Jonathan or Ishbosheth?

I think every reader of the Bible has wondered what is the point of reading chapters of genealogies like ones contained in Numbers and 1st Chronicles.  Should we actually trudge through every name?  Even these more audibly-daunting passages serve valuable purposes:  they prove the historical authenticity of the scripture, verify that Jesus Christ was a descendant of the line of David, and actually contain much spiritual insight.  As I read through a couple chapters of genealogies today, the LORD shed light on a profound truth.

One of the characters which intrigues me in scripture is that of King Saul, who hailed from the tribe of Benjamin.  1 Chronicles 8:33 reveals the lineage:  "Ner begot Kish, Kish begot Saul, and Saul begot Jonathan, Malchishua, Abinadab, and Esh-Baal."  The Bible introduces us to Saul as a young, humble man.  Though tall in stature, he remained small in his own eyes - that is, until he had been king of Israel for a few years.  God had given him a new heart, but Saul later rebelled against the commands of God.  Saul had four sons:  Jonathan, Malchishua, Abinadab, and Esh-Baal - also known as Ishbosheth.  King Saul's reign ended with him seeking the advice of a medium and committing suicide during a battle with the Philistines.  All save his youngest son died with him on Gilboa.

Most are familiar with Jonathan, an honorable man whom was close friends with David.  After the death of Saul, Ishbosheth reigned for two years before he was slain by traitorous servants.  It has been said that children are often a reflection of their parents, if not the image!  As I read the 1 Chronicles passage quoted above this morning, the name Esh-Baal caught my eye:  I could not recall one of Saul's sons having this name!  But as I studied further, I found the downward spiral of Saul was revealed even in the names of his children!  Consider the meaning of the names of Saul's sons:

• Jonathan:  gift of Yahweh (God)
• Malchishua:  king of wealth
• Abinadab:  father of generosity
• Esh-Baal:  son of Baal (later known as Ishbosheth:  man of shame)

It is an amazing, tragic progression!  Saul was grateful to God for giving him the kingdom at first.  Later he became focused on amassing the best Israel had to offer:  the best food, chefs, menservants, maidservants, warriors, and even weapons.  There was a time when Saul and Jonathan owned the only swords in Israel!  Saul was lifted up with pride, considering himself benevolent and generous.  But then he turned his back on God, even naming one of his sons after the false deities of the heathen Canaanites!  The Philistine archers wounded Saul on the battlefield.  Fearing abuse at their hands, he fell on his own sword and died.

As a ruler in Israel, Esh-Baal was known as Ishbosheth:  man of shame.  How shameful it was that the son of the king of Israel was named after a false heathen god!  In the two years of Ishbosheth's reign, he lost the allegiance of the tribe of Judah, and after the death of his general 2 Samuel 4:1 says "...his hands were feeble, and all the Israelites were troubled."  It would not be long before his short, weak reign would end with him stabbed and beheaded while he slept in the heat of the day.

We are born into shame as slaves of sin.  We all have the choice whether we will be a son of righteousness that trusts in God or a son a shame.  God does more than change our name when we repent and trust in Christ:  He gives us a new heart and His own nature!  Will I be a Jonathan who charged up a mountain with his armour bearer, strengthened by faith in God - or be a feeble, troubled, sleepy kind of Christian?  Will I pick up the Sword of the Spirit and put it to proper use or drowse among soft pillows without armor?  We have all slept long enough, dear ones.  It is day at the present, but night is coming when no one can work.  Let us pray according to Matthew 9:38:  "Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest."  If you pray this prayer, you are praying for yourself first!

Everlasting Treasure

My sons recently began playing the computer game "Minecraft."  In the game the player explores a huge pixelated three-dimensional environment, either mining in the ground or building structures.  After watching them play awhile I decided to have a go, seeking the ever-elusive gold ore and diamonds.  Within an hour I found a huge cavern underground which led me to another cavern with waterfalls of water and lava.  When I was a kid I used to dig around looking for quartz crystal and this game brought back those old feelings, without the blisters!

As I continued to place torches for light and explore my surroundings, deeper and deeper I went.  Before too long I had found what I was looking for:  iron ore, diamonds, gold ore, and redstone dust.  But in our excitement (my kids of course were coaching me throughout!), we had gone deeper than initially planned and were running short on torches and wood.  I felt like Injun Joe in Tom Sawyer, trying to escape from a deep cavern without any light!  Try as I might, I could not locate the way out.  I kept walking in circles, unable to progress.  And since my pick wore out from digging up all those diamonds, digging would have taken forever.

