Too Close to Home

Today's passage:  Genesis 31
     So I've skipped blogging about a series of chapters just because of lack of quiet time. Not surprisingly, the spring forward time change brings the sun out a little earlier in the morning, signaling Youngest's wake up time.  Though I've read through the passages, albeit only a few verses at a time many mornings, the chance to  sit and write about what I've learned has been rare.  Maybe someday, I'll have the opportunity to go back and share what God taught me in those chapters, but for now, I'll start with today's chapter.
     I'm always fascinated with the relationship dynamics in the Bible.  If you think about it, they aren't too different than relationships today, and when I think about that, it isn't hard to imagine the struggles, difficulties and complications that might take place.

Religion in the Home, Part 1
By Charlotte M. Yonge
Illustrated by Julius Schnorr Von Karolsfeld
Published by George W. Bertron, 1913

     This chapter is loaded with family drama. Laban, that sneaky scoundrel, has been cheating Jacob for years. I don't doubt that some of this is the principle of sowing and reaping in Jacob's life for the way he deceived his own brother and father. Still, I think that at this point, Jacob has paid his dues. Jacob complains that Laban has changed his wages ten times. I chuckle to myself a little, because I wonder if dear Daddy-in-law Laban doesn't use Jacob's behavior towards Leah and Rachel as an excuse to swindle Jacob. I can just see it now. Jacob talked a little too sternly to Leah; Laban docked his wages that week. Jacob seemed a little insensitive with Rachel's yearning to have a child; Laban cut Jacob's pay in half. I don't even want to know how severely Laban might have dealt with Jacob when he had children with his daughter's handmaidens, twice. Not that Laban would have told Jacob this was what he was doing, but I can imagine a protective father conveniently using it to his advantage. No wonder Jacob is in a hurry to get back to Abraham's land. Perhaps part of his motivation is to get out of the constant watchful eye of his wives' father. When God tells Jacob that it is time to go back to his family's land, Jacob must have breathed a huge sigh of relief. Finally, I'm outta here. Now to tell the girls. It might not be as easy to convince his wives that it was time to leave Daddy behind. I'm sure they are hesitant at first, but they eventually submit. Part of me wonders if this isn't a match between Rachel and Leah. They have been struggling to be the main affection for years (Rachel usually always winning out) and perhaps this was a chance for both ladies to try to win extra points with her husband. The wife who complained about leaving Daddy would most definitely earn Jacob's anger, while the one who complied would maybe rise a little in his eyes. So maybe neither of them were terribly happy about the plan to leave Laban, but neither of them may have admitted it to avoid being the lesser wife. Then again, maybe good old Dad had become a little too overbearing and they were anxious for a change of scenery as well.

     In any case, Jacob leaves quietly, not giving Laban a clue to where he has gone.  Laban eventually catches up to him (or to be truthful, chases after him) probably intending to bring his daughters and grandchildren back, and maybe digging a sandy grave for Jacob in the desert.  Fortunately, God intervenes and Laban and Jacob make a covenant to not harm each other in the future.  Given both of their deceitful pasts, I don't give a lot of credence to this "covenant", but I'm sure the future chapters will show how it holds up.

      I wish I could expand a little more, but children wake up early even on holidays, and getting this much done amid the distractions has been more than challenging.  With summer approaching, I'm hopeful that sleep patterns (for the boys at least) will be a little later, giving me time to share from time to time.  As the daughter of a career military man, I am ever thankful for the commitment to those who have served in our armed forces, and particularly those who have sacrificed their lives for our great nation.  God bless the families who have loved ones that have paid the price.  Have a blessed Memorial Day.
     Forgive the formatting.  I spent the last half hour trying to reformat the last few paragraphs.  I somehow managed to make it the caption for the picture and without erasing and rewriting the whole thing (which I definitely do not have time to do, I just had to leave as is.  GRRRR!

Promises, Promises

Today's passage:  II Samuel 15
      It looks as if David's reign as king is over.  David can not know any differently.  After all, he has sat on the throne for a while now.  The one who wants to take his throne is his own son.  It is not as if God has not kept his promise to David.  The Lord told David that his kingdom would continue on, that his line would sire the Messiah.  Both parts of God's promise will still be fulfilled if Absalom's rebellion is successful.  Now David (a much older man by now) is weeping in the wilderness, wondering whether he will die here.
     That beguiling son of David had charmed the people into thinking he should be king now, instead of when David died.  He convinced the people that David did not care about the problems of the common man.  He disciplined himself (good to know he was disciplined about something) to wake and arrive early at the city gate each morning.  He greeted and campaigned, listened to the people's gripes and offered his solutions.  Sounds a little like a presidential candidate.  Only Absalom doesn't want to wait for an election, he wants to oust his father and replace him.  Why the hurry?  Absalom was the next successor to the throne.  Why shouldn't he bide his time?  I think partly because he wants to hurt his father.  His feelings of pride at not having been received by David as soon as he was invited back to the palace are still strong.  He wants to show good old Dad that he will make a better king.  He certainly can't do that when the old man is dead, so he must prove it to him while he is living.

