Category Archives: Old Testament

Gleanings from the Bible: 2 Samuel

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Following the death of Saul at the end of First Samuel, Second Samuel takes up the reign of David. I used to think that David just took over the throne relatively smoothly but as we read the account we realise that the underlying tensions between the tribes supporting Saul (principally his own tribe, Benjamin) and David’s tribe (Judah), prolonged the process considerably and led to bitter civil war.

It reminds me of what can often happen in parishes that have several church centres. Each one has its own identity and its own powerful identities. The minister may bring unity to the groups and they may cooperate as things go well, but there exists an underlying rivalry rooted in property or status or some long-past fallout. When any stressful situation comes to the parish, usually in the form of change, the cracks between the centres become apparent and old rivalries flourish.

Even with the experience and wisdom of David and his reliance on Yahweh to guide him (2:2ff) we read that “war between the house of Saul and the house of David lasted a long time” (3:1). It took a weakened house of Saul and the realisation that at least David was dealing honourably towards them (3:36) to bring about a unified kingdom. Later, towards the end of Solomon’s reign and with Rehoboam’s distinct stupidity, tribal divisions would surface again, leading to permanent disruption.

Aber’s (Saul’s general) reality check to Joab (David’s general) continues to be relevant to warring nations, churches and families to this day,

“Must the sword devour forever? Don’t you realise that this will end in bitterness? How long before you order your men to stop pursuing their fellow Israelites?”  (2:26)

So it is chapter five before David rules all Israel and he mostly does it well. Most notably, he doesn’t rush into action without asking God first (5:19). God is pleased with him and makes a covenant promise that he will always have a successor on the throne, a promise fulfilled in his descendent, Jesus Christ (Christ or Christos, is of course the Greek for the Hebrew, ‘Messiah’ meaning ‘Anointed One’ or ‘King’).

David is commended because he sought God’s will and approval not because he was perfect. He would listen to wise advice but during his life he shed much blood, could be vengeful, made some poor decisions without consulting God and committed adultery and murder. Not a pretty picture!

A superficial reading of David’s adultery with Bathsheba and arrangement for Uriah to be killed in battle, may give the impression that David got off fairly lightly. After all we wouldn’t allow leaders to continue with that record would we? (Well maybe some would. We’ve seen leaders get away with some appalling deeds unchecked, haven’t we?)

As you read on you realise the dire consequences of David’s actions and the serious judgements God brings on him. Yes, he continues as king, but it all seems to go downhill from there. The child dies, Amnon rapes Tamar, Absalom kills Amnon. And David, perhaps diminished by his own sin, seems unable to mete out firm justice, thus enabling revenge and anarchy within his family. Absalom’s conspiracy seems to demoralise David further. This once decisive man of action cannot deal with Shimei throwing stones and dirt at him as he flees Jerusalem (16:5-14) and defers to the decisions of others (18:4). It is his general, Joab, who becomes the de facto leader in this period, calling David to order for neglecting those who fought for him during the coup.

And yet David returns to the throne. He still seeks God and he recognises his failure.

As we seek to learn from history it may be possible for church leaders who have erred to be restored to ministry at a later time, but cheap repentance won’t do. There is always a cost involved.

Let’s not take away from David his noble acts, his faith in God, and his recognition of his own sin. He is a towering figure in Israel’s history and the uniting of the nation. But let us also learn from his failures and not use them as an excuse for our own.

Gleanings from the Bible: 1 Samuel

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 First Samuel has always struck me as a bit of a Boys’ Own Adventure story. From God speaking to the boy, Samuel in the night; the wayward sons of Eli and his untimely death and David and Goliath and the cat and mouse pursuit of Saul after David – a sort of 3000 year old version of a car chase sequence.

