Why We Should Learn From History (But Can’t Seem To Do So)

Word-Of-The-Day: ‘(6) But when <the Israelites> said, “Give us a king to lead us,” this displeased Samuel; so he prayed to the Lord.  (7) And the Lord told him: “Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king.  (8) As they have done from the day I brought them up out of Egypt until this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are doing to you.  (9) Now listen to them; but warn them solemnly and let them know what the king who will reign over them will claim as his rights.”  (10) Samuel told all the words of the Lord to the people who were asking him for a king.’ (1 Samuel 8:6-10)

We live in a bipolar society today; one side is anti-crime, so the other side endorses crime (or at least takes the approach not to punish crime). One side desires to seek peace, while the other side seeks a continuation of conflicts. One side is pro-Israel while the other is antisemitic.

Some of this stems from a social evolution away from common sense and understanding to a more ‘black-and-white’ viewpoint on both sides. In society, facts must override feelings, but feelings do have a part to play. We don’t want to be logical to the point of being heartless; we need to be compassionate. We also cannot be all ‘feeling’ and override the facts; we can’t be so compassionate that we place ourselves in jeopardy.

This is nothing new in the history of mankind. We go through the same cycle of events: Hard Times create Strong People; Strong People create Good Times; Good Times create Weak People; Weak People create Hard Times. Strong People are those who tend to be more Godly and moral, who see Truth as a foundation to build upon. Weak People are those who tend to be ungodly and immoral, who see their feelings, with no basis in facts or the Truth, as a foundation to build upon.

As in the recent series of Judges, the Pastor provided the cycle existed throughout this time period of Israel’s history; in Hard Times, the people ‘Called on the Lord’ (Strong People), the people thus received ‘Blessings’ (Good Times), then the people fell into ‘Idolatry’ (Weak People), which created ‘Consequences’ to fall upon the nation (a return to Hard Times).

The bipolarism we see in the world today comes from Weak People, created in having Good Times, working against Strong People. The Consequence is we eventually fall upon Hard Times, when the lessons from history repeat.

Israel in the Old Testament is a great example of this. Up until this point in the Bible, in 1 Samuel, Israel was led by God (though again, the Faith of the people cycled on and off), who had appointed priests as judges over the people.  The judges were supposed to pray to God to ask for His counseling, then pronounce according to what the Lord provided a judgement or ruling over the people. 

Unfortunately, Samuel’s sons fell into the culture that permeated the popular culture; paganism, idolatry, hedonism, narcissism (sounds like our culture today).  They accepted bribes and kickbacks and instead of Godly rulings they gave rulings based on their greed. 

‘Good times create weak people’, the people believed they didn’t need God and rejected Him when really they needed Him the most.  God is not a ‘I told you so’ God, He is a ‘you get what you want and you get what you deserve’ God.  You want God, you deserve His blessings.  You don’t want God, He will withhold His blessings.  This is both personal and corporately as a nation.  An individual can be blessed by God at the same time a nation can be punished, and vice versa. 

Understand that when bad things occur, they are not from God.  God does not encourage sinful actions.  He does not root for cities to burn during riots, or cause the violent upswings in crime and other forms of debauchery.  Instead, God withholds His guiding and protecting hand to allow these things to occur, as He did when the Babylonians came and took Israel into exile.  God’s plan is for peace, not destruction.  But God will allow us to get what we want by our actions; we reject Him we reject His peace and He allows us to reap what we sow.

God did allow the Israelites to have the king they wanted initially; Saul was who the people thought they wanted, a tall, dark, handsome man who happened to be – well, a bit bipolar.  (‘I love you, David, so let me throw this spear at your head.’)  Saul did not seek God’s counsel, and instead sought a medium to talk to a now-dead Samuel. 

Samuel’s spirit, having to come out of Sheol (in ‘soul-sleep’, awaiting for Jesus’ arrival as Messiah) was not happy (is anyone happy when woken up in the middle of a good sleep?)  and gave Saul God’s pronouncement that he and his family would be killed in battle the next day.

God had Samuel pick (well prior to Saul’s demise) who God decided would be their ideal King, David.  David was not the strongest or the wisest person, but David had the strongest Faith in God.  David was not perfect, but he led Israel with God in the lead.  David’s Faith in God gave David’s lineage to Jesus, the Eternal King – the King we need and ultimately deserve.

Put 1 Samuel 8:6-10 in today’s context; we have the same conditions in our culture.  Abortion, greed (from all financial and societal groups), wonton destruction of societal norms, disrespect for Him and other people, etc.  We reject God (corporately as a nation) when we really need Him the most.  Who we elect as our President and as our Congress folks and as our local officials are who we (corporately) want and who we deserve as Americans and Floridians. 

Pray that God is again worshipped and sought by the majority so that He again can provide His blessings to our nation.  But know that God will allow us to have what we want, and we will thus get what we deserve, in order to show us our need for Him when we reject Him.  Eventually, those who are Faithful and Accepting, what we will get is Jesus forever and ever.