Advent Journey: December 15th

© Michael Livesay-Wright

Questions and Reflections

QUESTION: Why do God's people keep disobeying Him?

This is an easy question to ask as an outsider reading a story. It's like watching a movie and wanting to tell the main character "Don't open that door!" because you know what's behind the door. But the answer to this question is simple -- sin. The Bible says we are slaves to sin. "Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned" (Romans 5:12). And Jesus himself says, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin" (John 8:34, ESV). So we are exactly the same. We return to pride and selfishness, greed and disobedience, gossip and gluttony again and again and again. Only one thing can set us free from the power of sin and death... and that is coming.

QUESTION: Why do you think the Israelites wanted a king?

The simple answer is that they wanted to be like everyone else. Every other nation had a king. In fact, that's almost exactly what the elders said when they went to the prophet Samuel and ask for a king, "Now appoint for us a king to judge us like all the nations" (I Samuel 8:5, ESV). A king makes a country more legitimate, more respected. A human king feels more comfortable and safe than the God of the universe. We do the same thing, don't we. Even though we can call upon the God of the universe, we would often prefer to turn to anything we can see, touch, and understand for guidance than we would to God. The God of all creation wants to hear from us, wants to speak to us and gently lead us, but we choose to put our hope in broken, sinful humans instead.

QUESTION: What made David an unlikely king for Israel?

At first God told Samuel to give the Israelites exactly what they wanted -- a king who fit the part. Saul was tall and handsome and probably intimidating. The problem was he was a terrible king. He was petty and moody and power-hungry. But the next king God appointed was going to set the stage for a future king... the king of kings... the Messiah. He may not have looked the part. In fact, his first real appearance on the national stage was when he volunteered to fight Goliath. At that point he was a shepherd boy (yes, remember I told you to keep track of the shepherds). Many conjecture that he was not even fifteen years old. He was the youngest of eight sons (and therefore traditionally the last to be picked for any kind of leadership). But once again, God doesn't judge the same way we do. He had a special plan. He was going to use David to set the stage for a future king and David would be the great great great.... grandfather of the coming Messiah, Jesus!