1 Samuel 13:1 - Nobody knows!

13:1

This verse is actually a massive textual conundrum. If you just take the NIV everything seems fairly straightforward, it says: 

Saul was thirty years old when he became king, and he reigned over Israel for forty- two years.

These are a couple of footnotes, but these don’t seem of much importance. However, if you have the ESV, it says:

Saul lived for one year and then became king, and when he had reigned for two years over Israel,

Now that reads a little different! KJV and NKJV follow the ESV. NASB, NLT and HCSB follow the NIV line. The RSV (and UK version of the ESV) have

Saul was . . . years old when he began to reign; and he reigned . . . and two years over Israel.

Perhaps the Message has the best solution!

Saul was a young man when he began as king. He was king over Israel for many years.

The ESV et al have given the translation of the Hebrew manuscripts. Taken literally this cannot be right, and the NIV et al have followed the Septuagint (Greek translation of the Old Testament). They clearly realised that, at least at face value, the Hebrew text did not make sense. The truth is that no one really knows what this first verse says! All of them are making some assumption (mostly reasonable) about what it is meant to say and make that basis. However, this is a case of “Nobody knows!”.

1 Corinthians 6:1-3 - You will judge angels

6:1

Paul now raises another issue that illustrates how far the Corinthians have to go. In effect he is puncturing their inflated egos, their boasting. They were taking disputes before civil courts to be decided. These disputes were civil not criminal matters. Paul is asking why could they not get these matters sorted out themselves? Especially as they were so clever! Instead they get the “ungodly” to sort out the matters.

6:2,3

Paul then shows how shallow their understanding is. At the end of time the Lord’s people will judge the world! (Another blow for the “do not judge” crowd.) Of course we are not there yet, but surely they could have a go at judging trivial cases?  In fact, we will even judge angels.There are significant things about eschatology here. We often have a very limited view of what salvation is all about. So often our understanding is limited to our “going to heaven when we die”. There is much, much more than that to eternal life.

1 Samuel 12:22-25 - For the sake of His great name

12:22

The Lord was committed to His people. Israel was a people made by the Lord, without the Lord they would not exist at all. Israel needed to deal with her sin, but God would not forget them “for the sake of His great name”. This still holds true today. Israel is a sinful nation, one which has failed to recognise their Messiah. Israel will never find true peace until this happens. However, anyone who thinks God has given up on Israel is badly mistaken.

12:23-25

Samuel, likewise, would not fail to pray for Israel (and neither should we). To do so would be to sin against the Lord. He would also “teach you the way that is good and right”.  For their part, the people needed to “fear the Lord and serve Him faithfully”. They had a choice. If they loved the Lord with all their heart they would be blessed, but if they persisted in doing evil, they, along with their king, would perish.

1 Corinthians 5:11-13 - Expel the wicked person

5:11

Paul now makes his instruction clear. They are not to associate with anyone who is “sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or slanderer, a drunkard or swindler” who claims to be a “brother or sister” in Christ. Again, I think we can take it as this applies to those who do these things as a lifestyle, i.e. are persistent in sinning. They are not even to eat with such people.

5:12,13

“What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church”. Should the church tell the world what it is doing wrong? It depends on the circumstances. If we are invited to speak then we should present the Godly way of living, and explain why. But it is not our job to be constantly telling the world how bad it is. However, we should be giving clear and firm teaching within the church. For all the “do not judge” nonsense, we are to judge those within the church. We are to seek to keep ourselves clean. This includes expelling “the wicked person from among you”. This was a repeated command in Deuteronomy (Deut 13:5; 17:7; 19:19; 21:21; 22;21,24; 24:7),

1 Samuel 12:16-21 - Stand still and see this great thing

12:16,17

Samuel has reminded them of Israel’s history, but he knows that that will have only a limited effect. So he will also give them a very real demonstration. It was the time of the wheat harvest and “thunder and rain” did not normally occur at that time. So Samuel calls on the Lord to send thunder and rain, which would decimate the harvest. And he does this as a demonstration that in rejecting God as their king, and demanding a king like the nations have, they had done an evil thing.

