Participants: Kelly Mowrer
Series Code: HWAL
Program Code: HWAL000522
00:18 Hello, and welcome to His words are life.
00:20 I'm Kelly Mowrer, and today we're reading in 1st Samuel, 00:24 about God and how he spoke to and through the prophet Samuel. 00:29 Before we pick up the story, let's pray. 00:32 Dear God, thank you for all the ways that you have spoken 00:36 to your people down through history. 00:39 And now please come be with us and speak to our hearts; 00:42 so that your words may bring us abundant life 00:46 and bear abundant fruit. We love you so much and thank you 00:49 for loving us. Amen. We're picking up in 1st Samuel 00:53 chapter 3. And as the young boy serving in the temple under Eli, 00:57 Samuel, one night hears who he thinks is Eli calling to him 01:03 and twice, so far, he has run to Eli, saying, Here am I. 01:07 And Eli had told him, I haven't been calling you. 01:11 And now we pick up in chapter three, beginning with verse 7, 01:16 this is the King James Version. 01:18 Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, neither was the word 01:23 of the Lord yet revealed unto him. And the Lord called Samuel 01:28 again the third time. And he arose and went to Eli, 01:33 and said, Here am I; for thou didst call me. 01:37 And Eli perceived that the Lord had called the child. 01:41 Therefore Eli said unto Samuel, Go, lie down: and it shall be, 01:47 if he call thee, that thou shalt say, Speak, Lord; 01:50 for thy servant heareth. So Samuel went and lay down 01:55 in his place. And the Lord came, and stood, and called 01:59 as at other times, Samuel, Samuel. Then Samuel answered, 02:07 Speak, for thy servant heareth. And the Lord said to Samuel, 02:11 Behold, I will do a thing in Israel, at which both the ears 02:16 of every one that heareth it shall tingle. In that day, 02:20 I will perform against Eli all things which I have spoken 02:24 concerning his house: when I begin, I will also make an end. 02:29 For I have told him that I will judge his house for ever 02:33 for the iniquity which he knoweth. Because his sons 02:38 made themselves vile, and he restrained them not. 02:42 And therefore I have sworn unto the house of Eli, 02:46 that the iniquity of Eli's house shall not be purged 02:49 with sacrifice nor offering for ever. 02:53 And Samuel lay until the morning and opened the doors 02:57 of the house of the Lord. And Samuel feared to shew Eli 03:00 the vision. Then Eli called Samuel, and said, 03:04 Samuel, my son. And he answered, Here am I. And he said, 03:09 What is the thing that the Lord hath said unto thee? I pray thee 03:14 hide it not from me: God do so to thee, and more also, 03:18 if thou hide anything from me of all the things that he said 03:21 unto thee. And Samuel told him every whit, and hid nothing 03:26 from him. And he said, It is the Lord: let him do what seemeth 03:32 him good. And Samuel grew, and the Lord was with him, 03:36 and did let none of his words fall to the ground. 03:40 And all Israel from Dan even to Beersheba knew that Samuel 03:45 was established to be a prophet of the Lord. And the Lord 03:50 appeared again in Shiloh: for the Lord revealed himself to 03:53 Samuel in Shiloh by the word of the Lord. 03:57 We're continuing in 1st Samuel, chapter 4. 03:59 This is the King James Version. 04:01 And the word of Samuel came to all Israel. Now Israel went out 04:06 against the Philistines to battle and pitched beside 04:09 Ebenezer: and the Philistines pitched in Aphek. 04:11 And the Philistines put them selves in array against Israel 04:16 and when they joined battle, Israel was smitten before the 04:19 Philistines: and they slew of the army in the field 04:21 about 4,000 men. And when the people were come into the camp, 04:26 the elders of Israel said, Wherefore hath the Lord 04:29 smitten us today before the Philistines? Let us fetch 04:32 the ark of the covenant of the Lord out of Shiloh unto us, 04:35 that, when it cometh among us, it may save us out of the hand 04:39 of our enemies. So the people sent to Shiloh, that they might 04:43 bring from thence the ark of the covenant of the Lord of hosts 04:46 which dwelleth between the cherubins: and the two sons 04:50 of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark 04:53 of the covenant of God. And when the ark of the covenant of 04:56 the Lord came into the camp, all Israel shouted with a great 05:00 shout, so that the earth rang again. And when the Philistines 05:04 heard the noise of the shout, they said, What meaneth 05:06 the noise of this great shout in the camp of the Hebrews? 