We read in the previous account that God prepared
Samuel to choose Saul as the human king of Israel. “Tomorrow about this time
I will send to you a man from the land of Benjamin, and you shall anoint him to
be prince over my people Israel . . . When Samuel saw Saul, the Lord told him,
“Here is the man of whom I spoke to you”” (1 Samuel 9:16–17a, ESV). Saul is now presented as king.
The difficulties
of explaining God’s holy and sovereign work among responsible human agents
given a mind and a will is a difficult topic to wrap one’s head around. Theologians explain it in a category called The
Doctrine of Concurrence. As you can
see by the word concur, this
is an attempt to show how the sovereign will of God and the will of man can
both operate at the same time. “In essence, concurrence says that two or more parties can act in the
same event and produce a given outcome without all parties having the same
intent.”[1]
Concurrence helps explain how God can ordain evil and not be guilty of sin; and
God can ordain evil and judge the evildoers and not be guilty of injustice. The
event is the same but the purpose is different.
This is the theology behind the events at Mizpah.
“But today you have rejected your God,
who saves you from all your calamities and your distresses, and you have said
to him, ‘Set a king over us.’ Now therefore present yourselves before the Lord by your tribes and by your
thousands. . . “And Samuel said to all the people, “Do you see him whom
the Lord has chosen? There is none
like him among all the people.” And all the people shouted, “Long live the
king!”” (1 Samuel 10:19, 24, ESV)
Perhaps Saul
should have listened to his timidity of accepting this new position. Saul’s hiding among baggage is really
an insight into the character of the man.
He probably is less humble and more in keeping with what we will observe
in his leadership: fearful
and insecure. There is a huge difference
between humble confidence and fearful insecurity. Once Saul is presented to the people as king,
Samuel reminded the people of the regulations governing the conduct of kings
according to Deuteronomy
17:14–20; and then we read these words: “Then Samuel sent all the people
away, each one to his home.”[2] That’s the second time we read words
like this[3].
There is no more to be said. It
is fait accompli. The lot has been cast. The decision has been made.
As I
read these words I recall the finality of these words recorded by John: “Then after he had taken the morsel, Satan entered into him . . .
after receiving the morsel of bread, he immediately went out. And it was night.”
(John 13:27–30, ESV). One of the most presumptuous
things we can do is to assume God’s merciful sovereign grace. The Doctrine of
Concurrence affords us the hope that our wrong decisions may be turned for the
good in the kind will of God. But that
belong to His secret counsel. Many
people (even Christians) forget that there can be finality to the will of God,
also. “My Spirit shall not strive
with man forever . . . (Genesis 6:3a, NASB95). It is a fearful thing when people lean on
grace to support willful sin.
The inspired author
ends this passage with this observation: “But some
worthless fellows said, “How can this man save us?” And they despised him and
brought him no present. But he held his peace.” (1 Samuel 10:27, ESV). Their intentions were dishonoring, but their
question remains: “How can this man save us?”
He cannot. Israel will need to learn the profound lesson:
“Salvation belongs to the Lord
. . . ” (Psalm 3:8a, ESV)
[2] The Holy Bible:
English Standard Version. (2016). (1 Sa 10:25). Wheaton, IL:
Crossway Bibles.
[3] The Holy Bible:
English Standard Version. (2016). (1 Sa 8:22). Wheaton, IL:
Crossway Bibles.
No comments:
Post a Comment