1 Samuel 15:1-3 | Food for Thought

 

1 Samuel 15:1-3

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Food for Thought:

  • Your Reactions. Reading commands like this hit different people different ways. Some might find it comforting or encouraging that God is jealous for the safety of his people and won’t let the wickedness of our enemies stand. Others might find the universal scope of his justice - women, children, property - disturbing, as if it’s cruel and unusual punishment.

    • How do you react to commands like this in the Scriptures?

    • Consider why that’s your reaction. What values, filters, definitions of justice, fairness, etc. lead your head and heart to having that reaction? Do any of them conflict / compete with one another?

    • God and people are different. But does that make a difference in this situation? Why or why not?

  • Similar Situations. This isn’t the first time God enacts judgment against the enemies of his people. While no two situations are exactly the same, the same ideas, values, principles, and powers might be in play. Considering how we react differently - or not! - to similar situations can help us sort through our thoughts and feelings. Think about:

    • The great flood that wiped away a large swath of humanity - men, women, kids. (Noah’s ark in Genesis)

    • God’s plagues in Egypt, including the final one which killed firstborn children. (Moses and Pharaoh in Exodus)

    • Do any others come to mind? How does your reaction to these events compare or contrast to the one here in 1 Samuel 15? Why?

    • Shift gears for a second. Consider the death of Jesus, the only, truly innocent human to have walked the earth. It was both God’s plan and his enemies’ plan to put him to death. What’s your reaction to the crucifixion of Jesus in light of both of those truths? Does this muddy anything? Make anything clearer?

    • Consider yourself and your situation. What’s your reaction to God’s justice (or perceived lack thereof!) in your own life? What do you deserve from the Lord? What do you expect him to do about your enemies in the end? Is it fair for us to ask the Lord to not make his justice total? For him to work on our timeline?

  • God’s Nature. At the end of the day, a lot of the hardest things we read about in Scripture rattle us because they seem to hit at the nature and character of who God is. What God says and does is a reflection of who he is. Actions point to identity. “Is he really good if what he said in 1 Samuel 15?”

    • How do we answer that question? How do we assess God’s goodness? (That feels tricky!) What does God says is good?

    • How does the gospel of Jesus Christ demonstrate - through what God says, does, lives - who God really is in his biggest act of judgment, justice, grace, and mercy towards his people and the world?

    • The gospel isn’t a band-aid that answers every difficult thing. And yet it can be an assurance of who he really is - and what he’s really willing to do - to find justice for his people. Not the taking of others’ lives, but the giving of his own. How comfortable are you with living in the tension between hard truths and easy truths? Bad news and good news?

    • What steps can you take - reading, listening, learning - to help you intellectually engage the realities the bible paints, even when it’s hard?

 
1 SamuelScott O'Donohoe