It is a foolish thing to try to hide from a blind man. That almost sounds like a foolish statement in itself, doesn't it. Hiding from a blind man should be easy. But when that blind man is a prophet of God, the possibility of hiding becomes impossible. That is what Jeroboam and his wife learned the hard way. Ahijah had a somewhat limited ministry as a prophet of God. He was the one God sent to Jeroboam to tell him about how the LORD was going to make him king of 10 of the tribes of Israel. But soon after he gave this prophetic word to Jeroboam and it came to pass - Ahijah was left out of the kingdom and its ways. Jeroboam decided that God's promise to make him king was not true - and that rather than possibly lose "his kingdom" (actually it was God's kingdom entrusted to Jeroboam) by having the people continue to worship God in Jerusalem - he would make his own gods. From that moment until God confronted Jeroboam, Ahijah was puhsed out of the way. "Why would my kingdom need a prophet of Jehovah now," Jeroboam thought. But the day came when Jeroboam needed a true prophet of God. The day when his son was very sick. But he didn't want to humble himself before God to ask - so he decided to disguise his wife to go ask. She would take a present with her to give to the prophet - and then ask if her son would live. No one needed to know it was the king's son - they just needed information. What a disconcerting thing it must have been for the queen to have Ahijah greet her when she came to him. "Come in, wife of Jeroboam, why do you pretend to be another woman? For I am sent to you with a harsh message." Even more difficult for her was to hear the message that God had for her husband who thought that he could hide from God's prophet - and honestly - who must have also forgotten that He could not hide from God either. Here was the message God had for this king who preferred a god of his own making rather than the living and true God. "Go, say to Jeroboam, 'Thus says the LORD God of Israel, "Because I exalted you from among the people and made you leader over My people Israel, and tore the kingdom away from the house of David and gave it to you—yet you have not been like My servant David, who kept My commandments and who followed Me with all his heart, to do only that which was right in My sight; you also have done more evil than all who were before you, and have gone and made for yourself other gods and molte n images to provoke Me to anger, and have cast Me behind your back—therefore behold, I am bringing calamity on the house of Jeroboam, and will cut off from Jeroboam every male person, both bond and free in Israel, and I will make a clean sweep of the house of Jeroboam, as one sweeps away dung until it is all gone. Anyone belonging to Jeroboam who dies in the city the dogs will eat. And he who dies in the field the birds of the heavens will eat; for the LORD has spoken it. Now you, arise, go to your house. When your feet enter the city the child will die. All Israel shall mourn for him and bury him, for he alone of Jeroboam's family will come to the grave, because in him something good was found toward the LORD God of Israel in the house of Jeroboam. 1 Kings 14:7-13 (NASB) Jeroboam, who thought he could "pull one over" on the blind prophet of Jehovah - quickly learned that the only blind people involved in this situation were him and his wife. They had turned a blind eye to the Word of the Lord - deciding that the whole theological future of Israel involved nothing more than which "god" they would decide to make to secure the kingdom for themselves. What they learned is that the kingdom never belonged to them. They were simply given stewardship over it by God to rule it for the honor and glory of God. They also learned that they had far worse problems than a sick son. Their lives were so ungodly that God was going to take the boy to Himself so that they would not destroy him with their ungodly living and teaching. In Him alone was there found something good in the house of Jeroboam - and God was going to reclaim him before that was erased by the ungodly influence of his father. But Jeroboam's wife - and then Jeroboam himself - were about to learn that God's eyes had not been blind to what was happening in Israel. He knew about their unfaithfulness to Jehovah. He knew about their idolatry. He knew everything - because that is the funny thing about an omnisicient God - He does know everything. He sees even though His prophet may be nearly blind. So what do we take away from this historical account? First we need to learn it is the height of foolishness to play "hide-and-go-seek" with God. He sees you - and He will not only know where you are physically hiding (honestly Adam and Eve in the garden should have taught us that already) but he knows everything you think you are hiding from Him in your heart. That is where things get very scary for us. You see the second thing we need to understand is that God knows our hearts. He knows every thought, every action, even every hidden motive we think only we know. He knows them all - and they all are subject to His Law and commandments. As Romans 2:6 reminds us God, who has a day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God - "Will render to each person according to his deeds." That does not end well for us - becasue our deeds will show that we fully deserve the wrath and judgment of God for our sin. We cannot hide it - any more than Jeroboam's wife could hide her identity from God. So what are we to do? This is where the comfort of the Gospel of Jesus Christ steps in to our lives. Our works will NOT stand in the day of Judgment and wrath of God. One sin will spell our doom for that sin will deafen all arguments with its cry for our punishment according to God's holy standard. Thanks be to God though that He has shown His great love for us by having that penalty fall upon His Son at the cross. It was there that God poured out His wrath and punishment for sin upon Jesus - and in that moment sin was paid in full (the very words of Jesus as He died - "It is finished" - an accounting term meaning , "PAID IN FULL." Where does this put us now? Well - it puts us in a place where we desperately need the mercy and grace of God. It puts us in a place where we need to stop playing "hide-and-seek" with our sin. We need to come out of hiding and step fully into the light of God. It won't be a pretty moment at first - the fullness of our rebellion and sin in the light of His holiness. But it can be a glorious moment as we not only abandon our hiding games - but also abandon the pride of thinking any of our works will be acceptable to God. For there we will find that God has made provision for the forgiveness of our sins - and the gift of His Son's righteousness as that which will make us acceptable before Him. Rather than deceiving ourselves with the false religions of men, the false promise of rules and regulations which can make us acceptable to God, and the false images of gods we make who will approve our wicked works - we step into the light of the true God Who dwells in unapproachable holiness - but Who has also provided the true way through the death, burial, and resurrection of HIs Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. So the question is to all of us . . . Will we continue in the foolishness of playing hide-and-seek with the living God? Which begs the second question . . . Will we step into the light of His conviction - as well as the light of the glory of the Gospel of Jesus Christ? The truth of the matter is that the only one in the darkness during our hopeless game of 'hide-and'seek" with God . . . is us. Take the word of a blind prophet - you can't hide from God.
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What king of decisions determine the future of a nation? We live in a day when many choices are being made - and many people think that certain decisions are vitally important to the future of our nation. What is interesting is that the decision that was made in this passage would not be considered one of the more important ones that will always affect a nation. But how a nation views God is the most important thing in that nation. For when a people cast off the God of Scripture and begin making gods of their own in their hearts - they are truly defining the future of their nation .
