JEREMIAH

It was as cold and wet outside as a late November and early December day (Hebrew month of Chislev), but the king sat in his enclosed, winter quarters, warming himself by the fire pit (36:22). The princes were all in the room as well as some of the king’s servants and Jehudi had just returned with the scroll that Baruch had written as Jeremiah dictated the words of the prophecies he had pronounced years earlier (36:4). When three or four leaves of the prophecy were read aloud in the king’s hearing, either Jehudi or Jehoiakim, the king, cut the papyrus scroll in pieces and brazenly cast it into the fire.

The one person not literally in the room but on everyone’s mind was Jeremiah the prophet. Jeremiah (“Jah will raise”) was initially reluctant in his role as prophet. When he was first called by the Lord he used Moses’ old excuse, “I cannot speak” but the Lord exploded that feeble argument (1:6-10; cf. Ex. 4:10). During his service as the Lord’s prophet he despaired when the people derided and mocked him daily (20:7). Like Job, he even cursed the day he was born (20:14-17). At one point he became so distraught that he attempted to refrain from speaking, but God’s word was as a fire shut up in his bones and he could not keep quiet (20:9).

But Jeremiah was young when the Lord called him to speak to His people, perhaps around twenty years of age (1:6). From the first, the Lord told him that his task would not be an easy one. He was warned not to be dismayed though he was going to be opposed by the people (1:17). The Lord told him that the people of the land, the priests, the princes, the kings, even the whole land would fight against him (1:18). Even his townsmen and family opposed him (11:21,12:6).

His message would not be a popular one. The Lord had established his covenant with His people and a curse was placed on all those that did not obey (11:1-7). And yet their history was one of rebellion and disobedience (11:8-10). Because they had continuously disobeyed, the Lord was going to bring evil upon them from which they would not be able to escape (11:11-17). The Lord would bring Babylon against them and they would serve them for seventy years (25:8-11). Because of this message, he suffered much at the hand of his enemies. He was thrown into stocks, cast in prison, he was thrown into a pit and his life was sought by his enemies (20:1-3; 33:1; 37:15-21; 38:6-13; 11:18-21).

This opposition came a little later in his work, however. Initially, as he prophesied under Josiah, he was relatively free from trouble. The young and good king Josiah had taken the throne and had begun drastic reforms in the land (II Kings 22,23). But though Josiah was sincere in his reforms and in his personal conduct, the hearts of the people in the land were not converted for immediately after Josiah’s death, the people began to revert back to their old ways. When Josiah died, Jeremiah lamented his death (II Chron. 35:25).

There were other prophets in the land beside Jeremiah. Many of them. But the vast majority of those prophets prophesied falsely (5:28). “From the least of them even unto the greatest of them every one [was] given to covetousness;” said Jeremiah, “and from the prophet even unto the priest every one [dealt] falsely” (Jer. 6:13). They all cried “Peace! Peace! When there was no peace” (6:14). Jeremiah warned them of the coming judgment and captivity. He implored them to “Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein” (Jeremiah 6:16).

After Jehoiakim had burned the scroll, the Lord spoke to Jeremiah again and had him write once more all the words that were on the first scroll with the addition of new judgments against Judah (36:28,32; cf. Rev. 22:18,19). It was shear folly to think that God’s word could be destroyed or that God’s judgment could be avoided by not paying heed to it (Matt. 24:36; Psalm 12:5-8). You can’t hide from God by ignoring His word. You just can’t hide from God (Heb. 4:13)! Period.

However, not everything that Jeremiah wrote promised judgement, destruction and death. The very judgements passed were immersed in divine love, enduring mercy and hope. “I have loved thee with an everlasting love” (31:3). “I will surely have mercy upon him” (31:20). “There is hope in thine end” (31:17). While His people had broken His covenant God was going to make a new covenant that would be planted in the heart and where the sins and iniquities would be remembered no more (31:31-34). The Righteous Branch would be raised up and in His days Judah and Israel would be saved (23:5,6).

Eric L. Padgett

What an awe-inspiring vision it must have been, this vision of the Lord which Isaiah saw. He beheld the Lord “sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and His train filled the temple” (6:1). He said “mine eyes have seen the King, Jehovah of hosts” (6:5). The majesty of the scene, the splendor of His appearance, the grandeur and the radiance of His presence shook the very foundations of the temple and filled Isaiah with a sense of uncleanness and weakness (6:4,5). Even the seraphim were overcome with the glory of the sight and burst out in refrains of praise for the holiness of the Lord (6:3).

