I Samuel 12:16-25
“Now therefore stand and see this great thing, which the LORD will do before your eyes. Is it not wheat harvest to day? I will call unto the LORD, and he shall send thunder and rain; that ye may perceive and see that your wickedness is great, which ye have done in the sight of the LORD, in asking you a king.” (I Samuel 12:16-17)
When wheat is ripe, the seeds can be shaken out of the head very easily, by a wind or a rain. They are very hard to pick up off the ground. Farmers plant wheat so it ripens at a time when storms are least likely to avoid losing the crop. Their celebration was taking place during wheat harvest season, when thunderstorms were almost unheard of and would do the most damage.
Samuel advised the people that God was going send a thunder storm To make them aware how evil their demand for a king was. Loss of their crop to rain would affect their economy throughout the coming year.
“So Samuel called unto the LORD; and the LORD sent thunder and rain that day: and all the people greatly feared the LORD and Samuel.
And all the people said unto Samuel, Pray for thy servants unto the LORD thy God, that we die not: for we have added unto all our sins this evil, to ask us a king.” (I Samuel 12:18-19)
Samuel had warned the people they were doing wrong in demanding a king, but they had refused to listen. Only when God himself intervened did they realize how sinful their demand was. They asked Samuel to pray for them that God would not pour out his judgment.
“And Samuel said unto the people, Fear not: ye have done all this wickedness: yet turn not aside from following the LORD, but serve the LORD with all your heart; And turn ye not aside: for then should ye go after vain things, which cannot profit nor deliver; for they are vain. For the LORD will not forsake his people for his great name's sake: because it hath pleased the LORD to make you his people.” (I Samuel 12:20-22)
Though Israel had sinned terribly in demanding a king, Samuel promised that if they would serve him whole heartedly, God would not hold it against them. They were God’s people, and he was not going to turn his back on for their sin. They would need to avoid chasing after the world in other things.
Over the years, I have seen this same pattern in my own life as well as the lives of others. We commit to a set of actions even though we know we shouldn’t, such as partnering with a non Christian, whether in business or marriage. God causes things to happen to remind us that while we may not be able to undo the sin that led us to that point, we still have an opportunity and obligation to serve him in the situation we are in.
Paul dealt with a similar situation in I Corinthians 7:18-22. “Is any man called being circumcised? let him not become uncircumcised. Is any called in uncircumcision? let him not be circumcised. Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but the keeping of the commandments of God. Let every man abide in the same calling wherein he was called. Art thou called being a servant? care not for it: but if thou mayest be made free, use it rather. For he that is called in the Lord, being a servant, is the Lord's freeman: likewise also he that is called, being free, is Christ's servant.”
If there is a way of undoing the situation without harm to our testimony, or to others, it would be better, but if not, just realize that God is still in control and he will not turn his back on us. He is able to forgive to the uttermost according to Hebrews 7:25.
“Moreover as for me, God forbid that I should sin against the LORD in ceasing to pray for you: but I will teach you the good and the right way: Only fear the LORD, and serve him in truth with all your heart; for consider how great things he hath done for you.” (I Samuel 12:23-24)
Though they had deliberately ignored his warnings and gone against God, Samuel said it would be sin for him to turn his back on them or stop praying for them. In his teachings in Matthew 18:15-18, Jesus did not authorize shunning the guilty when they were put out of the church. Instead they were to be treated like other unsaved people. Matthew 18:17 instructs, “And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as a heathen man and a publican.” II Thessalonians 3:14 commands, “And if any man obey not our word by this epistle, note that man, and have no company with him, that he may be ashamed. Yet count him not as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother.”
“But if ye shall still do wickedly, ye shall be consumed, both ye and your king.” (I Samuel 12:25)
The fact that God will forgive sin does not give us license to sin. As Romans 6:15-16 warns, “What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid. Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?” To continue in sin is much like a woman messing around with somebody other than her husband, pretending she isn’t already married. It will cause trouble.
“Now therefore stand and see this great thing, which the LORD will do before your eyes. Is it not wheat harvest to day? I will call unto the LORD, and he shall send thunder and rain; that ye may perceive and see that your wickedness is great, which ye have done in the sight of the LORD, in asking you a king.” (I Samuel 12:16-17)
When wheat is ripe, the seeds can be shaken out of the head very easily, by a wind or a rain. They are very hard to pick up off the ground. Farmers plant wheat so it ripens at a time when storms are least likely to avoid losing the crop. Their celebration was taking place during wheat harvest season, when thunderstorms were almost unheard of and would do the most damage.
