God Save the King
"Therefore they inquired of the LORD further, if the man should yet come thither. And the LORD answered, Behold, he hath hid himself among the stuff. And they ran and fetched him thence: and when he stood among the people, he was higher than any of the people from his shoulders and upward. And Samuel said to all the people, See ye him whom the LORD hath chosen, that there is none like him among all the people? And all the people shouted, and said, God save the king." (1 Samuel 10:22-24)
The passage above comes from one of the lowest points of God’s dealing with mankind. He had delivered the covenant people from Egyptian bondage, brought them safely to the promised land and, representing all humanity, they were still not happy.
Earlier, in the 8th chapter, the people had expressed their dissatisfaction with the justice being meted out by Samuel’s sons. They had perverted justice and had become a real disappointment to everyone. It would have been in order for the people to express their concern and to ask that Samuel deal with them or replace them; but they had other plans. In spite of all that God had done, they looked at the nations around them and they were jealous. They wanted a king like everyone else. God was just not the kind of king they thought was appropriate. They wanted an earthly king they could champion.
The old judge is offended but God makes it clear the people have not rejected Samuel, but Him. The covenant is broken and God prepares to give the people what they want. They will get their king but he will be a judgment against them. Samuel delivers the message to the people and the terms under which they are to receive their king are chilling. Nevertheless, the people are undeterred in their purpose. Whatever horror a king may visit upon them, they will accept him anyway. They perceive that to be a better course than relying upon a God whom they can’t see.
The search for their king begins and the story is worth the read but I’ll leave it to you to recall or reread the details. The verses above come at the end of the search as all the families are brought before Samuel to locate the Lord’s anointed. Saul wasn’t to be found but the Lord pointed him out. Did you notice where he was? He was hiding behind all the "stuff"! That’s a pretty non-specific word but we get the idea. The families had traveled to Mizpah for the occasion and they didn’t travel light. Saul hoped to just slink into the background and be lost in the jumble of equipment. This was to be their king.
Undaunted by this humble beginning the people look at his physical stature and rejoice proclaiming, "God save the king!" Indeed, one who was hiding behind the "stuff" was just the kind of instrument of God needed to punish the Hebrews for their rebellion. Saul’s reign was marked by rebellion against God and he was finally given an evil spirit to torment him.
"God save the king!" How would that sound in God’s ears? The very people who rejected Him as king now petition Him to bless His replacement. At first they are ecstatic, but time demonstrates that all God promised would come to pass. With a king like the other nations, they become like the other nations. More and more they neglected their True King and the stage was set for their destruction.
God sent prophets to warn them and to urge them to repent. Not only are they neglected, they are killed because the people don’t want to be confronted with their iniquity. They seem to think if they can silence the voice of God they can avoid the wrath to come. That was a major miscalculation.
Judah returned from Persian captivity in 536 B.C. but she returned without a king. In Israel there had been nineteen kings and in Judah there had been twenty. Of those thirty-nine kings, only eight could be considered righteous before God.
The people returned to the land without a king, but the most telling sign was that prophecy had long since ceased. Lacking prophet and king, the Jews were ruled by the priests. That was an experience that made them long for Messiah (Daniel’s "prince who is to come").
The stage is set and the actors are to wait about 400 years for their cue. Jesus appears and what He says and does convinces the people that He is the king they have been long desired. In John 6, they are so impressed they would have made Him king by force (vs. 15). Jesus would have none of it. They were looking for an earthly king as had their forefathers. Jesus would have no part in their scheme. In time, they would hear Him declare that His kingdom was not of this world but they were still looking for an earthly kingdom.
In Luke 24 we read the story of the men on the road to Emmaus. They have a real problem - they really believed that Jesus had come to be their king but now He was dead. Christ joins them and tells them it was necessary for the events to happen as they did. Christ was still king but the nature of His kingdom was not physical as they imagined.
God never wanted His people to have a physical king - He wanted to rule over them from His throne - He still does!