By his own accounting, Isaiah, the son of Amoz (“strong”), prophesied during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah (Is. 1:1). If, as tradition states (though not stated in scripture), he also continued during the reign of Manasseh, his tenure as a prophet of the Lord was anywhere from forty to over sixty years. Whether or not the vision above is a record of his first vision or a subsequent one is also not clear. This particular vision occurred during the year the king died (6:1), but he begins the prophecy by saying he saw these visions during the “days” of Uzziah, Jotham, etc (1:1).

Another tradition surrounding Isaiah says that he was the cousin of Uzziah, making him of royal blood. It seems as though he had easy access to the king and those in positions of authority (7:1-4; 8:2). He was married and he called his wife a prophetess (8:3), either because she was married to him or because she, herself, was given visions as other, faithful women had been (e.g., Jud. 4:4; II Kings 22:14). He had at least two sons, Mahershalalhashbaz meaning “swift (to the) prey,” and Shearjashub meaning “a remnant will return.” His sons helped him in his prophesying (8:18). If he was of royal blood, he nevertheless shunned the trappings, for he wore sackcloth (20:2). He also authored two other books, biographies of the kings, one of Uzziah and the other of Hezekiah (II Chron. 26:22; 32:32).

One final tradition that should be mentioned, though it has not the force of scripture, is that he is said to have suffered martyrdom under the reign of Manasseh by being sawn in half with a wooden saw. Justin Martyr mentions this tradition. Paul’s mention of those who were “sawn asunder” may be an allusion to this act (Heb. 11:37). Many commentators believe so.

The name Isaiah means “saved by Jehovah” or “the salvation of Jehovah.” Though not the same name, his name has the same meaning as the name of Jesus, which means “saviour” (Matt. 1:21). This is most fitting for many commentators have seen “salvation” as the theme of his writings. “Salvation” is mentioned twenty-eight times in the book of Isaiah, for example, whereas it is mentioned only once in the book of Jeremiah and not even once in Ezekiel. Isaiah is often referred to as the Messianic prophet and the book of Isaiah is indeed the most often quoted book in the New Testament in relation to the Messiah and His everlasting Kingdom.

In this vision, though Isaiah feels unworthy, unclean and weak, yet his sins are symbolically cleansed with a coal from the altar (6:7). Then, when the Lord asks for someone to go to His people, Isaiah immediately responds “Here am I; send me” (6:8). Isaiah was willing to go, to do the will of Jehovah. Someone has said that Isaiah is the evangelist of the Old Testament. Linguistic scholars also observe that he is distinguished from all other writing prophets for his literary and poetic talents. For instance, his portrayal of the Suffering Servant is both beautiful and unmistakably clear.

Isaiah’s commission is a difficult one. He is told to go tell this people, “Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not. Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed” (Is. 6:9-10). In effect, the more Isaiah preached the truth, the more the people rejected it. This is true for all ages and all men. Noah was rejected. So were Ezekiel and Jeremiah (Jer. 1:17-19). Zechariah was rejected (II Chron. 24:20,21). Paul was rejected (Gal. 4:16). The list could go on (Matt. 23:35-39).

The passage, however, finds it’s greatest fulfillment in Christ for He came unto His own and His own received Him not (John 1:11). John quotes from Isaiah six immediately after he observes that though Christ did “so many miracles before them, yet they believed not on Him” (John 12:37). He says that their unbelief happened that the saying of Esaias might be fulfilled and quotes Isaiah 6:9,10. Then, quite amazingly, as John speaks of Jesus rejection by the Jews, he says “these things said Esaias, when he saw His glory, and spake of Him” (John 12:41). When Isaiah saw the Lord high and lifted up, when he saw the King, Jehovah of Hosts, he saw the Christ! Will you believe Him or will your ears and eyes and heart be closed to the truth?

Eric L. Padgett

In Jonah’s day, Nineveh was an “exceeding great city” having a large population (Jon. 3:3; 4:11; cf. Deut. 1:39). Moses mentioned first Nineveh as being built by Asshur, the son of Shem (Gen. 10:11, 22). The children of Asshur then became the Assyrians of which Nineveh became the capitol. Nahum says it was a rich city through commercial enterprise (Nah. 2:8,9; 3:16). However, it was a city full of sin, full of lies and robbery (Nah. 3:1), witchcraft (Nah. 3:4) and idolatry (Nah. 1:14). It was to this city that Jonah was sent by God.

The only man in the Bible named Jonah, meaning “dove,” was the son of Amittai from Gath-hepher, a city of Zebulon (II Kings 14:25). Gath hepher, “wine press of the well,” is today a “small set of ruins” about three miles north of Nazareth in the Galilee district near Mashhad, Israel. Jonah and Jesus grew up in the same area. There is near this site one of the several purported tombs of the prophet Jonah. He was possibly one of the earliest of the writing prophets following Elisha.

