O. Addison Gethers e-mail address : [email protected] or [email protected] window live messenger: [email protected] aim: durangoadd64 skype: cowboys62 yahoo messenger: OADDISONGETHERS
----- Original Message ----- From: "Donnie Parrett" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Thursday, March 19, 2009 8:53 PM Subject: Daily Bible Reading For Friday March 20 >1 Samuel 4-6 (The Message) > > 1 Samuel 4 > > The Chest of God Is Taken > 1-3Whatever Samuel said was broadcast all through Israel. Israel went to > war against the > Philistines. Israel set up camp at Ebenezer, the Philistines at > Aphek. The Philistines marched out to meet Israel, the fighting spread, > and Israel was badly > beaten-about four thousand soldiers left dead on the field. > When the troops returned to camp, Israel's elders said, "Why has God given > us such a beating today > by the Philistines? Let's go to Shiloh and get the Chest > of God's Covenant. It will accompany us and save us from the grip of our > enemies." > > 4 So the army sent orders to Shiloh. They brought the Chest of the > Covenant of God, the > God-of-the-Angel-Armies, the Cherubim-Enthroned-God. Eli's two > sons, Hophni and Phinehas, accompanied the Chest of the Covenant of God. > > 5-6 When the Chest of the Covenant of God was brought into camp, everyone > gave a huge cheer. The > shouts were like thunderclaps shaking the very ground. > The Philistines heard the shouting and wondered what on earth was going > on: "What's all this > shouting among the Hebrews?" > > 6-9 Then they learned that the Chest of God had entered the Hebrew camp. > The Philistines panicked: > "Their gods have come to their camp! Nothing like this > has ever happened before. We're done for! Who can save us from the > clutches of these supergods? > These are the same gods who hit the Egyptians with all > kinds of plagues out in the wilderness. On your feet, Philistines! > Courage! We're about to become > slaves to the Hebrews, just as they have been slaves > to us. Show what you're made of! Fight for your lives!" > > 10-11 And did they ever fight! It turned into a rout. They thrashed Israel > so mercilessly that the > Israelite soldiers ran for their lives, leaving behind > an incredible thirty thousand dead. As if that wasn't bad enough, the > Chest of God was taken and the > two sons of Eli-Hophni and Phinehas-were killed. > > Glory Is Exiled from Israel > 12-16 Immediately, a Benjaminite raced from the front lines back to > Shiloh. Shirt torn and face > smeared with dirt, he entered the town. Eli was sitting > on his stool beside the road keeping vigil, for he was extremely worried > about the Chest of God. > When the man ran straight into town to tell the bad news, > everyone wept. They were appalled. Eli heard the loud wailing and asked, > "Why this uproar?" The > messenger hurried over and reported. Eli was ninety-eight > years old then, and blind. The man said to Eli, "I've just come from the > front, barely escaping with > my life." > > "And so, my son," said Eli, "what happened?" > > 17 The messenger answered, "Israel scattered before the Philistines. The > defeat was catastrophic, > with enormous losses. Your sons Hophni and Phinehas died, > and the Chest of God was taken." > > 18 At the words, "Chest of God," Eli fell backward off his stool where he > sat next to the gate. Eli > was an old man, and very fat. When he fell, he broke > his neck and died. He had led Israel forty years. > > 19-20 His daughter-in-law, the wife of Phinehas, was pregnant and ready to > deliver. When she heard > that the Chest of God had been taken and that both her > father-in-law and her husband were dead, she went to her knees to give > birth, going into hard labor. > As she was about to die, her midwife said, "Don't > be afraid. You've given birth to a son!" But she gave no sign that she had > heard. > > 21-22 The Chest of God gone, father-in-law dead, husband dead, she named > the boy Ichabod > (Glory's-Gone), saying, "Glory is exiled from Israel since the > Chest of God was taken." > > 1 Samuel 5 > > Threatened with Mass Death > 1-2 Once the Philistines had seized the Chest of God, they took it from > Ebenezer to Ashdod, brought > it into the shrine of Dagon, and placed it alongside > the idol of Dagon. > > 3-5 Next morning when the citizens of Ashdod got up, they were shocked to > find Dagon toppled from > his place, flat on his face before the Chest of God. > They picked him up and put him back where he belonged. First thing the > next morning they found him > again, toppled and flat on his face before the Chest > of God. Dagon's head and arms were broken off, strewn across the entrance. > Only his torso was in one > piece. (That's why even today, the priests of Dagon > and visitors to the Dagon shrine in Ashdod avoid stepping on the > threshold.) > > 6 God was hard on the citizens of Ashdod. He devastated them by hitting > them with tumors. This > happened in both the town and the surrounding neighborhoods. > He let loose rats among them. Jumping from ships there, rats swarmed all > over the city! And everyone > was deathly afraid. > > 7-8 When the leaders of Ashdod saw what was going on, they decided, "The > chest of the god of Israel > has got to go. We can't handle this, and