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June 22

Reading 1 - 1Samuel 1

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v. 11 - Whilst Hannah was responsible for the child of this vow only until he was grown, whereupon he would acquire responsibility for himself, she still made this vow with God to give him to God 'all the days of his life' and God accepted it, knowing the future mind of Samuel, so responding to Hannah's plea - v.19.
Peter Cresswell
v.6 - Peninnah is here described as her adversary, and you might expect this to be a word like Satan, but in fact the word used is only translated adversary here. Its normal translation is distress, trouble or affliction. So it was more of the 'thorn in the side' than that of a determined effort.
Peter Cresswell

The book is in four parts:
I The story of Samuel to the death of Eli, 1:1 - 4:22
2 From the taking of the ark to the demand for a king 5.1 - 8:22
3 The reign of Saul to the call of David, 9.1 - 15:35
4 From the call of David to the death of Saul, 16:1 - 31:13

1 v.1 That the area of 'Mount Ephraim' compassed a large area is seen from the following passages which show the names of a number of cities in the area and another mountain. Timnathserah Joshua 19:50 Shechem Joshua 20:7 Bethel Judges 4:5 Shamir Judges 10:1 Ramathaimzophim here Mount Zemaraim 2 Chronicles 13:4
Peter Forbes
1:9 The word 'seat' is actually the Hebrew word for throne. That Eli 'sat' contrasts the work of the priest who 'stood daily ministering' (Hebrews 10:11)
Peter Forbes
:11 Hannah vow was the Nazarite vow 'no razor …' quotes Numbers 6:5. Her response to Eli (1:15) 'Neither wine nor strong drink' quotes Numbers 6:3.
Peter Forbes

GOD ANSWERS PRAYER
How often had Hannah prayed for a child in the past? Why wasn't her prayer answered before? What was different about this prayer?
There were three things that may have made this prayer so different to many of the others she could have prayed. These are the things that could have made her prayer more powerful.

  1. She wept much and prayed to the Lord. In the New Testament we read about someone who prayed with himself. Hannah's prayer was intimate with the Lord, personal and between her and God alone.
  2. She made a vow that the baby she prayed for would be dedicated to God for the rest of his life.
  3. She prayed in her heart and poured out her soul to the Lord. Sometimes when we pray we only speak words - the words we feel we should say. I believe a more powerful prayer is one from the heart when we, like Hannah, can pour out our souls to the Lord.

God heard Hannah's prayer and gave her the son she had prayed for. We can learn from Hannah's prayer. We can make our prayers heartfelt. We can forget what others might think about our prayers and pray between us and God alone. Let us pour out our soul to the Lord and our prayers will be effective too.
Robert Prins

Reading 2 - Isaiah 46 & 47

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46 v.3,4 - Continuing from the above comment on 1Sam.1, here we have the situation that each member of the house of Jacob found himself in - being cared for by God from the cradle to the grave, being carried and delivered. As spiritual Israel, and having a much closer and better covenant through baptism and founded on love, how much more this surely applies to us. Let us praise God for it and take comfort and exhortation to do better. Psa.22:9,10.
Peter Cresswell
47:3 - Each time we read this type of phrase (Exo.32:25, Isa.20:4, Mic.1:11, Nah.3:5, Rev.3:18, 16:15), we are reminded of the fall of mankind to sin in Genesis and of the fact that nakedness and shame are only related because of our nature. Without our nature, before sin entered the world, nakedness was beautiful - we had nothing to be ashamed of, as there was no sin. Instead of returning to this state, however, it seems that the chosen will be clothed with the white robes of righteousness. (Rev. 3:5,18, 4:4)
Peter Cresswell

46 v.1-4 - Yahweh contrast the way in which He, the God carried Israel with the way in which the nations carried their gods. This highlights the futility of idol worship. Whereas Yahweh saves His people the people have to 'save' their idols.

47 Remember that this description of the demise of the glory of Babylon was spoken by the prophet before Babylon had grown to be a powerful nation. At the time that Isaiah spoke Assyria was still the most powerful nation in the Middle East.
Peter Forbes

46:13 The placing of salvation in Zion will, of course, be ultimately fulfilled when the lord Jesus returns. It is echoed in Joel 2:32 in the prophecy of the work of the preaching of the gospel as quoted in Acts 2:17.

47:7 Just as Babylon boasted herself as 'a lady for ever' the harlot of Revelation 18:7 makes the same claim. False religion makes a show of using Scripture but mis uses it because it does not know or understand what it says.
Peter Forbes

46:10 In saying that He declares the end from the beginning God is not simply saying that he prophesies future events - great though that is. Rather he is saying because he can speak about the future with certainty we can be sure that he will keep His word.

