Here in the KC area and across the Midwestern States we’ve experienced quite an interesting Palm Sunday this weekend. We are at the tail end of blizzard-like snow conditions and it’s the end of March! I’ve done my fair share of grumbling about this crumby start for spring. (I think Punxatawney Phil was phoning it in this year; but I digress). The snow has really been a blessing in disguise.

We all associate snow with a ‘White Christmas’ in great hopes that we’ll look out the window on Christmas morning to see a pristine blanket of fluffy, gleaming cheer. After all, it’s our Savior’s Birthday. What could be more beautiful? It’s a symbol of His innocence and purity, unsullied by plows, snow-blowers and boot-tracks. We cozy up by the fireplace and bask in the pinnacle of the Season’s Joy. Alas, it’s all over too soon, and we return to the business of living our lives. But wait a second! If Christmas is the beginning; the birth of our Savior, what then is the rest of the story?

Somehow between Epiphany and Ash Wednesday we forget something very important. The story doesn’t end with Christmas. It builds through the weeks leading up to the Lenten season and we are suddenly aware that there are a few more chapters to this story. Christmas is just the beginning. The holiest of seasons follows and often it’s easy to forget.

Today, and this week, I’m reminded of that not so peaceful night in a stable in the city of Bethlehem. I’m reminded of the times when Mary and Joseph didn’t fully understand this child they were blessed with. I’m reminded of how Mary ‘treasured up all these things in her heart,” although she didn’t know at the time how important they really were. I’m reminded that He was and is our savior. I’m reminded of that ‘White Christmas’ that we so hope for.

As we move through Holy Week and arrive at Easter, the Glorious Resurrection of the one who took our sins and washed them white as snow, I offer praise to God that he “loved us so much that He gave His only begotten son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.” Light has come into the world!

We have behind us a joyful celebration of His birth. We have ahead of us a week of passion, prayer, thanksgiving and longing for Easter Sunday when we can say with great joy, “The good news is fulfilled! He is risen! He is risen indeed!”

 

Every Christian has a binding call to discipleship; that is to study, attempt to understand and follow the teachings of Christ Jesus. That call can be lived out in many ways. Some undertake missionary service, pastoral occupation or simply devote themselves daily in prayer and reading of scripture. For the laity, discipleship can be somewhat of an enigma. Some are afraid to live out their faith in daily life, although they live in a society where they are free to do so. Others boldly live out their faith in cultures where merely professing to be a Christian is forbidden. I have known men who professed faith loudly and often, yet did not back up their conviction in deed. Likewise I have known men whose faith is strong yet they do not display any outward signs of their heavenly call. How are we to live as true Disciples in this modern age?

JESUS CALLS TWO BROTHERS

Shortly after Jesus came to the village of Capernaum, he caught sight of two fisherman washing their nets. This may seem at first glance to be a simple circumstance. But make no mistake, it was not an accident that these two brothers where tending to their father’s business. Jesus called to them, a simple invitation, “Come, follow me.” Astoundingly they dropped everything they were doing, got out of their father’s boat and fell in step along with the Christ. They didn’t know much about this man who asked them to change their lives so radically; only that he was a man called Jesus, a teacher, a rabbi. Yet they did as he beckoned them to. Why?

To understand this episode more fully we have to look more closely at Judaism. All boys were educated in Torah. Simon and Andrew were undoubtedly no exception. They likely knew the first five books of the Bible by memory as did every good Jewish man. When they were young they would have been taught by a rabbi. He would drill them and question them, trying to discern whether they could become rabbis also. If they were found to be less than acceptable prospective rabbis, their teacher would congratulate them for their dedication and completion of their primary studies and then promptly send them back to their father to learn his trade.

Being a rabbi would have been an occupation of the highest honor. A rabbi was respected, revered, looked to for guidance and ultimately provided for by the community. No better lot could be had. Simon and Andrew, we must assume failed to pass the standards of their first teacher. They were sent back to Zebedee to become fishermen and carry on the family business.

It is no great wonder, then, that when this rabbi Jesus called them they followed willingly. They left thier nets and their boat; even their father calling after them to come back and finish the day’s work. They knew they were being summoned to learn under a rabbi. They were getting a second chance to be an apprentice (the ultimate apprentice, not the Donald apprentice) They knew that they would possibly be great teachers themselves someday if they just answered that call. This just did not happen in first century Judea.

