It is our nation’s independence weekend, and I have thought that we should focus our thoughts around something
from the Scriptures that
intersects with our nation’s current thought processes. Namibians by and
large would consider themselves a religious
nation. As a matter of fact all nations
practice one or other form of religion. Many nations are known as
Muslim, Hindu,Buddhist or Christian
countries. Others who have tried to get
rid of a faith based label have substituted this with an “ism” - from humanism to capitalism
to communism or socialism. The giant statues of
Lenin in communist countries and Saddam Hussein in Iraq were designed to inspire god-like awe
in people. The religion of nations like North Korea is called
emperor worship (also with
huge statues of their leaders), which reminds us of Nebuchadnezzar the Babylonian (3:1-7) and also the old Roman emperor worship!
Namibia is
constitutionally speaking a secular
country, but most of our citizens are adherents of the Christian faith.
Like the Israelites of old, most
of us claim to be followers of YAHWEH, the One true God. Recently, in response to a time of national trouble our President called the nation to prayer. He asked us to
beseech God to help us in the matter of gender based violence, and our nation has been saying something like this,
“God , there is something happening in our nation, and we feel helpless
about the matter. We are asking you
to help us. We are asking you to
take charge of this difficult matter.
If we have sinned, please forgive our sins and heal us and restore us, oh Lord.”
As we turn to our text
in 1 Samuel, I remind you that at
this time Israel was not in a good shape,
spiritually speaking. The period of the Judges
was a time when “ there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.”[1] Under
Samuel, God is about to make a new
beginning in Israel, and when God is about
to do a new thing, He raises up a leader. In
conclusion of chapter 3 and at the beginning of chapter 4 we see how God powerfully endows Samuel
with an ability to communicate
His Word.
We read: ”All Israel knew… that Samuel was established as a prophet of the Lord (3:20).
We are inclined to think now – “Israel will surely prosper under the Word of the Lord, and law order will be restored in Israel.” But no ! As is true so very often in God’s work, things only improve gradually over time, as the Word of God takes gradual root in the minds and the hearts of people, and sometimes things have to get worse before they get better. Reformation is no instant process, and it can be a painful process. Old structures and unhelpful thought processes have to be torn down and done away with and new thinking and new structures have to be put into place. This is what happens in our own lives. Our minds have to be renewed (Rom. 12:1,2). We have to put off our old self and put on the new self (Eph. 4:22-24).
We read: ”All Israel knew… that Samuel was established as a prophet of the Lord (3:20).
We are inclined to think now – “Israel will surely prosper under the Word of the Lord, and law order will be restored in Israel.” But no ! As is true so very often in God’s work, things only improve gradually over time, as the Word of God takes gradual root in the minds and the hearts of people, and sometimes things have to get worse before they get better. Reformation is no instant process, and it can be a painful process. Old structures and unhelpful thought processes have to be torn down and done away with and new thinking and new structures have to be put into place. This is what happens in our own lives. Our minds have to be renewed (Rom. 12:1,2). We have to put off our old self and put on the new self (Eph. 4:22-24).
We note then that Samuel’s ministry in Israel does not begin with a big bang, but with a crushing set –back. The very first battle under Samuel’s spiritual leadership against the Philistines ends in disaster. The Philistines kill 4000 Israelites, and Israel is rightly
shocked.
In v. 3 they are asking a right question in response to this disaster,
In v. 3 they are asking a right question in response to this disaster,
“Why has the LORD defeated us today before
the Philistines?”
Understand this.
God’s people were not supposed to loose battles against their enemies! Israel was taught that God was on their side- IF they would faithfully obey the voice of the Lord their God, being careful to do all His commandments. (Deut. 28:1) He would fight for them, but on this occasion God did not help them, and the elders of Israel knew instantly that God had defeated them , and not the Philistines!
Before you say, “well, that insight is a good start”, I want to show you that a fundamentally correct theology (or knowledge of God) does not always produce correct biblical responses.
Observe the next step
taken by the elders in vv. 3 &4
: “Let us bring the ark of the covenant of the LORD here from
Shiloh, that it may come among us and save us
from the power of our enemies.
So the people sent to Shiloh and
brought from there the ark of the covenant of the LORD of hosts, who is
enthroned on the cherubim. And the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were
there with the ark of the covenant of God.
Here’s where a religious
nation goes tragically wrong. Before
they wait for the answer to their question…. “ why has the LORD defeated us today?...” they already have an action plan: “Let us bring
the ark of the covenant of the LORD here from Shiloh, that it may come
among us and save us…” D.R. Davies
calls this “rabbit foot theology” [2].
We would call it “lucky charm theology”. It is
basically a cheap substitute for God Himself!
You know what I mean? People
have lucky charms dangling from their necks and from their rear view mirrors, supposed
to bring them ‘good luck’. Christians also do this. They have crosses around their necks and St
Christopher’s around their
rear view mirrors – same thing! It is a substitute for
God Himself. Israel had the ark
of God as their ‘magic charm’ and
Israel thought that “to have God’s furniture is to have God’s
power” [3] –
or so they thought! The assumption is
that you just can’t lose if you
got God in a box (excuse the pun!)
