“When Sh’mu’el grew old, he appointed his sons as judges over Israel.  His firstborn was named Yo’el, while his second son was named Aviyah; they were judges in Be’er-Sheva.”-1 Samuel 8:1-2 Gotta question for you. Based on the verse copied above, how many children did Samuel have in total? If you said two, you’re probably […]

“However, his sons did not follow his way of life; they turned off it to pursue riches, so that they would take bribes to distort justice.”-1 Samuel 8:3 So we’re told Samuel’s sons Yoel and Aviyah rejected their father’s godly way of life to pursue riches. The King James Version says “they turned aside after […]

So what was the purpose of Samuel establishing his sons as Judges? Did Samuel want to make sure one of his boys would be a national judge over Israel after he passed away? Maybe… I mean that does seem to be the natural aspiration a father would have for his progeny. Keep in mind that […]

“When Sh’mu’el grew old, he appointed his sons as judges over Isra’el.  His firstborn was named Yo’el, while his second son was named Aviyah; they were judges in Be’er-Sheva.”-1 Samuel 8:1 Many years had passed since Israel’s great victory over the Philistines when they were attacked while confessing and repenting of their sins at Mitzpah. […]

So let me remind you of the reason why we went on that huge theological detour about Systematic theology followed by my in-depth discussion on the “Sheep Pen” approach to interpreting Scripture in the first place. It all has to do with the modern academic view that the 4 books of Samuel and Kings were […]