Jonah had apparently prophesied in Israel concerning the restoration of the territory once given to the children of Israel in fulfillment of the prophecy to Abram (Gen. 15:18). This prophecy was first fulfilled in Solomon (I Kings 8:65) and the territory, after having been lost (e.g, II Kings 13:25), was then restored in fulfillment of Jonah’s prophecy (II Kings 14:25). It was only after his successful mission to Israel that the Lord sent Jonah over 500 miles away to Nineveh. It was a mission that Jonah did not want to undertake.

So “Jonah arose up to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord” (Jon. 1:3). Jonah, as a prophet of the Lord, must have known that no man can hide himself from God (Jer. 23:24; Psalm 139:7-10; Heb. 4:12). Indeed, he admits as much (Jon. 1:10-12). But it has been a human reflex to hide from the face of God knowing you have done wrong instead of facing His Holiness and judgment (e.g., Gen. 3:8-10; Rev. 6:15,16). Jonah intended to flee as far as he could from Nineveh in the northeast to Tarshish, in Spain. But his plan was to fail.

With Jonah’s admission that he was fleeing from the presence of the Lord (1:10), and his own solution of being cast overboard to spare the ship (1:12), God had prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah (1:17). For three days and nights Jonah cried out to God from the belly of hell (2:2). His prayer of fear and hope and of terror and trust is recorded in the second chapter of his book. After three days and nights, at God’s word, the great fish vomited Jonah upon dry ground. Jesus used this episode of Jonah’s life to foreshadow His own resurrection from the dead (Matt. 12:40).

Given a new lease on life, Jonah is again commanded by God to go to Nineveh and “preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee” (Jon. 3:1). Instead of fleeing in the opposite direction, this time Jonah heads toward Nineveh and begins to preach “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown” (3:4). Jonah must have been an effective and persuasive preacher because the people of Nineveh believed God and turned from their evil way (Jon. 3:10). And because they repented and God saw their works, God also repented of the promised destruction (Jon. 3:10).

This should have pleased Jonah. Instead, “it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was very angry” (Jon. 4:2). The commentaries provide a host of possible reasons for Jonah’s anger, but the answer must lie in Jonah’s response: “Therefore I fled before The unto Tarshish: for I knew that Thou are a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repentest Thee of evil” (4:2). Jonah fled because he knew God was merciful. These words suggest that Jonah sought the destruction of Nineveh. Furthermore, God’s words “Should I not spare Nineveh…” suggest the same idea.

The fact that the Lord used the repentance of Nineveh against the Jewish leaders of His day, demonstrates what a poignant example Nineveh had become. Jesus said “The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: because they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here” (Matthew 12:41). A greater than Jonas is here. Will you repent?

Eric L. Padgett

Life in Israel under Solomon had been a mixed experience. His focus on building projects, commerce and alliances with other nations had made Israel extremely prosperous. Solomon had become so prosperous, in fact, that it was said that silver was made as common as stones in Jerusalem (I Kings 10:27). He was renown the world over for his wisdom and dignitaries from around the world sought to hear his wisdom and, in turn, brought gifts of silver and gold, and garments and armor, and spices and horses and mules (I Kings 10:23-25). Rehoboam inherited such a kingdom and such wealth.

However, there was another side to Solomon’s kingdom. In building such a kingdom, Solomon had to levy men out of all the children of Israel, thirty thousand men, and a third of them were put to work in Lebanon for a month every three months in gathering materials for the building of the temple (I Kings 5:13,14). Solomon’s building projects were many and required much manpower (I Kings 9:15-19, 24).

Though made up of the Canaanite tribes left in the land, Solomon also used one hundred fifty thousand as forced slaves (I Kings 5:15; II Chron. 2:17,18) and over these he set Israelite task masters to the tune of three thousand six hundred. Taxes were such that when the people came to Rehoboam’s coronation, they requested that the burdens which his father had placed on them be lightened, indicating Solomon had made things quite difficult for the people.

Besides all this, throughout the course of Solomon’s reign, he had curiously let slip away both his trust in Jehovah and God’s confidence in him. For “the LORD was angry with Solomon, because his heart was turned from the LORD God of Israel, which had appeared unto him twice, And had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods: but he kept not that which the LORD commanded” (I Kings 11:9-10). Like his father he desired many wives and had eighteen wives and sixty concubines (II Chron. 11:21,23).