Absalom's rebellion (cropped)--Taken from Religion in the Home (Part 4)  The United Kingdom
By Charlotte M. Yonge, Illustrated by Julius Schnorr von Karolsfeld
Published by George W. Bertron, 1913

     David can't be sure that God is not in this usurping.  He knows it is not the way God would have done things, but he does not know if this is not a plan of God to teach some lessons.  He can not be sure that his kingship is over, that God will move him onto new things, that maybe He will move him into Heaven.  David has no way of being able to see ahead to know any differently.  He can see his mistakes.  He is looking back at the way Absalom was raised and realizing what he could have been wiser.  He is praying that he will have another chance to do things right by Absalom, to be the leader God wants him to be.  All those years in the wilderness, preparing for the monarchy, did not prepare him that he would one day be back here.  All the opportunities he had to take Saul's life, and spared him, was not taken into account for his own throne.  Where was the law of sowing and reaping?  David had showed such high regard for the man God allowed to wear the crown.  Why wasn't God allowing David to have some measure of that respect shown towards himself?  Why is God allowing David to be so dishonored?  I know David's possible folly in rearing Absalom will bring about consequences.  But isn't it strange that the consequences God should choose to allow come to David would be in something he would never have been involved?  David would have never plotted against Saul, looking for ways to win the hearts of the people (even though he had those hearts early in Saul's reign).  David could have whispered all of the court secrets about Saul's moodiness around the palace, influencing them that he should no longer be their leader.  David could have abused this and taken the throne from Saul.  David could have raised an army of supporters while in the wilderness and stormed the castle, ousting Saul from his position.  David could have made Jonathan (the next in line) his enemy rather than his bosom friend. It just seems odd that God would choose this set of circumstances.  I think that if it had not been David's own flesh and blood leading this coup, he would have had his armed men destroy the usurper.  Since it was his own son, not only would he not want to harm him, but he could not know whether his time on the throne had expired, and God was allowing his son to reign in his stead.  David knew what God had promised him, but he did not know just how God was going to keep this promise.  Remember this covenant?

II Samuel 7:12-15

12 And when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom.

13  He shall build an house for my name, and I will stablish the throne of his kingdom for ever.

14  I will be his father, and he shall be my son.  If he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men:

15  But my mercy shall not depart away from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away before thee.

16  And thine house and thy kingdom shall be established for ever before thee:  thy throne shall be established for ever.  

     There is nothing in this promise that says how long it will be before David will sleep with his fathers.  This could be the time for that.  David does not know.  Absalom is his seed, so God is honoring the covenant He established with David.  It is David's prayer that this is not the end, but he can't know for sure.  And I can't be critical of David's seeming lack of faith, because given the evidence, David's time might be up.
     I can remind God of His promises, but I can't tell Him how to carry them out.  David knows this too.  He is humbled by what God is doing in his life.  He knows God has given him a promise and he will cling to that, but he can't know just how God will fulfill it.  God has promised us a lot of things in His Word.  Some of those things will be realized while I am living but some of them won't be realized until I am sleeping with my fathers.  And I don't know how soon that may be.  It may be tomorrow, it may not be for another forty years. In any case, when God surprises me yet again with the way He chooses to do things, and it wasn't the way I expected, I have to trust and believe that He will get more glory doing it His Way.
      Why does God allow David to go through this?  Why does He allow his reign to be compromised in a most disrespectful way?  I can't say.  I know that David was not wrong to be an honorable follower under Saul.  I know that David did not do that thinking in the back of his mind, "When I am king someday, people will show me the same respect."  The sowing and reaping principle does not always parallel our lives exactly.  The loyalty that David displayed will be realized in the son who will eventually take the throne.  God has to prepare the way for Solomon, in order to carry out His Word to David, and getting Absalom out of the way is how God will get there.
     God's promises have never failed.  Not then, not today.

