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June 30

Reading 1 - 1Samuel 11 & 12

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11 v. 13 - We do well to be reminded that when God fights the battle, no-one in the righteous army is killed at all. ch.14:45, 2Sam.19:22, Exo.14:13, Psa.44:4-8.
Peter Cresswell
v.3 - Here Samuel is laying out the contrast for the people between what they knew when God was their only King, and what they will now experience with the human kings that they have asked for.
Peter Cresswell

11 v.5 - Notice that whilst Saul has been made king he does not have a throne but rather is still continuing to look after his father's cattle. It as if he had no regard to the anointing of Samuel.
11 v.13 - A glimmer of awareness of Yahweh's work is seen here in Saul. An awareness which seemed to be lacking most of the time during the reign of Saul.

12 v.9 - 'sold them into the hand ...' is a refrain in the book of Judges which is found once also in 1 Samuel [Judges 2:14 3:8 4:2 10:7 1 Samuel 12:9] And marks chastening from Yahweh to cause Israel to repent and turn to him. In the book of Judges this happens every time the chastening comes. This is a mark of the long suffering of God. He knew how His people would respond and knew that they would turn away but He still loved them. A wonderful comfort for ourselves.
12 v.11 - Whilst 'Bedan' is here mentioned amongst the Judges he is not mentioned anywhere else in Scripture, let alone in the book of Judges. So he was either a judge of whom we have no information or is a different name for one of the judges of whom we have other information. Suggestions have been made that it refers either to Barak or Samson, though no reliable evidence is supplied to support the ideas.
12 v.17 - We should note that rain and thunder in the time of wheat harvest in Israel was most unusual, if not unheard of. Wheat harvest is June / July in Israel.
Peter Forbes
11:1-8 We might wonder why the men of Jabesh Gilead thought that Saul would help them. They lived on the extremity of the land of Israel across Jordan way up North. However there is probably a good reason for their optimism. There were 400 maids from Jabesh Gilead given to the men of Benjamin after the awful events of Judges 20. So it is probable that one of those women was the grad mother of great grandmother of Saul.

11:20 The taking of a yoke of oxen and the sending of the parts throughout Israel echoes the behaviour at the time (Judges 20:6) when Benjamin brought the ire of the rest of their brethren against them which brought about the actions when the men of Jabesh Gilead took of the 400 daughters of Benjamin. Thus strengthening the link.

12:1 We have now moved on again to the end of Samuel's life and he charges the people as two how they should walk and summarises elements of Israel's history (12:7-12) to bring them to the point when they wanted a king. He used this history to show to them that even though they did not have kings in the past the Lord delivered them - through Judges - as if he is making the point that they really do not need a king, even though God has given them one.
Peter Forbes

11:14-15 So Samuel wanted to 'renew the kingdom' - what had happened? Was just one battle sufficient to require the kingdom to be renewed? This indicates that by this time in Saul's kingdom there was no direction and God was not the centre of the people's lives. Saul, as we saw (see above) was not even committed to rulership.

12:12 Nahash died during the early reign of David (1 Chronicles 19:1)
Peter Forbes

Reading 2 - Isaiah 55

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v.6 - Now is always the time to seek the Lord. Whatever the past has held - however we feel about it - we need to do it now, before it is too late. We presume upon the continuance of our lives, but we do not know when they will end. Make the best of the present is the exhortation from this verse. 1Chr.28:9, Psa.14:2, 32:6.
Peter Cresswell
v.1 - The right sustenance is available to us if we just go along and buy it. It doesn't cost money. We buy it with our life and receive in return an eternal inheritance.
Peter Cresswell
v.13 - 'thorns' and 'briers' marks that the land is suffering the curse that was placed upon Adam [Genesis 3:18] Hebrews 6:8 draws on this language in Isaiah to show that the Mosaic order is to pass away. It is against the background of 'the sure mercies of David' [Isaiah 55:3] which is associated with the resurrection of Jesus [Acts 13:34] to everlasting life.
Peter Forbes
Again, I make no apology for repeating this table from chapter 22. The promises to David form such a central plank of the gospel.

