I’ve been confused for a couple of days now (nothing new there). My confusion stemmed from 1 Samuel 8, in which the children of Israel asked Samuel for a king to lead them. I just didn’t get why they thought they needed a king and why then.
After all, it had been almost 400 years since they had been brutally oppressed by Pharaoh. Coming out of Egypt and into the wilderness, you think they might have asked God to make Moses their king. After all, he had delivered them from their captivity. But they didn’t ask for that. And let’s be clear here. The Israelites were not afraid to make their requests known to God. For example, they not only asked God for quail, but complained that it didn’t come with enough flavor (remember, how they longed for the leek, onions and garlic of Egypt … Numbers 11:5). Yet, even though, they were more than willing to tell Moses, “Hey, ask God to throw down some hot sauce,” they didn’t ask him to ask God for a king.
After entering into the Promised Land, they were led by men like Joshua and Gideon and ultimately, by the judges of Israel. And while each of these leaders has a measure of power, none of them had the all-encompassing power of a king; and the Israelites seemed to prefer it that way. However, at some point during the time of Samuel, the people began to clamor for a king. They said to Samuel, “We want a king over us. Then we will be like all the other nations, with a king to lead us and to go out before us and fight our battles.” (1 Samuel 8:19-20)
I couldn’t quite grasp what had changed in their situation to make them want to be ruled by someone other than God. That is, until a few chapters later, when I came across Nahash, the king of the Ammonites. As the 11th chapter of 1 Samuel opens, Nahash and his army have besieged the city of Jabesh Gilead. Of course, the Israelites being attacked by their neighbors is nothing unusual; it’s actually the norm. However, what is unusual here is that the normally brave Israelites actually beg for peace. They say, “Make a treaty with us, and we will be subject to you.” (1 Samuel 11:1)
If you think that is strange, check out Nahash’s response. “I will make a treaty with you only on the condition that I gouge out the right eye of every one of you and so bring disgrace on all Israel.” (1 Samuel 11:2) Talk about driving a hard bargain! It wasn’t enough for Nahash to be given complete control and authority of the city, but the men had to give up one of their eyes as well? And to this ridiculous demand, the men of Jabesh Gilead replied, “Can we have a week to think it over?”
I kept thinking, “What was it about Nahash that made men who had been fighting their enemies in the Promised Land for 350 years so fearful?” I just didn’t get it until I read a footnote explaining that the Hebrew text of the Jewish Bible goes into a little more detail about Nahash. In short, before laying siege against Jabesh Gilead, Nahash had defeated the Gadites and Reubenites, gouging out the right eyes of all of the men. A small number of these men then escaped to … you guessed it … Jabesh Gilead.
All of a sudden, the picture started to get a little clearer. I could understand why the men of Jabesh Gilead were so willing to surrender to Nahash. They had seen the consequences of standing up to him. Likewise, it was becoming clearer as to why the children of Israel were so desperate for a king of their own. While afraid of Nahash, they were strangely drawn to his power. They wanted a Nahash of their own. In fact, the men of Jabesh Gilead were willing to serve Nahash directly as their king.
Furthermore, as I studied Nahash a little closer, I began to realize that he was different from the other foreign rulers that the Israelites had clashed with in the past. In ancient Hebrew, the word “Nahash” means serpent. And, not coincidentally, Nahash used the tricks of the serpent in yet another attempt to get God’s children to forfeit their most precious gift — the gift of sight; or more specifically, the ability to see things as God sees them.
After all, the very first consequence of Adam and Eve eating the apple was that “the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.” (Genesis 3:7) Of course, they had been naked all of the time, and they had been fine with it so long as they saw themselves as God saw them. However, once the serpent obscured their vision, they saw things differently from the way God sees them.
