As we continue our journey through the Scriptures, now we turn to the 1 Samuel. The books of 1-2 Samuel were originally one book, and there are three main themes that permeate it:
1) Who is really in charge in Israel?
2) where will they build a place for worship?
3) And God exalts the weak and humbles the proud.
These texts may seem like they took place in a completely different world, but we can still appreciate the concern of traditionalism vs. relevance that every worshipping community must ask. For Israel they seemed to be at cross purposes. The Judges would rescue them, but it was never long-term and soon their sin would once again lead them into oppression, but to have a human king would run the risk of Israel becoming “a nation just like every other nation” rather than uniquely God’s. Under the Judges, Israel was not acting unified and they were even fighting against each other (they were extended family!) Yet, Samuel warns them that having a human king will not solve all of their problems. There is a third option, and it is the one that is both traditional and relevant: God is to be their King! This speaks to us even today as we wrestle with the same question, whether the direction of our church or our country’s elections: No matter what happens, we must remember God is our King!
The other main question that Israel wrestled with is where would they build a place for worship? Again, we can appreciate the challenge. When you have wondered a desert with a portable church for 40 years and then arrive in the land only to have the location changed (and your ark of the covenant stolen for awhile!), you start wondering what to do next. Would the twelve tribes of Israel all agree on one location? If so where? And who would do the choosing? The people? The King? Yet once again, the answer is plain to see as one reads the text: God will make the location known, just as He promised in Deut. 16:5-6.
Eventually God gave His answer to both of these questions, and in doing so, continues to show grace and mercy to His people: Even though they have rejected Him in favor of a human king, He would still provide a righteous king that He would chose: David. Unfortunately, this would only happen after they would experience the struggle and hurt of having a human king who was ungodly: Saul. Secondly, He would choose a city for His own and there His glory would dwell: Jerusalem.
This second question also speaks to us today but in a different way. We too must ask where will we worship God? Yet, the question is not the same. God makes His dwelling in the hearts of those who receive Jesus Christ by trusting Him. We do not need a temple or a building, because each believer is a temple of God! We do not need a church building because we are the church, the body of Christ. The question we must ask ourselves is are we welcoming God in our lives daily by living for Him? God does not regard brick and mortar as highly as He regards the human heart.
This leads us to the third theme of 1 Samuel: God exalts the weak and humbles the proud. We open up with Hannah, a childless woman, who cries out to God and is blessed with Samuel. We continue to see Samuel, who humbles himself and is used by God. We turn to Saul, who may have started out “in the least of the least” yet becomes Israel’s first king, but who later becomes prideful and is brought down from honor. Finally, David who begins as merely the youngest of his brothers and a shepherd boy but who would one day be the greatest king Israel would know.
This also teaches us something about Jesus. Although He is God, He humbled and lowered Himself so completely that it brought Him to death on a cross, yet now He has been exalted to the highest so that every knee will bow and every tongue confess one day that He is LORD! This shows us that though we may suffer for being humble in this life, God is already at work in us and through us so that He will do great through us!
Your Brother,
Craig