David finds Jonathan and asks him, “What have I done? What is my iniquity, and what is my sin before your father, that he seeks my life?” Well David, you didn’t do anything except try to help Saul and the kingdom with the gifts and skills given to you by the Lord. The wisdom writer will later say “A peaceful heart leads to a healthy body; jealousy is like cancer in the bones” (Proverbs 14:30) “Wrath is cruel, anger is overwhelming, but who can stand before jealousy?” (Proverbs 27:4). So Saul who is sick with envy is trying to hunt down David. And who can stand before jealousy? A man standing with the Lord but it isn’t always easy as we will see with David. 

Jonathan tells David he will find out if Saul is still trying to kill him. Then Jonathan says, “And you shall not only show me the kindness of the Lord while I still live, that I may not die; but you shall not cut off your kindness from my house forever.” We will see David honor this vow later in the Story when he shows kindness to Jonathan’s son Mephibosheth. “Now Jonathan again caused David to vow, because he loved him; for he loved him as he loved his own soul.” Jonathan is a man who understands what Jesus will later  command – “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 12:31)

But Saul doesn’t understand Jonathan’s loyalty to David, so he tells his son, “For as long as the son of Jesse lives on the earth, you shall not be established, nor your kingdom. Now therefore, send and bring him to me, for he shall surely die.” But see, Jonathan is not all about Jonathan as he lays down his own rights to the kingdom for David. Jonathan can love David and be his best friend without jealousy because he is a man who trusts the Lord and His plans. So Jonathan reports back to David his dad’s intent to kill him. “Then Jonathan said to David, ‘Go in peace, since we have both sworn in the name of the Lord, saying, ‘May the Lord be between you and me, and between your descendants and my descendants, forever.’”

David, on the run again, goes to a priest named Ahimelech in Nob. Instead of trusting the Lord and being truthful, David lies to the priest and says that he is there on secret business for the king and he asks for some bread. “So the priest gave him holy bread; for there was no bread there but the showbread which had been taken from before the Lord, in order to put hot bread in its place on the day when it was taken away.” Jesus will later use this story of giving the holy bread to David in a time of need to rebuke the Pharisees who are beating people over the head with the law (Mark 2:23-28). Ahimelech also gives David the sword of Goliath and then David flees to Achish the king of Gath. However, David’s encounter with Ahimelech will result in horrible consequences. 

David, who is now hiding out in Gath, begins to fear the king of Gath when the people start to recognize him, so he acts like a madman to spare his life. The king of Gath drives David away and then David praises the Lord – “I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul shall make its boast in the Lord; the humble shall hear of it and be glad. Oh,magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His name together.” 

So we see that even David can waiver in his faith at times which results in him scheming but the Lord is always faithful to his people, just like David says – “The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears, and delivers them out of all their troubles. The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart, and saves such as have a contrite spirit. Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all. He guards all his bones; not one of them is broken. Evil shall slay the wicked, and those who hate the righteous shall be condemned. The Lord redeems the soul of His servants, and none of those who trust in Him shall be condemned.”

David can call himself righteous because his righteousness is not based on his actions, it is based on his faith in the Lord. However, there are always consequences for our actions as we will see tomorrow when Doeg, Saul’s servant who saw David meeting with Ahimelech, reports the David sighting to Saul. Keep reading to see how Saul responds to the kindness that Ahimelech showed David.

(1 Samuel 20:1-21:15, Psalm 34)

#bibleliteracymovement #chronologicalbibleteaching

David says to Saul regarding Goliath, “Let no man’s heart fail because of him; your servant will go and fight with this Philistine.” Then Saul tries to give David his armor but David doesn’t need the armor of a king because David is armed with the power of the Lord. So David walks toward Goliath with a slingshot and five stones and says, “You come to me with a sword, with a spear, and with a javelin. But I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you and take your head from you…Then all this assembly shall know that the Lord does not save with sword and spear; for the battle is the Lord’s, and He will give you into our hands.” And that’s exactly what happened! David takes Goliath down with a stone and then chops off his head with Goliath’s own sword. “And when the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they fled.”

Now, all of a sudden, Saul is wanting to know all about David…you know, the one who has been playing the harp for him. I guess for some people it takes chopping off the head of a giant to get their attention. 🤷‍♀️ So David comes to Saul with Goliath’s head in his hand and there David meets Saul’s son, Jonathan. Jonathan and David quickly bond as friends and Saul gives David command over His army. “So David went out wherever Saul sent him, and behaved wisely.” David is so wise and successful as a commander that the women are now singing about the ten thousands that David has killed compared to Saul’s thousands.