“So what does this have to do with us,” you may be asking. The answer is “EVERYTHING.” Jesus makes this same invitation to you and I. “Go forth and make disciples of all nations,” he said. “How can I do that,” I’m glad you asked. Pick up your Bible, dust it off if you need to, crack it open and read. Nay, don’t just read, absorb. Put its teachings into practice in your everyday life Monday through Sunday. Don’t just pick the passages that you enjoy. Study the difficult to understand ones too. (Yes that includes the Old Testament)

One last note — You can’t do this alone. “Where ever two or three of you gather in My name,” Jesus said, “I AM THERE” [emphasis mine]. There are a lot of options for studying The Word together in community. Get into a small group. Take The Alpha course. Join a Disciple Group (shameless plug – I’ll be leading a Disciple I Group this fall and I’d love to have you join). Together we can become ‘Fishers of Men,’ without even leaving our nets or spreadsheets or emails or power tools or other occupations behind. In fact it’s better if we take our Bibles into those places of work. We might just make the biggest ‘catch’ of our lives.

 

Discussions of the Genesis creation account almost always lead to questions. The most common question is, “why are there two stories of creation?” To understand this we have to first take a look at the commonly accepted timeline for the writing of Genesis and its authorship.

CREATION I – Genesis 1:1-2:3

There is no way of knowing definitively when creation occurred. When we read Genesis 1 and find that the earth was created in 6 days, we should take into account several temporal and physical realities.

1. The earth rotates once every 24 hours – creating the common earth day upon which human time is based.
2. In contrast, Venus (sometimes referred to as Earth’s Twin) rotates once every 5,832.2 hours (a little more than 243 Earth days).
3. Other planets in the solar system vary widely in rotation times.
4. God is not bound by our concept of time. In fact in creating a 24 hour rotation for the Earth, he also created our concept of time.
5. We do not know what God’s concept of time is (or if, for that matter, time even applies to him).
6. Authorship of Genesis is attributed to Moses. Most Biblical scholars agree that Moses likely wrote Genesis, drawing from oral tradition.
7. Everything in Genesis, from Creation to the Tower of Babel is neither physically or scientifically able to be substantiated and must be taken on faith and in the method of understanding the Bible based on our own reason and experience and our knowledge of the tradition at the time of the writer and of present day Biblical scholars (The Wesleyan Quadrilateral).
8. All of the aforementioned events had to have occurred some time prior to the lifetime of Abraham, which is commonly accepted to have been approximately 2200-2000 B.C.
9. The Book of Genesis is believed to have been written around 1400 B.C.; i.e., Creation as it is written in Genesis occurred or was completed [at the very least] seven to eight hundred years before it was recorded in writing.

It is my belief that the first creation narrative was an explanation for the Israelites of how all things came to be. They needed to know of God’s omnipotence and omnipresence, and this account does a very good job of accomplishing that. Don’t misunderstand my explanation — I DO believe that God created all things. I believe, based on modern knowledge,  understanding and reason that the creation account was written in language that the immediately intended reader would be able to understand.

CREATION II – Genesis 2:4-25

The second most common question regarding creation in Genesis is “Why are there two creation accounts?” In fact I believe, along with many Biblical scholars, that  the second creation account was emergent; that is to say further explanation was required. The account in Genesis 2 is dovetailed into the Genesis 1 account. It briefly restates the first account and then details the creation of Eve. Here is where confusion becomes controversy for some readers and scholars.

In Genesis 1:27 God creates male and female humans. In Genesis 2:18 God is unable to find a suitable helper for Man and says, “It is not good for the man to be [alone]” (emphasis mine). So what happened to the woman that God created alongside man in 1:27?

LILITH

In Jewish oral tradition from around the 8th century A.D., the woman created at the same time and from the same dirt as Adam is given a name: Lilith. This legend grew in the subsequent centuries, even being expanded upon in the late Middle Ages by Rabbi Isaac ben Jacob ha-Cohen. He contended that Lilith who was created as an equal to Adam refused to submit to her husband. She left Eden, ha-Cohen explains, and had intimate relations with the archangel Samael. She would not return to Eden thereafter, whether prevented by God (in some tellings of the story) or because she did not care to follow the expected order of God as it relates to man and wife. You may recognize the name Lilith as a symbol of female power in modern culture. Please remember as you consider this, that it is mythological in origin and is not from the Bible.

