Motive Erases Reproach

“They that were full have hired out themselves for bread; and they that were hungry ceased: so that the barren hath born seven; and she that hath many children is waxed feeble.” (1Sa 2:5 AV)

This is part of Hannah’s prayer of praise for the LORD’s goodness to her.  The LORD heard her prayer and opened her womb.  The LORD was gracious in giving Samuel who was lent to the LORD.  Because Hannah honored her vow and surrendered Samuel to the service of the tabernacle when he turned three or four, the LORD opened her womb again and gave three sons and two daughters. One of the results of God blessing her with a child is the reproach leveled towards her by Pininnah, Elkanah’s other wife.  Pinannah had children by Elkanah.  Hannah had none.  Every year they would ascend to Shiloh to worship.  Every year the allotment of sacrifice was a reminder to Hannah she was barren.  Every year Pinannah would remind her.  What is remarkable is Hannah did not need to match Pinannah child for child for the reproach to be lifted and all the air burst from Pinannah’s balloon.  All that was needed was God’s hand of blessing on her and all the reproach ceased.

What was the difference?  We know the prayer above was spoken before Hannah giving birth to all her children.  She stated she was going to have seven children, yet the Bible only speaks of six.  We surmise this prayer was authored and spoken immediately after the birth of Samuel.  Before any realization of greater blessing from God.  So, why is all her reproach taken away after the birth of only one child?  Why wouldn’t her reproach from Pininnah be tied to the number of children and not just that she had children?  Think of Rachel and Leah.  They were in constant competition to have more children for Jacob than the other.  So what is different here?  I think the difference here is motive.  There is no record of how may children Pininnah bore.  First Samuel chapter one and verse four simply tells us she had sons and daughters.  There was no total given.  Yet, when it came to Hannah, we see a total given.  At the time of the writing, she had born seven.  Again, why the difference?  A question can be asked.   What was the motive of Pinannah and Hannah when it came to bearing children?  It seems, due to Pinannah’s treatment of Hannah, her motive was simply to bear more children.  She saw her ability to bear children and the sole definition of her worth.  On the other hand, Hannah’s motive seemed to be the glory of God.  She promised her firstborn to the service of the LORD if the LORD would be good to her.  Her motive was God’s glory, not her own.

If our concern is God’s glory first, then it won’t matter how someone else’s ‘success’ may appear.  If someone seems to be a better soul-winner, it won’t matter because when we go out, we do so for the glory of God.  If someone seems to be a better preacher, teacher, bus worker, etc, it won’t matter because we do what we do unto the LORD.  If we are reproached for our shortcomings by someone who seems more attune, it won’t matter because we are doing what we are doing as unto the LORD.  Hannah could always look towards the tabernacle and be pleased her son was there, serving the LORD.  When the family went up year by year to offer their sacrifice, Hannah could look upon the goodness of the LORD in the person of Samuel.  Something Pininnah could not do.  So, the next time an adversary gives you a hard time because she thinks you are not reaching your potential, just remember, you serve the LORD first.  As long as He is pleased and your motive is to honor Him, it really doesn’t matter what someone else says or the standard by which they judge.  This is why Hannah’s reproach was lifted and the one that had many children waxed feeble.

According To Thy Faith

“The LORD recompense thy work, and a full reward be given thee of the LORD God of Israel, under whose wings thou art come to trust.” (Ru 2:12 AV)

These words are the words of Naomi to Ruth as Ruth returns with modest gains from her time gleaning with the women of Boaz.  Ruth is an amazing person.  After marrying, and then widowed, from Naomi’s son, she decides to return to Israel with her rather than to return to her own father’s house.  Returning to her father’s house would have been the expectation at the time.  She would return and await a new husband.  However, Ruth the Moabitess returns with her mother-in-law to care for her.  Ruth had fallen in love with Naomi’s son and her son’s God.  She came to trust God more than Naomi’s husband did.  Ruth’s father-in-law fled Israel because of famine.  Naomi’s words to Ruth are similar to what Christ said to two blind men whom he healed along the way.  “According to your faith be it unto you.” (Mt 9:29 KJB). 

