Unlocking The Old Testament

1 & 2 Samuel 2

David Pawson, in this 2nd talk on Samuel, points out that there are 6 different levels at which you can read Bible stories and it’s important that we should choose the right one. They are: 1. Anecdotal, just an interesting story; 2. Devotional, hoping to find a personal word; 3. Character Studies including the character of women, which can be inspirational (Hannah & Abigail for instance); 4. History of Israel – how it developed, and King David’s leadership is worth studying; 5. Critical – and higher critical study sadly has infected the whole world; 6. The Theological – finding out about God. He’s having an influence on history and is the major player in these stories. God is the living God. King David wanted to build a temple for God but was forbidden as he had blood on his hands. Jerusalem means city of peace and Solomon, a man of peace, did the building. But God made a covenant with David that his house (family line) and kingdom would endure forever. A thousand years later, this covenant was fulfilled, and the promise kept, and Jesus was born who was often called “Son of David” and was of his family line.

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1 & 2 Kings 1

David Pawson says other history may be interesting, but the history of Israel is vital for the whole of mankind. From the height of success, the times of the kings headed downhill. First the land was split between 10 tribes in the north and 2 in the south and eventually the 10 were deported to Assyria. While there were a few good kings it was not enough to stem the downward trend and the 2 tribes were taken away to Babylon. God had warned them that they would suffer a similar fate, but they disobeyed. David says one of the main reasons for reading the books of Kings is that it can happen to the church as well. Though their descendants returned to the land under priests, they were then occupied by the Egyptians, the Syrians, the Greeks and finally the Romans which was the situation when Jesus was born. For a Hebrew, a kingdom is about authority, not a place. Thus the kingdom of God is not a place but a power. The kings were judged as good or bad according to whether they honoured God or not. This is history from God’s point of view. Understanding history saves us from repeating the mistakes of the past. David says God is still in charge of history. The two significant prophets in Kings are Elijah and Elisha.

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