Despite Samuel’s objections to Israel appointing a king, you get the impression that it wasn’t altogether a bad thing. Yes, God had raised up deliverers in the time of the Judges (of whom Samuel is really the last) to unite Israel against their enemies. But the threat had grown (mainly from the Philistines) and a king could not only create a standing army but also ensure the spiritual direction of the nation (after all we’ve noted that a recurring observation in Judges was that there was no king and everyone did as they saw fit). Now of course the quality of the nation would depend very much on the quality of the king, and Saul wasn’t a great start. It was just as well that Samuel was still around. He was obviously the real leader, under Yahweh, when it came to spiritual direction.

Perhaps the real problem was the reason they Israel gave in her request for a king – “Then we will be like all the other nations…” (8:20). The laws given to Israel had made it clear that they were not to be like other nations. But Israel’s focus was more on winning battles than seeking the spiritual unity of the nation. It’s a cautionary tale for Christians today, who are set apart as a ‘holy nation’, to not forget where our identity and security truly lies!

The question of evil

Saul failed to set God’s priorities firmly in place. He was successful in the military field but failed as a leader of God’s people to the extent that he lost control of himself as well. 16:14 inserts that interesting and challenging comment, “Now the Spirit of the LORD had departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD tormented him”

What it cannot mean is that God instigates evil. I think what it does indicate is that God is seen as being in control of everything. Nothing can happen unless he allows it. He is the one who gives life and existence. At the same time God does appear to allow evil spirits, suffering and the results of our own bad choices. It may also be convincingly argued that God can and does overrule our choices when it suits him to do so (I note for example that Cyrus was moved by God to allow the Jews to return from Exile. I know that I and others have found ourselves in places and at times, which we have not knowingly chosen, but which have ‘coincidentally’ fitted in remarkably with what turned out to be the will of God and in specific answer to someone’s prayer.)

Someone reading this may now be asking, “Well, if God controls even the evil spirits, why doesn’t he stop all the evil in the world? Why does he allow bad things to happen to good people?” There are many aspects in the answer to that question and I mention them briefly as I understand them.

The first is that God knows the big picture of life. We may only hold a few pieces of the jigsaw puzzle and they don’t always make sense to us. The book of Job is the reference here.

Secondly, there are no good people in the world. We sometimes like to think we are but the biblical message is that all have fallen short of God’s standards. Without the forgiveness offered through the death of Christ on the cross, we all stand condemned.

Thirdly, the Bible assures us that God deals justly even though we may not understand it at the time. Sometimes we get to understand in hindsight but not always (I was once witness to the illness and slow decline of a child with a brain tumour. I didn’t understand why it should happen but I discovered from the child’s mother that she had witnessed the figure of Jesus talking with her daughter – a fact that the daughter confirmed with, “Mum, I told you that Jesus comes and talks to me!” In the midst of suffering Jesus was present. The girl later died without fear or regret. She was longing to be with Jesus.)

Fourthly, our relationship with God through Jesus Christ is more important than physical life.

And finally, God will indeed put everything right. The Bible promises a day when justice will be done and all wrongs righted. In the meantime God is giving us the time and opportunity to turn to Christ, to receive his Spirit and to allow a transformation to take place in our lives as children of God.

Saul followed his own instincts instead of God’s word to him. The evil spirit appears to have been a result of Saul’s own waywardness as well as an active judgement by God on him.

David emerges differently. He trusts God, usually enquires of God before he acts, and believes the promises of God – in particular that he would be king without forcing the issue and taking Saul’s life when he had opportunity. God blesses and preserves David’s life (despite his failures) and he becomes the greatest earthly king in Israel’s history.

Gleanings from the Bible: Ruth

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What a relief and contrast it is to read Ruth after the relentless chaos and evil of Judges. Naomi, Ruth and Boaz stand out as people of character and wholesomeness.

