Telling a tale
This week is on 1 Samuel 16:1-5:
This week is on lying and some of the extreme positions people have on it. Some people don't believe it's wrong if the end justifies the means, and others don't believe it's right even if your life depends on it. I tend to be more like the second kind. I've seen lying do more harm than good in relationships and in my community. Once someone gets in the habit of lying, it's difficult for people to fully trust them.
Still, God basically instructed Samuel to lie. He went into Bethlehem under the pretences of offering a sacrifice, not anointing David as king. How is that different?
When God sent Samuel, he sent him to overthrow the government. Saul was a popular king who had won many battles, but he wasn't a man of God anymore. God had new plans for Israel, and that needed someone who would listen. If Samuel had said to the people of Bethlehem, "I am here to topple the current government and install a new one," Saul would have found out and killed him, if his supporters didn't stone poor Samuel to death first.
That's not the same thing as telling the police officer you haven't been drinking, or telling your business partner's husband that you're going to a convention so that you can commit adultery with her. This is God-directed, with God's purpose in mind, and it's unique to the situation. Are you lying to hide your sin, or are you lying by telling a story God told you to tell? It's a distinction only you know the answer to.
The lesson here is that nothing is outside of God's playbook. Sometimes the way he accomplishes things is shocking to our sensibilities. He's sent people to lie, to steal, and to commit genocide, and yet still is fully loving of us as his people. What's important is that these things come from him and his plan when they're done and not from us trying to be helpful or innovative in our tactics. And you'll probably find that they're mentioned less often than supernatural miracles.
The world is a rough place with rough people in it. God is more than capable of handling those people and those circumstances. Don't try to do his job for him. Seek his company and find his plan.
The LORD said to Samuel, “How long will you mourn for Saul, since I have rejected him as king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil and be on your way; I am sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem. I have chosen one of his sons to be king.”
But Samuel said, “How can I go? If Saul hears about it, he will kill me.”
The LORD said, “Take a heifer with you and say, ‘I have come to sacrifice to the LORD.’ Invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what to do. You are to anoint for me the one I indicate.”
Samuel did what the LORD said. When he arrived at Bethlehem, the elders of the town trembled when they met him. They asked, “Do you come in peace?”
Samuel replied, “Yes, in peace; I have come to sacrifice to the LORD. Consecrate yourselves and come to the sacrifice with me.” Then he consecrated Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice.
This week is on lying and some of the extreme positions people have on it. Some people don't believe it's wrong if the end justifies the means, and others don't believe it's right even if your life depends on it. I tend to be more like the second kind. I've seen lying do more harm than good in relationships and in my community. Once someone gets in the habit of lying, it's difficult for people to fully trust them.
Still, God basically instructed Samuel to lie. He went into Bethlehem under the pretences of offering a sacrifice, not anointing David as king. How is that different?
When God sent Samuel, he sent him to overthrow the government. Saul was a popular king who had won many battles, but he wasn't a man of God anymore. God had new plans for Israel, and that needed someone who would listen. If Samuel had said to the people of Bethlehem, "I am here to topple the current government and install a new one," Saul would have found out and killed him, if his supporters didn't stone poor Samuel to death first.
That's not the same thing as telling the police officer you haven't been drinking, or telling your business partner's husband that you're going to a convention so that you can commit adultery with her. This is God-directed, with God's purpose in mind, and it's unique to the situation. Are you lying to hide your sin, or are you lying by telling a story God told you to tell? It's a distinction only you know the answer to.
The lesson here is that nothing is outside of God's playbook. Sometimes the way he accomplishes things is shocking to our sensibilities. He's sent people to lie, to steal, and to commit genocide, and yet still is fully loving of us as his people. What's important is that these things come from him and his plan when they're done and not from us trying to be helpful or innovative in our tactics. And you'll probably find that they're mentioned less often than supernatural miracles.
The world is a rough place with rough people in it. God is more than capable of handling those people and those circumstances. Don't try to do his job for him. Seek his company and find his plan.
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