Only One Lord

When Jacob went into Egypt, and the Egyptians oppressed them, then your fathers cried out to the Lord and the Lord sent Moses and Aaron, who brought your fathers out of Egypt and made them dwell in this place. But they forgot the Lord their God. And he sold them into the hand of Sisera, commander of the army of Hazor, and into the hand of the Philistines, and into the hand of the king of Moab. And they fought against them. And they cried out to the Lord and said, ‘We have sinned, because we have forsaken the Lord and have served the Baals and the Ashtaroth. But now deliver us out of the hand of our enemies, that we may serve you.’ 
And the Lord sent Jerubbaal and Barak and Jephthah and Samuel and delivered you out of the hand of your enemies on every side, and you lived in safety. And when you saw that Nahash the king of the Ammonites came against you, you said to me, ‘No, but a king shall reign over us,’ when the Lord your God was your king. And now behold the king whom you have chosen, for whom you have asked; behold, the Lord has set a king over you. If you will fear the Lord and serve him and obey his voice and not rebel against the commandment of the Lord, and if both you and the king who reigns over you will follow the Lord your God, it will be well. 
But if you will not obey the voice of the Lord, but rebel against the commandment of the Lord, then the hand of the Lord will be against you and your king. Now therefore stand still and see this great thing that the Lord will do before your eyes. Is it not wheat harvest today? I will call upon the Lord, that he may send thunder and rain. And you shall know and see that your wickedness is great, which you have done in the sight of the Lord, in asking for yourselves a king.” So Samuel called upon the Lord, and the Lord sent thunder and rain that day, and all the people greatly feared the Lord and Samuel. (1 Samuel 12:8–18)

Last night a Christian woman from another country said that there only poor people went to church and served the Lord. She was surprised to see that here, many church goers are well off, at least in comparison to her home. While wealth is relevant, we agreed it can be an idol and is a barricade to faith. The NT even says that the love of it is the root of all evil.

These OT people had another idol. Instead of wanting to love and obey God, they were willing to follow a “get ourselves a king” movement:

And all the people said to Samuel, “Pray for your servants to the Lord your God, that we may not die, for we have added to all our sins this evil, to ask for ourselves a king.” And Samuel said to the people, “Do not be afraid; you have done all this evil. Yet do not turn aside from following the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart. And do not turn aside after empty things that cannot profit or deliver, for they are empty. For the Lord will not forsake his people, for his great name’s sake, because it has pleased the Lord to make you a people for himself. Moreover, as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you, and I will instruct you in the good and the right way. Only fear the Lord and serve him faithfully with all your heart. For consider what great things he has done for you. But if you still do wickedly, you shall be swept away, both you and your king.” (1 Samuel 12:19–25)

This indicates that we can have human leaders but they do not overrule our God. And yet no one wants be in trouble with their government. How often do we need to make a choice? Jesus, it seems our leaders are separating Christians from "law-abiding" citizens by labeling some of our beliefs as evil, even a crime. How we need courage and endurance as we follow You. 

 

God honors those who fear Him

And the Lord came and stood, calling as at other times, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant hears.” Then the Lord said to Samuel, “Behold, I am about to do a thing in Israel at which the two ears of everyone who hears it will tingle. On that day I will fulfill against Eli all that I have spoken concerning his house, from beginning to end. And I declare to him that I am about to punish his house forever, for the iniquity that he knew, because his sons were blaspheming God, and he did not restrain them. Therefore I swear to the house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli’s house shall not be atoned for by sacrifice or offering forever.” Samuel lay until morning; then he opened the doors of the house of the Lord. And Samuel was afraid to tell the vision to Eli. But Eli called Samuel and said, “Samuel, my son.” And he said, “Here I am.” And Eli said, “What was it that he told you? Do not hide it from me. May God do so to you and more also if you hide anything from me of all that he told you.” So Samuel told him everything and hid nothing from him. And he said, “It is the Lord. Let him do what seems good to him.” And Samuel grew, and the Lord was with him and let none of his words fall to the ground. And all Israel from Dan to Beersheba knew that Samuel was established as a prophet of the Lord. And the Lord appeared again at Shiloh, for the Lord revealed himself to Samuel at Shiloh by the word of the Lord. (1 Samuel 3:10–21)

This event took place while Samuel was still a boy. I can’t imagine having the courage to tell the high priest what God told him, but he did. Eli knew his error with his sons and his reply indicates he’d learned his lesson. Nevertheless, this man seemed to accept his fate.

