1 Corinthians 15:39-41 - Not all flesh is the same

15:39

Paul then points out the great variety in the types of flesh. People, birds, animals and fish are all very different. So why is Paul saying this? It demonstrates the great variety of things that God has created. Saying “God cannot do ...” is a ridiculous thing to say.

15:40,41

Paul then points to the cosmos. There are many great things on earth, but there are also many great things in the heavens. The sun, the moon and the stars all have their own splendour. Sometimes people say that because we are just one planet out of billions why would God care about us. But all these sorts of thoughts demonstrate (when they are said in a sceptical way, rather than in an awe-struck way) is the paucity of our thinking. If God is God then saying a resurrection is impossible is a ridiculous thing to say. Of course, He is capable of raising the dead.

2 Samuel 3:12-18 - I will bring Israel over to you

3:12-14

Abner acts quickly and sends a message to David offering to help ”bring all Israel over to you”. The speed of his action lends credence to the view that Abner had planned the incident in the previous paragraph as a ploy to enable to change sides. David is amenable to Abner’s proposal, but he adds his own requirement. He had previously “won” Michal as his wife by getting one hundred Philistine foreskins (1 Sam 18:25-27). Saul had later given her to another man (1 Sam 25:44). Now David wants her back, considering her to be rightfully his. David sends a message to Ish-Bosheth demanding Michal back.

3:15-18

Ish-Bosheth offered no resistance and gave an order that Michal be taken away from her present “husband” Paltiel.  Paltiel was upset and went as far as Bahurim with Michal, then he was sent back home. Meanwhile Abner continues with his machinations. It seems that the elders of Israel had actually recognised the disaster that the House of Saul was for Israel, and actually wanted to be united with David. They were all aware of the promise that the Lord had made to David.

1 Corinthians 15:37,38 - God gives it a body

15:37

Moreover, the seed that is sown bears no resemblance to the plant that grows, though of course different seeds give rise to different plants. But the seed looks dead, it looks as if there is no life in it at all. Indeed if the seed is just left there nothing at all will happen, nothing will come from it. But if it is sown in the ground it will germinate and a plant will grow. Nature was all created by God and reflects something of the glory of God.

15:38

So from the seemingly dead seed a body comes. And the sort from which it comes is determined by God. Now consider this for a moment. This does not mean that God acts randomly, it does not mean that no one could guess what sort of plant would grow. Wheat seeds produce wheat, poppy seeds produce poppies. And so a believer who dies will be raised Christlike. Amazing transformations occur in nature.

2 Samuel 3:6-11 - Abner was very angry

3:6,7

In Israel Abner had been strengthening his position. Ish-Bosheth was the nominal king, but Abner was the power behind the throne. Ish-Bosheth was a rather weak king, but may have resented the power that Abner had and thought that he really should have more control himself, he was the king after all! So he confronts Abner, accusing him of sleeping with one of Saul’s concubines. The chapter does not explicitly make clear whether this was actually true or not.

3:8-11

Abner reacts very angrily. The term “dog’s head” is found nowhere else in Biblical or Near Eastern literature, but we can safely assume it is a derogatory term, possibly implying he is secretly working for the “enemy”. Abner then says how he has faithfully served the house of Saul, and had not handed the house of Saul over to David. In his fit of pique he declares that he will now work for David’s cause. He was evidently aware of the promises made about David. So he would now work to see the kingdom transferred to David. This reaction of Abner may be one based on pure resentment at the accusation. Alternatively, it may have been a politically inspired move. Abner may have seen the way the war was going, and looked for an opportunity to swap sides. 

1 Corinthians 15:35,36 - How are the dead raised?

15:35

Having “defended” the resurrection, i.e. given evidence for it having happened, and exposed the errors in the arguments against the resurrection, Paul now goes on the attack. It is worth noting that as someone who wholeheartedly believes in the resurrection I have no problem with the evidence. The evidence supports my belief. It is those who reject the resurrection who have problems with the evidence. It is they who have to posit explanations for which there is no supporting evidence. In the Graeco-Roman world the concept of resurrection was utterly rejected, even considered “dirty”. Paul demonstrates the vacuousness of their thought. 