Spontaneous people either have a lot of faith, or they are a bit wanting in the brains department.  Perhaps a little of both.  Initially, they may lack judgment and smart for it later.  However, these types of people are also more apt to enjoy life because they have far more faith than others.  They simply do not allow their brains to overrule their faith.  This is Ruth.  No doubt she thought her decision all the way through.  It would have been safer to return to her father’s house.  It would have been more familiar.  It would have been the prudent thing to do.  Of course, that would leave out the fact she returns to a house that worshipped false gods.  On the other hand, she returns to Israel as a Gentile widow who was caring for her mother-in-law; also a widow.  There were no guarantees.  They would suffer great poverty.  However, she learned to trust the God of Naomi as her own.  We don’t know how this happened.  But we do know she called God ‘the LORD’ and not ‘her (Naomi’s) LORD.  This faith resulted in Ruth industriousness.  It was observed by the reapers Ruth was the first to arrive and the last to leave.  They may the remark she rarely tarried at home.  It was the faith and humility which Boaz saw and rewarded.  This is the faith to which Naomi refers above.

James the Apostle said, “Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.” (Jas 2:18 AV) Faith manifests itself by actions.  A faith that produces no results is not a faith that is alive.  God asks that we trust Him.  We show that trust by expressing it.  Somehow, someway, faith works itself out in what we do.  It works itself out in how we are.  It works itself out in disposition or action.  Otherwise, faith is dead, being alone.  God honors faith above all else.  With it, that is faith, it is impossible to please God.  It is faith that separates mankind from all other created beings.  It is faith, and the measure thereof, which God rewards.  This is Naomi’s point to Ruth.  Ruth trusted the LORD to do the right thing and return with Naomi.  Ruth trusted the LORD as she followed Naomi’s suggestion she gleans with Boaz.  Ruth labored hard.  She never quit.  She hung in there because she believed a God who visited her in the deserts of Moab by the hand of her kind mother-in-law.  This Ruth was blessed because she came to trust in the one true God.  We can be as well.

Almost Gone

“And say, How have I hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof; And have not obeyed the voice of my teachers, nor inclined mine ear to them that instructed me! I was almost in all evil in the midst of the congregation and assembly.” (Pr 5:12-14 AV)

I finished reading the book of Judges this morning.  Every time I read it, it disturbs the soul.  The account is given of a concubine who is sexually abused for an entire night, resulting in her death.  The husband of this concubine cuts her body up into twelve pieces and sends her remains among the twelve tribes of Israel. The nation requires the city of this crime to give up the guilty parties.  They refuse, so a civil war ensues wherein the guilty tribe is almost completely exterminated.  Whenever I read this account, the depth of depravity disturbs me.  How could a nation fall that far?  But you know what?  This happens daily in our beloved nation.  Hundreds of times a day, some poor young lady is abused and murdered.  It is so commonplace, our sensitivities are no longer stirred.  What happened?  How did we fall this far?  The answer is above.

The immediate context of the above passage is a man guilty of adultery.  Solomon is warning his son that if he goes down that road, it may very well lead to a life that is completely enveloped in sin.  Especially of the immorality is a habit of life.  This wickedness leads to all sorts of other wickedness.  Hollywood likes to portray promiscuity as a light thing.  They ignore the natural consequences of such a lifestyle.  They never tell you that living that way leads to all sorts of problems.  But again, how did we get this way?  The answer is above.

When a person or people completely ignore wisdom, it is bound to end up in unabated wickedness.  When a people or person completely ignores instruction and becomes callous towards reproof, there is little hope.  The hypothetical young man above has almost fallen in every area of life he possibly can fall.  No wonder our nation is in the mess we witness today.  We have rejected our Judeo-Christian heritage in favor of an evolutionary humanism that rejects all moral absolutes.  What is tremendously interesting with our current concern over the Wuhan Flu is how deeply our foundation lies.  If we are truly a secular nation that believes science over truth, then why are we so against the effects of the Wuhan flu?  Isn’t this nature’s way of enforcing the survival of the fittest?  We have ignored our teachers.  We have closed our ears to reproof.  Not we face an unseen enemy and all of a sudden we have found our core values.  The value of life.  The value of the individual.  The moral imperative to preserve life.  Yet we kill babies.  We are a schizophrenic society.  We are almost totally consumed with evil because we reject the teachers of the Bible which founded our nation and define our culture.  And we wonder why things are as bad as they are.