12:18,19

Samuel called upon the Lord and the Lord sent thunder and rain. And all the people were in awe of the Lord and Samuel. In response the people ask Samuel to pray to the Lord for them, for they feared that they would all die. They even admit that they had done evil by asking for a king. Though the history of Israel shows that this “repentance” did not run very deep.

12:20,21

Samuel tells them not to be afraid. He was fully aware of the evil they had done, but urged them to “not turn away from the Lord, but to serve the Lord with all your heart”. In line with this, they were to turn away from “useless idols”. Pointing out that idols could do them no good, and could not rescue them. The Bible is very clear about how worthless these bits of stone, metal or wood were. Yet Israel would repeatedly turn to useless idols in times of trouble. Human nature has not changed.

1 Corinthians 5:9,10 - I wrote to you

5:9

The chapter closes with Paul addressing a misunderstanding that arisen earlier. It seems that Paul had written to them earlier giving advice either on handling those guilty of sexual immorality in general, or perhaps in relation to the specific issue noted earlier in this chapter. He had told them “not to associate with sexually immoral people”. I think we can take this as being those who persisted in sexual immorality and refused to see anything wrong with it, not those who repented of such sins.

5:10

The problem was that the church had taken it as referring to the immoral people of the world, rather than those in the church. That was not what Paul meant, and he points out that if he had meant that then the church would have to cut themselves off completely from the world. Now there are one or two communities that do actually try to do that. These verses would seem to counsel against that. Note also, that Paul expands this to the “immoral, greedy, swindlers and idolaters”. In view of this misunderstanding, the church probably rejected the instruction on the grounds that it was utterly impractical, which on the basis of their misunderstanding it certainly was.

1 Samuel 12:13-15 - Here is the king you have chosen

12:13

So Samuel presents Saul to them again as their king. He is the one they asked for, and the one the Lord had set over them. So even though they have disobeyed the Lord is still involved in the nation. We cannot get rid of the Lord so easily! Conversely, just because the Lord is involved in what we are doing, does not mean He is for what we are doing.

12:14,15

Despite their rebellion the rules remained the same. If they wanted things to go well then they had to “fear the Lord and serve and obey Him and not to rebel against His commands”. Both the people and the king had to follow the Lord. If they did not obey, but rebelled, then God’s hand would be against them. There was no escaping the truth. Today man tries to escape from God’s commands, but as we do so we find that things don’t work in society and chaos ensues. We see this all around us today. We need to return to the Lord.

1 Corinthians 5:7,8 - Get rid of the old yeast

5:7

Paul is using the feast of unleavened bread (Ex 23:14,15) and the Passover (Ex 12) as an analogy. There they had to make absolutely sure that there was no leaven in the house at all (Ex 12:19). The church in Corinth is to get rid of all the old leaven. This included sexual immorality, and their attitudes of boasting and pride. In Christ they have become an “unleavened batch” through His sacrifice. We can sometimes go down one of two wrong roads. One is to think that because Christ has purified us we don’t need to do anything, the other is to think that it is all down to us. To put this in theological terms , there is the indicative and the imperative. Christ has purified us through His blood (the indicative), but we have a responsibility to live up to our calling (the imperative). The two go together, they are not in conflict.

5:8

So Paul urges the Corinthians to act and live properly. And he is not just thinking of sexual sins, but is concerned with the whole attitude of the Corinthian church. Naming malice and wickedness in addition to the other sins already mentioned. Sin rarely comes alone or remains alone. Instead, we are to get rid of these things and replace them with “sincerity and truth”.