Well, praise seeking Saul doesn’t like hearing that more victories are credited to David. Saul becomes so consumed with jealousy that he is now wanting to kill David, you know… man who has been doing great works for his kingdom. 😏 Go figure. So the next day when David is playing music to calm Saul’s distressing spirit, Saul throws a spear at David but David escapes. “Now Saul was afraid of David, because the Lord was with him, but had departed from Saul. Therefore Saul removed him from his presence, and made him his captain over a thousand; and he went out and came in before the people. And David behaved wisely in all his ways, and the Lord was with him. Therefore, when Saul saw that he behaved very wisely, he was afraid of him. But all Israel and Judah loved David, because he went out and came in before them.”

Then Saul comes up with a plan to send David out against the Philistines with hopes that David will get killed. Saul offers his daughter, Michal, to be David’s wife in exchange for 100 Philistine foreskins. But David, the brave warrior that he is, brings back not 100 but 200 foreskins! 👏👏 “Thus Saul saw and knew that the Lord was with David, and that Michal, Saul’s daughter, loved him; and Saul was still more afraid of David. So Saul became David’s enemy continually. Then the princes of the Philistines went out to war. And so it was, whenever they went out, that David behaved more wisely than all the servants of Saul, so that his name became highly esteemed.”

Saul continues to seek to kill David but Saul’s own children, David’s best friend Jonathan and David’s wife Michal, protect him. However, David is now on the run and crying out to the Lord, “Deliver me from my enemies, O my God; defend me from those who rise up against me…For You have been my defense and refuge in the day of my trouble. To You, O my Strength, I will sing praises; for God is my defense, my God of mercy.” 

David flees to Samuel in Ramah and Saul sends men there to kill David which ultimately ends with Saul humbled on the ground naked in front of Samuel. Tomorrow, Saul continues to chase after David. Keep reading to see how David, a man after God’s own heart, responds to attacks from his enemy.

(1 Samuel 17:32-19:17, Psalm 59, 1 Samuel 19:18-24)

#bibleliteracymovement #chronologicalbibleteaching

The Lord gives orders to Saul to totally annihilate the Amalekites for attacking Israel when He first brought them out of Egypt. Remember in the wilderness when the Lord had Moses write in the Book of the Law that “I will utterly blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven” (Exodus 17:14). “But Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep, the oxen, the fatlings, the lamb, and all that was good, and were unwilling to utterly destroy them. But everything despised and worthless, that they utterly destroyed.” 🤔 Hmm..This doesn’t sound like what God said to do. So when Samuel confronts Saul for disobeying the Lord, Saul tries to justify his disobedience by saying that he saved the best for the Lord; then Saul starts blaming the people for taking the best of the plunder. Well, the Lord isn’t buying what Saul is selling so Samuel responds, “Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, He also has rejected you from being king.”

At the news of the rejection from God, Saul says “I have sinned, for I have transgressed the commandment of the Lord and your words, because I feared the people and obeyed their voice.” Then Saul goes on to beg Samuel to at least go and worship with him proving his true motives. Saul says “honor me now, before the elders of my people and before Israel.” Once again Saul is more concerned about his appearance before man instead of the approval of the Lord which leads to his downfall. 

Therefore the Lord sends Samuel to Jesse, from the tribe of Judah, in Bethlehem to anoint the next king. Samuel incorrectly assumes Jesse’s older son is God’s choice for king but the Lord responds saying, “Do not look at his appearance or at his physical statue, because I have refused him. For the Lord does not see as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” So Jesse passes his seven sons before Samuel but the Lord doesn’t choose any of them. God chooses the youngest son who was out in the field…the boy whose daddy didn’t even consider to be in the lineup for king. God sees the son who was all alone in the field tending to the sheep while playing his harp and working his slingshot. Meet King David! 

“But the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and a distressing spirit from the Lord troubled him.” The Lord uses David’s harp playing skills to get him into the kingdom to sooth Saul’s distressed spirit. “And so it was, whenever the spirit from God was upon Saul, that David would take a harp and play it with his hand. Then Saul would become refreshed and well, and the distressing spirit would depart from him.”