Can't Take Notice

“And she said, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he awoke out of his sleep, and said, I will go out as at other times before, and shake myself. And he wist not that the LORD was departed from him.” (Jud 16:20 AV)

This verse is one that oft times troubles me.  It troubles me because Samson digressed to the point he couldn’t realize God’s hand was no longer on him.  The Nazarite vow required three abstentions.  The Nazarite could not touch anything to do with the fruit of the vine.  Samson failed in that he went down to the vineyards of Eschol.  He may not have partaken of the fruit of the vine, but he did transverse through them.  That is where he violated the second requirement.  He killed a lion.  On his way back through the vineyard, he ate honey found in the carcass of the lion he killed.  The second requirement was he touch no dead thing.  The third and last occurs in our passage.  The Nazarite was to allow his hair to grow.  He was not to set a razor upon his head or face.  Delilah enticed Samson to reveal this secret and consequently was shaven in the middle of the night.  All three requirements for the Nazarite vow were violated.  Now here is where it bothers me a bit.  Samson didn’t notice.  It never occurred to him that God’s hand was not on him.  He never stopped to think his actions meant no power of God.  He assumed it was always there so when it wasn’t, he couldn’t discern God’s absence.

I have worn facial hair for the better part of my adult life.  I started when I was fifteen.  A mustache was the beginning.  For most of those years, I had a goatee.  Once in a while, a full beard was the style.  However, when fall time hits and my allergies rear up, I find myself shaving clean and leaving it that way for about a month.  It keeps my face from breaking out.  If anyone has ever done that, you know it feels really strange.  For almost half a day or more, your face feels really funny.  I would know it if I woke up with all my facial hair gone.  I wouldn’t need a mirror.  I could tell without feeling my face.  The cold air would make my face feel naked.  What if someone shaved my head?  If I woke up and found my hair was all gone.  I think I would notice without the need for viewing my reflection.  It wouldn’t take someone else’s comment for me to realize something was different.  The cool air on my bald head would immediately tell me something was missing and things were different.

Which brings me back to Samson.  What would possess him to get to a point there would be a disconnect between his missing hair and the hand of God?  Delilah specifically asked him what it was that gave him his supernatural strength.   The fact he only mentions his hair goes to prove he was aware he violated the other two requirements.  Otherwise, he would have mentioned those, too.  Even after he rehearsed to Delilah and his own mind that his hair was the last of the three Nazarite vows he must keep, it never occurred to him that once that vow was broken, God would remove His hand.  What was the disconnect?  We may never know.  We can make some guesses and therein make an application.  Could it be that Samson believed his purpose in defeating the Philistines was greater than the vow and as long as he was pursuing that purpose, the vow was secondary?  Sort of like we believe the call to serve God is greater than the need for a testimony!  What if Samson misunderstood the cumulative nature of the vow?  Perhaps he thought since he violated some and his strength remained, there was something to exercising liberty that overrode the vow.  In other words, he saw no end to God’s grace.  Or, perhaps he never attributed all his might to the hand of God and therefore, never truly saw God’s hand to begin with.  Hard to miss something one never realized in the first place.  Whatever the reason, Samson got to the place in his life that when God’s hand left him, he didn’t even notice.  How sad.

Why Even Go There?

“Then went Samson down, and his father and his mother, to Timnath, and came to the vineyards of Timnath: and, behold, a young lion roared against him.” (Jud 14:5 AV)

Samson is a great example of a carnal Christian.  Samson had a way of pushing the envelope.  He had a way of getting as close to the forbidden as he could and even falling to it.  Yet God used his carnality for His glory.  As a Jew, he would have been forbidden to marry a Gentile Philistine.  The question is, what brought him down to that area, to begin with?  Could it have been the vineyards?  The word of the LORD specifically forbade Samson from having anything to do with the fruit of the vine.  According to Numbers chapter six and verses three through four, the vow of separation forbade any consumption or use of the vine or any part of the vine.  He could not consume dried fruit, husk or even shell.  So, to ask the question again, what was he doing going down to the vineyards?  If every aspect of the fruit of the vine is forbidden, why even go there.  Note what resulted from it.  An unfaithful Gentile wife and a lion that threatened his life.  Getting as close to the world as one can always result in unforeseen residual consequences that compromise one’s spiritual walk with God.