1 Samuel 12:9-12 - They forgot the Lord

12:9-11

Although it was the Lord who brought them out of Egypt and brought them into the Promised Land, they forgot the Lord. All this happened without a king, the evidence showed that the Lord was looking after them, yet they ignored the evidence. So the Lord “sold them into the hands of Sisera ... and into the hands of the Philistines and the king of Moab”. Even so, when they eventually cried out to the Lord admitting their sin, the Lord sent Jerub-Baal (Gideon), Barak, Jephthah and Samuel. He sent them judges to rescue them. The Lord was incredibly patient and merciful.

12:12

It seems that the threat from Nahash had been around before the recording of his threat against Jabesh Gilead (1 Sam 11:1) was not the first threat. The response of the Israelites was to want a king “even though the Lord your God was your king”. We assume that the Lord is inactive, that he does not see what is happening to us, and even if He does, He will not do anything to help us. We would rather have a visible means of support, even if that support is fragile and unreliable. Sadly this is human nature. The Lord is an ever present help in times of trouble (Ps 46:1).

1 Corinthian 5:4-6 - Hand this man over to Satan

5:4,5

So Paul instructs the church when they meet together to “hand this man over to Satan”. Note that Paul says the “power of the Lord Jesus” will be present. There are times to take firm action. It is also important that the action is taken by the church as a whole. Few of us like taking this sort of action, and those that do are likely to be all too willing to take firm action. We need to do this as a church so that firm action is taken when needed, but only when justified by the Bible.  Being “handed over to Satan” means the man would be put out into the world, removed from the covering of the church. “For the destruction of the flesh”. His actions were the result of his human nature and its sinful desires dominating, this needed to be destroyed. “So that his spirit may be saved”. While the action was firm, the purpose was not hateful, but for the salvation of the man. Paul was looking for him to repent and be restored.

5:6

As well as the sin of the man involved, there is the problem of the church’s failure to address the matter properly. Before we look at this, it is worth noting that it is the man who is the focus of attention, rather than the woman involved. He is seen as the primary guilty party. On the latter issue, it is worth remembering that the church in Thyatira is rebuked for tolerating sexual immorality (Rev 2:20), so many of our churches today are open to the same rebuke. Paul tells them why they need to take action, “a little yeast leavens the whole batch”. Sin that is not dealt with grows and contaminates. 

1 Samuel 12:4-8 - You have not cheated or oppressed us

12:4,5

The people reply that Samuel is absolutely right in what he has said, he had always been a faithful leader. Samuel declares that the Lord is a witness against them that they could find no fault in Samuel, and the people agree with this. Why is Samuel doing this? It is to establish that he is a faithful witness, for what he is about to say to them. This Samuel whom they all agreed was a godly man, had warned them against having a king. Yet they had ignored him and insisted on having a king.

12:6-8

Samuel now reminds them of how they have got to their present position. The Lord had appointed Moses and Aaron and brought Israel out of slavery in Egypt. Israel’s nationhood had never depended on having a king “like the nations”. Samuel was going to give them a history lesson. Jacob had entered Egypt. After the time of Joseph the Egyptians forgot how Joseph had helped Egypt and they started to oppress Israel. The people cried out to the Lord, and the Lord sent Moses and Aaron to bring them out of Egypt and eventually to the Promised Land.

1 Corinthians 5:3 - I am with you in spirit

5:3

Paul was the founder of the church in Corinth, and an apostle. He therefore expresses his view on the matter. It was true that he was not physically present with them, but he was with them “in spirit”. He has therefore given his judgement on the matter in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. A favourite phrase these days is “do not judge”. Well, Paul is giving judgement here. When someone says “do not judge” we can be fairly certain that the next thing they say will be utter nonsense, an excuse for sin. “Do not judge” means not considering ourselves better than others, not thinking we can definitively assess the character of a person. But we are to judge actions.

1 Samuel 12:1-3 - Now you have a king as leader

12:1

This chapter in the ESV and NIV (and no doubt others) is titled “Samuel’s Farewell Speech” or something similar. Actually Samuel still has quite a role to play before he leaves the scene, not least the anointing of David as king. However, it does mark a key moment, with the era of the judges being superseded by the era of the kings. So Samuel begins his speech by pointing out that he has “listened to everything you said to me and have set a king over you”. Israel will now be a nation with a king.

