SERIES
Advent: Into His Marvelous Light
2016-12-11T08:00:00-06:00
3 Now Samuel had died, and all Israel had mourned for him and buried him in Ramah, his own city. And Saul had put the mediums and the necromancers out of the land. 4 The Philistines assembled and came and encamped at Shunem. And Saul gathered all Israel, and they encamped at Gilboa. 5 When Saul saw the army of the Philistines, he was afraid, and his heart trembled greatly. 6 And when Saul inquired of the LORD, the LORD did not answer him, either by dreams, or by Urim, or by prophets. 7 Then Saul said to his servants, “Seek out for me a woman who is a medium, that I may go to her and inquire of her.” And his servants said to him, “Behold, there is a medium at En-dor.”
8 So Saul disguised himself and put on other garments and went, he and two men with him. And they came to the woman by night. And he said, “Divine for me by a spirit and bring up for me whomever I shall name to you.” 9 The woman said to him, “Surely you know what Saul has done, how he has cut off the mediums and the necromancers from the land. Why then are you laying a trap for my life to bring about my death?” 10 But Saul swore to her by the LORD, “As the LORD lives, no punishment shall come upon you for this thing.” 11 Then the woman said, “Whom shall I bring up for you?” He said, “Bring up Samuel for me.” 12 When the woman saw Samuel, she cried out with a loud voice. And the woman said to Saul, “Why have you deceived me? You are Saul.” 13 The king said to her, “Do not be afraid. What do you see?” And the woman said to Saul, “I see a god coming up out of the earth.” 14 He said to her, “What is his appearance?” And she said, “An old man is coming up, and he is wrapped in a robe.” And Saul knew that it was Samuel, and he bowed with his face to the ground and paid homage.
15 Then Samuel said to Saul, “Why have you disturbed me by bringing me up?” Saul answered, “I am in great distress, for the Philistines are warring against me, and God has turned away from me and answers me no more, either by prophets or by dreams. Therefore I have summoned you to tell me what I shall do.” 16 And Samuel said, “Why then do you ask me, since the LORD has turned from you and become your enemy? 17 The LORD has done to you as he spoke by me, for the LORD has torn the kingdom out of your hand and given it to your neighbor, David. 18 Because you did not obey the voice of the LORD and did not carry out his fierce wrath against Amalek, therefore the LORD has done this thing to you this day. 19 Moreover, the LORD will give Israel also with you into the hand of the Philistines, and tomorrow you and your sons shall be with me. The LORD will give the army of Israel also into the hand of the Philistines.”
20 Then Saul fell at once full length on the ground, filled with fear because of the words of Samuel. And there was no strength in him, for he had eaten nothing all day and all night.
31:1 Now the Philistines were fighting against Israel, and the men of Israel fled before the Philistines and fell slain on Mount Gilboa. 2 And the Philistines overtook Saul and his sons, and the Philistines struck down Jonathan and Abinadab and Malchi-shua, the sons of Saul. 3 The battle pressed hard against Saul, and the archers found him, and he was badly wounded by the archers. 4 Then Saul said to his armor-bearer, “Draw your sword, and thrust me through with it, lest these uncircumcised come and thrust me through, and mistreat me.” But his armor-bearer would not, for he feared greatly. Therefore Saul took his own sword and fell upon it. 5 And when his armor-bearer saw that Saul was dead, he also fell upon his sword and died with him. 6 Thus Saul died, and his three sons, and his armor-bearer, and all his men, on the same day together.
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version copyright (c)2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. http://www.esv.org
How do we relate to the apparent distance between God’s lavish promises and our inability to understand them? In Genesis 15, that is Abram’s problem. God has made astounding promises to him, but Abram cannot fathom how the Lord could possibly fulfill these promises. The circumstances may be different, but the same tension exists in our lives. We're tempted to think that we must close the gap and that we are “on the hook” to deliver the performance that makes God’s promises a reality. But the story of Genesis 15 and the story of Scripture invite us to shift our gaze from what we must do to what God has done.
As Abram wrestles with lacking an heir, the Lord invites him to look up and number the stars. The Lord gives Abram a star-counting task that no person could complete, and then promises that the number of his offspring will be like the number of stars. Abram can neither count the stars nor have a child in his old age. All he can do is trust that the Lord will be faithful to His word. And so we read that Abram “believed the Lord, and He counted it to him as righteousness” (Gen 15:6).
When we struggle to understand God’s promises, He doesn’t “walk them back”. No, God invites us to look up and realize that the promises are even more amazing than we thought. And when we wonder how we can know that God will deliver on these promises, He amazes us yet again. The covenant-cutting ceremony in Genesis 15 is a picture of the Lord's faithfulness to do everything necessary to keep His promises. The Lord, represented by a flaming torch, passes through the gauntlet of animal carcasses. Meanwhile, Abram is asleep. The Lord is essentially saying, “May what happened to these carcasses happen to Me if I don’t keep My promise...and if you don’t keep your promise.” The Lord puts Himself on the hook and promises to close the gap between His promises and our ability to grasp them.
As Abram slept, the Lord’s plans to redeem the world were unfolding. And as most of the world slept, the Lord Himself entered the world as a baby. Christmas means that the Lord has come to close the gap, to put Himself on the hook (and eventually on a cross) for His people’s salvation. The baby in the manger is the one who came to keep God’s covenant and to pay the price for those who could not. Through faith in Jesus Christ, we enjoy all the blessings of being God's covenant people, the children of Abraham, the children of God. So if we feel “on the hook” to deliver the perfect Christmas, we have missed the glorious news of Christmas. The Light has come to keep the covenant and break the curse. All of God's promises are "yes" and "amen" in Jesus Christ. If we believe that, it should be a very merry Christmas indeed.