A Servant's Choice

Today's passage: II Samuel 9
     David's kindnesses to Mephibosheth is a familiar story.  I've taught it in Sunday school on many occasions.  It is a beautiful application of God's love for us.  In case, anyone reading this is not that familiar with this narrative, I will give a quick overview.  Years before, David and Jonathan (Saul's son) had made a pact that they would take care of each other's families should something happen to either of them.  I guess you could say it was their last will and testament.  Jonathan and his father were killed in battle, which ushered in the time for David's reign.  He has been on the throne for a little while now, but is just now able to fulfill his promise.  He has Jonathan's son, Mephibosheth brought to the palace and assures him that he will be treated as one of his own sons.  Mephibosheth became lame when a nursemaid dropped him as a boy, trying to secure his life when Saul and Jonathan were killed.  It really is a nice story.  But I'm more interested in the part of the story that rarely gets told.  I'm thinking about the man who reported to David that Jonathan's son was still alive.
     The name of the servant who gives David this pertinent information is Ziba.  I'm really glad God chose to give us his name because referring to him as Mephibosheth's servant each time is a lot of typing and a mouthful. We don't know a lot about Ziba.  But I think his part of the story tells much about him and even more about David.

David Shows Kindness to Jonathan's Son, Mephibosheth--Taken from Standard Bible Story Readers, Book Three
By Lillie A. Faris, Illustrated by O.A. Stemler and Bess Bruce Cleaveland
The Standard Publishing Company, 1926

      It was the custom at that time for kings to destroy any future threats to the throne.  Usually, the first order of business when a king put a crown on his head was to make sure there was nobody else who could do so as well.  We've already seen this happen at the very beginning of David's reign when Ish-bosheth, that other son of Saul, was established over the rest of Israel.  Everyone was expecting David to destroy this usurper.  But he didn't .  And if he had, I think he may have never been able to keep his promise to Jonathan.  David summons Ziba to the court because he is one of the few men remaining from Saul's household.  The king asks him a very direct question with little wiggle room.  "Is there not yet any of the house of Saul, that I may shew the kindness of God unto him?"  Ziba can now make a choice.  He can choose to tell the king he doesn't know, he can choose to tell him that there is nobody remaining, or he can choose to tell him the truth.  Ziba chooses the last option.  I think he chooses it because of David's character.  Ziba could have believed that this was a false facade David was putting on to ferret out his enemy and have him destroyed.  David had used deceit in the past (although I'm not sure Ziba would have been privy to that).  But David's desire is to show God's love to this unknown person.  And I think anyone who has met David knows his love for God is real and he would never use God as an excuse for a masquerade.  So Ziba believes his request to be genuine and is able to give him this important information.
     After David meets with Mephibosheth, he calls for Ziba again.  David realizes that Ziba could have lied to him.  He fully understands that this was a great risk for Ziba to reveal this information.  It was dangerous for him and it was dangerous for the man he was trying to protect.  So when David chooses to give Mephibosheth back all the land that had belonged to his father and grandfather, and knows that someone will need to take care of this land (since Mephibosheth will now be living comfortably in the palace) he chooses the man who risked the most to make this reunion possible.  He chooses Ziba.  And here is the kicker, Ziba had fifteen sons.  It also says he had twenty servants.  Now, I'm not sure if that means he was in charge of twenty servants, still in hiding from Saul's demise, or if they were servants in his own household, but that's a lot of people living in one house.  Ziba was being rewarded for making the right choice.  Maybe he wasn't sure at the time if it was right, but given David's history, he had to trust that the king would spare another successor.  And since he did, his family would have a lot of land to roam.
     Sometimes, I am presented with decisions where it doesn't seem like there is a right choice or wrong choice.  I am kind of in that predicament right now. Sometimes there is no past history to observe to be able to know whether to trust someone.  Sometimes there is no past precedent to be able to base my decision on.  When this happens, I have to study God's Word, pray and ask for the Holy Spirit to give me peace about what I choose.  God has given us a past history to observe, and that history is that I can always trust Him.  He has given precedents, landmarks, that show He will always be faithful and that His Word never fails us.  I can make a servant's choice anytime I choose Him.

