Title: God's Choice / 1 Samuel 16:1-13
Contents <1 Samuel 16:1-13> "God's choice"
People look for heroes in every era. The reason for looking for a hero is to relieve his suffering from the hero and to get out of the abyss of his own suffering. What a person wants is that there is no pain in his body. This is one of those things that cannot be done. The greatest suffering for people with disabilities is the need for help from others. Therefore, the reason humans attend church may be to minimize this suffering. As a way to minimize pain and double your freedom and joy, you find the church, you find a leader, you find a hero. In order to solve the problems of the elderly, welfare society groups have come up with various proposals, but they do not see a solution to the problem and end up with a watermelon. The only way to solve the problem of the elderly in the Bible is to die. The only reason older people feel uncomfortable is because they cannot sin.
Therefore, human choices always make their own choices in the way that works best for them, and they seek out human heroes or leaders to alleviate their suffering. Therefore, man's rival is always God, and God's enemy is always man. Human beings turn to religion to liberate themselves from their suffering. So, looking at the characteristics of religion, holy space, holy time, and holy person are required. These are often referred to as the three elements of religion.
Jesus came to this earth to know the essence of human beings. In other words, it is to reveal what the essence of a sinner is. The image of a sinner is also revealed through religion and through human history. This is because human history is always a place where human dreams and hopes are gathered together. In other words, human dreams and hopes are the sites where human desires are expressed. That is why we find that everything we do is full of the sin of greed.
In today's chapter, man's choice and God's choice are clearly revealed. The standard of human selection is appearance and height, that is, appearance is important. But God's choice is not looking at the outward appearance, but looking at the heart. Humans who choose based on their appearance are like Saul. The Prophet Samuel also sees that even with great leadership, he cannot escape from the human level. This is because when he saw a person like Eliab, his heart was drawn to him, and he stayed only to the extent that this was the person God had chosen.
On the other hand, when we say that God's choice does not look at the outward appearance but the heart, the center does not mean human beings or heart, but a person who lives with God's sacrificial spirit on the premise of God's choice. In other words, in order to accuse human beings of wrong choices, regardless of their intentions, they simply live a life that is revealed as a victim in order to reveal God's will.
Therefore, the appearance of the prophet Samuel was to accuse the family of the priest Eli, and the appearance of David was chosen to accuse the Saul family and the current human thinking system of the people of Israel, which was fixed to King Saul. In other words, it is to accuse us of how poor human choice was and how wrong the application and interpretation of the law were erroneous. So far, we have moved from the Abrahamic covenant to the Davidic covenant. The characteristic of the Davidic covenant is to denounce the idolatry of the human king-centered system, and on the other hand, to reveal God's kingship.
Even though an actual king named Saul exists in Israel, choosing another king David is to reveal that the king of Israel is still Jehovah God. But it shows that Israel rejected the true king. In Israel, the system of kings is not worthy of being the promised people in the Promised Land. In the Promised Land, only the promises of God must remain.
A king is chosen by God, and humans have no right to choose a king. Also, the king is not only a representative of the people, but also a person who has to play an intermediary function according to the law. Although this kind of mediator has been shown through priests, prophets, and kings in every age, there is only one true mediator, Jesus Christ. Although God's intention in establishing these various systems and offices is to see and believe in the coming Messiah, humans believe that through a human king like themselves, their wishes will be revealed in prayer and will be fulfilled instead.
Giving the kingdom of Israel the kingship or laws to the human world serves to expose the sins of the people through such systems and laws, and based on the law, only reveals that humans deserve a curse. Still, they didn't know about these features and didn't even know that they existed. Since God gave the law free of charge, we think that we can keep it diligently.
In today's text, we see Samuel dragging a heifer when he is sent to the house of Jesse. Why drag a heifer to the yard to choose and anoint a new king? To understand this, in Numbers 19:2-10, we see that a heifer is used to purify the unclean. Also, in Deuteronomy 21:3-6, a heifer is used to distinguish the innocent in the city of refuge. Finally, in Leviticus 22:28-29, we see that a heifer is used for the offering of thanksgiving. Therefore, it is believed that the reason Samuel took the heifer was to avoid misunderstanding as if he was going to offer a thanksgiving offering to hide the fact that he was going to raise another king from the eyes of King Saul at that time.
And the reason God chose the young David, setting aside David's seven older brothers, was to show that God Himself guides and saves Israel through a person who does not show any humanly dependable elements. As proof of that, we can see in Deuteronomy 12:5 that God's choice was only because of his name. Deuteronomy 12:11 says, ?쏝ut go out to the place where the LORD your God will dwell, which he has chosen out of all your tribes to put his name. Take all that I command you: take your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, your tithes, the large offerings of your hands, and all the beautiful vows that you make to the Lord.??You will see that the place you choose is not a place, but the name of Jehovah.
In both the New Testament and Hebrews 11:8, 13-16, Abraham was called without knowing Galba, but what he finally realized was that he was looking at the city that God himself had planned and built. A city, a hometown, a place built by God, 'Mount Zion' in Psalm 76:1-2 refers to none other than Jesus Christ. It is also 1 Peter 2:6 that proves this also. ?쏤or it is written in the scriptures, Behold, I put in Zion a corner stone, chosen and precious, and he who believes in him will not be put to shame.??The stone chosen by God is Jesus Christ.
Why does the Bible insist on only God's choice from beginning to end? Because human choices are fake. It also shows that everything humans do is subject to curses and judgment. Therefore, God's only choice is Jesus Christ. That is, only the name of the state. Only the name of this state can make a new choice. Those newly chosen by the name of the Lord are to boast only in Jesus Christ. Psalm 23: The Lord is my shepherd, and the reason he chooses us to lead us is that he leads us in the path of righteousness for the sake of his name.
When Jesus came to this earth, he made a drastic difference between man's choice and God's choice. Whether we are vessels of mercy or vessels of wrath, we are merely chosen to reveal the name of the Lord. If I have been chosen as the vessel of mercy that reveals the name of the Lord, I should no longer care about my name. I hope that you will die every day and that only the life of the Lord will be revealed. ??