Well, does the name Rod Blagojevich mean anything to you? It's not a new acquisition for the Phillies, in case you were wondering. The now indicted Democratic Governor of Illinois, trying to sell the now vacant senatorial seat of Barack Obama for the highest price, to the highest bidder--what was he thinking? The brazenness of it all is stunning. Now don't be too hard on this man because you think, "Well, he's a Democrat," for those of you who would think that, because his Republican predecessor is watching the proceedings from prison, having, himself, been indicted and convicted for political corruption.
Amazing How Foolish We Can Be
Amazing how foolish we can be. The passage that we're going to look at this evening is incredibly current, modern in the kinds of themes that it, once again, exposes to us. You would think, if you could change the characters, you're reading something out of the New York Times. Turn in your Bibles to 2 Samuel 3. I'm asking you to turn in your church Bible because we're going to look at more verses than what are printed in your 'Order of Worship'. Any time you're talking about wisdom and foolishness, you're also talking about what do you trust, in whom do you place your trust, where do you look in your life for surety, for security, for hope, for reliability?
What are you standing on? It's an interesting time in the history of Israel, look there at verse 1 of 2 Samuel 3. "There was a long war between the house of Saul and the house of David. And David grew stronger and stronger, while the house of Saul became weaker and weaker." Seven years of political division. Ish-bosheth is the son of Saul; he leads ten tribes of Israel, and his kingdom grows weaker and weaker. He's assisted by a general by the name of Abner. David rules two tribes. David is growing stronger and stronger, assisted by a general by the name of Joab.
What we basically have this evening is a political drama in four acts that I want to walk through with you, and then ask the question, "Why in the world is this in the Bible?" But I want you to look with me first at verses 2 through 5. I won't read all of those names for you again. I think Robert did a wonderful job of doing that. Remember the names as Robert read them. But what you have here is quite shocking. This is the anointed King of Israel, a man that God anointed to represent Him, a man that God said, "...would lead a kingdom that would have no end."
Out of that kingdom would come the promised Messiah, that One that we celebrate during this time of year. And you're hit with the fact that this man didn't have one wife; he didn't have two wives; he didn't have three, count them - six! What was he thinking? Now there are those who would say that God just permitted this polygamy in the Old Testament, and again, this discussion is very current. I don't usually bring visual aids into the pulpit; I'm going to do that this evening. There was an article in this week's Newsweek, I don't know if you saw it.
When I walked into the Hudson News at the Louisville Airport this week on Tuesday, and I saw this from a distance, I thought, "How refreshing, finally the Bible on the front cover of a news magazine!" I hadn't gotten close enough to read the title of the article. It's titled, "The Religious Case for Gay Marriage." Now I'm not here to discuss all of the content of this article, but one of the major arguments that the writer makes is that the monogamy of the socially conservative church in America is nowhere to be found in the writings of Scripture...that all of those wonderful monogamous passages were, in fact, written by polygamists.
And so, we're required to ask the question, "What do we make of this issue in David's life?" Given the culture that we live in, given the kinds of concerns that are everywhere being discussed today all around us, we need to be able to speak to these issues. And so, I want you to do something with me, I want to take your Bibles and turn to Matthew 19. And then I want to make, what I think is a very, very, important, a biblical interpretation point for you. Verse 3, Christ is approached with a question by the Pharisees: "Is it lawful to divorce one's wife for any cause?"
He answered, "Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, 'Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two (they) shall become one flesh'? So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate." (ESV) Now Jesus, in arguing for God's will in the area of marriage, goes back to God's creation intention. God's creation intention is that a man and a woman would leave their mother and father, they would cleave together in a union so committed, and so rich, and so deep, the only way you could talk about it is to use the term 'one flesh'.