Kings and Criminals

Today's passage:  I Samuel 20
     One of the greatest fears of my life is to be the victim of a violent crime.  I have been afraid of many things over the years, but little fills me with as much trembling as that thought.  Of course, I have great fears for my children as well, but concerning my own person, the violent crime thing still tops my list.  That's not to say I am not afraid of other events, but I give myself credit that I could keep panic from setting in during other situations.  Perhaps it is my greatest fear because I'm fearful how I would react.  Perhaps it makes me fearful because I am not sure I could respond with grace.  I pray I never have to find out.
     I am trying to get into David's head.  I am wondering why the shepherd boy who had slain a lion, a bear, a giant,  and two hundred Philistines should be afraid of the king of Israel?  There is no question that David is afraid.  He tells Jonathan, "there is but a step between me and death".  And he is right.  Saul is determined to kill him.  But David had already been anointed by Samuel as the next king.  How could he think God had changed His plans?  Fearfulness causes us to do a lot of crazy things.  It just seems strange that David would be fearful of Saul. 
     I think the difference is, Saul was God's anointed at this time.  He sat on the throne, and as far as David is concerned, that means God's hand is upon him.  David had nothing to fear against the Philistines, because they were God's enemy, he would not be afraid to take their lives, because he knew he was in the right.  David had a holy respect and reverence toward the man God had placed on the throne of Israel.  This was who God intended to reign, and David felt defenseless because he would not harm the man God anointed as king. 
     David was not sure if he was right in this situation.  The uncertainty of whether he was in God's will, caused David to be fearful.  David makes a few missteps in this chapter because he was afraid.  Who of us wouldn't?  I have made some wrong decisions because I was fearful, and it takes a real calming of the Spirit to proceed cautiously but wisely.
     When we are fearful, we tend to take matters into our own hands.  David is certain that if he goes to dinner that night, it will be his last supper.  He devises a lie to find out Saul's intentions towards him.  Several times in the Bible, we see how people in the Bible tell a "little white lie".  I don't think I really need to go there.  I think we all know lying under any circumstances is wrong, but God is merciful to us.  We do have to be careful because it is not something we want to make as a continual pattern in our lives, especially when we are afraid.  I don't know how God would have handled the situation, but I know we will never find out since this is the way David chose to handle the matter.  What is more disconcerting, is that he persuades Jonathan to tell the lie for him.  This will put Jonathan in great jeopardy.  Fearfulness blinds us to the danger to which we expose other people.
     Being afraid will cause us to doubt whether we are in God's will.  We assume that if we are in dangerous circumstances, we must be doing something wrong.  David says, "if there be in me iniquity, slay me thyself".  We should search ourselves often.  But if the Lord does not reveal to us that we are involved in sin, we should not automatically assume that God is punishing us, or trying to probe a confession like a detective in an interrogation room.  God doesn't always put us in a frightening situation because He wants to scare the sin out of us.
     Fear caused David to doubt the person he trusted most.  Jonathan had to convince David that he was not involved in a murder plot against him.  David knew this deep down, but nervous anxiety gnawed at him to need Jonathan's reassurance.  Jonathan does, and perhaps this is also why he is willing to lie for David, to prove his loyalty.  This put Jonathan in an awful predicament, and an unfair one too.  Jonathan should not have to prove his friendship, but he loved his friend, understood his fear, and was willing to go the extra mile for him.

Jonathan sends a message to David by shooting an arrow--Taken from Standard Bible Story Reader, Book Three
By Lillie A. Faris, Illustrated by O.A. Stemler and Bess Bruce Cleaveland
The Standard Publishing Company, 1926

     Jonathan says something that I think is very telling.  He tells David, "and the LORD be with thee, as he hath been with my father."  Saul must have put on a show as being very Godly.  The Lord has not been with Saul for a very long while, He has even promised to take Saul off the throne.  Yet, this is Jonathan's father, and he sees God's hand on him.  I'm thinking, if I were David I would tell Jonathan to take back that statement, because if God has been with Saul these last several years, I would rather take my chances on my own.  I'm not sure how the temper tantrums and mood swings still signaled godliness to these two men but I guess since Saul remains on the throne, they assume God is still with him.  God has still allowed him to reign, but I don't think God is still with him.  This is what can make us the most fearful, when we look at circumstances in life, and make assumptions.      
     David and Jonathan assume that because God had not removed Saul from the throne, he was in the right, and they were in the wrong.  God has His own timetable.  God has His own reasons for doing things, and it is not for us to find out why.  If He chooses to reveal His reasoning to us, He will.  In the meantime, we have to trust God.  What does that mean?  I'm going to make up a word.  Trusting God is what I will call a genericalization.  A what?  You know, one of those intangible statements we make to assure people, but really have no idea how to explain.  Trust God.  How do I do that? Maybe instead of saying that I should say: Remember God's promises.  That is something tangible.  Go to His Word, and list all of the places where He says how He will protect us, how He will take care of us.  David's psalms are a great resource for those kinds of verses.  Reading this chapter in I Samuel, I think he knew a little bit about being frightened and depending on the God he could not see to help him.  But what if trusting God means death? For David, he was not so sure it didn't.  God has promised me a home in Heaven if I have accepted His Son as my Savior.  What is so fearful about that?  That is a promise our Christian brothers and sisters in Indonesia, Syria, and Libya are trusting in today.  If that is not God's plan, if there is more than one step between me and death, than I just keep taking a step each day, doing what He has asked me to do, waiting for Him to reveal the rest.
     If I am ever faced with a hardened criminal who wants to take my purse at gunpoint, or threaten to do me bodily harm (thoughts which make my blood run cold) I would need to remember God's promises.  He doesn't promise me that I will never be harmed, He promises me that in some way I don't understand He will sustain me, He will get me through, He will be with me.  If I survive the situation, He has promised me I can endure it.  If I don't survive, He has promised me I will be with Him.  I am fearful because I don't think I can endure, which means I am fearful that God will not keep His Word.  But He always does.  So perhaps, that is the crux of David's fears.  He is afraid God did not mean what He said when He told David he would someday be king.  David is afraid that God will not keep His promise to him.  David is afraid that he has failed Him in some way that would constitute God going back on His Word.  I may have to remind myself what He has said, but I will never have to remind Him.  In David's life, a king was scarier than a giant.  He was sure what God had promised against the giant, but he was a little less sure what God had promised against the king.  But God's promise is the same.  He will go with me. No giant, king or criminal can dispute that.

