Message Notes

SESSIONS # 2 MONDAY, 30 NOVEMBER 2020 Text: 1 Samuel 1-3

DIFFERENT LITERARY GENRES IN THE SCRIPTURES

1. History

a) Secular History

b) Biblical History

2. Laws

a) Judicial

b) Ceremonial

3. Wisdom Literature

a) Psalms

b) Proverbs

4. Prophecy

a) Old Testament prophets

b) New Testament prophets

c) Prophetic Literature

5. Gospels

a) The Life of the Lord Jesus Christ

b) His teachings

6. Epistles

a) Explanation of the significance of the life of the Lord Jesus Christ

b) Doctrine/ Teachings of the Apostles

c) Resolving of problems in Churches

LEARNING TO READ THE HISTORICAL BOOKS

Main Features:

1. Chapter Divisions

2. Connection of Chapters

3. Outline of the Chapter

a) Content

b) Characters

c) Comments

d) Observations

e) Questions

i) Historical context

ii) Teaching/ Doctrine

iii) Relevance to us today

iv) Application

4. Excursus

a) Like a digression

b) An Appendix

c) Sometimes quite detailed

d) Helps to understand the overall picture

5. Example # 1 1 Samuel 5-7

a) Capture of the Ark by the Philistines

b) Divine punishment of the Philistines

c) Return of the Ark to Israel

d) The Ark at Kirjath Jearim (20 years) 1 Samuel 7:2

6. Example # 2

a) The threat of the Philistines at Mizpah 1 Samuel 7:3-17

b) Samuel’s prayer

c) Subduing of the Philistines

THE PERIOD OF THE JUDGES

1. The nation of Israel after Joshua

a) The Period of the Judges

i) God raised up leaders called Judges

ii) They led the people as best they could

b) List of Judges (Book of Judges)

i) Othniel

ii) Ehud

iii) Shamgar

iv) Deborah

v) Gideon

vi) Tola

vii) Jair

viii) Jephthah

ix) Ibzan

x) Elon

xi) Abdon

xii) Samson

c) Their work

i) Defend Israel

ii) Rule as best they could

2. Life in the days of the Judges

a) Oppression from powerful enemies

b) Danger everywhere

c) Everyone did what was right in his own eyes Judges 21:25

3. How did the nation of Israel descend to this level?

a) Disobedience to God and His laws Judges 2:2

b) Departure from God Judges 2:10

i) The people did not know God

ii) They did not remember His work

c) They did evil Judges 2:11

d) They abandoned God for idols B

4. The raising up of Judges

a) God raised them up Judges 2:18a

b) He was with the Judges Judges 2:18b

c) He delivered the nation Judges 2:18c

5. On the death of a Judge

a) Israel reverted Judges 2:19a

b) Behaved more corruptly Judges 2:19b

c) Practised idolatry Judges 2:19c

d) Remained stubborn Judges 2:19d

6. God’s anger

a) Because of severe transgression Judges 2:20

b) Result: He allowed Israel to suffer Judges 2:21-23

LESSONS LEARNED

1. The success of a past generation

a) Moses

b) Joshua

2. The success may not last indefinitely

a) After the death of Joshua and his generation

b) There arose a new generation

i) It was different

ii) It did not acknowledge God

iii) It degenerated

3. How can we ensure success from one generation to another?

INTERACTION QUESTION AND ANSWER TIME