Evaluating placing our hopes in a political candidate – 1st Samuel 8-10, Part 3

In the previous post, we learned that after the Israelite elders ask Samuel to give them a king, God warns them that while having a king might sound effective or powerful like the nations around them, it could easily backfire. That warning didn’t make a dent in the elders’ desire for a king.  In 1st Samuel 8 verses 19-20, the people seem to intensify their request for a king, citing how a king will lead them and fight their battles. 

What are they talking about?  It sounds to me like they want a super soldier.  A super hero.  One man to go out before them and fight their battles?  Perhaps they are blinded by desire.  They want a king so badly, they have become totally unrealistic in their expectations.  One man cannot possibly fight their battles for them.

Before we get too hard on the Israelites, do we not do the same?  We American Christians can fool ourselves into believe that if so-and-so gets elected, then they will make things better in our country.  “If our guy becomes President,” we say or we feel inside, “then finally we’ll be okay.”  We, too, can put way too much emphasis and hope in humans to bring peace and flourishing around us.  We should look ourselves in the mirror and ask, are we guilty of the same misplaced hopes that they Israelites are demonstrating in this passage?

Despite their unrealistic expectations, chapter 8 concludes with God instructing Samuel to give the people a king.  God’s words in verse 22 are some of the saddest words in the Bible.  There is God, the one true king, the only one worthy to be king, the only one with power, and he and says, “Listen to them and give them a king.”  I suspect there is a disappointment in God’s tone. 

It reminds me teenage or young adult kids explaining a business idea to their parents, then asking their parents for a loan.  Inwardly, the parents are thinking “That’s the stupidest idea I ever heard,” but outwardly they say, “Okay, I’ll loan you the money,” knowing they aren’t getting any money back from this venture. 

It reminds me of Jesus’ story of the Prodigal Son who says to his father, “Give me my share of the inheritance now,” which is culturally-speaking equivalent to saying, “Father, I want you dead now.”  But the Father gives the son the money, knowing the son is not in any place emotionally, spiritually, or in maturity to use the money wisely. 

So in verse 22, Samuel tells the people to go home, and in chapter 9, verses 1-2, we meet an Israelite man named Saul, who is both handsome and tall.  That means he was recognizable.  He might be assumed to be intimidating or capable with a sword.  Maybe he could be the superhero king the Israelite elders desire?

We’ll find out how Saul responds in the next post.

Photo by Clay Banks on Unsplash

How do you react when you are hurt by someone? – 1st Samuel 8-10, Part 2

What comes out of you when you are hurting? When someone treats you poorly or says something unkind to you, how do you react?

The elders of Israel have just come to Samuel, asking for a king. See the previous post for all the details. What will Samuel say? Samuel’s response is in verse 6, “But when they said, “Give us a king to lead us,” this displeased Samuel; so he prayed to the Lord.”

I wonder if Samuel took the elder’s request personally.  Samuel was their leader.  Are the elders essentially saying, “We don’t want you anymore?”  Is this an attack on Samuel?  A vote of no confidence? 

Yes!  Of course it is.  They already said that they felt he was too old, and they clearly do not support his sons, which insinuates that they believe Samuel did a poor job as father.  We know nothing of Samuel’s parenting skills or involvement in his son’s lives.  We only know that the elders of Israel don’t like what they see in either Samuel or his sons, and they want a change, which makes Samuel mad.  But Samuel’s response is perfect, he takes it to God.

When we are hurting or angered, the proper response is not to lash out, but to go to God in prayer.  Cry out to him.  I love that Samuel does not seem to have become jaded by years of leading the people.  He still has a soft heart for God.  When he is wounded by the words of the people, just like you and I can be wounded by harsh or difficult words, Samuel goes to God, and prays.  We’re not told the content of his prayer, but we can easily guess what Samuel said to God based on God’s response.  Here’s what God says to Samuel in verses 7-9,

“And the Lord told him: “Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king. As they have done from the day I brought them up out of Egypt until this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are doing to you. Now listen to them; but warn them solemnly and let them know what the king who will reign over them will claim as his rights.”

Verse 7 is serious: “It is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king.”  Samuel felt rejected, but God says, “Samuel, you’re not king.  You never were.  I chose you to judge the people, to be my prophet, to serve me.  I am the king.  I always was the king.  The people are rejecting me.”

