Did God want Israel to have a king or not? This is one of the biggest issues that scholars and theologians have been debating for centuries. And it all boils down to how one interprets the books of Samuel and then later Kings. On the one hand, Saul being made a king seems to have […]

How would you define a Biblical prophet? If I asked most people that question, they’d say a “prophet” is a person who has divine power to predict the future with 100% accuracy. And then famous prophets such as Isaiah, Jeremiah or Ezekiel would probably come to mind. But here’s the thing. The Jewish sages categorized […]

Before we start diving deep into 1 Samuel, there’s a crucial lesson from the book of Judges I need to remind you about. The era of the Shophetim (Judges) was all about God teaching and demonstrating to not only Israel but ALL of mankind that without a king to govern them, they are utterly helpless […]

Alrighty, let’s get our bearings of where we’re at on God’s timeline. So the books of Samuel are the bridge that takes us from the period of the Shophetim (Judges) to the creation of Israel’s earthly kingdom. Recall the era of the Shophetim actually began at the end of the book of Joshua. It goes through […]

Take a look at these English phrases: “I dunno…” “Whaddaya think?” “I wanna go!” “I’m gonna do it!” Now if you’re a native English speaker, I’m sure at first glance you wouldn’t have any problem deciphering the above. However, if you’re NOT a native speaker, I’d have my doubts. For example, I’m living in Japan […]