Throughout I Samuel, we read about the lusting after a king by the Children of Israel and the subsequent answer to their prayer. Samuel was distressed that the Israelites would want a human to be their king instead of God, who was their king and he cried out to the Lord – and the Lord told him to give the people what they wanted.
The Israelites wanted a physical man to lead them in their battles, to tell them what to do, to guide them through life; someone they could see and interact with instead of the invisible, omnipotent God who led and guided them.
Samuel told the people the consequences of having a king. Yes, they would get their king, but the cost would be great. This king would take their sons for his armies and their daughters for his household staff. This king would take the best tenth of their fields, vineyards, and oliveyards not for himself, but for his servants. This king would take their servants and the tenth of their sheep. Finally, the Israelites would be the king’s servants.
You would think the Israelites would be deterred in their demand for a king… not a bit! After that terrible list of consequences, the people still rebelled and shouted that they would have a king so they could be like everyone else. And God heard their request and told Samuel to anoint Saul as their king.
Saul was a wonderful king, filled with the spirit of God and anointed to be king over the God’s people of Israel. He led them victoriously in battle and reigned with wisdom. This lasted for all of two years. Saul began to take himself more seriously than he ought and one day, because Samuel hadn’t shown up yet to offer the burnt offering, Saul stepped into that place and offered the burnt offerings himself – an act which was completely in violation of sacrifice protocol.
No sooner had he finished then Samuel appeared. “Thou hast done foolishly,” Samuel told Saul. He hadn’t kept the commandment of the Lord and therefore lost the promise of his kingdom forever in Israel; his lineage were no longer promised the kingdom. And this right at the point in his career when God was about to establish the kingdom on Saul and his descendants forever. Because of his disobedience here, he lost that right.
Some time after this, Saul again disobeyed the Lord in a profound way. Samuel brought the word of the Lord to Saul telling him he was to destroy Amalek completely – every man, woman, and infant; every ox, sheep, camel, and donkey… everything.
The first thing Saul did was to tell the Kenites who lived in Amalek that the should clear out because they had been good to the Israelites… then he started the battle. However, he kept the king alive and he and the people spared the best of all the animals and didn’t completely destroy everything.
When Samuel confronted Saul on this issue, Saul blamed the people and said he had followed the Lord, but the people took the animals to sacrifice with. At that point, God told Samuel that the kingdom had been taken from Saul himself. “To obey is better than sacrifice,” Samuel told Saul. “and to hearken than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry.”
Because of his disobedience, Saul not only lost the promise of the kingdom for his descendents, but he lost his own kingdom a few short years after being anointed. The Lord took His anointing and Spirit from Saul and selected another who would love, serve, and obey Him. Not only that, but evil spirits beset Saul and he was mentally disturbed for the rest of his life.
Saul had lost everything as a direct result of disobedience.
Showing posts with label israelites. Show all posts
Showing posts with label israelites. Show all posts
Monday, May 14, 2007
Saturday, May 05, 2007
Before the Sabeans
Those who have studied history or watched the movie, “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers” have heard of the Sabeans before. But just in case, here’s a refresher…
Essentially, the Romans were a budding tribe whose constant state of warring had taken the focus away from starting families. Well… how was an empire to rise if it died out in the first generation – regardless of how many neighboring tribes had been conquered. The Romans needed wives, badly, and at a particular moment, they noticed a nearby tribe, the Sabeans, had women. Plotting carefully, the Romans waited until the Sabeans were having a festival - drinking, dancing, a generally good time - and then struck. The men ran into the party and each grabbed a wife, threw her over his shoulder, and ran back into the mountains.
Needless to say, the Sabeans weren’t too happy about the abduction of their women, but by the time they were able to come against the Romans, the women were comfortable with their captors and the proliferation of a Roman empire was established.
I always thought the Sabeans were the first… but now I don’t think they were.
In the last chapter of Judges, we find out this had happened before. When the tribe of Benjamin committed crimes of such atrocity that the remaining tribes had to come against it to kill and destroy, there was one slight problem.
After the battle, the remaining tribes of Israel swore they would never give their daughters to men of the tribe of Benjamin. It wasn’t long before the Benjamites realized their predicament – they would die out if they had no wives for their men. You see, all the Israelites had taken an oath that they would not marry outside the camp of Israel; no foreigners or heathen were to be introduced into their bloodline. Period.
The men of Israel listened to what the Benjamites had to say, knew they had a point, and cast about to find a solution. Their first solution was to figure out who had not joined them when they went into battle against the Benjamites. After counting everyone, they pinpointed the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead as not having fought.
It just so happened that the penalty for not fighting against the Benjamites was death. Solution: kill all the men of Jabesh-gilead and every woman who had known man and give all the virgins to the Benjamites. The result was 400 young virgins which were handed over to the Benjamites.