There were some watershed moments in the life of God’s people during the times of the kings. We will read of one of the more important ones this coming week in our reading. This event and choice made by Jeroboam truly set Israel on a course that doomed the nation to exile and captivity. The event of which I speak is when Jeroboam made a decision to believe his own heart rather than believing God’s Word and promise concerning his kingdom. In 1 Kings 11 we read of Solomon’s disastrous choice to multiply wives among the ungodly nations that surrounded Israel. Because he did this, Solomon began to tolerate idolatry in his heart – and then eventually allow idolatry to flood Israel. The people were worshipping false god’s – Ashtoreth, Milcom, Chemosh, and even the horrible god of Moab, Molech. God brought judgment upon Solomon and his kingdom for this – which involved tearing 10 tribes of the kingdom of Israel out of the hands of the son of Solomon, Rehoboam. When God did this, He had the prophet Ahijah meet a young man named Jeroboam and proclaim that God was going to give him 10 tribes of Israel as kingdom. With this prophecy also came a word from God to Jeroboam. God promised to make an “enduring house” for Jeroboam if he listen to God and walk in His ways. It was a very clear promise from God. When Jeroboam received his kingdom – he began listening to his own fleshly thinking rather than God’s promise. He said the following to himself – which proved to be spiritual fatal to him and to the kingdom of the 10 tribes of Israel. Jeroboam said in his heart, "Now the kingdom will return to the house of David. "If this people go up to offer sacrifices in the house of the LORD at Jerusalem, then the heart of this people will return to their lord, even to Rehoboam king of Judah; and they will kill me and return to Rehoboam king of Judah.” So the king consulted, and made two golden calves, and he said to them, "It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem; behold your gods, O Israel, that brought you up from the land of Egypt." He set one in Bethel, and the other he put in Dan. Now this thing became a sin, for the people went to worship before the one as far as Dan. And he made houses on high places, and made priests from among all the people who were not of the sons of Levi. Jeroboam instituted a feast in the eighth month on the fifteenth day of the month, like the feast which is in Judah, and he went up to the altar; thus he did in Bethel, sacrificing to the calves which he had made. And he stationed in Bethel the priests of the high places which he had made. 1 Kings 12:26-32 (NASB) Jeroboam decided to listen to his own heart, which feared Israel returning to Rehoboam, instead of remembering God’s promise. That is when he decided he could cause his kingdom to endure by instituting a religion of his own making. He copied some aspects of what God had done – but changed enough so that he would be ultimately in control of this new god of his own making. Clearly what he had done was directly disobey God – and institute idolatry into the life of God’s people. In what we will read – we will see that God rebukes him for this and says that his actions will lead to disaster for Israel. The historical reality is that there was never a godly king who followed after Jeroboam. Israel went through a succession of godless kings – descended deeper and deeper into idolatry and sin – until the day they were taken away into captivity. What can we learn from this? First and foremost we need to see the intense danger of idolatry. When we make a god with our minds rather than honor God who has revealed Himself in Scripture – very bad things will happen in our lives. Oh how very careful we need to be to worship the God of the Word – and not the god of whatever we want in our hearts. God takes the sin of idolatry very seriously. The second lesson, which is equally important, is to remember and meditate on God’s promises to us. We will be tempted to forget God’s promises because of our own fears and struggles. But God will bring to pass what He has promised. The dangers we face are that of putting God’s promises to the side and instead, believe whatever our heart thinks. The problem with this is our hearts are desperately wicked and will turn from the truth if we trust them without the corrective and directive of God’s Word leading us. Jeroboam’s actions led to dire consequences not only for himself – but also for his children and his entire family. We need to remember that if we turn to idolatry and a self-made god, dire consequences will also come to us and to our families. It is far better to remember God’s promises and let them fill our minds and hearts. Remember He has told us to let the Word of Christ dwell richly in our hearts. We will be blessed if we keep His promises and His Word foremost in our thinking so that our hearts will be strengthened by it to stand on His Word no matter what may come. This past week we read through the part of 2 Samuel that involved the rebellion of David’s son, Absalom and those who supported him. Among those who supported this rebellious son was a man named Ahithophel, who held the position of the king’s counselor. In this role he was evidently very skilled. His advice was as one who had inquired of the oracle of God according to 2 Samuel 16:23. Both David and Absalom saw him in this light. He is also had a son who was listed among David’s mighty men (2 Samuel 23:34). This was no ordinary man - but was a man mighty in valor and in wisdom in the years he served the king. He was a man who supported David and who even had children who served with great distinction among David’s most elite warriors. But what happened to Ahithophel? Why would he choose Absalom over David? What would lead a wise, godly man to not only choose wrongly here - but also to offer very godless advice to Absalom as one of his first acts as his counselor? In 2 Samuel 16 he encouraged Absalom to commit adultery and rape with 10 of David’s concubines in broad daylight before all of Israel in Jerusalem. That is not godly counsel! What would lead a man who once was seen as a source of godly wisdom to give such unwise, unholy counsel? Something we know only by examining the genealogies of Scripture is that Ahithophel had a granddaughter who was well known in the annals of Scripture. We read in 2 Samuel 23:34 that Ahithophel’s son was named Eliam. What we don’t see, unless we examine the records closer, is who Eliam’s daughter and Ahithophel’s granddaughter was. Her name was Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam. Bathsheba was Ahithophel’s granddaughter. This was how a godly man began to descend down a path of bitterness that eventually destroyed not just his wisdom, but eventually destroyed him in the end. What a blow it had to be to learn of David’s betrayal to him and his family. Ahithophel had served with honor and distinction - had given his son to the fight - had even given his son-in-law as well (for Uriah was one of the mighty men of David too). David repented of his sin in the end - even writing publicly sung Psalms that spoke of his betrayal and wickedness. But something happened to Ahithophel in the process. We are warned in the New Testament to beware of any root of bitterness that may spring up in us that will defile us and many around us. David bears responsibility for his sin and for being a stumbling block to Ahithophel, but it was also this man’s responsibility to forgive as well - even when it was excruciating to do so. But it is evident that he did not - but began to nurse bitterness and a grudge against David. Then the day came that an opportunity arose for Ahithophel. David’s passivity toward his son was costing him the kingdom. Absalom had effectively stolen the hearts of many in Israel and a rebellion was begun. One of the early things Absalom did was to ask Ahithophel to be a part of the rebellion - and Ahithophel gladly rose to the task. His ungodly advice to begin Absalom’s rule by invading and then raping the 10 concubines left to care for the house was shocking. But it had its desired results in that it burned any bridge left between David and Absalom. Then Ahithophel counseled Absalom to let him had a large strike force he would take and use to chase down and kill David. He was not focused on winning a battle - but on making sure David was dead. These were the actions of a man who was consumed with destroying David - as he had destroyed Ahithophel’s family. In a strange twist, David’s close friend, Hushai - stayed behind at David’s request to thwart the counsel of Ahithophel. When Hushai disagreed with Ahithophel’s counsel and prevailed - the disgraced royal counselor knew that Absalom would not prevail. With a hurt pride - and a crushed spirit that would no longer be able to see David killed - Ahithophel went home. Unforgiveness turned to bitterness and now bitterness had led to ungodly counsel to murder God’s anointed. He saw his own demise coming - and unable to see forgiveness as a possibility (probably due to his own inability and unwillingness to give it to others) - Ahithophel set his house in order - and hung himself. What do we learn from the sad story of Ahithophel? First, I want to make sure that everyone who reads this knows that what David did was sin - and he was responsible before God for being a stumbling block to many. It brought great damage to his own family and also among his friends. So we do learn that sin has a horrific price to it that we usually do not see in the moment we consider it and act in an ungodly manner. Hopefully we see a reminder to ask ourselves, “Who is going