Samuel being dedicated to the service of the LORD and presented to his Father the High Priest
When I first learned how to read in the 1st Grade in 1950, the 1st Book I read cover to cover was the Bible. I loved the history, the trials and tribulations of the ‘people of God,’ the miracles, the kings, the wars, the palace intrigues, the rebellions, the sex, the hookers, and all the other things people do.
One of my favourite stories is about Joseph my namesake, who was abandoned in a well by his jealous brothers, the sons of Jacob-Israel, the Patriarchs of the Tribes of Israel, lying to Jacob their Father saying he was killed by a wild animal the blood soaked Coat of Many Colours Jacob gave him as his 1st Love Child that that turned his brother’s jealousy into murderous rage.
Rescued by a Caravan on the way to Egypt and being smart Joseph found work managing the affairs of a rich Egyptian. His wife had the hots for Joseph and tried every way to get him in her bed but he refused. Eventually, as the scorned woman, she cried rape, and Joseph was sentenced to 10 years in prison for a rape he didn’t commit, and even in that unfair and unjust situation, he maintained his integrity and Faith in God and persevered.
Ultimately, he became Prime Minister in Egypt. That was good for Pharaoh, Joseph and his Family, including his brothers who left him for dead.
Hundreds of years later, when no one remembered Joseph, his Family descendants were the slaves in the Egyptian economy. Moses, taking the Hebrew slaves out of Egypt, represented the 1st Labour Movement in a sense.
There is a lot of good guy vs bad guy in the Book, but Jesus, in my young mind, was the ultimate good guy and my Hero!
There is nothing humans do today, that someone hadn’t already done thousands of years ago, and is recorded in the Book somewhere. The only thing that has changed, is the face of the Economy within which we live at different levels and stations, and all the stuff that is available these Days, like no generation ever had before in human history. Sometimes it seems there are so many things to want, people have lost sight of what they really need.
This week, I revisited 1 Samuel 8 of the Old Testament, the record of events some 3100 years ago when Israel the Nation did not exist, and only the remnants of Jacob-Israel the man, the ‘People of God’ remained.
Samuel was a religious hero in the history of Israel, represented in every role of leadership open to a Jewish man of his day—seer, priest, judge, prophet, and military leader.
As he was getting older, he appointed his two sons to be Judges in Israel, but ‘his sons did not walk in his ways, and they turned after gain, and they took bribes and perverted justice.’
The Elders of Israel came to Samuel and said, “Behold, you have grown old, and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now, set up for us a king to judge us like all the nations.”
Samuel was not pleased getting that request and prayed to God about it, who answered, “Listen to the voice of the people, according to all that they will say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me from reigning over them.” And now, listen to their voice; except that you shall warn them, and tell them the manner of the king, who will reign over them.
The king who will reign over you; he will take your sons, and appoint them to himself for his chariots and for his horsemen, and they will run before his chariots. And he will appoint them to himself commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and to plow his plowing and to reap his harvest, and to make his weapons and the equipment for his chariots. And he will take your daughters for his perfumers, for cooks, and for bakers.
And he will take the best of your fields, your vineyards, and your olive trees, and will give them to his slaves. And he will tithe your grain crops and your vineyards, and he will give them to his officers and his slaves. And he will take your male and female slaves, and your handsomest youths and your asses, and put them to his work. And he will tithe your flocks, and you will be slaves to him.
And you will cry out on that day because of your king, whom you will have chosen for yourselves, and the Lord will not answer you on that day.
And the people refused to listen to Samuel’s voice, and they said, “No, but there shall be a king over us. And also we shall be like all the nations, and our king will judge us, go forth before us and wage our wars.
For those with a little bit of imagination who can extrapolate, this is the Power Structure or “THE SYSTEM” we have with the kings ruling over us to this very Day.
What about the kings of the earth these Days? The Bible’s Book of Revelation is about things that could be seen unfolding in Today’s material world, and this is where the kings are at:
And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. (false beliefs about God in Judaism, Christianity & Islam, and the People)
For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth (the 1%, Presidents, Prime Ministers, CEOs, and other Idols of the People) and of the whole world, (the rest of us) to gather them to the Battle of that Great Day of God Almighty. (the escalating war between the 3 monotheistic religions)
Behold, I come as a thief. (when you least expect it) Blessed is he that watches, and keeps his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.
And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon. Revelation 16
In the Hebrew tongue, Armageddon was derived from Har Megiddo, located in occupied Judea and Samaria in Roman Palestine 2000 years ago. The Kingdom of Israel had disappeared from among the Nations of that area some 1000 years earlier.
Har Megiddo/Armageddon still exists as a physical place, but is now located in temporal Israel recreated from the Bible after an absence of some 3000 years.
Since the concept of Armageddon entered human consciousness 2000 years ago, Nations and Empires have appeared and disappeared in this world. There have been innumerable wars of conquest, invasion, occupation and resistance in all that time.
It should be a wonder, at least, to all thinking people, with all that bloody and violent human history, how it came to be, the occupation of Judea and Samaria in Palestine is still one of this world’s explosive issues in the Middle East?
