Every revolution needs a cause.
In every uprising throughout all of human history, it boiled down to one overarching question:
Who's running the show?
It’s a matter of power. It’s a matter of autonomy. Ultimately, even though many people groups don’t see it as such because of what they believe, it’s a matter of sovereignty.
Whoever runs the show rules.
We see it all the time in modern political debate. One group thinks their system of belief should reign supreme over all opposing systems of belief. Therefore, they take action.
Sometimes, it’s through peaceful means, like town hall meetings, debates, peaceful demonstrations, or thoughtful expositions on the subject, posted online or written in newspapers or books. All of this discourse typically results in a vote on those issues, with the majority vote coming out on top, if it’s a democratic society of which we speak.
In other instances, this transitional process occurs through means that are not so peaceful, like boisterous demonstrations and riots that typically become destructive to both property and life. It becomes a bullying tactic, really. A form of intimidation designed to get others to agree…or else further destruction and harm is promised.
In the more blunt-force cases, the changes come by sheer military force in the form of a coup, a revolution, or an invasion.
If those not in power don’t like who is running the show at that moment in history, then they cast their votes, organize their riots, start their wars or invade other countries for the purpose of changing the who. All of this chaos and turmoil rises to the surface like an erupting volcano in an effort to establish a new individual or group who ultimately promises to be a better alternative in the minds of those perpetuating the revolutionary ideals.
Despite God’s efforts to establish a group of people who would be above all this strife by being holy, set apart, and different from the other groups around them, unfortunately, the same can be said of the nation Israel.
And it all started in 1 Samuel 8, which we will cover in this “chapter.”
Being Different as God is Different
The Law of Moses, also known as the Torah (later to be also called the Septuagint by Gentile believers who translated it into Greek), spelled out how God’s chosen people were to live their lives in the midst of the sin, chaos, and turmoil, which not only swirled around them in the form of rivaling beliefs and marauding nations, but also infiltrated (infected?) their very own people time and time again.
When we hear the word “law” today, we automatically think of rules, procedures, and protocols; all things that tell us what we can and cannot do without suffering some kind of penalty for breaking said “law.” These “laws” are put in place for many reasons. Some are for the safety of the people they are designed to protect, for example. Others are for the prosperity of persons within that group. Still others are simply designed to keep the group civil and prevent anarchy from tearing it apart.
However, the meaning of the word translated “law” in the Old Testament has a different meaning and emphasis from what we understand the word to mean. Yes, there is the punitive aspect to it, if said “laws” are broken, but as God’s Word always does, it takes a positive approach to the task at hand (cf. Matthew 7:12). The emphasis is on the willingness of the worshiper to cultivate a heart of obedience out of an attitude of love towards God as opposed to walking on egg shells, waiting for the “Man Upstairs” to reign lightning bolts from the heavens.
Another way to think about it can be borrowed from the world of science. There are “laws” in science which have nothing to do with punishment. For example, the “Law of Gravity” dictates that a certain force is at work within a celestial body, like Earth and its moon. These “forces” or “powers” work within the planet and moon, acting upon everything on them, including humans.
These “laws” bring understanding to forces that act around us, upon us, and sometimes even in us, like the Law of Entropy, which says that energy is always reducing and deteriorating. Our human bodies are prime examples of this law. They are created and begin to deteriorate from the moment of birth. Yes, we “grow” in size, but we “age” as we do until the newborn is old and frail. Everything else follows this pattern, from the tiniest plant to the universe itself. As Christians, we believe this is the result of sin, and God will one day recreate the heavens and the Earth, setting things back into the picture of what He intended from the beginning (see Revelation 21-22), where moth and rust cannot destroy, and thieves cannot break in and steal (Matthew 6:19-21), and where the Law of Entropy will finally be abolished.
The “Law” of God works in this way as well. And can I say, it works more powerfully this way than simply “a line in the sand” to bring punishment, if crossed.