12:2,3

Samuel states the obvious by reminding them that he is “old and grey”. He also says “my sons are here with you”. I’m not sure why he says that. His sons were a couple of evil godless scoundrels and completely out of the picture. However, Samuel’s main point is to highlight his integrity. He had served as their judge since his youth, during that time he had never been corrupted by power, as demonstrated by his failure to unjustly take anything from them, he had oppressed no one, he had never accepted a bribe. He had always acted honourably.

1 Corinthians 5:1,2 - There is sexual immorality among you

5:1

Paul now starts to deal with a number of practical issues. Some of these, such as the one addressed in this chapter, he became aware of through reports of one kind or another. Others were questions that the Corinthians themselves had raised with Paul (1 Cor 7:1). The matter here is one of sexual immorality, and involves a case of incest. A man was sleeping with his father’s wife. This was prohibited in the Old Testament (Lev 18:8; Deut 22:30), and it was even looked down upon in the pagan world. This was a measure of how terrible it was. It is likely that the woman was the man’s step mother, rather than his birth mother.

5:2

“And you are proud!” The Corinthians had a high opinion of themselves, yet they were tolerating this sort of disgusting behaviour. Instead of being proud they should have been in mourning that such a thing could happen among them. The common attitude in much of the church today when someone sins is not to be “judgemental”. Not considering ourselves better than others is a good reaction (Gal 6:1-4), but sin must be taken most seriously (James 4:9). The man should have been dealt with seriously, he should have been put out of the fellowship.

1 Samuel 11:11-15 - No one will be put to death today

11:11

In the meantime Saul was on his way and on arriving organised his troops into three divisions. In the morning he attacked the Ammonite camp and slaughtered them. Very few were left alive, and they were widely scattered. In military terms it is a lot easier to attack an army that is out in the open, which is what the Ammonites were, than to attack an army that is holed up in a town (which is what happened at Stalingrad).

11:12,13

When Saul had been publically anointed as king there were some who had refused to give allegiance to Saul. Those who had honoured Saul, now offered to kill the renegades. Saul, however,  declared that no one was to be executed, for the Lord had delivered His people. While Saul had many faults, he was not totally bad. Here he is being magnanimous in victory. 

11:14,15

Samuel then seizes the moment  and calls on the people to go up to Gilgal and “renew the kingship there”. If Saul had allowed the renegades to be killed it could have allowed division to take root in the nation. Instead Samuel can engender unity in the land. So Saul was made king (again) and there was unity and rejoicing. Offerings were also made to the Lord.

1 Corinthians 4:17-21 - What do you prefer?

4:17

“For this reason ...” Because of Paul's deep and personal concern for the Corinthians he sent Timothy to visit the church. Given what Paul has just said, it is significant that he refers to Timothy as “my son whom I love”. Timothy is not a mere emissary, but someone who is very close to Paul. Timothy is completely in tune with Paul’s approach to life and the gospel. He would faithfully represent the proper teaching of the gospel.

4:18-21

Paul then takes an even more serious turn. There were some who had become arrogant. They considered Paul to be someone who was far away and would never visit them again. Paul assures them that, God willing, he would visit them soon. Then the truth would be known. For the gospel and the kingdom is not about talk, but about power. It is about a real change in life. This is actually about the only time that Paul uses the term “kingdom”, however, all of his teaching is relevant to “the kingdom”. Paul presents the Corinthians with a challenge, should he come with a rod of iron, or with a gentle spirit. He would much prefer it was the latter. If they persisted to act in an arrogant manner, then he would come with a rod of iron, for their condition would be serious that drastic action was needed. But if they were humble and repentant, ready and willing to learn from God, then he could come in a gentle spirit. The same is true of our relationship with God. If we are hard hearted then God has to be stern with us. But if we are humble in spirit, He can gently correct us when we need it.

