The Amazing Aspects of the Bible (Part 4)
"Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment" (John 7:24).
The books of Joshua through Esther are classified as books of history, which they are, but they include far more than historical data. The reader learns much more than what king reigned when or who won what battle. We continue to see principles of the proper and improper way to relate to God our Creator, and we see what He regards as acceptable. Readers also discover various ways this first covenant relates to the second, which is amazing since the two are separated by hundreds of years.
1 Samuel
Having just concluded the short book Ruth, a woman of excellence, the book of 1 Samuel begins with another such lady, Hannah. She had been unable to bear children; so she prayed to God for a child, whom she would devote entirely to God. God thus blessed her, and she kept her word. Her son Samuel was a priest, a prophet, and the last judge over Israel. He was born at the end of the dark era of Israel's history described in Judges. In fact, the sons of Eli, his predecessor, were so corrupt that they had perverted the offering system that God had set in place and were morally bankrupt as well (2:12-25). God destroyed the two sons, and Eli died when he heard the news. A marvelously simple principle is set forth in connection with these events; God says: "…For those who honor Me, I will honor…" (2:30).
Another valuable principle is taught in connection with Israel's defeat. They learned that they could not treat God's ark of the covenant as though it were a lucky charm. Israel marched into battle against the Philistines with it, thinking that having it with them would make them invincible. But God not only allowed the enemy to defeat them; He allowed His ark to be captured! Clearly, God will not be taken for granted or overlook evil among His people. God honored His people in the days of Joshua when they honored Him, but when they forsook Him, He forsook them, handing them over to their enemies. What Solomon would later write has always been true, as evidenced by the way God dealt with Israel: "Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people" (Pr. 14:34).
God is able to defend Himself whether or not any human being stands with Him. With respect to the ark, the Philistines took their "trophy" and put it in the house of Dagon, their god. The next morning, without any Israelite being anywhere near their holy place, Dagon had "fallen on its face to the ground before the ark of the Lord" (5:3). Dagon could not handle himself without help. The Philistines had to help put him in his proper place, but it did no good. He was in the same prone position the next day—but without his head and palms. As if this were not enough, God plagued the Philistines with health problems; they decided the ark belonged back in Israel and returned it. God created the world without human agency, and He can operate on this world (if He so chooses) without any human agency.
Samuel judged the nation of Israel for many years, but they decided they want a king to reign over them. They had thought about this idea previously during the era of the judges. They even went so far as to make the demand of Gideon and his son, but Gideon had rightly replied: "I will not rule over you, not shall my son rule over you; the Lord shall rule over you" (Judges 8:23). Like so many ideas that have suffered defeat temporarily, it resurfaced, and this time the people would not be denied despite warnings by Samuel as to the detrimental effects upon the nation that having a king would involve.
Nevertheless the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel; and they said, "No, but we will have a king over us, that we also may be like all the nations, and that our king may judge us and…fight our battles" (1 Sam. 8:19-20).
Thus came the era of the kings, which began prior to 1,000 B.C. and terminated in the Assyrian captivity in 721 B.C. and with the Babylonian captivity in 586 B. C. The prophet Hosea, writing about the time of the first of these, recorded God's thoughts concerning kingship:
"O Israel, you are destroyed, but your help is from Me. I will be your King; where is any other, that he may save you in all your cities? And your judges to whom you said, 'Give me a king and princes'? I gave you a king in My anger and took him away in My wrath" (Hos. 13:9-11).
Whether they had had a king or not, it was always God who was their Help. Samuel appointed Saul the first king over the nation, and all the people were delighted. He was humble in the beginning, but it did not take long for Israel to observe what problems can occur with one who has absolute power. Before his death he had pursued relentlessly the righteous David, the hero who had killed Goliath and delivered the nation from the Philistines (not to mention being Saul's son-in-law), put to death several priests of God, and failed to honor the Lord who selected him to reign as king. After visiting a woman with "familiar spirits," which was forbidden by the Law of Moses, he died by falling on his own sword rather than be captured by the Philistines (1 Sam. 31:4-5).