to be hurt by the fallout of my sin?” This is a question we most definitely should ask - and allow its answer to warn us and frighten us so that we fear God and run from sin. But there is a second lesson we need to learn. Stumbling blocks will come - and anyone who has lived on this fallen earth knows that there will be many many times we will be hurt in one lifetime. The lesson we need to take from Ahithophel is to realize that nursing those hurts instead of giving them to God and forgiving others will destroy us. I do not want to minimize the pain and hurt Ahithophel felt. I do not want to given anyone the impression that such pain is easy to deal with in life. But the truth is that our pain, when not dealt with, will lead us toward unforgiveness and bitterness. Left to grow into a malignancy in our hearts - bitterness and unforgiveness will hurt us. The damage it will do within us is only going to grow over time. Ahithophel’s hurt and pain did turn into unforgiveness and bitterness in the end. It smoldered within his heart and turned a wise man into a fool who gave very wicked advice. It turned a man who served God early in his life into a man who lived with an unholy vendetta to kill the one who hurt him - and when that opportunity was taken from him - he killed himself. To those who have been hurt badly by another - even possibly a leader in a church - I do not want to minimize your pain. It is very real. But remember that our Lord was betrayed and left alone at the cross. He knows every ounce of venom the world can try to inject with its bite into our hearts. He did not succumb to it - and even prayed, “Father, forgive them for they do not know what they are doing,” toward those who impaled him upon the cross. He even forgave Peter who denied Him and cursed vehemently as he did. He forgave the others who ran and left Him and who did not even stand with Him for one hour of prayer in the garden. Our Lord Jesus Christ has been betrayed an untold amount of times since then - even by our own indifference and unwillingness to speak and stand out for Him. And He forgives - and forgives - and forgives again. He has even given us His Spirit, by which He empowers us to draw on His life and power to forgive others. Bitterness and unforgiveness destroyed Ahithophel. Let us not learn or draw from him and his example when hurt - but rather let us die to ourselves and draw upon our Lord Jesus Christ and His life to forgive. What do you do when you’ve had your quiet time, prayed, and you come away with a sense that you’ve basically gotten nothing from the Lord for the day? This is a question I wanted to tackle because it is my guess that just about every Christian has mornings like this. First of all, let’s address this from the sin point of view. If we are in known sin from which we have yet to repent - this will be the norm. If we think we’re going to have a wonderful time alone with God when we are in conscious known sin, we are kidding ourselves. The Word of God is very clear on this matter. “If I regard wickedness in my heart, the Lord will not hear.” (Psalm 66:18) Not only will He not hear - but usually when He speaks - it will only be to deal with the area of rebellion until repentance is embraced. Something I feel the necessity of saying is that He does this because He loves us. Scripture says God disciplines those He loves. But when this is ruled out we are still left wondering why it seemed like God did not do anything at all in our time alone with Him. Second, let’s address this from the emotions point of view. We all want emotions - at least when we think that they are going to be good. But life is not a series of incredible emotions that are guaranteed every day. The emotion with which I loved my wife on my wedding day and subsequent honeymoon was a very high point in our marriage. The emotion we had at the birth of each of our six children was a high point in life. The emotions I had when I went up to preach my very first sermon to Calvary Chapel was a high point. But there have been many days as a husband, father, and pastor that were not equally as high. In fact, to wonder why every day isn’t that high, emotionally speaking, is ridiculous. I still love my wife - love my children - and love the congregation I pastor when I have average emotional days - and even when I have bad and horrible days emotionally. That is called living. Too often we paint the Christian life as one high after another - or like some kind of trip to an amusement park with thrill ride after thrill ride. That is a disservice to others on this path. A normal person has a normal range of emotions - up, down, and often - somewhat blah at times. To have a continuous high cheapens who we are to be in Christ. Jesus knew highs and lows and everything in between. To have a somewhat blah-zay time alone with God is not horrifically abnormal. This takes me to the third thing we need to consider. Third there is the matter of faithfulness. Sherie and I do not have daily earth-shattering conversations. Most days we talk - and it is fairly normal, run of the mill, how was your day honey - kind of conversations. Because there is not a rush of emotion every time we speak does not make me doubt either her love for me or my love for her. We are faithful in really emotional times - and in times when the emotions don’t run as high. One of the things we need to remember is that God wants us to be faithful to Him. Therefore, when we have a really average time alone with God, or worse, a series of those average times - do we stop making time to be alone with God? The only way to build faithfulness in a life - is for there to be times when little more than faithfulness is why we keep going. We have things we value - regardless of whether they come with daily warm fuzzies or not. I value God - and value the relationship He has given to me through Jesus Christ. Whether I leave my time alone with Him high as a kite - or feeling very “non-feeling” will have no effect on whether I will continue to seek Him in the future. I seek Him BECAUSE I love Him - and I love Him because He first loved me. He values faithfulness - therefore I, too, will value it - with Him - with my wife - with my children - and with God’s saints. Truly - valuing faithfulness helps often with reaching out to the lost - because very often I get little back in response at first when sharing the gospel. But God calls me to love them and to share His Word with them - which requires (shocker alert) faithfulness. The last (but certainly not exhaustive) matter is that of the silences of God. There are times when all seems to go silent in our spiritual lives. I’ve read many biographies of godly men and women who all testify to these times. Some call them the dark night of the soul while others refer to them as the silences of God. Whatever they are called, they are disturbing when they come. David spoke of one of these when he said these words: How long, O LORD? Will You forget me forever? How long will You hide Your face from me? How long shall I take counsel in my soul, having sorrow in my heart all the day? How long will my enemy be exalted over me? Consider and answer me, O LORD my God; Enlighten my eyes, or I will sleep the sleep of death, and my enemy will say, "I have overcome him," and my adversaries will rejoice when I am shaken. Psalm 13:1-4 The silence of God disturbed David - it spiritually freaked him out. He wondered where God was. He had a longing to see God’s face. He desired God’s counsel - and the way that God would enlighten his eyes like He previously had in days gone by. He looked at how his being shaken in his confidence in God would cause those who hate God to rejoice. Now, I have to confess that I purposely left out verses 5-6 of this Psalm. David was shaken somewhat by what he thought was God’s absence - or at least disinterest in fellowship with him. In a way I believe that this was by design. The design behind it was for David to see how futile life was without God. The design was for David to recognize that there was no other God for him but Jehovah. That threw him even more dependent and needy upon God. Such words are not written because a person is disinterested in God or had an apathy about his or her spiritual life. These are the words of the true believer who is “desperate for God!” Peter spoke such words in John 6 when he said, “Where else can we go? You alone have the words of life!” Now I’ll share the rest of Psalm 13. But I have trusted in Your lovingkindness; My heart shall rejoice in Your salvation. I will sing to the LORD, Because He has dealt bountifully with me. Psalm 13:5-6 David goes from despair to trust - i.e. faith! One can almost hear him lifting these words to the heavens. “I’ve trusted your covenant-love.” Even as he lifts them there - he speaks them also to himself deep within his heart. This first phrase speaks of God’s covenant with Israel - and later His covenant with David. God made promises - and He WILL keep them. David