47:14 The inability of the astrologers to 'deliver themselves from the power of the flame' contrasts markedly with the way that God's servants were not to fear the flame. (Isaiah 43:2)
Peter Forbes

Isa 46 - WHO CARRIES WHO?
Having a god is supposed to be a benefit to the person who claims they belong to the god or who claims that the god belongs to them. A god is supposed to give you extra strength, extra powers, and security. But in days long ago and even today in cultures other than our own, people made gods out of wood and stone, silver and gold. They made gods that couldn't see, hear, walk or even speak at all. Instead of giving them extra strength, the gods were a burden on the people with having to carry them everywhere. Instead of giving them extra power their god used up the power of a horse and chariot as they transported it into battle. And instead of giving them security they had to guard their god to make sure no one stole it.
Today's gods are no different. Cars break down, TV's go on the blink and don't provide any extra strength (in mind or body), banks close and go bankrupt with our money, we get tied up in our jobs and computers take our minds into captivity. Also, nearly all of those gods are a risk to our security - we have to secure them or they get stolen.
There is only one God who will carry us without us having to carry Him. He is our strength, power and security. He is the God of the Bible. Make sure He is your God today
Robert Prins

Reading 3 - Revelation 3 & 4

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3 v. 4 - We need to make sure of the purity of our own garments, so that we may be amongst those few that walk with God in white, even if those around us fail to do so. This is very important aspect of working out our own salvation. If we have people around us that are dragging us down to a lower spiritual lifestyle, then we should notice that and readjust our lives back to where we know they should be. Matt.10:11, Luke 20:35, 21:26, 2Thess.1:5.
Peter Cresswell

3 v.4 - 'a few .. in Sardis' The encouragement is that the lord will have regard to even a few faithful brethren and sisters even if they are in the midst of a spiritually dead environment. This is rather like the way in which Yahweh delivered Lot [Genesis 19:16] even though only a handful were concerned about the evil of Sodom.

4 v.1 - The fact that the Father is willing to show us 'things that will be hereafter' is a wonderful privilege. It places in the same potion as Abraham when Yahweh was about to destroy Sodom. [Genesis 18:17] where He said that he would not hide the matter from Abraham because He knew that he would command his children to observe His commandments.
Peter Forbes

ch 3

to come and worship before thy feet
Isa 60:14


The prophecy in Isaiah speaks of the way in which Gentiles will bless the Jews in the kingdom. This blessing is here ascribed to the glorified saints also.

ch 4

was to look upon like
Eze 1:26
Jasper
Exo 28:18
sardine
Exo 28:17
rainbow
Eze 1:28
round about
Eze 1:27
in sight like unto
Eze 1:28
emerald
Exo 28:17
lightnings ... lamps ... fire... burning ... spirits
Eze 1:12-13
the midst of the ... were four beasts
Eze 1:5
round about ... four ... full of eyes
Eze1:18
was like a lion ... a calf ... a face of a man ... eagle
Eze 1:10
full of eyes
Eze 1:18


Ezekiel 1 speaks of the glorified Jesus. Exodus 28 describes the breastplate. We must, therefore, see a link between the risen Christ and the breastplate of judgment.
Peter Forbes

3:16 'Spue thee out …' quotes Leviticus 18:25. So just as the land would spue Israel out if they were unfaithful we are liable to be rejected and barred from the kingdom.

4:11 Do we share the sentiments of the four and twenty elders creatures?
Peter Forbes

"WAKE UP!"

In the parable of the ten virgins we find that while they were waiting for the bridegroom to come, they all became drowsy and fell asleep. When the bridegroom arrived at midnight they all woke up. The point I want to emphasize is that they all slept - not just some of them. If this speaks to those of us waiting for Jesus to return, then we need to watch ourselves that we don't fall into too deep a sleep.

Jesus found one of his churches asleep too. Some of the people in that church were so soundly asleep that they were about to die! His message to them was this: "Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die." (Revelation 3 v 2). We all need that wake up call occasionally because there is no way we can prepare for the return of Jesus if we are sleeping. Jesus told Peter, James and John that the best way to stay awake was to watch and pray. (Mark 14 v 38). So let's wake up from our sleep, exercise our sleepy spiritual muscles, watch ourselves so that we don't fall asleep again, watch for the signs of the return of Jesus, and pray that we will not fall into temptation.

This is your wake up call. Wake Up! Overcome your sleep and be ready for Jesus when he comes.
Robert Prins