Saul and David, the first two kings over the nation of Israel, were, in some respects, opposites. Saul failed to trust in and obey God, but David did both. Saul failed to wait until Samuel came to offer the burnt offering. He did it himself, which he lacked authority to do. His kingdom would not continue because of his hasty action (1 Sam. 13). When he disobeyed God's charge to kill all of the Amalekites, God rejected him from being king. David, although only a young shepherd, had enough faith to go out and face Goliath, whom he defeated. The young man was celebrated so highly that Saul became paranoid. He trusted in God not at all after that, and God refused to speak to him. David, however, continued to trust in God, as Saul persecuted him for years.
David is termed "a man after God's own heart" (1 Sam. 13:14), so faithful was he during this time in his life. Even Samuel learned an important lesson—that looks and character are two different things: "For the Lord does not see as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart" (1 Sam. 16:7b). The heart can be revealed, however, in disobedience. Samuel had asked Saul: "Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams" (1 Sam. 15:22).
Despite the fact that these marvelous truths are recorded so long ago, people still have trouble comprehending them. Too many today are still influenced by the outward appearance rather than a person's substance, and a majority of people think that God will overlook their sins (disobedience) if they just contribute some money (make a sacrifice) to Him. Thus we see how relevant the Bible remains, though we are far removed from these events in time.
In the book just preceding 1 Samuel, the reader beholds a wondrous quality in the woman, Ruth, which is loyalty. She steadfastly refuses to depart from or desert her mother-in-law Naomi in any way. This same quality surfaces again in 1 Samuel—particularly between David and King Saul's son, Jonathan. Despite his father's pressure to betray David, Jonathan and David remain close and loyal to each other, even making a covenant to that effect. In fact, this book is a veritable study in loyalty between man and man, man and woman, man and God, even man and city.
2 Samuel
Although the concept of loyalty persists in this book also, some key events must be considered. The first is the transportation of the ark back to Jerusalem after God convinced the Philistines to return it. Along the way, a tragic event occurred. The oxen transporting the ark stumbled, and it was in danger of falling upon the ground. Uzzah did not take the time to consider that, if God had taken care of the ark up to this point, He could continue to do the same now. Instinctively, he reached out his hand to steady it and was struck dead for having touched it. While nearly everyone sympathizes with the man whose only intention appears to be honorable, it was nevertheless the law that to touch the ark was death (2 Sam. 6:6-7; Num. 4:16). What this vivid incident tells the Bible reader is that God cannot violate His own Word, His own Law. The mind is so indelibly impressed that we understand that we may not expect any loopholes to exist with respect to obedience. God means what He says.
A second crucial event in the book involves the fact that God punished David for his sin with Bathsheba. He did not exempt him because he was a man after His own heart. Although God forgave David of the actual sin and let him remain as king, the child of adultery died and would never sit upon the throne in the kingdom. David's house from that day forward was severely troubled. Three more sons would be put to death (and one daughter humiliated) before the family strife ended. Even those whom God loves most cannot be excused or overlooked when they commit sin; thus we see the perfect justice of God, as well as His mercy upon the penitent.
What should not be overlooked is that David is regarded as one of the most spiritually strong men who ever lived. He wrote about half of the psalms, and his devotion to God is unquestioned. He had more than one wife, which should have been sufficient to satisfy carnal needs; nevertheless, David was conquered by the lusts of the flesh. No one should underestimate Satan and the powerful attractions he uses to entice men and women to sin. No one should consider himself immune to the devil's wiles (1 John 2:15-17).
Perhaps, the most significant passage in the book is the promise that God makes to David concerning the kingdom. The same Nathan (who would later rebuke him for his adultery and murder) gave this promise from God to David:
"When your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, I will set up your seed after you, who will come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever" (2 Sam. 7:12-13).
