WEBVTT 00:00:07.200 --> 00:00:12.720 This sermon was recorded at Faith Evangelical Free Church in Grand Forks, North Dakota. 00:00:22.320 --> 00:00:30.879 I want to welcome our guests this morning, especially uniquely, those UND students who are perhaps checking us out for the first time. 00:00:31.039 --> 00:00:31.519 Welcome. 00:00:31.679 --> 00:00:32.719 My name is Jason. 00:00:32.960 --> 00:00:34.640 Glad to have you with us. 00:00:34.960 --> 00:00:41.920 We have been spending the last several weeks walking through the Old Testament book of Judges. 00:00:42.479 --> 00:01:17.040 And while it is a history book for a single nation, an ancient nation, it's pretty relevant to us when we consider its sad trajectory of a people belonging to God, like Christians today, who lost sight of their first love and became fascinated with and then in love with the world around them, and ultimately they were no different from the world around them. 00:01:17.680 --> 00:01:24.879 That trajectory is a path the Apostle John warned the New Testament church about in 1 John chapter 2. 00:01:25.040 --> 00:01:29.120 He said, Don't love the world, and don't love the things in the world. 00:01:29.760 --> 00:01:45.120 So in Judges, we saw the danger of what I've called living in the middle, with one part of us in love with the world and the other part of us desperately trying to hold on to our faith in God and our position in Christ. 00:01:45.840 --> 00:01:52.640 But it's rare for that to be a static or unchanging position. 00:01:53.519 --> 00:02:08.719 Our natural tendency as human beings is to drift away from God and toward the world until tragically our choices reveal that we are no different from the world around us. 00:02:09.360 --> 00:02:17.759 We finished the book of Judges last Sunday with a very difficult passage. 00:02:18.800 --> 00:02:22.479 But we are not done with the judges. 00:02:24.240 --> 00:02:27.680 We will look at some more judges this morning. 00:02:27.919 --> 00:02:41.280 Next Sunday, we will wrap all of this up with a, Lord, what will Lord willing be a unique communion Sunday that ties all of this together with Jesus as our Savior and Judge. 00:02:41.599 --> 00:02:48.319 Two weeks from today, we will have another special service, which will be an ordination service for Webb Gehring. 00:02:48.479 --> 00:02:51.520 So I encourage you to make sure that you're here for that. 00:02:53.680 --> 00:03:02.800 Judges revealed that being in love with the world means we do whatever is right in our own eyes. 00:03:03.759 --> 00:03:05.759 That's the way the book of Judges ends. 00:03:06.000 --> 00:03:13.039 Everyone did what was right, not according to God, but what was right in his own eyes. 00:03:13.199 --> 00:03:23.680 When God command what God commands is disregarded for our own heart's desires and the flesh's lusts. 00:03:24.080 --> 00:03:32.479 Said differently, what we we do what is right in our own eyes. 00:03:32.800 --> 00:03:48.560 We do what is right in our own eyes when the world's demands dictate our thoughts, our hearts' affections, and our actions more than God's word. 00:03:49.919 --> 00:03:51.199 Say that again. 00:03:51.520 --> 00:04:02.639 We do what is right in our own eyes when it's the world that dictates everything about us rather than God's word making us who we are. 00:04:03.120 --> 00:04:12.159 When we arrive at the place where we are in love with the world, we have lost any resemblance to the Lord who bought us. 00:04:13.919 --> 00:04:20.319 And so judges end with that sad statement: In those days there was no king in Israel. 00:04:20.639 --> 00:04:24.560 Everyone did what was right in his own eyes. 00:04:24.800 --> 00:04:38.720 And so we saw that at every level of society, everyone did what was right in their own eyes, from the individual to communities to tribes of Israel to the whole nation. 00:04:38.959 --> 00:04:41.519 Everyone did what was right in their own eyes. 00:04:42.240 --> 00:04:53.279 Even the Savior judges that God gave the nation and the political leaders, everyone did, including the religious leaders, what was right in their own eyes. 00:05:04.399 --> 00:05:11.439 With God's law, God's word, and God's commands explained to the people by the religious leaders. 00:05:12.319 --> 00:05:20.000 But at every level, the people were rotten to the core because they did what was right in their own eyes. 00:05:21.360 --> 00:05:34.959 Now the structure of your Bible, just the way it's laid out, can lead us to think that Judges is done at the end of Judges chapter 21. 00:05:35.040 --> 00:05:38.720 That the historical account just ends with the end of the book of Judges. 00:05:40.639 --> 00:05:43.519 But the account doesn't really end there. 00:05:44.079 --> 00:05:54.160 The story of Ruth, for example, says that the salvation of Ruth, that Gentile Moabite woman, occurred during the time of Judges. 00:05:55.680 --> 00:05:58.079 And Ruth ends with a future look. 00:05:58.639 --> 00:06:04.480 Ruth was the great-grandmother of the future king of Israel, David. 00:06:05.040 --> 00:06:09.920 But Scripture doesn't just jump from the end of Judges to David. 