By insisting upon gouging out the eyes of his opponents, Nahash was trying to accomplish the same result. With just one eye, the Israelite soldiers would be far less likely to succeed in a future battle against Nahash because they would lack the proper depth perception for effective hand-to-hand combat. However, Nahash wasn’t just out to hinder the Israelites’ physical vision. He wanted to hinder their spiritual vision as well.
One of the things that made Nahash so successful was that he was just as concerned about P.R. as he was about military prowess. I have no proof but I’m convinced that he let the 7,000 Gadites and Reubenites escape to Jabesh Gilead so that they could tell their story and raise fear in the city. I suspect this to be true because he agreed to let the men of Jabesh Gilead send messengers to the other tribes telling them about the situation. He was trying to pave the way for his next conquest. He knew that if he could affect the perceptions of the other tribes, they would also be willing to give up without a fight. And it was working! They were so scared that they were asking the almighty God for a king to fight their battles for them (sounds ridiculous when I put it that way, huh?).
However, that is what can happen to a people who have their vision distorted. In times of crisis, they begin to look to men when they should be looking to God. As a result, they begin to make “deals with the devil.” That’s exactly what is happening in our churches today.
Last fall, the recession began to afflict people in earnest. We began to see people losing their homes, their jobs, the savings in their 401(k) accounts, etc. And these weren’t just anonymous faces on television screens. Many of these people were our friends and neighbors — members of our tribe. Seizing the opportunity, the serpent began to lay siege on Christians.
After witnessing the financial devastation faced by others, many of us lost sight of God. Instead of heeding the words of James 4:7 (“Resist the devil and he will flee from you), we asked for terms of surrender. And just like Nahash, the enemy chose terms that would ensure future victory. In this case, he went after our tithes. He told millions of Christians, “I can let you make it through this recession, but you’re going to have to cut out the tithe.” And sadly, many of us accepted these terms of surrender.
According to numerous reports, church giving has decreased over the last year, despite the fact that church attendance has increased. We’ve seen this phenomenon in our own church and just about every other church in the valley. Why? Because many Christians aren’t seeing their situation clearly. They have bought into the lie that they can weather the economic storm if they just “batten down the hatches.” If they can just cut expenses, they will be okay. And when they looked at “discretionary” expenses to cut, their tithes seemed like the most logical place to cut. And the devil shouted, “Hallelujah!”
Why? Because like Nahash, the enemy knows that he has the best shot of ruling over us if he can distort our vision of our true salvation — God. If he can get us to see God as a liability instead of an asset, he rules. If he can get us to break the covenant of putting God first, he can sever the promise of His provision. And not only is he out to rule during this crisis, he is striving for long-term victory by reducing our ability to fight back through prayer.
After all, when we don’t see God properly, we don’t pray effectively. After all, we can’t effectively speak in the name of Jehovah-Jireh (“the Lord will provide”), if we see God as just another financial burden we must endure every month. Likewise, we can’t possibly call out to Jehovah-Shalom (“the Lord our peace”), when we are constantly worried that we’ve “wasted” money by sowing it into the Kingdom.
As Christians, we must get our vision restored. We need to see God with perfect clarity. But how? By following the example of the blind man who Jesus healed at Bethsaida (Mark 8:22-26). As you remember, Jesus led the blind man out of town and partially restored his vision (“I see men walking as trees”). So then Jesus touched him again, completely restoring his vision. And then … don’t miss this … Jesus warned, ”Don’t go into the village.”
Likewise, if your vision is not 20/20, you need to ask God to “touch” you again. In prayer and meditation, ask Jesus to give you a clear vision, to let you clearly see all of the times He has delivered you in the past; to let you clearly see that He loved you enough to die on a cross for you.
And, after He has restored your vision, don’t go into the village! Your village might be the nightly news or the daily newspaper filled with countless reports of layoffs and foreclosures. Your village might be naysaying friends or co-workers. Regardless of whoever is bringing the bad reports from the last battle with Nahash, avoid them whenever possible. They are obstructing your view of King Jesus.
