dreamed possible. Hours of trying to memorize verses don’t hold a candle to how much will be added to our knowledge banks simply by dedicating ourselves to reading His whole word, from beginning to end, with our whole hearts set on Him. 

🌿1 Samuel 25:44 shows that while David was in hiding, Saul even gave his wife to someone else! 

🌿OVER AND OVER in our reading we have seen many times in which David had the opportunity to take back that which he had put into the hands of YHWH – and he refused to. David was in a state of waiting and he knew that the Father was clearing his path.  He knew that YHWH was fighting this battle and that YHWH was clearing the way – and he understood his place and that all glory was going to go to YHWH in this. If you haven’t watched my video on this and you’re in our Facebook group, you can click here to see that. Remember, when we give something to YHWH and we see Him beginning to move with it, we are not to snatch it back. David has had several opportunities to do just that and his response is a great model to emulate. Read this story and take that to soul. 

🌿We’ve talked a lot about YHWH’s feasts and as more people return to His word, more and more are realizing how important these appointed times are. When the Father says something is important to Him – the children listen. 🙌🏻So I just wanted to give you a heads up that the next Holy Day is Passover. Now, there are different calendars to go by and you might want to research and determine which one you are going to follow but the calendar we use has that on April 8, followed by the second of YHWH’s appointed times in 2020, the Feast of Unleavened Bread, from April 9-15. Per multiple requests, I plan on doing a video soon talking over these two appointed times in hopes of helping anyone who wants to know more about how to keep them. 

In closing:

You won’t know a counterfeit if you don’t know the original. 

Let’s diligently seek the original original – the Creator of all things. 


Begin at the beginning with our Genesis notes


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1 Samuel 18-20 Deep Diving Bible Study by Gordon Ramsay

1 Samuel 1-3 Deep Diving Bible Study


 

Good Morning Siblings!!
Today’s readings are 1 Samuel 18-20

I want to share something Debbie Ingle wrote with you first and foremost and then I’ll add my notes in. 

Debbie’s Rabbit Trail – The Best Of Intentions:

Today I have Saul on my mind.  He was the first King of Israel, and he messed up so badly, that the kingdom was ripped away from his family forever (1 Sam 13:13-14).  Think about that for a minute.  We know that Jesus/Yeshua will one day sit on the throne of Israel.  Saul’s sin kept him from being part of that lineage.  Ouch!  
It is easy to judge Saul.  He was prideful, impatient, vengeful, and disobedient.  
Can anyone relate?
I sure can.
You see, Saul was a lot like many of us.  He was not a deliberately evil man.  The bible tells us that He was trying to please YHVH/The Lord during his many fumbles, but he had one tragic flaw. Saul thought YHVH/The Lord would be honored by good intentions. And Saul believed that so much, that he chose to honor his good intentions over YHVH/The Lord’s commands.  

For example…when YHVH/The Lord commanded Saul to strike down every living person and animal in Amalek (1 Saul 15:3), he did not follow through 100%.  He allowed the best of the livestock to live…in order to give it as a sacrifice to YHVH/The Lord (1 Sam 15:20-21).  That sounds nice, doesn’t it?

Saul was so grateful that YHVH/The Lord had helped him win the battle that he wanted to honor him with a sacrifice of the best sheep and oxen.  Saul had the best of intentions… When Samuel arrived, Saul reported that he had carried out YHVH/The Lord’s command, but Samuel had a question:

“Then what is this bleating of the sheep in my ears, and the lowing of the oxen that I hear?”  (1 Sam 15:14)

And this is when we find out that Saul thought it would be okay to disobey YHVH/The Lord in order to make a sacrifice to honor Him. Again, Saul had the best of intentions…   The question then is this:  Did Saul’s good intentions please YHVH/The Lord and excuse Saul’s disobedience?
Nope, Nada, Lo, La, Nein, Nee (I think you get the point)
Samuel tells Saul, “Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice” (1 Sam 15:22).
And that is still true today.  
YHVH/The Lord’s desire for us is obedience.
Sometimes we have the best of intentions, but those intentions can get us, like Saul, into big trouble.  
So how can we walk in obedience to YHVH/The Lord, and how can we see if our good intentions are blinding us to that obedience?
We live in a time (especially in the USA) where we have access to the Bible…like no other time in all of history.  
He expects us to read it.  
May we read our Bibles, examine ourselves, seek truth, and repent in order to walk in obedience with YHVH/The Lord.
Shalom Friends!