15:36

“How foolish!”, or “fools”. Paul has no time for their ideas. We sometimes all too easily go on the defensive against the world’s attacks. It is worldly thought, not Biblical thought, that lacks coherence or rationality, And in the section 15:35-41 Paul argues the reasonableness of the resurrection from nature, from science if you like! He starts by saying “what you sow does not come to life unless it dies”. Perhaps Paul was aware of Jesus’ words in John 12:24.

2 Samuel 3:1,2 - David grew stronger

3:1

Even though we read of David assuming the kingdom of both Judah and Israel, this is really not a happy chapter. There is little mention of God, and lots of human intrigue. The chapter begins by telling us that “the war between the houses of Saul and David lasted a long time”, with the house of Saul growing progressively weaker. The writer refers to the “house of Saul” rather than Israel. The conflict is seen as one between Saul and David (even though Saul is now dead). Maybe we could see this as analogous to the war between the flesh and the spirit?

3:2-5

Next we get an update on the family of David. He now has six wives, and one child from each is named. It may be that some of the wives had more than one child, but only the firstborn is named. Whatever the case, David is acting in contravention to the Law, for Deut 17:14-20 specifically commanded that kings should not take many wives. Moreover, Maakah was not an Israelite. Some of these wives may have been taken for political wives. 

1 Corinthians 15:32-34 - Do not be misled

15:32

Paul refers to a time when he fought wild beasts. Paul is probably speaking metaphorically, as if he had actually fought wild beasts. This sort of thing did happen in the arena, but the man fighting the wild beasts would die. Moreover, Paul was a Roman citizen, so would not have had to undergo such an ordeal. He is talking about the opponents he faced who were out to kill him. Again, why would Paul submit himself to such dangers if his hopes were for this life only? He then quotes from Isaiah 22:13. If there is no resurrection, then the only rational course of action is to just enjoy this life as much as one can.

15:33,34

It seems that some of the Corinthians were keeping bad company, mixing with those who poured scorn on ideas of the resurrection. They would also be committing various sins. Keeping bad company leads to corruption of good character. They needed to recognise that some people are “ignorant of God”, and so what they say is worthless, and they should not be listened to.

2 Samuel 2:24-32 - This will end in bitterness

2:24-26

Joab and his other brother, Abishai, pursued Abner. They came to a hill, and the men of Benjamin rallied behind Abner. Abner calls out to Joab, wishing to avoid further bloodshed. He reminds Joab that they are all fellow Israelites, and that further fighting will only result in more bloodshed. Division and bitterness among Israelites is nothing new. (nor among any other people groups!). 

2:27-32

Joab seems to see sense and agree with Abner. Indeed he congratulates Abner on his call for peace. So Joab blows his trumpet and the pursuit stops. Abner and his men march through the night to Mahanaim. Meanwhile Joab assembles his men and finds that nineteen are missing, but they had killed three hundred and sixty of Abner’s men. Asahel is buried, and they return to Hebron. We will see later that Joab still harboured bitterness against Abner for killing his brother.

1 Corinthians 15:29-31 - If there is no resurrection...

15:29

Paul now introduces some experiential arguments. The first example is rather puzzling, “what will those do who are baptised for the dead?”. Various explanations have been offered. One can be found on Got Questions, which I find utterly unconvincing. If you follow the link you can go and read it for yourself. Schreiner gives a more plausible answer when he says it might refer to the case where a believer dies very shortly after coming to faith, and then someone else is baptised in their place, representing the dead person. The truth is no one has a clue what being baptised for the dead means. The point is, that whatever it does refer to, the practice was utterly pointless if there is no resurrection.

15:30,31

The next example is a lot easier to understand! If there is no resurrection, then why did Paul and his co-workers endanger their lives time and time again? Paul’s life was repeatedly in danger, what would the point be of doing this if there is no life after death, if death was the end? 

2 Samuel 2:15-23 - The battle was very fierce

2:15-17

So there were twelve men from each side. The fight was rather pointless. Each opponent grabbed the other by the head and stabbed them, so all twenty four of the men died. The purpose of the fight was presumably to avoid a major battle, it manifestly failed to do this. A major battle ensued and the Israelites were defeated by David’s men.

2:18-23

Asahel was one of Joab’s brothers and was very fast on his feet. He went chasing after Abner. Abner recognised who was chasing him. He wanted to avoid killing Asahel because he knew the effect that that would have on Joab. So he urges Asahel to give up the chase. Asahel was as head strong as his brother Joab and refused. Abner then had no choice but to kill Asahel.