One commentary says that if a believer fails and yet repents from his sin, forgiveness is there, but so might be a dreaded consequence. Eli submitted to what seems good to God. I’m not sure I’d have the courage to do that either. He lost every good thing he had. 

However, the law indicates that sin can be deliberate and with awareness, or unintentional. The OT says: “Then you shall select cities to be cities of refuge for you, that the manslayer who kills any person without intent may flee there.” (Numbers 35:11) Since this provision was made for what we now call manslaughter, this indicates God looks at the heart as much as He sees the deed. Did Eli repent? Or did he simply accept this consequence of failing to discipline his sons? A verse from Solomon’s proverbs says:

The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination; how much more when he brings it with evil intent. (Proverbs 21:27)

As a Christian with knowledge of God's love and mercy, this kindness tends to be our focus, yet even the NT says these things: 

Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, (Philippians 2:12)
Bondservants, obey in everything those who are your earthly masters, not by way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord. (Colossians 3:22)
As for those who persist in sin, rebuke them in the presence of all, so that the rest may stand in fear. (1 Timothy 5:20)
It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. (Hebrews 10:31)

Eli sinned by giving his sons no rebuke for ignoring God rather than giving Him respect, honor, reverence — and paid the price.

Jesus, honoring You is not only right, but logical. I can say, with thousands of angels, “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!” (Revelation 5:12)

Fearing God?

 

The last few days have been emotional for me. I’ve been reading Charnock’s incredible descriptions of God’s sovereign power at the same time as the OT prophets. For some reason, my focus has been negative when it should not be. The previous section of Charnock’s book was about the goodness of God and I was reading the Psalms and Proverbs. Today this verse challenged my negativity:

The friendship of the Lord is for those who fear him, and he makes known to them his covenant. (Psalm 25:14)

Fearing God is not about being fearful of the unpleasant things He could do. Instead, it is being so in awe of Him that He is trusted completely. I might not understand His ways, but this verse says that having that kind of fear means He will give me greater understanding of what He is doing, particularly regarding His covenant promises for His people. 

He wants holiness in my life and may use unpleasant circumstances to deal with anything that should not be in my thoughts or actions, yet when He works that way, the results are worth any pain I might experience. I need not fear my heavenly Father with dread, but with anticipation.

That said, one of the minor prophets heard from God that He was going to use Assyria to punish Israel and Babylon to punish Assyria and Judah. Habakkuk’s question was how can God use a wicked nation for His divine purposes? God judges all nations eventually and this didn’t seem to fit His nature. However, this prophet was able to say, “the righteous shall live by his faith” and those words are later quoted several times in the NT.

For me, this fear I’ve been feeling gets a smack on the side of my head. Instead of dreading what God could do, I need to remember His promises and that He uses all things for my good, not to harm me.

One of the other OT prophets also gives me a kindly smack with this:

Seek the Lord, all you humble of the land, who do his just commands; seek righteousness; seek humility; perhaps you may be hidden on the day of the anger of the Lord. (Zephaniah 2:3)

The ‘perhaps’ could put more negative fears in my mind, but the promises of God and the words of Habakkuk remind me that God wants my attitude to be in awe of His power but also to be in awe of His desire to protect and keep safe those who humbly rely on Him. In this world it seems those who are evil are being used to wake up the people of God to a deeper trust and obedience. This prophet’s attitude is to be ours, to be mine, rather than letting all the bad news scare me:

Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will take joy in the God of my salvation. God, the Lord, is my strength; he makes my feet like the deer’s; he makes me tread on my high places. (Habakkuk 3:17–19)

One more passage speaks to the current attitude of many who claim faith yet are not cooperating with God to build up His church. I am thankful for all that is good in our church, yet see the needs of many who have become complacent. The OT prophets reveal this from God about a need in the lives of His people then, and perhaps even now:

“Is it a time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses, while this house lies in ruins? Now, therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts: Consider your ways. You have sown much, and harvested little. You eat, but you never have enough; you drink, but you never have your fill. You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm. And he who earns wages does so to put them into a bag with holes. (Haggai 1:4–6)

