Samuel 2017
THE BOOKS OF SAMUEL | Week Three
Our Answer - 1 Samuel 3
1 Samuel 3:1-19 - Meanwhile, the boy Samuel served the Lord by assisting Eli. Now in those days messages from the Lord were very rare, and visions were quite uncommon. 2 One night Eli, who was almost blind by now, had gone to bed. 3 The lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was sleeping in the Tabernacle near the Ark of God. 4 Suddenly the Lord called out, “Samuel!” “Yes?” Samuel replied. “What is it?” 5 He got up and ran to Eli. “Here I am. Did you call me?” “I didn’t call you,” Eli replied. “Go back to bed.” So he did. 6 Then the Lord called out again, “Samuel!” Again Samuel got up and went to Eli. “Here I am. Did you call me?” “I didn’t call you, my son,” Eli said. “Go back to bed.” 7 Samuel did not yet know the Lord because he had never had a message from the Lord before. 8 So the Lord called a third time, and once more Samuel got up and went to Eli. “Here I am. Did you call me?” Then Eli realized it was the Lord who was calling the boy. 9 So he said to Samuel, “Go and lie down again, and if someone calls again, say, ‘Speak, Lord, your servant is listening.’” So Samuel went back to bed. 10 And the Lord came and called as before, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel replied, “Speak, your servant is listening.” 11 Then the Lord said to Samuel, “I am about to do a shocking thing in Israel. 12 I am going to carry out all my threats against Eli and his family, from beginning to end. 13 I have warned him that judgment is coming upon his family forever, because his sons are blaspheming God and he hasn’t disciplined them. 14 So I have vowed that the sins of Eli and his sons will never be forgiven by sacrifices or offerings.” 15 Samuel stayed in bed until morning, then got up and opened the doors of the Tabernacle as usual. He was afraid to tell Eli what the Lord had said to him. 16 But Eli called out to him, “Samuel, my son.” “Here I am,” Samuel replied. 17 “What did the Lord say to you? Tell me everything. And may God strike you and even kill you if you hide anything from me!” 18 So Samuel told Eli everything; he didn’t hold anything back. “It is the Lord’s will,” Eli replied. “Let him do what he thinks best.” 19 As Samuel grew up, the Lord was with him, and everything Samuel said proved to be reliable. 20 And all Israel, from Dan in the north to Beersheba in the south, knew that Samuel was confirmed as a prophet of the Lord. 21 The Lord continued to appear at Shiloh and gave messages to Samuel there at the Tabernacle.
I. God speaks. How does He speak?
A. Through Life
God speaks to His people through life situations.
God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world.
B. Through Pastors and Teachers
Ephesians 4:11-13 - So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, 12 to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
C. Audible, Feelings and Dreams and Visions
Spoke to Jacob, Joseph, Daniel in dreams
He spoke to Adam and Moses audibly
Numbers 12: 6-8 - And the Lord said to them, “Now listen to what I say: “If there were prophets among you, I, the Lord, would reveal myself in visions. I would speak to them in dreams. 7 But not with my servant Moses. Of all my house, he is the one I trust. 8 I speak to him face to face, clearly, and not in riddles! He sees the Lord as he is.
D. Through His Word
2 Timothy 3:16-17 - “All Scripture is inspired of God and beneficial for teaching, for reproving, for setting things straight, for disciplining in righteousness, so that the man of God may be fully competent, completely equipped for every good work.”
With the Word we learn, it reproves us when we are wrong, it sets us straight and disciplines us.
The man or woman of God may be FULLY COMPETENT! And COMPLETELY EQUIPPED for life!
A. Everything, we need if we never hear from anyone else
Psalm 1:1-3 - Blessed is the man Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, Nor stands in the path of sinners, Nor sits in the seat of the scornful; 2 But his delight is in the law of the Lord, And in His law he meditates day and night. 3 He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, Whose leaf also shall not wither; And whatever he does shall prosper.
He meditates on it day and night, Whatever he does he shall prosper. We prosper in our relationship with Him
B. The fact checker of Christendom. How we check if it was God speaking...
This is how we try the spirits.
1 John 4:1 - Dear friends, do not believe everyone who claims to speak by the Spirit. You must test them to see if the spirit they have comes from God. For there are many false prophets in the world.
Angel of light, He wants to deceive
We have to stay in the confines of scripture.
“Do not go beyond the things that are written.”
—1 Corinthians 4:6.
God’s word will not lead you astray. There will always be things you do not understand but you can trust God’s love letter to you.
C. His light to our feet
Psalm 119:105 - Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.
It is our Guidance
It is our Assurance
Its stories cover life.
III. Love Letter from God to Know God
A. To know God
God — the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, this one God — is the only being who has no beginning,
Everything else and everyone else is dependent on Him for existence and for value, and is, therefore, less valuable than God.
Neither of these truths is part of the postmodern worldview — neither God’s absolute, independent, eternal being, nor his supreme value above our own.