1 Corinthians 15:28 - So that God may be all in all

15:28

“When He has done this ...” We come here to the question of “subordinationism”, and the “eternal subordination of Christ”. Subordinationism itself is a heresy, making Christ inferior to the Father, rather than being “equally God”. The key to a proper understanding is the difference between the “economic trinity” and the “ontological trinity” or “immanent trinity”. Understanding the difference is also relevant to our lives. The economic trinity, i.e. how things work, does have Christ subordinate to the Father. The “ontological trinity” refers to the essential being, or essential nature, and Christ is in no way inferior to the Father. Likewise a proper understanding marriage follows from this. The husband is the head of the wife, but he is in no way superior, nor is the wife in any way inferior. We also see in what has been said in this chapter, that the subordination of the Son involved Him having authority and doing tremendous things. Likewise, the marriage relationship, functioning as intended, gives authority to both husband and wife, and to husband and wife as a unit. It also enables both husband and wife to flourish.

2 Samuel 2:10-14 - Let's have some young men get up and fight

2:10,11

Ish-Bosheth reigned for only two years. Judah remained loyal to David, and David’s reign in Hebron lasted seven and a half years. It is not necessarily the case that Ish-Bosheth ‘s reign started at the same time that David’s “reign in Hebron” began.

2:12-14

There was now a rather strange encounter between some of Abner’s men and Joab’s men. Abner represented Saul’s side, Joab represented David’s side. Joab is an important and complex figure. The two sides sat on opposite sides of the pool at Gibeon.  Abner suggested that some of the young men from each side fight it out and Joab agreed to this.

1 Corinthians 15:26,27 - The last enemy

15:26

“The last enemy to be destroyed is death”. This is related to the sequence of events. Christ has been raised from the dead, but no one else has. The reason is that there are things to be done, related to the spreading of the gospel and the putting all things under His feet. Once these have been completed the resurrection will happen.

15:27

Paul now adds that the “everything” does not include God Himself, probably meaning God the Father. Now why does Paul say this, as it seems to be a case of stating the obvious, and indeed it is. 

Ps 8:6, talking about man, says:

You made them rulers over the works of your hands;

    you put everything under their feet:

Now just as Israel failed, so all of mankind failed, but in Christ God’s purposes are fulfilled. Israel becomes what she was always meant to be, and mankind as a whole becomes what we were always meant to be.

2 Samuel 4b-9 - He made Ish-Bosheth king over Israel

2:4b-7

David learnt that the men from Jabesh Gilead had ensured that Saul got a proper burial. David acted wisely, and also consistently with his actions towards Saul throughout Saul’s time as king. David had honoured Saul even when Saul did not deserve it. So David blesses the men from Jabesh Gilead. They may have feared that David would do them harm, but David assures them that he will show them favour. David also tells them that they should accept the new situation, and need not fear doing so.

2:8,9

However, things were not all well. There were some who sought to continue Saul’s dynasty. These men were led by Abner, the commander of Saul’s army. They made Saul’s son Ish-Bosheth king of Israel (though not Judah). Ish-Bosheth was something of a puppet king, with Abner being the real power. Eventually Israel would be united as a single entity under David, but after the time of Solomon the kingdom would split again.

1 Corinthians 15:24,25 - He must reign

15:24

“Then the end will come”. Jesus came to serve the Father, and at the end He will hand over the kingdom to the Father. Right at the beginning of Genesis mankind was given stewardship of creation, but this was stewardship, not ownership. Mankind failed through sin, then Israel failed through sin. But mankind succeeds through Christ, and Israel will succeed through Christ.  All human and spiritual powers and authorities will be destroyed, they will be no more.

15:25

It can be a bit difficult to work out who all the “he’s” refer to. The “he” in “He must reign” is Christ.The second “he” may refer to the Father, this making more grammatical sense, and is consistent with Ps 110:1

The Lord says to my lord:

“Sit at my right hand
    until I make your enemies
    a footstool for your feet.”

However, reading this verse with 15:24 it makes more sense for it to be Christ who it refers to, and all the “he’s” and “his’s” refer to Christ. Then 15:27 then makes “God the Father” the more likely option.

In more practical terms, this means that God is actively working to “put all his enemies under his feet”. We may wonder why God doesn’t hurry up and complete this task! However, we must also remember that God wants many to be saved.