1 Samuel 11:8-10 - You will be rescued

11:8,9

There was a great army, with numbers for Israel and for Judah. Later Israel (the northern kingdom) would split from Judah (the southern kingdom). It seems there was a distinction between the two at an early stage. Saul then sent a message to Jabesh telling them that deliverance would soon be with them.

11:10

The men of Jabesh told Nahash that they would come out the next day and he could then do whatever he liked. I have to say that Nahash seems a bit thick as he has seemed to be too willing to let Jabesh set the terms. However, as mentioned earlier, it was probably that the cost of attacking, even with overwhelming forces, would have been very high. In the second world war the siege of Leningrad lasted three years, and failed, Stalingrad ended in defeat for the Germans. War is never simple.

1 Corinthians 4:14-16 - I urge you to imitate me

4:14

Paul has spoken directly, and the Corinthians could not be blamed for thinking that Paul was having a go at them, for in many ways he was. However, Paul was not doing this in order to condemn them. He was doing this to warn them “as my dear children”. The road they were going down was one that would lead to destruction, and certainly not to the growth of the kingdom amongst them.

4:15,16

And Paul was writing to them as a father, as someone who had a deep and true care and concern for them. And Paul warns them to beware of “guardians”. Guardians had some responsibility for their charges, but it was not the deep concern and care that Paul was talking about. Paul’s preaching had brought them to Christ and Paul had the concern of a father. They needed to beware of having guardians rather than fathers. They needed to imitate the heart with which Paul did things. Today churches need to beware of becoming too managerial. Yes we need to organise ourselves properly, but relationships in Christ must be the real basis of what we do.

1 Samuel 11:5-7 - The Spirit of God came powerfully upon him

11:5

Saul arrived, oblivious to what was happening. Indeed, this seems to be a rather common state of affairs for Saul. Saul asked the people what was going on, and they relayed the message to them that had come from Jabesh-gilead.

11:6

On hearing the news “the Spirit of God suddenly took control of him, and his anger burned furiously”. Anger is not necessarily a bad emotion, but it is a potentially dangerous one. It is right to be angry at injustice, or when your people are in great danger. However, what starts out as righteous anger can very easily morph into unrighteous rage. So we have to be very careful. However, we see here that in this case it was the anger of the Lord that was manifesting in Saul.

11:7

In response Saul took a team of oxen and cut them up into pieces. These pieces were then sent throughout Israel to the various tribes. This action was reminiscent of the Levite and his concubine. The pieces of oxen were sent along with a message calling the people to arms to fight against the Ammonites, and a warning of what would happen if they failed to answer the call. Saul also sent the message in the name of “Saul and Samuel”, perhaps indicating a lack of confidence. The terror of the Lord fell upon the people, and they all responded.

1 Corinthians 4:10-13 - We are fools for Christ

4:10

Paul then goes back to sarcasm mode, contrasting himself (and Apollos) with how the Corinthians seemed to view themselves. Paul was thought of as a fool for Christ, while the Corinthians were seeking to be thought wise by the world. Paul was often weak, but the Corinthians thought of themselves as strong. Paul was dishonoured, but the Corinthians were honoured by the world.

4:11-13

There were times when Paul went hungry and thirsty. Sometimes he lived in rags, he had no permanent home, and was often treated brutally. Being an apostle was no bed of roses.Paul then points out that he works with his own hands. Paul worked as a tentmaker. The travelling speakers and philosophers of the day may have thought themselves above manual work.

Paul has pointed out some of the hardships he has endured, but how does he respond? When he is cursed, he blesses those who curse. When they are persecuted they bless. When slandered they answer kindly. Think how hard it is to do this? How easily our flesh wants to answer back. So far from being kings, the apostles have become the “scum of the earth, the garbage of the world”. If you want the world’s honour then being an apostle is the worst way to go about it.