For anyone to pretend to the throne in the flesh is rebellion against God. He alone is king. He establishes authorities under Him but they are not sovereign, He is. For Christ to have become the physical king of the people would be to encourage their rebellion against the True Sovereign. Amazingly, most Christians believe and teach that He is going to return and set up a physical kingdom on earth. To do so would be to repeat the error of the Old Covenant people! Christ certainly won’t do that and neither should we.
The founders of this country understood this truth. They debated the form of government they should have and their decision blessed this country as long as it stood. God was honored as King. The people were accountable to Him and therefore the civil government had to be accountable to them. Their elected representatives were to be their servants. The authority of those servants was expressed in the Constitution and any power exercised outside those parameters is unlawful and a sin against the people and God.
Sadly, most people today have exalted the civil government to a place of sovereignty above the law, above themselves, and even above God. Most no longer care about upholding the biblical principles on which our country was founded. Instead, driven by self-interest and political expediency, they have proclaimed civil government to be king and they bow at its feet with all the nationalistic fervor of Old Covenant zealots.
Should those who serve God protest the unlawful acts of the new king, they are chastised and accused of being unpatriotic. Seemingly, the civil government should not be challenged. It knows what is best and we should cooperate with it even when it misbehaves. Let God’s redeemed say, "NO!"
There is a King. He does not need saving. He needs to be acknowledged and obeyed. "Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen." (1Timothy 1:17)
Say What?
A few months ago, I shared some thoughts on why a proper understanding of eschatology makes a difference. I heard a true story this past week which makes the point much better than I did.
Several years ago church leaders in a particular congregation taught that Christ would be returning in 1997. One of their members actually believed them and acted upon their proclamation. Instead of living responsibly, she incurred a great deal of personal debt with the intention of getting out of the obligation when she was "raptured". Today, she is wiser and struggling with the realities of a huge financial debt.
Poetic justice you say? I don’t know about poetic, but the outcome has certainly been just. The point to be made is simple, how we see the world impacts us more than we may know. Let’s be sure our views are consistent with those taught in God’s holy word.
Dem Bones
There has been a great deal of excitement in Christian archeological circles in recent months since the ossuary of James the Just appears to have been found. Though the bones are missing, the inscription has been verified as authentic, and extremely rare.
It reads, "James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus". Obviously, there were a lot of people by those names in those times but there is more to the picture than that.
Such ossuaries were primarily used from 20 to 70 A.D so the time frame is consistent with our expectations. More telling than that is the inscription itself. While it is common to find a father’s name on an ossuary, a brother’s name is extremely rare. If the research I have seen is correct, this is the only instance where both the father and a sibling are mentioned. One cannot help but think that those who made the ossuary wanted to be sure that future generations were able to identify the person whose remains were kept there.
James had his doubts about the claims of his brother Jesus until after Christ’s death and resurrection. His conviction led to full time service. He was called "camel kneed" from spending so much time in prayer in the temple. He was so revered that it was the Jews who gave him the title "Just."
He was martyred in 62 A.D. at the instigation of the Sanhedrin. Though revered by them, they took umbrage at his faith in Christ. His example was causing others to confess Christ so they cooked up a scheme to have him denounce that claim. They positioned him on the pinnacle of the temple before the assembled throng and asked him in whom the people should have confidence.
His reply shocked them, it may shock you: "Why do ye ask me of Jesus, the son of man? He himself sitteth in heaven at the right hand of the great power and is about to come on the clouds of heaven." (Hold that thought!) The Pharisees were outraged and contradicted him. The went to the pinnacle of the temple and threw him to the ground and then beat him to death with clubs. It didn’t matter how "just" he was, contradicting those in power was dangerous business. It still is.
Now, what are we to make of James proclamation? Here is an inspired writer of the New Testament who understood well what he had been taught. Christ is about to come in judgment on that city "where our Lord was crucified". Believers would be delivered from the oppression of the old covenant power structure, and redeemed by the Lord of Hosts at the coming of the kingdom. James had no reason to speak for Christ - He would be speaking for Himself shortly.