Not only that, God declares that the people’s behavior is nothing new.  The people have been forsaking him repeatedly for decades.  When we review the account of Israel’s Exodus from Egypt, their wandering for 40 years in the wilderness, their conquest of the Promised Land, and especially their behavior during the time of the Judges, there is ample evidence to prove that what God says here is true.  God is their king, and the people have repeatedly forsaken him and served other gods. 

This is a searing indictment of the people.  If Samuel, who wasn’t king, was so frustrated by the people’s rejection, imagine how God felt.  God was their king, and they had been rejecting him for a long time.  You’d think God would be really upset by the elders’ request for a human king.  “You want a human king, when you already have the Almighty, loving God of the universe as your king?”  That’s a massive slap in God’s face.  Which is why God’s decision to give them a human king is shocking.

He says, “You want a king? Okay. I’ll give you a king, but get ready because you do not know what you are asking for.”  See that last phrase in verse 9, “Let them know what the king who will reign over them will claim as his rights.” What does that mean?

The elders are looking at the nations around them, all with their kings, and the elders are thinking, “That monarchical system is great!  We need that.”  But God says to Samuel, “Tell them what it will really be like.”  The people of Israel shouldn’t have to think too hard about what it will really be like.  For 400 years they lived in slavery to a king.  That was the defining story of their nation’s history.  God did astounding miracles to get them out from under the heavy hand of a king.  The Egyptian Pharaoh was a king who was awful to the people of Israel.  And God showed that Pharaoh that he, God, was far more powerful than Pharaoh, freeing his people from slavery, leading them to the Promised Land, to independence, to flourishing.  Now the people are saying, “We want a king.”

Of course, they could be thinking, “This time it will be different.  In Egypt, we were in slavery because we were a different ethnicity than the Pharaoh.  Now our king will be one of us.”  Maybe.  God doesn’t seem so sure.  He has a strong warning for the people, which Samuel gives them in verses 10 through 18, describing all the ways a king could take advantage of the people, like a dictator.  In fact, in verses 17-18, Samuel says, “You yourselves will become his slaves…you will cry out for relief…but the Lord will not answer.”

That’s a stern warning. How will the Israelite elders respond? We find out in the next post.

Photo by Tengyart on Unsplash

Does it really go better when organizations (including marriages) have one single leader? – 1st Samuel 8-10, Part 1

Take a look at these nicknames in the list below. Do you know the people they are referring to. They are all famous people from the 1900s and 2000s. The answers are at the conclusion of the post. See how many you can guess!

The King of Rock & Roll

King James

The King of Pop

The King of Swing

The King of Hollywood

The King of Country music

The King of Blues

And there are a bunch of others who were just called “The King”.  Can you think of others? There is actually a Wikipedia page dedicated this nickname!

I don’t know if any of the people gave themselves the label “King,” and I don’t know if they really wanted that label or liked that label.  This week on the blog, we meet a man who didn’t want to be king in 1st Samuel chapters 8 through 10.

In 1st Samuel 8 verse 1, we learn that time has passed from where we left off in chapter 7 (post here).  I know it seems we only just studied Samuel’s birth and childhood.  But now we read in verse 1, that he is old.  How old we don’t know.  Estimates are in the 55 to 65 year old range.  In his day, age 55-65, is elderly. Life expectancy was much shorter.  He could pass at any time. 

We typically call Samuel the last judge of Israel, but we learn in verses 1-2 that he has sons whom he appoints as judges. The Old Testament mentions little about them again.  We learn that they are dishonest, accept bribes and pervert justice.  This sounds very familiar.  Samuel’s mentor, Eli, had two wicked sons as well. 

This time, as we read in verses 4 and 5, the elders of Israel come to Samuel and they ask for a king.  They believe they have a good rationale too: Samuel’s age, and his sons.  (As I write this in 2024, I’m wondering if we can get some elders to come talk to our two American presidential candidates who are old and have sons with questionable behavior.)  To the elders of Israel, their rationale makes sense.  The nation should not be led by leaders who are wicked.  And they believe Samuel is too old.  So the elders of the people think they are making a suggestion that is wise.  Or are they?  Is there more to their motivation?

Notice in verse 5, that they do seem to have other motivation when they ask for a king to lead or judge them, “such as all the other nations have.”  They want to be like the grown-up nations around them.  They want to get a new car like their neighbors.  Keepin’ up with the Joneses.  You can almost hear them thinking, “All the neighboring nations have monarchs, why can’t we?  It’s not fair.” 