We end the reading with the Israelites at war against the Philistines. Jesse sends his son David to check on his older brothers who followed Saul into battle. When David arrives he learns that Goliath, a huge Philistine warrior, has laid down a challenge against the Israelites and one of their warriors. Goliath says to Israel, “‘If he is able to fight with me and kill me, then we will be your servants. But if I prevail against him and kill him, then you shall be our servants and serve us…I defy the armies of Israel this day; give me a man, that we may fight together.’ When Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid.” However, David’s response to Goliath’s challenge is much different than the fearful Israelites. David says, “For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?”

When David’s oldest brother, Eliab, hears David’s courageous and faithful response to Goliath’s threats he says to David, “Why did you come down here? And with whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your pride and the insolence of your heart, for you have come down to see the battle.” 😏 Didn’t the Lord already say that David has a heart after Him and not one of selfish ambition. See, others, out of their own pride or jealousy, may incorrectly judge your motives but no one can fool the Lord. He knows the thoughts and motives of all and the Lord knows that David has a high view of Him which keeps David from fearing that pestering Philistine warrior.

Tomorrow we will see how God will use David’s slingshot skills that he has been working all those years out in the fields to take down Goliath…so keep reading.

(1 Samuel 15:1-17:31)

#bibleliteracymovement #chronologicalbibleteaching

At this time the Israelites are oppressed under the hand of the Philistines. The Philistines won’t even allow the Israelites to have a blacksmith in their land because they don’t want Israel to have the ability to make weapons of war. This is when we first meet Saul’s son Jonathan. Jonathan, sick of being subjected to the Philistines, attacks the Philistines igniting war between them and Israel. We see that Saul takes credit for his son’s heroic actions because Saul is a man that craves the praise of others.

So the Philistines organize a huge army to come and destroy the Israelites. When the Israelites see that they are in danger they once again make a decision based on sight instead of faith in the Lord and they go into hiding. Samuel tells Saul to wait seven days for him to arrive to offer sacrifices to the Lord on their behalf so that they would be ready for battle. However, Saul, afraid of losing his men who are starting to scatter by day seven, doesn’t wait on Samuel to arrive at the camp; instead Saul offers a burnt offering to the Lord, an act only the Levites were to perform (Numbers 8). Because Saul was more concerned about losing his men than obeying the Book of the Law, Samuel tells Saul – “You have done foolishly. You have not kept the commandment of the Lord your God, which He commanded you. For now the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. But now your kingdom shall not continue. The Lord has sought for Himself a man after His own heart, and the Lord has commanded him to be commander over His people, because you have not kept what the Lord commanded you.” Saul is going to remain on the throne for years but in the meantime the Lord will be training up a man after His own heart to replace Saul whose heart desires status and prestige over the Lord. 

The wisdom writer will say, “The fear of man brings a snare, but whoever trusts the Lord shall be safe” (Proverbs 29:25). And Jesus will later question the Jewish leaders saying, “How can you believe, who receive honor from one another, and do not seek the honor that comes from the only God?” (John 5:44). Saul’s failure is due to his desire for the approval of man over the approval of the Lord.

But Saul’s son Jonathan who, unlike his dad, has great faith in the Lord decides to sneak into the Philistines’ camp with his armor-bearer. He says to the armor-bearer, “For nothing restrains the Lord from saving by many or a few.” 💪 When the men hiding in caves hear the commotion of Jonathan and his armor-bearer defeating the Philistines, they come out to fight with them. “So the Lord saved Israel that day, and the battle shifted to Beth Aven.”

“And the men of Israel were distressed that day, for Saul had placed the people under oath, saying, ‘Cursed is the man who eats any food until evening, before I have taken vengeance on my enemies.’ So none of the people tasted food…But Jonathan had not heard his father charge the people with the oath; therefore he stretched out the end of the rod that was in his hand and dipped it in a honeycomb, and put his hand to his mouth; and his countenance brightened.” When Saul discovers that Jonathan ate a little honey, he says that Jonathan shall die. “But the people said to Saul, ‘Shall Jonathan die, who has accomplished this great deliverance in Israel? Certainly not! As the Lord lives, not one hair of his head shall fall to the ground, for he has worked with God this day.’ So the people rescued Jonathan, and he did not die.”

Saul’s foolish oath has several consequences: 

1) Israelites could have had a greater victory if they had more energy. 

2) The men sinned because they were so starving that when they could finally eat, they didn’t handle the meat properly and ate the blood (Genesis 9:4, Leviticus 17).