Rehoboam inherited a kingdom in which, sadly, much of the populace was willing to turn from Jehovah and turn to other gods in Dan and Bethel (I Kings 12:29-33). All the gold and all the glory could not hold Israel together. Previously, faith in God had kept Israel united. Now that faith had been compromised by the sins of Rehoboam’s father and further exacerbated by Rehoboam’s sins.

Apparently, though Solomon had seven hundred wives and three hundred concubines, he was Solomon’s only son. No others sons are mentioned, though Solomon had at least two daughters (I Kings 4:11,15). There is no mention of other male rivals for the throne. Perhaps Solomon wanted more children for he wrote that a man is happy that has many children (Psalm 127). Rehoboam’s mother was Naamah, an Ammonite princess (I Kings 14:31). He was born in the last year of David’s life and the first year of Solomon’s reign. The name Rehoboam, quite ironically, means “enlarger of the people,” which is not what happened under him at all.

While Solomon was known for his wisdom, Rehoboam became known for his foolishness. When the people promised their allegiance to Rehoboam if he would but ease their burden, Rehoboam rejected the counsel of his father’s advisors who urged him to listen to their request, and listened to the young men with whom he grew up, who advised him to be harder than was Solomon (I Kings 12:1-11). Rehoboam’s rebuff of the people was the final straw in a series of events that led to the dividing of the kingdom. This was God’s judgment on the house of David for Solomon’s sins (I Kings 11:11-13).

But this was not the end. Though the first three years of Rehoboam’s reign in Judah strengthened his hand (II Chron. 11:17), because of his turning to idolatry, within five years God sent the king of Egypt against him and he despoiled the house of the Lord and the king’s house (I KINGS 14:25-28; II Chron. 12:2-4). This invasion by the king of Egypt and the rending of the kingdom, was a judgment from God because Rehoboam and Israel turned away from God unto idols (II Chron. 12:1-5; I Kings 11:11-13).

The one redeeming quality which we see Rehoboam evince is his final humility. When the king and the princes of Israel heard the Lord’s condemnation by the prophet Shemaiah, they humbled themselves (II Chron. 12:6). While he did evil and did not prepare his heart to seek the Lord (II Chron. 12:14), in the end he showed humility. And as God giveth grace to the humble, God did not destroy them but brought them into servitude instead (II Chron. 12:7,8; James 4:6).

Eric L. Padgett

Nathan the prophet had told David that through his seed the Lord was going to build a house for His Name (II Sam. 7:12,13). Though not specifically mentioned in Samuel, David states that God intended Solomon to build the earthly house of the Lord in Jerusalem (I Chron. 22:11; 28:5,6; 29:1). God refused David the privilege because he had shed much blood upon the earth (I Chron. 22:8). But though he could not build the house, he prepared for it abundantly before his death (I Chron. 22:5).

Solomon’s ascension to the throne of David was not without some resistance. Adonijah, David’s son by Haggith, following in the footsteps of his half-brother Absalom, offered resistance at first and proclaimed himself king (I Kings 1:5). He was supported by the formidable but aging Joab and by Abiathar the priest (I Kings 1:6). But Nathan perceived the plot and with the aid of Bathsheba thwarted the plan. David proclaimed Solomon king in the ears of all Israel and they rejoiced at the news (I Kings 1:32-40).

Solomon was the son of David and Bathsheba, born to them after the death of their first child. Commentators generally agree, but are not completely united, that Solomon was the second son born to these two parents. However, in the lists given of their children, Solomon is listed fourth (I Chron. 3:5; II Sam. 5:14). Josephus also makes Solomon the last born child of David (“Solomon, my youngest son” – Antiquities 7:14:2). It is possible that Solomon was born later but that he was the one whom the Lord chose to build the House of the Lord. The relationship between Solomon and Bathsheba was very close for he says that he was “tender and only beloved in the sight of my mother” (Prov. 4:3; I Kings 1:13).

We do not know the name of Solomon’s oldest brother, the child who died in infancy, unless he is named in the list of their children as Shimea or Shammua (I Chron. 3:5; II Sam. 5:14). Solomon and his brother Nathan are both listed in the genealogy of the Christ, one through Mary and the other through Joseph (Matt. 1:6; Luke 3:31). The name “Solomon” means “peace”. It comes from the same base as the greeting Shalom! He was to be called Solomon because God was going to give peace and quietness unto Israel in his days (I Chron. 22:9). It is from this line that the Prince of Peace would arise!

From the previous passage, this name seems to be by divine appointment, as does his other name, Jedidiah, given by the prophet Nathan (II Sam. 12:25). The name Jedidiah means “beloved of Jah” (Cf. Psalm 127:2). And so he was (II Sam. 12:24). The name contains the same root as the name David, which means “loving.” Just as Solomon was loved of the Lord, God said of His Only Begotten, “This is My Beloved Son in Whom I am well pleased” (Matt. 3:17).

