Today's Treasure:
"Saul and Jonathan - in life they were loved and gracious, and in death they were not parted. They were swifter than eagles, they were stronger than lions"
2 Samuel 1:23
Before we begin, I want to go ahead and share three Bible verses that begin the study:
Galations 2:20
"I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me"
Romans 6:6
"For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with that we should no longer be slaves to sin"
1 Peter 2:16
"Live as free men, but do not use your freedom as a cover up for evil; live as servants for God.
Beth opens this study in remembrance of the armor-bearer that took his own life when he realized that his king had fallen. I think she is so right when she states that the society we live in just cannot understand the depth of commitment in the calling of an armor bearer. We live in such a disposable society. We have disposable diapers, contacts, razors. It is just so difficult for us to understand how deep our personal relationships should be when we commit to them. Look at the way we view marriages in our society. They are completely disposable to many of us!!! It saddens me to say that probably the majority of young people marry with the attitude that they HOPE it works out. If it doesn't, they can just divorce and move on to the next relationship. People, that is not what God intended for our lives. Marriage can be an amazing example of our relationship with Christ if we enter into it with the right attitude. I can guarantee you that an individual absolutely has to love the heavenly Father in order to truly understand how to love another person in marriage the way God intends. When a man loves the Lord above all others, he learns how to love his wife and children to a depth that creates satisfaction and commitment from every aspect. If you are not fulfilled in your marriage, whether you are a husband or a wife, take a look at your relationship with the creator of love. If you can learn to commit to your relationship with Christ, you can learn how to journey to an amazing marriage relationship. Now, please note, that I never said you will find an easy marriage relationship. I can promise you that we are all going to have our ups and downs. However, do you truly believe you can find fulfillment in giving up and moving on to someone or something else? Allow the Lord to teach you how to truly commit to Him and how to be a servant to Him. Once you learn to be a servant, you will find a depth in your personal relationships that cannot be matched. The verses that we looked up in the study so vividly speak of the way Christ committed His life to us. He was willing to die for us so that we can live a life of freedom from the chains of sin. So many people feel that they do not want to enter a relationship with Christ because they will have to give up all the things that they enjoy in life. I can remember a time in my life when that was a concern. Now, the Holy Spirit is revealing the amazing freedom that can be found in making the choice to live bodly for Christ. It's the difference between just living/surviving and living a life of happiness. Just for a moment, close your eyes and picture your life if you were to simplify everything. Picture yourself making the choice to become a mature Christian that wants to commit your life to furthering His kingdom. The life that God calls us to have doesn't include making sure we have this house to make our peers look up to us. It doesn't include always pleasing everyone so that we have friends that can take us to that important game or the party that everyone else is going to be at. Yes, God does want us to enjoy the wonderful things of life, but He does not want us to be bound to them. He doesn't want us to measure our self-worth according to what we have. He wants us to measure our self-worth according to how much He loves us. Once we realize how much He loves us, we find a longing in our spirits to fall as servants to Him and to others around us.
Beth says something so powerful with these verses. I have to share...
"Our old body of sin, the nature that must seek its own way, the person who is hopelessly depraved and resigned to failure, hangs limp on the cross. Raised in its place is the Spirit of the Living God poured into a temple of flesh so that God's presence will remain among men"
Wow!! Do you realize that your old body of sin is crucified with Christ, and it hangs limp on the cross. Then, you (as a Christ follower) have the amazing honor of being a temple of flesh that remains here among your fellow man!!!! Just think about that...does it not take your breath away?
The following scriptures speak volumes of how our attitudes should be as armor-bearers for Christ...
Galations 1:10
"Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ"
Romans 14:4
"Who are you to judge someone else's servant? To his own master he stands or falls, and he will stand for the Lord is able to make him stand"
In other words, if you are a servant of the Lord, the power of the Lord will give you the strength to stand!!!!
According to 1 Corinthians 4:1, one of our privileges as a servant of God is that we are entrusted with the secret things of God. To me, this doesn't mean that God is trying to keep His kingdom secret from the ones that do not believe. To me, this refers to the amazing transformation that takes place in us when the Holy Spirit takes up residence in our bodies. It is the "aha" moment when things just make sense. The best example I can think of is scripture itself. Do you ever remember picking up the Bible and reading scripture before you committed yourself to Christ. To most of us, it just looked like a bunch of words that had no relevance in our society. They were words written so long ago in a time that could never apply to our lives today. Let me promise you this...when the Holy Spirit enters your life and your commit your life to Christ, those scriptures suddenly begin to make perfect sense. As a matter of fact, they make so much sense that you crave them. There is not one thing going on in our society that God does not understand. That is the beautiful thing about His word. It is infallible. It is perfect. It applies to us today, just as it did to people thousands of years ago. Do you know another author that could do that?
Now, let's move to 2 Samuel when David finds out about the death of Saul and Jonathan...
2 Samuel 1: 1 - 16
According to verse 2, how long a period of time passed before David learned of Saul's death?
Three days
What lie did the Amalekite tell about Saul's death?
He said that Saul asked him to kill him before his enemy did. Then, the Amalekite claimed to be the one that killed Saul. We know this is not true because the scripture clearly states that the armor-bearer killed himself when he realized Saul was dead (by his own sword). the Amalekite was just trying to find favor in David because he had heard of the troubles between David and Saul.
How did David and his men respond too the news about Saul and Jonathan?
they tore their clothes, mourned, fasted and wept until evening
Why do you think David had the unique right to ask the question in verse 14?
David asked the Amalekite why he was given the right to lay a hand on the anointed. Do you recall that the Holy Spirit would not allow Saul (the anointed) to be touched by David? He knew this man way lying.
David ordered the Amalekite to be killed
Read 2 Samuel 1: 17 - 27
In David's song of lament, why did he not want word of Saul's death and the deaths of his sons told in Gath and Ashkelton?
The daughters of the Philistines would be glad
Describe David's apparent feelings toward Jonathan in his lament.
this is a time when I long to know the original language that this scripture was written in. I think David's true emotions here are lost in the translation into the English language. You see, Greek and Hebrew are much different than the English language in that they have words that represent the degree of meaning to their words. Here, if we were reading the Hebrew translation, we would see that David distinguished his love for Jonathan as an astonishing miracle. Jonathan was a friend like no other. He taught David the meaning of commitment. He was true to David to the very end, and David realizes that he has lost more than a friend. He has lost a brother.
Have you ever experienced a loss that only time could heal?
Oh, yes!!! I have to tell you that time is still working on healing me from losing my precious Tina in my daily life. For those of you that do not know, almost three years ago I lost a dear friend to a drunk driver. She did not pass away, but she is now in a nursing home many miles away, unable to communicate with us. My heart was truly ripped from my chest when all of this happened, and my life has not been the same since that day. Tina was a friend that you rarely come across in your life!!! I thank my God for the years that I had her here with me. She changed my life and made me a better person. She taught me how to laugh out loud, and she is a precious gift that I will keep with me forever!!! I still pray that a miracle will take place and we will have Tina back one day. I will never give up praying for that. Yet, the time without her here has been difficult. She is a beautiful, amazing person, and she was devoted to being a true friend. One day, I will understand why all of this had to happen to her family. I hold fast to that day longing for it all to make sense. Until then, I depend on my faith in God to deal with not having her!!!
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