1 Sam. 16:1-5
The Lord said to Samuel, ‘How long will you grieve over Saul? I have rejected him from being king over Israel. Fill your horn with oil and set out; I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have provided for myself a king among his sons.’ 2Samuel said, ‘How can I go? If Saul hears of it, he will kill me.’ And the Lord said, ‘Take a heifer with you, and say, “I have come to sacrifice to the Lord.” 3Invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you shall do; and you shall anoint for me the one whom I name to you.’ 4Samuel did what the Lord commanded, and came to Bethlehem. The elders of the city came to meet him trembling, and said, ‘Do you come peaceably?’ 5He said, ‘Peaceably; I have come to sacrifice to the Lord; sanctify yourselves and come with me to the sacrifice.’ And he sanctified Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice.
BLOG DISCUSSION QUESTION: Jesse's home was in Bethlehem, Samuel's destination, and Mary and Joseph's destination. What other similarities and differences are there with this story and the story of Jesus' birth in Bethlehem?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
6 comments:
A similarity I see is that of how Samuel was sent to Jesse the Bethlehemite with the heifer as a sacrifice to the Lord and Mary and Joseph were sent to the same place, Bethlehem,with the babe that would be the sacrifice to the Lord for our sins. All were off to do something they were not sure of. All obeyed not sure what the outcomes would be.
OK, that was the easy part. now after a little research on my question, "Samuel is who's son?" I learned he is Hannah's, a women who was barren and prayed for a child, Samuel was a miracle birth, and he was taken to the temple, to be raised by Eli a priest, as Hannah had promised to "give him back to God". Although Mary did not promise to "give Jesus back", this was the purpose of that miracle birth too, too soon this mother too would give her child back to God. Both mothers wept I am sure at the loss of their miracle sons yet each birth had it's purpose.
So, the Easter story continues....
Samuel comes to anoint Gods chosen from the line of Jesse. God pinpoints Jesse's son. This is Gods sovereignty.Gos is going to carry out His will through David. The lineage proves this.The linnage is important so there is no disproof of Gods word.Samuel knew exactly what was going to happen,Saul was the king thenand Samuel knew that Saul was not the king that God wanted. He was not the king God needed to complete the ultimate mission. Saul was the peoples choise. They got what they deserved.Samuel knew there was going to be another king before he anointed Saul. Saul didnt fit the pitcher, the lineage says so.
Okay, thank you sower. I too had to do some research to understand Samuel, Jesse, Saul and then on to Judah.
Samuel was the last of the judges who sought God's guidance as their sole source of authority. The Israelites were now looking for a king like their neighbors had and so... God said, fine, I'm giving you Saul who was not a very good king. As Samuel is lamenting about Saul, God says you will now anoint a new king. Go to Jesse in Bethlehem.
Jesse is going to Bethlehem to anoint the King over Israelites who ultimately set up the temple worship system for the Jews. Mary and Joseph were going to Bethlehem to ultimately give the Israelites the King (Savior) who had been promised to the Israelites for centuries and would ultimately save them their sins
The difference is that David was a human king with many faults. He set up a system of worship that became ineffective and corrupt.
By contrast Jesus was both fully human and fully divine who came not as a king to govern us but to save us from our sins.
David could therefore be seen as the antithesis of Jesus.
Sorry, misnomer. Samuel was going to Bethlehem, not Jesse.
In both the David story and the Jesus story, they are each looking for a king. The big difference is that Jesus is also God. God is involved in the naming of the king in each story. Gifts and sacrifices are brought in each story. When Gabriel visits Mary and when Samuel meets the elders there is fear and trembling. David and Jesus are both branches of Jesse's stem.
As the David stories unfold, one thought keeps entering my mind. Should I dictate who God may choose to use in working out His kingdom? Few of us would have selected Jesus and David for their intended roles. I guess that is why God spoke in each case.
More and more I understand that my ways are not His ways. That is something to be thankful for.
Here's some things of similarity that come to my mind....a new King of the Jews was to be found in Bethlehem...there was fear and trembling when people encountered God's messengers (angels/Samuel)....."Glory to God in the hightest and PEACE to God's people on earth"/"Peaceably I have come."
We'll have to keep our eyes open for ongoing similiarities between David and Jesus....and also differences.
By the way....Bethlehem means "house of bread" in Hebrew....mmmmm....interesting.
Post a Comment