Negative examples

 

1 Chronicles 9–10; Amos 6; Luke 1:39–80; Hebrews 12

NOTE: This is November 17 - I forgot to hit the "publish" button!)

When I was very young, I thought that people were like my honest, loving parents. Sickness kept me sheltered at home and unaware of any possible nastiness in humanity. I trusted people until going back to school in grade seven where experience taught otherwise. This didn’t produce bitterness or huge disappointment, but I was shocked.

After learning that I also had the same sinful nature as those around me, and after becoming a Christian, God showed me the importance of observing human behavior, my own as well as others. My expectations started to become more realistic. While sin in anyone produces sorrow in my heart, I know now how sin is at the root of many actions and leads to disaster. God began teaching me to learn from mistakes, my own and others.

This desire to learn from the mistakes of others is not license to be judgmental or to point fingers; totally the wrong motivation. Nor is it wise to make excuses for anyone caught in sin. I might blame nasty attitudes and unloving actions on all sorts of things like fatigue, fears, illness and so on, but realize that this is a slippery slope for making excuses about my own sinfulness.

This morning I wondered if learning from the sin of others is legitimate. Does God point to such things to teach me to avoid the same error? Today’s readings gave two examples. One was a narrative of King Saul’s suicide during a battle he was losing:

So Saul died for his breach of faith. He broke faith with the Lord in that he did not keep the command of the Lord, and also consulted a medium, seeking guidance. He did not seek guidance from the Lord. Therefore the Lord put him to death and turned the kingdom over to David the son of Jesse. (1 Chronicles 10:13–14)

This is a negative example of the importance of paying attention and obeying the Word of the Lord. God would have told him to:

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and turn away from evil. It will be healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones. (Proverbs 3:5–8)

When Saul didn’t practice this command, the Lord’s response through His prophet was clear: “See what happens to those who do not trust me and seek my guidance!”

The next reading from the prophet Amos has this man of God giving God’s rebuke to people who are proud of themselves. He writes:

Pass over to Calneh, and see, and from there go to Hamath the great; then go down to Gath of the Philistines. Are you better than these kingdoms? Or is their territory greater than your territory, O you who put far away the day of disaster and bring near the seat of violence? (Amos 6:2–3)

God directed proud people to go to cities which once also considered themselves great, and to learn from their fall. Instead of paying attention to warnings of judgment, these leaders in Samaria fell into decadent hedonism characterized by reclining on expensive beds whose wood was inlaid with ivory. They held opulent feasts and “lounged” on their couches. This Hebrew word for lounge conveys a sprawled stupor of satiation and drunkenness, with arms and legs hanging over the side. With their gourmet food and in a drunken revelry they imagined themselves strumming like David as they attempted to improvise music at their parties. They were not at all like David! They were consuming wine by the bowlful and only the finest lotions would do for their skin. Their sole concern was for their own luxurious lifestyle. They had no grief for the coming ruin of the Northern Kingdom or their own nation’s impending doom.

The Bible tells God’s people how to live, but says even bad examples of human behavior were recorded for our education . . .

For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. (Romans 15:4)

As Paul wrote about the immorality of God’s people in the OT, he says, “Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come.” (1 Corinthians 10:11)

APPLY: I could be judgmental about the junk others do and need to watch out for that attitude. But that attitude is not cured by making excuses for their sin or my own sin. I must regard both good and bad examples from God who uses them to guide me in how to live and how not to live.