Pleading

Today's passage:  I Samuel 15:1-11
     I have wept over my children.  I have prayed for their strength in this wicked world.  I yearn for each of them not to only to accept Christ, but to embrace Him in their lives so that they will give their lives to serve Him.  Crying for my children is not an unusual thing.  It seems natural.  If they were to fall into sin, I would cry again.  I would fall on my knees and plead with God to deliver them from whatever mischief they were involved.

"It repenteth me that I have set up Saul to be king:  for he is turned back from following me, and hath not performed my commandments.  And it grieved Samuel; and he cried unto the LORD all night." 

     Not surprisingly, Saul has again decided to do things his way.  He thinks he is wiser than God.  God gives him the express order to destroy, no annihilate, the Amalekites.  Eradicate them, demolish them, obliterate them.  I think "utterly destroy... and spare them not," seems pretty plain to me.  I don't think there is a lot of wiggle room there.  Yet Saul seems to find a loophole.  Actually, he doesn't find one, he creates one.  He almost does everything that God says.  But almost following an order is not good enough.  If I were a pharmacist and I almost filled the medicine order correctly, I could kill someone.  If I were a banker, and I almost gave back the right amount of change, I would be convicted of cheating people.
      Almost obeying God is not obeying.  In fact, I will even go so far as to say that almost obeying is worse than disobeying.  Why?  Because when I disobey, I have no excuses.  It's pretty black and white.  When I almost obey, I want to excuse myself for why I couldn't obey completely.  I want to offer reasons why my disobedience wasn't disobedience at all.  I want to color it gray.
     I really believe God gives this task to Saul on purpose.  What God asks Saul to do is to fulfill a promise He made back in Deuteronomy 25.  It had always been God's plan to "blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven."  Now, God asks Saul to carry out the task.  His failure to do this will allow Amalek to cause future havoc for Israel.  Remember Haman, the wicked fellow in the book of Esther who persuades King Ahasuerus to enact the law to have the Jews destroyed?  Guess his ancestry.  He was a descendant of the Amalekites.  Saul's failure here, is a failure for generations.  That is a good application to remember.  Sometimes my failures follow me, or follow my children.  I shouldn't look at any situation and think, well, I'll just disobey a little.  There is no such thing.  Saul's almost obedience led to an almost destruction generations later.  God gives Saul the privilege of carrying out His orders.  He gives Saul the opportunity to leave a lasting legacy.  He leaves one, alright, just not one God intended.
     After Saul disobeys, God speaks to Samuel about it.  Samuel is brokenhearted.  He weeps over Saul, as if he is his own son.  The verse says that he cried all night.  This really challenged me.  When is the last time I cried for someone who was not my child, or in my family.  When is the last time I cried for the leaders of my country?  I have had critical spirits over those in authority, I have prayed for them, not really convinced that anything would change.  When have I ever cried for my President and prayed God would help him in his decisions?  I have prayed that way, but I don't think I have ever earnestly pleaded with God as Samuel did here.  I have never stayed awake all night and prayed for him.  Wouldn't that be something?  Wouldn't it be a challenge if all of our churches took a time to have an all-night prayer vigil for the leaders of our country?  Would it change anything?  Samuel was convinced it would.  You might say, but Saul didn't change, if anything, he seemed to get worse.  This is true.  It seemed pointless for Samuel to waste his tears.  It seems sentimental.  But how do we know, that Saul might not have been a worse king if it weren't for Samuel's prayers?  He still wasn't great, but maybe he would have been worse.  Maybe Samuel's crying to God that night actually spared Saul from committing actions which we may never know.  He may not have been the best king, but maybe he was a better king than he ought to have been because of Samuel.
     Maybe our leaders will never change.  But maybe our prayers, earnest, heartfelt prayers will make them better than they ought to be.  I'm committing my time to let God get a hold of my heart for the men and women who are in office and have a serious time of prayer for them.  I want to weep for them as Samuel wept for Saul.  I want to plead that God will do something in their lives to make them better leaders for our country.  And who knows?  Maybe they will actually commit their ways to Him.  Maybe God is just waiting for us to ask.
      

