Israel’s choice to have a king over them
was the clear rejection of God's reign over their lives saying “we don’t need you”. With a broken heart, Samuel anoints and
appoints Saul as the first king of Israel. But
he left no doubt in their minds as how God would destroy the king and his
subjects if they continue to live in their rebellious ways. Eventually the warning was heeded by Israel but
it was too little too late when they realized how displeasing their choice of a
king was in God’s heart. As a last
resort, they call upon Samuel to pray for them.
Samuel’s reply to their realization is
amazing; even in their rebellious ways, they were still God’s people and that
for his own name’s sake, even now, God would not reject them if they listened
to him. As a prophet, priest and judge,
Samuel promises to pray for them so that God’s mercy would continue to rain
down upon them. But if only they and
their king would obey the Lord and follow his instructions (12:18-24).
So it happened, when Saul was to
demonstrate his trust in God, he failed.
He took things in his own hands and invited the wrath of God. In the face of such a rebellion, Samuel
declared to Saul that God has chosen a new man after his own heart to be the
new king of Israel. Saul, in one
instance of misjudgment, had lost God’s favor; a man, who had begun spectacularly
with divine help, was now relegated to the history of God’s abandoned.
Yet, for years, Saul persisted in
clinging to power through all means but unsuccessfully. 1 Samuel 13:22 records one such sad condition
of Saul’s struggle to cling on to power even when all else is falling
apart. In this occasion, he was about to
engage in a battle against the Philistines.
But the verse says, “So on the day of the battle not a soldier with Saul
and Jonathan had a sword or spear in his hand; only Saul and his son Jonathan
had them” because the Philistines over the years had stripped Israel of blacksmiths. Even to sharpen their plowshares, mattocks,
axes and sickles, Israelites had to spend fortune and bow before the Philistine
blacksmiths. Thus, on the day of the
battle, Saul had an army of about 600 men but without a single weapon in their
hands. What a sad day. Things would go from bad to worse for Saul.
When God’s favor begins to move away
from the life of a person who once enjoyed it, nothing seems to work out well. Wisdom disappears, strength vanishes and
common sense goes out of the window. It becomes
like as if the man is stuck in a quicksand, the more he tries to get out of it
the deeper he sinks in.
The amazing thing in this passage is
that God has not abandoned his people even though he has abandoned their
king. Jonathan is still around and
Samuel is still praying for them. Saul
would eventually go to his own end, but God would use Jonathan to bring up a
new king.
Those of us who desire to see the name
of the Lord Jesus honored in our lives, ministries, and nations, should take
heart from this passage. When we are
faithful in proclaiming the gospel and honoring the name of the Lord Jesus, God
will continue to work out his plan through our endeavors, no matter how small
they might be.
Yes, when we look at how some of the
prominent church leaders in the developing nations like Nepal/India are playing
with the gospel business and enriching themselves by taking away the donations
given for the orphans, widows and gospel workers, it is easy to become
discouraged and be fearful (even skeptical) of God’s judgment. Some of these leaders have become so hardened
in their conscience that they don’t even see where they are corrupt because the
material wealth they have amassed in the name of missions has given them the sense
of power and impunity from God’s judgment.
To make matters easy for these corrupt
church leaders, the western church is declining. It needs some kind of extra boost from the
missions. Thus, if they can produce to
their congregations some reports of spectacular mission work or some social
revolution like “ending sex trafficking”, their congregants start attending
church and putting money in the coffer.
All the western church leaders got to do is to get in touch with some of
these talented gospel businessmen from the developing nations who are good at
producing eye catching and heartwarming reports and videos for them. It does not matter how they do it, all they
got to do is to do it and then once or twice a year pay a visit to their
donors, and shed a tear or two while presenting their heart breaking mission
stories. The declining western church is
fooled like a sitting lame duck while these leaders continue to bring dishonor to the
name of the Lord Jesus Christ in the mission fields.
But we should not lose heart my dear
friends. If we are faithful to honor the
name of the Lord Jesus, then, he will honor his own name among us. When God honors his name, he will save his people
while these leaders who bring disgrace to his name will find themselves relegated
to where Saul found himself. Injustice, corruption,
and rebellion in God’s kingdom last only for a short time. But because we are time-bound creatures, it
looks as if God only favors the wicked and corrupted among us. That’s what Habakkuk thought for a while and
asked “how long and why O Lord?” (1:13). Look at how David suffered in the hands
of a king that had lost God’s favor. But
in God’s time, everything worked out well. God restored the glory that belonged
to his name and saved his people by providing a King that would represent the
King of Kings, our Lord Jesus Christ.
So, let us not lose heart but like
Jonathan keep trusting God even though some of our closest friends take the
short cuts for material gains and bring reproach to the name of the Lord Jesus. Let us not be fooled by our church leaders
and their material success; and at the same time let us not lose heart in God’s
ability to restore the glory that belongs to his name.
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