3) Saul almost killed his son Jonathan who by faith in God provided victory for the Israelites. 

See, Saul has a position and a title but Jonathan has the respect and influence of the people which is far more impactful. Tomorrow Saul continues to show his disregard for the Book of the Law which he should be reading every day per the Lord’s instructions for a king (Deuteronomy 17:18-20). Keep reading to see how glory seeking Saul once again disobeys the Word of God. 

(1 Chronicles 9:35-39, 1 Samuel 13:1-5, 19-23, 6-18, 1 Samuel 14:1-52)

#bibleliteracymovement #chronologicalbibleteaching

Today we meet Saul from the small tribe of Benjamin and “There was not a more handsome person than he among the children of Israel. From his shoulders upward he was taller than any of the people.” Wow! 😍 The Israelites, who often make decisions based on sight, are going to love this guy!

While Saul is out looking for his dad’s lost donkeys he meets Samuel. “Now the Lord had told Samuel in his ear the day before Saul came, saying, ‘Tomorrow about this time I will send you a man from the land of Benjamin, and you shall anoint him commander over My people Israel, that he may save My people from the hand of the Philistines; for I have looked upon My people, because their cry has come to Me.’” So Samuel anoints Saul as king and sends him home. Samuel tells Saul that on his journey home he will have three God orchestrated encounters with one being an encounter with a group of prophets – “Then the Spirit of the Lord will come upon you, and you will prophesy with them and be turned into another man. And let it be, when these signs come to you, that you do as the occasion demands; for God is with you.”

“So it was, when he had turned his back to go from Samuel, that God gave him another heart; and all those signs came to pass that day.” Later, when Samuel gathers the tribes of Israel to announce Saul as their king, Saul is nowhere to be found. The Lord reveals to the people that Saul is hiding behind the equipment. 🤔 Sort of a cowardly move for a tall handsome king. Anyway, Samuel presents Saul as their new king and the people shout, “Long live the king!”

When the Amorites threatened the children of Israel “the Spirit of God came upon Saul when he heard the news, and his anger was greatly aroused.  So he took a yoke of oxen and cut them in pieces, and sent them throughout all the territory of Israel by the hands of messengers, saying, ‘Whoever does not go out with Saul and Samuel to battle, so it shall be done to his oxen.’” This is a similar tactic that was used against his own tribe in the Judges Era when the Levite chopped up his dead concubine and sent her pieces out to all of Israel to call them to battle against the tribe of Benjamin. 

So Israel goes on to defeat the Ammorites and the people gather at Gilgal to rejoice and offer sacrifices to the Lord. Then Samuel gives a farewell address to transition his leadership of the people over to their new king Saul. He reminds the people of God’s faithfulness in the same way as Moses and Joshua did by telling the amazing Story of the Lord! – “When Jacob had gone into Egypt, and your fathers cried out to the Lord, then the Lord sent Moses and Aaron, who brought your fathers out of Egypt and made them dwell in this place. And when they forgot the Lord their God, He sold them…into the hand of the Philistines, and into the hand of the king of Moab..Then they cried out to the Lord…And the Lord sent Jerubbaal, Bedan, Jephthah, and Samuel, and delivered you out of the hand of your enemies on every side; and you dwelt in safety…And when you saw that Nahash king of the Ammonites came against you, you said to me, ‘No, but a king shall reign over us,’ when the Lord your God was your king.’”  

Samuel concludes by saying that the Lord has given the people what they wanted, a king. But Samuel warns the people – “If you fear the Lord and serve Him and obey His voice, and do not rebel against the commandment of the Lord, then both you and the king who reigns over you will continue following the Lord your God. However, if you do not obey the voice of the Lord, but rebel against the commandment of the Lord, then the hand of the Lord will be against you, as it was against your fathers.” 

Samuel tells the people that they were wicked in rejecting the Lord and asking for a king but he ends his speech with a word of hope – “Do not fear. You have done all this wickedness; yet do not turn aside from following the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart. And do not turn aside; for then you would go after empty things which cannot profit or deliver, for they are nothing. For the Lord will not forsake His people, for His great name’s sake, because it has pleased the Lord to make you His people. Moreover, as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord in ceasing to pray for you; but I will teach you the good and the right way. Only fear the Lord, and serve Him in truth with all your heart; for consider what great things He has done for you. But if you still do wickedly, you shall be swept away, both you and your king.”

