The Lord rarely said anything...

Now the boy Samuel was serving the Lord under Eli. The Lord’s word was rare at that time, and visions weren’t widely known. 1 Samuel 3:1

We took His words right out of His mouth...

The last we heard from the Lord He was speaking harshly to Eli, the priest, because of the sins of his sons at the Lord’s altar. The Lord said, It won’t be long before I wipe out both your family and your future family. No one in your family will make it to old age! You’ll see good things that I’m doing in Israel, but you’ll see it and weep, for no one in your family will live to enjoy it. I will leave one person to serve at my Altar, but it will be a hard life, with many tears. Everyone else in your family will die before their time. What happens to your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, will be the proof: Both will die the same day. Then I’ll establish for myself a true priest. He’ll do what I want him to do, be what I want him to be. I’ll make his position secure and he’ll do his work freely in the service of my anointed one. Survivors from your family will come to him begging for handouts, saying, ‘Please, give me some priest work, just enough to put some food on the table.’”

And then...the voice of the Lord went silent...

Christians today believe we have a franchise on “the word of the Lord”. It’s called the Bible and, with a great degree of self-righteousness...we believe the Lord speaks whenever we open its pages. We use it as a talisman to control events in our lives. Yet, I believe, it’s more likely true that whenever we open the book, the Lord doesn’t  say anything. Sadly, we rarely see any evidence of God’s voice. I’ve heard entire sermons...read entire books...that claim to speak for God but are the words of man. They’ve been used to advocate for financial systems, political systems, social systems and personal belief systems that bear no resemblance to the Divine intent of God’s words. A recent case in point is a congressman who was railing against homophobia. He said “I am a Christ-follower and do you know what the Bible says about homosexuality? Absolutely nothing!” Well, he’s wrong...he has taken God’s words out of His mouth and replaced them with his own. 

How could this be? God, Himself, says in Isaiah 55:11...“My word’ which goes forth from My mouth, will not return to Me empty...without accomplishing what I desire, and without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it”...I believe the answer is simple; when, like Hophni and Phinehas, we use God’s words to accomplish our own purposes rather than His own...we are no longer using God’s words. We are using our own.

We take the Words right out of God’s mouth...

We can see the evidence all around us. God seems to be silent. We live in a world or turmoil, uncertainty and confusion. And, I’m talking about the Church (writ large). The secular world is beyond redemption but for a mighty work of God’s grace. This is not God’s intent. God has spoken with clarity and precision. And, when we subordinate ourselves to God’s intent, the fog is lifted. After all, “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness” ( 2 Timothy 3:16).

We see the problem and we know the solution. If we want to hear the voice of the Lord we need to listen...not to what we want the Lord to say, but...to what He intends to say. Now, Samuel was lying down in the temple of the Lord where the ark of God was, and the Lord 
called Samuel” 

I want to hear the voice of the Lord call...”LEE!”

Live boldly out there today...

Giving Back to God - Hannah’s son

“O Lord of hosts, if You will indeed look on the affliction of Your maidservant and remember me, and not forget Your maidservant, but will give Your maidservant a son, then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, and a razor shall never come on his head.” 1 Samuel 1:11

Hannah was Elkanah’s wife...actually, the first of his two wives.  Peninnah had children; Hannah did not. Penninah taunted Hannah cruelly, rubbing it in and never letting her forget that God had not given her children. Hannah was often reduced to tears and had no appetite. 

By all accounts, Elkanah and his family were devout followers of Yahweh. Every year this man went from his hometown up to Shiloh to worship and offer sacrifice to God.

One year while the family was in Shilo to worship, Hannah slipped away quietly, and entered the sanctuary. Crushed in her soul, Hannah prayed to God and cried and cried—inconsolably. Then she made a vow:

Oh, God, If you’ll take a good, hard look at my pain,

If you’ll quit neglecting me and bless me by giving me a son,

I’ll give him completely, unreservedly to you.

I’ll set him apart for a life of holy service.

