FLCBenton, Congregational Podcast

1 Samuel 12:1–25, Samuel defends his leadership, and steps back from leading Israel to make way for Saul, the newly anointed king; Samuel comments on the meaning of Israel asking for a king in the first place; Acts 22:30–23:11, Paul before the Sanhedrin, and yet another riot! The Lord comforts Paul, but Paul will remain incarcerated for the remainder of the book of Acts.

1 Samuel 10:1–27, we learn a little bit more about Saul; regarding the first military mission Saul is to undertake, he is instructed to wait for Samuel before attacking the philistines; Saul’s election by God is made public; Acts 22:17–29, Paul concludes his defense before the Jews, and at the mention of the word “Gentiles,” the crowd again goes wild!

1 Samuel 9:1–27, we are introduced to Saul, God’s choice to be the first king of a United Israel; Acts 21:37–22:16, Paul, having just been rescued from the mob that formed around him at the temple, now is given permission to speak in his own defense by the Roman soldier who was protecting him.

1 Samuel 8:1–22, what kind of a king does Israel want? If it’s such a bad idea, why does God grant their request? Acts 21:15–36, Paul’s reputation in Jerusalem. precedes him; the apostles’ plan to mollify the Jews in Jerusalem, a plan that does not work!

1 Samuel 6:19–7:17, Samuel, the judge, and his “Ebeneezer” — his stone of help; Acts 19:1–22, the centerpiece of the third missionary journey, Paul in the city of Ephesus. Paul’s plans to return to Jerusalem, and then to go to Rome.

1 Samuel 5:1–6:3, 10–16, the Lord humiliates the god of the philistines, and torments the people themselves, until they return the ark to the Israelites; Acts 18:1–11, 23–28, skipping over Paul in Thessalonica and Berea and Athens, we focus on Paul in Corinth. Also, we jump from the second to the third missionary journeys (and if I didn’t tell you, you probably wouldn’t of seen it)!

1 Samuel 4:1–22, the presumptuous Israelites bring the ark of the covenant to the battlefield against the philistines, and it’s captured! We’ll talk about the significance of that; Acts 16:23–40, the conversion of the Philippian jailer, and Paul asserts his Roman citizenship after being illegally beaten by the authorities.

1 Samuel 3:1–21, the long drought of visions and prophecy ends when the Lord calls Samuel; Acts 16:1–22, Paul picks up a couple of companions on the second missionary journey, Timothy, and Luke. After revisiting the congregations in Galatia, they make their way to Philippi in Macedonia.

First, Samuel 2:18–36, Eli and his sons are judged by God, Samuel continues to grow in favor with the Lord; Acts 15:22–41, the apostolic council wraps up with a letter which was presented to the church in Antioch, and the second missionary journey begins with an argument between Paul and Barnabas over Mark.

First, Samuel 1:21–2:17, Hannah’s song, the Magnificat, Samuel raised among the priests at the tabernacle, and the importance of Shiloh; Galatians 6:1–18, we finish Paul’s letter to the Galatians. “Neither circumcision, nor Uncircumcision, counts for anything – but a new creation!” A fine summary of how Christians should view the law of Moses.

First, Samuel 1:1–20, the table is set for the appearance of the last, and the greatest of the judges, Samuel, a very different kind of Judge than Sampson! Galatians 5:1–26, “for freedom Christ has set us free“— free from what? Free for what?

Judges 16:4–30, Samson and Delilah considered. Samson: such promise, such a disappointment, what does it all mean? Galatians 4:12–31, Paul continues to contrast the law of Moses, and the new covenant.

Judges 15:1–16:3, Samson and the philistines go back and forth, a tit for tat; Galatians 3:23–4:11, the Jews were children of God by faith, who, for a time were under the guardianship of the law of Moses. But now that the Christ has come, the guardianship of the law of Moses is no longer necessary, either for the Jews who have come to Christ, or for the Gentiles!

Judges 14:1–20, we meet the man Sampson, a strange hero indeed; Galatians 3:1–22, Paul explains his theology, the relationship between the promise of God to save, which come to us in words, and which we are to believe, and the Commandments of God, which those who believe the promise, and are therefore saved, are to do.

Exodus 25:1 -22, describing the construction of the tabernacle, and its purpose to allow God to dwell in the midst of the people; the mercy seat; Luke 5:17–39, the healing of a paralytic, the calling of Matthew, and the friction between what is old and what is new

Job 36:1-21 (and also, Job 38, and Job 42:7). This is the last reading before Ash Wednesday this year, so I bring in readings from March 6th and the 9th, which feature God's own response to the dialogs we have been following. John 11:38-57. Caiaphas, the cynical unbelieving high priests, speaks the truth and utter prophecy!

Job 34:10-33. Elihu posits that Job is standing in judgment of God, and will only allow God to judge in a matter that suits job! John 11:17-37. I am the Resurrection and the Life. "Do you believe this?" means "Is this not true?" Also addressed in this narrative is the question of whether death really marks a boundary beyond which even Jesus cannot reach.

Job 33:19-34:9. Elihu brings up the special case of God being unjust by extending mercy to sinners who don't deserve it, but his assumption is that the suffering from which they were rescued was well deserved! John 11:1-16. The great miracle of the raising of Lazarus is set up in today's reading, with a look-back to the healing of the man born blind in chapter 9.

Job 33:1-18. Elihu, with great self-confidence, launches into his attack and makes the same fundamental mistake as the other three made. John 10:22-42. "I and the Father are one." More about why Jesus should be believed: His Words, His deeds, and the witness of John.

Job 31:1-12, 33-40; Job 32:1-22. Job completes his defense, essentially saying that while calamity is for the wicked, in fact it doesn't always work out that way. Then Elihu, angry at Job and angry at Job's friends, take up the task of refuting Job. John 9:24-41; John 10:1-21. A simple, uneducated, formally blind man now sees clearly. Then Jesus breaks out what is for us Christians one of...

Job 30:16-31. Job finishes his self-defense. Job doesn't blame God for injustice, but he cannot help but to take God's treatment of him personally. John 9:1-23. The disciples speak like Job's friends spoke! Jesus' response gives a whole new way to understand suffering among us.

Job 21:1-21. Rather than defending his own innocence, Job takes another tack to explore the injustices of this life: What about the wicked who prosper? He challenges his friends honestly to wrestle with that! John 8:39-59. Jesus makes one of His most dramatic and, to His foes outrageous, statements: "Before Abraham was, I Am!"

Job 20:1-23, 29. It's not that what Job's friends say is altogether wrong, but that they apply their truths mechanically, leaving no room for Job's innocence or the mystery of God. John 8:21-38. In order to know, we must believe; in order to believe, we must know. And what must we know and believe? The significance of Jesus' being lifted up, to take away the sins of the world and t...

Job 19:1-12, 21-27. A climax to Job's crying out: "I know that my Redeemer lives!" John 8:1-20. Jesus is challenged with the word of God through Moses. "So, what do you say?" Jesus appeals to a higher principle than justice. He appeals to mercy.

Job 18:1-21. Bildad asks Job if the whole world ought to move aside to make room for his personal opinion . John 7:32-53. Officers are sent to arrest Jesus, but are too impressed with Him to do it. Meanwhile, the people continue to debate whether Jesus could possibly be the longed for Christ, while their leaders assure them He could not be.