What God Has Joined Together
And that was meant to be a life-long commitment of that man and that woman. And God views that as something not so much that they've done, but that He's done. He has joined them together, and then Jesus says, "What God has joined together, men should not tear asunder." David is clearly outside of the creation will of God. Sadly, this man who writes so powerfully in Psalm 14 about what a fool is...is a fool in this moment. A fool thinks he knows better. A fool denies the existence of God and that may not be philosophically, that may be practically in the way that he lives.
And so, what a fool does is he sets his own law, he follows typically the laws of his own desire, and he constructs an ethic that serves what he wants. And this is David, giving way to a significant area of personal weakness. We know later because we have the whole story, this particular weakness would be the undoing of this man. In fact, it's further taught in Scripture, Deuteronomy 17, you don't need to turn there, God specifically tells His kings not to multiply unto themselves wives. Now here's the biblical interpretation point; this is suitable for you writing down for those of you who take notes.
Here it is. "What is accurately recorded as being historically true in Scripture is not necessarily ethically normative for you today." Scripture is an accurate recording of history, and so it records things that are far outside of the revealed will of God elsewhere in Scripture. Because God is giving us this history to be a mirror into which we can look to see our sin, our weakness, our struggle, so that we would understand ourselves, understand Him, understand life in a fallen world, understand our need of grace, and so that we would understand the progress of His work of redemption.
And so, if you take those clear principles of Scripture, you take those clear commands of Scripture, they become the basis of your ethics, your system of right and wrong, and they help you then to interpret these historical moments. This is not God endorsing polygamy. This is God being shockingly honest about what happens in a fallen world. And I can't say it strongly enough; I adore the fact that the Bible is this honest. This is not a sanitized book, because that helps us, and I love the fact that it's gloriously hopeful at the same time, and the hope doesn't diminish the honesty, and the honesty doesn't alleviate the hope.
The Bible speaks strongly and clearly about this issue of marriage. And this is a man who is sadly giving way to an area of personal weakness, thinking that he knows better. Well back to 2 Samuel 3, here goes the political drama. The first act is found in verses 6 through 11. Abner is acquiring power in the house of Saul. Now, notice what the words are here, "While there was a war between the house and Saul and the house of David, (now notice this) Abner was making himself strong in the house of Saul."
It doesn't say that Abner was doing everything he could to make the house of Saul strong. Get what the words are here, Abner was all about Abner. Abner was a political player. He was looking for an edge; he was looking for personal power, and Ish-bosheth was a weak king, and Abner was consolidating power in that kingdom. Verse 7 says, "Now Saul had a concubine, whose name was Rizpah, the daughter of Aiah. And Ish-bosheth said to Abner, 'Why have you gone into my father's concubine?'" One of the ways that a person in Abner's position would try to acquire power was to go after one of the concubines or one of the wives of the most powerful person in the kingdom.
Am I a Dog's Head?
Ish-bosheth gets what's going on here, and he rebukes Abner saying, "What are you doing?" In verse 8, Abner explodes in anger and says. "Am I a dog's head of Judah? To this day I keep showing steadfast love to the house of Saul your father, to his brothers, and to his friends, and have not given you into the hand of David. And yet you charge me today with the fault concerning a woman." And then notice what happens next, he says, "God do so to Abner and more also, if I do not accomplish for David what the Lord has sworn to him, to transfer the kingdom from the house of Saul and set up the throne of David over Israel and over Judah, from Dan to Beersheba.
And Ish-bosheth could not answer Abner another word, because he feared him." In an explosion of anger, Abner says, "I'm going to do everything I can now to turn power over to David." Abner's not doing that because he loves the kingdom of God, he's not doing that because he loves David; he's not doing it because he's committed to God's purpose. Abner's after power. Angry at Ish-bosheth's response and, in a second, changes loyalties...end of Act I. Act II: We find Abner now approaching David. It says, rhetorical question, "To whom does the land belong?
