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Trusting God’s Wisdom – Obeying God
(Holland Road Baptist Church Tuesday Community Fellowship, 25/01/2022)
Jeremiah 17:5-10
The reading is from Jeremiah 17:5-10 … This is what the Lord says: “Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who draws strength from mere flesh and whose heart turns away from the Lord. That person will be like a bush in the wastelands, … in the parched places of the desert, in a salt land where no one lives.
“But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.”
The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?
“I, the Lord, search the heart and examine the mind, to reward each person according to their conduct, according to what their deeds deserve.”
Introduction and outline
So, “Cursed is the one who trusts in man”; “Blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord”; and “The Lord searches the deceitful heart” … how does that make you feel?
When I read this, with my natural self-centredness, I think:
- “Argh! I’m cursed, because I know I put my trust in the approval of man, the wisdom of man, the threats of man, the offerings of man!”
… then I think:
- “Ah! … but I’m also blessed, because I trust in the Lord’s promise to save me!”
… and then I think:
- “…but, if the Lord searches my heart, I’m in trouble because I know there’s a lot of sinful stuff down there!”
It’s a real roller-coaster!
But if I read it in faith in God – that is, trusting in Him and how He reveals Himself – then I see that the one who trusts in man is cursed because of God’s love for us, the one who trusts in the Lord is blessed because of God’s love for us, and the Lord searches the heart because of God’s love for us.
So, we’re going to look at trusting God today, and – to do so - I want to show you one storyline that flows all the way from Exodus 17, through Deuteronomy 25, on through 1 Samuel 15, reaching a climax in Esther. (Don’t worry, I’ll be abridging heavily!)
In that storyline, I want to do three things with you today:
1. I want to link our trust in God with our obedience to Him;
2. I want to contrast not trusting and obeying God with trusting and obeying Him; and,
3. I want to show that even though He is worthy of our trust, we do not naturally obey Him – but all is not lost!
Trust & Obedience
Our story starts in Exodus, with the Lord protecting His people against an enemy who was hell-bent on destroying them.
The whole Israelite community – fresh from the trauma of finally escaping their long slavery in Egypt - were in the desert. Hearing of Israel’s weakened state and the plunder that they had been given from Egypt, a merciless people called the Amalekites sought out and attacked the Israelites.
The Lord intervened, protecting His people, and the Amalekites were defeated.
Here was an obvious lesson in trusting God.
But the Lord seemed to know that this was not the end of the matter; that the Amalekites were not taught a lesson; they were not humbled; … and, in fact, that they would come back, in the hatred they harboured for God’s precious people, and attack again and again and again.
So He told Moses: “Write this on a scroll as something to be remembered: … I will completely blot out the name of the Amalekites from under heaven.” This commanded their trust.
Later (in Deuteronomy), God assured His people that He had not forgotten … although this time – talking to a people no longer wearied and traumatised – He confides in them that it would their own hands He would strengthen to achieve this: “Remember what the Amalekites did to you along the way when you came out of Egypt. When you were weary and worn out, they met you on your journey and attacked all who were lagging behind ... When the Lord your God gives you rest from all the enemies around you in the land he is giving you to possess as an inheritance, you shall blot out the name of the Amalekites from under heaven. Do not forget!” This time, He is commanding not only their trust, but also their obedience.
So Israel’s trust in God and obedience to God are linked: they were to trust God enough to obey Him in everything … but would they?
Distrust & Disobedience
Over 400 years later, after the Lord had given His people rest in the land He had given them to possess, with Saul as King of Israel, Samuel as Israel’s Priest, … and Agag as king of the Amalekites … the Lord decided that it was time to make good on His promise.
In 1 Samuel 15, Samuel tells Saul: “This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘I will punish the Amalekites for what they did to Israel as they came up from Egypt. Now go, attack the Amalekites and totally destroy all that belongs to them. Do not spare them; put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep.’”
So Saul attacked the Amalekites … but he spared Agag, king of the Amalekites, … and the best of his possessions – only what was despised and weak they totally destroyed.
The Lord told Samuel: “I regret that I have made Saul king … he has turned away from me and not carried out my instructions.”
Saul’s disobedience reflected his distrust for the Lord, which broke God’s heart.
Samuel went to see Saul, who greeted him: “The Lord bless you! I have carried out the Lord’s instructions!”
Samuel challenged this flagrant contradiction: “The Lord anointed you king over Israel, and He sent you on a mission, saying: ‘Go and completely destroy the wicked Amalekites, waging war against them until you have wiped them out.’ Why did you not obey the Lord?”