Or maybe the elders of Israel have thought this through and believe that having a king is a really good and wise choice.  Is it perhaps wise to have a leader, a authority, a hierarchy.  We hear that sentiment still today.  I’m guessing you’ve heard it too: “There has to be a leader.”  In a marriage, there has to be a leader.  In a church, there has to be a leader.  In any organization, you need a leader. 

But do you have to have one single leader in any of those relationships or organizations? 

What about a flat hierarchy?  A team approach?  For example, consider a house church where there is no lead pastor, but instead a team of elders.  Even at Faith Church, though I am the pastor, on our Leadership Team, I am one vote of ten.  We are not a pastor-led church.  There are some pastor-led churches in my local ministerium, and I am amazed at how those pastors can unilaterally make all sorts of decisions. 

There are pros and cons to all leadership structures.  But let’s face it, when there is a king, that person has all authority to do what they want. 

When I am the only parent at home, I can really enjoy being the sole authority.  Years ago when my wife Michelle was traveling to Cambodia 2-3 times per year for work, and our kids were little, while I missed her and totally believe that single parenting is more difficult than two-parent parenting, there were times when it was super convenient to be the sole person responsible for decision-making.  I didn’t have to discuss anything with Michelle. Kings have that kind of decision-making freedom, and if they are benevolent, it can be a very helpful freedom.

So Israel’s request for a king is a mixed bag.  It might be partly a wise request, might be partly selfish.  No matter their motivation, we learn Samuel’s response in the next post, and here’s a hint, he is not happy.

Photo by emrecan arık on Unsplash

Answers to the nicknames:

The King of Rock & Roll? (Elvis Presley)

King James (Lebron James)

The King of Pop (Michael Jackson)

The King of Swing (Benny Goodman)

The King of Hollywood (Clark Gable)

The King of Country music (George Strait)

The King of Blues (B.B. King)

And there are a bunch of others who were just called “The King”.  Any guesses?  (Arnold Palmer of Golf, Richard Petty of NASCAR)

I just can’t wait to be king – 1st Samuel 8-10, Preview

It was one year ago, May 6, 2023, that Prince Charles III of England was crowned King Charles (though he had acceded to the throne the previous September 22, when his mother, Queen Elizabeth, passed).  Charles had been waiting for that moment for a long time.  When his mother became queen, Charles was 4 years old. He was 73 at his coronation.  

Charles’ wait was uncommonly protracted, first because his mother became queen so young (25 years old), and she was aged when she passed (96 years old).  Throughout his mother’s reign, and especially as she entered her elderly years, there were plenty of calls for the queen to abdicate and allow her son to take the throne.  Whispers told stories of Charles’ eager anticipation to become King.  

Yet, all that desire to become king has to be seen in light of the reality that the British king is largely a figurehead.  What power does Charles have?  He and the rest of the members of the royal family are certainly popular.  They truly have wealth and some measure of influence.  But Charles, as king, is not running the government, is not directing the military, and is not deciding how his nation’s wealth is used. There are many nations with kings and queens in our world still today, and they are mostly like Charles: famous, but without the power of presidents, prime ministers, judges, and other government officials.  It wasn’t always that way.

Our American experiment was launched protesting the overreaching power of monarchy.  “No taxation without representation,” we said to King George, declaring our independence in 1776.  Our forefathers believed the kings could all too easily become dictators.  We wanted separation of powers.  We wanted self-rule, so we could organize our colonies in a way we believed was best, including having slavery. So we fought our way out from under monarchical rule.  We did not want a king!

Or did we?  Did we trade one King George for another?  Are we Americans king-makers, disguised in democracy?

Interestingly, in the next section in my blog series through 1st and 2nd Samuel, the people of Israel declare that they do want a king.  There is no disguising it.  They are bold about it.  They want a king, and they make their wishes known.  Why do they want a king?  Is Israel growing up, perhaps?  And what does God have to say about this?  Join me on the blog next week as we study 1st Samuel chapters 8, 9, and 10.  Read the chapters ahead of time, and then I look forward to talking about it further with you.

Photo by Paweł Furman on Unsplash

How to rightly submit to God – 1st Samuel 4:1b-7:17, Part 5

After the first three chapters of 1st Samuel focusing on Samuel’s birth and childhood, we’ve now read through more chapters, 4 through 6, with no mention of Samuel. Where is Samuel through all the craziness of the Ark of the Covenant’s capture? The narrative doesn’t tell us, so we can safely guess that during those seven months, Samuel continued ministry at the tabernacle in Shiloh.