00:06:11.519 --> 00:06:18.319 There are two more Savior judges beyond those we find in the book of Judges. 00:06:19.040 --> 00:06:23.040 We find them in the book that we know as 1 Samuel. 00:06:23.519 --> 00:06:36.800 Now, 1 Samuel is a depressing account of hopeful optimism crushed by sinful human reality. 00:06:37.920 --> 00:06:39.120 You ever been there? 00:06:39.680 --> 00:06:48.399 Where you've been hopeful and optimistic about something and then something sinful in our world or in your life or in your family's life just crushes that optimism? 00:06:48.560 --> 00:06:50.240 Yeah, that's 1 Samuel. 00:06:51.600 --> 00:07:02.160 And the history recounted in 1 Samuel warns God's people against pursuing what seems best to them. 00:07:03.439 --> 00:07:09.759 First Samuel concludes the times when the judges judged. 00:07:10.000 --> 00:07:16.000 And it details a new era in ancient Jewish history. 00:07:16.240 --> 00:07:22.399 That new era answered the cry resounding at the end of Judges. 00:07:23.279 --> 00:07:24.959 Give us a king. 00:07:26.160 --> 00:07:27.839 Give us a king. 00:07:28.160 --> 00:07:32.319 So Judges shouts the depths of human depravity. 00:07:32.480 --> 00:07:43.759 For Israel was given a new start, if you will, at the at the beginning of Judges, about God providing a new kind of Eden for them. 00:07:45.519 --> 00:07:51.120 A promised land flowing with milk and honey, an opportunity for a fresh start. 00:07:51.360 --> 00:07:59.199 But like our ancestors in the first Eden, Israel could not escape the lure of sin in their world. 00:08:00.639 --> 00:08:05.839 And in the end, they would not have their Redeemer as their savior judge. 00:08:07.040 --> 00:08:09.920 Instead, they pursued their own desires. 00:08:10.480 --> 00:08:13.839 So 1 Samuel tells us what happened next. 00:08:14.079 --> 00:08:23.439 If you're familiar with it at all, you well know that it begins with God providing a child. 00:08:24.319 --> 00:08:26.879 That often happens throughout Scripture. 00:08:28.000 --> 00:08:35.039 A child to a woman named Hannah, who named her son Samuel and gave him to God. 00:08:43.360 --> 00:08:46.960 But Samuel was also a judge. 00:08:47.200 --> 00:08:47.840 It's true. 00:08:48.000 --> 00:08:57.279 In 1 Samuel chapter 7, it says in verse 15 that Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life. 00:08:57.600 --> 00:09:00.639 So Samuel was a different kind of judge. 00:09:00.799 --> 00:09:03.039 He was a prophet judge. 00:09:03.679 --> 00:09:14.480 He did the same kind of leading, same kind of general leadership of Israel that the other judges did, but in a different kind of way, he also spoke for God. 00:09:15.840 --> 00:09:17.759 He was a prophet judge. 00:09:17.840 --> 00:09:22.480 And our focus this morning begins in chapter 8. 00:09:23.759 --> 00:09:30.320 Samuel, it says, made his sons judges over Israel. 00:09:32.480 --> 00:09:41.840 But they weren't like their father because in verse 3 it says they took bribes and perverted justice. 00:09:43.120 --> 00:09:49.679 And if we've been through the book of Judges, we begin to think, here we go again. 00:09:50.799 --> 00:09:56.960 Alright, we get a good guy, Samuel, but it's a one-time thing. 00:09:57.200 --> 00:10:01.120 He can't pass on his righteousness to his children. 00:10:02.399 --> 00:10:05.200 The cycle is repeating itself again. 00:10:05.519 --> 00:10:13.440 And we then learn that Israel didn't want Sam's sons to succeed him as their savior judges when he died. 00:10:13.679 --> 00:10:16.320 They want another judge. 00:10:18.000 --> 00:10:30.320 1 Samuel chapter 8, verse 5 tells us that the people thought about this and they decided they wanted what they thought was right. 00:10:31.519 --> 00:10:41.840 So all the elders of Israel gathered together with Samuel and they said to the prophet in chapter 8, verse 5, listen, Sam, you're old. 00:10:46.799 --> 00:10:48.080 You're old. 00:10:48.960 --> 00:10:51.360 We don't like what your sons are doing. 00:10:53.120 --> 00:10:57.279 So appoint for us a king to judge us. 00:10:58.320 --> 00:11:00.879 Like all the nations. 00:11:01.279 --> 00:11:03.679 There are two significant problems there. 00:11:04.399 --> 00:11:10.399 The first is that Israel wanted to be like all the nations around them. 00:11:10.720 --> 00:11:15.600 They had become so like the world that they wanted to join the world. 00:11:16.799 --> 00:11:23.919 Living in the middle eventually leads to leaving the middle and joining the world. 00:11:24.879 --> 00:11:28.159 That's why John says in the New Testament, don't do that. 00:11:28.639 --> 00:11:30.399 Don't live in the middle. 00:11:30.720 --> 00:11:35.039 Israel no longer wanted to be the distinct people of God. 00:11:35.200 --> 00:11:38.240 They no longer wanted to be unique as God's people. 00:11:38.399 --> 00:11:40.879 They wanted to be like the rest of the world. 00:11:41.120 --> 00:11:44.639 Yeah, it's hard to stand out, it's uncomfortable. 00:11:45.039 --> 00:11:47.919 That's why the lure of the world is so strong. 00:11:48.159 --> 00:11:49.600 So that's the first problem. 00:11:49.919 --> 00:11:54.000 God Himself points out the second problem in chapter 8, verse 7. 