101 Now the Philistines were fighting against Israel; and the men of Israel went in flight before the Philistines, falling down wounded in Mount Gilboa. 2 And the Philistines went hard after Saul and his sons, and put to death Jonathan and Abinadab and Malchi-shua, the sons of Saul. 3 And the fight was going against Saul, and the archers came across him, and he was wounded by the archers. 4 Then Saul said to the servant who had the care of his arms, Take your sword and put it through me, before these men without circumcision come and make sport of me. But his servant, full of fear, would not do so. Then Saul took out his sword, falling on it himself. 5 And when his servant saw that Saul was dead, he did the same, and came to his death. 6 So death overtook Saul and his three sons; all his family came to an end together. 7 And when all the men of Israel who were in the valley saw that the men of Israel had gone in flight and that Saul and his sons were dead, they went in flight away from their towns; and the Philistines came and took them for themselves.
8 Now the day after, when the Philistines came to take their goods from the dead, they saw Saul and his sons dead in Mount Gilboa. 9 And they took everything off him, and took his head and his war-dress, and sent word into the land of the Philistines round about to give the news to their gods and to the people. 10 And they put his war-dress in the house of their gods, and put up his head in the house of Dagon. 11 And when the news came to Jabesh-gilead of what the Philistines had done to Saul, 12 All the fighting-men came up and took away Saul's body and the bodies of his sons, and took them to Jabesh, and put their bones to rest under the oak-tree in Jabesh, and took no food for seven days. 13 So death came to Saul because of the sin which he did against the Lord, that is, because of the word of the Lord which he kept not; and because he went for directions to one who had an evil spirit, 14 And not to the Lord: for this reason, he put him to death and gave the kingdom to David, the son of Jesse.
111 Then all Israel came together to David at Hebron, and said, Truly, we are your bone and your flesh. 2 In the past, when Saul was king, it was you who went at the head of Israel when they went out or came in; and the Lord your God said to you, You are to be the keeper of my people Israel, and their ruler. 3 So all the responsible men of Israel came to the king at Hebron; and David made an agreement with them in Hebron before the Lord; and they put the holy oil on David and made him king over Israel, as the Lord had said by Samuel.
4 Then David and all Israel went to Jerusalem (which is Jebus); and the Jebusites, the people of the land, were there. 5 And the people of Jebus said to David, You will not come in here. But still, David took the strong place of Zion, which is the town of David. 6 And David said, The first to overcome the Jebusites will be chief and captain. And Joab, the son of Zeruiah, went up first, and became chief. 7 And David took the strong tower for his living-place, so it was named the town of David. 8 And he took in hand the building of the town all round, starting from the Millo; and Joab put the rest of the town in order. 9 And David became greater and greater in power, because the Lord of armies was with him.
10 Now these are the chief of David's men of war who were his strong supporters in the kingdom, and, with all Israel, made him king, as the Lord had said about Israel. 11 This is the list of David's men of war: Ishbaal, the son of a Hachmonite, the chief of the three: he put to death three hundred at one time with his spear. 12 And after him was Eleazar, the son of Dodo the Ahohite, who was one of the three great fighters. 13 He was with David at Pas-dammim, where the Philistines had come together for the fight, near a bit of land full of barley; and the people went in flight before the Philistines. 14 And he took up his position in the middle of the bit of land, and kept back their attack, and overcame the Philistines; and the Lord gave a great salvation. 15 And three of the thirty went down to David, to the rock, into the strong place of Adullam; and the army of the Philistines had taken up their position in the valley of Rephaim. 16 At that time David had taken cover in the strong place, and an armed force of the Philistines was in Beth-lehem. 17 And David, moved by a strong desire, said, If only someone would give me a drink of the water from the water-hole of Beth-lehem by the doorway into the town! 18 So the three, forcing a way through the Philistine army, got water from the water-hole of Beth-lehem, by the doorway into the town, and took it back to David; but David would not take it, but made an offering of it, draining it out to the Lord, 19 Saying, By my God, far be it from me to do this! How may I take as drink the life-blood of these men who have put their lives in danger? so he did not take it. These things did the three great men of war. 20 And Abishai, the brother of Joab, was chief of the thirty, for he put to death three hundred with his spear, but he had not a name among the three. 21 Of the thirty, he was the noblest, and was made their captain, but he was not equal to the first three. 