The word torah actually means “direction, instruction, law.”2 Interestingly, this word finds its root in a Hebrew verb that means “to flow or through something.” It is likened to the “flowing” of an arrow as it sails through the air to hit its target, or to the “flowing” of one’s finger as a person points the way to a lost traveler, or to a teacher whose finger points to the necessary knowledge needed for the pupil to be successful. For example, in Proverbs 1:8, the word “torah” is translated in several versions as a “father’s instruction” and a “mother’s teaching.” In other versions, it is translated as a “father’s instruction” and the “law of your mother.”3
Therefore, we could say the Torah “directed” or “instructed” the Israelites as to what being “set apart” was supposed to look like in a daily, monthly, and yearly existence. It was to flow through them and from them. This understanding helps us to better appreciate the words of Moses in Deuteronomy 6, when he told the Israelites to take the torah of God and “Recite them to your children and talk about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise. Bind them as a sign on your hand, fix them as an emblem on your forehead, and write them on the doorposts of your house and your gates” (vv. 7-9; NRSV). These instructions and teachings were to point the way, no matter what the Israelite was doing at the time. These instructions and teachings were to be handled this way because the Israelite was to do what verses 5-6 said to do also (which is a prerequisite, by the way), “You shall love the LORD your God with all you heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. Keep these words that I am commanding you today in your heart” (NRSV).
Ironically (or maybe not), a common Greek word used to describe the act of committing sin is ἁμαρτάνω (hámártanō), and it means “to fail to attain or maintain a set standard; to miss the mark.”4 This failure can be viewed legally and spiritually. It means the act of doing actual, moral wrong to others, to oneself, or among others. It is considered to be violating God’s Will in the process. Hence, missing the mark. It is the process of shooting the arrow, “flowing” it through the air, and having it miss the bullseye altogether.5
Some of the laws listed within the pages of the Torah make perfect sense. Countries and nations throughout history, even today, have adopted those laws as their own, such as “You shall not murder” (Exodus 20:13), and “You shall not steal” (Exodus 20:15). Other instructions, such as how to handle items covered with mold and mildew (Leviticus 13:47-59; 14:33-57) made perfect sense when it came to health and sanitation issues, and you see similar guidelines and laws in force today for the sake of public health.6
However, there are some
laws within the Torah that, when read by twenty-first century eyes, cause us to
wrinkle our brow and wonder, “That’s an odd law to just toss in there.” For
example, take the one found in Exodus 23:19: “You shall not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk.” Why would
God have Moses jot this one down in the middle of the section about the three
annual feasts and how they are to be celebrated (the Feast of Unleavened Bread,
the Feast of Harvest, and the Feast of Ingathering)? This culinary prohibition
is also mentioned in Deuteronomy 14:21 and comes on the heels of a conversation
about what it considered to be clean and unclean food.
So, what’s God got against this practice?
It was a pagan practice, and not just a gastric one, mind you, but more importantly, it was a practice of worship in pagan, religious culture. Some cultures viewed it as a way to satisfy their gods and bring blessing upon the growth of upcoming crops and livestock, using a young animal that has potential to be so much more. A symbol of sacrifice.
When you view this practice through the eyes of God, which is the lens of the Torah in this Old Testament case, the reason becomes crystal clear. If you performed this specific practice in an act of worship toward the God of Israel, as an Israelite, it would look, act, and smell like a pagan act of worship. Thus, the Israelites would closely resemble their pagan counterparts. Why is this bad? Because they would no longer be “holy as God is holy.” They would no longer be “set apart.” They would no longer be “consecrated, “sacred,” or “different.”
They would be like the others around them.
The enemy—known as Satan, the accuser, the serpent, the dragon—has perpetrated these revolutionary architypes since the Garden of Eden in Genesis 3. No matter how Satan implemented them during the days of the Old Testament, no matter how he does it now during the Church age, their purposes was always the same:
· Attack the Sovereignty of God –
Can God really tell us what to do? (v. 1)
· Attack the Character of God
– God’s didn’t tell you the entire truth! (v. 4)
· Attack the Word of God
– Because of the two above, can you really believe all of God’s Word? (v. 5)
· Attack the Concept of Holiness and being Set Apart – If God can’t tell us what to do all the time, and if He’s holding some things back from us so He can ‘run the show,’ and if His Word is just a bunch of rules to help keep Him in His position of power, then why bother following these rules, making ourselves miserable in the process? There is so much more to life than God’s rules. There is fun and enjoyment and pleasure to be had, but God wants to keep much of it to Himself. (v. 6)
In a very effectual manner, using the same lies he perpetrated in Genesis 3, Satan made the acts of sin, the idolatrous habits of neighboring cultures, and the cursed ideals of other people groups the apple of Israel’s eye. He corrupted their thinking with half-truths that attacked the sovereignty of God, the character of God, the Word of God, and God’s desire for His creationary pièce de résistance—mankind—to be holy as He is holy.