But they are biblical and foundational. This word is where we find Him
Moses said to God, “If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?” God said to Moses, “I Am Who I Am.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel, ‘I Am has sent me to you.’”(Exodus 3:13–14)
In other words, God doesn’t get His being or His character from anything or anyone outside Himself. He never came into being and therefore was not defined by anything outside Himself.
He simply is — and always was and always will be what He is. “‘I am the Alpha and the Omega,’ says the Lord God, ‘who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty’” (Revelation 1:8).
I Am your salvation, Your Assurance, Your Hope, Your Joy. Your New life and New possibilities. Open my word and know me. Let me speak to you.
Circa B.C. 1500-1400 - The stone tablets of the Ten Commandments are given to Moses at Mount Sinai and later stored in the Ark of the Covenant.
Circa B.C. 1400–400 - The manuscripts comprising the original Hebrew Bible (39 Old Testament books) are completed. The Book of the Law is kept in the tabernacle and later in the Temple beside the Ark of the Covenant.
Circa B.C. 300 - All of the original Old Testament Hebrew books have been written, collected, and recognized as official, canonical books.
Circa B.C. 250–200 - The Septuagint, a popular Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible (39 Old Testament books), is produced. The 14 books of the Apocrypha are also included.
Circa A.D. 45–100 - Original 27 books of the Greek New Testament are written.
Circa A.D. 140-150 - Marcion of Sinope's heretical "New Testament" prompted Orthodox Christians to establish a New Testament canon.
Circa A.D. 200 - The Jewish Mishnah, the Oral Torah, is first recorded.
Circa A.D. 240 - Origen compiles the Hexapla, a six-columned parallel of Greek and Hebrew texts.
A.D. 303-306 Diocletian’s persecution includes confiscating and destroying New Testament Scriptures
Circa A.D. 305-310 - Lucian of Antioch's Greek New Testament text becomes the basis for the Textus Receptus.
Circa A.D. 312 - Codex Vaticanus is possibly among the original 50 copies of the Bible ordered by Emperor Constantine. It is eventually kept in the Vatican Library in Rome.
A.D. 367 - Athanasius of Alexandria identifies the complete New Testament canon (27 books) for the first time.
A.D. 382-384 - Saint Jerome translates the New Testament from original Greek into Latin. This translation becomes part of the Latin Vulgate manuscript.
A.D. 397 - Third Synod of Carthage approves the New Testament canon (27 books).
A.D. 390-405 - Saint Jerome translates the Hebrew Bible into Latin and completes the Latin Vulgate manuscript. It includes the 39 Old Testament books, 27 New Testament books, and 14 Apocrypha books.
A.D. 500 - By now the Scriptures have been translated into multiple languages, not limited to but including an Egyptian version (Codex Alexandrinus), a Coptic version, an Ethiopic translation, a Gothic version (Codex Argentus), and an Armenian version. Some consider the Armenian to be the most beautiful and accurate of all ancient translations.
A.D. 600 - The Roman Catholic Church declares Latin as the only language for Scripture.
A.D. 680 - Caedmon, English poet and monk, renders Bible books and stories into Anglo Saxon poetry and song.
A.D. 735 - Bede, English historian and monk, translates the Gospels into Anglo Saxon.
A.D. 775 - The Book of Kells, a richly decorated manuscript containing the Gospels and other writings, is completed by Celtic monks in Ireland.
Circa A.D. 865 - Saints Cyril and Methodius begin translating the Bible into Old Church Slavonic.
A.D. 950 - The Lindisfarne Gospels manuscript is translated into Old English.
Circa A.D. 995-1010 - Aelfric, an English abbot, translates parts of Scripture into Old English.
A.D. 1205 - Stephen Langton, theology professor and later Archbishop of Canterbury, creates the first chapter divisions in the books of the Bible.
A.D. 1229 - Council of Toulouse strictly forbids and prohibits lay people from owning a Bible.
A.D. 1240 - French Cardinal Hugh of Saint Cher publishes the first Latin Bible with the chapter divisions that still exist today.
A.D. 1325 - English hermit and poet, Richard Rolle de Hampole, and English poet William Shoreham, translate the Psalms into metrical verse.
Circa A.D. 1330 - Rabbi Solomon ben Ismael first places chapter divisions in the margins of the Hebrew Bible.
A.D. 1381-1382 - John Wycliffe and associates, in defiance of the organized Church, believing that people should be permitted to read the Bible in their own language, begin to translate and produce the first handwritten manuscripts of the entire Bible in English. These include the 39 Old Testament books, 27 New Testament books, and 14 Apocrypha books.
A.D. 1388 - John Purvey revises Wycliffe's Bible.
A.D. 1415 - 31 years after Wycliffe's death, the Council of Constance charges him with more than 260 counts of heresy.