Though we do not know the exact age of Solomon when he ascended the throne, he was evidently still young for David called him “young and tender” (I Chron. 22:5). This is also an indication that Solomon may have been born later. He called himself a little child (I Kings 3:7). He is young enough for David to urge him to show himself a man (I Kings 2:2). Barnes suggests an age between fourteen and twenty-five. Solomon ruled over Israel for forty years (I Kings 11:42). All the days of Solomon, Judah and Israel dwelt safely, had peace on every side and extended the borders of the kingdom to the greatest extent, fulfilling the promise God had given to Abraham (I Kings 4:20-27; Gen. 15:17-21).

Like David, his father, and like Saul, as well, Solomon was very much faithful to the Lord early in his reign. God blessed Solomon with great wisdom, a wisdom which was reknown the world over (I Kings 3:16-28). He truly loved the Lord (I Kings 3:3). Because he asked not for wealth, or the life of his enemies or long life for himself but an understanding heart to judge the people, God blessed him with the things he asked not as well. But like David, Solomon had a weakness for women. He was truly the son of his father. Solomon had a total of one thousand wives, three hundred wives and seven hundred concubines (I Kings 11:3). Sadly, in the end these turned his heart away from the Lord (I Kings 11:1-13).

Solomon was truly one of the great kings in history, but Behold, a greater than Solomon is here, said the Lord (Matt. 12:42). Solomon built the house of the Lord that David wanted to build but could not. But the Lord built His church, the house of the Lord (Matt. 16:18; I Tim. 3:15). This is the tabernacle which the Lord pitched, and not man (Heb. 8:2), the rebuilt tabernacle of David (Amos 9:11). It is the house of the Lord that shall stand forever (Matt. 16:18), an eternal kingdom (II Sam. 7:12,13; Dan. 2:44).

Eric L. Padgett

Joab came from a family of warriors. His younger brothers Abishai and Asahel were both noted for their bravery and physical prowess. His father is never mentioned by name but his selpechre was in Bethlehem (II Sam. 2:32), indicating he had already died, perhaps, in battle. His mother was Zeruiah. Twenty-three times the expression son or sons “of Zeruiah” is mentioned in the life of David, showing her importance to Joab and his brothers. Zeruiah, along with Abigail, was the sister of David. However, her father is said to be Nahash, not David’s father Jesse (II Sam. 17:25), leading some to suspect that Zeruaiah was David’s half sister. In any event, the relationship between David and Joab was more than just king and captain of the host for Joab was David’s own nephew.

The first time we are introduced to Joab, is when Abishai is identified as his brother (I Sam. 26:6), indicating, it seems, that Joab was the better known of the two. But the two brothers are one in their thoughts. In this instance, it is Abishai who volunteers to go with David stealthily into the camp of Saul and asks David to let him “smite Saul to the earth.” But David refuses to harm God’s anointed (I Sam. 26:8-11). This pattern will repeat itself on occasion when the sons of Zeruiah seek to kill David’s enemies but David, himself, shows them mercy.

The next time we meet Joab is when he and Abner, Saul’s Captain, allow twelve men from each side to battle, presumably to determine the fate of all the parties involved. But all twelve men die in the contest and a battle ensues in which David’s men rout Saul’s men. Joab always seems to be better than Abner and every other enemy he faces. It is in this battle, however, that Abner kills Asahel, the youngest brother of Joab, and while Joab never forgets this, he sounds a trumpet at Abner’s request to cease hostilities (II Sam. 2:26). In the end, Abner lost three hundred and sixty men; Joab lost only twenty, including his brother, Asahel (II Sam. 2:30,31). But Joab is not the kind of man to forget something like this.

While the conflict between the house of Saul and the house of David continued, Abner seemingly sought to throw his support to the house of David (II Sam. 3:9,10). Whether or not this was a genuine sentiment on Abner’s part, we can not know for certain but David accepted the overtures and received Abner in peace and let him go the same way. But when Joab heard this, he reproved David and insinuated that Abner was only spying on David (II Sam. 3:26). Later, unknown to David, Joab would call for Abner and kill him for his killing of Asahel, his brother (II Sam. 3:27).

Joab was a man of action. Though David had pleaded with his men to be deal kindly with his son Absalom when he rebelled against David, Joab took advantage of the opportunity to end the rebellion once and for all and killed him. Though Joab had earlier helped Absalom come back to David in Jerusalem, he now saw Absalom as a threat to David and the kingdom. When David appeared overly sorrowful at the death of Absalom to the point of causing those in the kingdom to question David’s heart, Joab brought David back to the reality of his reign with a stern rebuke (II Sam. 19:1-7). Joab is the only one who can speak to David as he does.