Naomi, Orpah and Ruth are all widowed in the land of Moab. Naomi returns to Bethlehem and Moabites, Orpah and Ruth, are faced with a choice as to whether they too will return or stay in their native country. Ruth’s selflessness and love for her mother-in-law contrasts with Orpah’s desire for her own family. Ruth goes to Bethlehem and remarries, finds family and security and becomes the Great Grandmother of King David and an ancestor of Jesus Christ. Orpah disappears into obscurity, remembered now only as the one who did what she thought was best for herself. Ruth’s faithfulness and dedication endures in those famous words, “Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God.” (1:16)

I like that in today’s world, where men are so often portrayed as incompetent, devious, irresponsible, juvenile and simply idiotic, we can read the story of Boaz, a kinsman-redeemer, who takes his family responsibility seriously and acts as a real man should, in providing for Ruth and Naomi. He contrasts with the other man, who had first responsibility towards Ruth but chose to protect his own property instead. He disappeared, unnamed, into obscurity along with Orpah. It’s not that they were especially bad people, but perhaps they could have been great people.

The witnesses to the interchange between Boaz and the other kinsman pray a blessing on Boaz and Ruth:-

 Then the elders and all the people at the gate said, “We are witnesses. May the Lord make the woman who is coming into your home like Rachel and Leah, who together built up the family of Israel. May you have standing in Ephrathah and be famous in Bethlehem. Through the offspring the Lord gives you by this young woman, may your family be like that of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah.”   (4:11-12)

… and it was, and even more so!

Gleanings from the Bible: Judges

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Judges graphically presents the results of succeeding generations turning their backs on God. The repeated cycle includes judgement by invasion from neighbouring nations, Israel crying out to God, God raising up a charismatic leader to unite Israel against the enemy, victory at God’s hand, peace, and then falling away from God again. The period is summed up in 17:6, “In those days Israel had no king, everyone did as they saw fit.”

What is portrayed here, then, is not just judgement by warfare but the moral degeneracy that comes to a nation without God. There are repeated acts of extreme violence. The acts of Samson (for example) and the land-grab by the Danites (note 18:6 where the priest states that the venture has God’s approval but this is implicitly countered by 18:27ff, which elicits sympathy for a people who had lived in defenceless peace and goes on to state that the Danites immediately set up an idol in their new land). Next follows the taudry tale of the Levite and his concubine with echoes of Sodom and Gomorrah, where no-one comes out looking well. Civil war is the result with great losses on both sides, after which the keeping of a vow is seen by the Israelites as more important than the seizing of the virgins from a neighbouring city state while putting everyone else to the sword.

With this sad account Judges ends with a repeat of 17:6, “Everyone did as they saw fit.”

Judges presents an era crying out for some law and order. At one level it seems to be justifying the appointment of a king. But we know that that was no guarantee of peace and good morality, for many of the future kings led the people astray into all sorts of vile practices. No, Judges clearly shows us what happens when people abandon God and do whatever they want.

A warning for today?

As we look around the world we see many western nations still living off their Christian heritage and values (which is not to claim that they have always been lived out those values well). Today those nations are gradually becoming more secular and increasingly Christianity is being openly ignored, rejected or even vilified. When God’s law is rejected and people cease to seek God, then laws will change to accommodate popular opinion (often governed by those with the loudest voice in the media) and people will generally do as they see fit. In our western world individuality, my choice, self, and ‘what’s-in-it-for-me?’ are the catch-cries of a generation. Yet, as a buffer against decline, there are still many Christians regularly praying to God for their governments, children and grandchildren.

But what happens if the children turn their back on God? Who will pray for their children and grandchildren in the future? I believe that our society has not declined further simply because God, in the background, continues to respond to the prayers of Christian people (Judges 2:10ff). Unfortunately the fact of this decline will not be seen until it is too late and only by people who are able to compare their present to the way things were. (An unfortunate tendency here is for a society generally to be like the old ‘frog in the kettle’ where the heat increases so gradually that the frog doesn’t realise it until it’s too late.)