It wasn’t enough! This astonished me. How many men didn’t have wives? What were these Benjamites doing that there were so many unmarried men? From a previous chapter in Judges, the sin the Benjamites were punished for was attempted sodomy against a fellow Israelite. Since it was a group of men who attempted gang rape against one visiting man and actually gang raped his wife/concubine until she died, I have to wonder how many other inhabitants of the city were perverted. Another piece of evidence that the Benjamites were sexually perverted was the fact that the Israelites killed all the cattle in the cities, a common act when wiping out a perverted culture/city/tribe.
If the Benjamites were caught up in a web of sodomy and sexual perversion, it would logically follow that they hadn’t been taking wives and marrying according to the natural progression of things. Could it be the massive slaughter of 25,000 men of valor brought repentance and a turning from their wicked ways?
The Bible tells us that 600 men escaped and ran into the wilderness, hiding for four months. From what I can tell, these were the only survivors out of the entire tribe of Benjamin. Everyone else had been killed. After the warriors, the Israelites went into the cities and killed the remaining men, the beasts, and everyone else that came to hand, burning the cities behind them.
I don’t know how many people survived, but it seems at least 600 men were alive at the end. No wonder they were concerned they would be wiped out and obliterated as a tribe of Israel. Without Israelitish wives, how could they continue?
The Israelites thought about another way the Benjamites could get wives, since the 400 weren’t enough. They pointed out a feast that happened every year in Shiloh and mentioned that if the daughters of Shiloh came out to dance in the vineyards as part of the celebration, the men who still needed wives should be hiding nearby.
The plan was to come out of hiding, grab one of the dancing girls, and beat it back to their place of residence. It worked. There were enough women dancing to fulfill the needs of the Benjamites and they returned with their captured brides to their cities, repaired and rebuilt them, lived there, and kept their inheritance.
The Sabeans weren’t the first… I wonder if they were influenced by what the Benjamites had done or if they came up with it on their own.
Essentially, the Romans were a budding tribe whose constant state of warring had taken the focus away from starting families. Well… how was an empire to rise if it died out in the first generation – regardless of how many neighboring tribes had been conquered. The Romans needed wives, badly, and at a particular moment, they noticed a nearby tribe, the Sabeans, had women. Plotting carefully, the Romans waited until the Sabeans were having a festival - drinking, dancing, a generally good time - and then struck. The men ran into the party and each grabbed a wife, threw her over his shoulder, and ran back into the mountains.
Needless to say, the Sabeans weren’t too happy about the abduction of their women, but by the time they were able to come against the Romans, the women were comfortable with their captors and the proliferation of a Roman empire was established.
I always thought the Sabeans were the first… but now I don’t think they were.
In the last chapter of Judges, we find out this had happened before. When the tribe of Benjamin committed crimes of such atrocity that the remaining tribes had to come against it to kill and destroy, there was one slight problem.
After the battle, the remaining tribes of Israel swore they would never give their daughters to men of the tribe of Benjamin. It wasn’t long before the Benjamites realized their predicament – they would die out if they had no wives for their men. You see, all the Israelites had taken an oath that they would not marry outside the camp of Israel; no foreigners or heathen were to be introduced into their bloodline. Period.
The men of Israel listened to what the Benjamites had to say, knew they had a point, and cast about to find a solution. Their first solution was to figure out who had not joined them when they went into battle against the Benjamites. After counting everyone, they pinpointed the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead as not having fought.
It just so happened that the penalty for not fighting against the Benjamites was death. Solution: kill all the men of Jabesh-gilead and every woman who had known man and give all the virgins to the Benjamites. The result was 400 young virgins which were handed over to the Benjamites.
It wasn’t enough! This astonished me. How many men didn’t have wives? What were these Benjamites doing that there were so many unmarried men? From a previous chapter in Judges, the sin the Benjamites were punished for was attempted sodomy against a fellow Israelite. Since it was a group of men who attempted gang rape against one visiting man and actually gang raped his wife/concubine until she died, I have to wonder how many other inhabitants of the city were perverted. Another piece of evidence that the Benjamites were sexually perverted was the fact that the Israelites killed all the cattle in the cities, a common act when wiping out a perverted culture/city/tribe.
If the Benjamites were caught up in a web of sodomy and sexual perversion, it would logically follow that they hadn’t been taking wives and marrying according to the natural progression of things. Could it be the massive slaughter of 25,000 men of valor brought repentance and a turning from their wicked ways?
The Bible tells us that 600 men escaped and ran into the wilderness, hiding for four months. From what I can tell, these were the only survivors out of the entire tribe of Benjamin. Everyone else had been killed. After the warriors, the Israelites went into the cities and killed the remaining men, the beasts, and everyone else that came to hand, burning the cities behind them.