Dilemmas

Today's passage:  I Samuel 2
     Hannah had a dilemma.  She had prayed a prayer, promising her son to the Lord, if He should see fit to bless her with one.  He did.  She was determined to keep her promise.  She would raise this little boy for the first few years of his life and then give Him over to God.  She would teach Samuel to respect the priests, to pull his weight, to be a servant.  The time had passed quickly and it was now time to take little Samuel to the tabernacle and allow him to start serving God.
     Any mother would struggle with this promise.  But I think Hannah struggled for an even greater reason.  In the time she had vowed this to God, the priesthood in Shiloh had become increasingly corrupt.  Eli's sons, Hophni and Phinehas were involved in immorality, the offerings for sacrifices were being tampered with, the people were refusing to even bring their sacrifices to the tabernacle any longer because of the corruption.  They would prefer to take their chances by angering God, rather than allowing their offerings to be made an abomination.  Maybe Hannah was blissfully unaware of all this, I kind of doubt it since Elkanah was a Levite which means he would have to take a turn assisting the priests during some of the feasts.  It is clear that he and the family went to Shiloh every year to offer sacrifices, I'm pretty sure they noticed the differences as each year passed.  I'm guessing that the year before Samuel was to go live in the tabernacle, Hannah and Elkanah would have had some serious discussions.
      "The tabernacle is not becoming a place we should want Samuel to be raised, " Elkanah may have argued.  "Yes, I've noticed that too,"  Hannah may have said, "But I promised God that if He gave me a son, I would let Him have the child."  Elkanah would have reasoned that God would not expect her to keep that promise in the light of these circumstances. Really?  Why not?  Wouldn't God have known what the tabernacle would be like when it was time to go live there?  Wouldn't He have been the only One to know what the future would hold for young Samuel?  Hannah may have wavered on her promise, not because she wanted to hold onto her only son, but because she was uncertain at the influences that would bombard his young, impressionable life.  I can't blame her.  If I knew what she knew, I would have to seriously reconsider my promise to God.  I might have to renege on my vow.  But Hannah chooses to honor God, and keep her promise to Him.  She has to choose to let God take care of Samuel in these undesirable circumstances, instead of thinking she knows what is best, and raising him at home.  This is a difficult choice.  When it comes to our children, we always want their best.  But their best is giving them to God, and letting Him do with them what He will.  Trusting God with our children, is probably the greatest evidence of faith we can place in Him.  Doesn't He know what their futures hold?  Doesn't He want what is best for them, and in some cases, doesn't that sometimes mean exposing them to situations we would not want?  Hannah was right to keep her promise, even if circumstances had changed from when she made it.  There would be some unfortunate consequences that would affect Samuel later in his life, because of Eli's influence, but keeping him home would more than likely have brought consequences far greater.

Samuel is presented to Eli--Taken from Standard Bible Readers, Book Two
By Lillie A. Faris, Illustrated by O.A. Stemler and Bess Bruce Cleaveland
The Standard Publishing Company, 1925

     How lightly do I treat the promises I make to God?  How many times do I commit something to Him, and later take it back, thinking, well, God understands.  Does He?  Didn't He know what lay ahead before I uttered the promise?  I need to be sure that when I tell God I will give Him something, that I follow through.  Whether it be my children or my time.  There have been times I've told God I would be involved in a certain ministry and then backed out when other unforeseen things laid claim on my time.  The little voice inside me said, "Oh, God understands you can't do that now.  He knows you didn't know what you were promising."  The problem is, He does know.  He knew when I made the promise what might creep up to keep me from fulfilling it.  Do I use it as an excuse, or do I honor the promise I made?  Promises are meant to be difficult to keep.  But they are also meant to be kept.  And that is why I need to be careful breaking them even when I'm faced with a dilemma.