So we have our possible but unsubstantiated first woman, Lilith. This brings us to Eve. Eve was created, interestingly enough, not from the earth. It is clear that God was capable of creating man from the dirt of the ground, breathing life into his nostrils, but He chose not to create Eve in this way. In 2:21-22, God puts Adam into a deep sleep and removes a rib from his side. He uses this rib to create Eve. When Adam awakes, God brings Eve to him and he responds very poetically: “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called ‘woman,’ for she was taken out of man.” Further there is now reason to put forth the first marital command, for this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.

In order to understand this social order, we have to take into account the tradition of the Israelite people. Women at the time Genesis was written (and throughout ancient times even up to modern third world social environments) were expected to be subservient to men. They relied on men to provide for and protect their households and communities. This was a very different social clime than modern Western culture. The ideas and statements put forth in this article are archaic by today’s standards. There is truth in it though. In marriage, man and woman still become one flesh. The balance of subservience has certainly shifted, but God intends man and woman to be united in marriage submitting one to the other. In Ephesians 5:22-33 Paul shifts this balance somewhat. He admonishes both Husbands and Wives to submit to and love one another. Current times find women more equal to men than any previous social order. I would posit that if Paul were to write a letter to modern generations he would shift his view even further, allowing for total equality of the sexes.

Taking all of this under consideration, I ask several questions. Answer them for yourselves and then go back and read Genesis 1 and 2.

• Did God create a woman, Lilith, at the same time He created Adam?
• Was Eve Adam’s second wife?
• Was all of this creatively edited out of the oral tradition that led to the Genesis creation narrative?
• If Genesis were written today, how would it differ from it’s current form?
• Does it really matter?

A wise pastor once told me that there were about eight verses in the Bible that he didn’t really care for. He would prefer that they weren’t included in the Bible at all. Would he rewrite the Bible or throw out all of it because of these few perplexing verses? Of course not. To do so would be like missing the forest for the trees or throwing the baby out with the bathwater.

God does not ask us to put our brains on pause when we read his word. Rather, we have to think, reason and explore what He wants us to hear in the words that we read. The three legged stool upon which the Holy Word of God rests can stand only when all three legs – knowledge, reason and experience are present in our study.

In answer to the questions above: to all 5 — I don’t know (and that is quite okay).

Hello All,

I haven’t posted in nearly two years now! Eeeek! “Bad Blogger!” I’ve had several encounters and conversations in the last month that have led to some deep research. It has occurred to me that I need to be documenting my findings / explanations / opinions. So here I am again. I hope you will excuse the absence and join me on this journey of Biblical, Spiritual and personal discovery. That said, I’m diving right in to a topic that’s fresh in my mind: Adam’s wives(?). I can hear the collective “Whaaaaaat” as I type this. But trust me, this will be one that you just don’t want to miss.

Your Contrite Blogging Friend,

Daniel Williams

A few weeks ago a member of my small group raised an interesting question regarding Psalm 51:11 and it’s reference to the holy spirit. It is easy for us to breeze right past such references when we are so used to the language of the New Testament and even sometimes (regretably) take the presence of ‘the Helper,’ God‘s Holy Spirit for granted. We as Chistians received the Holy Spirit on Pentecost (Acts 2). How then could the Holy Spirit be removed from the Psalmist? GREAT QUESTION! I consulted a pastor, a few well versed leaders in the congregation, http://net.bible.org (an excellent resource for multiple translation comparison along with foot notes, cross references and translation notes, and The New Interpreter’s Study Bible NRSV. Here is what I found:

 

• The original word in Hebrew for Spirit is xwrw or ruwach, which has many possible meanings such as wind, breath, mind or spirit, perhaps reflecting the abstract understanding of the ancient writers of the OT. The original word in Hebrew for Holy is ksdq or qodesh which means holy, sacred, separate or of God.

• The personal Spirit of God is mentioned frequently in the OT, but only in this verse and in Isa 63:10-11 is he called “your/his Holy Spirit.”

• While NT believers from the Pentecost forward enjoy the permanent gift of the Holy Spirit and need not fear that it would be taken from them. In the OT the personal Spirit of God is imparted to certain individuals who have been called to special tasks and has only temporarily resided in them. For example, when God rejected Saul as king and chose David to replace him, the divine Spirit left Saul and came upon David (1 Sam 16:13-14).