22 Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, a fighting-man of Kabzeel, had done great acts; he put to death two young lions going into their secret place; and he went down into a hole and put a lion to death in time of snow. 23 And he made an attack on an Egyptian, a very tall man about five cubits high, armed with a spear like a cloth-worker's rod; he went down to him with a stick, and pulling his spear out of the hand of the Egyptian, put him to death with that same spear. 24 These were the acts of Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, who had a great name among the thirty men of war. 25 He was honoured over the thirty, but he was not equal to the first three: and David put him over his servants. 26 And these were the great men of war: Asahel, the brother of Joab, Elhanan, the son of Dodo of Beth-lehem, 27 Shammoth the Harodite, Helez the Pelonite, 28 Ira, the son of Ikkesh the Tekoite, Abiezer the Anathothite, 29 Sibbecai the Hushathite, Ilai the Ahohite, 30 Maharai the Netophathite, Heled, the son of Baanah the Netophathite, 31 Ithai, the son of Ribai of Gibeah, of the children of Benjamin, Benaiah the Pirathonite, 32 Hurai of Nahale-gaash, Abiel the Arbathite, 33 Azmaveth of Bahurim, Eliahba the Shaalbonite, 34 The sons of Hashem the Gizonite, Jonathan, the son of Shage the Hararite, 35 Ahiam, the son of Sacar the Hararite, Eliphal, the son of Ur, 36 Hepher the Mecherathite, Ahijah the Pelonite, 37 Hezro the Carmelite, Naarai, the son of Ezbai, 38 Joel, the brother of Nathan, Mibhar, the son of Hagri, 39 Zelek the Ammonite, and Naharai the Berothite, the servant who had the care of the arms of Joab, the son of Zeruiah; 40 Ira the Ithrite, Gareb the Ithrite, 41 Uriah the Hittite, Zabad, the son of Ahlai, 42 Adina, the son of Shiza the Reubenite, a chief of the Reubenites, and thirty with him; 43 Hanan, the son of Maacah, and Joshaphat the Mithnite, 44 Uzzia the Ashterathite, Shama and Jeiel, the sons of Hotham the Aroerite, 45 Jediael, the son of Shimri, and Joha his brother, the Tizite, 46 Eliel the Mahavite, and Jeribai and Joshaviah, the sons of Elnaam, and Ithmah the Moabite, 47 Eliel and Obed, and Jaasiel the Mezobaite.
121 Now these are the men who came to David at Ziklag, while he was still shut up, because of Saul, the son of Kish; they were among the strong men, his helpers in war. 2 They were armed with bows, and were able to send stones, and arrows from the bow, with right hand or left: they were Saul's brothers, of Benjamin. 3 Ahiezer was their chief, then Joash, the sons of Shemaah the Gibeathite; and Jeziel and Pelet, the sons of Azmaveth; and Beracah and Jehu the Anathothite; 4 And Ishmaiah the Gibeonite, a great man among the thirty, and their chief; and Jeremiah and Jehaziel and Johanan and Jozabad the Gederathite; 5 Eluzai and Jerimoth and Bealiah and Shemariah and Shephatiah the Haruphite; 6 Elkanah and Isshiah and Azarel and Joezer and Jashobeam, the Korahites; 7 And Joelah and Zebadiah, the sons of Jeroham of Gedor. 8 And some of the Gadites, siding with David, went to his strong place in the waste land, great and strong men, trained for war, expert in the use of arms, whose faces were like the faces of lions, and they were quick-footed like roes on the mountains; 9 Ezer their chief, Obadiah the second, Eliab the third, 10 Mishmannah the fourth, Jeremiah the fifth, 11 Attai the sixth, Eliel the seventh, 12 Johanan the eighth, Elzabad the ninth, 13 Jeremiah the tenth, Machbannai the eleventh. 14 These Gadites were captains of the army; the least of them was captain over a hundred men, and the greatest over a thousand. 15 It was they who went over Jordan in the first month, when the river was overflowing, and put to flight all the people of the valleys, to the east and to the west. 16 And some of the children of Benjamin and Judah came to David in his strong place. 17 And David went out to them, and said to them, If you have come in peace to give me help, my heart will be united with yours; but if you have come to give me up to those who would take my life, though my hands are clean from wrongdoing, then may the God of our fathers see it and give you punishment. 18 Then the spirit came on Amasai, who was chief of the captains, and he said, We are yours, David, we are on your side, O son of Jesse: may peace be with you and peace be with your helpers; for God is your helper. Then David took them into his army and made them captains of the band. 19 And some of the men of Manasseh came over to David, when he went with the Philistines to the war against Saul, but he gave them no help: for the lords of the Philistines, after discussion, sent him away, saying, He will go back to his master Saul, at the price of our lives. 20 Then when he went back to Ziklag, there came over to him, of the men of Manasseh, Adnah and Jozabad and Jediael and Michael and Jozabad and Elihu and Zillethai, captains of thousands from the armies of Manasseh. 21 And they gave David help against the armed bands, for they were all great men of war, and captains in the army. 22 And from day to day more supporters came to David, till he had a great army like the army of God.
