Day 6

STRANGE ACTS

"Stand up now like a man and answer my questions. Are you trying to prove that I am unjust - to put me in the wrong and yourself in the right? Job 40:7,8 (Today's English Version)

A s you study the books of Samuel you may find some of the things recorded there puzzling and surprising. While the sins of the leading characters are not excused but forthrightly condemned and their consequences clearly spelt out; there are many other acts which go without comment: polygamy (2 Sam. 2:2; 15:16), plunder and slaughter (1 Sam. 27:8,9), deception (1 Sam. 21:12-15) amongst them. Furthermore God is depicted as bringing about evil (2 Sam. 24:1,10; 12:11), ordering actions we find reprehensible (1 Sam. 15:3) and punishing many for one man's sin (2 Sam. 24:14,17). What are we to make of these difficulties?

We should notice that the sinful acts which go uncondemned are equally not commended. Indeed we see the consequences of those mistakes in the lives of those men (Gal. 6:7). When God acts directly to point out and punish particular sins it is a sign that something very important to his plan is at stake, and we should take careful note!

When considering the strange acts ascribed to God in 1st and 2nd Samuel we should remember two things. Firstly, because God is sovereign over all, with the power to change anything, he is often described as responsible for events which he did not directly cause (1 Sam. 2:25; 6:19; 16:15; 2 Sam. 6:2,3). Secondly, where the author of Samuel sees God's action he may not be right, compare 2 Sam. 24:1 with 1 Chron 21:1 for example.

Ultimately, when faced with our inability to comprehend God's actions in history we must admit that he is beyond our understanding (Isaiah 55:8,9) and rely on what we know to be true of him (John 3:16).
"O Lord, thou art my God; I will exalt thee, I will praise thy name; for thou hast done wonderful things; thy counsels of old are faithfulness and truth."