Will Saul be a king who fears the Lord and obeys His commandments? Keep reading to find out. 

(1 Samuel 9:1-12:25)

#bibleliteracymovement#chronologicalbibleteaching

A messenger tells ninety-eight years old Eli that his two sons have been killed in battle and that the ark of God has been taken. At the news of the ark of God, Eli falls off his chair, breaks his neck, and dies. The shock of the news sends Eli’s pregnant daughter-n-law into labor and she gives birth to a son. Before she dies she names her son Ichabod saying, “‘The glory has departed from Israel!’ because the ark of God had been captured and because of her father-in-law and her husband.”

Ok, so you can’t just disregard the Lord and take the ark of God with no repercussions. The Philistines discover this once the Lord sends a plague upon them. He inflicts them with tumors, which many theologians think are hemorrhoids, and rats cover the land. The Lord also decapitates their beloved false god Dagon. Well this is a real pain in the rear for the Philistines. So after seven months of moving the ark of God around and experiencing tumors and death everywhere the ark goes, the Philistines decide to return the ark. They inquire of their priests and diviners who tell them to load the ark on a cart with a trespass offering of five golden tumors and five golden rats representing the five Philistine rulers – “Therefore you shall make images of your tumors and images of your rats that ravage the land, and you shall give glory to the God of Israel; perhaps He will lighten His hand from you, from your gods, and from your land.”

The cows, miraculously guided by the Lord, pull the ark back to Israel to the field of Joshua at Beth Shemesh. After a mishap there related to mishandling the ark, the people of Beth Shemesh have the ark of God taken to Abinadab’s house in Kirjarh Jearim and consecrate his son Eleazar to keep the ark of the Lord. It will remain there until King David brings it to Jerusalem later in the Story.

The prophet Samuel is now serving as judge and priest of Israel. Twenty years after the ark is in Kirjarh Jearim, Samuel tells the people, who continue to slip into idolatry, to “return to the Lord with all your hearts, then put away the foreign gods and the Ashtoreths from among you, and prepare your hearts for the Lord, and serve Him only; and He will deliver you from the hand of the Philistines.” When the people repent inwardly with their hearts and then outwardly by turning from foreign gods, the Lord provides victory over the Philistines.

“Now it came to pass when Samuel was old that he made his sons judges over Israel. The name of his firstborn was Joel, and the name of his second, Abijah; they were judges in Beersheba. But his sons did not walk in his ways; they turned aside after dishonest gain, took bribes, and perverted justice.” 🤦‍♀️ I guess Samuel didn’t learn from Eli and his corrupt sons. Anyway, because of Samuel’s sons’ wickedness, the people ask Samuel to give them a king like the nations around them. God tells Samuel to give the people what they want “for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me, that I should not reign over them.” But first, the Lord tells Samuel to warn the people about what will happen when they have a king. God says the king will take your sons, take your daughters, take your fields, take your grain and vintage, take your servants, and take your livestock. That’s a lot of taking but the people don’t care, they still want a king. Keep reading because tomorrow the Lord gives the people what they want.

(1 Samuel 4:12-8:22)

#bibleliteracymovement #chronologicalbibleteaching

While in Shiloh at the tabernacle, Hannah cries and prays to the Lord for a male child. She makes a vow to the Lord saying if He will give her a son she will dedicate him back to the Lord as a Nazarite. Eli, the high priest, saw her lips moving but heard no sound and assumed she was drunk. 😏 Sometimes hurting women are misunderstood, even by the leaders in the church. But Hannah, whose hope in the Lord, responds graciously and once she explains herself, Eli says, “Go in peace, and the God of Israel grant you your petition which you have asked of Him.” So Hannah “went her way and ate, and her face was no longer sad.” 

Hannah bears a son and names him Samuel which means “God has heard” in Hebrew. Once Samuel is weaned she brings him to Eli in the house of the Lord at Shiloh where they give their offerings to the Lord. Hannah says, “For this child I prayed, and the Lord has granted my petition which I asked of Him. Therefore I also have lent him to the Lord, as long as he lives he shall be lent to the Lord.” Then Hannah prays a beautiful prayer magnifying the Lord. It is much like the prayer Mary will say when she is pregnant with our Savior (Luke 1:46-55). Hannah’s prayer begins with – “My heart rejoices in the Lord; My horn is exalted in the Lord. I smile at my enemies, because I rejoice in Your salvation.” I bet Hannah is thinking about that mean church girl, Elkanah’s other wife, Peninnah. When our eyes are fixed on the Lord, we can smile in the face of our enemies knowing that “the Lord makes poor and makes rich; He brings low and lifts up. He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the beggar from the ash of heap, to set them among princes and make them inherit the throne of glory.”

