Tag: influence

A TRANSITION OF LEADERSHIP [3/30/24]

A study of 1 Sam. 8:1-9

The account states that Samuel grew old and had appointed his sons as Judges for Israel: “But his sons did not walk in his ways. They turned aside after dishonest gain and accepted bribes and perverted justice.” <1 Sam.8:3 (NIV)>. So often this is the situation with our children and grandchildren; they do not honour God in the way that we expect of them, they turn away from God and this is certainly disappointing. The dishonesty, acceptance of bribes and perversion of justice of his sons was in direct disobedience to God’s commands, and was just as bad as the administration of Eli and his sons <see Ex.23:8; Deut.16:19>. In this we see the necessity of the transition in leadership that was now necessary, for God will not allow unjust leadership to continue especially in His Church, and we now see the change in direction that was about to take place.

The elders of Israel came to Samuel, and said that he is now too old to govern, and that his sons are not following his example of leadership;  “..now appoint a king to lead us, such as all the other nations have.” <1 Sam.8:5 (NIV)>. This request was disappointing to Samuel as he thought that this was a rejection of his leadership, so he does what should be done by all godly leaders in this situation – “he prayed to the Lord” <1 Sam.8:6 (NIV)>; unlike the approach of the elders who should have done the same by looking for God’s guidance and solution to the predicament that they were all encountering. This so like us today when we are faced with a state of affairs that needs to be resolved – we come up with our own resolution rather seeking God’s solution!

God instructs Samuel to listen to what the people were requesting; “…it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king.” <1 Sam.8:7 (NIV); cf. Judg.8:23>. How often is this repeated today? Some of us believe that serving God can be done so much more effective by duplicating the ways of “the world” so as to make our service to God more inviting to our unsaved friends. This is a long-standing trick of Satan since the beginning of creation, and the Israelites should have been aware of this for they had witnessed this in their freedom from Egyptian captivity, when Satan duplicated all the actions of Moses before Pharaoh. Let us be aware that Satan still does this today! The result is that we bring things into our worship that makes us no different to the world around us. God has called us to be “different”, in that, our lifestyle should be under the control of the Holy Spirit and God’s Word so that our friends will see that we are God’s people and we have been separated from the world and its influence unto Him! We should not be like “….some people who think that we live by the standards of this world.” <2 Cor.10:2 (NIV); cf. Ex.34:11-16>.

Because of the people’s choice of a king, other than God, we see God’s analysis of His people in rejecting Him: “As they have done from the day I brought them up out of Egypt until this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are doing to you.” <1 Sam.8:8 (NIV); cf. Deut.4:20>. In their freedom from Egypt and all that Egypt represented, God separated His people from the influence of Egypt. In similarity, we have been released from Satan through our salvation in Christ Jesus and are also called to be separate from the influence of the world <cf. 2 Cor.6:14-18>.

We should understand, however, that the people’s request for a king was not the problem, it was their reason and the kind of envisioned kingship that they were requesting: they desired to be like their surrounding nations. The form of kingship that they desired was one that denied the covenant relationship with God; and they broke this covenant by rejecting the Lord who was their King <cf. 1 Sam.12:12b; Num.23:21; Deut.33:2-5>. So God instructs Samuel to advise the people what to expect from a human king: “…warn them solemnly and let them know what the king who will reign over them will do.” <1 Sam.8:9; cf. 8:10-18 (NIV)>. Not only did they reject God then but later in their history they rejected “The King of Kings” in their rejection of Christ, and in so doing they have lived in fear and persecution from their enemies for centuries.

“When that day comes, you will cry out for relief from the king you have chosen, and the Lord will not answer you in that day.” <1 Sam.8:18 (NIV)>. Let us remember Paul’s warning to the Corinthian believers, for by our rejection of Christ we too will face the same consequence <see 1 Cor.10:6>.

A CHANGE IN DIET [1/1/21]

It was now one month into their journey through the wilderness and the Israelites come to the Desert of Sin; situated just south of Elim on the northwestern side of the Sinai Peninsular (currently the states of Saudi Arabia, Yemen, and Oman). “The whole Israelite community set out from Elim and came to the Desert of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after they had come out of Egypt.” <Ex.16:1 (NIV); cf Ex.12:2>. Here we see that the people did not remember, or did not learn from their first lesson at Marah, for it is recorded that they complained because of the lack of food, and to their complaint now was added the desire that they should have died in Egypt rather than facing the possibility of dying of starvation. It should be observed that we should never pray or express such thoughts to God when we fail to trust Him as we face the difficulties of life, for He may just grant us our wish, this, the Israelites discovered later on in their journey: “the whole community grumbled against Moses and Aaron. The Israelites said to them, “If only we had died by the Lord’s hand in Egypt! There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death.”” <Ex.16:2-3 (NIV)>.

