with everything going on in the world...and in our own private lives...this was a very timely message from At Gods Table - by Skip Moen Curtain Call by Skip Moen, D. Phil. Therefore He killed him and turned the kingdom to David the son of Jesse. 1 Chronicles 10:14b NASB Killed – Saul died at his own hand, but YHVH killed him. Does this bother you? Are you ready to serve and worship a God who kills disobedient people? Does that sound more like Allah than the God of Israel? Our cultural ideas about the character of God often interfere with an appreciation for the complexity of the real God of Israel. We don’t like to think of God as the One who kills Saul (or quite a few others). We like to think of God as that benevolent great grandfather handing out blessings and rewards. We easily adopt the God of love. We’re not so sure about the God of wrath. But the Scriptures don’t lie. In a rare peek behind the phenomenological curtain, we discover that even though Saul committed suicide, YHVH takes the responsibility for killing him. What appeared to be death by deliberate choice turns out to be capital punishment for crimes against the Lord. What you see is not always what you get. Hebrew is an observer’s language. It records the way things appear. It’s not in-depth analysis or “behind the scenes” reporting. It’s just the way things look to a bystander. But once in awhile Hebrew pulls back the curtain and we get a glimpse of the inner workings of our world. We see what God is doing invisibly through the hands of men. In this case, we see that God is behind the suicide of Saul. That might not sit easily with us because we are used to having the curtain closed. When the curtain is closed, we see only what is before our eyes. We see a man who disobeys. We see a man who is trapped. We see a man who thinks he has no way out. We see a man who falls on his own sword. What we don’t see is God’s orchestration of all these events. Until Scripture pulls back the curtain, we are unaware of the divine design. But perhaps we should be. Saul’s death is not an accident, nor is it a voluntary choice. Somehow God is involved in this tragedy, this execution. We wouldn’t know this unless He told us, but that’s probably because we are so naïve about God’s involvement in our lives. If we look behind the curtain, don’t you suppose we would find that God’s handiwork is everywhere? Of course, we can’t guess. Unless He tells us, we won’t know. But we might suspect that if God is orchestrating Saul’s “suicide,” He just might be choreographing our little lives as well. What do you think? Is that possible? Can you imagine it? A few weeks ago I was suddenly struck by the confluence of several different lives coming together at just the right moment. Taken individually, not one of these people was aware of the greater plan. Each followed his own agenda, doing what he thought was best. But without knowing anything about the others, when it was all said and done, each person fell into place together so that precisely what was needed was accomplished. Coincidence? No, I don’t think so. Behind the scenes was a plan, put into place months before anyone even realized the serendipity of the situation. Maybe you need to ask the Lord for a curtain call. Just a brief glimpse at the plan that has been going on before you even thought about it. Maybe you might be surprised.
Posted on: Fri, 22 Aug 2014 15:13:42 +0000