Samuel advised the people that God was going send a thunder storm To make them aware how evil their demand for a king was. Loss of their crop to rain would affect their economy throughout the coming year.
“So Samuel called unto the LORD; and the LORD sent thunder and rain that day: and all the people greatly feared the LORD and Samuel.
And all the people said unto Samuel, Pray for thy servants unto the LORD thy God, that we die not: for we have added unto all our sins this evil, to ask us a king.” (I Samuel 12:18-19)
Samuel had warned the people they were doing wrong in demanding a king, but they had refused to listen. Only when God himself intervened did they realize how sinful their demand was. They asked Samuel to pray for them that God would not pour out his judgment.
“And Samuel said unto the people, Fear not: ye have done all this wickedness: yet turn not aside from following the LORD, but serve the LORD with all your heart; And turn ye not aside: for then should ye go after vain things, which cannot profit nor deliver; for they are vain. For the LORD will not forsake his people for his great name's sake: because it hath pleased the LORD to make you his people.” (I Samuel 12:20-22)
Though Israel had sinned terribly in demanding a king, Samuel promised that if they would serve him whole heartedly, God would not hold it against them. They were God’s people, and he was not going to turn his back on for their sin. They would need to avoid chasing after the world in other things.
Over the years, I have seen this same pattern in my own life as well as the lives of others. We commit to a set of actions even though we know we shouldn’t, such as partnering with a non Christian, whether in business or marriage. God causes things to happen to remind us that while we may not be able to undo the sin that led us to that point, we still have an opportunity and obligation to serve him in the situation we are in.
Paul dealt with a similar situation in I Corinthians 7:18-22. “Is any man called being circumcised? let him not become uncircumcised. Is any called in uncircumcision? let him not be circumcised. Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but the keeping of the commandments of God. Let every man abide in the same calling wherein he was called. Art thou called being a servant? care not for it: but if thou mayest be made free, use it rather. For he that is called in the Lord, being a servant, is the Lord's freeman: likewise also he that is called, being free, is Christ's servant.”
If there is a way of undoing the situation without harm to our testimony, or to others, it would be better, but if not, just realize that God is still in control and he will not turn his back on us. He is able to forgive to the uttermost according to Hebrews 7:25.
“Moreover as for me, God forbid that I should sin against the LORD in ceasing to pray for you: but I will teach you the good and the right way: Only fear the LORD, and serve him in truth with all your heart; for consider how great things he hath done for you.” (I Samuel 12:23-24)
Though they had deliberately ignored his warnings and gone against God, Samuel said it would be sin for him to turn his back on them or stop praying for them. In his teachings in Matthew 18:15-18, Jesus did not authorize shunning the guilty when they were put out of the church. Instead they were to be treated like other unsaved people. Matthew 18:17 instructs, “And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as a heathen man and a publican.” II Thessalonians 3:14 commands, “And if any man obey not our word by this epistle, note that man, and have no company with him, that he may be ashamed. Yet count him not as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother.”
“But if ye shall still do wickedly, ye shall be consumed, both ye and your king.” (I Samuel 12:25)
The fact that God will forgive sin does not give us license to sin. As Romans 6:15-16 warns, “What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid. Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?” To continue in sin is much like a woman messing around with somebody other than her husband, pretending she isn’t already married. It will cause trouble.
I think many of us adopt the mentality of "I'm in this deep so why not continue" without thinking that God desires obedience; obedience begins with the honest admission that our actions have led us away from God and is will, and now we are receiving the consequences of what we've done. Forgiveness is not a license to sin, but rather a motivation to cease from sinning. God's grace should be a beacon to us that we have been given a purpose on this earth that goes beyond our personal pursuits; until said pursuits are tamed and brought into alignment with our Lord's.
ReplyDeleteAmen.
ReplyDeleteOn one hand we have a group who believe it doesn't matter what we do if we've accepted Christ. A second group believes you lose your salvation, and when they sin, usually go to the extreme since they already lost their salvation anyway.
Neither group understands God's forgivness.