Jottings

by J. Miller | Category: Jottings | Apr 1962

The force of circumstances is a powerful lever to cause men to act in a way that they would not otherwise do. It was 50 in the case of Abraham. Soon after he entered Canaan there was a famine in the land, and, despite the fact that the LORD said to him in Canaan at Shechem, "Unto thy seed will I give this land: and there builded he an altar unto the LORD, who appeared unto him" (Genesis 12.7), he "went down into Egypt to sojourn there," It maybe easy enough for us in a land of plenty to indicate failure in God's great servant and friend, but are not the failures of men recorded for our learning as well as their victories? Abraham, who had previously acted in faith in leaving Ur of the Chaldees and journeying those hundreds of miles up the Euphrates and then, when his father died, crossed the river into the land of promise, now turns to a course of scheming to save his life. Great men are not always great in their actions.

Isaac too might have acted as his father did through the force of the circumstances of the famine in his time, but "the LORD appeared unto him, and said, Go not down into Egypt; dwell in the land which I shall tell thee of" (Genesis 26.2). But the fact that the Philistines occupied the south-west part of the land of promise led to Isaac through fear of them acting in a somewhat similar manner to that of his father, both in Egypt (Genesis 12.13) and among the Philistines (20.2). How true are the words of the psalm concerning God's protecting care of those men whom He loved and chose, despite their timidity!

"They went about from nation to nation,

From one kingdom to another people.

He suffered no man to do them wrong;

Yea, He reproved kings for their sakes;

Saying, Touch not Mine anointed ones,

And do My prophets no harm." (Psalm 105.18-15).

The circumstances of famine played a large part in the lives of Abraham, Isaac arid Jacob. One thing is evident in the case of those great men, though they were like us all, manifesting weakness in their trials, yet they did not wickedly depart in heart from God.

The case of Saul, the king of Israel, seems to be of quite a different sort. The force of circumstances in his case brought out that lack of faith in God, by which alone it is possible to walk with God. Very shortly after Saul had been anointed king, the Philistines, the inveterate haters of God's people, invaded the land, and the men of Israel were in such terror that they hid themselves in caves, and in thickets, in rocks, in holes, and in pits. Saul was in Gilgal where Samuel had appointed for him to tarry seven days. The people however had scattered from him, and Samuel came not at the appointed time, and instead of waiting for the coming of Samuel, the force of circumstances were so powerful, that, as he said to Samuel, he forced himself and offered the burnt offering (1 Samuel 13). For this foolishness in not keeping the commandment of the LORD he was rejected as king, and God had espied David, the shepherd lad of Bethlehem, to fill his place. We might be inclined to excuse Saul in the circumstances in which he found himself. But on the other hand, when we remember how much depends on leadership, and how many people may lose their lives when the wrong man is in control, the judgement of God as to who should be king to lead and feed His people cannot be questioned. "The judgements of the LORD are true, arid righteous altogether" (Psalm 19.9). It is also true what the LORD said to Samuel concerning Eliab, David's eldest brother, "Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature ; because I have rejected him: for the LORD seeth riot as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart" (1 Samuel 16.7). Here too was the difference between Saul and David, the one had a large body, but the other a large heart.

"Keep thy heart with all diligence;

For out of it are the issues of life

(Proverbs 4.23).

Men are sometimes compelled by the force of circumstances to do what otherwise they might not do. But even circumstances do not justify men in doing what they know to be wrong. Evil should be resisted even though circumstances may cause suffering and be costly to such as do what is right.

The case of Pontius Pilate is one which illustrates what we have just said. The Lord was brought by the Jews before the Roman tribunal in the early hours of the Passover morning. Pilate was the judge; and he said unto them, "What accusation bring ye against this Man?" (John 18.29). Their accusation was, "We found this Man perverting our nation, and forbidding to give tribute to Caesar, and saying that He Himself is Christ a king. And Pilate asked Him, saying, Art Thou the King of the Jews? And He answered him and said, Thou sayest" (Luke 23.2, 8). Upon the issue of the Lord's kingship, the whole case before Pilate and Rome turned. Vainly Pilate wrestled with the Jews endeavouring to evade the issue. On the one hand his own conscience revolted against sending the Lord to Golgotha and to death, "for he knew that for envy they had delivered Him up" (Matthew 27.18). His wife's words no doubt added to his confused state of mind, for she" sent unto him, saying, Have thou nothing to do with that righteous Man: for I have suffered many things this day in a dream because of Him" (Matthew 27.19). Pilate desired to release Him. " He said unto them the third time, Why, what evil hath this Man done? I have found no cause of death in Him: I will therefore chastise Him and release Him. But they were instant with loud voices, asking that He might be crucified. And their voices prevailed" (Luke 23.22, 28). It seemed with Pilate to be a case of Vox populi, vox Dei, "The voice of the people is the voice of God." Pilate wilted before the Jewish onslaught, "If thou release this Man, thou art not Caesar's friend: everyone that maketh himself a king speaketh against Caesar ... Then therefore he delivered Him unto them to be crucified" (John 19.12-16). The Jews, alas, uttered the fatal words, "His blood be on us, and on our children," as Pilate washed his hands in the water of the basin before the multitude, saying, "I am innocent of the blood of this righteous Man: see ye to it" (Matthew 27.24). They made their choice for the murderer Barabbas, and their choice for Caesar, for they said, "We have no king but Caesar" (John 19.15). They had, alas, forgotten in their blindness the words of the prophet, "The LORD is our Judge, the LORD is our Lawgiver, the LORD is our King; He will save us" (Isaiah 33.22). Here He was present before them and they knew Him not.

We live in a day when the rulers of the British people have had to make a decision too. It is not one on all fours with the decision of Pontius Pilate. His was the case of a judge who acted upon the vehemence of the cry of the Jewish leaders, knowing within himself that he was condemning to death a righteous Man to placate the Jews. Such was a wrong thing to do under any circumstances. It seems, however, that force of circumstances have compelled the leaders of the British nation to take the initial step of seeking to join the nations of the European Common Market. It is not ours to say anything about what pressures have been brought to bear upon the minds of the men who lead the nation. We have no data on which to pass any judgement on such matters, nor on what economic benefits may accrue to the nation from joining this Common Market. Among men in general there are two minds about the wisdom of the course. But to the student of the Scriptures there arises in the mind the thought of the formation of a bloc of nations which will form finally the ten-kingdom confederacy under the beast, of Revelation chapters 13 and 17. Before that final phase of Gentile dominion appears, there will be a city called Babylon the Great, which will have a kingdom over the kings of the earth (see the explanation given in Revelation 17.18 as to the meaning of the woman that sits on the seven heads of the scarletcoloured beast). We should distinguish carefully between the beast as a system of world-government, and the beast as a man. Looking as one does by the light of the Scriptures on the confusion of the nations, one is inclined to view this combination of nations, with other nations, as a definite step towards that religious, economic and political centre - Babylon the Great: so the present decision of the British leaders is a momentous one, I judge.

J. Miller | Apr 1962
Jottings