When God is Silent
When God is Silent
Words of Faith 10-1-24
Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy © 2024
Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com
Faith Fellowship Church - Melbourne, FL
www.faithfellowshipweb.com
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1 Samuel 14
[31] That day, after the Israelites had struck down the Philistines from Micmash to Aijalon, they were exhausted. [32] They pounced on the plunder and, taking sheep, cattle and calves, they butchered them on the ground and ate them, together with the blood. [33] Then someone said to Saul, "Look, the men are sinning against the Lord by eating meat that has blood in it."
"You have broken faith," he said. "Roll a large stone over here at once." [34] Then he said, "Go out among the men and tell them, 'Each of you bring me your cattle and sheep, and slaughter them here and eat them. Do not sin against the Lord by eating meat with blood still in it.'" So everyone brought his ox that night and slaughtered it there.
[35] Then Saul built an altar to the Lord; it was the first time he had done this. [36] Saul said, "Let us go down after the Philistines by night and plunder them till dawn, and let us not leave one of them alive." "Do whatever seems best to you," they replied. But the priest said, "Let us inquire of God here."
[37] So Saul asked God, "Shall I go down after the Philistines? Will you give them into Israel's hand?" But God did not answer him that day. [38] Saul therefore said, "Come here, all you who are leaders of the army, and let us find out what sin has been committed today. [39] As surely as the Lord who rescues Israel lives, even if it lies with my son Jonathan, he must die." But not one of the men said a word.
[40] Saul then said to all the Israelites, "You stand over there; I and Jonathan my son will stand over here." "Do what seems best to you," the men replied. [41] Then Saul prayed to the Lord, the God of Israel, "Give me the right answer." And Jonathan and Saul were taken by lot, and the men were cleared. [42] Saul said, "Cast the lot between me and Jonathan my son." And Jonathan was taken.
[43] Then Saul said to Jonathan, "Tell me what you have done." So Jonathan told him, "I merely tasted a little honey with the end of my staff. And now, must I die?" [44] Saul said, "May God deal with me, be it ever so severely, if you do not die, Jonathan." [45] But the men said to Saul, "Should Jonathan die--he who has brought about this great deliverance in Israel? Never! As surely as the Lord lives, not a hair of his head will fall to the ground, for he did this today with God's help." So the men rescued Jonathan, and he was not put to death.
Boy. You think you have some serious drama in your life. How about this stuff?
As soon as the evening came and the Philistines were totally routed, the troops had a feast. A big one! They were famished, so the troops just seized sheep, cattle, and calves from the Philistine plunder, butchered them, and ate the meat without waiting for the blood to drain from it.
Bad idea, actually. Since eating meat with the blood still in it was forbidden to the people of God throughout their history, this was a terrible idea. So Saul immediately started looking for a religious solution. First, he accused the men of betraying their promise to God and having "broken faith." Then he demanded that a large stone be rolled over to him so that animals could be properly slaughtered on it.
Next, Saul determined to plunder and slaughter the Philistines until nothing and no one remained. They would attack at night for the element of surprise. Saul's men, apparently satisfied that he had their best interests at heart, were ready to follow him. But the priest sensed the need to "inquire of" God, probably by using sacred lots stored in the ephod.
When Saul inquired, there was no answer. That was a bad thing. At least it was an unusual thing. They had been very accustomed to the Lord guiding them. It seems that the distance between Saul and the Lord was growing. God was silent, and Saul assumed there must be some sin in the camp. He set out to find the one at fault.
Technically, it was Jonathan who had broken the oath, but this was not the problem between Saul and God. God had never required this oath! It was a religious thing that Saul had pressed upon the troop. Jonathan had not even known about the oath!
But when it was shown that Jonathan was the one who sinned, Saul vowed that he would die. It was a good thing that the men thought better of this. Why should Jonathan die? He was the one who had brought about the great victory. The men rescued Jonathan, and he was not put to death.
Like I said, there was a lot of drama. But there is a powerful truth here as well.
Question. Have you ever gone through a time when you felt like God must not be hearing you, and He certainly was not answering? There can be several reasons. Sometimes, God wants us to grow deeper roots. But when this happens, we often have a tendency, like Saul, to point in every direction before we finally look at ourselves.
We may blame the nation, the economy, the preacher, or the current state of the church. Maybe it is my prayer technique, or perhaps someone around me has messed up! Saul looked in every direction, even to the point of blaming Jonathan for breaking a religious oath that he had imposed upon the troops, and Jonathan did not even know about. Saul was ready to have Jonathan die... in order to perhaps appease God about something God had never required.
The big truth here? When it seems that God is not hearing us or we cannot connect with Him, the most important place to look is inward. What is going on in me? What is there in my life that could be standing in the way? What do I need to correct before Him? Is there something that God directed me to do that I have been missing? Is there a calling I have ignored? A need I have run away from? A conviction that I have tried to forget about? Have I tried to do it my way... rather than God's way, and He is just waiting for me to run out of rope before He will start speaking?
Father God, I long for the day when I will always hear clearly from You every day and in every way. Meanwhile, help me to look inward first and outward later. Help me to see the things in my life that You want to change. Help me to grasp what it is that stands in the way of the calling You have for me toward the future. In Jesus' Name, Amen.
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© Jeffrey D. Hoy 2024
Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy - Faith Fellowship Church (EFCA)
2820 Business Center Blvd.
Melbourne, Florida 32940 (321)-259-7200
Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com
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The Words of Faith devotion is published five days a week by E-mail, excluding Federal holidays. Please feel free to forward this devotion to a friend who might be blessed by this devotion. Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture is quoted from the New International Version (R) of The Holy Bible. Copyright (c) 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved. Words of Faith (c) 1997, 2024 Jeffrey D. Hoy. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to forward this copyrighted material or use portions of it with appropriate notation of the source for non-profit purposes.