Hannah was praying in her heart, silently, and Eli was watching her closely. Her lips moved, but no sound was heard. Eli jumped to the conclusion that she was drunk. He approached her and said, “You’re drunk! How long do you plan to keep this up? Sober up!” Hannah said, “Oh no, sir—please! I haven’t been drinking. Not a drop of wine or beer. The only thing I’ve been pouring out is my heart, pouring it out to God. Don’t for a minute think I’m a bad woman. It’s because I’m so desperately unhappy and in such pain that I’ve stayed here so long.”

Eli answered her, “Go in peace. And may the God of Israel give you what you have asked of him.”

Before the year was out, Hannah had conceived and given birth to a son. She named him Samuel, explaining, “I asked God for him.” She told her husband, “After the child is weaned, I’ll bring him myself and present him before God—and that’s where he’ll stay, for good.”

So she did... 

She took him up to Shiloh, bringing also the makings of a generous sacrificial meal—a prize bull, flour, and wine. They first butchered the bull, then brought the child to Eli. Hannah said, “Excuse me, sir. I’m the woman who was standing before you at this very spot, praying to God. I prayed for this child, and God gave me what I asked for. And now I have dedicated him to God. He’s dedicated to God for life.”

Samuel never returned to live with his family...

Every one of us has a hole in their heart...something is missing. As believers, we are taught to bring our needs before God and trust Him to answer according to His will. Some of us go beyond that. We bargain with God in an attempt to persuade Him. 

Sometimes God is persuaded...

That’s when we should remember the bargain. Hannah did...and she faithfully upheld her promise...at great personal cost. I’ve often thought Hannah was too rash in her bargain with God. How can a person want something so bad that they promise...if they get it...they will give it right back? Doesn’t that undermine the entire venture? Or, maybe, Hannah is one of the few who actually got it right. After all, her son, Samuel, became one of the giants of Old Testament scripture. 

Most often when we ask God, we ask for something we intend to use it for our own personal gratification and comfort. We ask for spouses, we ask for children, we ask for more convenient relationships, we ask for better jobs and creature comforts...all in order to consume them in pursuit of a satisfied life. 

God loves us and wants us to live a satisfied life. Yet, He longs for us to recognize our satisfaction is always found in Him. If God fixes our spouse or child, are we willing to give him/her right back to God and say “now, Lord, use him/her for your glory!”

If we really love them...and God...it’s the only appropriate prayer. If we really love ourselves it seems counterintuitive.

Hannah gave her son back...surely the most painful thing a mother could do...and said 

“My heart rejoices in the Lord; in the Lord my life is lifted high.” Enigmatically, it seems the greatest joy comes from giving, not receiving. Probably because in giving...we are most like God.

Live boldly out there today...

The Kinsman-redeemer

"I am your handmaid Ruth. Spread your robe over your handmaid, for you are a redeeming kinsman." Ruth 3:9

During the time of the judges when there was a famine, an Israelite family from Bethlehem – Elimelech, his wife Naomi, and their sons Mahlon and Chilion – emigrated to the nearby country of Moab. Elimelech died, and the sons married two Moabite women: Mahlon married Ruth and Chilion married Orpah.

After about ten years, the two sons of Naomi also died in Moab. Naomi decided to return to Bethlehem. She told her daughters-in-law to return to their own mothers and remarry. Orpah reluctantly left; however, Ruth said, "Do not urge me to leave you, to turn back and not follow you. For wherever you go, I will go; wherever you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and your God my God. Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. Thus and more may the Lord do to me if anything but death parts me from you." (Ruth 1:16–17).

The two women returned to Bethlehem at the beginning of the barley harvest. The story implies that Naomi had been forced to mortgage her husband’s land so now had no way to support herself and Ruth...even though she was allowed to live there. And, in order to support her mother-in-law and herself, Ruth went to the fields to glean. As it happened, the field she went to belonged to a man named Boaz, who was kind to her because he had heard of her loyalty to her mother-in-law. Ruth told Naomi of Boaz's kindness, and she gleaned in his field through the remainder of barley and wheat harvest.

