Rebellion and Divination
“Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father. Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it. If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.
John 14:12-17
Jesus seamlessly combines belief, doing, loving and obeying. Those who believe in Him continue His mighty work on earth, and those who love Him keep His commandments. Jesus states these things as facts, not suggestions. They are explanations of the way things are, like stating the law of gravity – if we are on or anywhere near earth and we drop an object, the object will fall. It is a certainty. In the same vein, those who believe and love Him are transformed and through His holy transformation they act in certain ways. It is a certainty, not a suggestion. They follow Him, continue His work and obey Him, not out of obligation, but out of love, respect and loyalty. Loving loyalty is the driving force, beginning with and caused by His holy transformation. Because of His holy transformation, none of it is a burden; it is joy.
Heavenly host continually praise His holy name because they want to, not because they are forced (see Revelation 4:8). Like the angels, once we see who He is and experience His awesome wholeness, we yearn for Him and want to serve Him, but we are unable to do it on our own. Further, if we try to behave in a certain way to earn His favor, we will be disappointed because we cannot earn His favor. He does not distribute His holy grace based on merit. If He did, none of us would know His holy grace because none of us deserve it. So we do not do His mighty work and obey Him to earn His favor, we do it because through His holy transformation we yearn to serve and obey Him.
This may seem like a distinction without a difference, but it is not. It is foundational to our worldview. And it may seem like a concept introduced in the New Testament, but it has roots in the Old Testament. I think of David and Saul.
David was the one chosen by God to succeed Saul as king. When God sent Samuel to anoint David, God said,
Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” 1 Samuel 16:7
God knows everything about everyone, and He chose David to succeed Saul. God knew David’s heart, but David was far from perfect. After he violated Bathsheba and murdered her husband, David begged God for forgiveness. He is said to have written Psalm 51 during this particular episode of anguish. In Psalm 51 David prays,
Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit. Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will return to you. Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, O God of my salvation, and my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness. O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise. For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; you will not be pleased with a burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. Psalm 51:10-17
David recognizes that he depends on the Holy Spirit’s cleansing, restoration and wholeness, and through the Holy Spirit’s renewal of his spirit, David might offer to God the sacrifices God desires – his broken spirit and contrite heart. David connects the dots between the Holy Spirit’s transformation of our spirits and our ability to live lives pleasing to God. We cannot do it without Him.
Even though he did awful things, he never lost relationship with God because He genuinely sought God, genuinely repented, genuinely humbled himself before God. Contrast this with his predecessor.
God appointed Saul king of Israel. Samuel served God and preached messages urging people to obey God. For example, Samuel says,
If you will fear the Lord and serve him and obey his voice and not rebel against the commandment of the Lord, and if both you and the king who reigns over you will follow the Lord your God, it will be well. 1 Samuel 12:14
During Saul’s reign, he made many mistakes without genuinely repenting. This was the final straw. God instructed him to attack the Amalekites as payback for the time the Amalekites attacked Israel during their exodus from Egypt (see 1 Samuel 15:2). God ordered Saul to destroy the entire nation including men, women and children and all of their livestock. Saul’s army defeated the Amalekites, but allowed their king, some of their people, and some of their livestock to survive. After the battle, Samuel visited Saul. Through Samuel, God rebuked Saul because he refused to obey God. Saul tried to justify his actions saying he only kept the best of the livestock so that he might offer them to God as offerings and sacrifices. The account continues as follows:
And Samuel said, “Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of divination, and presumption is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, he has also rejected you from being king.” 1 Samuel 15:22-23
“To obey is better than sacrifice.”
Now, I know far less than most people and I know nothing compared to God, but it seems to me that David did far worse things than Saul did. The single incident with Bathsheba and her husband seems far worse than allowing some people and livestock to live. And while Saul violated a direct command communicated to him directly by God, David also violated a direct command communicated by God because he violated at least two of the Ten Commandments. Neither of them obeyed God in those specific instances, so why did God reject Saul, not David?
Saul tried to justify his wrongdoing. He tried to explain why it was not really wrong and, very similar to Adam in the garden, Saul pointed to his soldiers and said it wasn’t me, it was their fault (see 1 Samuel 15:15).
