Why is this president and administration in office? How could he allow this to happen? Why are so many being left to be imprisoned and killed? Policies? Etc. etc. etc. The questions are all over the place – coming from every direction – so many looking for answers…
Our minds, Social Media, the News, Neighbors, Friends, Family, and the list goes on are dealing with anger, resentment, frustration, upheaval, division and so much more as a result of the events over the last two weeks. There seems to be a lack of leadership, lack of morality, lack of stability, lack of unity, lack of Godliness, lack of …” wait – I was talking about American Society and the church – and you thought I was talking about our government.
As the old adage goes, in a Democracy – you get what you asked for. It is why God set up His Kingdom, wanted Israel to live in it – His way, as an example to the nations. It is why He demonstrated it through instruction, captivity, and exiles – and allowed Israel to exist in a democratic free society for only a short time throughout the book of Judges. The rest of the time they existed in a Monarchy, in Exile, in Captivity, and scattered throughout the nations. Interesting, God knew before the sands of time and space this would be the case. He knew man was broken and could not govern morally for very long… Just read Chronicles 1 & 2 to prove that point.
In that design, left to our own devices, in our style of government, we could only exist in a society which was moral and feared God. (summarized from, of all people, Benjamin Franklin – not a Believer) … I write this as the Taliban are going house to house, executing families, and I have heard and seen the screams of those in peril, and I will never forget…nor the lives of our service members who were forgotten in our halls of government.
We have allowed the reigns of society to loosen to the point which now the horses are controlling the direction of the stagecoach, and we are along for the ride. The first thing horses are guided by is fear, usually from being startled, then chaos because they have no guidance system – as their adrenals kick in and they run for as long and hard as possible. America – as a whole, is in this stagecoach, and there is no stopping it without collateral damage. It is where we are. Fear has gripped more Believers in one season more than I have ever seen – and I remember the nuclear bomb tests as a kid in the early 70s. This is nothing like that – The fear of death alone is immense, as we have a virus without precaution that can be threatening in a minor few, but yet there are also protocols conventionally which do not work and create a passageway to destruction (Proverbs 14:12). My opinion, and much evidence to support it.
Now with policies which daily are being enacted; and they are as a result of anti-Biblical values – we face a day in which we will not be able to just sit back and watch any longer. The Gospel needs to be preached – in the church and outside of it. I have been and are constantly asked if I think the election was stolen – how it could have happened that way, and the like – and so I am going to give you what I feel like is a word from the Lord on this – which He gave to me – pertaining to a question I asked of Him. You probably will not like it, because we think, as Americans, the fate of direction in this nation is completely in our hands – Well I am here to tell you that God is sovereign – and there is nothing you can do about it.
I spent one night about a month ago crying out to God for our nation – and with this in mind – knowing He is sovereign over all things – Daniel 2:20-22 says, “…Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, for wisdom and power belong to Him. He changes the times and seasons; He removes kings and establishes them. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning. He reveals the deep and hidden things; He knows what lies in darkness, and light dwells with Him.…” This passage ran over my mind time and time again. It in no way says the people are the ones who enthrone a leader. People are vessels, they are factors, they play a role – But if we believe God’s Word, then every King established in Israel and Judah was His design…We must believe that in spite of a few righteous, He still establishes nations which are made to stand, and nations which are in a season doomed to fail. I am not saying either of those for the United States right now, all I am saying is that the Sovereignty of God is at work, and we need to consider this in the construct of our minds, and how this nation establishes leadership and policy.
In fact, when Israel demanded a King – It was still the prophetic act of Samuel, hearing the voice of God which determined WHO it was to be. Because it is He who sets national leadership in place, we have to understand this sovereign aspect must be accepted. We all wondered how this could happen with 81 million votes – do you think God was surprised? – then the question becomes – well, could He allow a defeat via purported dishonesty which would send an unrighteous type of leadership in the place of authority? Well – those were my questions, and at 3am, the answers were Yes and Yes.
1 Samuel 3 and 4 are the backdrop the Lord gave me when asking Him for answers. I began to meditate on how most of the loud and prophetic voices got the result of this thing wrong – and where do we find this type of similarity in Scripture. Now, before you argue – “Well Mike, the USA is not Israel, so we cannot compare..” I am not placing the USA in place of Israel in this – I am simply looking at a parallel which can explain where we are – and can be applied in principle – which is good Hermeneutics…
We live in similar times. The corruptness of Israel’s leadership during the tenure of the Judges became the backdrop for what was to come, as it ended extremely corrupt under Eli. His sons were known as being debaucherous and Eli had gone into a place of complete apathy and ritual; allowing his sons to serve in the temple, yet lead pagan and sinful lives…sound familiar? I would say we are in similar seasons – does not matter the political party or in the church world – both have shown corruption, and an unwillingness to deal with it. The church has been silent on issues and placated to feel good productions every week in order to finance the machines. This paradigm has caused less Gospel and Word to be preached and more entertainment to be displayed. This was completely upended during the Covid debacle and there was no sense of order or leadership in the church to garner Believers’ hearts after God. Sure, there were efforts made – I participated in many of them – and they were incredible and sincere., however they were a fraction of the Believing voice in the US. Most stayed at home and became more apathetic as they complained about how certain people posted mean things on social media, while being fearful of a virus – but I digress…
For example, a local pastor and I orchestrated a worship and Gospel preaching event, in downtown Jacksonville, – non-political – where about 5000 people came to seek God – dozens made decisions for Christ, and many were immersed/baptized right there on the spot. Lives were changed, however – it was an event – a one-time thing. There was one ministry in Jax which refused to join in unity and participate – a ministry which labels itself on unifying the effort for the Kingdom, because the guest Worship Ministry had differing political views than they did…I was astounded as I was told that directly. I have heard literally dozens of similar reports of churches on either side of Covid, Politics, Morals, Scripture, etc.…We are truly divided as a Body, and God has difficulty when His people are like this…When Israel acted this way – they were taken captive, or lost battles, or were hit with serpents or a plague – or orchestrators of division were swallowed by the earth, and the list goes on.