GOEL gō’ ĕl (גֹּאֵ֑ל, redeemer) is found frequently in the OT as describing the person who is next of kin and his respective duties. One of his duties is to buy back what his poor brother has sold and cannot himself regain. Israel was deeply concerned that all the families of the Promise would remain intact to benefit...in perpetuity...from the land God had provided. For this reason, if a man died without heirs his brother, or closest relative, was obligated by Levirate law to marry the widow and provide heirs; not for himself but, for his brother. Boaz was a close relative of Naomi's husband's family. He was therefore obliged by the Levirate law to marry Mahlon's widow, Ruth, in order to carry on the family's inheritance. This meant that he would buy back the land Naomi had mortgaged and keep it only until Naomi’s heir (grandson) could claim it...not in Boaz’ name but in Elimelek’s name.

A big investment for no real gain...

Naomi sent Ruth to the threshing floor at night and told her to go where he slept and “he will tell you what you are to do."  Ruth did so. Boaz asked her who she was, and she replied: "I am your handmaid Ruth. Spread your robe over your handmaid, for you are a redeeming kinsman." Boaz agreed to do all that was required but noted there was a closer relative than himself and would have to speak with him., Early that day, Boaz went to the city gate to meet with the other male relative before the town elders. The relative was not willing to jeopardize the inheritance of his own estate by marrying Ruth, thus allowing Boaz to marry Ruth. They transferred the property and redeemed it.

 Boaz and Ruth were then married and had a son. The women of the city celebrate Naomi's joy, for Naomi found a redeemer for her family name, and Naomi takes the child and places it in her bosom. The child was named Obed, who we discover was "the father of Jesse, the father of David" that is, the grandfather of King David.

It is quite appropriate that the term gō’ ĕl became applied to God in His relationship to us. As Redeemer He would buy back what we lost (our lives) due to our sin, and could not regain. God also would avenge the wrong done to believing sinners by His judgment against the devil and sin. Furthermore, like a husband, God would marry the church, His bride. All of these concepts of God are seen in Scripture. They begin in the OT but are fully developed in the New. Christ is said to give His life a ransom (λύτρον) for many (Matt 20:28). He gave Himself up to redeem (λυτρόω) us from iniquity (Titus 2:14). Peter tells us that we were redeemed (λυτρόω) not by gold and silver but by the blood of Christ (1 Pet 1:18 19).https://www.biblegateway.com/resources/encyclopedia-of-the-bible/Goel

You and I are forever indebted to our Redeemer and our lives should reflect our gratitude. One way we can demonstrate our thanks is to apply the spirit of the gō’ ĕl  to our own lives. We cannot literally apply the Levirate law but we can “pay it forward”, meaning we can live our lives with the sense of obligation to care for those close to us who are in need...even when we receive no benefit. It may cost us but...it cost Christ everything.

Are we willing to follow Christ as kinsman-redeemers? “As much as we do it for the least of these...we do it for Christ”. (Matthew 25:40)

Live boldly out there today...

In those days there was no king in Israel

“In those days there was no king in Israel; every man did what was right in his own eyes.” Judges 17:6

The last five chapters of Judges are filled with chaotic and vile behavior on a national level...racism, misogyny, bigotry, idolatry, rape, murder, human butcheries and wars of vengeance. And remarkably, these are God’s chosen people!

Sounds like America today...

One of the incidents in these chapters reveals how debauched people can become when all inhibitions are removed. A Levite (Assistant to a priest) was traveling through Israel and stopped for the night in Gibeah. As was the custom, he and his party were invited to stay at the home of a local resident. They were relaxed and enjoying themselves when a gang of local hell-raisers surrounded the house and started pounding on the door. They yelled for the owner of the house, the old man, “Bring out the man who came to your house. We want to have sex with him.” He went out and told them, “No, brothers! Don’t be obscene—this man is my guest.”  But the men wouldn’t listen to him. Finally, the Levite pushed his mistress out the door to them. They raped her repeatedly all night long. Just before dawn they let her go. The woman came back and fell at the door of the house where her master was sleeping. When the sun rose her master got up and opened the door to continue his journey. There she was, crumpled in a heap at the door, her hands on the threshold...dead. He lifted her onto his donkey and set out for home. When he got home he took a knife and dismembered her—cut her into twelve pieces. He sent her, piece by piece, throughout the country of Israel.