This sort of thinking
is very common in a society where superficial religion rules. And we need to
understand that it is manipulative and it is wrong , and we need to search our own hearts in this regard. Allow me make
this very personal . What is the idea behind
our day of national prayer? What
is the idea behind our own church prayer week? Was this a day or time of
genuine national humbling? Was it a desire to
earnestly seek God, and to
seek His help for our church? Or is there some thinking that if we organize such an event, that God
will be forced to grant whatever we are praying about?
The cynical press is sometimes wiser than naïve and sentimental religionists in these matters. They are very quick to pick up on empty religious activity and to point out what a waste of time such prayer events are. The cynical press was very quick to report on the next gender based act of violence after the day of prayer!
The cynical press is sometimes wiser than naïve and sentimental religionists in these matters. They are very quick to pick up on empty religious activity and to point out what a waste of time such prayer events are. The cynical press was very quick to report on the next gender based act of violence after the day of prayer!
The point is that the whole scheme of having this ‘holy furniture’ in the battle field flopped for Israel , and we should not be surprised. This text forces us to think again, and it forces us to consider at least two matters:
(i) God will
allow His people (and therefore His image) to suffer rather than allowing us to continue in this
false relationship with Him.
(ii) God
will allow us to be disappointed in Him, if this will wake us up to the
God who He really is.
And so, ironically, as Israel plans to bring the ark of God into battle for victory, so God uses this event to do at least three things:
(i) bring defeat upon His superficial, superstitious people
(ii) allowing the Philistines to take the ark away and to teach them and Israel a
severe lesson
(iii) and to exercise His promised judgment on the house of Eli [4].
Has God suffered loss of image? Has his glory been tarnished? Well, yes at face value in the eyes of Israel, and also at this stage in the eyes of the Philistines who now thought that their god, Dagon (see Ch. 5) had beaten Yahweh, the God of Israel in battle. But remember – this is only at face value! In reality God was judging Israel, by using the Philistines to remove the false shepherds of Israel. With the death of Eli (who is 98 years old, and very heavy and very blind) in v. 18 there will be a change of spiritual leadership in Israel… but not without further challenges in terms of the kingship of Saul – a further attempt by Israel to substitute an earthly king for God.
As we have said, this 'rabbit foot theology' has disastrous consequences for Israel. This time 30 000 of Israel’s men fell before the Philistines (4:10) and
to add insult to injury,
the ark of the Lord is captured by the
Philistines, AND, in keeping with divine
prophecy in 1 Sam. 2:34 the ungodly sons of Eli , Hophni and Phineas are killed
in 4:11.
FURTHERMORE the tragedy continues as the wife of Phineas, upon hearing it all – the terrible defeat of the army, the capturing of the ark, the death of her husband and brother in law, and her father in law - dies in her labour. The child born to her as she is dying she chooses to call “ Ichabod – the glory of God has departed from Israel” (vv 21-22).
FURTHERMORE the tragedy continues as the wife of Phineas, upon hearing it all – the terrible defeat of the army, the capturing of the ark, the death of her husband and brother in law, and her father in law - dies in her labour. The child born to her as she is dying she chooses to call “ Ichabod – the glory of God has departed from Israel” (vv 21-22).
I remember reading once of a pastor who was called “Ichabod Spencer“. I did some research on him, and I wanted to know why his mother had called him “Ichabod”. I could not find the reason, but I did find a man full of grace and truth. He was the pastor of the 2nd Presbyterian church in Brooklyn (NY) from 1832-1854, and here is a quote that struck me from something that he said, in a book he wrote entitled “Pastor’s Sketches“, based on his evangelistic and visitation ministry:
“Decision is a vastly important matter with a convicted sinner. The Bible treats it as such: ‘Choose ye this day whom ye will serve.’ A sinner must choose, or he must be lost. Nobody else can choose for him. Nothing can excuse him from doing his duty at once. If he will not do it, he may expect the Divine Spirit to depart from him, and leave him to his own way (Ichabod!).
Spencer believed in a very direct and personal dealing with God. There was no second hand stuff in his ministry. There was no luck charm theology in his ministry.
The major lesson that any religious people needs to learn from our text is that we dare not use God as our lucky charm. We must never use the holy things such as prayer, the means of grace (baptism, the Lord’s supper) , and even the Lord’s day (I have gone to church, I have done my duty) as lucky charms. We must use the means of grace very directly as an act of worship, to glorify God with all our heart, and use such opportunities to grow in our knowledge of Him. But let us not fall into the awful trap of thinking that having these things or doing things themselves are substitutes for God. Remember that the Lord your God is a jealous God. He will not be worshiped alongside created things and beings. He will not stand alongside idols, or foreign gods, as the next chapter (Dagon and the ark) teaches us.
God wants us to be personal and obedient in relation to Him.
So then, in these matters, let us be careful lest we grieve the Holy Spirit and the glory of God departs from us.
So then, in these matters, let us be careful lest we grieve the Holy Spirit and the glory of God departs from us.
