1 Samuel 13:8, 13–14 “Now he waited seven days according to the appointed time set by Samuel … Samuel said to Saul, ‘You have acted foolishly; you have not kept the commandment of the Lord your God … The Lord has sought out for Himself a man after His own heart, and...

1 Samuel 12:21–22 “You must not turn aside for then you would go after futile things which cannot profit or deliver, because they are futile. For the Lord will not abandon His people on account of His great name, because the Lord has been pleased to make you a people...

1 Samuel 8:3–5 “Samuel’s sons, however, did not walk in his ways, but turned aside after dishonest gain and took bribes and perverted justice. Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel … and said, ‘Behold, you have grown old and your sons do...

1 Samuel 6:5 “You shall make likenesses of your tumors and likenesses of your mice that ravage the land, and you shall give glory to the God of Israel; perhaps He will ease His hand from you, your gods, and your land.” Observation: The Philistines had conquered Israel...

1 Samuel 4:5 “As the ark of the covenant of the Lord came into the camp, all Israel shouted with a great shout, so that the earth resounded.” Observation: This verse, taken alone, sounds pretty good. But the bigger picture is this: Israel had already been defeated in...

Ruth 3:1, 4, 9 “Then Naomi her mother-in-law said to her, ‘My daughter, shall I not seek security for you, that it may be well with you? … It shall be when he lies down, that you shall notice the place where he lies, and you shall go down and uncover his feet and lie...

Ruth 1:6; 2:12 “Then she arose with her daughters-in-law that she might return from the land of Moab, for she had heard in the land of Moab that the Lord had visited His people by giving them food.” “May the Lord reward your work, and your wages be full from the Lord...

Judges 17:5–6 “And the man Micah had a shrine and he made an ephod and household idols and consecrated one of his sons, that he might become his priest. In those days there was no king in Israel; every man did what was right in his own eyes.” Observation: Micah was a...

2 Corinthians 2:10–11 “But one whom you forgive anything, I forgive also; for indeed what I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, I did it for your sakes in the presence of Christ, so that no advantage would be taken of us by Satan, for we are not ignorant of...

Judges 11:11 “Then Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him head and chief over them; and Jephthah spoke all his words before the Lord.” Observation: Jephthah didn’t have a promising beginning. He was the offspring of Gilead’s affair with a...