In 1 Samuel 7, starting in the middle of verse 2, however, the narrative returns to the story of Samuel. Here is 1st Samuel, chapter 7, verses 2 through 7,

“Then all the people of Israel turned back to the Lord. So Samuel said to all the Israelites, ‘If you are returning to the Lord with all your hearts, then rid yourselves of the foreign gods and the Ashtoreths and commit yourselves to the Lord and serve him only, and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.’ So the Israelites put away their Baals and Ashtoreths, and served the Lord only. Then Samuel said, ‘Assemble all Israel at Mizpah, and I will intercede with the Lord for you.’ When they had assembled at Mizpah, they drew water and poured it out before the Lord. On that day they fasted and there they confessed, ‘We have sinned against the Lord.’ Now Samuel was serving as leader of Israel at Mizpah.

Finally, the people return to God, following his way of holiness.

When the Philistines learn about Israel gathering at Mizpah, they see an opportunity.  Maybe Philistia can finally wipe out Israel in one fell swoop.  Israel learns about the Philistine advance, and they are afraid.  But something has changed. They have repented of their sins.  They have turned their hearts to God.

Now having repented, notice how differently they respond compared to their arrogant approach in chapter 4.  In chapter 4 they took matters into their own hands, believing that if they whipped out the Ark of the Covenant, God was obligated to defeat the Philistines. 

Now in chapter 7, verse 8, they have a very different response: “They said to Samuel, ‘Do not stop crying out to the Lord our God for us, that he may rescue us from the hand of the Philistines.’ Then Samuel took a suckling lamb and sacrificed it as a whole burnt offering to the Lord. He cried out to the Lord on Israel’s behalf, and the Lord answered him.”

They submit themselves to the Lord.  They cry out to him.  They see God not as obligated to help them, but they see God as he is, holy.  Because the people are humble, submitting themselves to God as they should be, Samuel cries out to God for help and God answers. 

In the rest of the chapter we learn that God gives Israel a great victory.  First, God thunders, sending the Philistine military into a panic, leaving the Israelite army an easy mop-up job.  Samuel sets up a stone of remembrance, calling it “Ebenezer,” a “stone of help,” because God helped them. 

The narrative in chapter 7 concludes by scanning through the next few decades, and we learn that throughout Samuel’s lifetime, the Lord was against the Philistines, Israel gained territory, and they had peace with other neighboring nations.  Samuel continued his ministry for many years, a circuit riding preaching, serving the Lord as prophet and judge of the people of Israel.

As we conclude this week’s series of posts on 1st Samuel 4:1b-7:17, let’s take a moment to reflect on what we have learned.

In the story of the Ark of the Covenant’s capture, we learn to submit ourselves before God, because he is holy.  Instead of taking matters into our own hands, instead of thinking that we can use him for our purposes, we turn away from any arrogance, and we inquire of him.   We seek his ways, we seek to live according to his heart. 

So what does it mean to submit ourselves to God?  It means we have humble hearts, seeing ourselves in relationship with God and loved by God.  That humble heart posture brings us to trust in God, even in the midst of pain.  Even in the midst of difficult circumstances.  Trusting him that he is for us, even when life doesn’t seem to be going how we hope.

Submitting ourselves to God is choosing to look to him and his ways for our next steps.  Submitting to God is asking God to evaluate our thoughts, attitudes and actions. We go to him in listening prayer, in reading and studying the Bible, in conversation with others, with open hearts and minds.

Submitting ourselves to God avoids an attitude of checking the spiritual religious boxes, as if they are a guarantee of blessing.  Israel thought the Ark was a weapon they could use as they saw fit.  We can do this too.  We can do our daily devotions, go to church, put money in the offering basket, sing the songs, and believe that God is duty bound to bless us. 

Submitting ourselves to God means we are in relationship with him, and healthy relationships don’t involve forcing or manipulating the other.  Instead, we say, as Jesus taught, “Lord, apart from you I can do nothing. I want to abide in you, remain in you, be led by you.”

Photo by Naassom Azevedo on Unsplash

The mysterious events around the Ark of the Covenant – 1st Samuel 4:1b-7:17, Part 4

Does the Ark of the Covenant have power? In the previous post, we learned that the Israelites thought all they needed to do was bring the Ark out to the battlefield, and God would give them victory over the Philistines. We learned the Israelites were wrong. Instead of the Ark destroying the Philistines, the Philistines destroy the Israelites and capture the Ark. But in this post, some very curious events happen around the Ark, almost as if the Ark does have power. Keep reading to find out.