2 Samuel 2:1-4 - David enquired of the Lord

2:1

It seems that David spent some time at Ziklag, just carrying on as before. Then, “in the course of time, David enquired of the Lord”. He asks if he should go up to one of the towns of Judah. We never really heard of Saul inquiring of the Lord, though he would ask of Samuel. David looked to the Lord directly, as the Psalms make abundantly clear. David receives an affirmative answer from God, then David inquires further, looking for a more precise answer, and is told to go to Hebron. Hebron was located centrally in Judah.

2:2-4

David went with his two wives. Rather frequent mention is made of David’s two wives. This is perhaps significant, given his later disastrous failure. All his men and their families travelled with David. The men of Hebron anointed David as king of Judah. David had earlier been anointed privately by Samuel, in the presence of his brothers (1 Sam 16:13). We can maybe see a pattern here that can apply more generally. God may make His purposes for us long before the events come to pass. There will be an inner witness from God, this will later be followed by a public realisation. One of the key things is how we react in the intervening period. The wrong reaction is to tell everyone that God has made me king (preacher, teacher, prophet or whatever) and expect everyone just to accept it. Indeed the reaction will likely be the complete opposite. The right reaction is that we prepare ourselves, living faithfully, learning from experiences and from other people, studying the word. In time, God’s promise will work itself out. At this point David is only king over Judah, there are still several more years before he becomes king of all Israel.

1 Corinthians 15:21-23 - In Christ all will be made alive

15:21,22

Death came through one man, Adam. Resurrection has come through one man, Jesus Christ. “In Adam all die”, “In Christ all will be made alive”. Man seemingly undid all of God’s plans by sinning, for death came into mankind through that sin. But God did not give up on man, and His plans and purposes were not thwarted. For salvation and life came in through a man, through the Son of God, fully divine, fully human.  Another feature of these verses is that many commentators say it implies that there was historically one man Adam, rather than “Adam” representing mankind in general. I can see the argument, but I also have to say that I am not entirely convinced. If “man” and “Adam” here (and elsewhere) are taken as meaning mankind in general, then I can see how the tenets of the gospel, the New Testament, all hold good. The title of this blog is “Bible Musings”, and here I am just musing. I am not settled in my own mind on the issue.

15:23

There is a time gap between the resurrection of Christ and our resurrection. We will be raised when Christ returns. The resurrection is for “those who belong to Him”. We belong to Jesus, we are not our own. This has two important consequences. One is that we do not just live life for our own sake, we are not our own. Secondly, we do belong to Jesus. We are not on our own, it is not all down to us. We belong to Jesus and He has said He will not lose anyone that the Father has given to Him (John 6:39).

2 Samuel 1:21-27 - How the mighty are fallen!

1:21-27

The Mountains of Gilboa were where Saul and Jonathan fell. David pronounces a curse on them. Jonathan had opposed his father, he was not blind to his faults. Yet Jonathan still stood by him, fighting with him, and dying with him.

1:24 seems to paint rather a rosy view of Saul, but Saul was the king they asked for. “How the mighty have fallen”, another phrase that is in common use that has its origins in the Bible. 1:26 expresses David’s deep appreciation for Jonathan’s commitment to him. Jonathan helped David at great personal cost. There is no hint of any sexual connotations to this, those who make such suggestions are only betraying the state of their own minds. 

"How the mighty are fallen!" The statement is repeated. As noted, David says nothing negative about Saul, at lease not directly.Perhaps there is a lesson here for how we should react when famous Christian leaders fall. We should certainly never idolise any Christians leaders.

1 Corinthians 15:19,20 - But Christ has indeed been raised

15:19

The gospel is not just for this life. It has enormous consequences for this life, but not just for this life. If we make “this life” the be all and end all then we are not being obedient to Christ. Indeed, “we are of all people most to be pitied”. Following Christ may involve great cost, even the loss of our lives, it may mean going against the direction of all society. Without an eternal perspective, doing this makes no sense.

15:20

Paul has been showing that denying the resurrection, whether of Jesus or of believers in general, is foolishness, it makes the gospel a nonsense, even no gospel at all. Now he starts to give a positive view of the resurrection.  “But Christ has been raised ...”. He is the “firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep”. In saying that Christ is the firstfruits Paul is saying that there is more to come. “Fallen asleep” refers to those who have died in faith, and is a term that Paul uses only of believers. It implies that death is not the end.