00:11:54.240 --> 00:11:59.519 Yahweh says to Samuel, give the people what they want. 00:12:01.279 --> 00:12:04.320 Obey the voice of the people, and all they say to you, Why? 00:12:04.960 --> 00:12:07.279 For they have not rejected you. 00:12:08.000 --> 00:12:10.320 It's not a problem with you, Samuel. 00:12:10.559 --> 00:12:12.879 It's not even a problem with your sons. 00:12:13.840 --> 00:12:17.840 It's that they've rejected me from being king over them. 00:12:21.039 --> 00:12:25.759 God then commands Samuel to warn the people about what a king would be like and what he would do. 00:12:26.080 --> 00:12:29.919 That's in chapter 8, verses 10 and following. 00:12:30.879 --> 00:12:32.320 And it's harsh. 00:12:32.559 --> 00:12:35.279 You're going to end up serving your king. 00:12:35.840 --> 00:12:44.080 You're going to be like slaves to your king because choosing to be like the world and rejecting God as king comes with consequences. 00:12:44.399 --> 00:12:45.840 But they refused to hear. 00:12:45.919 --> 00:12:54.159 If you look all the way down in chapter 8, verses 19 and 20, the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel and they said, No, there will be a king over us. 00:12:56.159 --> 00:12:57.200 Stop, Samuel. 00:12:57.279 --> 00:12:58.320 We don't want to hear anymore. 00:12:58.480 --> 00:13:00.000 We want a king. 00:13:01.279 --> 00:13:03.440 Verse 20 tells us why. 00:13:03.679 --> 00:13:11.519 That our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles. 00:13:13.840 --> 00:13:18.480 This is then the last judge after Samuel. 00:13:19.440 --> 00:13:40.159 In their collective wisdom, God's people believed that a new judge after Samuel, who was a different kind of judge, a king judge, would bring them the salvation, the rescue, the life, the prosperity, whatever term you want to throw in there that they desired. 00:13:40.639 --> 00:13:48.879 They wanted to be like the rest of the world, to have what the rest of the world has, and they decided a king judge would bring that to them. 00:13:49.200 --> 00:14:00.399 And it's not God's king judge, but it's a king judge that matches the kings that all the other nations have. 00:14:03.200 --> 00:14:12.720 And if you've been in church for very long or grown up in Sunday school, you may know that Israel's first king was King Saul. 00:14:14.480 --> 00:14:21.440 1 Samuel chapters 9 and 10 detail how Saul became king. 00:14:21.679 --> 00:14:31.200 Those chapters highlight how humans select leaders based on appearances and personal desires. 00:14:32.000 --> 00:14:38.240 And so leaders become leaders because people do what's right in their own eyes. 00:14:38.559 --> 00:14:40.159 I like that person. 00:14:41.360 --> 00:14:51.279 They promised to give me what I want, what makes me happy, what satisfies me, and so they wanted a warrior king who stood out from the rest of the people. 00:14:52.720 --> 00:14:56.399 And God gave them exactly what they wanted. 00:14:56.720 --> 00:15:04.000 You see, if you desire to be like the world, you need to beware that God may give you exactly what you want. 00:15:05.679 --> 00:15:07.840 And that's not a good thing. 00:15:10.000 --> 00:15:24.559 Now we get to 1 Samuel chapters 13 and 14, where we begin to see the kind of king, the kind of king judge that Israel wanted. 00:15:24.639 --> 00:15:25.840 And they got what they wanted. 00:15:26.159 --> 00:15:30.159 They got a warrior king like all the other nations. 00:15:31.679 --> 00:15:52.399 And in chapter 13, we begin to see some warnings about Saul, some warnings about his kingship, that ultimately are warnings for God's people about falling in love with the world and doing what's right in your own eyes. 00:15:52.639 --> 00:16:05.360 The first warning is that Saul's kingship warns us that collective wisdom, specifically collective human wisdom, doesn't bring you what you really want. 00:16:06.240 --> 00:16:12.720 Instead, it brings you a faulty kind of rescue of salvation. 00:16:13.679 --> 00:16:15.360 Israel gained what they wanted. 00:16:15.600 --> 00:16:18.159 They got a warrior king like the rest of the nations. 00:16:18.320 --> 00:16:23.840 It says in chapters 13 and 14 that Saul led wars against the Philistines. 00:16:23.919 --> 00:16:35.600 In fact, at the end of chapter 14, in verses 47 and 48, it says he fought against enemies on every side, against Moab, against the Ammonites, against Edom, against the kings of Zobah, against the Philistines. 00:16:35.759 --> 00:16:37.360 Wherever he turned, he routed them. 00:16:37.440 --> 00:16:41.039 He did valiantly and he struck the Amalekites and he delivered Israel. 00:16:41.200 --> 00:16:43.360 That's exactly what Israel wanted. 00:16:43.519 --> 00:16:47.360 They wanted a warrior king who would fight their battles for them. 00:16:49.120 --> 00:16:56.480 So they got what they wanted: a rescuer, a savior, a deliverer judge. 00:17:00.480 --> 00:17:06.880 Unfortunately, Israel also had a religious opportunist as their king. 00:17:07.519 --> 00:17:15.920 Just like what we saw in the book of Judges, someone who thought that he could worship his God, Israel's God, in any way that he desired. 