23 These are the numbers of the chiefs of the armed men, ready for war, who came to David at Hebron, to give the kingdom of Saul into his hands, as the Lord had said. 24 There were six thousand, eight hundred spearmen of the children of Judah, armed for war; 25 Seven thousand, one hundred of the children of Simeon, great men of war; 26 Of the children of Levi, four thousand, six hundred. 27 And Jehoiada, chief of the family of Aaron, and with him three thousand, seven hundred men; 28 And Zadok, a young man, great and strong in war, with twenty-two captains from his father's people. 29 And of the children of Benjamin, the brothers of Saul, three thousand; for up to that time the greater part of them had been true to Saul. 30 And of the children of Ephraim, twenty thousand, eight hundred great men of war, men of great name in their families. 31 And from the half-tribe of Manasseh, eighteen thousand, listed by name, came to make David king. 32 And of the children of Issachar, there were two hundred chiefs, men who had expert knowledge of the times and what it was best for Israel to do, and all their brothers were under their orders. 33 Of Zebulun, there were fifty thousand men, who went out with the army, expert in ordering the fight, to give help with all sorts of arms; true-hearted men. 34 And of Naphtali, a thousand captains with thirty-seven thousand spearmen. 35 And of the Danites, twenty-eight thousand, six hundred, expert in ordering the fight. 36 And of Asher, forty thousand who went out with the army, expert in ordering the fight. 37 From the other side of Jordan, there were a hundred and twenty thousand of the Reubenites and the Gadites and the men of the half-tribe of Manasseh, armed with every sort of instrument of war. 38 All these men of war, expert in ordering the fight, came to Hebron with the full purpose of making David king over all Israel; and all the rest of Israel were united in their desire to make David king. 39 For three days they were there with David, feasting at his table, for their brothers had made ready food for them. 40 And those who were near, as far as Issachar and Zebulun and Naphtali, came with food on asses and camels and mules and oxen, with meal for food and cakes of figs and masses of grapes, and wine and oil and oxen and sheep in great numbers, for there was joy in Israel.
45 The writings of the prophets say, And they will all have teaching from God. Everyone whose ears have been open to the teaching of the Father comes to me. 46 Not that anyone has ever seen the Father; only he who is from God, he has seen the Father. 47 Truly I say to you, He who has faith in me has eternal life. 48 I am the bread of life. 49 Your fathers took the manna in the waste land—and they are dead. 50 The bread which comes from heaven is such bread that a man may take it for food and never see death. 51 I am the living bread which has come from heaven: if any man takes this bread for food he will have life for ever: and more than this, the bread which I will give is my flesh which I will give for the life of the world. 52 Then the Jews had an angry discussion among themselves, saying, How is it possible for this man to give us his flesh for food? 53 Then Jesus said to them, Truly I say to you, If you do not take the flesh of the Son of man for food, and if you do not take his blood for drink, you have no life in you. 54 He who takes my flesh for food and my blood for drink has eternal life: and I will take him up from the dead at the last day. 55 My flesh is true food and my blood is true drink. 56 He who takes my flesh for food and my blood for drink is in me and I in him. 57 As the living Father has sent me, and I have life because of the Father, even so he who takes me for his food will have life because of me. 58 This is the bread which has come down from heaven. It is not like the food which your fathers had: they took of the manna, and are dead; but he who takes this bread for food will have life for ever. 59 Jesus said these things in the Synagogue while he was teaching at Capernaum.