A.D. 1428 - 44 years after Wycliffe's death, church officials dig up his bones, burn them, and scatter the ashes on Swift River.
A.D. 1455 - After the invention of the printing press in Germany, Johannes Gutenberg produces the first printed Bible, the Gutenberg Bible, in the Latin Vulgate.
A.D. 1516 - Desiderius Erasmus produces a Greek New Testament, forerunner to the Textus Receptus.
A.D. 1517 - Daniel Bomberg's Rabbinic Bible contains the first printed Hebrew version (Masoretic text) with chapter divisions.
A.D. 1522 - Martin Luther translates and publishes the New Testament for the first time into German from the 1516 Erasmus version.
A.D. 1524 - Bomberg prints a second edition Masoretic text prepared by Jacob ben Chayim.
A.D. 1525 - William Tyndale produces the first translation of the New Testament from Greek into English.
A.D. 1527 - Erasmus publishes a fourth edition Greek-Latin translation.
A.D. 1530 - Jacques Lefèvre d'Étaples completes the first French language translation of the entire Bible.
A.D. 1535 - Myles Coverdale's Bible completes Tyndale's work, producing the first complete printed Bible in the English language. It includes the 39 Old Testament books, 27 New Testament books, and 14 Apocrypha books.
A.D. 1536 - Martin Luther translates the Old Testament into the commonly-spoken dialect of the German people, completing his translation of the entire Bible in German.
A.D. 1536 - Tyndale is condemned as a heretic, strangled, and burned at the stake.
A.D. 1537 - The Matthew Bible (commonly known as the Matthew-Tyndale Bible), a second complete printed English translation, is published, combining the works of Tyndale, Coverdale and John Rogers.
A.D. 1539 - The Great Bible, the first English Bible authorized for public use, is printed.
A.D. 1546 - Roman Catholic Council of Trent declares the Vulgate as the exclusive Latin authority for the Bible.
A.D. 1553 - Robert Estienne publishes a French Bible with chapter and verse divisions. This system of numbering becomes widely accepted and is still found in most Bible's today.
A.D. 1560 - The Geneva Bible is printed in Geneva, Switzerland. It is translated by English refugees and published by John Calvin's brother-in-law, William Whittingham. The Geneva Bible is the first English Bible to add numbered verses to the chapters. It becomes the Bible of the Protestant Reformation, more popular than the 1611 King James Version for decades after its original release.
A.D. 1568 - The Bishop's Bible, a revision of the Great Bible, is introduced in England to compete with the popular but "inflammatory toward the institutional Church" Geneva Bible.
A.D. 1582 - Dropping its 1,000-year-old Latin only policy, the Church of Rome produces the first English Catholic Bible, the Rheims New Testament, from the Latin Vulgate.
A.D. 1592 - The Clementine Vulgate (authorized by Pope Clementine VIII), a revised version of the Latin Vulgate, becomes the authoritative Bible of the Catholic Church.
A.D. 1609 - The Douay Old Testament is translated into English by the Church of Rome, to complete the combined Douay-Rheims Version.
A.D. 1611 - The King James Version, also called the "Authorized Version" of the Bible is published. It is said to be the most printed book in the history of the world, with more than one billion copies in print.
A.D. 1663 - John Eliot's Algonquin Bible is the first Bible printed in America, not in English, but in the native Algonquin Indian language.
A.D. 1782 - Robert Aitken's Bible is the first English language (KJV) Bible printed in America.
A.D. 1790 - Matthew Carey publishes a Roman Catholic Douay-Rheims Version English Bible in America.
A.D. 1790 - William Young prints the first pocket sized "school edition" King James Version Bible in America.
A.D. 1791 - The Isaac Collins Bible, the first family Bible (KJV), is printed in America.
A.D. 1791 - Isaiah Thomas prints the first illustrated Bible (KJV) in America.
A.D. 1808 - Jane Aitken (daughter of Robert Aitken), is the first woman to print a Bible.
A.D. 1833 - Noah Webster, after publishing his famous dictionary, releases his own revised edition of the King James Bible.
A.D. 1841 - The English Hexapla New Testament, a comparison of the original Greek language and six important English translations, is produced.
A.D. 1844 - The Codex Sinaiticus, a hand written Koine Greek manuscript of both Old and New Testament texts dating back to the fourth century, is rediscovered by German Bible scholar Konstantin Von Tischendorf in the Monastery of Saint Catherine on Mount Sinai.
A.D. 1881-1885 - The King James Bible is revised and published as the Revised Version (RV) in England.
A.D. 1901 - The American Standard Version, the first major American revision of the King James Version, is published.
A.D. 1946-1952 - The Revised Standard Version is published.
A.D. 1947-1956 - The Dead Sea Scrolls are discovered.
A.D. 1971 - The New American Standard Bible (NASB) is published.
A.D. 1973 - The New International Version (NIV) is published.
A.D. 1982 - The New King James Version (NKJV) is published.