Eli’s own sons, Hophni and Phinehas, “were corrupt; they did not know the Lord.” Wait. But they are priests. Is this possible?! 🤔 Jesus will later tell us to “Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves” (Matthew 7:15). Yep. That sounds like these guys because they are saving the best offerings to the Lord for themselves and sleeping with the women who come to worship at the tabernacle. The Lord does not take this lightly. In His own timing and in His own way, He will deal with all the wolves in sheep’s clothing just like He does with Eli’s sons in today’s reading. The Lord tells Eli regarding his two sons, “in one day they shall die, both of them. Then I will raise up for Myself a faithful priest who shall do according to what is in My heart and in My mind. I will build him a sure house, and he shall walk before My anointed forever.” We will see partial fulfillment of this promise through Samuel but the final fulfillment will come through the ultimate High Priest Jesus Christ. 

“So Samuel grew, and the Lord was with him and let none of his words fall to the ground.” Then during a battle against the Philistines, “There was a very great slaughter…the ark of God was captured; and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, died.” Tomorrow Eli gets the bad news about his sons and the stolen ark and the Philistines become eager to return the ark. Keep reading to find out why. 

(1 Samuel 1:9-4:11)

#bibleliteracymovement #chronologicalbibleteaching

Today Boaz and Ruth have a son named Obed and the women all say to Naomi, “Blessed be the Lord, who has not left you this day without a close relative; and may his name be famous in Israel! And may he be to you a restorer of life and a nourisher of your old age; for your daughter-in-law, who loves you, who is better to you than seven sons, has borne him.” Obed becomes the father of Jesse who becomes the father of King David landing a former widow Moabite woman, Ruth, in the lineage of Jesus Christ! So Naomi goes from calling herself Mara back to Naomi and the Lord continues working His plan through His people. This concludes the Judges Era. 🎉

The Kingdom Era begins with genealogies connecting the Story:

• Creation Era- After the fall, we learned that the Lord is sending a Savior to restore man’s broken relationship with Him. The Savior is coming through Adam’s son Seth. Ten generations after Adam we met Noah, a descendant of Seth, who was saved by grace through faith during the flood. 
• Patriarch Era – Ten generations after Noah we met the first patriarch, Abraham who is father to Isaac and grandfather to Jacob. We learned that the Messiah will be coming through Jacob’s son Judah. 
• Conquest Era – During the battle of Jericho we met the Canaanite harlot Rahab who went on to marry Salmon, a descendant of Judah. Rahab and Salmon are parents to Boaz. 
• Judges Era – Boaz married Ruth and they had a son named Obed. 

In the Kingdom Era we will meet Obed’s son, Jesse, and grandson, David. David will grow to be the mighty King David and the Lord will continue to work His plan through his lineage. 

But first is the story of Hannah, a barren woman. Her husband, Elkanah, has another wife, Peninnah, who has borne him children. This family goes every year to worship at Shiloh. At this time in the Story, Eli is the high priest and his wicked sons, Hophni and Phinehas, are priests. Peninnah, “a mean church girl”, makes Hannah miserable by tormenting her because “the Lord had closed her womb. So it was, year by year, when she went up to the house of the Lord, that she provoked her; therefore she wept and did not eat.”

We have learned that the Lord is the one who opens the womb in His timing to accomplish His purposes as He did with Sarah, Rebekah, and Rachael. Will He do the same for Hannah? Keep reading to find out.

(Ruth 4:13-22, 1 Chronicles 2:9-55, 1 Chronicles 4:1-23, 1 Smauel 1:1-8)

#bibleliteracymovement#chronologicalbibleteaching

14 Eras:

Creation Era (Gen 1:1-11:26)✅

Patriarch Era (Gen 11:27-50:26 and Job)✅

Exodus Era (Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy) ✅

Conquest Era (Joshua) ✅

Judges Era (Judges, Ruth) ✅

Kingdom Era (1,2 Samuel, 1 Chronicles, 2 Chronicles 1-9, 1 Kings 1-11, various Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon) is up now!

Eras to follow:

Divided Kingdom, Captivity, Return, Silent, Gospel, Church, Missions, and End Times/New Beginnings