05:08 And they understood that the ark of the Lord was come into 05:12 the camp. And the Philistines were afraid, for they said, 05:15 God is come into the camp. And they said, Woe unto us! 05:18 for there hath not been such a thing heretofore. Woe unto us! 05:22 Who shall deliver us out of the hand of these mighty Gods? 05:25 These are the Gods that smote the Egyptians with all the 05:28 plagues in the wilderness. Be strong, and quit yourselves 05:31 like men, O ye Philistines, that ye be not servants 05:34 unto the Hebrews, as they have been to you: quit yourselves 05:37 like men, and fight. And the Philistines fought, and Israel 05:41 was smitten, and they fled every man into his tent: 05:44 and there was a very great slaughter; for there fell of 05:48 Israel 30,000 footmen. And the ark of God was taken; 05:53 and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were slain. 05:57 And there ran a man of Benjamin out of the army, and came to 06:01 Shiloh the same day with his clothes rent, and with earth 06:05 upon his head. And when he came, lo, Eli sat upon a seat 06:10 by the wayside watching: for for his heart trembled 06:13 for the ark of God. And when the man came into the city, 06:16 and old it, all the city cried out. And when Eli heard the 06:21 noise of the crying, he said, What meaneth the noise of this 06:23 tumult? And the man came in hastily, and told Eli. 06:27 Now Eli was ninety and eight years old; and his eyes were dim 06:32 that he could not see. And the man said unto Eli, I am he 06:38 that came out of the army, and I fled today out of the army. 06:41 And he said, What is there done, my son? And the messenger 06:45 answered and said, Israel is fled before the Philistines, 06:48 and there hath been also a great slaughter among the people 06:53 and thy two sons also, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead, 06:56 and the ark of God is taken. And it came to pass, when he made 07:02 mention of the ark of God, that he fell from off the seat 07:06 backward by the side of the gate, and his neck brake 07:10 and he died: for he was an old man, and heavy. 07:13 And he had judged Israel forty years. And his daughter in law, 07:18 Phinehas' wife, was with child, near to be delivered: 07:22 and when she heard the tidings that the ark of God was taken, 07:25 and that her father in law and her husband were dead, 07:28 she bowed herself and travailed; for her pains came upon her. 07:33 And about the time of her death the women that stood by her 07:37 said unto her, Fear not; for thou hast borne a son. 07:40 But she answered not, neither did she regard it. 07:44 And she named the child Ichabod, saying, The glory is departed 07:49 from Israel: because the ark of God was taken, and because of 07:53 her father in law and her husband. And she said, 07:57 The glory is departed from Israel: for the ark of God 08:00 is taken. - Continuing in 1st Samuel, chapter 5, 08:05 This is the King James Version. 08:07 And the Philistines took the ark of God and brought it from 08:12 Ebenezer unto Ashdod. When the Philistines took the ark of God, 08:16 they brought it into the house of Dagon, and set it by Dagon. 08:20 And when they of Ashdod arose early on the morrow, behold, 08:25 Dagon was fallen upon his face to the earth before the ark 08:30 of the Lord. And they took Dagon, and set him in his place 08:33 again. And when they arose early on the morrow morning, 08:37 behold, Dagon was fallen upon his face to the ground before 08:40 the ark of the Lord; and the head of Dagon and both the palms 08:44 of his hands were cut off upon the threshold; only the stump of 08:48 of Dagon was left to him. Therefore neither the priests 08:52 of Dagon, nor any that come into Dagon's house, 08:55 tread on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod unto this day. 08:59 But the had of the Lord was heavy upon them of Ashdod, 09:03 and he destroyed them, and smote them with emerods, 09:07 even Ashdod and the coasts thereof. And when the men of 09:11 Ashdod saw that it was so, they said, The ark of the God of 09:15 Israel shall not abide with us, for his hand is sore upon us, 09:19 and upon Dagon our god. And they sent therefore and gathered all 09:24 the lords of the Philistines unto them and said, What shall 09:27 we do with the ark of the God of Israel? And they answered, 09:31 Let the ark of the God of Israel be carried about unto Gath. 09:35 And they carried the ark of the God of Israel about thither. 09:39 And it was so that after they had carried it about, 09:42 the hand of the Lord was against the city with a very great 09:47 destruction: and he smote the men of the city, both small 09:50 and great, and they had emerods in their secret parts. 09:54 Therefore they sent the ark of God to Ekron. 