PRAY: Oh Lord, too often we pray for our comfort level to be preserved and not so much that Your family (also called the household of God) is built up and godly. Jesus, this concerns me, but also applies to me. It is not right to withdraw into a fearful ‘what happens next’ mood rather than share the confidence that You alone give. Even if the world falls apart, You can enable me to walk in high places and have joy in You and Your power to make good out of what seems entirely negative. So I give You my anxieties about a world with so much brokenness, ongoing threats of terror, and increases in illness and drug use. I cannot add one minute to my life through fear but can ruin my life through trying to carry burdens You alone can carry. Change my “what if” thinking into praise that You, my loving God are in control. 

Jesus is Worthy . . .

 

READ 1 Samuel 1–4

This morning I’m having trouble concentrating. A while after we moved here, our next door neighbor decided to rent his house and move south. They had not yet moved into a new home when his wife was hit by a bus and died. The next people to live in their home here were renters. They stayed for several years and we enjoyed getting to know them. Last year they also moved south, but not as far. Last week, while vacationing in a US city, he was randomly attacked and killed.

Two things stand out in my memories. B and his wife C were always concerned that they bothered us with their love for loud music, so one day we told them to crank it up and come over. The sound was faint in our garage and not heard at all in our home. This created a neighborly bond.

Another bond was created during a condo association meeting when this man said to one of the other owners, “I’m a God-fearing man. Are you a God-fearing woman?” She was shocked but we were pleased to hear that he had some sort of spiritual understanding. Now he is gone, suddenly and tragically. Devastating for his wife and even my emotions are all over the place.

Trying to focus on today’s reading, the first part that strikes me is this line: “Now the sons of Eli were worthless men. They did not know the Lord.” (1 Samuel 2:12) Eli was an elderly priest. His sons were supposed to function in the same capacity but they were without a relationship with God and sinful in their ‘ministry’ in the work of the priesthood. Eli rebuked them but didn’t stop them, “but they would not listen to the voice of their father, for it was the will of the Lord to put them to death.”

Years prior, a childless woman named Hannah prayed for a son. Eli heard her and encouraged her that God would hear her. He did and Samuel was born. Before that, Hannah vowed to give him to the Lord’s service and God also responded when she took him to Eli. Samuel “continued to grow both in stature and in favor with the Lord and also with man.” (2:24–26)

At this point in the story, I thought of B again, a “God-fearing man” unlike Eli’s sons and even unlike Eli who was more concerned for them than honoring the Lord.

The rest of the reading is about Samuel hearing God calling him at a time when “the word of the Lord was rare in those days; there was no frequent vision.” Did our neighbor sense that lack of vision in the life of the woman he asked if she feared God? Perhaps. We are living in a time when God is seldom mentioned or honored in the lives of many. Random killings have become a regular headline. In many issues, goodness is distained and evil is regarded as good. Like Eli’s sons, many have no knowledge of God. Doing our own thing is selfish and usually leads hurting others.

God told Samuel that He would deal with Eli’s household. Before that happened, the Scriptures say that “Samuel grew, and the Lord was with him and let none of his words fall to the ground. And all Israel from Dan to Beersheba knew that Samuel was established as a prophet of the Lord. And the Lord appeared again at Shiloh, for the Lord revealed himself to Samuel at Shiloh by the word of the Lord.” (3:19–21)

Then the enemies of Israel came, took the sacred Ark from Eli’s place of service and killed his two sons. When this old man heard the news, he also died.

I don’t take this to mean that B died because God was angry with him. I’ve no idea why this happened. It could be that this awful incident was the way the Lord took B home. However, I do know that this ancient family perished because they mocked God in hypocrisy and God replaced them with Samuel who proved to be a far more faithful servant.

As a follower of Jesus Christ, I know death is not the end. However, crossing from life here to life with God in eternity involves death. That said, I’d rather die in my sleep than be stabbed in the street, but that is not my decision. Paul wrote about his hope that he would never be ashamed in his life as a Christian but he would be full of courage and honor Christ in his body, “whether by life or by death” because for him, “to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” (Philippians 1:20–21). Losing someone that we knew in such a violent and sudden way is pushing me to think of the importance of having that same attitude of living for Christ, not fearing death but realizing the importance of always being a God-fearing, God-honoring woman.