I don’t know how many people survived, but it seems at least 600 men were alive at the end. No wonder they were concerned they would be wiped out and obliterated as a tribe of Israel. Without Israelitish wives, how could they continue?
The Israelites thought about another way the Benjamites could get wives, since the 400 weren’t enough. They pointed out a feast that happened every year in Shiloh and mentioned that if the daughters of Shiloh came out to dance in the vineyards as part of the celebration, the men who still needed wives should be hiding nearby.
The plan was to come out of hiding, grab one of the dancing girls, and beat it back to their place of residence. It worked. There were enough women dancing to fulfill the needs of the Benjamites and they returned with their captured brides to their cities, repaired and rebuilt them, lived there, and kept their inheritance.
The Sabeans weren’t the first… I wonder if they were influenced by what the Benjamites had done or if they came up with it on their own.
Saturday, April 14, 2007
Appeals from Enemies in Disguise
When the inhabitants of Gibeon heard how Joshua had defeated and completely destroyed Ai and Jericho, two large and impressively fortified citadels in the land, they became scared and conspired to deceive Joshua and the Israelites.
They disguised themselves as ambassadors, dressing in old and tattered rags and worn-out shoes. On their donkeys they placed old and torn sacks and old, battered, leaking wine bottles. In their provisions they had nothing but dry and moldy bread. This deceptive appearance complete, they set out to meet Joshua.
The story the men told Joshua was pitiful and Joshua’s initial perceptiveness became skewed. At the first, he posited that they came from one of the neighboring villages and that there was no way he would be able to make a league with them. The lie of who they were and where they came from and what their intents were stuck and Joshua and his counselors believed.
“…the men took of their victuals, and asked not counsel at the mouth of the Lord.”
Joshua made peace with the inhabitants of Gibeon and thus violated God’s commandment to utterly destroy all the inhabitants of that land. Not only Joshua, but all the princes of the congregation swore that they would be let to live in peace. When the Israelites entered their cities, they did not kill a single one of them because of their oath and because of the fear of what God might do if they broke their oath.
Yes, Joshua cursed these people and yes, their culture and people became servants to the Israelites from that moment on, but they existed as a thorn in the side of the Israelites, a culture God had commanded them to destroy and now could not because they had taken it into their bosom.
What is it in our lives that has disguised itself and has proclaimed a tale of woe. What enemy of God and of our future prosperity stands before us now begging us not to destroy it but to make a league with it? What are we overlooking in our desire to be the “good guy” and thereby bypassing God and what He has to say?
It’s a bit frightening to think we can be deceived in this way. I don’t believe Joshua’s downfall in the Gibeonite situation was that he was deceived, but that he went ahead and did what he felt was right… instead of asking God what he should do about it.
They disguised themselves as ambassadors, dressing in old and tattered rags and worn-out shoes. On their donkeys they placed old and torn sacks and old, battered, leaking wine bottles. In their provisions they had nothing but dry and moldy bread. This deceptive appearance complete, they set out to meet Joshua.
The story the men told Joshua was pitiful and Joshua’s initial perceptiveness became skewed. At the first, he posited that they came from one of the neighboring villages and that there was no way he would be able to make a league with them. The lie of who they were and where they came from and what their intents were stuck and Joshua and his counselors believed.
“…the men took of their victuals, and asked not counsel at the mouth of the Lord.”
Joshua made peace with the inhabitants of Gibeon and thus violated God’s commandment to utterly destroy all the inhabitants of that land. Not only Joshua, but all the princes of the congregation swore that they would be let to live in peace. When the Israelites entered their cities, they did not kill a single one of them because of their oath and because of the fear of what God might do if they broke their oath.
Yes, Joshua cursed these people and yes, their culture and people became servants to the Israelites from that moment on, but they existed as a thorn in the side of the Israelites, a culture God had commanded them to destroy and now could not because they had taken it into their bosom.
What is it in our lives that has disguised itself and has proclaimed a tale of woe. What enemy of God and of our future prosperity stands before us now begging us not to destroy it but to make a league with it? What are we overlooking in our desire to be the “good guy” and thereby bypassing God and what He has to say?
It’s a bit frightening to think we can be deceived in this way. I don’t believe Joshua’s downfall in the Gibeonite situation was that he was deceived, but that he went ahead and did what he felt was right… instead of asking God what he should do about it.
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
A Fearful Leader
I have to wonder why Moses died and if, had he not disobeyed God, he would have lived much longer. The Bible says that when Moses died, he was 120 years old but his eyesight hadn’t deteriorated and his “natural force” had not abated.
When the time came for the Israelites to enter the Promised Land, the Lord took Moses up into the mountain where He revealed some more information to him. Having taken down all the information the Israelites would need in the generations to come, Moses transferred his spiritual authority to Joshua, the new leader of the Israelites.