No Longer Looking

Today's passage:  John 15:12-27
     "If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin:  but now they have no cloke for their sin.  He that hateth me hateth my Father also."
     Ever forget to look for Jesus' coming?  Do you get up each morning thinking, "This might be the day?"  If you are like me, I think about it, but not every day.  It is certainly not the first thought in my mind.  How tired would the Jews have been of looking for the Messiah?
     One of the things that set Judaism apart from every other faith system at the time, is that it is monotheistic.  They worshipped only one God.  For Jesus to come to earth and then tell them that they are still monotheistic but their God is not one, but three in one, was probably a very confusing leap for the religious Jews to make.  They knew Messiah would come, sent from God, but they had always supposed He would be from among the people.  As early as Genesis, when Cain is born, Eve makes the statement, "I have gotten a man from the LORD."  She is already looking for the One that was promised.  This is why in the Jewish culture, a son was so important.  He might be the Messiah, the One who would deliver the people, their Moses.  Perhaps the people at first thought that Moses was that Messiah.  He had the pedigree, born among them but elevated to princely status.  He leads them out of Egypt, but then they spent numerous years in the wilderness.   This was deliverance?  What kind of Messiah would leave them in the desert?
     Maybe it would be Joshua.  He had been Moses' right-hand man.  He was a commanding general.  So maybe they hadn't completely rid the land of all their enemies, he gave it a good college try.  He dies and they are at least in the land, but they are still having to keep their enemies at bay.  Doesn't seem too Messianic.
     Saul?  He proves to be a disappointment.  David?  He is a shepherd boy who God raises up to be king.  He is a very popular king, at first.  He has to fight the enemies within his own family almost as much as the enemies in the land, but he mostly prevails. He also dies and leaves his kingdom in the hands of his wise son.  Solomon is able to keep the peace for as long as he reigns, but I don't think the Messiah would compromise his faith to do this.  I don't think the Messiah would allow other religions to worship in his palace so they would stay friends.  (Hmmm, I wish our government would learn from Solomon's mistakes.)
     What about the prophets?  Elijah?  He was taken up in a fiery chariot.  Now the Messiah would have taken the people up with him, but they were left behind.  Isaiah?  Jeremiah?  They had been carried away to Babylon as well, they didn't seem to be taking an active role in freeing the people.  The list could go on and on.  Every impressive person never seemed to fit the Messiah's profile.  This is because Isaiah 53 says, "he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him."  The Messiah would not be some charismatic leader.  He would not have a procession announcing His presence.  He would not have an entourage fulfilling a rider before each performance.  He came humbly.  He came without fanfare.  He came without all the trappings of success.  And because He came in this way, the Jews could not wrap their mind around it.  They grew tired of looking for the Messiah, until they no longer looked at all.  Maybe once in a while a child was born, and they wondered.  Maybe once in a while a leader would present himself, and they paused.  But mostly, they went about their day-to-day never giving it a thought.  When Jesus comes onto the scene, they had stopped looking for a while.  Too many false prophets had come.  Too many zealots had tried to wrest control from the Romans.  Why keep looking when you would continue to be disappointed?  By this time, they had their checklist of who or what Messiah would be.  Jesus did not fit that checklist.  That's because it wasn't God's checklist.
     I think the Jews would be rather surprised to hear that they hated God.  I think they would be offended by this statement.  I know they would.  They hated Jesus because He exposed their sin, but they also hated Him because He was another in a long list who had not fulfilled their Messianic ideal.  They were tired of looking. 
     I may not seem like I'm tired of watching for Christ's coming, but when it is not the first thought each morning, and the last thought each night, and many thoughts in between, I must be.  When I am not grabbing each person that passes by and telling them about Christ, my actions show that I am not watching.  When I am not keeping things in order, confessing my sin each day, it is evident that I have become indifferent about His return.  Do I keep a checklist of when I think Christ will return?  Sure, the Bible gives some hints, but it could be any day.  It might be today.  Am I looking?  Or have I grown too tired?
 

Blind in Nazareth

Today's passage:  Isaiah 61/Luke 4:18-21
     Jesus quotes the first two verses of Isaiah 61 when He teaches in the synagogue in Nazareth.  It was early in His ministry, shortly after His temptation in the wilderness.  The account of reading the actual verses is only recorded in Luke.  There are some slight differences in wording when Jesus reads from the book of Isaiah and the book of Isaiah in my Old Testament.  I am not questioning the validity, because they are all God's Words, I just find it curious that there is a whole phrase that I don't see in Isaiah 61:1 and what Jesus read in Luke 4:18.  The phrase is "....and recovering sight to the blind..."  The rest of the verse is almost word for word.  If Jesus added it, it is His right, because they are His words, and He can add what He wants to.  Did He add it in for this particular occasion, because he was talking to a hometown audience?  Was He trying to emphasize that the Nazarenes were blind?