turns from emotion to the Word. He turns from feelings to faith. I have trusted in Your promises. But next David says, “My heart shall rejoice in Your salvation” He turns from God’s promises to God’s prior works. He remembers the salvation of God - how God worked in him and he again shouts to the heavens, “I’ve trusted what You promised - and I will choose to rejoice in what You’ve done.” It is wise in our blah moments to remember the mercies and grace of God given to us in salvation. As we remember His salvation - we need to speak it to our heart - and speak it with our heart as well. Then David finishes with a song. “I will sing to Jehovah, because He has dealt bountifully with me.” Please note that exclamation points are not used here. I’m glad they were not - because I believe David is not speaking from excess emotion within himself. He is speaking truth TO himself. Remember what God has both promised and done requires singing. But what if we don’t feel like singing? Sing anyway, because deep down that is probably what David was doing. He sang of how Jehovah had dealt “bountifully” with him. The word for “bountifully” is the Hebrew word “gamal” which means to recompense or to bring to a good completion. But it can also mean, “to wean.” It was this meaning that grabbed me when thinking of my dry, blah moments in my time alone with God. There are times when what God is doing is weaning us from the constant call for an emotional experience. The child who is weaning may feel that he or she is getting a raw deal. There was plenty of food and a nearness - even an intimacy with mom involved. Where has that gone? But the mother is not removing love from the child - she is preparing the child for a thousand different foods to come. We need to grasp that at times our loving Father in heaven is weaning us from the glut of “feelings” so that we can be ready for mature food. We are being moved from milk to meat. Also - when these times come - God is allowing us to do what is truly in our hearts. That can be a painful moment - if all you have in your heart is “religious obligatory practices” and not a deep love of God. In those moments many turn away from God. If this is how it is going to be - I’ll just go somewhere else! That is a statement made by someone who has yet to be ruined by God. They have been ruined by God so that nothing else satisfies except God. His silences - or even our lousy quiet times can remind us of this. I am not here to fulfill a checklist of religious obligatory practices! I am here to meet God! Since nothing but God Himself will satisfy that longing - I MUST HAVE HIM! So - you’ve finished your time alone with God. You “feel” as if nothing has happened. You wonder why? Maybe its unconfessed sin - but that is not God’s only reason from allowing such a thing in your life. He loves you and wants you weaned from “emotionally-dependent Christianity” where life is one awesome experience to the next. He also loves you and wants to build faithfulness into your life. And He may love you enough to be weaning you from such things so that you can move on from milk so that you may begin partaking of the meat of the Word. Whatever it is - let Him drive you, not away from Himself, with such difficulties. Let them drive you further into His arms - further into His promises in His Word - and further into a relationship of trust and faith in His Son. This week I want to refer to something we’ve read in the Disciple’s Journey readings. We are currently in 1 Samuel and we find there a somewhat disturbing situation with Saul and God. The situation involves Saul being confronted about his sin against David. He was seeking to kill David because of his jealousy and fear of David. When confronted about his sin, Saul breaks into tears and confession. He also speaks the truth about David one day being king - as God has already said. As big spiritual moments go - this one seems legit! Yet later Saul turns from these very confessions and finds himself chasing David and trying to kill him within days of his previous confession and supposed repentance. Saul changes his position like a yoyo going up and down on a string. One would think that his tearful confession of sin - even stating he is wrong and has sinned against God and David is the real thing. What is going on here in Saul’s life? And what can we learn from it? When God truly works in a person’s life it is measured by what happens in the heart. That is a principle we must remember. When David was chosen as king, Samuel was reminded as several of David’s brothers walked by that, “Man looks at the outward appearance, but God looks at the heart.” Jesus made it clear in the Gospel of Matthew that, “It is not what enters into the mouth that defiles the man, but what proceeds out of the mouth, this defiles the man.” (Matthew 15:11) And Jesus told us that out of the abundance of the HEART the mouth speaks. When Jesus spoke of murder in the Sermon on the Mount, He defined murder and adultery based on what was happening in the heart - not just what happened outwardly in the actions. Back to Saul . . . Yes, he has tearful confessions to David - but we really don’t see him turning to God. When David sinned later in life with the adultery with Bathsheba and proxy murder of her husband, he confessed his sin to God - even writing Psalm 51 and other Psalms as testimony and instruction for Israel. In spite of all Saul’s tears - there is no real repentance and turn to God. That is where we must turn to the New Testament to be reminded of the nature of true repentance. 2 Corinthians 7:9-11 speaks of true repentance. The passage reminds us that there are two kinds of sorrow. There is a godly sorrow that leads to repentance - and - a worldly sorrow that leads to death. Here is that entire passage. For though I caused you sorrow by my letter, I do not regret it; though I did regret it—for I see that that letter caused you sorrow, though only for a while— I now rejoice, not that you were made sorrowful, but that you were made sorrowful to the point of repentance; for you were made sorrowful according to the will of God, so that you might not suffer loss in anything through us. For the sorrow that is according to the will of God produces a repentance without regret, leading to salvation, but the sorrow of the world produces death. For behold what earnestness this very thing, this godly sorrow, has produced in you: what vindication of yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what longing, what zeal, what avenging of wrong! In everything you demonstrated yourselves to be innocent in the matter. 2 Corinthians 7:8-11 Note in the underlined section that there is a sorrow according to God’s will that leads to repentance without regret and to salvation. This is contrasted with the sorrow of the world that produces death. There is repentance to life - and another repentance to death. Saul had the second of these two kinds of repentance. It had plenty of tears - plenty of words - even plenty of emotion. The problem is that is had no true turn to God. So how to we know whether we have the first or second kind of repentance? In the end - it is evidenced by our actions. And we will see in a moment that these actions are not toward the offender or the offended primarily. They are actions toward God. The last verse describes the actions of true repentance. Earnestness - vindication (apologea - a defense - here a defense of God’s ways and a defense seen not only in words but in a change of our actions). There is also fear of God - longing to change - zeal for God and his law to be fulfilled in our actions and attitudes - and a future where we are innocent in regard to sinful actions. All this points to a change in life. It matters very little how many tears are shed - it matters much how much we turn to God and allow Him to change our hearts so a different way of living ensues. Then there is verse 12 - which is very enlightening. So although I wrote to you, it was not for the sake of the offender nor for the sake of the one offended, but that your earnestness on our behalf might be made known to you in the sight of God. 2 Corinthians 7:12 Paul states here that he wrote with rebuke - not for the sake of the offender who had sinned - nor did he write for the sake of the offended that had been sinned against in this situation. Ultimately he wrote so that they would see a revived earnestness in their response to the Word given to them by Paul - in God’s eyes. Ultimately Paul knew that repentance is something done “in the sight of God.” It is not done for the consumption of man. When we are truly repentant toward God - we will change. We change primarily because we restore our relationship with Him - and He works within us as we turn from disobedience to obedience. Back to Saul . . . He makes a very good and even somewhat convincing confession to David. The problem is that we see no true confession to God. Remember Saul’s confession to Samuel. He said he had sinned - but the