Make your covenant with me, and behold, my hand shall be with you to bring over all Israel to you." David says, "Good; I will make a covenant with you. But one thing I required of you; that is, you shall not see my face unless you first bring Michal, Saul's daughter, when you come to see my face." And David sends messengers to Ish-bosheth and says, "Give me my wife Michal, for whom I paid the bridal price." And Ish-bosheth sends for her, and Abner takes her to David with her husband weeping behind her.
What an awful scene this is. The Bible doesn't tell us what's in the heart of David in this passage, but this is a bad deal. If the early verses are accurate, Abner is not a trustworthy man, not a man that a wise king should be making a covenant with. This is not a person you should trust. And it's further complicated by, David says, "You want to make this covenant with me? There's going to be a price. I want you to go and find my first wife, now married to another man, and I want you to bring her back to me."
Again, what David is asking for is a direct violation of God's laws for marriage. You can find that in Deuteronomy 24. It's a sad scene here when Michal is taken by Abner to David with her husband weeping behind her. Think of this, think of this woman now ripped out of her home, now forced to go back to Hebron, her husband in powerless grief, crying, following her. Finally he's forced by the general to go back to his house. These are not the actions of a wise man. End of Act II. Well, Abner begins to consolidate power; he goes to the elders of Israel, and says that David has a much better ability to keep you safe than Ish-bosheth does, and you ought to give your loyalty to him.
And then, Abner comes to David and says, "I think I can bring all of Israel to you." At this point enters Joab. Joab has been away, and Joab is shocked that David has made a covenant with Abner, this man who Joab knows is not a trustworthy man. Notice in verse 23, "Abner the son of Ner came to the king, and he has let him go, and he has gone in peace. Then Joab went to the King and said, 'What have you done? Behold, Abner came to you. Why is it that you have sent him away, so that he is gone? You know that Abner the son of Ner came to deceive you and to know your going out and your coming in, and to know all that you are doing.'"
He says, "Why would you ever let this man go? This is the kind of man you ought to keep at your side all the time. You need to keep an eye on this man because you can't trust what he will do if he's out of your presence." And Joab says, "I know exactly what Abner is about. He's about wanting to be inside of your court; he wants to know what you're thinking; he wants to know what's going on. Abner's not so much for you, David, he's for himself." End of Act III. Act IV records Joab's response. Motivated by political jealousy and insecurity, motivated by familial vengeance because Abner had earlier killed Joab's brother, Joab assassinates Abner - what a mess!
How Sin Twists the Heart
You think we have problems! How sin twists and bends the desires of the heart. Listen! Don't stand above this passage thinking, "I would never be involved in these kinds of things." You don't always desire what is wise. You aren't always attracted to what is good. You and I are tempted to bend the truth, to gain respect, to gain power, to gain acclaim. We are attracted to being with the people that matter in places that matter. Money attracts us more than it should; power attracts us more than it should; human acceptance attracts us more than it should; the physical pleasures of earth attract us more than they should - these are people just like us.
No, you may not be a polygamist, but you may, in your mind this week, have had sex with numerous women. I would say to you again, I'm always touched, not by how unusual these passages are, but by how shockingly usual they are, how they picture our struggle. Are you a trustworthy person, good for your word, following through with your promises? Are you loyal to people because you're first loyal to God? Or are you fickle in relationships because what is your sovereign, is your desire? Your desires rule you, and you'll go wherever your desires lead you, and it makes you, at moments, a person who cares more about what you desire than the promises you've made to others.
David is a man like us; Abner reflects sin in our own hearts; Joab's jealousy and vengeance are things that we're not free from. Well, the passage ends with David mourning the death of Abner. He calls for national mourning. He gives himself to fasting. As a poet would, he pens a poem in mourning, and God uses all of this, look at verse 36, to give David favor in the eyes of the people of Israel: "And all the people took notice of it, and it pleased them, as everything that the king did pleased all of the people."