1 Samuel 11:3,4 - Give us seven days

11:3

The people of Jabesh-gilead are, unsurprisingly, not too happy about this. So they ask to be allowed seven days, and then if no help arrives they will surrender. Somewhat surprisingly, Nahash agrees to this. However, we must remember that actually trying to take town, even with superior forces, is always a costly business. Again, we can look at the Gaza situation. Israel has vastly superior forces, but taking Gaza is no easy matter. So any way of avoiding a battle is desirable.

11:4

Saul was in Gibeah, and the messengers arrived there. Up to that point he was unaware of what was happening. Again, this should give us more eof an idea of what things were like. There was no centralised government such as we are used to today. The messengers told them what was happening in Jabesh-Gilead, and the threat they were under. On hearing this all the people wept aloud.

1 Corinthians 4:7-9 - Already you have all you want!

4:7

The Corinthians may also have considered themselves better than other cities or nations, but they were not. They were the same as everyone else, as are we. We have all sinned. The good things we have, we have received from God, we did not earn it. When we boast, we act as if the gift was earned.

4:8

Paul now writes sarcastically. The Corinthians thought they had it all, one might even say they were “living their best life now”! Paul mocks their hubris. Now one day we will reign with Christ, but only after He returns (you can replace this with a post-mil equivalent if you wish). Today we still struggle with sin, and we are in the day of salvation. This means that we share in Christ’s sufferings. Yes, we do receive blessings as well, but we also work with Christ.

4:9

Paul then describes what life is like as an Apostle. Now we must note that Paul is writing polemically or rhetorically here, so what he is saying is not the whole story, but it is an important part of it. Apostles were at the “top of the tree”, yet it seems as if God has placed them at the end of the procession. Paul is using the image of a successful general leading his captors in procession. Elsewhere Paul will use this analogy in terms of Christ’s victory, but here it seems as if he is one of the captives. It seems as if everyone is mocking them and that they are destined for death.

1 Samuel 11:1,2 - Make a treaty with us

11:1

We now have a third declaration of Saul as the king of Israel. First of all we had Samuel's private anointing of Saul. Then we had the public declaration following the casting of lots. Now Saul will be declared king on the basis of a military victory. The threat comes from Nahash the Ammonite. It may be significant that this is an Ammonite, not a Canaanite. The promise over Saul was that he would deliver them from the Canaanites. Nahash mean serpent, and some see an allusion to Gen 3:15. Anyway Nahash lays siege against Jabesh-gilead, and the people of this town are all too ready to surrender and serve the Ammonites.

11:2

We now see what a violent man Nahash was, and the nature of the times in which they lived. He agreed to make a treaty with them, but only on condition that they let him gouge out everyone's right eye, and so humiliate Israel. This was not only barbaric, but when we read of Israel defeating various peoples, we are not reading of them defeating nice quaint villages. To put this in a modern context, we may rightly be appalled at the death and destruction in Gaza, but we must also put in the context of what a barbarous mob Hamas and other Palestinian terrorists are.

1 Corinthians 4:5,6 - Judge nothing before the appointed time

4:5

“Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time”. It is only when Christ returns that we will know the true worth and effectiveness of anyone’s ministry. Christ will also “expose the motives of the heart”. This is a frightening thing! I doubt there are any of us who always have perfect motives. So what should we do? We serve in humility, constantly laying ourselves open before God, allowing Him to correct us where necessary. “At that time each will receive their praise from God”. Ultimately it is only the praise of God, not the praise of man, that is of any value. This does not mean we should not honour one another, indeed we are commanded to respect and honour our leaders who serve the Lord, but we desperately need a right perspective.

4:6

Although Paul has explained things in terms of Apollos and himself, he has done so as an exemplar, so that the Corinthians can see the general principles. Paul wants to ensure that they “do not go beyond what is written”. No one is absolutely sure what precisely Paul is referring to. Perhaps the most likely meaning is that it is referring to the OT Scriptures. They are to look at things in the light of what God has revealed through the Bible, they are not to add human measurements of glory on top of this. For when someone says they follow Paul or Apollos, they become proud, puffed up. How so? Because they are pleased with themselves for having made the “right choice”.