So we decided to risk building a path over some flowing lava to hopefully make our escape.  My character was carrying all our precious metals and materials.  To my dismay I slipped off the pathway and fell into the lava!  I had not saved the game because I didn't want to go back to the title menu.  It suddenly hit me that all the valuable items I collected were gone for good, lost in the lava.  I would be able to recover them, wouldn't I?  My boys just stared at me:  no, all the items were lost.  "Everything?  Falling in the lava cost me everything?"  Perhaps the game was closer to reality than I first thought!

How true this is in life!  We can spend our days searching after all these elusive treasures of the world only to lose them in the end.  Or our search for significance and meaning takes us to the deepest recesses of sin from which there is no escape apart from Christ.  To have the words of life and not to use them would be such a tragedy!  It's true:  nothing from the world but what is of God will last.  God's character, love, His Word, and those washed in the blood of the Lamb will endure forever, but all is lost for those who deny Christ and die in their sins.  How important it is that we invest our lives in what really matters in God's eternal economy.  We ought to store up treasures in heaven, where moth and rust won't corrupt, where thieves can't break in and steal, where all your goods can't be consumed in a lava flow.  Where our treasure is, there will be our hearts also!  Give your heart to Jesus today!

Goads and Nails

"The Preacher sought to find acceptable words; and what was written was upright--words of truth. ¹¹ The words of the wise are like goads, and the words of scholars are like well-driven nails, given by one Shepherd."

Ecclesiastes 12:10-11

During a recent phone conversation with my dad, he drew my attention to this passage.  For much of his life my dad has both preached the word and worked as a carpenter.  Let's say he knows the difference between a well or poorly-driven nail!  In this passage King Solomon uses two illustrations to state the value and purpose of a discourse built on biblical truth.  God did not provide us His Word so we might merely observe, but so it could do a work in us.  Both goads and nails are used for work.  Both are honed to a sharp point to be effective.

A goad is a sturdy long stick sharpened to a point of either wood or iron which is used to guide and motivate cattle through discomfort.  As oxen pulled a plow, the farmer would stand behind them and administer a firm nudge with the goad to urge the oxen forward.  The goad moved an ox to perform work when he would rather stand around and graze.  God's Word is a call to service and action.  The Holy Spirit uses it to prompt us to do things we wouldn't naturally do.  When confronted with the supernatural wisdom of God and conviction through the Holy Spirit, we are taught and urged to action.

Nails are made in many shapes and sizes but all have a single purpose in construction:  to hold building materials tightly together.  There are roofing nails, finish nails, duplexes, nails for pneumatic guns, and nails for paneling, siding, and lath.  Though nails may be made out of different metals and have a variety of shapes and sizes, they are designed for a particular job.  A carpenter might even blunt the tip of a nail before driving it to keep wood from splitting.  As a carpenter chooses the right nail for the job, a preacher carefully chooses words to hold his discourse together and have the appropriate impact.  It takes anointing and teaching of the Holy Spirit to rightly divide the Word of truth.

The world goads us into sin, while Christ guides us into righteousness.  He is the Good Shepherd who protects, guides, teaches, and provides for us.  His words are like goads and sharp nails which always accomplish the work He intends in our lives.  As we faithfully hold forth God's Word as led by the Spirit, we too can use words which will touch hearts and keep people from wandering from the truth.  Isaiah 55:11 says, "So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it."  God goads us when we need it, and uses the right nails in the correct way to do work in and through us.  He meets the needs of each one of His sheep.  I wonder:  what wisdom is God speaking to you right now?

Failing God

God never fails!  What He establishes will stand, for His Word endures forever.  The only way I can fail God is if He fails me, for any good in me springs from Him! Though man is feeble, frail, and makes mistakes in abundance, a Christian is not to view himself as a failure.  A dead man cannot fail because a dead man cannot do.  It is God who works in us both to will and do according to His good pleasure.  A man sees himself as a failure when he believes God depends on him in some way, or that he is able to help God in his own strength.  The reality is God has raised me from death to life in Him.  If we are disappointed in ourselves it shows we have trusted in our own strength.  God is the one who makes the dead rise alive for eternity, and it is in Him we live, breathe, and have our being.  What He has cleansed, redeemed, empowered, and indwelt we should not call a failure.

Praise God He does not condemn us as sinners after He has paid our debts through His shed blood!  Church ought to be a place not where sinning is promoted, but where sinners are welcome.  God does not fault us for being ourselves, yet He does not free us from the responsibility to live in holiness:  "Be holy, for I am holy."  He whom Christ sets free He sets free indeed - not only from sin and death, but from guilt and shame.  Let us follow Jesus confident in Him as we humbly trust!  Can we fail if it is He who does the work?