00:17:16.000 --> 00:17:29.200 And so in chapter 13, verses 8 through the end of the chapter, we see the situation with Saul where he was given instruction by Samuel, the prophet, to function in a certain way. 00:17:29.359 --> 00:17:34.000 He says, Samuel said, We're going to offer a sacrifice, and here's how it's going to happen. 00:17:34.160 --> 00:17:40.160 You're going to wait for me, and then when I get there, we're going to go together and we're going to offer a sacrifice. 00:17:41.440 --> 00:17:45.200 But Saul got impatient. 00:17:46.640 --> 00:17:49.440 He didn't want to wait for Samuel. 00:17:50.160 --> 00:18:01.359 So he went ahead and he functioned like a priest, doing his own thing in his own way, worshiping God however he wanted to do, because he was impatient. 00:18:07.279 --> 00:18:12.319 Verse 14 of chapter 13 tells the consequence. 00:18:13.759 --> 00:18:15.119 Actually begins in verse 13. 00:18:15.200 --> 00:18:18.240 You've done foolishly, you've not kept the command of the Lord your God. 00:18:20.640 --> 00:18:23.599 But now your kingdom shall not continue. 00:18:24.559 --> 00:18:34.799 You have not kept the command of the Lord your God, and so the Lord has sought out a man after his own heart and has commanded him to be prince over his people. 00:18:34.960 --> 00:18:36.319 So here's the situation. 00:18:46.559 --> 00:18:54.079 But they also got a religious opportunist who did everything in his own way, what was right in his own eyes. 00:18:54.400 --> 00:18:58.799 And what's right in his eyes, God says, is not what's right in God's eyes. 00:18:58.880 --> 00:19:01.440 And so God says, I'm taking the kingdom away from you. 00:19:01.599 --> 00:19:03.119 You will not continue as king. 00:19:03.279 --> 00:19:05.279 Your descendants will not continue as king. 00:19:05.359 --> 00:19:12.160 Instead, I'm going to have somebody who rules and judges after my heart, not after what they think is right. 00:19:15.279 --> 00:19:19.519 How discouraging would that be as an Israelite? 00:19:20.559 --> 00:19:28.640 To finally have what you think is right and then God to say, yeah, you messed up. 00:19:30.480 --> 00:19:32.000 I'm starting over. 00:19:33.119 --> 00:19:37.359 It's not the kind of starting over that happened with the great flood in the book of Genesis. 00:19:38.000 --> 00:19:40.160 But it's a minor version of that. 00:19:43.759 --> 00:19:44.960 I gave you Eden. 00:19:45.599 --> 00:19:47.519 I gave you an opportunity. 00:19:47.839 --> 00:19:50.559 I've even given you what you wanted. 00:19:52.079 --> 00:19:56.880 And all you do is what's right in your own eyes. 00:19:58.799 --> 00:20:04.480 Israel had another faulty judge, only now this judge was their king. 00:20:06.160 --> 00:20:10.640 Interestingly, in chapter 14, we see that Saul had an honorable son. 00:20:10.880 --> 00:20:13.359 Not only an honorable son, but a courageous son. 00:20:13.440 --> 00:20:17.039 He went with his armor bearer and fought the Philistines with just the two of them. 00:20:17.119 --> 00:20:20.960 And God worked amazingly through them, bringing great victory. 00:20:21.119 --> 00:20:28.319 And Jonathan, his son, and his armor bearer were out routing the Philistines, and Saul is with his army, thinking, what's going on? 00:20:28.400 --> 00:20:30.160 Why are the Philistines running away? 00:20:30.240 --> 00:20:31.519 We haven't done anything. 00:20:34.640 --> 00:20:41.759 In the process of finding out what's going on, we discover that Saul had the same fault as other judges. 00:20:42.720 --> 00:20:45.359 He was hasty and unwise. 00:20:45.519 --> 00:20:48.559 You remember that judge named Jephthah? 00:20:49.200 --> 00:21:00.000 Jephtha was the one who made a vow to God, saying, God, if you will do this, I will offer to you whatever comes out of my house the first thing when I get home. 00:21:01.839 --> 00:21:05.920 And the first thing that came out of his house to welcome him was his daughter. 00:21:09.839 --> 00:21:17.920 We're told in chapter 14 and verse 24 that the fighting that particular day was very difficult. 00:21:18.640 --> 00:21:22.640 Again, chapter 14, verse 24, the men of Israel had been hard pressed that day. 00:21:22.720 --> 00:21:29.279 So Saul laid an oath on the people, saying, Cursed be the man who eats food until it is evening, and I am avenged on my enemies. 00:21:29.440 --> 00:21:38.640 So none of the people had tasted food, except for, and we are prepared for this by the book of Judges, except for Saul's son. 00:21:40.480 --> 00:21:47.599 Because whenever a judge makes a hasty oath, it doesn't turn out well. 00:21:49.680 --> 00:21:57.039 So here is exactly what the people want, and he's no different than all of the other judges. 00:22:00.160 --> 00:22:06.400 Jonathan and his armor bearer are chasing after the Philistines in the forest, and they come upon some honey. 00:22:07.039 --> 00:22:10.880 And Jonathan eats the honey, which gives him some energy. 00:22:10.960 --> 00:22:12.319 It revives him. 00:22:14.079 --> 00:22:16.720 But he didn't know about his father's oath. 00:22:17.599 --> 00:22:22.720 So when they come together, the father realizes this is what's done, and he says, Jonathan, you have to die. 00:22:23.839 --> 00:22:25.599 Because I made an oath. 00:22:26.720 --> 00:22:30.559 It doesn't quite end the way that Jepta's story ends in the book of Judges. 