Accepting What God Rejects?

I felt impressed to reiterate a truth we see in the lives of various biblical leaders. God may appoint and anoint someone to a position, but unrighteousness, like pride and self-will, can cause His anointing to be withdrawn even while the appointment remains. The Bible is clear that God resists the proud and pride leads to destruction.

King Nebuchadnezzar could tell us all about that. As a matter of fact, he did in Daniel 4. There is much that could be said about this secular king of Babylon as it relates to leadership today, but for now, let us focus on what Daniel told Nebuchadnezzar in interpreting one of his dreams in Daniel 2:

"Your Majesty, you are the greatest of kings. The God of heaven has given you sovereignty, power, strength, and honor. He has made you the ruler over all the inhabited world and has put even the wild animals and birds under your control. You are the head of gold."

God exalted this worldly king for His purposes—namely judgment upon nations who turned away from Him, and to show the world that no one is greater than He is. It is true that the Lord uses whoever He wants for His purposes—not our agendas. However, this powerful king got lifted up in pride and fell hard and lower than low. Amazingly, he learned the lesson, repented, humbled himself, and was restored.

Then, there is King Saul.

Israel wanted a king because it appears God--who had sovereignly and miraculously fed, led, defended and protected them--was not enough. Neither God nor the judge/prophet Samuel were happy about their request. Take a moment to read this passage from 1 Samuel 8 where God told Samuel how a king's reign would look: 

“This is how a king will reign over you,” Samuel said. “The king will draft your sons and assign them to his chariots and his charioteers, making them run before his chariots. Some will be generals and captains in his army, some will be forced to plow in his fields and harvest his crops, and some will make his weapons and chariot equipment. The king will take your daughters from you and force them to cook and bake and make perfumes for him. He will take away the best of your fields and vineyards and olive groves and give them to his own officials. He will take a tenth of your grain and your grape harvest and distribute it among his officers and attendants. He will take your male and female slaves and demand the finest of your cattle and donkeys for his own use.  He will demand a tenth of your flocks, and you will be his slaves.  When that day comes, you will beg for relief from this king you are demanding, but then the Lord will not help you.”

 But the people refused to listen to Samuel’s warning. “Even so, we still want a king,” they said.  “We want to be like the nations around us. Our king will judge us and lead us into battle.”

Samuel warned them they would lose more than they gained, and the king would basically use their resources to benefit himself and his people. When they persisted, they were given what they requested.

 1 Samuel 10:1 says:

Then Samuel took a flask of olive oil and poured it on Saul’s head and kissed him, saying, “Has not the Lord anointed you ruler over his inheritance?”

In 1 Samuel 15:1, Samuel says to Saul,

  “… It was the Lord who told me to anoint you as king of his people, Israel. “

Saul was anointed for the job as king and led Israel though some victorious battles. But then he got beside himself and overstepped his bounds. Samuel rebuked him in 1 Samuel 13:13:

“You have not kept the command the Lord your God gave you. Had you kept it, the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. ¹⁴ But now your kingdom must end, for the Lord has sought out a man after his own heart. The Lord has already appointed him to be the leader of his people, because you have not kept the Lord’s command.”

After that, Saul fought and won a battle, but he did not do it the way God instructed. He again misused his power and became self-serving. 1 Samuel 15:10-11:

Then the Lord said to Samuel, “I am sorry that I ever made Saul king, for he has not been loyal to me and has refused to obey my command.” Samuel was so deeply moved when he heard this that he cried out to the Lord all night.

Samuel then went looking for Saul, and when he asked someone where to find him, he was told:

“Saul went to the town of Carmel to set up a monument to himself; then he went on to Gilgal.” (1 Samuel 15:12)

The man who initially hid from his calling as king moved to a dangerous place of self-will and pride, putting himself at odds with God.

Samuel the prophet--who received the message that Saul would be king, then anointed, mentored, and no doubt loved him--cried all night in grief, frustration and disappointment. As difficult as it was, he had to let go and move on. 1 Samuel 16:1:

Now the Lord said to Samuel, “You have mourned long enough for Saul. I have rejected him as king of Israel, so fill your flask with olive oil and go to Bethlehem. Find a man named Jesse who lives there, for I have selected one of his sons to be my king.”

The Lord had already moved on from Saul and had chosen someone else for the job, but He allowed Saul to remain king until his death. Samuel could not hold on to what God had now rejected.

After God's Spirit left Saul, he was tormented with an evil spirit and continued to suffer pride’s downward spiral while remaining king.

Now the Spirit of the Lord had departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord tormented him" (1 Samuel 16:14).

He became paranoid, jealous, and obsessed with eliminating his perceived enemy – David, which led to even more acts of disobedience.

We need more Samuels, Daniels, Nathans and other men and women of God who are so connected to God and open to hear his voice that they can speak the truth and not excuse or overlook unrepentant, prideful and sinful behavior. The fact that Nebuchadnezzar, David, Saul and other leaders were chosen at some point didn't give them carte blanche to do whatever they pleased. God is holy, righteous and just. Period.

We are commanded to pray for those in authority, but what should we pray? Well, if they are going off the rails, we need to pray they will humble themselves and repent. Nebuchadnezzar repented. David repented. Saul did not. Repentance is not just saying I am sorry but making a change and going in a different direction. And if our leaders do not, we should not hold on to what God resists.

We also need more Davids who respect the leadership office even when the anointing leaves the person, trusting God to work it all out for good in His time.  

Trusting God is the key. He is not like us. He does not lie. He does not change. He will forever be holy, faithful, loving, just, true, etc. He repeatedly tells us not to put our trust in people—good or bad—because people are fickle. They are subject to all kinds of internal and external influences. God is not, so our trust is always secure in Him.

He alone is our help. He is more than enough and well able to take care of His own. Old Testament Israel did not grasp this truth and longed for a king to lead them, even though God told them the cost. I pray that we will grasp who God really is. Then we can focus on the main thing--being a unified Church spreading the gospel of the Kingdom, not a divided Church defending this world's systems.