First, we survey the rest of 1st Samuel chapter 4, which is an extended account of Eli hearing the news that his wicked sons passed away in the battle (which we learned about here), and in shock Eli falls off his chair, breaks his neck and dies.  At the very end of chapter, we learn that one of his sons, Phinehas’ wife heard the news, and the shock caused her to go into labor and give birth. She dies in labor, her last words used to name her baby boy “Ichabod” which means “No Glory,” for in this story she saw that God’s glory had departed from Israel.  Ichabod’s name reminds us that the arrogant Israelites, including her own husband, allowed the Ark to be captured by the Philistines.

At this point in the story, the narrative follows the Ark, which goes on an unusual journey and seems to emanate power. Chapter 5 takes place in Philistine territory.  The Philistines transport the Ark of the Covenant to their city of Ashdod, and they place the Ark in the temple of their god Dagon. The next morning the Philistines find the statue of Dagon fallen face-down before the Ark, as if Dagon is worshiping the Ark.

The Philistines put Dagon back, but the next day it happens again, this time, though, the idol’s face and hands break off in the fall.  Then God afflicts the people of Ashdod with tumors.  In response, the Philistines move the Ark to their town of Gath, and the same affliction happens there.  Next they carry the Ark to Ekron, and again affliction breaks out in Ekron.  The people of Philistia begin to panic and cry out. 

In chapter 6, the Philistines have had possession of the Ark for seven awful months, and they can’t take the resulting affliction any longer.  They send the Ark back to Israel with a gift of gold.  As they did in chapter 4 before the battle when they captured the Ark, the Philistines show they are very aware of Israel’s God’s reputation when he freed the people from slavery in Egypt.  Look at 1st Samuel chapter 6, verse 6, where the Philistines say,

“Why do you harden your hearts as the Egyptians and Pharaoh did? When Israel’s God dealt harshly with them, did they not send the Israelites out so they could go on their way?”

The Philistines believe what is happening is similar to what God did to Egypt when he afflicted Egypt with ten plagues.  The Philistines think God is now sending plagues on them.  They do not want to fall prey to the same attitude of the Egyptian Pharaoh, hardness of heart.  Arrogance.

The Philistines place the Ark on a cart pulled by calves, and they send it back to Israel, following it to the Israelite border town of Beth Shemesh.  There the people of Israel rejoice at the Ark’s return, and they sacrifice to the Lord, which is their way of expressing repentance to God. 

But in a scene reminiscent of the final moments of Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark when the Nazis open the Ark and die (depicted above), seventy people of the town of Beth Shemesh decide to open the Ark, look inside and die.  When they do this, they die because they arrogantly disrespect the holiness of God.  Notice 1 Samuel chapter 6, verse 20,

“And the people of Beth Shemesh asked, ‘Who can stand in the presence of the Lord, this holy God? To whom will the ark go up from here?’”

Hold that thought about the holiness of God, as we’ll focus more on that in the next post.  For now, as we conclude this post, let’s turn to the beginning of chapter 7 where we learn the how the story of the travels of the Ark finishes. 

As we can see in the verse I quoted above, the people of Beth Shemesh have just asked where the Ark will go. We learn in chapter 7 where the Ark goes. In verses 1-2, surprisingly, the Ark does not go back to the tabernacle in Shiloh. Instead, the Ark goes to the town of Kiriath Jearim, to the house of a man named Abinadab, and there it will stay for 20 years.

The Philistines have encountered the holiness of God. The people of Beth Shemesh in Israel have experienced, painfully, the holiness of God.  The wicked priests have been killed.  But what about the rest of Israel?  And where is Samuel? We find out in the next post.

The arrogance of Israel’s super weapon – 1st Samuel 4:1b-7:17, Part 3

After a stinging defeat at the hands of the Philistines, the elders of Israel have a plan to strike back. It’s their secret super weapon. Why they didn’t bring out the weapon in the first place, we don’t know. But now they do, and the super weapon has a profound effect on the Philistines.  Let’s read starting in 1 Samuel 4, verse 4,

“So the people sent men to Shiloh, and they brought back the ark of the covenant of the Lord Almighty, who is enthroned between the cherubim. And Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God. When the ark of the Lord’s covenant came into the camp, all Israel raised such a great shout that the ground shook.”

This is a big moment.  The priests Hophni and Phinehas lead the Ark out onto the battlefield as the Israelite soldiers cheer loudly.  Hophni and Phinehas probably have huge arrogant smiles on their faces. 