00:22:30.720 --> 00:22:34.559 In this situation, the people say, uh-uh-uh-uh-uh, that's not going to happen. 00:22:34.799 --> 00:22:40.960 Jonathan has been very courageous and brought about a great victory today, and it says they ransomed him, they bought him back. 00:22:41.200 --> 00:22:46.160 So they offered something to God to rescue Jonathan from death. 00:22:47.039 --> 00:22:51.759 But what we know here is that Saul carries on Israel's values. 00:22:52.079 --> 00:23:00.000 He did what was right in his own eyes by vowing a vow, just like Jephthah, that put his son in danger. 00:23:02.240 --> 00:23:05.279 Saul was deceived by his own heart and mind. 00:23:06.400 --> 00:23:14.720 He acted according to what he believed was right, but he couldn't see that it was wrong. 00:23:15.039 --> 00:23:17.920 He couldn't see that it was hasty and foolish. 00:23:18.720 --> 00:23:23.039 What was wrong had become right in his mind. 00:23:25.039 --> 00:23:42.799 Friends, the danger of hearts and minds conformed to the world rather than transformed by Scripture is that conformed hearts and minds conformed to the world deceive us. 00:23:44.559 --> 00:23:49.279 Transformed minds, on the other hand, lead to wisdom and truth. 00:23:49.519 --> 00:23:52.880 A transformed heart and mind doesn't mean that we're sinless. 00:23:53.920 --> 00:23:56.559 David was a man after God's own heart. 00:23:56.720 --> 00:23:57.680 He knew the scriptures. 00:23:57.759 --> 00:23:58.640 He was not sinless. 00:23:58.720 --> 00:24:07.359 No, what it means is that there's humility, there's discernment, and there's Godward thinking that seeks divine wisdom over what I think is right. 00:24:10.319 --> 00:24:19.839 Chapter 14, verses 47 and 48, we see that God rescued Israel from her enemies through Saul's military prowess. 00:24:20.079 --> 00:24:27.519 God was merciful in spite of this king judge. 00:24:29.119 --> 00:24:43.839 But the meager salvation brought by Saul's military prowess brought with it faulty wisdom, hasty decisions, and human strength. 00:24:44.160 --> 00:24:53.519 How much would we want to follow someone who is willing to sacrifice his own son over a little bit of honey? 00:24:56.880 --> 00:24:59.200 But this is what Israel wanted. 00:24:59.519 --> 00:25:04.000 Saul's kingship was the result of the collective wisdom of a nation. 00:25:04.079 --> 00:25:07.440 And you can trace this, friends, all throughout human history. 00:25:07.759 --> 00:25:20.480 That when collective human history, when collective human wisdom rules, you end up with a faulty, crumbling kind of salvation. 00:25:20.799 --> 00:25:28.160 Saul's kingship, though, also warns us that human wisdom leads to a limited salvation. 00:25:29.119 --> 00:25:30.480 A limited salvation. 00:25:30.640 --> 00:25:35.200 The people had rejected God as their king, so he gave them the desire of their hearts. 00:25:35.279 --> 00:25:43.359 He gave them a king like all of the other kings of the world: a foolish king, a sinful king, and a selfish king. 00:25:50.400 --> 00:25:58.079 Saul was a judge king, but as a human judge king, he was always divided in his focus. 00:25:58.400 --> 00:26:11.759 He tried to obey God, he wanted to follow God in most instances, and he tried to listen to Samuel, but he was imperfect, he was self-focused, and he was prideful. 00:26:11.839 --> 00:26:17.519 And the only salvation that Saul could bring was a military salvation that was temporary at best. 00:26:20.480 --> 00:26:26.000 And if you seek a human savior, you will get a human savior. 00:26:28.640 --> 00:26:31.599 There comes a point at which human wisdom ends. 00:26:32.960 --> 00:26:35.920 And with human beings, sin is always present. 00:26:37.279 --> 00:26:43.839 And a genuinely selfless human king is only a dream. 00:26:45.839 --> 00:26:47.920 But that's what Israel wanted. 00:26:48.240 --> 00:26:50.160 They wanted their dream. 00:26:51.039 --> 00:26:55.119 But they couldn't see that they were deceived by their own dream. 00:26:56.720 --> 00:26:58.400 Are we deceived? 00:27:00.160 --> 00:27:03.039 We want to say, oh no, no, no, no, no, not at all. 00:27:03.359 --> 00:27:11.759 But the reality is there are Christian and non-Christian forms of this kind of hope in human wisdom at work today. 00:27:12.880 --> 00:27:25.039 Anyone who puts their hope in a human leader of any kind, be it at a local level, at a state level, at a national level, at an international level, sets themselves up for disappointment and servitude. 00:27:26.480 --> 00:27:30.079 Oh, a human leader can bring salvation of some kind. 00:27:30.319 --> 00:27:39.839 It could be economic freedom, it could be governmental freedom or something else, but it will always be limited and it will only be partially satisfactory. 00:27:40.160 --> 00:27:49.519 Even Christian efforts to transform sinful nations or sinful groups may have some positive effects. 00:27:50.240 --> 00:27:59.680 But they will always be limited because human effort is limited and it will always be connected to sin, to foolishness, and human limitations. 