next thing he did was to ask Samuel to come with him so he could be honored in the eyes of the people. David’s repentance didn’t care about honor before the people - he desired restoration to God. That is why we see David turn to God - even in the midst of very difficult circumstances and consequences of his sin. We see him turn to God again and again - humbling himself and seeking God in the middle of the mess his sin had caused. But what we see in Saul is a continuing descent into sin - disobedience in the Amalekite matter - disobedience in his attitudes and actions toward David - disobedience in continuing in his efforts to kill David even after having his life spared twice - and then a turning to a demonic medium when God wouldn’t answer his prayers before his death in a battle against the Philistines. Saul got worse - not better after his tearful confessions. So what do we come away with from these chapters of 1 Samuel? We come away with a warning about merely looking at the outside of things. Even when people cry actual tears along with their confession - that is not enough to merit calling what they do “true repentance.” We come away with a reminder that ultimately the One most offended by sin is God. Therefore the primary issue in true biblical repentance unto life is what is happening in the heart. Are we turning to God wholly or are we just making a good religious show of things? True repentance is all about our response to God. He calls us to repentance - helps to grant us true repentance - and is the One we are returning to in repentance. Without those things happening - and a subsequent work of God that affects the way we live - all our tears, confessions, and promises we will truly change are just chaff to be blow away. The real work - is heart work resulting in life change - to the glory of God. “I will give thanks to You, O Lord among the heavens, I will sing praises to You among the nations, For your steadfast love is great, Is great to the heavens, And Your faithfulness, Your faithfulness, to the clouds! Be exalted, O God, above the heavens, Let Your glory be over all the earth! Be exalted, O God, above the heavens, Let Your glory be over all the earth!” We would probably refer to this praise song as “an oldie.” The funny thing is until many of us read Psalm 57 this week; we may not have grasped just how much of “an oldie” it is! It is not just a song that was written in 1977 – the Holy Spirit through His servant David gave it to us. What may tend to astound us a little is the music studio in which it was written. ------------------ There he sat in a dark cave, wondering what possibly could be next. What had it been – 4 or 5 years he had been on the run? A fugitive from justice – at least the royal excuse for justice at the present moment. He could hear his own breathing – as well as the breathing of a small band of men who were with him in the place where light would not betray their presence. What would today bring? Another close call with death – another sprint up the side of a mountain with our pursuers barely out of sight? It was a lonely existence and often a frustrating one. But before his thoughts could turn to another thing there was a noise at the entrance of their hideout. Silence – absolute silence had to be observed. Did someone see them come in? Did they not cover their tracks well enough? Even worse – were these their final moments before a flood of battle-hardened warriors would begin what would be literally the fight of his life? No it was only one person – wait – it was one very recognizable person from his attire. The king was entering the cave – and remarkably – he was alone. It was soon evident that he was there to relieve himself. A lone soldier silently came to his side and whispered in his ear. “David – this is it – you can end all this now. God has led your enemy right to you where you can strike him down.” The stealthy voice was hushed as David took only a moment (but it felt like a year) to know what he should do. “This is God’s anointed!” He thought, “How can I stretch out my hand and kill him without guilt? He moved as if a small wisp of wind and cut just the corner of Saul’s garment off of the robe. Soon Saul was finished and began to depart from the cave. David waited a few minutes and then followed him. His men crept behind him to see what would happen. David called out to Saul and apologized. APOLOGIZED! What was he doing, his men thought! He isn’t going to kill him? He’s apologizing – and he’s giving away our position! We’re all dead men now! But soon after they heard Saul weep and apologize to him! What an amazing thing to see and hear. What a strange day it was. That night they sat around the fire and David pulled out his lyre. They loved when he did this – for few if any could write and sing like their captain. What prayer would he weave with his music and words tonight? This was a new one – and from what he said – it about today’s events in the cave. “Be gracious to me, O God, be gracious to me, For my soul takes refuge in You; And in the shadow of Your wings I will take refuge Until destruction passes by.” Sounds right – sounds like what we’ve been going through – that is for sure! But David continued with more. I will cry to God Most High, To God who accomplishes all things for me. He will send from heaven and save me; He reproaches him who tramples upon me. Selah. Our captain is so good at telling the story! We were praying too! It is truly amazing how he turns to God in every situation. It is amazing that he looks to Jehovah to deliver him – and – us! Reproach? Yeah – Jehovah needs to do a little reproaching and rebuking! We are being trampled. The thoughts of what he just sang ran wild in their heads as he went through a little break from singing and the music played by itself. A flourish of music seemed to be leading to some kind of revelation. “God will send forth His lovingkindness and His truth.” Send love and truth? What we need to be asking for is a few more soldiers – no – a lot more soldiers! Maybe even a batch of angels! “My soul is among lions; I must lie among those who breathe forth fire, Even the sons of men, whose teeth are spears and arrows And their tongue a sharp sword.” As I turned and elbowed a buddy next to me – we both had that look in our eyes. Yeah – David – tell it like it is! Lions – yep – they’re like lions – fire breathing lions – with teeth like spears and arrows! Absolutely David – their tongue is like a sword – a very sharp one! We braced ourselves longing for a little more judgment talk! We wondered how God was going to deal with our persecutors? This was going to be good! “Be exalted above the heavens, O God; Let Your glory be above all the earth.’ Looked at my buddy and shrugged. Where did THAT come from? He’s started praising God. We were kind of used to this. It was like one moment he is concerned – maybe even a little mad. Then – boom – it’s like God does something to his heart and his tone changes. You know - It’s like he sees something we don’t. Almost like God was in the midst of all this mess. Kind of like – no matter what God is still in control of it all? Whatever the case – it may be disturbing – but it sure is amazing and enlightening! They have prepared a net for my steps; My soul is bowed down; They dug a pit before me; They themselves have fallen into the midst of it. Selah. YESSIR David! It was like they were hunting us with a net and a pit! Right again! Our souls were bowed down too! And its about time for someone to knock them into their own pit. Then – there is was again – that flourish in the music that meant a conclusion – or maybe some kind of insight. Oh how we loved how he did this! “My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast; I will sing, yes, I will sing praises! Awake, my glory! Awake, harp and lyre! I will awaken the dawn. I will give thanks to You, O Lord, among the peoples; I will sing praises to You among the nations. For Your lovingkindness is great to the heavens And Your truth to the clouds. Be exalted above the heavens, O God; Let Your glory be above all the earth. There he goes again – praising and worshipping God. Was hoping for fire and judgment – but he turns to God and wants to awaken the morning. Thanks? Praise? Love? Truth? Boy - how he views things so very differently than us! Oh – and there it is again – that same chorus. Be exalted above the heavens – Let Your glory be above all the earth. Not exactly what I was expecting after that harrowing experience! Then it was done – the song was over. Like all of his songs – this one left us thinking – wondering – considering things. “You know – there is something about these songs,” I thought. Strange – but the more I hear them – the more I trust in God. The more any situation becomes Jehovah’s situation. The more I see God ultimately in control – no matter how bad or how good it gets. Then there is also that steady drum beat of everything being for God’s glory. I looked over at my buddy one