Bent Oak Church

John places Mary Magdolene at the center of the reserection story. It's not coincedence. Mary's story sets in place a reserection experience that we discover in our own lives

David had already been anointed king, but the story doesn't follow the plot we have come to expect. Where are the battles, the intrigue, the assassination, revolution?Instead, David becomes a musician performing for the crazed and rejected King Saul. But a story is developing beneath the surface—one David couldn't even realize.

David enters the story halfway through the book of 1 Samuel. David's story will pick up, just as Saul's is coming undone.But David's story can be hard to read. We have heard it so many times, we tend to read what we want and move too quickly past the parts that make us uncomfortable. There is plenty to make us uncomfortable.David's story is complicated. But we learn from his introduction, his story teaches us to come to terms with our own complexities.

Chapter 15 is Saul's final chapter. He will continue to be king for years to come, but it won't be under God's authority. It will be an empty title. An empty title for an empty man. Saul's life has been hollowed out. The image is still there. He still has is reputation and his self-delusions, but there is little that remains interested in God and faithfulness.

Saul's world is unraveling. He is becoming desperate, even paranoid. Convinced he needs to be at the center of the victory he is watching, Saul again rushes to action. This time a forced fast he forces on his army.It will come with difficult consequences, but it teaches us about our own desperate need to stay in control.

The story of Jonathan and his armor bearer's assault on the Philistine garrison is one of the greatest in scripture. You can't help but be amazed at their courage.But this is still Saul's story; Jonathan's faith only highlights Saul's unraveling power. The two teach us about true courage and our own willingness to take risks.

As well as things seemed to be going for Saul, chapter 13 brings it all to an abrupt halt. Things are unraveling. Saul's army is deserting. The Israelites fleeing out of the promise land. And Saul is desperate.He waits as long as he can for Samuel, but finally, is overcome by the pressure of the moment and offers the sacrifice himself. It seems like a small sin to us—impatience. But for it Saul will lose is crown. How can that be?

Saul is shaping up to be a great king. He looks the part. Is spiritual life seems to be flourishing and he is about to lead Israel in one of its greatest victories over the Ammonites. But more is going on than we first see. Israel sees all the good times as proof of a king's benefit. They draw the wrong conclusions and end up drifting away from God.

Finally, we get introduced to Saul. He will be crowned the first king of Israel. He looks every bit a king: tall, dark, from an aristocratic family. By all appearances, Saul is exactly what everyone had been hoping for.Saul was exactly what Israel had asked for—a king like all the other nations. He would become an object lesson in the consequences of self-rule and pragmatism.

Chapter 8 is one of the most important events in Israel's history. Their demand for a king would set off a roller coaster ride of achievements and brutalizing oppression that would stretch across a significant part of the Old Testament. Ultimately it would cost Isreal so much of the peace and rest God had restored.Worse than the outcome, God recognized their request was really a rejection of him as their king.