Defeat is not Permanent

"And they cut off his head, and stripped off his armour, and sent into the land of the Philistines round about, to publish it in the house of their idols, and among the people.” (1Sa 31:9 AV)

 

Saul and his sons were killed in battle with the Philistines.  In response to their victory, they beheaded the royal family and exhibited their remains as a way to embarrass the rest of Israel.  When the battle turned against Israel they fled every one to his home.  The cities which were under siege were taken by the Philistines and occupied.  If I am Israel, I would be sorely discouraged that the remains of my king and his family are hung on a wall being eaten by scavengers and their heads displayed in the temple of a false god.  I would be extremely ashamed.  If my leader was laid out in open shame, I think I might want to hide as well.  The laying out of the remains of the king and his sons was more than a declaration of victory.  It was taunting.  It was a flaunting of their success and Israel’s failure.  It was meant to imply God was no longer with them and the Philistines were the superior nation.  What they failed to consider, and a fact they knew, was David waited in the wings to take that throne.  Israel’s defeat and the Philistines' success were only temporary.

March madness is soon upon us.  A time when Men’s college basketball squares off to determine who the best college team in the nation might be crowned.  This past weekend was championship weekend.  At least for several conferences.  We sat and watch the second half of a minor conference championship game.  I cannot remember the two teams.  In fact, we tuned in the last thirty seconds of the game.  There was a three-point difference.  With twenty-seven seconds left, the losing team drove the court, and with one point seven seconds left, shot and made a three-pointer.  There was an immediate time-out called.  Then another.  Then another.  Over that time, the broadcast scanned to the team that had just scored to send this game into eminent overtime.  They zoomed in on the player who made the shot.  They showed other players congratulating him.  They panned in on the coaching staff devising what overtime would look like.  They showed the team that had just made that shot jumping up and down in anticipation of another five minutes of play.  The problem was, there were still 1.7 seconds left.  Something told me they were celebrating a bit too prematurely.  The time remaining was as minimal as it could be.  I was not blaming them for thinking the game was going into overtime.  The thing is, there were still 1.7 seconds left on the clock.  The team that had led inbounded the ball with only two seconds left on the ten-second countdown.  The pass was a slow bounce pass.  It went to the best shooter who received the pass at half court, dribbled once, and threw the ball up one-handed.  The shot hit the backboard and went in.  Defeat was only temporary.  Failure was only temporary.

Over the ensuing years, if the LORD tarries, things may feel like God’s side is losing.  We may lose more and more of the ability to practice our faith as we once did.  The world may strive to make us feel embarrassed over who and what we are.  They may take away more and more liberty.  They may insist we accept their definitions of morality or righteousness even if the Bible is clearly contrary.  We know this to be true.  Peter tells us persecution is normal.  It is part and parcel of being a child of God.  There is nothing that will ever change.  That is until Jesus comes.  Like David waiting in the wings, our LORD and Savior is waiting for our Heavenly Father to say the time is up.  The time for His return is now.  We are waiting for our King of Kings to come to avenge the blood of the elect.  Until then, we have to deal with defeat.  But defeat is not permanent.  It is only temporary.