Saul argues, twisting the facts in a bid to deceive – even if only himself: “I did obey the Lord: I went on the mission the Lord assigned me, I completely destroyed the Amalekites … I just brought back Agag their king. And the soldiers took sheep and cattle from the plunder - the best of what was devoted to God - in order to sacrifice them to the Lord your God.”
Samuel’s verdict was damning: “To obey is better than sacrifice! Rebellion is sin; arrogance is evil! Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, he has rejected you as king.”
Now, I think there are two questions we want to ask of this story to help us on our way:
1. Why did Saul not obey?
And:
2. Why did God command the destruction of an entire people?
So, first, why didn’t Saul obey? Did you notice how Saul describes the Lord not as “my God”, but as “your God”, to Samuel. But this is Saul’s God; this is the God of Israel, who had chosen Saul to be His trusted king over His precious people! So Saul has chosen to not seek to know and trust God, and Samuel calls him an arrogant rebel.
Not only does Saul not trust God but, in verse 24 (which I didn’t read), Saul admits to Samuel: “I was afraid of the men and so I gave in to them” … well, do you remember our passage from Jeremiah 17 that we opened with? Saul has trusted in man, and now his heart has turned away from the Lord.
Exactly how dangerous this is, we shall find out soon but, for now, let’s turn to the other – potentially more troubling - question: why did our Father in Heaven – the God who is love – command the complete annihilation of an entire people group?
…I wonder if, as our passage in Jeremiah said: “the Lord searched the hearts and examined the minds” of the Amalekites, and found that no matter how much time passed - no matter how much opportunity was given - the Amalekites would never, ever change in their murderous hatred of God’s people. That would, then, warrant God’s death sentence on them, wouldn’t it?
Do we have any proof of this – that the Amalekites would still harbour such hatred, even generations later? Well, jump, with me, about 525 years forwards in time from Saul’s disobedience in the matter of Agag, king of the Amalekites … to the book of Esther, in the time of Xerxes, king over the Babylonian empire.
Trust & Obedience
King Xerxes ruled a vast area from India to the Upper Nile from his capital, Susa. One of the Jews in exile, called Mordecai, also lived in Susa with Esther, whom he had adopted when her parents had died.
Esther was unsurpassingly beautiful and King Xerxes married her.
It was something of a tense relationship for Esther: King Xerxes had publicly humiliated his previous wife in front of the entire empire, and banished her from her former life of luxury.
And, indeed, he seemed quite happy to go at least a month without feeling any need to see Esther!
Furthermore, if King Xerxes didn’t call for you, it could be a death sentence to simply wander into his presence.
Now, wisely, Esther kept her Jewish roots a secret, even from him.
Haman the Agagite
Amongst King Xerxes’ nobles and royal officials was a man called Haman the Agagite. That name should ring a bell: an Agagite was a descendent of Agag – and, remember? Agag was king of the Amalekites, so an Agagite was also an Amalekite. Haman was a surviving descendant of Agag, king of the Amalekites … who King Saul should have killed half a century previously!
Let’s see what the natural outcome of Saul’s distrust and disobedience would turn out be…
King Xerxes came to honour Haman above all his other nobles and royal officials, ordering all others to kneel when he passed. For reasons not detailed, Mordecai would not bow the knee to Haman – and this enraged Haman. However, after making enquiries and finding that Mordecai was a Jew, Haman decided to not just punish Mordecai for this, but to completely destroy all of Mordecai’s people - the Jews - throughout the whole empire.
Given his position of authority, he was able to persuade King Xerxes that the Jews were dangerous insurgents who must be exterminated. Xerxes, trustful of his right-hand man, gave an order for all his subjects to rise up against any Jew in their neighbourhood and kill him and his kin, and plunder his goods - and a specific date in the not-too-distant future was set for this holocaust to be carried out.
Esther’s mission
In the great distress that followed, Mordecai warned Esther that, given her unique position, she would be the one who would have to approach King Xerxes and plead with him to overturn the order – and quickly!
Esther replied: “the king has but one law for any man or woman who approaches the king in the inner court without being summoned: that they be put to death - unless the king spares their lives”
Nonetheless, she went on:
“ … so, gather all the Jews in Susa and fast for me for three days and nights; I and my attendants will fast too. When this is done, I will go to the king - even though it is against the law – and if I perish, I perish.”
Here, Esther proves her own trust in God by her actions: it is God to whom she is fasting and praying - and it is He to whom she entrusts the outcome of her actions.
Providentially, King Xerxes is delighted to see his queen and not only permits her to enter the inner court, but also asks her:
“What is it, Queen Esther? What is your request? Even up to half the kingdom, it will be given you.”