The Israelite elders and priests have made an assumption that it is automatic and guaranteed that where the Ark goes, God goes, and he is required to do whatever they want him to do.  The Israelites believe they are pulling out an unstoppable weapon.

Let’s keep reading in verse 6,

“Hearing the uproar, the Philistines asked, ‘What’s all this shouting in the Hebrew camp?’ When they learned that the ark of the Lord had come into the camp, the Philistines were afraid. ‘A god has come into the camp,’ they said. ‘Oh no! Nothing like this has happened before. We’re doomed! Who will deliver us from the hand of these mighty gods? They are the gods who struck the Egyptians with all kinds of plagues in the wilderness. Be strong, Philistines! Be men, or you will be subject to the Hebrews, as they have been to you. Be men, and fight!’”

The Philistines heard the stories of how Israel’s God freed Israel from slavery in Egypt.  The Philistines are like nearly all people in the ancient near east.  They believe that behind-the-scenes spiritual beings, gods, are at work.  So if they can just manipulate the gods in the right way, they will have victory.  The Philistines are scared that the Israelites have just pulled out a god-weapon, the Ark, that is more powerful than their Philistine gods.  Interestingly, the Philistines’ fear of the god-weapon, the Ark, leads to more fear, the thought of becoming subject to Israel.  What happens next is a shocker to everyone on the battlefield that day. It is Israel’s super weapon versus the Philistines. Here’s the result, in verses 10-11,

“So the Philistines fought, and the Israelites were defeated and every man fled to his tent. The slaughter was very great; Israel lost thirty thousand foot soldiers. The ark of God was captured, and Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, died.”

What the Philistines didn’t know is that God is not with the Ark.  They don’t know that God isn’t required to do what Israel wants him to do.  This is not a genie in a bottle situation.

Though the Philistines think they are about to face the tremendous power of God, God is not there, and the Philistines deal another blow to Israel, this time significantly more severe. 

It wasn’t just the Philistines who didn’t know that God wasn’t with the Ark. The Israelites did not know that either. They should have known that. The priests Hophni and Phinehas especially should have known about how God is or is not connected to the Ark. The priests should never have allowed the Ark to be brought into battle.

What the priests and elders of Israel failed to realize is that God cannot be manipulated.  He is a holy God, and he is deeply saddened by the lack of holiness that Hophni and Phinehas had been perpetrating on the people (read more here and here).  Remember what we read last week in 1st Samuel chapter 2?  Hophni and Phinehas were ripping people off, and sleeping with the women who served at the tabernacle.

Also their father Eli was not taking action to stop them.  When he finally did confront them, which only occurred after Eli himself was confronted by an unnamed prophet, Eli’s son refused to listen to him.  We learned that word spread far and wide that there was evil in the tabernacle.  Now the wicked priests Hophni and Phinehas commit the sin of arrogantly trying to use the Ark of the Covenant, to use God, without consulting him and hearing his wishes and inquiring of his wisdom.

God has shown that he is deeply concerned about this sin.  He is not going to overlook the sin and allow the elders and wicked priests to use him as a super weapon in battle. God is far more concerned about the heart of the people, about repentance. 

Photo by National Library of Scotland on Unsplash

How easily we can succumb to folk theology – 1st Samuel 4:1b-7:17, Part 2

Years ago someone told me how they got into a car accident while driving on a snowy road.  They hit a slick patch, lost control, the vehicle spun around and they came to a rest against a snow bank on the side of the road.  No injury.  No damage.  No collision.  Nothing.  They said they were protected because they had an angel figurine on their dashboard. 

Did the presence of an angel figurine on their dash force God to protect them?

This question of God’s connection to religious artifacts relates to the story in the life of Samuel that we’re discussion this week on the blog. In the previous post, we read 1st Samuel chapter 4, verse 1a through verse 3. We learned that the people of Israel suffer a military defeat at the hands of the Philistines. The Israel elders regroup, deciding to bring the Ark of the Covenant out on the battlefield, and in their words, “God will save them from their enemies.” In yesterday’s post, I suggested that the Israelite elders are telling God what he did (“the Lord brought defeat upon us”), and now they’re telling him what he is going to do (“save us from the hand of our enemies”). They have not, however, consulted God. They assume that they control him when they bring out the Ark. Or are they making that assumption?