1 Samuel 10:20-27 - Long live the king!

10:20-22

So the process of choosing the king by lot is now embarked upon. First the tribe of Benjamin was chosen, then the clan of Marti was chosen, finally Saul was chosen. We should note again that the process of casting lots is being used. There are some who argue that God would not use random processes, or as Einstein said “God does not play dice”. These sort of arguments  are both unbiblical and naive, they display a distinct lack of understanding. Part of the Biblical argument that God may well use a “random process” is what is going on in this chapter. But mathematically algorithms involving random processes can be used to reach specific outcomes. 

However, while Saul was chosen, he was nowhere to be found. In response to this they inquired of the Lord, and He tells them that Saul is hiding among the baggage! Why did Saul do this? Was he afraid of taking on the responsibility? There has certainly been evidence of a number of character flaws in Saul.

10:23,24

So the people ran to find Saul and dragged him out. When they got him and he stopped hiding and stood up he was a head taller than everyone else. Samuel reaffirms that Saul is the one chosen by the Lord, and the people acclaim him as king saying “long live the King!”.

10:25-27

Samuel then explained to the people (including Saul) the rights and duties of the king. This was probably based largely on Deut 17:14-20. These requirements were then written down on a scroll. So both the king and the people knew how a king was supposed to act. The people then all went home. Saul also went home to Gibeah, joined by “valiant men whose hearts God had touched”. There were also “scoundrels” who despised the king. Saul, however, “kept silent”.

1 Corinthians 4:3,4 - My conscience is clear

4:3

In saying “I follow Paul ....” the Corinthians were setting themselves up as judges. They were deciding who the best apostle was. We can do the same, but we should be very careful. If we are preachers we should watch ourselves. If we seek man’s approval then we become man pleasers rather than God pleasers. Now this does not mean that we do not listen to correction, but we do so in order to be better servants of Christ, not so that we go up in the “preacher rankings”. “I do not even judge myself”. Again, this does not mean that we do not look at ourselves to see how we can improve, but we do not do so in the sense of comparing ourselves against others, seeking to be “number one”.

4:4

Paul believed that he had faithfully preached the gospel, and taught the truth. His conscience was clear. But that did not make him innocent. It is the Lord who is the final judge, He is the One who truly knows whether or not we have carried out our task faithfully or not.

1 Samuel 10:17-19 - This is what the Lord says

10:17

Samuel already knows that Saul is God’s chosen king and has anointed him. However, we now have what could in some ways be a “second” choosing of the king. Of course , the result is the same. A key part in this process is the casting of lots, which is, in human terms, a random process. However, Prov 16:33 says “the lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord”. SO why are we going through this second process? One reason is for the people of Israel to understand what is happening, and a second is for them to be part of it. Is this second process a charade? No. There are things that the people need to learn.

10:18,19

Samuel starts by reminding the people why they are getting a king, and the error that they have made. He reminds them God brought them up out of slavery in Egypt, He is the One who delivered them from various nations that oppressed them. God is their saviour, yet they have rejected God. However, note that God is involved in the process of giving them a king. Just because God is involved in something, does not mean that it is good.

1 Corinthians 4:1,2 - Those given a trust must prove faithful

4:1

In the previous chapter Paul has rebuked them for their wrong attitudes towards leaders. Now he tells them how they ought to regard them, himself and Apollos in particular. So they should regard them “as servants of Christ and as those entrusted with the mysteries God has revealed”. There are two aspects here, the first is regarding them as servants. Anyone who has any ministry at all in the church is a servant of Christ. If you or I have a ministry of some sort, this is how we should regard ourselves, not as some elevated person. However, the second aspect is also crucial. Being a servant does not mean we have some menial task, the task of Paul and Apollos and anyone else who teaches or preaches is to proclaim the “mysteries” that God has revealed, to proclaim the truth of the gospel. So we are also to respect the leaders and preachers. There is a lot of talk these days about “my truth”, well we are here to proclaim God’s truth!