2 Samuel 1:11-20 - Go, strike him down!

1:11-16

David and his men joined in the mourning. They mourned and wept for Saul and Jonathan until evening. They also mourned for all of Israel’s dead. After this David inquired further of the man. The man admits that he is an Amalekite. David asks why he wasn’t afraid to kill “the Lord’s anointed”. David did not know the true story, and had the man put to death for killing Saul, and he holds the man responsible for his own death.

1:17-20

We then get a lament from David for the fallen leader Saul and Jonathan. One can understand David lamenting the loss of Jonathan, for Jonathan had been a great support to David, it is less easy to understand the lament for Saul. Good riddance may be a more understandable reaction! There is a reference to the “Book of Jashar” in Joshua 10:13, this book has long been lost. 

There is no mention of the numerous failings of Saul. “Tell it not in Gath ...” is David saying he does not want the Philistines to rejoice. The world may delight in the failings of the church or of Christian leaders, which sadly happen all too often, but they forget that the church is Christ’s church, and so will not ultimately fail. Likewise those who rejoice in Israel’s failings should not rejoice, for Israel is God’s nation. 

1 Corinthians 15:17,18 - You are still in your sins

15:17

“And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile”. Any attempt to make Christianity about  good behaviour, or good works, social action, fighting injustice etc is not gospel at all. The church will be concerned about all these things, but they are the fruit and not the root. Worst of all, if Christ has not been raised then we “are still in our sins”. Without the resurrection we have no grounds whatsoever for believing that our sins have been paid for. Indeed, you will find that all parodies of the gospel (social justice warriors etc) tend to not take our sin seriously. They may well take the sins of others seriously (e.g. “sins of the oppressors”), but not the inherent sinfulness of all mankind, including you and me, and including the oppressed.

15:18

Without the resurrection death has not been defeated. Death is something we all face, as far as this life is concerned it brings every life to an end, it ultimately renders everything pointless. One might say that we live for the good of the human race (or the good of the planet, if you are an econut). But the earth will one day be swallowed up in the heat death of the universe, rendering all that pointless. And it means that everyone who has died is lost, and that when we die we are lost. “Liberal” and “progressive” Christianity do not take sin or death seriously enough.

2 Samuel 1:1-10 - After the death of Saul

1:1

Joshua and Judges begin with “After the death of Moses/Joshua” marking the beginning of a new phase. We have the same thing here. David had returned to Ziklag, the text noting that this was “from the slaughter of the Amalekites”. At this point David knew there was a battle between the Philistines and Israel, but was unaware of the outcome, though no doubt he did not expect good news.

1:2-10

Finally an Amalekite arrived. His clothes were torn and he had dust on his head. This was done to indicate that he was in mourning. He fell to the ground before David to honour him. David inquired of him, and the man tells him he has escaped from the Israelite camp. David wants to know what has happened and the man gives him a tale. The account he gives differs from what we read of in 1 Sam 31, especially with regard to Saul asking the man to finish him off. So what is going on? Especially given that 1 and 2 Samuel were originally a single book, it is very unlikely that the author put two contradictory accounts next to each other. A more likely explanation is that the man is lying and is trying to earn some favour from David by giving him Saul’s crown. The man being covered in dust and having town clothes may have been for effect. The man finished his tale by giving the crown to David.

1 Corinthians 15:15,16 - If the dead are not raised

15:15

If one looks at the preaching in Acts one sees that the resurrection is central to all of that preaching. So if Christ was not raised, then all the preaching of the gospel was a sham, a lie. The gospel would then be telling lies about God. But if believers will not be raised then Christ was not raised and the gospel preaching is one big lie. The resurrection of the dead is an absolutely central part of the gospel and our doctrine.

15:16

“For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either”. Our resurrection and that of Christ are inextricably linked. You cannot have one without the other. As Col 1:18 says, Christ is the firstborn among the dead. Our resurrection will be the same as His resurrection. Jesus was not risen as a one off spectacle, but as the first of what will be many.

2 Samuel - Introduction

Introduction

1 and 2 Samuel originally comprised a single book. The division into two happened when the Greek version was put together, and was largely a result of practical constraints over the length of the manuscripts.