In 1 Samuel 3 – Samuel as a boy HEARS the voice of God – and this is very important – it has not been heard in a long time as per what I described above – the Tree of Life Version says in verses 1-3, “In those days the word of Adonai was rare—there were no visions breaking through…One day, Eli was lying down in his place—now his eyes had grown dim so that he could not see, and the lamp of God had not yet gone out. Samuel was lying down in Adonai’s Temple, where the ark of God was…” Samuel was at the Place of the Presence of God – Eli could not see nor have visions – a direct opposite of Joel 2 restoration. This process of Eli assisting Samuel in ascertaining the voice of the Lord, which Samuel is able to do; begins his role as Prophet if Israel – this goes on and then Chapter 4 begins.
Chapter 4 is where the Father led me to understand what He was saying – In verse 1 of chapter 4 – Scripture says, “So it was that the word of Samuel went forth to all Israel.” – This means the FAME of Samuel hearing the voice of God again went throughout all Israel. Israel was excited…as if to say,” Now We have a Prophet – Now he can hear from God for us and tell us what to do to be successful – Now we can be blessed again – we do not have to worry about our corruption, our issues, our infidelity, our leadership, our sin…etc.” Does this sound familiar? – did Believers not put more trust in a man in 2020 than in Him? – Was not the focus of the church on the fame and policies of a man, versus dealing with the corruption in the Body? Did we not think the Church would arise greater because one man would remain President? I don’t know? – but these are valid questions as we saw the leaky faith of the church in the aftermath – in the midst of stress during the Covid crisis – closings, fear, refusal to congregate, divisions, splits, racial arguments – we began to allow the narratives of the world to plague the weak church… Watch what happens in the rest of this passage…
Verse 1 cond. And verse 2 – “Now Israel went out against the Philistines in battle. They camped at Eben-ezer while the Philistines camped in Aphek. The Philistines drew up in battle array to meet Israel, and when the battle was fought, Israel was defeated before the Philistines, who killed 4,000 men on the battlefield.” – Ebenezer means “Rock of Help” and Aphek means “Fortress” – the result of this battle was a warning, a foreshadowing of things to come if Israel did not first deal with its lack of sincerity with Adonai – as one of my old students used to say 15 times in a class, “Wait, What?” …I thought Samuel could hear from God – why did we lose this battle? – Instead of looking inward to see if something was wrong – they went out based upon the FAME of one man – not because their house was in order, and they were prepared! – the melee continues…
Verses 3-11 “When the people came back to the camp, the elders of Israel asked, “Why did Adonai bring defeat on us today before the Philistines? Let’s fetch the ark of the covenant of Adonai from Shiloh that He may come among us and deliver us from the hand of our enemies.” So, the people sent to Shiloh, and from there they carried the ark of the covenant of Adonai-Tzva’ot who sits above the cheruvim. Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God. Now when the ark of the covenant of Adonai entered the camp, all Israel shouted with a great shout, so that the ground resounded. When the Philistines heard the noise of the shout, they wondered, “What’s this noise of a great shout in the camp of the Hebrews?” When they realized that the ark of Adonai had come into the camp, the Philistines were afraid, for they said, “God has come into the camp.” So, they said, “Woe to us! For nothing like this has ever happened before. Woe to us! Who will deliver us from the hand of this mighty God? This is the God that struck down the Egyptians with all kinds of plagues in the wilderness. Be strong, and conduct yourselves like men, O Philistines, or else you will become enslaved to the Hebrews as they have been to you. Be like men and fight!” So, the Philistines did fight, and Israel was defeated—they fled every man to his tent. The slaughter was very great, as 30,000 of Israel’s foot soldiers fell. Moreover, the ark of God was captured, and Eli’s two sons Hophni and Phinehas died.”
30k dead, retreat, Ark captured, Priesthood gone, but God had them finally where He wanted them – in a place of abandonment – so they would seek Him again. Further on in Chapter 4 – Eli falls over and dies when he hears about his sons; his daughter in law dies in immediate childbirth, bearing a son named Ichabod, meaning – The Glory of God has Departed…
Israel found itself abandoned at times; in Babylon, Egypt, Rome, Greece – Jesus Himself cried, “My God, My God, Why have you forsaken me” – when on the cross…all of these times led to incredible spiritual awakenings to follow. Egypt led to the Red Sea experience and promised land, Babylon led to a finality of the restoration of Jerusalem and the Temple – and Biblical Life. Greece led to the Maccabean revolt and under Rome Jesus fulfilled the greatest work of mankind – leading to the book of Acts and the spread of the Gospel.
Today’s times are not like any other. We may parallel 1 Samuel 3-4 right now, but we have the opportunity to foment and participate in God’s plan of awakening and restoration. Where is YOUR focus? – on yourself, on others, on the possibility which exists? – Where can you start internally to reset you and your family to prepare, so we do not lose the Presence of God from our churches, fellowships, and congregations? What needs to happen in the Body where you can be a profunctor of change – a perfector of the Faith, a proclaimer of the Gospel? When will we see this happen? – I hope it is soon. The only FAME of a man we need to be concerned with is the FAME of Yeshua Himself – not another – we base ourselves not upon the promises and policies of a government – but on the Word of God. It is time folks – Examine – Change/Repent – Go! In Yeshua’s Name
Shalom!