Could it be said that are trying to involve God in a proper way?  Could it be said that they are being faithful to God? Let me explain.  Look at what they do. They have the idea to go to the tabernacle and get the Ark of the Covenant.  Maybe they think that by getting this special religious artifact, they will actually be bringing God to the battle with them.  They even say that by doing this, God will “go with us and save us from the hand of our enemies.”   

God will?  How can they be so sure?  Is this a guaranteed victory?  Do they really know what they are talking about?  To answers those questions, we need to hear a bit more about the Ark of the Covenant.  What is the Ark of the Covenant? Is it like Noah’s Ark?  A huge boat?

In Exodus 25, God gave the first instructions for building the Ark.  The Ark is a small chest made of wood, overlaid with gold.  Inside the chest God asked the Israelites to store three items of significance to their nation: (1) the stone tablets on which he wrote the Ten Commandments, (2) some manna which was the food he sustained them with in their wilderness travels, and (3) Aaron’s staff which budded with almond flowers.  So is the Ark just a special items chest?  No treasure in there?  No powerful talismans?  What about Aaron’s staff?  Do they pull it out and use it to shoot powerful energy blasts at the Philistines?  No.  Nothing like that. Never. 

But there’s more. In Exodus 25 we learn about the cover of the Ark,

“Make an atonement cover of pure gold—two and a half cubits long and a cubit and a half wide. And make two cherubim out of hammered gold at the ends of the cover. Make one cherub on one end and the second cherub on the other; make the cherubim of one piece with the cover, at the two ends. The cherubim are to have their wings spread upward, overshadowing the cover with them. The cherubim are to face each other, looking toward the cover. Place the cover on top of the ark and put in the ark the tablets of the covenant law that I will give you. There, above the cover between the two cherubim that are over the ark of the covenant law, I will meet with you and give you all my commands for the Israelites.”

So the elders have a vaguely correct idea.  God had told his people that he would meet them at the Ark.  There is a very real sense in which the cover of the Ark is God’s throne. Furthermore, there were events in the nation’s history when the Ark of the Covenant displays the power of God.  In Numbers 10:33-35, the Ark seems to move by the power of God, leading the people.  In Joshua 3, the priests transport the Ark to the Jordan River, and God causes the water to part.  In Joshua 6, similarly the priests transport the Ark around the city of Jericho and the walls eventually fall. 

But when we return to 1 Samuel 4, it seems the elders make a false assumption that all they need to do is bring out the Ark and they will be guaranteed victory.  As if God has no choice in the matter.  As if God is forced to do their bidding.  The false assumption of the elders is folk theology.  Not good theology.  What is Folk theology?  Let me explain.

I started this post mentioning a person who believed a plastic angel figurine protected them from any harm when they had a car accident.  The person did not actually know if God was involved in the situation.  They were speculating, taking bits and pieces of biblical teaching and crafting it into something new that is not supported by biblical teaching.  That’s folk theology.  Essentially folk theology is made-up beliefs, crafted from biblical teaching, mixed with personal ideas, or ideas in culture.

That’s what the elders of Israel were doing.  They had an improper belief that all they needed to do was get the priests to bring the Ark to the battle field, and God was duty-bound to bring them victory.  In summary, the Israelites just lost a battle, and their response is not to ask God for help, but instead, they trust in their own ability to analyze the situation.  But their solution is folk theology.

Initially, this act of folk theology has a profound effect on the Philistines. We’ll find out about that in the next post.

Photo by Giorgio Trovato on Unsplash

Is God to blame for the times life goes wrong? – 1st Samuel 4:1b-7:17, Part 1

Did you have a spiritual crisis and turn to God in grief, “Why Lord?” when a container ship hit the Key Bridge in Baltimore, and six people lost their lives? You were likely saddened and even appalled. My guess is that the disaster was like the many, many other disasters that happen so frequently; they don’t affect us, so we lose interest. But when our body is the one being affected, when our loved one is lost, it is quite natural for us to wonder if and how God might be involved.

This week on the blog we are going to study a longer passage, 1st Samuel chapters 4 through 7, and in today’s post, we’re going to meet some people who have a very bad experience, and they blame God for the disaster.

Let’s review what we’ve learned so far in 1st Samuel chapters 1 through 3. We are in the period of Israel’s history where Judges ruled the nation. We met Samuel, who grew up serving the Lord at the tabernacle, under the leadership of the judge-priest, Eli. We learned that the Lord is with Samuel, and that all Israel is recognizing that Samuel is a prophet of the Lord.