00:27:59.839 --> 00:28:04.000 Why would God's people ever put their hope in those kinds of efforts? 00:28:06.079 --> 00:28:10.960 When we hear it put like that, we think, well, duh, we wouldn't. 00:28:11.519 --> 00:28:12.799 Oh yes. 00:28:13.519 --> 00:28:26.160 But see, when we live in the middle, or we've shifted out of the middle, drifting towards the world, what seems wrong is now right, and what is right is now wrong. 00:28:27.519 --> 00:28:29.279 And we're all distorted. 00:28:31.359 --> 00:28:41.759 This is the kind of hope that results when God's people abandon their trust in God for some other form of worldly savior judge. 00:28:43.680 --> 00:28:47.920 And God may just give people exactly what they want. 00:28:51.279 --> 00:28:58.319 Now I've used up the majority of my time this morning to get to the place where I want to spend the majority of my time. 00:28:59.359 --> 00:29:08.720 That's in 1 Samuel chapter 15, where we see the warning that Saul's kingship provides. 00:29:10.079 --> 00:29:18.079 It warns us that human wisdom doesn't provide us the redemption that we want. 00:29:18.640 --> 00:29:21.440 Instead, it only leads to rebellion. 00:29:22.079 --> 00:29:25.440 Chapter 15 recounts a divine war. 00:29:26.559 --> 00:29:33.759 God, it says at the beginning, has commanded Saul through Samuel to destroy the Amalekites. 00:29:33.920 --> 00:29:44.160 Verse 2, it says, Thus says Yahweh of hosts, I have noted what Amalek did to Israel in opposing them on the way that they came out of Egypt, so go and strike them and devote them to destruction. 00:29:45.839 --> 00:29:47.599 This is a divine war. 00:29:47.920 --> 00:29:52.640 And a divine war involves a divine command for war. 00:29:53.599 --> 00:29:57.200 It involves specific instructions for the war. 00:29:58.160 --> 00:30:06.960 And a divine war involved faithful obedience, that was an act of worship and offering. 00:30:07.920 --> 00:30:16.720 When you see in verse 3 of chapter 15, go and strike Amalek and devote to destruction, that's what the English Standard Version has there. 00:30:16.880 --> 00:30:24.000 That's a very specific term that is connected with divine wars. 00:30:24.480 --> 00:30:34.079 It's the Hebrew word harem, which means you devote something, you destroy something as if it's a sacrifice to God. 00:30:35.279 --> 00:30:41.119 Now the Bible doesn't try to justify divine wars. 00:30:42.319 --> 00:30:47.440 Those kinds of things are struggles for modern sensibilities sometimes. 00:30:47.839 --> 00:30:49.839 Why would God do that kind of thing? 00:30:50.000 --> 00:30:54.799 The Bible doesn't try to justify it, it only accepts it as a fact. 00:30:55.839 --> 00:30:57.920 And that doesn't help us. 00:30:58.720 --> 00:31:00.240 So what do we do with that? 00:31:00.319 --> 00:31:14.079 Well, no matter how awful the destruction involved in a divine war might feel, we as God's people know that a just and holy God initiated those biblical wars. 00:31:14.319 --> 00:31:17.839 That's where we have to start, is with the person of God. 00:31:19.119 --> 00:31:20.720 Who is God? 00:31:20.880 --> 00:31:21.759 What is he like? 00:31:21.920 --> 00:31:31.759 And so our sensitivity standards must be calibrated to God's character, not to human feelings. 00:31:32.079 --> 00:31:34.160 I have a, I have a, I should have brought it this morning. 00:31:34.319 --> 00:31:46.799 I have a digital angle finder for my saws, my woodworking saws, that will tell me if something is a perfect 90-degree angle or a perfect 45-degree angle or whatever angle I'm cutting. 00:31:46.960 --> 00:31:55.119 But if I calibrate that according to a different kind of standard, then my results are going to be off. 00:31:55.920 --> 00:32:05.039 It's the same thing when we try to understand difficult concepts in Scripture like the justification of divine wars. 00:32:05.920 --> 00:32:11.200 We have to start with calibrating ourselves to the right standard. 00:32:11.440 --> 00:32:15.920 And it's not what we think is right. 00:32:17.759 --> 00:32:20.400 The right standard is God Himself. 00:32:20.559 --> 00:32:28.240 Thus, a divine war is both just and holy, since God's character cannot be contradicted. 00:32:28.400 --> 00:32:30.000 God cannot contradict himself. 00:32:30.319 --> 00:32:39.279 He cannot not be just, he cannot not be holy, he must always be holy, he must always be just, he must always do what is right. 00:32:39.440 --> 00:32:45.119 And so a just and a divine war displays God's rightness. 00:32:46.240 --> 00:32:51.440 We may not be able to grasp that, but that's what it tells us. 00:32:52.160 --> 00:33:06.160 I may not be able to see that a cut on a piece of wood is an exact 90-degree angle, but if I know that I have calibrated my instruments in exactly the right way, then I know that my feelings, my perceptions are wrong, and it is right. 00:33:07.440 --> 00:33:18.319 In the same way, if we come upon something in Scripture that we feel is not right, it is right if we have the right calibrated standards. 