last time before I lay down to sleep. “Eh – pretty good song,” I said. “And weird as it may seem – it makes me want to trust God right along with him.” As I turned my head and lay on the ground I thought of the words of the song I just heard – and drifted off into a restful night’s sleep. My last conscious thoughts were – “With a God like that – doesn’t matter what your situation is – a man can sleep peacefully at night.” Saul’s sin began in such an inconspicuous way. He was faced with waiting on God in a difficult situation. He was supposed to wait on Samuel to come and offer a sacrifice as the Philistines gathered. When he was forced to wait longer - he chose not to do so and “forced himself” to offer up the sacrifice. This was something only the priests of the Lord were supposed to do. The real issue though was Saul having to wait on God when things were dicey and difficult. Please understand that I know that such times are what makes a man or woman of God - and that such trials are very hard to endure. But Saul failed miserably and decided he knew best what to do - and that waiting on God didn’t make sense when something needed to be done NOW (at least in his mind this was the case). Sin grew in Saul when he was sent to destroy the Amalekites. Here was where Saul decided in his own mind that what God had said was forbidden and needed to be eliminated seemed harsh to him. He could save what looked good to him (regardless of what God said about it) and even use it to serve God - at least what was left over when he was done using it too. His real issue here was seeing things from God’s perspective - especially what God called sin and what He forbids. Saul wanted to define sin and what is forbidden himself. That redefinition was the cause of the kingdom being torn from him just as Samuel’s garment was torn when he tried to persuade Samuel to bless him rather than discipline him. It was during this time that Saul began to watch David’s surrendered life begin to experience God’s favor. He sang to God in a way that made evil spirits run from the room. He faced down a giant who wound up face down and dead because of David’s trust in God. As this grew he looked at David first with suspicion, then with dread, then with a growing jealousy, and eventually with murderous rage. He tried every way he could to kill this godly upstart and keep himself king. He wasn’t going to wait on God to advance David - and surely Saul knew better than God who should be king and who shouldn’t be king. Interesting how our early “little sins” come back later much larger than we first estimated them to be? Saul became quite the spear thrower during that time (he threw a lot of them - he just didn’t hit anything except the wall). He threw them at David in a jealous, murderous rage. He even threw them at his own son - when he threw in his lot with this horrible usurper of kingdoms! In fact, when we see him in 1 Samuel 22 - he is standing on a high place with a physical spear in his hand - and with verbal spears that he is about to lob at David and anyone who would dare support him. “David won’t give you what I’ve given you!” he rages. “And after all I’ve done for you - none of you tells me my son made a covenant with this terrorist who lays in wait and conspires against me!” Saul works the crowd dishing out guilt like a Jewish mama working her son for something she wants. “None of you feels sorry for me,” he continues evidently making up for any lost pity by feeling very sorry for himself. That is when it happened. Saul’s decision to play with sin rather than kill it, grew to full stature as Doeg the Edomite (by the way Edom is another type of the flesh and a way that is opposed to God’s way) told him that Ahimelech had helped David with bread and Goliath’s sword. Saul snapped, calling the priests before him with Ahimelech and interrogating them about how they were complicit in David’s plot to overthrow Saul and his kingdom. Ahimelech for his part though was no patsy - he confronted the king’s sinful madness by reminding him David has not been part of some plot. He has been beneficial to the king, killing Goliath, being Saul’s son-in-law, who was elevated to captain of your personal guard (by YOU!) and who is honored in your hose. He even let Saul know he was still his servant (which by the way so was David) and then said, “ . . . your servant knows nothing at all of this whole affair.” What is so very sad is David knew nothing of it either because the only place this plot existed was in Saul’s twisted mind. The next thing Saul did I believe sealed his fate. He pronounced a death sentence upon godly Ahimelech the priest - and extended it to his entire family - women and children included. The blood then flowed like waters rushing down a stream. So virulent was Saul’s jealousy and hatred of David that even oxen, donkeys, and sheep were slaughtered. This is where sin takes us. We think we are in control of what we consider a small thing in our lives. We think it is OK for us to think of a brother or sister in Christ with jealousy and suspicion - even a little resentment - and that it will never grow. But Saul is given to us as an example of where sin takes us. I heard a Baptist preacher one say, “Sin takes you where you don’t want to go - Keeps you longer than you want to stay - And costs you more than you want to pay!” How true that is in Saul’s life as his sin - when he thought he controlled it - began to take over and it controlled him. But that is the true nature of sin. It will only grow and become ever more malignant in your life. That is why we need to be circumspect and alert to any intrusion of sin into our lives, our mindset, or our ways. It is deadly. The wise man or women knows this and avoids it at all costs - and when it is discovered repents of it immediately and completely. In 1 Samuel 16:14-15 and as well in 1 Samuel 19:9 we read of a strange situation with Saul where an evil spirit from the Lord that came upon Saul. Here are the verses written out below. Now the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD terrorized him. Saul's servants then said to him, "Behold now, an evil spirit from God is terrorizing you. 1 Samuel 16:14-15 Now there was an evil spirit from the LORD on Saul as he was sitting in his house with his spear in his hand, and David was playing the harp with his hand. Saul tried to pin David to the wall with the spear, but he slipped away out of Saul's presence, so that he stuck the spear into the wall. And David fled and escaped that night. 1 Samuel 19:9-10 Here we read of an evil spirit from God who was sent to terrorize Saul. What do we make of this – an evil spirit from God? NOT THE FIRST TIME What may be astounding to some is that this is not the first time God has done this. He has used evil spirits to deal with sin in the past. Then God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the men of Shechem; and the men of Shechem dealt treacherously with Abimelech, so that the violence done to the seventy sons of Jerubbaal might come, and their blood might be laid on Abimelech their brother, who killed them, and on the men of Shechem, who strengthened his hands to kill his brothers. Judges 9:23-24 God used an evil spirit to cause a rift between two sets of evil people who had done horrible violence in killing all the members of the Gideon’s family. This spirit widened that rift so that both parties were destroyed for their genocide of Gideon’s extended family. In 1 Kings 22:19-23, we read of the prophet Micaiah prophesied of an evil spirit who would be a deceiving spirit in the mouth of wicked king Ahab’s false prophets so that he would be led to go to battle and be killed at Ramoth-Gilead. In each of these situations God was dealing with those who were being very disobedient to Him. CONTEXT OF DISOBEDIENCE The first thing – as always – is to understand this in the context in which it is given. Saul has begun disobeying God regularly – without truly coming to repentance afterward. He was not just disobeying God in a personal matter alone – he was openly defying and disobeying orders God gave him for the actions of the entire nation. CONTEXT OF THE HOLY SPIRIT DEPARTING The second thing we should note is that the Spirit of God departed from Saul. Like nature, the spiritual realms abhor a vacuum. What happened in the departure of God’s Spirit was that an evil spirit from God filled that vacuum – though from what we can tell from the passage – it did not possess Saul. The word used for what was happening was that this evil spirit terrorized Saul. The word used here is “baath” which means to startle, terrify, or to fall upon. But why would God allow this? What was He seeking to do? GIVEN OVER One of the ways for us to understand this is to grasp the nature of God’s holiness. In Romans chapter 1 we read of how God responds to sin. “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness.” Paul goes on to tell us that the evidence for God is first known through nature – and then through conscience. Therefore mankind is without excuse for not giving God thanks or honoring Him. What men do is to make a god of their own invention instead. God then “gives them over” to various kinds of sin – anything from sexual sin to anger to even disobedience to one’s parents. This is how God responds to sin in the ungodly. But there is more for us to grasp – including how God uses even Satan to deal with us when we sin so that we will return to Him in repentance. TURNED OVER TO SATAN There are several passages in the New Testament that will help us understand what was going on with Saul in these passages in the book of 1st Samuel. I’ve listed them below. In the name of our Lord Jesus, when you are assembled, and I with you in spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus, I have decided to deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of his flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. 