David responded differently. He acknowledged his wrongdoing and pleaded with God for forgiveness. He genuinely had a humble, contrite and repentant heart, and God responded graciously.
After saying “to obey is better than sacrifice,” Samuel said, “For rebellion is as the sin of divination, and presumption is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, he has also rejected you from being king” (1 Samuel 15:23). He compares rebellion with divination, and presumption with iniquity and idolatry. In what ways are they comparable? Do they grow from the same foundation? Perhaps it has to do with God’s response – perhaps He responds to them in similar way? Or is there another basis?
A rebel rises in opposition to an established ruler. Rebellion is active disobedience. The word translated as “presumption” in the English Standard Version is also translated as insubordination and stubbornness, which at times is inactive – insubordination might be refusal to act. Saul refused to do what God explicitly told him to do, which is insubordination, and he acted in opposition to God’s instruction. Saul did what he wanted to do rather than what God told him to do. He was an insubordinate, stubborn rebel. He checked all the boxes. But what does this have to do with divination (also translated as sorcery or witchcraft), iniquity or idolatry?
Divination is an attempt to obtain information from the spiritual realm using magic. Witchcraft is attempting to control others through spiritual influence. Through Moses, God gave very specific instructions to avoid divination, sorcery and the like. God referred to the activities as abominations. He said people practicing sorcery should be killed. He also acknowledged that the Promised Land was inhabited by people before Israel crossed the Jordan and explained that He was pronouncing judgment on the people living there because they practiced abominable acts including divination, sorcery, and otherwise seeking and worshiping other gods. Moses says,
“You shall not permit a sorceress to live. Exodus 22:18; and
“When you come into the land that the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not learn to follow the abominable practices of those nations. There shall not be found among you anyone who burns his son or his daughter as an offering, anyone who practices divination or tells fortunes or interprets omens, or a sorcerer or a charmer or a medium or a necromancer or one who inquires of the dead, for whoever does these things is an abomination to the Lord. And because of these abominations the Lord your God is driving them out before you. You shall be blameless before the Lord your God, for these nations, which you are about to dispossess, listen to fortune-tellers and to diviners. But as for you, the Lord your God has not allowed you to do this.” Deuteronomy 18:9-14; and
“Do not turn to mediums or necromancers; do not seek them out, and so make yourselves unclean by them: I am the Lord your God.” Leviticus 19:31
Because of their abominations, God allowed Israel to displace the nations from the Promised Land. God’s blessing of Israel was also His wrath unleashed on the nations.
Hearing that rebellion is like divination is difficult for us because as a nation we celebrate rebellion. Our nation was established through rebellion and in many ways we lift up rebels, even those who have no cause, but we must understand that rebelling against tyranny is different than rebelling against God. But if we actively oppose God or refuse to implement His will, we are in essence worshiping other gods and carrying out their will. Many today do this by twisting and editing Scripture to make it say things it does not say, and by so doing, making, worshiping and following gods of their own design.
God’s holy word says every person who belongs to Christ Jesus has crucified the flesh. If we belong to Christ Jesus, our fleshly selves – our carnal nature with its lusts, desires, and passions like sexual immorality, idolatry, sorcery and the desire to worship other gods (see Galatians 5:19) – have already been crucified. Scripture says,
And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. Galatians 5:24-25
Jesus says those who believe will do His works on earth, and those who love Him will keep His commandments. It is possible some, if not many, claim association with Him yet do neither. Are they, perhaps unwittingly, insubordinate rebels who are like diviners, sorcerers, witches, and idolaters?
We must surrender to Christ Jesus fully. We must allow our self to die so that He might live in us. We are familiar with stories about Jesus’ experience with the cross, but have we taken up our own cross? God’s holy word says,
Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul? Matthew 16:24-26
What does this mean? What does taking up our cross mean? I have heard it said that the cross is the place where two things happen. It is the place where God’s will intersects with our will. It is also the place where we die. We die to our self, we surrender our will to His holy will, and we follow Him by doing His holy work, following His holy commandments, and loving Him. It is not a suggestion or even a commandment; it is a certainty.
Father, we offer ourselves to you as holy living sacrifices. Use us as you will. Amen.