Every now and then in our study through books of the Bible we come to sections that feel strange or even if off-putting. For example, a couple years ago I blogged through Ezekiel. I called Ezekiel “The SNL Prophet” because he did so many skits (like the TV show Saturday Night Live), and some Ezekiel’s skits were bizarre, like the one involving excrement, and his famous Prophetic Stare. Ezekiel also regularly had fantastical dreams.
But there was one chapter in Ezekiel that was so extreme, I skipped it. I simply could not preach Ezekiel chapter 23. Not in church. Even on the blog I only summarized it briefly. As I type this, I wonder how many other preachers through the centuries have attempted to preach Ezekiel 23, and I wonder how it went for them! Do you remember Ezekiel 23? I bet you’re interested now! Look it up. It is amazing to me that that chapter is in the Bible.
I mention the difficulty of some chapters of the Bible because this week we have another difficult one. It’s not as sketchy as Ezekiel 23, so I’m going to cover it, but I will admit that there are portions of 1st Samuel 15 that make me very uncomfortable. I wonder how you will feel when you read 1st Samuel 15.
Some portions of Scripture make us uncomfortable because through them the Spirit of God speaks to us about ways that we can be more faithful to him. Some portions of Scripture make us uncomfortable because they involve practices in ancient cultures that are very different from our culture and way of thinking. Some portions of Scripture involve theology that is controversial.
1st Samuel chapter 15 includes all of the above.
So prior to Monday, take a few moments and read 1st Samuel chapter 15. See if you find it as confusing, troubling, and interesting as I do.
Engaging Scripture 