No, you won’t find this information in scripture, but you will find it in the writings of the historian Eusebius. [There’s a text that should be in your library. One good source (if you have a computer) is The Master Christian Library available by calling 1-800-297-4307. You can get a huge collection of resources for about $50. I use mine all the time.] Although certainly not a part of the canon, the veracity of James in this matter should be given significant weight. What he says is very consistent with the biblical text.
All things considered, the discovery of this ossuary appears to provide historical validation of the biblical story.
The Gap
No, not the popular store at your local mall! I’m talking about the one pre-millennialists invented to support their view. Here’s the text they use. See if you can find "the gap".
"Seventy weeks have been decreed for your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sin, to make atonement for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most holy place.
"So you are to know and discern that from the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince there will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; it will be built again, with plaza and moat, even in times of distress.
"Then after the sixty-two weeks the Messiah will be cut off and have nothing, and the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. And its end will come with a flood; even to the end there will be war; desolations are determined." (Daniel 9:24-26)
Did you see it? Surely it jumped right out to you. It’s right there between verses 25 and 26. See it now? No?
Let me help you. After the seven weeks and sixty-two weeks there is a gap of indeterminate length until the seventieth week starts. It just as plain as the nose on you face, isn’t it? If you’re shaking your head "no", good for you.
Thomas Ice heads The PreTrib Research Center established by Tim LaHaye. The purpose of the center is to prove the validity of the pre-tribulation rapture position that has earned LaHaye and Jenkins untold millions of dollars in the infamous Left Behind series. It seems fiction is in greater demand than truth these days.
Ice admits that if there is no gap, the pre-millennial position is dead on arrival. May it rest in peace.
So where is the gap? They take the phrase "after the sixty-two weeks" in verse 26 to mean at any time following it, rather than immediately following it. How convenient! They join most scholars in understanding that the first sixty-nine weeks/(sevens) clicked off like seconds on the clock. They even agree that the 70th week was supposed to immediately follow, but there was a problem.
Before I go on, do you see the inherent inconsistency in those thoughts? They believe that the 70 weeks prophesied were supposed to happen without interruption (i.e. no gap), but since it didn’t (in their view) there has to be a gap. Which is it? If what Daniel saw and prophesied was supposed to happen without interruption and it did not, then Daniel is a false prophet and whatever he saw or heard is an illusion.
Instead of taking scripture as true, they insist ... now pay attention to this... they insist that God intended for all to be fulfilled when Christ came but that the Jews rejected Him and He was therefore powerless to fulfill what He had promised and proclaimed through the prophets!!! How in the world does such a view honor our Sovereign God? God couldn’t complete His plan because mere men wouldn’t cooperate? Give me a break! Is God in control or not?
The word translated after has the idea of continuing on. There is no gap except in the biblical integrity of last days profiteers. Please quit buying their books. It only adds to the feeding frenzy. If you want to research them to root out their poor exegesis, borrow them from someone who doesn’t know better or pick them up at a yard sale. Please don’t put anymore in circulation.
The implications on the other side of the equation should get your attention. If there is no gap, they agree that all things had to be fulfilled on schedule in the seventieth week way back there in the first century. Think about it.
Eschatology 101
Eschatology101.com is now up and running. There is still a great deal to be done, but I invite you to stop in for a visit. A few of you have been helping me find typos and make other improvements and I appreciate your input. As I told one futurist friend, "I hope you find the experience thought provoking, not just provoking!".
Seriously, this topic is one you need to study. It colors your understanding of scripture from Genesis to Revelation so you better be sure your interpretation is based on solid biblical exegesis and not tradition. Whether or not you agree with me, you need to know what you believe and why you believe it. The fulfilled view is returning to popularity after over a century of being pushed out of the picture. You owe it to yourself to understand why many Christians historically adhered to a fulfilled view of eschatology.
If after a diligent study, you arrive at a different conclusion you will know why and you will be able to defend it from a proper handling of scripture. Diligence with the word commands our attention to the full counsel of God. I pray we will all be diligent stewards in this regard.