00:33:18.880 --> 00:33:28.880 So when we come to a divine war in 1 Samuel 15, we know the judge of all the earth did what was right, whether he explains himself or not. 00:33:30.799 --> 00:33:41.279 Now the act of divine war and the completeness of obedience meant the objects of the war belonged to God as a worshipful offering. 00:33:41.440 --> 00:33:45.839 When it says devote to destruction, that is a worshipful offering. 00:33:46.160 --> 00:33:50.480 That's obeying what God says as an act of worship. 00:33:50.960 --> 00:34:08.159 And if you don't do that, if you have incomplete obedience or partial obedience, that is theft of God's glory because you rob him of worship, you rob him of the offering that he has commanded you to give. 00:34:09.599 --> 00:34:15.360 And in a divine war, a biblical divine war, that disobedience comes with consequences. 00:34:15.599 --> 00:34:28.559 We don't have time to look at it this morning, but you can go back and look at the account in the book of Joshua, where they crossed over the Jordan River and they destroyed the city of Jericho, and God said, Destroy everything, keep nothing. 00:34:28.800 --> 00:34:30.079 Nothing belongs to you. 00:34:30.159 --> 00:34:31.920 This is all devoted to destruction. 00:34:32.079 --> 00:34:35.599 Anything that is left, like silver and gold, belong to me. 00:34:35.840 --> 00:34:40.800 Well, there was one man named Achan who said, I want to keep some of that. 00:34:41.599 --> 00:34:49.199 So he took some of the things that were supposed to be offered to God, and as a result, Israel was defeated in their next next battle. 00:34:49.519 --> 00:34:51.440 So there are consequences. 00:34:52.239 --> 00:35:00.159 Notice the level of commanded destruction as an act of worship in chapter 15, verse 3. 00:35:00.559 --> 00:35:09.760 Samuel says that God has commanded him to go and strike Amalek and devote to destruction all that they have. 00:35:10.719 --> 00:35:12.239 Do not spare them. 00:35:12.960 --> 00:35:17.920 But kill both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey. 00:35:18.559 --> 00:35:25.920 Now do you see why we have to calibrate to the right standards before we get here? 00:35:27.039 --> 00:35:32.400 Because if we haven't calibrated our standards, our emotions get stirred up right away. 00:35:36.880 --> 00:35:40.480 So that is the level of commanded obedience. 00:35:40.719 --> 00:35:45.679 We see the level of actual obedience in verse 7. 00:35:45.920 --> 00:35:57.599 Saul defeated the Amalekites from Havilah as far as Shur, which is east of Egypt, and he took Agag, the king of the Amalekites, alive and devoted to destruction all the people with the edge of the sword. 00:35:57.760 --> 00:36:06.159 But Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep and the oxen and the fattened calves and lambs, and all that was good and would not utterly destroy them. 00:36:06.320 --> 00:36:11.039 All that was despised and worthless they devoted to destruction. 00:36:11.199 --> 00:36:13.119 Let me translate that for you. 00:36:14.320 --> 00:36:20.800 Let's give all the stuff we don't want to God and keep the good stuff for ourselves. 00:36:23.599 --> 00:36:25.920 That's the level of obedience. 00:36:27.360 --> 00:36:30.400 Now we have some commentary on that. 00:36:30.719 --> 00:36:40.480 In verses 10 and 11, God tells Samuel, who wasn't there, hey Sam, let me tell you about this king that people wanted. 00:36:42.719 --> 00:36:53.280 God said to Saul, to Samuel, I regret that I have made Saul king, for he has turned back from following me and has not performed my commandments. 00:36:54.719 --> 00:36:58.159 And so he rejects Saul as king. 00:36:59.360 --> 00:37:04.559 The king judge and his people had fallen in love with the things of the world. 00:37:05.039 --> 00:37:08.320 And so God says, I'm done. 00:37:09.519 --> 00:37:15.039 I'm not going to have my people led by a man who does what's right in his own eyes. 00:37:15.280 --> 00:37:17.840 Now, on the one hand, that's a gracious thing, right? 00:37:18.000 --> 00:37:20.159 But this is what the people wanted. 00:37:20.480 --> 00:37:30.639 We can't forget that everyone's doing what's right in his own eyes, and the only way that that gets remedied is if God steps in and says, no more. 00:37:32.960 --> 00:37:43.440 In verse 12, Samuel comes, and as he comes, he is informed that Saul has set up a monument for himself. 00:37:44.960 --> 00:37:45.599 What? 00:37:45.920 --> 00:37:47.440 What are we to make of that? 00:37:47.679 --> 00:37:49.760 We don't know exactly what that means. 00:37:50.320 --> 00:37:58.320 But it probably points to a common way of showing off as a king in this kind of context. 00:38:00.079 --> 00:38:12.639 During these ancient biblical times, if one king defeated another king and captured him alive, he would parade him around at critical points in the kingdom. 00:38:13.440 --> 00:38:16.800 To say, look what I've done. 00:38:17.199 --> 00:38:21.599 And to say, look what happens if you oppose me. 00:38:22.719 --> 00:38:26.800 It's a way of elevating oneself to say, look at me. 00:38:27.599 --> 00:38:30.320 Now remember, Agag shouldn't be alive. 00:38:31.760 --> 00:38:32.880 He shouldn't be alive. 