TABLETALK - April 2019

2019 looks at the history of Old Testament Israel showing that the failures and successes of the Israelites led to the coming of Jesus, the Savior who redeems us from sin and empowers us by His Spirit to bear spiritual fruit in obedience to Him. 

January 2019 (October 25, 2024 - January 23, 2025) - Joshua 1-14 - How the Lord brought Israelites into Canaan

February 2019 (January 24, 2025 - July 6, 2025) - Joshua 15 to Judges 11 - God calls his people to finish driving out the inhabitants of Canaan, but they fail. God disciplines them and saves them from destruction. 

March 2019 (July 7, 2025 - August 24, 2025) - Judges 12 to I Samuel 1 - God's people may fall into great sin, but there is always a righteous remnant. 

April 2019 (August 25, 2025 - January 20, 2026) - I Samuel 2 to I Samuel 17 - Israel transitions from the eras of the judges to the monarchy. And also see Israel's ongoing conflict with the Philistines. 

I Samuel 2 - Hannah's Song and Eli's Sons - Hannah praises God and then there is the contrast of Eli's sons who are worthless and do not follow the Lord compared to Samuel that is dedicated to the Lord for service. 

I Samuel 3:1 - 4:1 - The Lord Calls Samuel - Samuel, unlike Eli’s sons, is growing with the Lord God, as a prophet, and bringing God’s word to Israel. 

I Samuel 4:12-22 - The Glory Departs from Israel - Eli, after 40 years as judge, dies after hearing his sons have died, Israel has been defeated and the ark is taken by Philistines. Phinehas wife has a son, Ichabad meaning, "The Glory Departs from Israel." 

I Samuel 5 - Yahweh Versus Dagon - The Philistines took the ark to Dagon, their god as a sort of victory but Yahweh conquers Dagon and other cities for possessing the ark of God. 

I Samuel 6 - The Ark Returns to Israel - The Philistines turn over the ark, directed to by making a guilt offering of tumors and mice and it is received by offerings from the people as well. 

I Samuel 7 - Israel Puts Away Foreign Gods - Samuel leads the people to restoration from the hand of the Philistines. The people respond by putting away their foreign Gods and Samuel removes the evil, restores the good and God responds and makes a way for victory against the Philistines. 

I Samuel 8 - Israel Sinfully Demands a King - At the end of Samuel's life, the people want a new king of their own doing. God provides a king through Samuel, not giving them what they need, but what they want. 

I Samuel 9:1-2 - Saul, Son of Kish - God gives the people what they want in a leader - Saul - tall and handsome. 

I Samuel 9:3-27 - Samuel Meets Saul - Saul's father lost donkeys and sent Saul to find them. He ends up in a city and is led to a seer which is Samuel who is there to give a special word from the Lord to Saul.

I Samuel 10:1-16 - The Anointing of Saul - Samuel anoints Saul with oil as Saul is still to do the will of God in humble reliance on the Spirit of God. But given the opportunity to testify of God's work, Saul hides it. 

I Samuel 10:17-27 - A King in Hiding - Saul had been chosen by God and presented before the people and yet at this choosing, Saul cannot be found and appears to be hiding.

I Samuel 11 - Saul's Initial Witness - Saul experiences success in rallying a large contingent of people throughout Israel to defeat the Ammonites at Jabesh-Gilead and then is crowned king in Gilgal. 

I Samuel 12 - Hope for Israel - Samuel gives a beautiful summary of our life - we are to serve the Lord with all of our heart. We are the people of God. 

I Samuel 13 - God Rejects Saul's Kingdom - Saul is to wait 7 days for Samuel as the Philistines are approaching him in battle, but he does not and offers sacrifices himself, with the result that the Lord rejected Saul's kingdom. 

I Samuel 14:1-23 - Jonathan Defeats the Philistines - The people had in Saul the king they wanted and yet despite being called by God, anointed and set apart as king, in this instance it was his son that initiated the defeat of the Philistines. 

I Samuel 14:24-46 - Saul's Growing Alienation - Saul goes back and forth between his own way and seeking the Lord. He has to be reminded to speak to the Lord prior to making a decision. His decisions cause trouble among many. 

I Samuel 14:45-15:9 - Military Victories and Spiritual Loss - An overview of the victories Saul has been involved in is given and he is commissioned by Samuel to eradicate the Amalekites, he almost does it complete, but makes a few adjustments to fit his liking. 

I Samuel 15:10-35 - The Importance of Obedience - Saul gets told that the Lord regretted making Him king because he lacked complete obedience. 

I Samuel 16:1-13 - The Anointing of David - After Saul, the Lord shows Samuel perhaps an unlikely successor for king in David, as someone chosen by God and seen by God in His way.