Now, it’s not immediately clear why, but Esther doesn’t ask for the obvious (either “overrule the order” or “ok, could I have the half of your kingdom where my people live so they won’t be murdered!”) – instead, she asks the king and his top noble, Haman the Agagite, to a private banquet.
The king is only too pleased, and Haman is so puffed up by his personal invitation to an exclusive banquet with the King and Queen that he could almost explode. But on his way home he sees Mordecai and, reminded of his intense hatred of the man, he erects - that very evening - a 75-foot pole outside his house, resolving to ask the king’s permission to impale Mordecai on it the next day.
The Amalekites destroyed
Come the banquet, King Xerxes again asks his beloved Queen Esther what she wants, again promising up to half his kingdom. This time, Esther answers:
“If I have found favour with you, Your Majesty, and if it pleases you, grant me my life and spare my people. For I and my people have been sold to be annihilated.”
King Xerxes exploded: “Who is he - where is he - the man who has dared to do such a thing?”
Esther said: “Haman, the Agagite!”
The king was enraged and, as his attendants bundled Haman away, one of them told the king: “A 75-foot pole stands by Haman’s house - he had it set up for Mordecai, Esther’s kinsman.”
“Impale him on it!” ordered the king, so Haman the Agagite was impaled on the pole he had set up for Mordecai the Israelite.
That same day King Xerxes gave Esther Haman’s estate, he gave Mordecai Haman’s place of honour, and he issued an order overruling Haman’s edict, and resulting in the annihilation of the enemies of the Jews, including all Haman the Agagite’s offspring.
So, so far, we have looked at King Saul, who refused to trust and obey God, and allowed His enemy to live to hate another day; and we have also seen how Queen Esther did trust and obey God – at the risk of her own life – and a great enemy of all God’s people is destroyed, never to threaten them again.
God is Worthy of Our Trust
It seems to me that God knew, over 925 years previously, that the Amalekites were irredeemable in their murderous hatred for His beloved people – and that is why He ordered their destruction.
Why didn’t He arrange it sooner? I wonder if it was for the sake of the onlookers: billions of us, reading these accounts down through the centuries since these events. We can see that God knew - way back - that they were irredeemable, and we can see that through all those centuries of grace and opportunity to change, the Amalekites never did change in any way whatsoever.
Does that help us to see that the Lord (not man; not flesh) is completely trustworthy?
We Do Not Naturally Trust Him … But All is Not Lost
We, however, are fools: I am sure I am not alone when I confess that I need reminding daily of His trustworthiness; and I need reminding daily that I am in constant danger of distrusting and disobeying this most trustworthy Lord.
So I read: “But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him” and I wonder at who – of all of us – this could be.
Well, if - in all mankind, throughout all history - there is only “one” who is described as trusting in the Lord, surely that is Jesus! Jesus trusted God with protection from His vicious, merciless Enemy, hell-bent on destroying Him – even through that very destruction, … confident that God simply had to command, and Jesus would rise again, to eternal life.
Then I read on: “They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes nor worry in time of drought.” I thought we were talking about “one” - who are “they”?
Didn’t Jesus pray, before His death, that “all who will believe in me may be one, Father - just as you are in me and I am in you - may they also be in us”?
We – we, who believe and trust in Christ, albeit with faith like a mustard seed – are as one with Him!
And, as we abide in Him, we are nurtured and perfected by His own Holy Spirit.
And that is how we will - most assuredly - grow in our trust in God to perfect obedience to Him.
The end
I said our storyline starts in Exodus and ends in Esther … but really it starts in Genesis and ends in Revelation.
God’s eventual victory over the Amalekites in the book of Esther was glorious … but there would come many more enemies.
But, in Genesis, we read that The Enemy is Satan, the deceiver of nations, and in Revelation, we read that he will be devoured by fire sent down from heaven, and thrown into the lake of burning sulfur to be tormented day and night for ever and ever!
Let us not be an irredeemable enemy of God! Let us, instead, get to know and trust Jesus, and be counted – with Him – as “one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him, (who is) like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream, (that) does not fear when heat comes, (whose) leaves are always green, (and who) has no worries in a year of drought (as it) never fails to bear fruit”.
Prayer
Let’s pray!
Our Father, I pray you would help us to know you better – through your Holy Spirit’s work in us, and through our reading about Jesus in your word. And, as we know you better, may we come to perfectly trust you … and your wisdom - and every other aspect of who you are … just as your Son Jesus did. And it is in His name and for your glory that we pray:
Amen!