Christy’s Rabbit Trails – a tail of rotted fruit

🌿Today I want to start by talking about rotten fruit. You know how there are the fruits of the spirit? 

Paul lays them out in Galaitans 5:22-23  22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

He ends it with “against such things there is no law.” Have you ever wondered what the opposite of these fruits of the spirit was, the things that there is a law against? As it turns out, directly preceding that verse we have a list of those, too. 

Galatians 5:19 Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, 21 envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

These days, that list kind reads like a stroll through a Facebook news feed. Sure, some may seem a bit extreme to the point of us thinking “Well I’d never do that!” but pay attention to the fact that among these, carrying equal weight, are jealousy, dissensions, divisions, envy, strife. Now that fruit falls a little closer to our trees. In today’s reading we see a direct contrast between fruits of the spirit and fruits of the flesh – good fruit and rotten fruit. Pay attention to what produces each type of fruit and the results of bearing each type of fruit. It will go the same with us. 

🌿And now a few reminders to help keep you motivated! 

First and foremost- if you get behind, don’t try to catch up! This is a trap, believe me. It ends up with you berating yourself and getting further behind. Instead, if you miss a few days (or a week, or whatever) just dive right back in where we are! Show yourself some grace and don’t worry, we’ll come back around the bend again!

The best Bible translation is the one you will read. Check out Biblegateway.com so you can switch between some different Bible translations and see which one makes the most sense to you. I see Bible translations as a jumping off point so I’m not married to any one in particular but it is always best to start with one that makes sense to you. In my daily postings in this group I use the ESV because it is pretty standard and I think is a good common denominator, but in my private study I use several translations at a time. Please go with what works best for you.😀

Make sure you read the comments each day whenever you can! So much wonderful discussion and insight is shared there. Better than that is participating in the comments. We have a lot of people in the group who never comment, and this is fine, but sometimes I run into folks and they tell me they’re in my Facebook group and when I ask their name I know for a fact I’ve never laid eyes on that name in my life – and that is a shame. The only way we know you’re here is if you comment so we can see you. Don’t be an invisible person, join us! 

We are believers from all walks of life, every denomination under the sun, and many varied stripes but we are of one accord in many things – most notably our appreciation of the wondrous grace shown to us by our loving father through our Messiah.

If you are reading this, I consider you my brother or sister. After all, we share the same Father, don’t we?

🤜🤛My goal for this group is to get as many of us as possible reading the Word of God firsthand and to encourage one another on our individual journeys of faith. I don’t want you to walk out your faith as I do – I want you to walk as YHWH has called you to walk.
❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
The Father has brought us all together here in this wonderful little corner of the internet to encourage and build up one another as we search His Word and seek His face. Let us pray for one another, hope for one another, and love one another as He so richly loves us!

I’ll leave my notes at that today and let you have a little more time in the Word! 


Begin at the beginning with our Genesis notes


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1 Samuel 15-17 Deep Diving Bible Study by Gordon Ramsay

1 Samuel 1-3 Deep Diving Bible Study


 

Today’s readings are 1 Samuel 15-17

 

🌿I want to start by backtracking a bit near the end of chapter 14. 

1 Samuel 14:47 states 47 When Saul had taken the kingship over Israel, he fought against all his enemies on every side, against Moab, against the Ammonites, against Edom, against the kings of Zobah, and against the Philistines. Wherever he turned he routed them.

Saul had enemies on every side. His kingdom was surrounded by enemy nations. If Israel was directed to clear the land of its inhabitants before taking possession of it. Rather than do that, though, they decided to just move in among them. E V E R Y problem plaguing Israel could have been avoided by them simply walking in obedience. And truly, today as it was then, walking in obedience to the Father is far simpler than keeping step with the world. 

🌿Lest we think the Father isn’t paying attention to our behavior, 1 Samuel 15:2 sure is a wakeup call! YHWH says “I have noted what Amalek did to Israel in opposing them on the way when they came out of Egypt.” Some translations say “I have witnessed” and some simply say “I will punish” but the lesson is the same. No one pulls one over on the Father. 