Now here is a shocking, yet gratifying reality; God is using all of this political drama, all of the evil intentions of these men (are you ready for this?) to advance His purpose. At the end of all of this, David is stronger, and the hearts of the people of Israel are with him more than they ever had been. The New Testament says that God rules over all things, all things for the sake of His body, the church. Now, what do we make of that? Does that mean that it was alright for these men to do these things?
Absolutely not! Because God's law is His law, His revealed will is His revealed will. I must never step outside of the boundaries of God's law in order to somehow think that I'm advancing God's purpose. You say, "Does this make God evil?" It absolutely does not! God is holy in all that He does. You say, "Well, Paul, I don't understand." Well, perhaps this dilemma of what God is doing is best answered by the cross of Jesus Christ. Isn't it true that the most evil thing ever done is at once, the best thing that ever happened?
Peter doesn't force us in Acts 2, as he preaches the cross, into an either/or. Was God delivered up by the hands of evil men or by the ordained plan of God? The answer is, "Yes!" Peter clearly says that it was God's plan, God's foreordained plan, the exercise of His sovereign will... that Christ died. But what those men did, who brought Christ to His death, according to Peter was an act of lawlessness. It was a travesty of justice. They assassinated the one perfect man who ever existed. Could there be anything more evil than that?
God Was in All of That
But God was in all of that for His glory, working His plan for our redemption. Praise him! Wow! There's a way in which that tells me everything I need to know about the way I'm called to live. Hear this! You're living must not be based on you trying to figure out God's sovereign plan. Can I say this to you in a way that's pastoral? "You don't have the capacity to do that; don't go there; don't try this at home - you don't have that ability." God has clearly revealed His call to you, His will for you, in wise biblical principles, in glorious biblical promises, in clear biblical commands.
Those principles, those promises, those commands, are to form your approach to life. You don't let circumstances interpret them. You use them to interpret your circumstances. And then, you believe that your Lord is sovereign, that your world is not out of control, it's in control even if you can't figure that out. And this God is zealous for His own glory; He's zealous for the accomplishment of His plans, and His will will be done. Though it's hard for us to understand, this is not a moment in biblical history that has fallen out of control.
It's a moment of grievous, human foolishness and sin under the control of God who, through it all, is working His plan. Praise Him! Well, whom do you trust? Where are the moments, brothers and sisters, where you think you know better? Come on, there are moments like that for you. When the Bible says, "A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger," and you're a husband, and you get up into your wife's face, and you know that that's something that excites her anger, and creates an adversarial tension in your relationship, but you do it anyway; you are acting as if you know better.
When you're on the Internet again, and you're looking at things you should not look at, telling yourself you can handle it, when the Bible says you are introducing yourself to a powerful slavery that you will not be able to control, you are telling yourself you know better. When the Bible says, "It is more blessed to give than receive," and you hoard your money, and you would rather spend it on your pleasure than give it away for the grand purposes of the kingdom of God, you are saying you know better.
We don't know better. Sin reduces all of us to fools. And these passages drive us one place; they drive us to Jesus. The One who doesn't just know wisdom, the One who is our wisdom, suffered and died to deliver us from our own foolishness so that we could live free from our slavery to us, free in the gorgeous wisdom that only He can give. He delivers us from us so that we can know the freedom of slavery to Him. He alone is worthy of our trust. Let's Pray: Lord, how sad it is to read the account of the foolishness of Your people.
And yet, Lord, we pray in this moment that You would give us humble hearts that would say that that foolishness is reflected in the way we live as well. Oh, there are moments when we love Your wisdom; there are moments when it is precious to us; there are moments when we get it right, but, Lord, there's a war of wisdom and foolishness being played out in our hearts. There are times when we'd rather have our own way; we'd rather have our own pleasure; we'd rather acquire power; we'd rather multiply to ourselves the pleasures of this world, than to give our hearts to You, and to give our lives to Your service.
And, Lord, for that, we need Your forgiveness; we need the grace of Your empowerment; we long for the deliverance that only You can give us. Turn our hearts to You, we would pray. In Jesus's name, Amen.
