Saturday, December 11, 2010

The Bethlehemite


The Lord said to Samuel, “How long will you grieve over Saul, since I have rejected him from being king over Israel?  Fill your horn with oil and go; I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have selected a king for Myself among his sons.”
But Samuel said, “How can I go?  When Saul hears of it, he will kill me.”
The Lord answered, “Take a heifer with you, and say, ‘I have come to sacrifice to the Lord,’ and you shall invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you shall do; you shall anoint the one whom I designate.”
So Samuel did what the Lord said, and came to Bethlehem.  And the elders of the city came trembling to meet him and said, “Do you come in peace?”
He replied, “In peace I have come to sacrifice to the Lord.  Consecrate yourselves and come with me to the sacrifice.”  He also consecrated Jesse and his sons, and invited them to the sacrifice.
Then it came about when Jesse’s family entered, that Samuel looked at Eliab and thought, “Surely the Lord’s anointed is before Him.”
But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”
Then Jesse called Abinadab, and made him pass before Samuel.  And he said, “Neither has the Lord chosen this one.”  Next Jesse made Shammah pass by.  And he said, “Neither has the Lord chosen this one.”  Thus Jesse made seven of his sons pass by before Samuel.  But Samuel said, “The Lord has not chosen these.  Are these all of your children?”
Jesse answered, “There remains yet the youngest, and behold, he is tending the sheep.”
Samuel said to Jesse, “Send and bring him; for we will not sit down until he arrives.”  So he sent and brought him in.  Now he was ruddy, with beautiful eyes and a handsome appearance.
And the Lord said, “Arise, anoint him; for this is he.”  Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers; and the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon David from that day forward.

And the youth became a man and ruled over the United Kingdom, the core of which was the land of Palestine.

2 comments:

  1. Scriptural references: 1 Samuel 16:1-13

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  2. These events took place in the latter half of the 11th century BC.

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