There is a saying.  “If you get to close to the fire, your clothes might burn.”  One does not need to touch the flame for the heat to inflict its damage.  This is because of what is known as kindling temperature.  The temperature in which a material bursts into flame without the need for an open flame.  Have you ever experimented with this natural force?  It is so cool.  Have you ever placed a combustible material on a stick or perhaps hold it with tongs as close to a flame as you could without touching the flame?  Then you watch it as it begins to turn color.  Soon after, it bursts into flame.  It is even more fascinating as the mad scientist experiments with distance from the flame.  How far from the heat source can one hold the material and still achieve kindling temperature?  When I worked at the plastics factory, I had to know the temperature at which the plastic could combust.  It was six hundred and thirty degrees.  The extruder and formers had to be monitored closely.  Otherwise, the material could combust under high pressure and that would not have been good!  We don’t have to touch temptation for it to affect us.  Getting close enough will result in the same.

Samson and Lot are types of the carnal church.  It is what we are experiencing today.  Liberty is misunderstood and pragmatism is the theology of today.  We are all guilty of it.  Separation is a dirty word.  We live to see how close we can be to the world and not how far from it we can flee.  Samson was so far removed from where he needed to be that he “wist not that the LORD was departed from him.”  He couldn’t even recognize the Holy Spirit had left his ministry.  The only success he had; the killing of the Philistines at a party; was mostly done in the flesh.  Much of what we call ministry today is accomplished in the flesh.  The power of the Holy Spirit has long been absent.  If we don’t think getting close to the world does any harm, just remember Samson had two wives.  The first left him for a friend of his.  She left him for someone else in the wedding party.  The second wife betrayed him to her people resulting in his death.  How’s that for consequences of compromise?  Well, someone might say, that is an isolated incident.  Is it, really?  Let us consider the first such incident.  Adam and Eve were told to refrain from eating from the tree of knowledge of good and evil.  So why go near it?  Had they noted where it was and avoided it like the plague, we wouldn’t be where we are today.  Getting as close to temptation and one can leads to the eventual fall therein.

Learning to Love Learning

“When wisdom entereth into thine heart, and knowledge is pleasant unto thy soul; Discretion shall preserve thee, understanding shall keep thee:” (Pr 2:10-11 AV)

In order to mature into a person that exhibits wisdom, it begins with a love for knowledge.  We have to love learning.  Principles and truths do not come by osmosis.  We cannot place a book under our pillow as we retire for the night and expect to wake in the morning with unbridled knowledge.  I have noticed there are certain school subjects that are enjoyed by some but despised by others.  There may be a student who loves math but hates English.  Another may have a passion for history while enduring science.  Then some love lunch and recess and pretty much hate everything else.  The point is, we love what interests us.  The believer is no different.  There are those who love to study doctrine.  Some consume prophecy.  Others may love more practical subjects.  The thing is, we have to love learning.  Knowledge must be pleasant to the soul.  Without knowledge, there are no facts that lead to discretion and understanding.  We cannot cherry-pick what interests us and what does not.  We must love all knowledge.  We have to allow for all knowledge to be pleasant to the soul.

As a child, my father required that we learn music.  He started us out on the piano.  After a year of hammering away at it, he allowed us to pick our own instrument.  The majority of us chose the guitar.  One brother chose the banjo.  Another still the bass.  A sister chose the flute or clarinet.  I can’t remember which.  Another got an exemption and choose the tambourine. LOL Love you sis!  The process of learning was not an enjoyable one.  We were required to practice thirty minutes a day.  No exceptions.  Some of the chords were easy.  Some were difficult.  I broke my wrist as a youngster and it made it difficult to form some of those chords.  Bar chords were impossible.  The more I fought it, the harder it was to learn.  I didn’t believe knowledge was pleasant to my soul.  I saw learning as a chore to be checked off rather than something to enjoy.  So, like many young people being asked to do something they didn’t want to do, I fought it.  To his credit, my father never let us relax.  He pushed and pushed.  Today, I am glad he did!  Forty years later, I can pick up a guitar and am proficient enough to play.  This also prepped me to have pleasure in learning the mandolin.  Picking it up and playing the basics only took a few months.  The difference was a more mature spirit in loving to learn.