00:38:33.039 --> 00:38:37.360 He was among those whom God said to destroy as an act of worship and offering. 00:38:37.440 --> 00:38:40.000 But instead, Saul shows him off. 00:38:40.239 --> 00:38:49.360 And so in verse 13, Samuel comes to Saul, and Saul is all happy and proud and wants to show off to Samuel. 00:38:49.519 --> 00:38:54.559 Saul says to the old prophet, Oh, how blessed of Yahweh you are. 00:38:55.199 --> 00:38:58.320 I have performed the commandment of Yahweh. 00:39:00.239 --> 00:39:01.679 I love Samuel's reply. 00:39:01.760 --> 00:39:03.440 I wish I would have been there to hear the tone. 00:39:03.519 --> 00:39:05.599 Because I'm just imagining the tone. 00:39:06.880 --> 00:39:07.760 Oh, really? 00:39:09.199 --> 00:39:14.400 Then what's up with the bleeding of the sheep and the lowing of the cattle that I hear? 00:39:18.320 --> 00:39:20.559 Saul explains in verse 15. 00:39:21.840 --> 00:39:22.719 Yeah, yeah. 00:39:22.880 --> 00:39:31.360 We devoted, we devoted the rest of the things to Yahweh, but the people wanted to bring the best of the best of everything, to sacrifice to Yahweh. 00:39:33.199 --> 00:39:34.000 Oh, really? 00:39:34.400 --> 00:39:36.079 What does God think about that? 00:39:36.320 --> 00:39:43.280 In verse 18, we are told the reason for this divine war, and that was to destroy sinners. 00:39:43.760 --> 00:39:45.760 Ah, now we understand. 00:39:48.159 --> 00:39:55.280 God's holiness had reached its patience limit. 00:39:56.320 --> 00:40:02.800 He was done with being patient with this group of people in their sin and their rebellion. 00:40:03.519 --> 00:40:08.880 And so this divine war was an act of justice to satisfy God's holiness. 00:40:11.360 --> 00:40:18.400 God intended to use Saul to eliminate sin, and instead of eliminating sin, Saul saves some. 00:40:19.199 --> 00:40:21.119 That's a great idea, right? 00:40:24.719 --> 00:40:32.159 Says that in verse 19, Saul and the people pounced on the spoil for themselves. 00:40:32.400 --> 00:40:33.920 Interesting choice of words. 00:40:34.239 --> 00:40:36.800 It gives this sense that they couldn't wait. 00:40:37.039 --> 00:40:38.079 Here's our chance. 00:40:38.239 --> 00:40:40.079 Here's the best of the best in the world. 00:40:40.239 --> 00:40:41.280 We have our opportunity. 00:40:41.440 --> 00:40:42.639 Let's take it. 00:40:47.039 --> 00:40:51.440 They didn't intend it for genuine worship, but to have it for themselves. 00:40:51.840 --> 00:40:54.960 Saul and the people pounced on the spoil for themselves. 00:40:55.199 --> 00:40:59.599 And then Saul attempts an excuse in verse 20. 00:40:59.920 --> 00:41:01.599 I have to obey. 00:41:03.519 --> 00:41:04.559 Yes, I did. 00:41:04.800 --> 00:41:06.320 We did what God said. 00:41:08.079 --> 00:41:10.559 Oh, it's not my fault, Sam. 00:41:11.840 --> 00:41:14.559 The people kept the best for themselves. 00:41:15.360 --> 00:41:17.119 They wanted to do it for a good reason. 00:41:17.280 --> 00:41:19.840 They wanted to sacrifice to Yahweh. 00:41:21.360 --> 00:41:27.440 But notice what he thinks of the God of Israel in verse 21. 00:41:28.639 --> 00:41:33.840 They took the best of the things devoted to destruction to sacrifice to Yahweh. 00:41:34.800 --> 00:41:35.760 My God. 00:41:51.760 --> 00:42:00.079 Samuel says, has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as an obeying the voice of the Lord? 00:42:01.280 --> 00:42:04.400 Behold, to obey is better than to sacrifice. 00:42:04.719 --> 00:42:08.480 And to listen to what God says than the fat of rams. 00:42:09.840 --> 00:42:20.719 For rebellion, that's what you've done here, Saul, is you and the people have rebelled, is as the sin of divination and presumption, that is, thinking that you know what's right, is as iniquity and idolatry. 00:42:20.880 --> 00:42:27.920 And because you have rejected the word of the Lord, he has also rejected you from being king. 00:42:29.039 --> 00:42:33.280 God desires obedience more than sacrifice. 00:42:33.440 --> 00:42:34.400 What does that mean? 00:42:35.360 --> 00:42:40.079 It means that the heart matters more in worship than the expression of worship. 00:42:40.800 --> 00:42:46.480 It means that God looks at the heart more than at the outward action. 00:42:46.719 --> 00:42:52.880 So if the heart is disobedient, then the effort of sacrifice is worthless. 00:42:53.679 --> 00:42:57.599 God gave Saul a command and Saul disobeyed. 00:42:57.920 --> 00:43:02.960 That disobedience came from a lack of faith and trust in the Word of God. 00:43:03.119 --> 00:43:05.119 That's a heart issue. 00:43:06.719 --> 00:43:12.159 A heart that trusts God desires to listen and obey. 00:43:12.320 --> 00:43:15.119 A heart with no faith lacks desire. 00:43:15.360 --> 00:43:21.360 Saul had a faith and trust issue that displayed itself in disobedience. 00:43:21.679 --> 00:43:27.920 So offering sacrifices and giving offerings doesn't fix a disobedient heart. 00:43:29.679 --> 00:43:40.960 God has a greater delight in a right heart that follows his word than in sacrifices and offerings that come from a faithless and trustless heart. 00:43:44.000 --> 00:43:49.840 And so we get to the real core of the times of the judges, don't we? 00:43:51.519 --> 00:43:56.960