I have to wonder, that in transferring this spiritual authority, Moses’ purpose on earth was finished and therefore his need to be alive. God had promised Moses that he would be able to see the Promised Land, although he would not be allowed to set foot in it. Also, God very clearly told Moses to go up into the mountain where he would deliver the final words God would speak through him, see the Promised Land, transfer leadership of the Israelites to Joshua, and die. He would not be coming back down the mountain.
It can also be inferred from the number of occurrences, that Joshua was not the most brave or bold or secure of men. Apparently, he was afraid to lead the Israelites (with good reason, I would argue) and fearful of what lay before them, even though he was one of the two spies who brought back a good report of the Promised Land.
Moses encouraged Joshua repeatedly to be strong and of good courage and after Moses was gone, God Himself encouraged Joshua to be strong and of good courage… that He would not leave him and would not forsake him, but would lead him and the Israelites into the land He had promised them so long ago; they would be a nation yet, God’s chosen people.
When the time came for the Israelites to enter the Promised Land, the Lord took Moses up into the mountain where He revealed some more information to him. Having taken down all the information the Israelites would need in the generations to come, Moses transferred his spiritual authority to Joshua, the new leader of the Israelites.
I have to wonder, that in transferring this spiritual authority, Moses’ purpose on earth was finished and therefore his need to be alive. God had promised Moses that he would be able to see the Promised Land, although he would not be allowed to set foot in it. Also, God very clearly told Moses to go up into the mountain where he would deliver the final words God would speak through him, see the Promised Land, transfer leadership of the Israelites to Joshua, and die. He would not be coming back down the mountain.
It can also be inferred from the number of occurrences, that Joshua was not the most brave or bold or secure of men. Apparently, he was afraid to lead the Israelites (with good reason, I would argue) and fearful of what lay before them, even though he was one of the two spies who brought back a good report of the Promised Land.
Moses encouraged Joshua repeatedly to be strong and of good courage and after Moses was gone, God Himself encouraged Joshua to be strong and of good courage… that He would not leave him and would not forsake him, but would lead him and the Israelites into the land He had promised them so long ago; they would be a nation yet, God’s chosen people.
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
A Promise is a Promise
The beginning of Deuteronomy is Moses telling his side of the story to the children of Israel. Sparing no feelings and mincing no words, he threads his way from when they were in Egypt and details every shortcoming and miserable attitude the Israelites had along the way.
Moses reminds them how they lashed out against him, against Aaron, against God. He reminds them of all the miracles God did for the Israelites, in preserving them time and time again through the most miraculous events: freedom, salvation from pharaoh’s army, manna from heaven, meat when they complained, constant water even if it had to be taken from a rock, clothes and shoes that never wore out…
The most important thing I noticed in my reading today was the countless number of times Moses (and sometimes Moses AND Aaron) had to flatten themselves before the Lord, crying out for Him not to destroy His people. Time and time again, God would have destroyed the Israelites, His chosen people, for their constancy and persistence in rebellion and complaining.
One of the most interesting facts about Moses’ recounting of their journeys up-to-date is what he told the children of Israel… God was not taking them into the Promised Land because of their righteousness. He was not honoring the uprightness of their hearts with this mind-boggling blessing. No. His purpose was simple…
The wickedness of the nations already dwelling in the Promised Land was so great before the Lord, that He brought the Israelites in so that they, by His power, could drive them out. Additionally, this would be the fulfillment of the promise He made so very long ago to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. The land would belong to the Israelites because of His word and not because of anything they had done to deserve it.
And God’s promise was still a promise… His people were chosen regardless.
Moses reminds them how they lashed out against him, against Aaron, against God. He reminds them of all the miracles God did for the Israelites, in preserving them time and time again through the most miraculous events: freedom, salvation from pharaoh’s army, manna from heaven, meat when they complained, constant water even if it had to be taken from a rock, clothes and shoes that never wore out…
The most important thing I noticed in my reading today was the countless number of times Moses (and sometimes Moses AND Aaron) had to flatten themselves before the Lord, crying out for Him not to destroy His people. Time and time again, God would have destroyed the Israelites, His chosen people, for their constancy and persistence in rebellion and complaining.
One of the most interesting facts about Moses’ recounting of their journeys up-to-date is what he told the children of Israel… God was not taking them into the Promised Land because of their righteousness. He was not honoring the uprightness of their hearts with this mind-boggling blessing. No. His purpose was simple…
The wickedness of the nations already dwelling in the Promised Land was so great before the Lord, that He brought the Israelites in so that they, by His power, could drive them out. Additionally, this would be the fulfillment of the promise He made so very long ago to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. The land would belong to the Israelites because of His word and not because of anything they had done to deserve it.
And God’s promise was still a promise… His people were chosen regardless.
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