• God’s spirit was present from the time of creation and presumably is as infinite, omnipotent, omnipresent and omniscient as are the Father and the Son, by nature of being God Three In One. In the creation account the writer refers to “us” and “we,” inclusive terms which likely refer to the Holy Trinity.

• Further God breathed life into Adam giving him spirit. As Adam (and subsequently every man to follow) is created in the image of God, the spirit spoken of here could simply refer to the life-force given by God that would have been as it is today considered to be holy.

• Mentioned many times in the OT and the NT prior to Pentecost (Luke 1:35, Luke 1:67), the Spirit of God may also simply refer to an attribute of the divine; His spirit which is holy.

• Finally, translators have capitalized “Holy Spirit” in this passage in the NIV, NASB, NLT, and NKJV but not in the NRSV, KJV or BBE. The NRSV it has been suggested by some is more precise translation of the Bible. While I don’t intend to suggest that other translations are less than reliable or true, it is likely that the capitalization in the other translations was a product of the reflex to capitalize God, Jesus, He, His and Holy Spirit, etc. by translators and Christians who are much more familiar with the NT.

So what is the answer? The answer is that you must decide what it’s meaning is for you. There are centuries between us and the writing of this passage and much debate among scholars over the use of the words Holy Spirit in the OT. At the least I hope this insight has brought you into a state of discernment. After all as disciples of Christ and the Holy Word that is what we are tasked to do.

Watching the end of “The Ten Commandments” tonight I am reminded of the parallels between this epic and Jesus’ Passion. Moses faithfully led the Israelites to freedom… although not without a price. The Israelites were under the Old Covenant. They failed time after time to obey, to have faith, to follow without prejudice or condition. That was all that God wanted of them. He wanted a people who would love and worship him unconditionally. Repeatedly He tells them to walk in his ways, to follow his laws and be obedient servants.

When they were left at the shore of the Red Sea they doubted. They had no faith. God however delivered them miraculously across the dry sea bed. I find it remarkable that they could have witnessed and been part of such a grand exodus and so quickly turn away from God their savior.

Jesus offered you an opportunity to be free… just like the Israelites. It is in His Resurrection that our hope lives. He entered the city of Jerusalem to a Royal Welcome, yet in that same week, faith was overcome by doubt and certain denial. It was necessary for Our Lord to be crucified, so that our sins might be forgiven and we might have a second (or third, or fourth, or fifth, or more chances) to get it right. But beware, do not think that this offer will be available forever. We are mortal. We have these chances during the time that we live.

Take this chance right now. Pray this prayer and live in God’s favor:

Lord,

Your works are mighty and wonderful. I do not deserve Your mercy and grace. I am blessed by Your patience and generous forgiveness. Lord, I need You in my heart. Fill me up that I will be found worthy of  Jesus’  act of salvation. Lord, I claim You as my God and Savior. Let me not veer from it for all of my days.

In Your Name I pray,

AMEN

Epiphany is coming up this Wednesday, January 6. It will be observed in most churches this Sunday, January 3.

The significance of this Sunday continues the Christmas story. We take a look at the ‘Magi’ or Wise Men who visited Jesus. So why would we talk about the Wise Men when Christmas is past.

Matthew chapter 2 tells us of this visit and we learn some interesting facts if we look at the scripture closely.