1 Corinthians 5:4-5 This command I entrust to you, Timothy, my son, in accordance with the prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you fight the good fight. keeping faith and a good conscience, which some have rejected and suffered shipwreck in regard to their faith. Among these are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan, so that they will be taught not to blaspheme. 1 Timothy 1:18-20 In both of these passages there is sin that is a result of ones who are consistently living in disobedience to God. What Paul says in each case is that he turned these men over to Satan for a purpose. In 1 Corinthians the man was turned over to Satan for the destruction of his flesh. In 1 Timothy the two men were handed over to Satan so that they might be taught not to blaspheme God. This may seem extreme to us – but it is only because we don’t fully grasp the honor and glory that God deserves. Also we should remember that this is done rarely – but it is done also for the good of those to whom it happens. In both cases the goal is that these men would learn not to sin and grieve God. God loves them enough to discipline them – and bring them to repentance. So in light of these passages lets return to 1st Samuel and our passages about Saul. God was disciplining Saul by having the evil spirit terrorize him. The intent was for Saul to repent. The problem is that Saul refused to repent – or in some cases he partially repented – or had what 2 Corinthians 7:9-11 calls “the sorrow of the world” which leads to death rather than true God-focused repentance. Rather than turn to God we will watch Saul descend into madness as he is tortured with the reality that he has been replaced and that David is God’s chosen king for Israel’s future. WHAT ABOUT US? So what can WE learn from all of this? There are a couple of things we should grasp. First, is that God takes disobedience very seriously. To disobey God is to place ourselves immediately in the crosshairs of God’s discipline. We might want to think about that a little before we decide to disobey God in the future. Second, God loves us enough to want us to return to Him. He will use whatever it takes to bring us to repentance and return. Yes, that even includes setting the evil one loose to be an instrument of that discipline. What He is doing when He does this is simple. He is allowing the consequences of our sin to run free in our lives. One thing though that is a comfort to us is that God restrains the evil one from taking the full measure of hatred out upon us. But the longer we disobey – the more stringent will be the discipline. And – since we are speaking of eternal things – truly THIS is the most important issue in our lives. Greater than temporary happiness, greater than mental or physical health, greater than prospering in the here and now – God wants us to repent and turn away from disobedience. Considering what we are seeing in the life of Saul . . . it is my hope that we cringe at His power even while marveling at His love. God is at work drawing us to Himself – and He will not tolerate any rival. May we learn – and turn to Him from disobedience and thank Him for such wise, powerful love toward us. Just thought I’d write something in light of our reading from 1 Samuel 15 the other day. Here is one of those passages that can really get confusing if we don’t study it in light of the whole counsel of God’s Word. On one day - and within one chapter of the Word - we read these three sections all dealing with God regretting (or in the King James it reads, “repenting”) something. And what we read has to be doubly confusing because in verse 10-11 God says he regrets making Saul king, in verse 29 He says He will not lie or “change His mind,” and then finally in verse 35 God repeats that He regretted making Saul king over Israel. Does God change HIs mind or not? Does this represent a serious problem with God being both immutable - and yet - in these passages - seeming to say that He isn’t immutable - because He made a regrettable choice in making Saul king? Which is it - immutable (never changing) or not immutable (changing His mind)? The first thing we need to do in finding an answer to this dilemma is to place ourselves in humble dependence on God to reveal Himself through the Holy Spirit in the pages of Scripture. As we do this we need to address the whole counsel of God’s Word. First let’s see the passages we are addressing in 1 Samuel 15. Then the word of the LORD came to Samuel, saying, "I regret that I have made Saul king, for he has turned back from following Me and has not carried out My commands.” 1 Samuel 15:10-11 (NASB) As Samuel turned to go, Saul seized the edge of his robe, and it tore. So Samuel said to him, "The LORD has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today and has given it to your neighbor, who is better than you. "Also the Glory of Israel will not lie or change His mind; for He is not a man that He should change His mind." 1 Samuel 15:27-29 (NASB) Samuel did not see Saul again until the day of his death; for Samuel grieved over Saul. And the LORD regretted that He had made Saul king over Israel. 1 Samuel 15:35 (NASB) The next thing to do is to seek to understand these with the wider lens of their context. Had God said anything earlier that would have made this a possibility? The first place to look for this is in Saul’s appointment as king. This did not come without a problem. The prophet Samuel did not want to see a king appointed for Israel. He rightly discerned that God was displeased with this request. Chapter 12 of 1st Samuel is his address to this displeasure of God. After telling them that this was an ungodly request - God manifest Himself by sending thunder and rain during the wheat harvest. This was completely out of the norm and the people feared the Lord greatly as a result. But Samuel sought to comfort Israel with a call to remain faithful to God by continuing to serve the Lord with all their heart. Then he said these words. "Only fear the LORD and serve Him in truth with all your heart; for consider what great things He has done for you. But if you still do wickedly, both you and your king will be swept away." 1 Samuel 12:24-25 (NASB) Therefore we learn from the start of Saul’s kingdom that his appointment was based on him following God with all his heart and not doing wickedly. If he did this, Saul would be swept away by God’s judgment. The fact is that Saul did disobey a direct command of God twice already. This was the second time he disobeyed God in a direct command. The first involved him making an offering without a priest - something God absolutely warned against doing. It was on that occasion that Samuel made it clear that God was then seeking a man after His own heart to be king. We read that in 1 Samuel 13. Samuel said to Saul, "You have acted foolishly; you have not kept the commandment of the LORD your God, which He commanded you, for now the LORD would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. But now your kingdom shall not endure. The LORD has sought out for Himself a man after His own heart, and the LORD has appointed him as ruler over His people, because you have not kept what the LORD commanded you." 1 Samuel 13:13-14 (NASB) So what we learn from a better understanding of the context of 1 Samuel is that God had already warned Israel and Saul once - and rebuked Saul for direct disobedience and said that God was going to seek out for Himself a man after His own heart to be king. It was in this context that the incident in chapter 15 with the Amalekites took place. So based on this alone we know that God had not “changed His mind” or “repented” as a man would who had made a mistake. He had already made it clear that Saul was going to be replaced because he had shown himself unfit to be Israel’s king by his multiplied disobedience. One thing we need to state here as well is that often God moved upon His prophets to speak judgment for disobedience and rebellion. But often these were conditional warnings. There was a caveat that if those