🌿1 Samuel 15:3 is another difficult passage for reasons we have addressed before. Bear in mind that in these cultures, children were raised with a hatred of the enemies of their nation. It was ingrained in them from birth. Similar to how we occasionally see horrifying footage of young boys of a radical faith practice preparing for war and gleefully telling of how they will kill their enemies. They have been desensitized to it. Just as some members of previous generations didn’t think our culture was racist for having segregation – because it was what they were born into, surrounded with, and all of their authority figures told them it was okay. It is a form of generational brainwashing and yes, some are strong enough to step out of that but by and large, people tend to believe the values and “truths” that are handed down through generations. Another factor is that in most of these cultures, children were honor bound to seek vengeance on anyone who took the life of their parent. So if they left the children, in a matter of years there would be another war rising up. 

🌿1 Samuel 15:6 Saul directed the Kenites to depart from the Amalekites. Although the Kenites had been kind to Israel and were going to be shown grace, they needed to separate themselves from the Amalekites or else they would face the same punishment, regardless of their personal behavior. There is a great lesson in this for us. 

🌿1 Samuel 15:8-9 Do you see what Saul did? He did NOT OBEY the Father. However, he did obey YHWH a little bit, and we see in 1 Samuel 15:13 that Saul felt partial obedience was just as good as complete obedience. How does YHWH view partial obedience? He tells us: 

1 Samuel 15:11 11 “I regret that I have made Saul king, for he has turned back from following me and has not performed my commandments.” And Samuel was angry, and he cried to the Lord all night.

YHWH views partial obedience as disobedience. Saul was given a clear directive but He decided to override the wisdom of YHWH with his own wisdom. He decided that his way was better than what the very word of YHWH told Him to do. 

He chose his own understanding over YHWH’s truth.

How does YHWH view this? Samuel tells us: 

Because you have rejected the word of YHWH, He has also rejected you from being king. – 1 Samuel 15:23]

When we go our own way, do things our own way, decide that we know a better or more suitable way to follow the instructions of YHWH (oftentimes this “better way” is to disregard the instructions altogether) the Father sees this as a direct rejection of Him. 

Why do we do this? I have a few blunt answers to that but I’ll reserve them for my own family’s Bible study and give you the more polished “company” answer instead. Actually, I’ll let Saul tell you in his own words. 

“I have sinned, for I have transgressed the commandments of YHWH and your words, because I feared the people and obeyed their voice.” 1 Samuel 15:24

A few things I want to point out here: “the people” being referenced are YHWH’s chosen people. If we were applying this wisdom in our time, as gentiles, this would be the church. Who did Saul fear MORE than YHWH? The people. Who did Saul obey INSTEAD of obeying the voice of YHWH? The voice of the people. 

This is something that merits some turning over in our minds today. Deep reflection and conversation with the Father is in order. 

Do we fear the opinions of people so much that we are willing to live in disobedience to YHWH? 

🌿We see something that may seem like a contradiction in the character of YHWH if we were just surface reading as most folks do. But, having built our foundational knowledge of Scripture we are equipped some knowledge of YHWH that causes us to pause and reexamine the passage instead.  The verses are 1 Samuel 15:11, 1 Samuel 15:29, and 1 Samuel 15:35

Essentially the text has the Father saying that He regrets making Saul king, and then in the center verse Samuel says that YHWH is not a man that He has regrets. The text seems to be talking out of both sides of its mouth but if we go back to context and original meaning we can see a different view. 

Rather than regret, some texts have YHWH saying He repents of making Saul king. Repent, but that is for sinners right? In our modern language repent is a very diluted word. Nowadays it just means a momentary sorrow over some wrongdoing but oftentimes no change takes place. In the case of a Believer, this is generally due to the lack of the Holy Spirit in one’s life (we know them by their fruits, good trees don’t bear rotten fruit). However, the original meaning of repent means to turn from something. YHWH is stating that He has turned from Saul. He knew this was going to happen, there is no regret, but He is now turning from Saul. 

Why did YHWH make Saul a king to begin with? Israel cried out for a king and in doing so, Israel rejected YHWH as their king. Sometimes, rather than give us what we need, YHWH gives us what we deserve – there is still a grace in that as it may bring us to our knees and become another opportunity to see the error of our ways and return to Him. 