So far our story has focused nearly entirely on Samuel’s immediate family and the happenings at God’s tabernacle in Shiloh. We’ve learned that while the Lord is with Samuel, there are two other priests at the tabernacle, Hophni and Phinehas, Eli’s wicked sons, who do not respect the Lord.

Now in 1st Samuel chapter 4, midway through verse 1, the writer of the story widens his angle of focus. These first few verses of chapter 4 are critical for understanding the story that unfolds in chapters 4, 5, 6, and 7. Here are 1st Samuel chapter 4, verses 1 through 3,

“Now the Israelites went out to fight against the Philistines. The Israelites camped at Ebenezer, and the Philistines at Aphek. The Philistines deployed their forces to meet Israel, and as the battle spread, Israel was defeated by the Philistines, who killed about four thousand of them on the battlefield. When the soldiers returned to camp, the elders of Israel asked, ‘Why did the Lord bring defeat on us today before the Philistines? Let us bring the ark of the Lord’s covenant from Shiloh, so that he may go with us and save us from the hand of our enemies.’”

At first glance, this seems like a fairly straightforward recounting of Israel’s loss in battle, and Israel’s solution to win the next battle. But there is so much more in these few verses.

There is an interesting question in verse 3, and it should sound familiar. After the battle, in which Israel lost 4000 soldiers, the elders ask, “Why did the Lord bring defeat?” I say that is a familiar question because it is very natural to question God when things are not going in our favor. “Why, Lord?” we ask when we hear about a sickness, a death, a broken relationship, an accident, a job loss. We are very quick to turn to the Lord as if he did this to us. As if we have no influence on our lives. As if the world is not a broken, fallen world where things go wrong all the time.

If we were to turn to God and ask, “Why Lord?” every time that something goes wrong in the world, that questioning of God is all that we would have time for. There is so much that goes wrong with the world. So we don’t ask “Why Lord?” every time something goes wrong. Typically, we only turn to God when we feel that the difficult, painful situation affects us or people close to us.

It is a good thing to turn to God. He can handle it. In fact, he invites us to bring our whole selves to him, the good, the bad the ugly. All of it. The Psalms of Lament are examples of that. People hurting, crying out to God, complaining to God. See more about lament here and how to lament here.

But notice here in 1 Samuel 4, verse 3, the people don’t do any of that. No lament. No indication that they even go to God. No prayer. No inquiry. Nothing of what would have been typical in their day, going to the prophet and asking the prophet to inquire of God for them.

Instead it seems that they quickly blame God for the defeat, and then they take matters into their own hands. Notice the difference between going to God and blaming God. Going to God is looking for help, comfort and answers, based on a humble heart posture. Blame is a very different heart posture, isn’t it? Blame assumes the person doing the blaming has everything figured out, and it is another person’s fault.

How about you? Are you quick to go to God? Or are you quick to blame?

But could it be said that the Israelites are faithfully trying to involve God? Maybe what I’ve written above is an unfair caricature of their behavior? We’ll keep investigating in the next post.

Photo by Julien L on Unsplash

Can we learn anything from Indiana Jones about the power of the Ark of the Covenant? – 1st Samuel 4:1b-7:17, Preview

I suspect most of you have seen one or more of the Indiana Jones films starring Harrison Ford.  In the films, Ford plays Dr. Henry “Indiana” Jones, a professor of archaeology who has numerous adventures wearing his famous fedora and wielding a whip.  In the first film, Raiders of the Lost Ark, “Indy” tries to stop the Nazis, circa 1936, from digging up the Ark of the Covenant and potentially using its power against the Allies.  

Raiders of the Lost Ark is an extremely fun movie, but is it based in any truth?  We know the Nazis were desperate to gain power and advantage.  We also know they had an interest in archaeology.  But what about the Ark itself?  Assuming it could be recovered, did the small chest have power?  In the movie it sure does, but does the Bible say anything about the Ark of the Covenant emanating power?

As we continue our series through 1st and 2nd Samuel, next week we’re studying 1st Samuel 4:1b through 7:17.  It’s a fascinating passage about the Ark of Covenant, when it was captured and what happened. This wild episode definitely includes a display of supernatural power.  Just like the film, Raiders of the Lost Ark, things don’t go well for people who try to harness the Ark for their own purposes.  I encourage you to check it out ahead of time.

What we’ll talk about on the blog next week is how this dramatic passage might relate to us disciples of Jesus living in 2024.  We’ll find it teaches an important lesson for all of us, a lesson about the power of God and being the people of God, that we can apply to our lives today.

Photo by Igor Rodrigues on Unsplash