60 Then, hearing this, a number of his disciples said, This is a hard saying; who is able to take in such teaching? 61 When Jesus became conscious that his disciples were protesting about what he said, he said to them, Does this give you trouble? 62 What then will you say if you see the Son of man going up to where he was before? 63 The spirit is the life giver; the flesh is of no value: the words which I have said to you are spirit and they are life. 64 But still some of you have no faith. For it was clear to Jesus from the first who they were who had no faith, and who it was who would be false to him. 65 And he said, This is why I said to you, No man is able to come to me if he is not given the power to do so by the Father. 66 Because of what he said, a number of the disciples went back and would no longer go with him. 67 So Jesus said to the twelve, Have you a desire to go away? 68 Then Simon Peter gave this answer: Lord, to whom are we to go? you have the words of eternal life; 69 And we have faith and are certain that you are the Holy One of God. 70 Then Jesus said, Did I not make a selection of you, the twelve, and one of you is a son of the Evil One? 71 He was talking of Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot. It was he who was to be false to Jesus—one of the twelve.
(Read John 6:36-46)
The discovery of their guilt, danger, and remedy, by the teaching of the Holy Spirit, makes men willing and glad to come, and to give up every thing which hinders applying to him for salvation. The Father's will is, that not one of those who were given to the Son, should be rejected or lost by him. No one will come, till Divine grace has subdued, and in part changed his heart; therefore no one who comes will ever be cast out. The gospel finds none willing to be saved in the humbling, holy manner, made known therein; but God draws with his word and the Holy Ghost; and man's duty is to hear and learn; that is to say, to receive the grace offered, and consent to the promise. None had seen the Father but his beloved Son; and the Jews must expect to be taught by his inward power upon their minds, and by his word, and the ministers whom he sent among them.
(Read John 6:47-51)
The advantage of the manna was small, it only referred to this life; but the living Bread is so excellent, that the man who feedeth on it shall never die. This bread is Christ's human nature, which he took to present to the Father, as a sacrifice for the sins of the world; to purchase all things pertaining to life and godliness, for sinners of every nation, who repent and believe in him.
(Read John 6:52-59)
The flesh and blood of the Son of man, denote the Redeemer in the nature of man; Christ and him crucified, and the redemption wrought out by him, with all the precious benefits of redemption; pardon of sin, acceptance with God, the way to the throne of grace, the promises of the covenant, and eternal life. These are called the flesh and blood of Christ, because they are purchased by the breaking his body, and the shedding of his blood. Also, because they are meat and drink to our souls. Eating this flesh and drinking this blood mean believing in Christ. We partake of Christ and his benefits by faith. The soul that rightly knows its state and wants, finds whatever can calm the conscience, and promote true holiness, in the redeemer, God manifest in the flesh. Meditating upon the cross of Christ gives life to our repentance, love, and gratitude. We live by him, as our bodies live by our food. We live by him, as the members by the head, the branches by the root: because he lives we shall live also.
(Read John 6:60-65)
The human nature of Christ had not before been in heaven, but being God and man, that wondrous Person was truly said to have come down from heaven. The Messiah's kingdom was not of this world; and they were to understand by faith, what he had said of a spiritual living upon him, and his fulness. As without the soul of man the flesh is of no value, so without the quickening Spirit of God all forms of religion are dead and worthless. He who made this provision for our souls, alone can teach us these things, and draw us unto Christ, that we may live by faith in him. Let us apply to Christ, thankful that it is declared that every one who is willing to come unto him shall be made welcome.
(Read John 6:66-71)
When we admit into our minds hard thoughts of the words and works of Jesus, we enter into temptation, which, if the Lord in mercy prevent not, will end in drawing back. The corrupt and wicked heart of man often makes that an occasion for offence, which is matter of the greatest comfort. Our Lord had, in the foregoing discourse, promised eternal life to his followers; the disciples fastened on that plain saying, and resolved to cleave to him, when others fastened on hard sayings, and forsook him. Christ's doctrine is the word of eternal life, therefore we must live and die by it. If we forsake Christ, we forsake our own mercies. They believed that this Jesus was the Messiah promised to their fathers, the Son of the living God. When we are tempted to backslide or turn away, it is good to remember first principles, and to keep to them. And let us ever remember our Lord's searching question; Shall we go away and forsake our Redeemer? To whom can we go? He alone can give salvation by the forgiveness of sins. And this alone brings confidence, comfort, and joy, and bids fear and despondency flee away. It gains the only solid happiness in this world, and opens a way to the happiness of the next.