1 Samuel has prepared the ground for David becoming king. In 2 Samuel David finally assumes the throne. We have already seen many good characteristics of David, and these come forth in the early chapters of 2 Samuel. However, we also saw hints of David’s flaws, and from chapter 11 onwards these come to dominate. David was a “type” of the Messiah, but was in no way the Messiah, being, like all mankind, a deeply flawed human being. From the beginning of the book it might look as though a new day was dawning when Israel could fulfil its destiny, but before long we see that the fundamental problem of sin remains, and dominates humanity. Any analysis of a situation that neglects the fundamental problem of sin is a deeply flawed and inadequate analysis.

1 Corinthians 15:13,14 - If there is no resurrection

15:13

The grounds for believing that we will be raised from the dead is that Christ was raised from the dead. But the converse is also true, if we are not raised then Christ was not raised. Christ died as a man and was raised as a man, and He was raised bodily. So to deny that we will be raised from the dead is to deny that Christ was raised, and the evidence clearly shows that Christ was raised.

15:14

Moreover, the preaching of the gospel is useless, or “in vain”. And our faith is likewise in vain. Without the resurrection there is no gospel. For if Christ was not raised then we are still dead in our sins, still under judgement, and at the end we are dead forever. There is no point, and there is no point believing. To put it bluntly, anyone who claims to be a Christian but does not believe in the resurrection is a nutter.

1 Samuel 31:8-13 - The Philistines came to strip the dead

31:8-10

After the battle the Philistines came to strip the dead, to take anything worthwhile that they could find. What they did find was the body of Saul and his three sons. They cut Saul’s head off, remember that David had cut Goliath’s head off (1 Sam 17:31). Saul’s body was put on display and news of their conquest was sent throughout the land. His armour was put in their temple. They rejoiced at killing Saul, thinking they had won, but Saul was not a man of God, in fact he was just like them. Today some may rejoice at the decline of the church, but it is the godless churches that are declining, God has not been defeated.

31:11-13

The men of Jabesh Gilead marched out to recover Saul’s body. Earlier Saul had rescued the town of Jabesh Gilead (1 Sam 11), so they still honoured Saul. So they recovered the bodies of Saul and his sons and burned them.  Their bones were buried under a tamarisk tree and fasted for seven days.

1 Corinthians 15:11,12 - This is what you believed

15:11

Having had this digression from the general point about the resurrection, Paul returns to the key point. The gospel preaches Christ dying for our sins and the resurrection of that same Christ. This is what we believed, and is the foundation of everything.

15:12

It appears that there were some who were denying the “resurrection of the dead”. By this they meant the resurrection of believers, rather than of Christ. So the resurrection of Christ was a one-off in their understanding (or lack of understanding!). In this section (15:12-19) Paul shows that the resurrection of Christ and the resurrection of believers are inextricably linked. In the previous section Paul presented evidence that Christ was raised, but this resurrection was not simply a miraculous event. The pagan world did not believe in the resurrection of the body. We need to appreciate how much of an enemy death is (see 15:26), and that the defeat of death is an essential part of the gospel. Christ rose from the dead showing that we will be raised from the dead too (John 11:25).

1 Samuel 31:4b-7 - Saul was dead

31:4b-6

The armour bearer refused to fulfil Saul’s wishes. We are told he was terrified. What was he terrified of? Perhaps the consequences of killing the king, and subsequent reprisals there might be against him. Or perhaps it was a fear of God, knowing it was wrong to kill the king. Whatever the case, Saul fell on his own sword. The armour bearer then fell on his own sword, so they both died, “Samuel’s” prophecy was fulfilled.

31:7

The Israelites saw that their army was in flight, and that Saul and his sons were all dead. So they abandoned their towns and fled, and the Philistines came and occupied them. To continue my musings (see 31:1), just as Saul had let down the nation and so foreign forces ran riot, much of the church leadership in the West has let the nation down and Christianity is in retreat. The land is being given over to paganism. But in 2 Samuel, David assumes the kingship and begins to restore the nation. We need Christian leaders who will be faithful to Christ so that there can be restoration in our land. It may be that you and I are part of that leadership.

1 Corinthians 15:9,10 - By the grace of God

15:9

Paul describes himself as “the least of the apostles”. This way of referring to himself is in stark contrast to the Corinthians’ predilection for ranking the apostles in order, and of trying to make themselves look important. Paul says that he does not even deserve to be called an apostle, since he had persecuted the church.