Well...when there is no king everybody does as they see fit in their own eyes.

Attila was the ruler of the Huns from 434 to 453. He was considered one of history`s greatest villains. In much of Western Europe, he is remembered as the epitome of cruelty. Yet, it has been said, a young virgin could walk alone throughout his kingdom...with a bag of gold...and not worry about being harmed. Atilla’s sense retributive justice was that sure and swift. Without dismissing the king’s venal personal behavior, we witness the change in behavior when a powerful ruler demands obeisance.

We don’t have a king...

Yet, as people of faith, we do have a King. All hail, King Jesus! We recognize His spiritual kingdom today, within us, and anticipate His coming earthly reign. The Apostle Paul reminds us  “Brethren, join in following my example, and observe those who walk according to the pattern you have in us. For many walk, of whom I often told you, as though they are enemies of the cross of Christ, whose end is destruction, whose god is their appetite, and whose glory is in their shame, who set their minds on earthly things. For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself.” Philippians 3:17-21

You and I live under a different set of rules. These rules are levied on us by our King to show the citizens of this world a better way...a way to peace with God and eternal life. We may be ridiculed. We may be abused but, we don’t get to do what is right in our own eyes. 

Live boldly out there today...

Samson the Fearless

“O Lord God, please remember me and please strengthen me just this time.”  Judges 16:28

God gave Samson a unique gift to help him judge the nation of Israel. He was not humble like Gideon. He was not devout like Deborah. He was not wise like Samuel. But...he was strong. As I suggested in my last blog, God made Samson an Avenger and...above all...that required fearless strength. As God’s tool to bring justice against the Philistines, Samson would need both these qualities in Divine measure. The task before him certainly demanded superhuman strength to accomplish superhuman deeds. Even more, the ability to overcome fear was seminal in enabling him to march confidently into battle against overwhelming odds.

Alone...

We all understand giftedness in one area does not equate to giftedness in all areas of life. Logic tells us the amount of energy required to perfectly hone our gift leaves little to invest in other areas of our lives. A.W. Tower comes to mind as a modern day example. His biography reveals a profound gift for understanding...and explaining scripture to the less adept. His books are evidence. Yet, other areas of his life were less memorable. A gifted scientist like Einstein was socially awkward. A gifted musician like Arthur Rubinstein couldn’t change the oil in his car. 

Herein is the danger of giftedness...and we are all gifted; It often induces atrophy in other important things.

By my count, the Bible offers only two accounts where Samson prayed. He prayed after slaying a thousand Philistines. He was overcome with thirst and called to the Lord saying, “You have given this great deliverance by the hand of Your servant, and now shall I die of thirst and fall into the hands of the uncircumcised?” The other occasion was before he destroyed the Temple of Dagon and Killed 3,000 people. He said “O Lord God, please remember me and please strengthen me just this time, O God, that I may at once be avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes.”

I get it. If I could fearlessly defeat a thousand men with a club, I probably would be brimming with self-confidence. Still, Samson could not will Himself to be “unthirsty” he could no will Himself to be “unblind” and “unweak”. He was driven to prayer by his own inabilities.

Sound familiar?

Unless, of course, I was working to cultivate strength and health in other areas...like my ego. Prayer is the door that allows Divine activity to enter our lives and accomplish Divine things. But prayer is preceded by humility and obedience. Samson had sparing amounts of both. And even the content of his prayers reveal unhealthy levels of self-importance.

Again, I am far from critical of Samson. He had a gift that made humility and dependence on God humanly impossible. Samson’s life serves as a metaphor for our own lives. He maximized his gift at the expense of other areas in his life. It made life less comfortable for those around him and seasoned his legacy with a confusing savor. Yet...God used him to accomplish justice for Israel. 

Ask yourself...”What particular gift has God given me?” Then, as you work to cultivate your skills, remember. Prayer is the first discipline...not the last. Prayer bathes us in God’s power and presence. It will assure others and ensure outcomes.

Live boldly out there today...