09:58 And it came to pass, as the ark of God came to Ekron, 10:01 that the Ekronites cried out, saying, They have brought 10:03 about the ark of the God of Israel to us, to slay us 10:06 and our people. So they sent and gathered together 10:10 all the lords of the Philistines, and said, 10:12 Send away the ark of the God of Israel, and let it go again 10:16 to his own place, that it slay us not, and our people: 10:19 for there was a deadly destruction throughout all the 10:21 city; the hand of God was very heavy there. And the men 10:26 that died not were smitten with the emerods: 10:28 and the cry of the city went up to heaven. 10:30 We're continuing in 1st Samuel, chapter six. 10:34 And the ark of the lord was in the country of the Philistines 10:38 seven months. And the Philistines called 10:40 for the priests and the diviners, saying, What shall 10:43 we do to the ark of the Lord? tells us wherewith we shall 10:46 sent it to his place. And they said, If ye send away the ark 10:50 of the God of Israel, send it not empty; but in any wise 10:53 return him a trespass offering: then ye shall be healed, 10:57 and it shall be known to you, why his hand is not removed 11:00 from you. Then said they, What shall be the trespass offering 11:05 which we shall return to him? They answered, 5 golden emerods, 11:10 and 5 golden mice, according to the number of the lords 11:14 of the Philistines: for one plague was on you all, 11:17 and on your lords. Wherefore ye shall make images 11:21 of your emerods, and images of your mice that mar the land; 11:25 and ye shall give glory unto the God of Israel: peradventrure he 11:29 will lighten his hand from off you, and from off your gods, 11:33 and from off your land. Wherefore then do ye 11:36 harden you hearts, as the Egyptians and Pharaoh 11:39 hardened their hearts? when he had wrought wonderfully 11:43 among them, did they not let the people go and they departed? 11:46 Now therefore make a new cart, and take two milch kine, 11:52 on which there hath come no yoke, and tie the kine 11:56 to the cart, and bring their calves home from them: 11:59 And take the ark of the Lord, and lay it upon the cart: 12:02 and put the jewels of gold, which ye return him 12:05 for a trespass offering, in a coffer by the side thereof; 12:09 and sent it away, that it may go. And see, if it goeth up 12:14 by the way of his own coast to Bethshemesh, then he hath 12:17 done us this great evil: but if not, then we shall know 12:20 that it is not his hand that smote us: it was a chance 12:23 that happened to us. And the men did so; and took 2 milch kine, 12:28 and tied them to the cart, and shut up their calves at home: 12:30 And they laid the ark of the Lord upon the cart, 12:33 and the coffer with the mice of gold and the images of their 12:37 emerods. And the kine took the straight way to the way of 12:42 Bethshemesh. And went along the highway, lowing as they went, 12:45 and turned not aside to the right hand or to the left; 12:49 and the lords of the Philistines went after them unto the border 12:53 of Bethshemesh. And they of Bethshemesh were reaping 12:57 their wheat harvest in the valley: and they lifted up 13:00 their eyes, and saw the ark, and rejoiced to see it. And the cart 13:05 came into the field of Joshua, a Bethshemite, and stood there, 13:09 where there was a great stone: and they clave the wood of 13:13 the cart and offered the kine a burnt offering unto the Lord. 13:17 And the Levites took down the ark of the Lord, and the coffer 13:21 that was with it, wherein the jewels of gold were and put them 13:24 on the great stone: and the men of Bethshemesh offered 13:27 burnt offerings and sacrificed sacrifices the same day 13:30 unto the Lord. And when the five lords of the Philistines 13:34 had seen it, they returned to Ekron the same day. 13:37 And these are the golden emerods which the Philistines returned 13:41 for a trespass offering unto the Lord; for Ashdod one, 13:45 for Gaza one, for Askelon one, for Gath one, for Ekron one; 13:50 And the golden mice, according to the number of all the cities 13:53 of the Philistines belonging to the five lords, 13:56 both of fenced cities and of country villages, 13:58 even unto the great stone of Abel, whereon they set down 14:02 the ark of the Lord: which stone remaineth unto this day 14:05 in the field of Joshua, the Bethshemite. 14:08 And he smote the men of Bethshemesh, because they had 14:11 looked into the ark of the Lord, even he smote 14:13 of the people 50,000 and threescore and ten men: 14:16 and the people lamented, because the Lord had smitten many of 14:20 the people with a great slaughter. 14:22 Thank you for joining with me today to read the word of God. 14:26 Until next time, God will keep us all through His love, 14:30 and his mercy. Goodbye. |
Revised 2014-12-17