15:10

“But by the grace of God ...” Our human nature tends to either make ourselves as utterly worthless and useless, or to big ourselves up, forgetting the weaknesses and failings. Paul was fully aware of both his sinfulness and his sins, and of the grace of God in his life. We need both self-awareness and grace awareness. “His grace was not without effect”. God’s grace is not just a feeling, but something that has a real effect in our lives. It enables us to do things, to achieve things. Nor does grace make us sit back and relax, rather it leads to us working all the harder. It is not a matter of us working hard in order to earn the right to be accepted, but a response to God’s acceptance. But it is more than that, for that can make it seem like it is just our gratitude for what God has done. This can end up as just working in our own strength. Rather it is the grace of God working in us. The grace of God does not stop at forgiveness and acceptance, it continues to work in us, and to good effect.

1 Samuel 31:1-4a - The Philistines fought against Israel

31:1

We now come to the final chapter of 1 Samuel, and the book will end with Saul’s death. David was anointed as king many chapters ago, and it will not be until 2 Samuel that he is actually king. This blog is called “Bible Musings”, so let me muse a little. We are anointed the day we believe, but like David when we spend an awful lot of this life dealing with evil, dealing with problems. Some of this evil and some of these problems are ones within ourselves, others are evil and problems belonging to other people. Whatever the case, we have to deal with it, and this is a hard battle, just as David has had a hard time within 1 Samuel. Here the Philistines are fought against Israel, and have inflicted many casualties.

31:2-4a

“Samuel’s” prophecy to Saul in chapter 28 is fulfilled. First of all Saul’s sons are killed, including Jonathan. It seems a little unfair that Jonathan dies, for he had helped David. Then Saul himself was mortally wounded. Knowing that his end was near, Saul instructed his armour bearer to kill him with his sword. Saul did not want to fall into the hands of the Philistines. He refers to them as “uncircumcised”, recognising that they were utterly godless. If he had only realised that he too was utterly godless, and repented of this then things might have been very different.

1 Corinthians 15:6-8 - He appeared to more than 500 people

15:6

Then the twelve. He then refers to a time when over five hundred show Christ at the same time. This knocks on the head the idea that the “resurrection” appearances were actually hallucinations. One or two people could arguably have had hallucinations, but not five hundred people at the same time. Paul then points out that most of these people were still alive, so the evidence could be tested. The resurrection is never presented as a “spiritual event”, but as a physical reality.

15:7,8

After that Jesus appeared to James, this is James the brother of Jesus, and the author of the letter bearing his name. During his earthly ministry James had been highly sceptical about Jesus, but after the resurrection he became a strong believer, and a leader in the church. Finally, Jesus appeared to Paul. This is the famous Damascus road conversion. The details of this are recounted twice more in Acts. Paul refers to himself as “one abnormally born”. This last appearance was different, and Paul was different in that far from being a disciple of Jesus, he had been an avid prosecutor of the church.

1 Samuel 30:23-30 - He has protected us

30:23-25

David saw things differently. It was the Lord who had given them the plunder. Yes, they had fought, but it was the Lord who enabled them to do so, and it was the Lord who gave them victory. David insisted that everyone gets the same share. David even made this a lasting “statute and ordinance” for Israel. The two hundred had not just been left behind to recover, but also to look after the supplies. David had been allocating duties in an efficient manner.

30:26-30

On reaching Ziklag, David “sent some of the plunder to the elders of Judah who were his friends”. David still had contacts in Judah, and was looking ahead to his return there. We then get a list of the places that David sent plunder to.

1 Corinthians 15:4,5 - He was raised on the third day

15:4

Paul then turns to the fact of the bodily resurrection. The resurrection was not a metaphor. Christ died, He was buried, and He rose from death, never to die again. “According to the Scriptures”, Both His dying for our sins, and His rising from death, were “according to the Scriptures”. Our need for sin to be dealt with is made abundantly clear in the Old Testament. Isaiah 53:5 and 53:12 are the clearest prophecies about Christ dying for our sins. The resurrection is anticipated in passages like Psalm 16:9-11, Psalm 22, Isaiah 53:10,11.

15:5

Having stated that Christ rose from the dead, Paul now gives the evidence, and it is that many people saw the risen Christ. The gospels state that the very first witnesses were women, Paul does not mention any of these by name, referencing only the men by name. This was done because in those times it was only the witness of men that counted. He mentions Cephas (or Peter), interestingly John is not mentioned.