neither can > our god Dagon." They called together all the Philistine leaders and put it > to them: "How can we get > rid of the chest of the god of Israel?" > > The leaders agreed: "Move it to Gath." So they moved the Chest of the > God of Israel to Gath. > > 9 But as soon as they moved it there, God came down hard on that city, > too. It was mass hysteria! > He hit them with tumors. Tumors broke out on everyone > in town, young and old. > > 10-12 So they sent the Chest of God on to Ekron, but as the Chest was > being brought into town, the > people shouted in protest, "You'll kill us all by bringing > in this Chest of the God of Israel!" They called the Philistine leaders > together and demanded, "Get > it out of here, this Chest of the God of Israel. Send > it back where it came from. We're threatened with mass death!" For > everyone was scared to death when > the Chest of God showed up. God was already coming > down very hard on the place. Those who didn't die were hit with tumors. > All over the city cries of > pain and lament filled the air. > > 1 Samuel 6 > > Gold Tumors and Rats > 1-2 After the Chest of God had been among the Philistine people for seven > months, the Philistine > leaders called together their religious professionals, > the priests, and experts on the supernatural for consultation: "How can we > get rid of this Chest of > God, get it off our hands without making things worse? > Tell us!" > > 3 They said, "If you're going to send the Chest of the God of Israel back, > don't just dump it on > them. Pay compensation. Then you will be healed. After > you're in the clear again, God will let up on you. Why wouldn't he?" > > 4-6 "And what exactly would make for adequate compensation?" > > "Five gold tumors and five gold rats," they said, "to match the number > of Philistine leaders. > Since all of you-leaders and people-suffered the same > plague, make replicas of the tumors and rats that are devastating the > country and present them as an > offering to the glory of the God of Israel. Then maybe > he'll ease up and not be so hard on you and your gods, and on your > country. Why be stubborn like the > Egyptians and Pharaoh? God didn't quit pounding on > them until they let the people go. Only then did he let up. > > 7-9 "So here's what you do: Take a brand-new oxcart and two cows that have > never been in harness. > Hitch the cows to the oxcart and send their calves back > to the barn. Put the Chest of God on the cart. Secure the gold replicas of > the tumors and rats that > you are offering as compensation in a sack and set > them next to the Chest. Then send it off. But keep your eyes on it. If it > heads straight back home > to where it came from, toward Beth Shemesh, it is clear > that this catastrophe is a divine judgment, but if not, we'll know that > God had nothing to do with > it-it was just an accident." > > 10-12 So that's what they did: They hitched two cows to the cart, put > their calves in the barn, and > placed the Chest of God and the sack of gold rats and > tumors on the cart. The cows headed straight for home, down the road to > Beth Shemesh, straying > neither right nor left, mooing all the way. The Philistine > leaders followed them to the outskirts of Beth Shemesh. > > 13-15 The people of Beth Shemesh were harvesting wheat in the valley. They > looked up and saw the > Chest. Jubilant, they ran to meet it. The cart came into > the field of Joshua, a Beth Shemeshite, and stopped there beside a huge > boulder. The harvesters tore > the cart to pieces, then chopped up the wood and sacrificed > the cows as a burnt offering to God. The Levites took charge of the Chest > of God and the sack > containing the gold offerings, placing them on the boulder. > Offering the sacrifices, everyone in Beth Shemesh worshiped God most > heartily that day. > > 16 When the five Philistine leaders saw what they came to see, they > returned the same day to Ekron. > > 17-18 The five gold replicas of the tumors were offered by the Philistines > in compensation for the > cities of Ashdod, Gaza, Ashkelon, Gath, and Ekron. The > five gold rats matched the number of Philistine towns, both large and > small, ruled by the five > leaders. The big boulder on which they placed the Chest > of God is still there in the field of Joshua of Beth Shemesh, a landmark. > > If You Are Serious About Coming Back to God > 19-20 God struck some of the men of Beth Shemesh who, out of curiosity, > irreverently peeked into the > Chest of God. Seventy died. The whole town was in mourning, > reeling under the hard blow from God, and questioning, "Who can stand > before God, this holy God? And > who can we get to take this Chest off our hands?" > > 21 They sent emissaries to Kiriath Jearim, saying, "The Philistines have > returned the Chest of God. > Come down and get it." > > > Please join us on Skype Monday thru Friday at 8:00 EST for our Morning > Skype Prayer Time. > > > Contact Me At: > Donnie Parrett > 1956 Asa Flat Road > Annville, Kentucky 40402 > Home Phone: 606-364-3321 > Church Phone: 606-364-PRAY > Skype Name: Donnie1261 > Email: [email protected] > > --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Deaf-Blind Inspirational Life Group" group. 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