Judges 18
In Judges 18, the Danite tribe was looking for land to settle in and sent five men to scout the territory. They arrived at Micah’s house in Ephraim and met the young Levite who was serving as his priest ...
Judges 17
In Judges 17, Micah, a man from the hill country of Ephraim, returns 1,100 pieces of silver to his mother and admits that he stole it. His mother blesses him and consecrates the silver to the Lord to make a ...
Judges 16
In Judges 16, Samson visits Gaza and sleeps with a prostitute. The Philistines plan to ambush him, but Samson escapes by tearing out the city gates and carrying them to the top of a mountain ...
Judges 15
In Judges 15, Samson visited his wife (from Judges 14) but found that her father had given her to another man.. He offered Samson her younger sister instead. This further enraged Samson and in ...
Judges 14
In Judges 14, Samson saw a Philistine woman in Timnah and demanded his parents arrange the marriage, despite their objections. They did not realize this was part of God's plan to confront the ...
Judges 13
In Judges 13, the Israelites did evil in God's sight yet again. God allowed the Philistines to oppress them for 40 years. An angel appeared to the barren wife of Manoah, a man from the tribe of Dan, and told her
Judges 10
In Judges 10, Tola from the tribe of Issachar led Israel for 23 years and was buried at Shamir. Jair from Gilead then led Israel for 22 years, having 30 sons who each rode a donkey and controlled 30 cities in ...
Judges 3
Judges 3 describes how the Lord left certain nations in Canaan to test Israel. These foreign nations would help determine Israel's faithfulness to His commands. Despite this, the Israelites intermarried with the surrounding nations and adopted their ...
Joshua 18
Joshua 18 - Spiritually, Shiloh is an important landmark for worship during this time period. In both Judges and Samuel, we see special worship take place at this location. This would also be the location God would ...
Joshua 13
Joshua 13 - As you read through the inheritance distributed to the different tribes, you will notice that the Levites receive no land. It is mentioned twice in this chapter. Only to the tribe of Levi he ...
Joshua 12
Joshua 12 - Joshua 12 lists the 31 kings defeated by the Israelites during their conquest of Canaan. The chapter divides the victories into two regions: the lands east of the Jordan, conquered by Moses and given to the Reubenites, ...
Jeremiah 47
Jeremiah 47 - The sword of the Lord now comes against the Philistines just as he came against the Egyptians in the previous chapter. In the grand scheme of what has happened here, it is a stunning ...
1 Chronicles 14
1 Chronicles 14 - Following on the same theme from 1 Chronicles 13, we now see David correcting his previous error. He engages in two battles against the Philistines. In both situations, he directly consults the Lord ...
1 Chronicles 10
1 Chronicles 10 - The Philistines Who were the Philistines? They were sea-faring people who immigrated from the island of Crete. According to archeology digs, it is speculated that the Philistines were heavy drinkers with heavy weapons. ...
Isaiah 20
Isaiah 20 - Let's first set the stage. Coming on the heels of Isaiah 19 and the oracle concerning Egypt, we now see the unfolding of God's judgment. King Sargon of Assyria orders his commander to invade ...
Exodus 13
Exodus 13 - The way God led was definitely the "road less traveled." The people did not go directly toward Canaan. There were traditionally three main routes from Egypt to Asia. The most ...
2 Samuel 21
2 Samuel 21 - King David was seemingly indestructible. He was a beast on the battlefield and a musician at heart. Although his sins are well-documented, it is a fact that David was blessed with many gifts ...
2 Samuel 6
2 Samuel 6 - Familiarity can often produce deadly results. It was Jesus who proclaimed he could do no miracles in his hometown because of their familiarity. It was familiarity that caused Jesus' brothers to initially discard ...
2 Samuel 1
2 Samuel 1 - There are three versions of Saul's death mentioned in Scripture and one of them is found here in 2 Samuel 1. Death Reference #1 1 Samuel 31:4 GNB He said to the young ...
1 Samuel 31
1 Samuel 31 - Let's do a quick recap. In desperation, Saul traveled to see a witch who brought back Samuel from the dead and predicted Saul's death the next day. Today is the next day. Also ...