The Apprentice’s Journal
As I continue to study the great treasure we have in God’s word, I am constantly overwhelmed with the depth of truth to be found there. I still have the first little New Testament that was given to me by a Sunday School teacher when I was child. I can’t say I ever really read it much, but I treasured it then and I still do now.
I’ve had a number of Bibles in my lifetime. Most were purchases, but a few have been gifts. When I was graduated from high school, my Uncle Ernest gave me my first Scoffield Bible. It still sits among the others in my bookcase and reminds me of him. Thankfully, I never used that one much so I wasn’t exposed to some of the problematic teaching that Scoffield inserted between the text.
At the end of my first year of college, I was beginning to take my faith more seriously. I didn’t have any idea where things would lead me, I just knew I had to follow. It’s been an interesting 35 years since that confused beginning. I spent my next two years at a Bible college and earned an Associate Degree in Bible. I learned a lot, but looking back now it’s embarrassing to think how little I knew. I don’t know much now, but it was so much less then! Ah, the confidence of youth.
Sharon and I married that year and set up housekeeping in her home state of Arkansas on the campus of Harding College (now University). She worked to pay the tuition at a private school - it was $35 a semester hour and we both had memories of state colleges where the tuition was $50 a semester regardless of the hours you took. My have things changed!
It really pumped me up to sit at the feet of some of the most noted and sought after preachers in our little corner of Christianity. At the same time, it was my first awareness that there was more than I could ever learn in my entire life, and I wanted to learn it all. I still do.
God knows best. If we knew it all we would think we were God. We act like it often enough as it is. When I listen to serious students of scripture who have truly devoted themselves to study, I am both blessed and awed. I could wish that I had the discipline they had when I was younger, but life is what it is and I am grateful that God has permitted me the measure of grace to walk this far with Him.
He’s always had to do more than His share but He’s never given up on me. He keeps calling me on and He blesses my feeble efforts with such abundant reward that it humbles me all the more. Grace, it is indeed amazing.
Over the years, I’ve accumulated a lot more Bibles and study resources. The advent of the computer age has brought a whole new dimension to study. I have at my finger tips untold volumes of references that would far surpass the libraries of some of the most noted expositors. With all those resources, and the speed at which they can be researched, I have to wonder what more Luther, Augustine, Calvin, and others might have gleaned from scripture.
But then, I look around today and see people like Ravi Zacharias, Lane Craig, R. C. Sproul, John MacArthur and so many others who have those tools available and who are continuing in the heritage of diligence we have received. Closer to home, I look at a number of acquaintances, friends and family whom I know are diligently studying the word and I am amazed at the wealth of knowledge that God has made available to me! What a deep joy it is to sit around a table and hash out the things that God is trying to get through our thick skulls and stubborn spirits!
Where’s your Bible right now? If you’re like me you may have to look because I do most of my reading on the computer, but do you know where it is? How long has it been since you really spent time studying it?
I’m not attempting to make you feel guilty. To the contrary, I want to make you hungry. You may be quite satisfied from your last "meal" but there is a wonderful buffet just waiting for you to dig in. The presentation is beautiful and you will savor every morsel; But the nutrition you will get is what it’s really all about. Unlike the "all you can eat" spreads that are growing in popularity these days, God’s banquet table has real and lasting value. Come and dine!
It’s been a lot of years since that first little Testament came into my possession, but I treasure those words now more than ever. They truly "never grow old". I love to read them again and again. Rehearsing those favorite comfortable parts is such a joy. Even when I feel the pain of conviction in other passages I have learned to receive it as evidence of the Father’s continuing work in my life. How blessed we are that He so cares for us.
We honor our earthly fathers this month and that is as it should be (a little self-promotion never hurt anyone). A child’s love for their parents is an amazing thing to witness. In all of life’s ups and downs even the most marginal of parents are esteemed by their children.
It is altogether fitting then that we who so often falter and depend upon God’s grace, should honor our Father every day. Take a little time to reflect on your own story and rejoice at every recollection of God’s faithfulness to you. You will be blessed, and you will be amazed at what He has done.