• Even though their visit with Jesus is traditionally taught as a part of the Christmas story, there is a distinct lack of a sense of time in the text, and many biblical scholars believe that these men from the east may not have seen Jesus until as late as two years after His birth. Their visit, in other words, needn’t be associated only with Christmas.
• We find no mention of the people of Bethlehem visiting Jesus. The shepherds, from one of the lowest classes, did herald the news in Luke’s account, but the other local people are quite conspicuously absent. Christ receives a noble witness of his divinity from heaven, and of his kingly estate from strangers: which his own people unknowingly allowed to happen without acknowledging him themselves.
• We hear of Herod’s involvement as he encourages the Magi to seek out this Child who is to be King and return word to him. While it would be natural for any king to be defensive of his throne (as it appeared that it was his throne that was in jeopardy) it was even more so for Herod as he was a foreigner and had become ruler by force.
• We are commonly given to infer that there were three Wise Men who visited Jesus. In fact the scripture does not mention how many Wise Men visited. It is supposed that there were three because of the number of gifts mentioned. There could have been more gifts of the same type given, gifts which were not mentioned or Wise Men who did not bring gifts at all. The Wise Men’s names are not mentioned and they seem to deliberately choose to remain anonymous.
• The importance of the gifts is their significance: Gold symbolized that He was and is the King of Kings. Frankincense, a type of incense often burned at altars, emphasized His deity. Myrrh, which was often used in embalming, foreshadowed His death on the Cross.
• Notice that the Magi came looking for God. It is interesting. Most people today (even some Christians) rarely go looking for God. Instead we wait for him to find us, perhaps hoping that he would just miraculously begin speaking to us through a sermon.
• Finally, we learn that The Wise Men departed into their own country another way. It’s easy to understand why they would do that. Herod had told them to return and let him know where he could find this child who would be King.

The Question

In the course of some research, I came across the following two items. The first is a statement from The Book of Discipline of The United Methodist Church regarding the place of science in religion and of religion in science. The second is a commentary published by the United Methodist News Service (although not necessarily representative of the opinions or policies of the UMNS or the United Methodist Church).

I am posting these items here because I am interested in your thoughts on the matter. I am particularly interested in your thoughts on creation and evolution. What do you believe in regards to the origin of life? What would you tell your children if (or, what have you told your children when) they asked about evolution? I encourage your comments and dialogue. Please read both items below before responding.

Science and Technology

We recognize science as a legitimate interpretation of God’s natural world. We affirm the validity of the claims of science in describing the natural world, although we preclude science from making authoritative claims about theological issues. We recognize technology as a legitimate use of God’s natural world when such use enhances human life and enables all of God’s children to develop their God-given creative potential without violating our ethical convictions about the relationship of humanity to the natural world.

In acknowledging the important roles of science and technology, however, we also believe that theological understandings of human experience are crucial to a full understanding of the place of humanity in the universe. Science and theology are complementary rather than mutually incompatible. We therefore encourage dialogue between the scientific and theological communities and seek the kind of participation that will enable humanity to sustain life on earth and, by God’s grace, increase the quality of our common lives together.

From The Book of Discipline of The United Methodist Church – 2004. Copyright 2004 by The United Methodist Publishing House. Used by permission.

Creation and Evolution Commentary: The Faith-Science Collision on Campus

By the Rev. Kenneth H. Carter Jr. The Rev. Kenneth H. Carter Jr. is an occasional columnist for United Methodist News Service. Carter is senior pastor of Mount Tabor United Methodist Church in Winston-Salem, N.C.

It happens every fall. A young woman goes off to college. Call her Susan. Susan can be characterized in at least two ways: she is bright, intelligent and motivated to learn; and she is spiritual, religiously active and devoted to God. As classes begin on campus these two important dimensions of Susan’s life come into conflict.

The conflict is most unavoidable as Susan wades into the sciences: biology, physics, earth sciences, astronomy, chemistry. The intellectual exercise is stimulating, but Susan is encountering a worldview that is at odds with her faith. In its extreme form, the scientific worldview is reductionistic, mechanistic and atomistic. In other words, there is no reality apart from the material, the measurable, the empirical. We are not spiritual beings, she is taught, but collections of molecules.

This can be quite traumatic for Susan, for it calls into question all of her faith experience to this point, which may have been no deeper than that of an older elementary level. The foundations upon which she is constructing a life can begin to crumble. Susan begins to question everything that she has been taught to this point in her journey. The collision can be seen in competing claims:

• We are created in the image of God (Genesis 1. 26).
• We share 98% of our DNA with the chimpanzee.
• In six days God created the heavens and the earth (Genesis 2.1).
• There is granite on the floor of the Grand Canyon that is two billion years old, limestone that is 500 million years old, and sandstone that is 300 million years old.
• We believe in God, maker of all that is, seen and unseen (Nicene Creed).
• The creation of life, as seen in the recent discussions of stem cell research, is happening across the world in academic, corporate and hospital settings.

Susan may seek resolution of this conflict, through a campus religious group that has walked with students like her year after year. Some of these campus groups are deeply suspicious of the sciences, of the worldviews of scientists who are agnostics and atheists, and so their response is also firm and steadfast. While well-intentioned, this can begin to set up a division in Susan’s mind between the spiritual life and the intellectual life, between her identity as a Christian and her vocational life.