And by the way, this attack strategy has worked pretty well against the Church of Jesus Christ in the days of the New Testament too.
Satan’s battle has always been with God and to destroy anything associated with God. That includes us.
Ultimately, it’s about who runs the show. And who rules while running it. And Satan wants it more than anybody else.
Thought for the Week:
Believers often speak of how they “walk the walk and talk the talk.” Churches love using bumper sticker slogans like this to convey biblical truths. Some other examples of these bumper sticker theologies are: “Christians aren’t perfect, just forgiven,” “God is my Co-pilot,” and “Honk, if you love Jesus.” Do these slogans make us different from our “pagan” counterparts? Do they convey a “set apart” lifestyle? Have you ever really examined the theology behind trite sayings like these? Especially in light of God and how He views His Word?
In contrast, Daniel and his three companions, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, were among seventy or so Hebrew teenagers captured and taken to Babylon from the noble families of Judah. They were taught how live like a Babylonian and how to think like a Babylonian as part of Nebuchadnezzar’s overall plan of forever changing the Israelites (which was a common practice by conquering kings).
Later in their lives, as grown men, they endured the transition of Babylon and its overthrow by the Medes and the Persians. Yet, in each instance, when the chips were down, only four of those seventy Hebrews stood on the solid rock of God and His Word (which completely jives with what Jesus teaches about how many travel the narrow road and the broad road, doesn’t it? Four young men versus sixty-six or so others?).
In chapter 1 of Daniel, all four were confronted with the issue of eating the king’s food which had been sacrificed to idols. In chapter 3, the three companions of Daniel were faced with a monumental decision. “Do we bow down to Nebuchadnezzar’s idol like all the others? Or do we refuse to do so?” In chapter 6, Daniel chose to continue to pray to God after a decree had been given by King Darius, making it illegal. These four men, teenagers in chapter 1 who eventually become men by chapters 3-6, were different from the other Hebrew captives. They were different from the Babylonians around them as well. They were “set apart” unto God and God alone, and their stories are miraculous, to say the least.
May we find the King of the Jews as well. May we follow Him. And may we bow down and worship as they did, with our lives presented as our gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh (Romans 12:1-2). In doing this, we will set ourselves apart from all the others around us. For He rules. He runs the show. And He does it so we can experience life everlasting in His presence.
NEXT WEEK:
We will continue to inch closer to the first recorded rejection of God by His people Israel.
Endnotes
1 We are seeing all
of this unfold before our very eyes, by the way. Just turn on the news.
Checkout the latest, trending feed on social media. We’ve been witnessing this
struggle for power for years, via terrorist activity, wars in various paces,
etc., but it’s really been at the top of the headlines since the year 2020. And
ironically, since the year that literally speaks of a clear kind of vision,
20/20, nothing has become more woven in the fabric of this current generation
than this struggle for power all over the world.
2 Brown, Francis,
S. R. Driver, and Charles A. Briggs. “8451.” Brown, Driver, Briggs, Gesenius Hebrew and English Lexicon.
(Hendrickson Publishers; Peabody, Mass., 1979), p. 435.
3 Benner, Jeff A.
“What is Torah?” Ancient Hebrew Research
Center. No Date. Web. 16 June 2020. < https://www.ancient-hebrew.org/studies-words/what-is-torah.htm>
4 Green, Jay P.,
Sr. “264.” The New Englishman’s Greek
Concordance and Lexicon. (Hendrickson Publishers; Peabody, Mass., 1982), p.
37.
5 “264.
Hamartanó” Bible Hub.com. No Date.
Web. 16 June 2020. <https://biblehub.com/greek/264.htm>
6 If you wish to
read a captivating book on this subject and more, see McMillen, S. I. None of These Diseases: A physician
testifies that health, happiness, and longer life can be yours if you follow
the teachings of the Bible. (Fleming H. Revell; Old Tappan, NJ., 1984,
Revised).
Pictures courtesy of Pixabay and the following photographers/artists:
"Soldiers" by Defence - Imagery
"Hebrew Scripture" by RobertC
"Archer" by Paul Barlow
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