I Samuel 16:14-23 - David's Ministry to Saul - David has been chosen, but for now he will play his harp, making Saul well in his court, after being terrorized by an evil spirit that God allows. 

I Samuel 17:1-37 - The Threat of Goliath - The Philistines have come to do battle and Goliath challenges anyone to fight him with the winner resulting in those people serving the other. David in coming to provide food for his brothers declares confidence that he can defeat Goliath because of God. 

Theology of the Cross - Buck Parsons - Satan is set on trying to destroy us and getting us to lose the astonishment of Christ and Him crucified. If we don't talk about the cross, then we don't talk of sin, the wrath of God, the holiness of God and God's eternal condemnation in hell of all those who do not repent at the foot of the cross. In the cross, we truly grasp the love of God for sinners. 

Federal Headship - Guy Prentiss Waters - I have studied this idea before through my time in Romans. I looked back at an entry I did in 2014 where I contrasted the notion that in life people are good versus the declaration in Romans that none are righteous. Then in 2020 when I was studying Romans, I looked at Romans 3 again. This time though mentioning that Romans 2 and 3 was Paul speaking to the Jew and letting them know that although they had a special status of being a Jew, this identification or status did not excuse their sin. As such in this article, Guy Waters echoes Romans 3:9 and the assertion that "with the exception of Jesus Christ, every human is by nature unrighteous, guilty, and worth of death." This idea of headship I believe is the premise that as men and women now we have inherited a condition or been imputed a condition and that is traced back to Adam. Adam is "the first man" and Jesus is "the last Adam" (I Corinthians 15:45). As such "every human being in every time and place...stands in representative relation either to Adam or to Jesus (I Cor. 15:47-49). The represented which I and every other human being is as well possesses the same as the representative. In Romans 5:19 the word "made" is more precisely "appointed." Waters states, "those whom Adam represents belong to a new legal category (sinners) and because of Jesus' obedience His people are granted entrance into a new legal category (righteous). [But there is a difference that this article does not mention at first glance. Jesus' obedience grants people the opportunity to enter the state of righteousness through faith alone. We are all legally sinners but we are not all legally righteous. The access of the righteousness is through faith. Thus, in Romans and elsewhere is the distinction of people being "in Christ."] Just as our legal status as sinners is imputed to us with no work of our own, our position "in Christ" is also imputed to us through no work of our own. That we are sinners is sort of "not fair" and that we are made righteous is sort of "not fair." The result is Jesus is just and we are justified from Him by our faith in Him (Romans 3:26). Our response now is to praise Him for what He has done and point others to Him for what He can do in them.  

The Twofold Obedience of Christ - Gregory K. Beale - What is the meaning of our union with Christ? In speaking of the imputation of Christ's righteousness we go to I Cor. 1:30, "But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption." We share in these attributes, but we do not have the same as Christ possesses, but rather these godly traits have a beginning in us and they are increasingly characterized in us. That Christ has been redeemed refers to His deliverance from death and liberation from the bondage to the powers of Satan in the resurrection rather than the release from sin. As people we do not boast of our own ability here, but of the benefits resulting from our representation by Christ. 

Fighting for the Prize - Dr. Gabriel N.E. Fluhrer - As a Christian, we are at war with sin. While we want to give up at times, eternal life is the goal through God's grace and saving faith. Keep going. It is worth it. This eternal life is experienced also in the present. It is difficult. It is not meant to be easy. We persevere because He is worthy - "Worthy is the Lamb (Rev. 5:12)." He is God's son, humbling himself to be raised from the dead and exalted to the right hand of God and one day to judge the World. Keep fighting for Him. Lord, help me in this to keep fighting for You. Stay at the forefront of my mind. Don't let me get distracted by everything else going on in this world and even my life. Keep the main thing, the main thing. 

The Unchurched - Augustus Lopes - Lord God, there are many Christians that are not present in church and I wish they were. They are trying to find God outside of the church. Lord, you established your church and all are to have community, despite that there is no perfect church. Lord, I thank you for being a part of group where I am taught, corrected, admonished, and confirmed and when I stray, rebuked. Your Holy Spirit is the one usually doing this work as people I think struggle, even me, from taking these bold stances. The Church is necessary. Throughout Scripture you show us this with the vine and the branches (John 15), compared to the head and the body (Eph. 1:22-23), a husband and wife (5:22-33), and house and stone on which it is built (I Peter 2:4-8). The church has been present throughout the ages, establishing creeds, and the words of the Bible. I am to continue to make it work. Communion is needed in the company of a church. Lord, we need this accountability. I thank you for the Holy Spirit speaking in our lives, and pray that people would get back to church and accept the accountability and teaching and guidance it offers.