But cast your eyes beyond the western nations. See where godlessness reigns and law and order has broken down. See what happens when doing what you see fit prevails! Countries live in chaos and corruption as individuals seek what is best for themselves. And even more troubling, who can say they are wrong? Are they not merely following their inbuilt tendency towards the survival of the fittest?

After all, if the Creator is removed and the whole of life has just come about by chance, then there is no meaning to aspire to and the only guide to right and wrong is what generally works to bring about a reasonably happy community. But then again, who cares about the happiness of others (except for the people I like) if I can be strong or deceitful and get my own way?

History is strewn with the bodies of the victims of this philosophy. The book of Judges has sounded out fair warning for future generations, as had the words of Moses and Joshua before. Tragically it would seem that each generation would rather learn from its own experience.

Gleanings from the Bible: Joshua

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Christians have drawn on military metaphors through the ages. Paul exhorts us to put on the “whole armour of God” and writes of the struggle against the “powers of this dark world” in Ephesians. Jesus promised persecution to his followers. Revelation graphically portrays spiritual war. And writers have penned such hymns as, “Onward Christian soldiers.” It would seem that, contrary to some teaching abroad in the world, the Christian life was not meant to be easy!

It is no surprise then, that Christians have often found personal spiritual challenge and encouragement in the words of the book of Joshua.

The Christian, fearfully embarking on a course that he or she knows to be right and ordained by God, has often read four times with renewed hope, “Be strong and very courageous” (1:6, 1:7, 1:9, 1:18) with the affirmation, “for Yahweh your God will be with you wherever you go.”

However, there is a condition to success before God and that is obedience to God’s law including his local, individual instructions to Joshua. Failure to obey incurs disaster and defeat at Ai and deception by the Gibeonites, where the writer notes, “but they did not inquire of Yahweh” (9:14).

The imperative to obey God also forms the challenge to Christian living as it did to those settling into the conquered Promised Land.

Joshua’s stirring words ring across the centuries…

 “Now fear the Lord and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your ancestors worshiped beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.” 24:14-15

Other Notes

Joshua is an anglicised form of the Hebrew word for “Saviour”. It is also translated into Greek as “Yesus,” from which we get, “Jesus.” So Jesus could have been known as Joshua Ben Joseph. As Galilee had a large number of Greek speakers and Greek being the universal language of its day, perhaps he was also referred to as Yesus? Anyway the point is that it is possible to make spiritual links between Joshua, the successor of Moses and Jesus, both delivering God’s people to the Land of “Rest,” the first physical, the latter spiritual.

Joshua had a “Moses Experience” (5:13-15) which is intended to confirm that the mantle of leadership had indeed passed to him.

Rahab is an example of one who threw in her lot with Israel and found mercy. It is notable that she becomes an ancestor of King David and Jesus Christ.

It was not wholly unusual for the Jordan to dry up, with land slippages blocking the river upstream. The account is couched to parallel the crossing of the Red Sea by Moses, and the timing is what gives it significance as an affirmation by God of his presence with them. The stopping of the Sun is understood literally by some (ie there were extra hours of daylight) and poetically by others (ie the sun remained cool enough for the battle to continue) though the writer certainly portrays the occurrence as well out of the ordinary and an intervention by God.

Gleanings from the Bible: Deuteronomy

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I am not going to get into a discussion as to whether Deuteronomy is to be ascribed to Moses (with a postscript added about his death) or to those who returned from Exile over four hundred years before Christ, except to note that there are some noteworthy arguments for both positions.

What is of concern is, in that on the brink of the Promised Land with the second reminder of the law, we have the commands of God to execute judgement on the inhabitants of the land – which from our perspective looks a lot like genocide (Deut 9:1-3)!

Let me make some observations about this ‘invasion’.

