In Dennis' Mind Blog

Sunday, November 1, 2010

And Jesus said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into His glory?” And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself. – Luke 24:25-27

When we look at the Bible, do we see human beings as the center or do we see Jesus? I'm a human being, so I tend to see humans as the hero of Bible passages that I read.

Take the example of 1 Samuel 17, the story of David and Goliath. It’s a familiar piece of history to all of us. Who is the hero of this passage? I would have said, “David, of course.”

And what is the moral or faith lesson from this passage?” I would have said, “Don’t be afraid” Or “Be courageous like David.” And this is what I was taught in Sunday school as a child. The story is about David and I need to be brave like David to defeat my Goliaths.

The theme of fear, even terror, is certainly an important part of the story. 1 Samuel 17:11 says that King Saul and the soldiers are “terrified!” The little nation of Israel certainly needed a brave leader. The need for a courageous leader is clearly the human need highlighted in this passage. My Sunday School teacher was right about that.

But did my Sunday School teacher correctly identify the hero in this story?

When Jesus was talking to the two men on the road to Emmaus, He said that He was the center of every passage of Scripture. If that's true, then where do we see Jesus in this story of David and Goliath?

Go back one chapter. God has rejected Saul as the king of Israel. God tells the prophet Samuel to go secretly and anoint a new king. Sam goes to the house of Jesse and a humorous interchange between God and the prophet takes place as Samuel looks for the man that God wants him to anoint.

David is finally found and David is anointed with "the Spirit of Yahweh" (1 Samuel 16:13). In fact, the ESV translates the verse in the following way: “Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed David in the midst of his brothers. And the Spirit of Yahweh rushed upon David from that day forward.”

Israel needed a courageous king. Who got Israel their king? YAHWEH DID. And David’s courage and success comes from the rushing Spirit of Yahweh! It didn't come from himself.

In contrast, the Spirit of Yahweh is "removed from Saul" (1 Samuel 16:14) with the result that Saul is "terrified" (17:11). So who is the hero of the story of David and Goliath? God the Spirit is the hero!

The real moral of this passage is not “be courageous like David.” The real moral is that the Spirit of Yahweh is faithful to deliver His people by raising up leadership and giving that leadership courage to defeat the enemies of God's people.

Did you notice how starting with a human hero (like David) causes us to end up with a moralistic lesson – that is, “I should be courageous like David” or “I should NOT be timid like King Saul”? That's a nice moral, but it leaves us with two problems: (1) How do I do that - how do I become courageous? (2) It's not the way that God sees the Bible. From God's perspective, HE is the hero of every passage, not us. And every passage has something to say about His Son too!

BUT if we start with God as the hero, we end up with a different sort of lesson: “God is faithful to save His people by providing leaders with courage to fight the enemy.” When we start with God, we end up with the right lesson AND we end up with the source for our courage too.

Almost every Christian is in a leadership position of some sort. Think of your leadership roles. In the home? Amoung your relatives? In the church? Among your friends (both Christian and unbelieving)? At work? Governing your own heart? How can we be brave when we feel like being terrified? The same source that David had for courage is also our source! We need the rushing Spirit of Yahweh.

“But, Dennis,” you might object, “you said that every passage had something to say about Jesus. How does Jesus factor into our need for the Spirit?”

Is there any connection between the Spirit of Yahweh and Jesus Christ? YES! There are at least two essential connections. The first one you probably know from the New Testament. Jesus is the "Spirit baptizer" for every Christian. John the Baptist said, "I baptize you with water, but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit" (John 1:33). This is a theme that is not often spoken of, but is a STRONG theme in the New Testament. We get the Spirit only through Jesus! In fact, the Spirit is called "the Spirit of Christ" (Romans 8:9). And Christ "has NOT given us a Spirit of fear, but of power and love and self-control" (2 Timothy 1:7).

But there is a second connection between Jesus and the Spirit that is found in even the Old Testament. If you look at the book of Judges (the history right before our passage in 1 Samuel) you find that the Spirit comes upon every leader (judge) to empower them to lead God's people. And here is the interesting connection: “The Angel of the Lord” is often identified as the one who gives the Spirit. (For one example compare Judges 6:11, 14, 34.) Who is “The Angel of the Lord”?