who received the warnings would repent and turn from their sin - the disaster and judgment could be avoided. If they refused to repent and continued in their sin - the judgment would surely fall upon them just as God had promised. Saul knew this from Israel’s history - and yet he continued in his pride, disobedience and unwillingness to follow God’s decrees. It is at this point that we need to take a look at the words that were used in 1 Samuel and elsewhere to understand a little better what is going on in this passage. Once we have come to understand the context, it is wise to do word studies as well. The KJV regrettably uses the word repent in 1 Samuel 15 to translate the Hebrew word, “nacham” in 1 Samuel 15:11. According to The Complete Word Study Dictionary, Old Testament, the word “nacham” means: to be sorry or to regret. What is going on in this passage where God uses the word “nacham” every time He speaks is this - He is expressing sorrow and regret for having Saul made king. He did so to teach Israel a lesson. That lesson was to trust Him as king - and not be like the rest of the nations around them. And yet even as He gave them what they wanted, knowing it would lead to disaster for them, He did so that they would learn from their mistakes. But as these mistakes began to multiply and the people suffered because of it - God speaks of how it affects Him to see it - he was filled with sorrow and regret for having Saul as king and the suffering it caused. God is not just in heaven marking off the things that will happen like some unfeeling bureaucrat checking off a list. He hated to see the suffering it caused - and yet - He was also disciplining His people so that they would reject sin and adhere to His ways and leading. The word most often used for a man’s repentance is the Hebrew word “shub” which means to turn back. In verses 10 and 11 God uses this word “shub” to describe Saul’s turning from God. But when God speaks of His regret for making Saul king the word “nacham” is used. The two are distinguished from one another - as they are elsewhere in Scripture. A man disobeys God - and after learning of his rebellion is called to change his mind about his wickedness and repent (shub). But God knows no such shock in departing from the right way. What He experiences here - and elsewhere in Scripture is grief and sorrow over sin. Some might assert that God, being sovereign, knew Saul would sin. Then why would God make him king? Why wouldn’t God just make David king - or just refuse to have any king at all? Why would God allow the suffering and the sin that would follow Saul’s terrible reign as king - when He could have avoided it altogether? To answer this will require a second article - seeing as this one has already run very long. I’ll address this question in the next installment. What is the Word of God? When is it that God speaks to us through His Word? These are important questions for us to answer. There are a couple of views of this that are based on just a slightly different preposition that is used to describe when it is that God speaks to us. But that difference is not slight at all. It is actually the difference between having God speak to us - and us saying when He speaks. Let's take a look at these two very different views. Sunday I gave a testimony about how God graciously met with me early that morning. He spoke to me through His Word by His Spirit and it was a wonderful thing. But, lest anyone think that His speaking was due to an existential experience I had, I want to make a very important distinction. Each and every day I have my time alone with God, I open the Word of God. As I begin to read I am immediately experiencing the Word of God – every single word that I read IS His Word. The reason I am making a point of this is because of an errant theological view of God’s Word. Let me give an example. When we read the Word you will hear me say, let us listen “to” the Word of God. There are traditions that will phrase that differently. They say, “As we read, let us listen ‘for’ the Word of God.” Our statement represents the understanding that, “All Scripture is inspired by God,” (literally God-breathed). We believe that the words that we read ARE the Word of God. The view that we listen “for” the Word of God as we read implies that it is not until we have some kind of existential experience that God is speaking. (i.e. a feeling, a sense, an experience that God is speaking to us, in some circles the Greek word ‘rhema’ is used to say God is speaking in that moment) The way that this is described in theological circles is that - when we experience it – then what we read ‘becomes’ the Word of God. That is a heretical view of the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament. Every word from Genesis 1:1 through Revelation 22:21 IS the Word of God. It is God speaking to us. To say that we need some kind of feeling, insight, or experience for it to be God’s Word is a very dangerous false doctrine. One of the dangers is that we ignore parts of Scripture because they don’t make us feel anything – or that we don’t have some kind of experience as we read it. There are even parts we may react negatively toward as we read them. The “listen FOR the Word of God” doctrine allows us to ignore them – and say that they are not the Word of God for us. Again, this is a very dangerous heresy – and one that I believe will be used with greater frequency to ignore God’s moral standards that don’t fit with contemporary moral views. The Bible becomes a smorgasbord where “we” determine what is right and what is not – what is Scripture and what is not. One thing I want to say here that I hope is helpful is that when I read God’s Word there is not always an emotional response. Also there are times when I read it and it is instructive to me – and I don’t have the “sense” I had this past Sunday morning. Those times are just as important as ones I have that involve strong feelings. They are just as authoritative in speaking to any way I am living my life. When they speak of sin – I am just as guilty of breaking them – and just as hindered in my fellowship with God. Feeling or no feeling – sense or no sensation at all – warm fuzzys or just reading the words on the page – I am still hearing God speak. Let me say something about the Bible. There are certain parts I can almost guarantee will have a greater impression on me than others. There are times in my yearly Bible trek that I am about to hit Leviticus that I almost dread it. Certain parts of 1 Chronicles (the first 10 chapters) will rarely bring about some existential feeling in me. But – I am still hearing God speak – because ALL of His Word is Him speaking. Some folks get excited when they are about to read the prophets – while others may not. I used to start Job almost rolling my eyes at what was going to be a daily dose of listening to his friends say, “Your wicked – that’s why all this bad stuff has happened to you,” only to then hear Job say, “Nuh-uh.” Yet – when reading it I was listening to God speak the whole time. NOTE: by the way throughout the 38 years I’ve been a believer and have read the Bible at least once a year – the Holy Spirit has taken me through every book of the Bible slowly at one time or another to have me understand much more closely what God is revealing of Himself through them. Yes – even through Leviticus, Numbers, and the genealogies in Genesis, Matthew, and Luke – and was thoroughly blessed because of it! Saints, I mean no disrespect toward God’s Word in saying these things. I am only trying to help you grasp and understand that even though we may find some books more interesting than others – they all are God’s Word – and God is speaking when we read them. To hold the view that He is only speaking when we feel or sense something is only going to diminish His Word in our thinking – and eventually lead us to hold a very deficient view of the Scriptures. So the next time you open His Word and begin to read, remind yourself of this fact. It is all God-breathed! It is all profitable to you! It is all Him speaking and revealing Himself! Then read – thankful for the gracious times our emotions are stirred – but also thankful that whether they are or are not – we’ve just experienced God speaking to us and revealing Himself graciously to our understanding. |
Biblical ArticlesMost of these articles are taken from the Calvary Courier, a weekly newsletter that is sent to the folks who attend Calvary Chapel Jonesboro. Due to the response to these articles, we've decided to print some of them which proved to be very helpful to God's people at the fellowship. Thank you for visiting our website! Everything on this site is offered for free. If, however, you would like to make a donation to help pay for its continued presence on the internet, you can do that by clicking here. The only thing we ask is that you give first to the local church you attend. Thank you! Copyright 2024 Calvary Chapel Jonesboro | all rights reserved |