  1. It is easy for us, those who live in relatively peaceful circumstances with a well- developed justice system and numerous options for dealing with criminals, to judge earlier societies (and even current ones existing in different circumstances from ours) through the lens of our own experience.
  2. I note that the inhabitants of Canaan worshipped gods in ways which are universally abhorrent, notably including the horrific sacrifice of children! (Deut 12:31)
  3. Despite the evils perpetrated through these religions it is also obvious that they had a seductive influence on the Israelites, demonstrated through the era of the Divided Kingdom (see 1 & 2 Kings). Israel, who was supposed to be a good example of God’s good laws to the surrounding nations, allowed the surrounding nations to entirely corrupt her.
  4. Today we recognise the concept of a “Just War,” one feature being a conflict waged in defence of others. We also recognise (though this has proven less easy to justify in practice) that a pre-emptive strike may save more lives in the long run. The commands in Deuteronomy, to kill the inhabitants of Canaan can only be justified if they are from the Creator God who knows all things and is God of all nations. They are not an excuse for power hungry conquerors. Rather they were specific commands, for a specific purpose, at a specific time!
  5. During the conquest of Canaan it is interesting to see that there was still mercy for individuals who put their trust in the God of Israel.
  6. I note then the way in which God’s commands to Israel are circumscribed (this includes all God’s commandments not just those concerning war):-
    1. Israel was not to fail to keep the commands, nor to add to them! (Deut 4:2)
    2. By keeping God’s commands Israel would demonstrate the greatness of God (Deut 4:6-8).
    3. Israel is warned that judgement also awaits her if she steps out from under God’s rule. (Deut 4:25ff)
    4. God’s desire is to see his people prosper. (Deut 5:29)
    5. God’s love for Israel was not because they were numerous but out of faithfulness to the promises given to their forbears. (Deut 7:7-9)
    6. The reason for the invasion:-Deut 9:4-5 NIV  After the LORD your God has driven them out before you, do not say to yourself, “The LORD has brought me here to take possession of this land because of my righteousness.” No, it is on account of the wickedness of these nations that the LORD is going to drive them out before you. It is not because of your righteousness or your integrity that you are going in to take possession of their land; but on account of the wickedness of these nations, the LORD your God will drive them out before you, to accomplish what he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
    7. Deuteronomy 20 gives some specific instructions concerning war and should be understood in the light of the other observations made here.

A Few Other Notable Laws

  • The Cancelling of debts and the exhortation to give generously in order to reduce poverty (Deut 15).
  • The freeing of servants and provision for them (Deut 15)
  • The exhortation to follow justice (Deut 16:18-20)
  • The “eye for an eye” law limiting revenge and acting as a deterrent (Deut 19:16-21)

There are, of course, many more laws because “Deuteronomy” is literally the second (account of the) law. Some of the laws I have mentioned before. They presented a code which was head and shoulders above the laws of the city kingdoms Israel would replace and a limitation on the excesses of behaviour that existed generally. But they also presented a challenge, a choice between life and death. To choose life was to keep God’s law and teach it to one’s children, but death and destruction came through neglecting, not just the law but more importantly, God who had instituted it for their survival and prosperity. The history of Israel reveals the outworking of those choices, as does the history of the world!

Gleanings from the Bible: Numbers

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Numbers deals with the organisation of a fledgling nation and its move towards the Promised Land.

A question for some people concerns the extraordinary size of the numbers quoted, given the small populations of the day. Various explanations have been given suggesting that the word for “thousand” has been mistranslated (in this context) or that the figures are related to astronomy, and that Israel’s population is associated with the heavenly hosts. The latter theory would divide the large numbers by 100 and is quite an attractive proposition, though none of these theories quite explain everything. I don’t think this glitch undermines the authority of Scripture however. It really just points to the fact that our knowledge in translation and interpretation hasn’t turned up a definitive answer yet. Theologically it doesn’t make much difference.

The Nazirites (Chapter 6)

The Nazirites, by their unusual physical appearance and practices, were a symbolic reminder to other Israelites that they were an unusual chosen people, set aside for God’s purposes. Samson and John the Baptist would later become the most famous of these.