4:2

All of us have to some extent been entrusted with God’s truth. It is a trust that God has given us. In fact, this is quite amazing if we think about it, that God should entrust something so precious to us, mere men and women. So given this great trust, we must prove ourselves faithful. We are to be faithful ministers of the word of God. Conversely, it is a truly terrible thing when someone entrusted with the gospel abuses that trust, or distorts, even abandons, the truth.

1 Samuel 10:14-16 - Tell me what Samuel said to you

10:14,15

Saul’s uncle inquired of him as to where he had been. It isn’t clear why Saul’s uncle comes on the scene here. It may be that he was next in line after Kish and Saul for an inheritance. Anyway, Saul tells him that since he couldn’t find the donkeys he had gone to Samuel. Saul’s uncle wants to know what Samuel said to him. Samuel had a good reputation for speaking the word of God, so Saul's uncle wanted to know what was said.

10:16

Saul tells him about Samuel’s words regarding the donkeys, but says nothing about the kingship. This latter point is sometimes portrayed as a negative regarding Saul, but an alternative is that Saul is suspicious of his uncle, so is deliberately holding the information back.

1 Corinthians 3:19-23 - You are of Christ, and Christ is of God

3:19,20

“For the wisdom of the world is foolishness in God’s sight.”  The world’s so-called wisdom doesn’t actually work, it leads only to nonsense, and usually pain and suffering. The quote comes from Job 5:13. Paul follows this up with a quote from Ps 94:11 on the futility of man’s thinking. Man considers himself to be so wise and so in control of events, when in fact he is nothing of the sort.

3:21-23

Given that man’s thinking is futile, and that God is going to show up the futility of man’s thinking, to seek to emulate the world’s wisdom is the height of foolishness. So the Corinthians should stop boasting about particular leaders. Doing such a thing achieves nothing good. Moreover, in reality all things are ours. All godly leaders are ours, we are not to set one up against another one, instead we are to learn from them all. Everything is ours in Christ, if we go down the worldly route all we do is impoverish ourselves. We are of Christ, that is our identity. It is foolishness and childishness to find our identity in a particular leader.

1 Samuel 10:10-13 - Is Saul also among the prophets

10:10,11

Saul and his servant met the foretold company of prophets. The Spirit of God came upon Saul, and he joined in the prophesying. This was not the same as being born again, for there was no deep rooted change in Saul. The people who had formerly known Saul observed this they were amazed, for they did not associate Saul with being a prophet.

10:12,13

“And who is their father?” This could be taken as symptomatic of a contemptuous attitude towards the prophets. Or, and I think more likely, it could mean that being a prophet had nothing to do with one’s ancestry, but was purely dependent upon the Spirit of God, so why shouldn’t God choose to make Saul prophesy? Whatever the case, after Saul had finished prophesying he went up to the high place.

1 Corinthians 3:16-18 - You are God's temple

3:16,17

The “you” here is plural, so here he is saying that the church is God’s temple, and His Spirit lives among us. In the Old Testament the temple was treated with reverence, we are to treat the church with reverence. The church is not a plaything, but to be treated with proper seriousness. The point that Paul makes here is that if someone destroys the church by his own selfish ambition he is doing a most serious and evil thing. Such a person will be destroyed by God. Note the seriousness of the matter. The church is a sacred thing, and those who cause division are embarking on a most dangerous road.

3:18

“If you think you are wise by the standards of this age ...” Judging ourselves by the standards of this age, or seeking to satisfy the whims of this age is a foolish thing to do. The world may think us foolish for holding to Biblical standards, but if we want to be truly wise then we should be happy to be thought foolish by the world.