In the last blog post I quote Augustine of the problem of evil. He wrote, “Great is the work of God, exquisite in all he wills! so that, in a
manner wondrous and ineffable, that is not done without his will which is done
contrary to it, because it could not be done if he did not permit; nor does he
permit it unwillingly, but willingly; nor would He who is good permit evil to
be done, were he not omnipotent to bring good out of evil.”[1]
Sometimes God wills, what He doesn’t will, to bring to pass his
will. The choosing of a human king for
Israel was an example of this. A better
example was the Cross of Christ. Indeed
God ordained the cruel and inhumane suffering of His own Son, that all who come
to Him in faith might have eternal life.[2]
Samuel outlines the consequences for the sinful choice of
Israel – a choice that God willed to happen.
Israel cannot blame God. No! This
was the wilful choice of moral agents.
So what will happen? “A
king would: 1) draft young men and women for his service (vv. 11–13); 2) tax
the people’s crops and flocks (vv. 14, 15, 17a); 3) appropriate the best of
their animals and servants (v. 16); and 4) place limitations on their personal
freedom (v. 17b).”[3]
But I find the most disturbing consequence was this: “And in that day you will cry out
because of your king, whom you have chosen for yourselves, but the Lord will
not answer you in that day.”” (1 Samuel 8:18, ESV). Can
you imagine it? It is an indescribable
thing to wilfully sin against God; but to do it in the sure and certain
knowledge that there can be no respite from their sin; that God will not answer
their cries, who can imagine?
One might
think that they would change their mind, but on the contrary. “But the people refused to obey the
voice of Samuel. And they said, “No! But there shall be a king over us, that we
also may be like all the nations, and that our king may judge us and go out
before us and fight our battles.”” (1 Samuel 8:19–20, ESV)
God heard their stubborn, rebellious affirmation, but Samuel
repeated it to the Lord (v). And God
said, “Obey their voice and make them a king.”[4] [emphasis mine]
Today, I am captivated by the insanity of their choice. They wanted a king that would “go before
[them] and fight [their] battles” (v20). What a horrid exchange. A human king, sinful, limited, dependent on
God for his very breath instead of the eternal, sovereign, omnipotent God who said
to Israel, “You shall not
fear them, for it is the Lord your God who fights for you.’” (Deuteronomy 3:22, ESV)
No wonder the writer of the Proverbial literature calls such
immoral defiance, foolish (Proverbs
1:7). No wonder those that live like
atheists are called fools (Psalm
14:1).
The irony is that, to the fool, God’s way is foolishness.
“The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing.” (1
Corinthians 1:18,23). The gospel seems to be foolishness to the
unsaved because it doesn’t make sense to them. Like Israel, “fools” think that
man can save them but the Bible is quite clear, “And there is salvation in no one else, for
there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.””
(Acts 4:12, ESV).
To rely on man to save himself, the
consequences are far worse than what Samuel enumerated for Israel. It is insanity to not place your trust in
Christ.
[3] MacArthur, J., Jr. (Ed.). (1997). The MacArthur Study
Bible (electronic ed., p. 388). Nashville, TN: Word Pub.
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