Jesus read from the Book of Isaiah--Taken from The Children's Friend (Part 2)
By Mrs. Adelaide Bee Evans
Review and Herald Publishing Company, 1911, 1928

     After He reads these verses, He sits down and declares that today the Scripture has been filled.  He was the Anointed One who would cause all these things to happen.   If I had been sitting in the synagogue that day, I probably would have regarded Jesus with the same skepticism that the Nazarenes had.  This was a man I would have watched grow up.  I would have gone to the carpentry shop and asked Him to build me a table or to repair a chair.  I would have heard Mary boast about what a fine man her Jesus was.  I would have followed Him into the synagogue each Sabbath.  I would have seen Him board up His shop, kiss His mother goodbye, and walk out of town without a single belonging.  I would have scratched my head at the strange accounts I had been hearing in nearby towns.  Accounts of miraculous healing, water turning into wine, sermons preached in the wilderness.  I would have thought, "Why not here?  If He was going to become a preacher and a miracle worker, why not here?"  When He did return, I would have listened cautiously, not with my heart but with my head, trying to analyze why He would come back now.  I would wonder why He stopped reading in the middle of verse 2.  Why didn't He finish the verse about the day of vengeance and comforting those who mourn?  After all, the Messiah would overthrow the Roman tyrants to whom I paid taxes.  He would exact revenge on those who had persecuted us. Why didn't He read about that part, if He was the Anointed One? I would grind my teeth at His suggestion that He was a great prophet, putting Himself in a category with Elijah and Elisha.  I would have helped drive Him out of the synagogue, I would have been first in line to throw Him off the high cliff.  Then I would have been amazed when He was able to push past us without being harmed.  I would have been further amazed when I heard a few days later, a demon was cast out in Capernaum. I would have taken offense that He never returned to our town, that He only sent His followers to preach.  When would my eyes be opened?  When I heard that Mary and her other children would travel to Jerusalem to witness her son being crucified?  When I heard that the tomb for Joseph's son was empty?  When a group of His followers insisted that He went up into Heaven before their very eyes?  How long would my heart be hardened?  When would I believe?  When would I recover my sight?  Only when I recognized that the Messiah was not who I thought He should be and when I acknowledged He was who God meant Him to be.  Not a political pawn, but a suffering Savior.  Then I would realize why He stopped reading in the middle of the verse.  I would remember that He said He would return, and then He would exercise judgement, then He would soothe the grieving.  I would have been blind, but my sight would be restored.  I would finally see that He was the Anointed One.

Smooth Stones

Today's passage:  Isaiah 57
      Israel had reached a particularly low point.  She barely recognized the God who had made her a nation.  If anyone still worshipped Jehovah God, he was ridiculed.  If a righteous person died, she was not noticed. Israel was now no different from the surrounding nations because of her idolatry.  She went to great effort to worship these idols too.  God says in verse 6:  "Among the smooth stones of the stream is thy portion; they, they are thy lot:  even to them hast thou poured a drink-offering, thou hast offered a meat-offering, Should I receive comfort in these?"  Stream stones become smooth after they have been there a while.  A rock might start out ragged and dirty but after time at the bottom of a body of water, it will emerge without edges and clean.  God was telling Israel, they were in for a long haul of judgement because of their sin.  They would be spending a lot of time at the bottom of the stream.
     Smooth stones are great skipping rocks, but after they have finished skipping, they sink again to the bottom. Most people will not wade through the water to retrieve them. A smooth stone makes a great paperweight.  It can be painted with messages or vivid colors, but then its job is to sit around.  Sometimes they look pretty in the garden.  But they dull in comparison to the flowers blooming around them.  It seems that there is no use for a smooth stone.  It has no impact.  Israel had no impact on the nations around her.  She had not been that light.  So it seems that her punishment at the bottom of the stream would render her useless in the future.  Was that God's plan?  To toss her into the stream never to be heard from again?  No.  God had made a promise to Israel. At this point the Messiah had not come to earth yet, so this cannot be the end.

As Abram Journeyed He Built Altars to God--Taken from Standard Bible Story Readers, Book Four
By Lillie A. Faris, Illustrated by O.A. Stemler and Bess Bruce Cleaveland
Standard Publishing Company, 1927

     Smooth stones can be useful.  Several times in the Old Testament, stone altars were built for the Lord.  I'm only guessing now, but wouldn't smooth stones make for better building?  David collected five smooth stones and used one to topple Goliath.  The stone that kept Jesus in the tomb must have been smooth for it had been rolled away.  Jagged stones do not roll very easily.  Smooth stones can serve a very great purpose if God is using them.  God wanted to put Israel in a place where she could be used.  He was not done with her yet.  He still had a great purpose for her.  He needed to smooth away the edges and wash away the grit.  I don't want to allow myself to ever get as far gone as Israel.  She had to go very far from God to have this judgement pronounced on her.  I don't know how much time she had to spend in the bottom of the stream to become useful for God again.  Smooth stones have their purpose, but I'd just as soon stay out of the water.