🌿More of my random observations: 

🌿YHWH clearly instructs Saul on exactly what He is to do with Amalek (Note that Amalek was the First Nation to attack Israel and they are the descendants of Esau) – but rather than put to death everything as God had commanded, Saul kept the best sheep and calves, claiming later that it was to sacrifice to YHWH.

🌿I LOVE Samuel’s response to Saul saying he had done all that the lord had commanded. I imagine one eyebrow raised and a hand on his hip as he says:
“Then why do I hear the bleating of sheep and lowing of oxen?”

🌿Samuel further points out Sauls disobedience in:

“Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices,
as in obeying the voice of the Lord?”

💕Again, we see: What is God’s love language? Obedience.

Now I know that seems like a weird thing to talk about when it comes to the creator of the universe, love languages. But knowing someone’s love language makes a HUGE difference in how we are able to effectively show them we love them.

When Ricky and I got married, a few months in, we did a love language survey and it was a game changer! You see, we had no idea that we had different love languages. Ricky’s love language is words of affirmation and mine is acts of service. Well, here Ricky was telling me he loved me and saying all these nice things and I was inwardly rolling my eyes and wondering why he was doing that all the time. It made no sense to me because I was more of a show me don’t tell me type of person.

And here I was cooking all these nice meals and folding his laundry and such and to him, he still didn’t feel loved through my actions. Why? I was speaking to him in my language and he was speaking to me in his and neither one of them made sense to the other.
So we switched horses so to speak because now I understood what made Ricky feel loved and he understood what made me feel loved.

God’s love language is obvious just a few minutes into reading His word and we see it time and again. When you truly love someone, you show them in ways that make them feel loved, not in the ways that make you feel loved.  The Father does not want our knockoff version of faith: lipservice and portions of our heart and attendance at the most comfortable congregation conveniently located and scheduled to suit our life. He wants our time, He wants our trust, and He wants our obedience. 

There is a vast difference between having faith in YHWH and being faithful to YHWH. 

🌿At this point, at least Saul was smart enough to know he’d messed up but his main concern seems to be saving face as he tells Samuel to go with him so he can bow down before the Lord. And did you catch that part where he built a monument for himself after his great victory? We are going to see the opposite of that attitude in Chapter 17, and I talk about that a little at the bottom of this post.

He finally admits he has disobeyed YHWH but refuses to see what a bad position he is in as a result.

This is a classic example direct from a parable of Jesus in Matthew 13, the Sower and the Seed. Saul’s ground was rocky. The seed shot up quickly but the roots didn’t go deep and as a result the plant didn’t thrive for long.

🌿After more pleading for Samuel to return with him, Samuel responds:
“I will not return with you. For you have rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord has rejected you from being king over Israel.”

You have rejected the word of YHWH. Ugh. Gut punch.

Takeaways from todays reading are, again, details matter to YHWH.
Obedience is better to Him than our sacrifices. Getting dressed up and giving Him half a day once a week may be a good thing – but if we do it in lieu of obeying Him and living according to His word, it’s useless.

🌿AND NOW the opposite example: 🙌1 Samuel 17 – notice, time and again, that David’s confidence is not in himself but in YHWH. What a different outcome we see for him as a result!

🌿Pay attention to all of the times the Holy Spirit descends on and moves in today’s reading. We’ve seen the Holy Spirit indwelling in people since the very beginning and will continue to see it. As I’ve mentioned, this is a direct contradiction to a popular doctrinal belief that states that the Holy Spirit didn’t come until the “new” testament. But who needs manmade doctrine when we have the Father’s truth!? Don’t settle for less than He wants to give you. 

🌿1 Samuel 16:7 “For YHWH sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance but YHWH looks on the heart.” 

I don’t know about y’all but every time I read the Bible I feel like the Father has given me a new scrub brush and is helping me scrub and scrub all those stains on my heart so that I can be clean in His eyes! 

We praise you, Father, for making us new. For teaching us how to follow you in spirit and in truth with our whole hearts. You ask us to return to you and we answer “WE ARE RETURNING!” 


Begin at the beginning with our Genesis notes


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