It is often the desire of Christians – followers of Christ – to desire the activities we had before our conversion. We begin with the small things and gradually progress to the bigger things, as we personally decide that we are strong enough in our faith, and such activities do not have the influence that they once had on us. This is another lie of Satan and we must be on our guard! Here we find that the Israelites are desirous for the meat and other foods they had in Egypt; and in similarity, Christians should be aware that being desirous of worldly activities can be dangerous <see Num.11:4-6, 34>. God has saved us from the slavery of sin by the shed blood of Christ on the Cross of Calvary, He has made us a new creation, and as such we have new desires in our activities, thoughts and actions which should bring glory to God, and not direct us back to our old way of living <see 2 Cor.5:17; cf Eph.2:10; Rom.12:1-2; Gal.5:1, 16>.

Here, the record states that God is now going to give another lesson to the people; “I will rain down bread from heaven for you. The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day. In this way I will test them and see whether they will follow my instructions.” <Ex.16:4 (NIV)>. Egyptian food was no longer the diet for God’s people; God is now going to change their diet, providing them with the food necessary for their journey; worldly pleasure is no longer the requirement for the child of God, so He provides for us the food necessary for our spiritual journey. What was Manna? There have been many theories, but such theories cannot account for the abundance, the fact that it ceased on the seventh day, the fact that they collected and ate of it for forty years, or the fact that it was their staple food while on their wilderness journey. There is no doubt that it was an act of the supreme Grace of God as the Psalmist expresses <Ex.16:15, 26, 35; cf Psa.78:18-24>.

What then is the application for humanity and the followers of Christ today? God said that He would provide bread from heaven for the people, which was a representation of what was to be a future event, and Christ revealed this to His followers <see Jn.6:31-33>; Christ is the TRUE Bread from heaven! The Israelites had to collect the Manna each morning and eat it for their physical good; there would be no benefit to them just to collect it, they had to consume it. There could be no assimilation of its food benefit unless it was eaten by the people. Christ said to His followers: “I am the bread of life. Your forefathers ate the manna in the desert, yet they died. But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which a man may eat and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever.” <Jn.6:48-51 (NIV)>. As the Israelites ate of the Manna, the follower of Christ must also eat (consume of) the Bread of Life, as Christ taught, for that is the only way that we can become more like Christ; it is through the assimilation of the food that one benefits from it. How then do we “eat” the Bread of Heaven? It is by feeding on God’s Word, The Scriptures, Christ Himself <Jn.1:1-5>, for Christ is the Word of God. Christ then is the new diet for the child of God, He is our Manna for our spiritual journey; He is the Manna necessary for spiritual sustenance by all mankind. So, we have to make the daily collection of our Manna by a careful study of God’s word, not only daily Bible reading, but a regular study of the Scriptures to see what God expects of us, seeking His guidance and teaching <see Jer.15:16>.

So, let us follow the instructions given to the Israelites: gather as much as you need <Ex.16:16-17>, neglect of God’s Word causes spiritual starvation. Collect the Manna as early as you can, before the anxieties and concerns of the day <Ex.16:21>, but remember that God is aware of our circumstances as we collect our Manna. Collect your Manna daily, it must be fresh and as it is consumed, we grow in the knowledge of Christ, and we will never lack an appetite for our heavenly Manna. However, never get to the place in your life where you show contempt for the Manna; this is the result of a turning back of the heart to Egypt <Acts 7:39>, they remembered the food they ate in Egypt, the previous way of life that they had left, the worldly enjoyments of their former state, and Satan made good use of these thoughts, and God’s Manna was scorned. In similarity this can occur in the life of Christ’s follower; do not allow your thoughts to take you back to your former way of life that was controlled by Satan; Christ is sufficient for all of His followers, but His sufficiency cannot be experienced when His Word is neglected, so let us follow the commands given to the Israelites and make our daily and constant collection of our Manna.