Later, David would take another, former enemy into his cabinet, Amasa. Amasa was another relative of David, a nephew, the son of his sister Abigail (II Sam. 17:25). From the wording of the Text, he seems to be an illegitimate child and perhaps had been neglected by David. This may explain the reason why he joined Absalom in rebellion against David. But when Absalom’s rebellion was quelled, David, in a spirit of royal magnanimity, and, apparently, with the hopes of getting rid of Joab, offered Amasa Joab’s position as Captain of the Host (II Sam. 19:13).

Joab and Abishai had been grating on David’s sensibilities for some time and David’s frustrations with them burst forth when Shemei, who had cursed David when he was fleeing Absalom now asks for forgiveness. Abishai wants to put Shemei to death for his abuses of the king but David refers to Joab and Abishai as his “adversaries” (II Sam. 19:21,22). It seems that Joab and Abishai’s advice is correct, however, for when David is on his deathbed, he instructs Solomon to “hold him not guiltless” but “bring his hoar head down to the grave with blood” (I Kings 2:9).

There has been a question about Joab for a long time among Bible students. Was Joab a bad person or was he a good person? Perhaps the truth lies somewhere in the middle. He could be deadly and ruthless, but he was fiercely loyal to the house of David. He was jealous of any rivals to his position as Captain of the Host but he was eager to bring reconciliation between David and his son Absalom. One thing is certain, if you were in a battle, you would want Joab on your side!

Eric L. Padgett

Some men are leaders, but do not know it. The best leaders are sometimes those who are reluctant to lead, and have no ambitions to be leaders. Moses is a good example of this. When the Lord called him to lead, he made all kinds of excuses. Ultimately, however, he was perhaps the greatest leader in the Old Testament. King Saul was an example that turned out badly in the end. Initially, he was reluctant to lead and thought himself unfit, but in the end he was arrogant and oppressive. Another good example of a reluctant leader is Gideon.

During a period of Midianite oppression, the Lord saw fit to chose one man to lead the children of Israel against their oppressors. This man was Gideon. His own estimation of his own qualifications did not match the Lord’s. He based his view of qualifications on wealth and station in life (Judges 6:15). The Lord had a loftier view of Gideon’s qualifications. The Lord called him a “mighty man of valour” (6:12). Even if this was mere encouragement to Gideon, as some commentators suggest, it was the truth. The Lord also said Gideon would go in “this thy might,” which, when all is put together, suggests Gideon had demonstrated his worthiness before.

Perhaps there were other exploits, unrecorded in the scriptures directly, but alluded to by these comments, which demonstrated Gideon’s valour. Gideon is certainly capable of mustering able men of war to fight the Midianites and Amalekites and the children of the east. He blew a trumpet and Abiezer, his own family, gathered to him (6:34). He sent messengers to Manasseh, his own tribe, along with the tribes of Asher, Zebulon and Naphtali, and they all responded to his call to throw off the yoke of the Midianites (6:35). Gideon was able to assemble 32,000 men to fight (7:3). Even this was a meager host against the 135,000 warriors from the east but the children of Israel felt willing and able under the leadership of Gideon (8:10).

Gideon had previously demonstrated his courage and obedience to God and his leadership qualities when he overthrew his father’s altar to Baal. The angel of the Lord had commanded Gideon to overthrow his father’s altar and cut down the grove that was by it. Even though he feared his father’s household and the men of the city, Gideon took ten men of his servants and, during the night, obeyed the commands of God (6:27). His father may have been only a nominal worshiper of Baal, for, when the men of the city came to kill Gideon, his father defended him. He argued that if Baal was real, he could defend himself (6:31). Good for Joash and good for Gideon!

Gideon also relied upon proof as the basis for his actions. When the angel first appeared, he asked “If God is with us, then why are we oppressed and where are His miracles?” (6:13). Gideon then requested a sign as proof that the angel was even talking to him (6:17). Even after Gideon had mustered his army, he asked for proof that God would save Israel by his hand (6:36,37). Once this was given, he again asked for more proof of the same (6:39,40). Finally, when Gideon had his men set, God gave him proof even before he asked, which he surely would have, that he was going to be successful in his battle (7:10-15).

Gideon’s asking for proof was neither a flaw in his character nor a weakness of his faith (Rom. 10:17; I Thess. 5:21) but it was evidence that Gideon was not aspiring to be a leader and became one only reluctantly. God desires to reason with us about our salvation (Is. 1:18). The Bible has been given to us so that we might have the evidence to strengthen our faith (John 20:30,31). The miracles of the Lord and His apostles were given so that we might have assurance that Jesus was approved of God and that His word is true (Acts 2:22-24; Heb. 2:1-4). Seeking evidence for what you believe, contrary to popular religious sentiment, is not wrong; indeed it is scriptural (John 20:27).