It occurs to me that, especially in Evangelical circles, we can overlook the significance and usefulness of symbols and visual reminders out of a fear that they may become objects of worship or spiritual dependence. I remember someone once saying that they thought graveyards were a good thing because they reminded people of their mortality. I have sometimes wondered what impact it might have on a community if all the Christians within it identified themselves with a cross or badge of some sort. It would show that there are more Christians around than people sometimes realise and I reckon that it would generate quite a number of useful conversations. It’s rather like going into a store and seeking out someone in the store’s uniform when you need help. Why not identify yourself and be available, especially if you are a church leader?

The Spirit (Chapter 11)

God’s Spirit seems to have been given either on special occasions or to specially chosen people. Moses’ desire: “I wish that all the LORD’s people were prophets and that the LORD would put his Spirit on them” (11:29) is fulfilled (the latter part anyway) through the Day of Pentecost in Acts 2.

The Nature of God and Punishment of the Children.

I will write something about God’s treatment of the inhabitants of Canaan, when I deal with Deuteronomy. But here I note in 14:17-18 that Moses declares, “The LORD is slow to anger , abounding in love and forgiving sin and rebellion. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished…”. A balanced view, best borne in mind for a balanced understanding of the Old Testament! A more difficult addition immediately follows as a repeat of Exodus 20:5 : “…he punishes the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation.” It appears to contradict a command in Deuteronomy 24:16, “Parents are not to be put to death for their children, nor children put to death for their parents…” I understand it to mean that the natural results of the sins of parents tend to perpetuate in following generations, who in those days were usually all living under the same roof at the same time. Parents who turn their back on God find that their children often follow suit and bring down the results of sin upon themselves. This can be seen in the period of the Kings of Israel, but in that same period we can see that some broke the mould and turned back to Yahweh. God responds positively to that! Notice too that Exodus 20:5-6 reserves judgement for three to four generations, but promises blessings to those who love God “to a thousand generations.”

The Bronze Snake 21:4-9

This incident is short but especially significant in that Jesus used it as a picture of the healing that he was to bring through his death on the cross (John 3:14-15). Looking at the snake was a response of faith but unfortunately this symbol became an object of worship (2 Kings 18:4). “Ha, you see! The danger of symbols!” you may be thinking. But then you can misuse just about anything, can’t you? (Take Gifts of the Spirit in the New Testament for example). It shouldn’t stop you using symbols in a useful way.

Balaam, the Donkey and the Blessing. 22-24

I sizeable chunk of text is given over to the story of Balaam. We remember the talking donkey part. I have no trouble believing that an almighty God could cause an animal to speak, though I would guess that some people would want to believe that this was Balaam’s mind being opened up out of shame for the way he had treated a faithful beast. In any event the important part of this account is the prophecy or blessing that Balaam is compelled to pronounce in spite of the pressure to curse Israel. The blessing reaffirms the status of Israel in God’s sight and their part in the Covenant promises given to Abraham. It even anticipates the monarchy (24:17-19)

In Conclusion

The book of Numbers is a catalogue of complaints by Israel and judgements against her. It wasn’t just that they were hungry or thirsty or afraid. It is because, having been set free and provided with ample evidence of the presence and power of Yahweh to provide for them, they wanted to go back to Egypt. They wanted to give it all away – the Covenant, the Promises, the future, everything! It serves as a stern warning to the Christian communities of the New Testament and the present day – Do not be like Israel was in the wilderness! (Hebrews 3:7-11, quoting Psalm 95).

The prize would be the Promised Land — eventually a place of completeness and rest.

“Rest” is one of the great Bible themes, linked to Sabbath. A generation of Israel would miss out on it because of unbelief. For Christians there is a “rest” in Christ which finds its fulfilment on the Last Day. Like the readers of Hebrews and Revelation, we are exhorted to hang in there. To continue in the Faith until the end.