Category Archives: 1 & 2 Samuel

The God Who Thunders

By | July 31, 2023

According to the National Weather Service, “Thunder is created when lightning passes through the air. The lightning discharge heats the air rapidly and causes it to expand. The temperature of the air in the lightning channel may reach as high as 50,000 degrees Fahrenheit, 5 times hotter than the surface of the sun. Immediately after… Read More »

Transforming My View of Scripture Through Old Testament Bible Study (OT Studies Included)

By | June 14, 2023

Have you ever started a Bible reading plan? Have you ever quit a Bible reading plan, say, in the middle of Exodus or Leviticus? 🙂 Many Bible reading plans start at the beginning, in Genesis, which is really quite interesting to dig into. Exodus starts off pretty exciting too, but starts to decrease in the… Read More »

Virtue and Vice: Lessons from the Kings: David, Part 9

By | January 2, 2019
This entry is part 18 of 20 in the series Virtue and Vice: Lessons from the Kings

While David was a great king in many ways, we have seen that David was not perfect and that his sins affected his kingdom for the worse. One of the punishments for his sin with Bathsheba was that David would have evil against him in his house. In carrying out this theme further from last… Read More »

Virtue and Vice: Lessons from the Kings: David, Part 8

By | December 19, 2018
This entry is part 17 of 20 in the series Virtue and Vice: Lessons from the Kings

Although David became great within his kingdom, he alsosinned with Bathsheba, murdered Uriah, and wrongfully ordered a census. Thefirst two of these sins were linked, and we shall see that David’s sin led to corrosion within the kingdom. Let’s look, first of all, at how David sinned with Bathsheba and murdered Uriah. This took place… Read More »

Virtue and Vice: Lessons from the Kings: David, Part 7

By | December 12, 2018
This entry is part 16 of 20 in the series Virtue and Vice: Lessons from the Kings

We have seen that David became great as a king (2 Sam 3:1; 5:10) through the diminishing influence of the house of Saul, through moving his throne to Jerusalem while fending off his enemies, through the return of the ark to Jerusalem, and through the covenant in which God promised David an eternal dynasty. While… Read More »

Virtue and Vice: Lessons from the Kings: David, Part 6

By | December 5, 2018
This entry is part 15 of 20 in the series Virtue and Vice: Lessons from the Kings

Over the last couple of weeks, we saw that David became great as a king (2 Sam 1–7, 21; cf. 3:1; 5:10) through the diminishing influence of the house of Saul, having become king in Jerusalem while fending off his enemies, and the return of the ark of the covenant to Jerusalem. Another reason that… Read More »

Virtue and Vice: Lessons from the Kings: David, Part 5

By | November 28, 2018
This entry is part 14 of 20 in the series Virtue and Vice: Lessons from the Kings

Last week, we saw that David became great as a king (2 Sam 1–7, 21; cf. 3:1; 5:10) in part by the diminishing influence of the house of Saul. This week, we consider that David also became great because he became king in Jerusalem and fended off his enemies. Among the dead of David’s opposition… Read More »

Virtue and Vice: Lessons from the Kings: David, Part 4

By | November 14, 2018
This entry is part 13 of 20 in the series Virtue and Vice: Lessons from the Kings

So far, we have considered David’s life in 1 Samuel 16–31. Throughout this section of Scripture, we know that he was to succeed Saul as king. Themes that come within this overarching storyline is that David was the better of the two men as one who truly had a heart for God. Also, many passages… Read More »

Virtue and Vice: Lessons from the Kings: David, Part 3

By | November 7, 2018
This entry is part 12 of 20 in the series Virtue and Vice: Lessons from the Kings

Within 1 Samuel, we see from many passages that David’s kingdom was on the run but would be established in time. In 1 Samuel 18–20, Saul unsuccessfully tried to kill David. 1 Samuel 21–31 then records how David was on the run. The reader would see that, just as promised (1 Samuel 16:6–13; cf. 13:14;… Read More »