Too much time is spent on entertainment and leisure.  We are not learning because we do not love to learn.  Learning is boring.  At least that is the excuse that we give.  Learning is fun.  Learning is growing.  Learning is attaining facts so that we can understand how those facts work together.  Once we learn how those facts or skills work together, we can exercise those skills learned and express who we are by accomplishing something.  It has to start with a love for learning.  Reading a book is foreign to most.  We would rather watch a YouTube video than to do the harder work of reading.  Remember the generation that watched things on TV that taught us rather than entertain?  The after school PSA’s helped many children learn things they struggle with while in day school.  Learning is a privilege.  Learning is a joy.  The older I get and the harder it becomes to learn, it occurs to me that when the LORD teaches us, it is a treasure.  Every time we open the word of God and learn something new, it is pure joy.  Every time we hear the word of God preached and we learn a new truth it is joy unspeakable.  Never stop learning.  Study to shew thyself approved.  Memorize the word of God.  Place it in the heart.  Then God will bless your choices.  Learn of God in a way that you never knew of Him before.  Open the mind to all things divine and knowledge shall be pleasant to the soul.

What Others See in You

“Then Zebah and Zalmunna said, Rise thou, and fall upon us: for as the man is, so is his strength. And Gideon arose, and slew Zebah and Zalmunna, and took away the ornaments that were on their camels’ necks.” (Jud 8:21 AV)

Zebah and Zalmunna were kings of Midian.  The Midianites had enslaved the people of Israel because they went after strange gods.  The LORD raised up Gideon to deliver them from the hands of the Midianites.  God gave Gideon victory at the battlefield, but he had to chase down these two kings.  Now captured, Gideon ordered a young man to arise and slay these two kings as justice for all they had done.  Unfortunately, the lad was too young.  He didn’t have the disposition of a grown man.  Therefore, we see the request of these two kings for Gideon to be their executioner.  This request was a request for mercy.  They wanted a quick death.  We can look at it from a slightly different angle.  The two kings made an observation that benefited themselves.  But it was an honest observation.  Gideon was more than he thought he was.  More than he gave himself credit for.  Perhaps this is what the LORD meant when he told Gideon to, “go in this thy strength.”  Others saw in Gideon what he could not see in himself.  Something obvious and plain to all.

To be clear, Gideon did not delegate the execution of these two kings to a youth because he didn’t think he could do it.  Rather, it was an opportunity for this young man to mature into a soldier.  It was also an open show of disrespect towards the two kings.  The statement was they were nothing if a youth could slay them.  Having said that, the statement of these two men did have a ring of truth to it.  They didn’t ask for any other to kill them.  They didn’t ask for a swordsman who was larger than Gideon to wheeled the sword.  They ask for the one whom they considered the noblest of all – Gideon.  They asked for Gideon to be their executioner out of respect for him and what it would mean if the leader took their life rather than an underling.  In short, their statement was one of truth and respect.  A statement before all who followed Gideon that Gideon was the rightful leader and worthy of respect.  This had to be humbling to Gideon.  Like Moses, Gideon was the reluctant ruler.  When given an opportunity to rule over his brethren in Shechem, he declined.  He would not allow his sons to take that responsibility as well.  He stated (and rightfully so) that God was their king.  Not a man.  This reluctancy to lead served him well in keeping him from pride.  It served him well.  On the other hand, a leader cannot run from leadership his entire life.  Otherwise, he is not a leader. 

There comes a time when he must lead because others recognize it.  As the two kings who were about to lose their lives recognized the leadership of Gideon, others did too.  If God calls you to lead, then lead.  Lead in the lane which He has assigned.  Do not seek another’s lane.  If your marathon is not the fasted or the one with the most honor, so be it.  Don’t settle for the one farthest removed either.  Unless that is the lane that the LORD has assigned.  Be willing to see in yourself what others see.  That is the workmanship of God.  The truth is, our definition of leadership is not formed by what we think of ourselves.  It is not even determined solely by what others think of us.  It is established by fact.  God has given a measure of strength and that measure is the definition of our leadership.  As a man is, so is his strength.