When the angel first appeared to Gideon and gave him this charge to save Israel, He assured him that “I will be with thee” (6:15). God told him, “Have not I sent thee?” (6:14). God wanted Gideon, and us, to understand that it was not Gideon’s hand that saved Israel, but the Lord’s. That is the reason the Lord whittled down the number of men who would be fighting against the children of the east. “The people that are with thee are too many,” the Lord said, “for Me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel vaunt themselves against Me, saying mine own hand hath saved me” (7:2). The Lord can save by many or by few because it is not the size of army but the depth of the faith and the sincerity of the reliance on God that matters.

Another proof that Gideon was a reluctant leader was his refusal to become Israel’s first king (8:23). However, from the gifts he was given, he made an ephod and placed it in his city, Ophrah. But this became a snare to Gideon and his house because all Israel left the Lord because of this ephod. Just how is not stated, but presumably through some form of idolatrous worship of it or some priesthood associated with it. When Gideon trusted in God he prevailed; when he trusted in himself, he failed. When God’s people rely on themselves, they always end up with trouble and sin. The lesson from Gideon is we need to trust in God.

Eric L. Padgett

Sarah was an uncommonly beautiful woman married to a rich man who traveled the world (13:2). Even at the age of sixty-five, Sarah was apparently attractive enough that Abraham worried Pharaoh would be so smitten of her beauty that he would take her for his own and kill Abraham (Gen. 12:11). Fragments of ancient stories that survive to this day, relating similar events, bear out Abraham’s fears as well founded. Nor did Sarah’s beauty leave her with time, for when she was ninety-nine years old, Abimelech, king of Gerar, similarly was smitten by her beauty and “took her” (Gen. 20:1). However, God providentially protected Sarah from committing any transgression (Gen. 12:19; 20:6).

In both instances, Sarah unfortunately agreed to Abraham’s sinful request to lie about their relationship. Abraham’s motive was fear for his own life and his lie betrayed a weakness (Gen. 12:13). Sarah’s motive can only have been that to please her husband and trust in God for there was nothing good in this for her. Even if she had not agreed, she still might have been taken by force and if she was found out she might have been killed for lying to the Pharaoh.

To illustrate the principle of the wife being in subjection to her husband, Peter alludes to the fact that Sarah submitted herself to Abraham, calling him “lord” (I Pet. 3:6). There is nothing in the Bible, however, that would vindicate this lie, even if it was only a half truth (Sarah being his sister as well as his wife – Gen. 20:12). While there was no direct condemnation of the lie, everything we know about God and His word reveals that purposely not revealing the pertinent information constituted a lie. Abraham and Sarah’s time in Egypt was a low point in their life. Afterward, they both headed back to Bethel and to the altar which Abraham had built to call again on the name of the Lord (Gen. 13:4).

While Sarah excelled in beauty, she lacked in another womanly area: she was barren; she had no child (Gen. 11:30). Even today this is a curse to most women, but in that age it meant much more, for Abraham had no heir to carry on his heritage except a foreigner, a Damascene, named Eliezer, a steward (Gen. 15:2,3). How this must have hurt Sarah, who, as we have seen, wanted to please her lord, and who must have been aware of the promise given to Abraham by God, that through him should all the nations of the earth be blessed (Gen. 12:11,2).

Was it the pressure of having no child and knowing the promise of God to Abraham that drove Sarah to conceive an idea whereby Abraham could have a son of his own loins? In the very next chapter, after Abraham cried to God in despair that he had no heir, Sarah suggested to Abraham that he take her handmaid, Hagar, an Egyptian, to conceive an heir (Gen. 16:1,2). Is it not ironic that in Egypt Sarah was almost taken by the Egyptian Pharaoh to wife (Gen. 12:19) and now Abraham has taken an Egyptian to be his wife (Gen. 16:3)?

But Sarah’s plan to either circumvent God’s plan or, in her mind, help it along, backfired. This is forever and always the case. Whenever man deigns to help God, or supplant God’s will with his own in hopes of making things right, it is doomed to miserable and complete failure (Prov. 14:12). Centuries of conflict have resulted from Sarah’s “good intentions.” But God had not forgotten His promise to Abraham twenty-four years earlier and was going to fulfill it in His own good time and way.