While it is true that Solomon, David's son, followed him, and built a house for God's name (the temple), it is not the case that God established Solomon's kingdom forever. The kingdom of Jesus, however, is an everlasting kingdom, as also foretold in Daniel 2:44. Daniel recorded prophecies more than four centuries after this one was given. He also wrote that the Son of Man would ascend to the Ancient of Days to receive this kingdom (Dan. 7:13-14), which, in fact, did occur when Jesus ascended into heaven (Acts 1:9-11). Peter affirmed that Jesus is at the right hand of God, "angels and authorities and powers being made subject to Him" (1 Peter 3:24). He said the same thing on the Day of Pentecost: "Therefore being exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He poured out this which you now see and hear" (Acts 2:33). The reward that Jesus received when He ascended into heaven was this very promise of the everlasting kingdom made in the passage under discussion.
How could the Scriptures, some written concerning David 300 years before those of Daniel, which were written in turn 600 years before those of Luke—how could they all harmonize to such perfection apart from the hand of God being involved in them? Jesus does have a spiritual kingdom (Col. 1:13-14), and He continues to rule until all enemies are made to submit, the last one being death (1 Cor. 15:24-26). Although many skeptics set forth imagined flaws concerning the Scriptures, they seldom deal with the amazing harmony that exists among writers who lived at different times and who did not even know each other.
Kings and Chronicles (Part 1)
These books repeat some of the information in 1-2 Samuel and of each other, also. Chronicles concentrates mainly on the southern kingdom of Judah, while Kings deals with those in both the north and the south. Solomon begins his reign well, asking God for wisdom, and God grants it to him. He settles certain matters that remained from his father's reign, and devoted himself to building the temple. At the dedication of it, he noted God's great faithfulness: "Blessed be the Lord, who has given rest to His people Israel, according to all that he promised. There has not failed one word of all His good promise, which he promised through His servant Moses" (1 Kings 8:56). (Moses had recorded these promises half a millennia previously.)
This text is reminiscent of what Joshua had earlier noted: "So the Lord gave to Israel all the land of which He had sworn to give to their fathers, and they took possession and dwelt in it" (Joshua 21:43). God had promised this land to Abraham in Genesis 12:7. Joshua similarly wrote: "Not a word failed of any good thing which the Lord had spoken to the house of Israel. All came to pass" (21:45). We learn, from reading the Scriptures, that God always keeps His Word—even though the fulfillment might not be for hundreds of years.
Despite all the advantages that Solomon had, however, he overly taxed the kingdom and multiplied wives to himself; they turned his heart away from the Lord. Oh, he built the temple of the Lord, all right, but he also built high places for idols. His kingdom, therefore, did not endure and, in fact, was split after his death because a foolish son followed him as king. Failing to listen to advisors whose wisdom was sound, Rehoboam hearkened instead to his younger counselors whose advice caused the people to revolt. This division was from God—but what happened next was not.
1 Kings 12:25-33 is a passage that should be reviewed intensely by every generation. When the split happened, ten tribes went with Jeroboam, who became king over the northern kingdom. In order to establish his kingdom and to prevent the northern kingdom from reuniting with the south, Jeroboam set up two golden calves as the representation of Jehovah—one in a northern city (Dan) and the other not far from Jerusalem in the south (Bethel). This action clearly violated the third commandment of the law. So, he changed the place of worship and the object of worship. Then he changed the priesthood from the Levites whom God had authorized to those from every class of people. Finally, he changed a prominent feast from the 15th day of the seventh month to the 15th day of the eighth month.
He achieved the results he desired. The two kingdoms never reunited. God destroyed the northern one about 200 years later because of Jeroboam's changes (2 Kings 17:21-23). All should note how easy it was to depart from God's law and have the vast majority of people go right along with it. Oftentimes people will follow a leader wherever he takes them and show more loyalty to him than to God, Who is our only Savior.
The very next event is also a lesson for the ages; a man of God was given instructions by God, which he carried out, except for the last detail, which was not to eat or drink in the city where he had prophesied. An older prophet told him that God had changed His mind and that he should return to the city to eat with him, which he did. He was killed by a lion as he left the city for his violation of God's instructions. The older prophet had lied to him, and it cost him his life for believing it (1 Kings 13). How often is this scenario being repeated today? How many people are believing what an individual or some religious group tells them spiritually—even though it contradicts the Word of God—and will lose their souls for listening to the wrong person? No wonder 1 Thessalonians 5:21 exhorts us to test all things!