The Christian faith has a stake in the dialogue, experienced internally by Susan and being carried out externally in all sorts of places. Christians are interested in discovering the truth, as are scientists. Christians also believe that Jesus is the incarnation (word made flesh, John 1) of God, and so we value the material world as do our scientist friends.

Two simple concepts can help someone like Susan in the collision between the teachings of both faith and science. One is mystery. Both Christians and scientists confess that there is much that we do not know about this world. By faith we believe that God created the heavens and the earth (Genesis 1-2), but anyone who has peered into the Grand Canyon must admit that the creation is something of a mystery. And of course, mystery can lead us to awe, wonder and praise, in the presence of God who gives and sustains life.

A second concept is humility. Christians can be more honest about how little we know about the sciences. And scientists can admit that their critique of faith is often based on a stereotype that would not be credible to any thinking person. Both Christians and scientists can be less judgmental and more humble before the truth that we seek, even if in different ways.

Our churches and campus ministries can help Susan to make her way through the issues that arise when faith and science collide. We can help her remain grounded in the Scriptures, which speak of a God who creates and yet whose creation will always be beyond our comprehension (Job 38-39). The Scriptures can help her avoid the pain and confusion that occurs when faith is destroyed, when intellectual arrogance dismisses God, and when there is no openness to discovery of the truth.

A larger place for mystery and humility can help college students wrestle with these matters as they enter into adulthood as faithful Christians.

Carter is senior pastor of Mount Tabor United Methodist Church in Winston-Salem, N.C. Commentaries provided by United Methodist News Service do not necessarily represent the opinions or policies of UMNS or the United Methodist Church. This United Methodist News Service article was first released on Sept. 28, 2000.

 This morning I was asked a question that has quite a complex answer and required researching several different sources. I thought I’d share the answer with you, as I found it to be particularly enlightening. The question was regarding David’s anointment as the future King of Israel in 1 Samuel 16:1-13: “Why are people always anointed using oil?”

Anointing is a rite used for four different purposes: Consecration (to prepare for God’s purpose), Impartation (to ask that the power of God and the Holy Spirit enter the heart), Emancipation (to ask that the Lord free you from physical or mental bonds), and Preparation (to prepare yourself or others for God’s purpose).

I found out that there are a number of different words in Hebrew, Greek, Latin and Aramaic that are translated to the English word anoint. All of the different root words in some way refer to smearing the one being anointed with oil.

The oil used is generally fragrant. For example oil used for anointing in the Old Testament is described in Exodus 30:22-25 to be a mixture of myrrh, cinnamon, calamus, cassia and olive oil.

The Bible uses oil as a physical representation of a spiritual reality. In Hebrews 9:23-24 such things are considered to be a type of “copy” of heavenly things. Anointing oil represents or “copies” the anointing of the Holy Spirit or God’s anointing. In other words being anointed with oil would symbolize that the Holy Spirit is upon the one who has been anointed. Literally, that person has been smeared with a “copy” of the Holy Spirit. The act of anointing is requesting that the Holy Spirit be poured out upon the one being anointed.

In the case of David (and other Old Testament Kings, High Priests, some lesser Priests and some of the Prophets) anointment is for impartation. The root word used is the Hebrew mashah. Mashah means to draw out or to set aside from others for sanctification and to impart the Holy Spirit to one in order to serve God in a special capacity.

The Boy David is Anointed by Samuel to become King of Israel

It is interesting to note the progression of the root word from mashah to mashiah, the recipient of such anointing and further from mashiah to Messiah, to Christos by translation into Greek and by translation into English to Christ who is the ultimate Anointed One.

Anointment is done with oil and inseparable from it because of its symbolism of God’s purpose and the Holy Spirit. 

Bible Rocks – Scriptural Foundations – Episode 2 – 17 min 35 sec

 https://ddub74.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/1samuel10.mp3

Scripture and Commentary Podcast

Samuel annoints Saul and he is chosen as Israel’s King. Interesting juxtaposition of Saul’s reluctance to receive his crown while, in later chapters, Saul hunts David, to protect his crown and out of jealousy for  the favor he is receiving both from God and the people of Israel.