When informed by the Lord that she was going to bear a son the next year, Sarah laughed (Gen. 18:9-15). Abraham also laughed when he was told this (Gen. 17:15-17). They were beyond the age of child-bearing and the idea seemed impossible. In response to her laugh, the Lord asked Sarah, “Is anything too hard for the Lord?” (Gen. 18:14). The answer, of course, is no and apparently both Abraham and Sarah believed this for Paul states that “through faith also Sara herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged him faithful who had promised” (Heb. 11:11). Sarah judged God faithful, demonstrating her own faith.

When conveying the superiority of the New Covenant to the first century Judaizers, Paul, using their methods of interpretation, represented Sarah allegorically as the New Covenant (Gal. 4:24). Hagar and Ishmael represented Mt. Sinai and the Old Covenant that was in bondage and was after the flesh (Gal. 4:23,25). But Isaac’s birth was by the promise of God. He was born after the freewoman, Sarah, and we, like him, are children of the promise. “But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all” (Gal. 4:26).

Eric L. Padgett

Archeology shows that Ur was as advanced a city as there was in the ancient world. It had a sewage-waste disposal system, multiple story housing, large streets, its women wore wigs and had compacts, its children went to schools, they had libraries and many of the inhabitants there were wealthy. On the darker side, they also worshiped various false gods. Terah, Abraham’s own father, apparently worshiped other gods (Josh. 24:2) and, if you can trust Jewish tradition, was a maker of these idols. This was the environment from which Abraham came.

Abraham was called by God to leave his home and go to a land that He would show him, the promised land (Gen. 12:1,2; Acts 7:1-4). It must have taken great faith for Abraham to venture on this journey, leave the land of his nativity, and all his kindred and his father’s house to travel to a foreign land, a destination as yet unknown (Heb. 11:8). Paul said he embarked on this journey because, in part, he sought a city which had foundations whose builder and maker was God (Heb. 11:9).

Though we cannot know the whole story, it is, perhaps, a testimony to Abraham’s faith and trustworthiness, that his father also left those environs. Terah was well advanced in age at this time and the travel would have taken its toll on such a man. In fact, he did not complete the journey but died in Haran (Gen. 11:2). But I like to think–though I have no proof–that maybe Terah gave up his false gods and worshiped Jehovah in the end through Abraham’s influence.

Abraham stands out in Biblical history as the seminal figure of the Jews. The Jews would say, “Abraham is our father” (John 8:39). They would ask Jesus, “Art Thou greater than our father Abraham?” (John 8:53). Even though Abraham was a great man, and even though he was the father of his people, John the baptizer noted that trusting in their Abrahamic descent was foolish for “God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham” (Matthew 3:9). It wasn’t Abraham’s genes that made him great and being his descendants did not provide an automatic entrance into heaven.

The one thing that stands out about Abraham and is noted by inspired, Biblical authors is his faith. When God promised him that one that would proceed out of his own bowels would be his heir, Abraham believed God and it was counted to him for righteousness (Gen. 15:1-6). Twice this passage is quoted by Paul to show that salvation does not come from keeping the works of the Law of Moses–Abraham preceded the law by 430 years (Gal. 3:17)–and it is quoted by James to show that faith without works is dead (Rom. 4:3; Gal. 3:6; James 2:23).

Abraham believed God, but he wasn’t the first or the last to do so. What, then, makes his faith so notable? First, he is the one to whom the seed promise was first made (cf. Is. 51:2 – Eve was given a seed promise but it was her transgression that precipitated it – Gen. 3:15). Second, Abraham’s obedience earned him the appellation the “friend of God” (II Chron.20:7; Is. 41:8). It is said that the Lord spoke to Abraham as one speaks to a friend (Ex. 33:11). Third, “He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform. And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness” (Romans 4:20-22). Fourth, it was in Abraham’s seed that all the nations of the earth were to be blessed (Gen. 12:1,2).

While the Jews trusted in their fleshly descent from Abraham, it was never God’s intention to make that the determining factor in reconciling man back to Himself. Paul noted that, under the New Covenant, a person was not a Jew which was one outwardly, but he was a Jew which had received the circumcision of the heart (Rom. 2:28,29). This is a circumcision made without hands, “in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ Buried with Him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with Him through the faith of the operation of God” (Col. 2:12). Today, the Lord’s church is spiritual Israel (Gal. 6:15,16).

Abraham was the friend of God because he believed and obeyed the will of God (James 2:21-24). Today, through Jesus Christ, we can be called the friends of God when we obey the Lord’s commands (John 15:14, 15). “Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness. Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham. And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed. So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham” (Galatians 3:6-9).

“Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompense of reward. For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise. For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry. Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul” (Hebrews 10:35-39).

Eric L. Padgett