9:7 Throne of David
16:5 Tabernacle of David
22:22 Key of the house of David
37:35 Defend for David's sake
38:5 The God of David thy father
55:3 The sure mercies of David

God worked in Isaiah's day because of what he said to David.
Peter Forbes

:4 Continuing the theme of the promises to David 'witness' quotes Psalm 89:37 where the Psalmist, speaking of the fulfilment of the promises to David, talks of Jesus as the 'faithful witness' which is how Jesus describes himself (Revelation 3:14)
Peter Forbes

Reading 3 - Revelation 19 & 20

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19 v.9 - Those 'arrayed in fine linen' or 'the righteousness of the saints' (v.8) are now called to the marriage supper of the Lamb. These are the wise virgins of the parable who were able to enter because they had been watchful and ready for his return. It is by God's grace (here portrayed as the fine linen covering) that we are able to be there. Let us not fail to do our part and be watchful. ch.3:20, Matt.22:2-4, 25:4
Peter Cresswell

ch.19 - Four times in chapter 19 [v1,3,4,6] the redeemed sing alleluia. This word catches the meaning of the Hebrew 01984 & 03050 where it is translated 'praise the LORD' [Psalm 104:35 105:3,45 106:1,48 111:1 112:1 113:1,9 115:17,18 117:2 135:1,3,21 146:1,10 147:1,20 148:1,14 149:1,9 150:1 150:6] Truly those who are redeemed will 'praise the LORD' may we, in anticipation of this great even praise Him now.

20 v.6 - What a wonderful prospect - to be in the first resurrection. All our hopes and desires will be fulfilled. reigning with Christ as kings and priests [Revelation 5:10]. We will be there if we take our training for this priesthood seriously.
Peter Forbes
for the Lord God ... reigneth
1Chron 16:31
let us be glad and rejoice
1Chron 16:31

The use of 1 Chronicles 16 which speaks of the time when David brought the ark to Zion and behaved as a priest after the order of Melchisedec shows that the promises to David - which flowed from the action of brining the ark to Zion and the Melchisedec priesthood are central issues in the fulfilment of the purpose of God.

bottomless pit
Isa 14:15
bottomless pit
Isa 14:15

The use of Isaiah 14 once again ties falsehood with Babylon. It is appropriate that the restraining of sin is associated with the lock on the bottomless pit.
Peter Forbes


he should smite the nations
Isa 11:4
he shall rule them with a rod of iron
Psa 2:9

The linking of Isaiah 11 and Psalm 2 shows how both passages speak of the same time in the events associated with the return of Christ.

set a seal upon
Dan 6:17

Here we have a very interesting quotation from Daniel 6 where, in Daniel, the servants of God are entrapped - or so it seemed. However they were delivered. Not so here in Revelation 20. God's enemies fate is sealed for ever.
Peter Forbes

20 v.10,14,15  Have you ever wondered where the "Lake of Fire" referred to here in The Apocalypse is geographically located? In our very days, we have received a dramatic "wake-up" call. We have seen the very flames of the "Lake of Fire" with our own eyes in the news over the past couple of months. The Apocalypse makes reference to the dreadful fate of those found on the wrong side of Christ at the Judgement seat. Those rejected are driven from His presence and find themselves "cast into the lake of fire." We believe that we can identify the region of "the lake of fire" as being in the Balkans, in the very region where the recent Kosovo Crisis was played out. As Brother Thomas wrote, "A lake of fire is a tract of land in a state of fiery ignition." This Central European region has always been a melting pot of cultures, nationalities and hostilities. It is in this region where the Western and Eastern Roman Empire met and it has long been the cause of ethnic hostility and brutality. The dreadful fate of those who are sent forth from the presence of Christ will be to find themselves in this Central European region in the midst of another "Kosovo" type crisis as the nations rage and prepare to do battle with Israel. The presence of a multitude of "rejected outcasts" in that region and at that time will only exacerbate an already fiery situation. Especially as the rejected will be perceived as having some connection with the Jews. Today is our day of opportunity. Let us seize the day and fill our lamps with Oil so that we can go forth to meet Him in faith as the five wise virgins did in the parable of Matt 25. See also Christ's warning in Matt 25:40-46.
Cliff York