1 Samuel 30
1 Samuel 30 - David returns to Zikleg, where he had fled from Saul only to find that while he and his men were gone, the Amalekites had come and raided their city. They burned the place ...
1 Samuel 29
1 Samuel 29 - Can you imagine David fighting against his friends and family? Can you imagine him going to war with his best friend, Jonathan? Jesus speaks in Revelation to the church at Laodicea with strong, ...
1 Samuel 28
1 Samuel 28 - I've always had lots of questions about 1 Samuel 28. Was David actually going to fight with the Philistines? Why did Saul think that he could contact Samuel through a witch? Was it ...
1 Samuel 27
1 Samuel 27 - The life of David is not all sunshine and rainbows. Though he was a man after God's own heart, he was still human. Here in 1 Samuel 27, he makes a controversial decision. ...
1 Samuel 23
1 Samuel 23 - All Saul cares about is killing David. He doesn't care about worshiping God. He doesn't care about hearing from God. He doesn't want to follow God. Yet, he justifies his actions by using ...
1 Samuel 18
1 Samuel 18 - “Saul has slain his thousands,And David his ten thousands.” The wording here says that "all cities in Israel" had women who danced and sang to this tune. It was literally a Billboard Top ...
1 Samuel 14
1 Samuel 14 - Those who are dialed into the Spirit are sensitive to the timing of the Lord. In 1 Samuel 14, Jonathan demonstrated that kind of dialed-in mindset. Unfortunately, Saul operated on his own timing. ...
1 Samuel 13
1 Samuel 13 - Here in 1 Samuel 13, we see the battle between the Philistines and the Israelites begin when Jonathan decides to attack a Philistine garrison. Up until this point, the Israelites were at peace ...
1 Samuel 9
1 Samuel 9 - Saul had everything going for him. He came from a family of prominence and wealth. His father was most likely a feudal lord - a landowner and a leader in times of war. ...
1 Samuel 7
1 Samuel 7 - Coming off the heels of their defeat to the Philistines, Samuel would bring forth a challenge. Often in our weakest moments is when God's voice will speak the loudest. God had stirred their ...
1 Samuel 6
1 Samuel 6 - 7 months. 7 months of terror, suffering, and death. The Philistines experienced the white-hot flame of God's fiery judgment. This was their encounter with the Living God because He will not share His ...
1 Samuel 5
1 Samuel 5 - There are times when God uses circumstances to demolish the false gods that we all cling to. Initially, we tend to make excuses and stick with the status quo. This is especially true ...
1 Samuel 4
1 Samuel 4 - Israel goes to war with the Philistines. "Never did time seem more hopeless than when Samuel arose. The Philistines, strengthened not merely by a constant influx of immigrants, but by the importation of ...
1 Samuel 1
1 Samuel 1 - Historically, Israel was on the ropes. The Philistines were growing and becoming stronger because of their modern Greek military technology. They were the first in the region to discover and use iron, and ...
2 Kings 8
2 Kings 8 - The pattern of Elisha's service to the Lord consistently reflects the act of leading others to a spiritual mind. There was the birth and healing of the Shunammite woman's son, the enlightening of ...
Amos 1
Amos 1 - Nelson's Commentary gives an informative but concise background on the book of Amos. "The Lord sent Amos, a Judean, to Bethel to prophesy of coming judgment on Israel. But in Bethel, Amos faced a ...
Psalm 56
Psalm 56 - In his book "Happiness," Randy Alcorn writes, “I think it’s fair to say that many Christians don’t believe God is happy. If we did believe it, wouldn’t we be happier?” “Sometimes we read Scripture ...
Psalm 53
Psalm 53 - When God looks down from heaven at humanity, He's not looking at innocent people. He's looking at guilty people who love evil. People love their sin. This is why the sin problem had no ...
Ezekiel 25
Ezekiel 25 - It's easy to read the first 24 chapters of Ezekiel and think that God is only concerned with punishing His own people. This is not the case. He has demonstrated from the beginning of ...