The inspired Word of God is the most wonderful gift ever given to
humanity by our great God. One of the things that I love about the Holy
Bible is the abundance of humor. With all due respect toward God's Word,
if you have a sense of humor, then you have to enjoy the Scriptures.
For example: While Moses was absent, up on Mount Sinai receiving
God's Commandments, God's people went into sin. Moses had left his
brother Aaron in charge. The people had made a graven image (a golden
calf) and danced naked around it, committing all manner of immorality
and idolatry. When Moses' returned with God's Commandments, his brother
Aaron made the most unbelievable excuse, which is humorous from a
reader's viewpoint. Exodus 32:24: “And I said unto them, Whosoever
hath any gold, let them break it off. So they gave it
me: then I cast it into the fire, and there came out this calf.”
Aaron said he tossed a bunch of golden jewelry into the fire, and a calf
came out! Pastor Jack Hyles preached an excellent sermon titled, “THE
FIRE DID IT!” on this very topic, if you'd like to hear it. Like
Adam who blamed Eve, and Eve who blamed the serpent, we humans are prone
to wrongly blame others and excuse our sins. A sign of Christian
maturity is to admit our sins, faults and shortcomings, without which we
absolutely cannot grow spiritually. Proverbs 28:13, “He that covereth
his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them
shall have mercy.”
The Kind Gesture That Started a War
Another humorous story in the Old Testament (and the Scriptural basis for this article) comes from the historical book of 1st Chronicles...
1st Chronicles 19:1-4, “Now it came to pass after this, that Nahash the king of the children of Ammon died, and his son reigned in his stead. And David said, I will shew kindness unto Hanun the son of Nahash, because his father shewed kindness to me. And David sent messengers to comfort him concerning his father. So the servants of David came into the land of the children of Ammon to Hanun, to comfort him. But the princes of the children of Ammon said to Hanun, Thinkest thou that David doth honour thy father, that he hath sent comforters unto thee? are not his servants come unto thee for to search, and to overthrow, and to spy out the land? Wherefore Hanun took David's servants, and shaved them, and cut off their garments in the midst hard by their buttocks, and sent them away.”
I always enjoy the humor of this situation. King Nahash's father just died. In sincerity, David sends some of his servants with flowers to show kindness to his neighbour. But a group of ungodly critics slander David, accusing him of having insincere motives. If you read the continuation of the story in the Bible, a bloody war literally breaks out, and thousands of men are killed by each other. It reminds me of a funny scene that I saw in a comedy movie many years ago. After finishing eating an apple, a police officer sincerely tosses his apple core out the window and misses the waste basket. The piece of apple hits a tough looking man in back of the head. Not knowing where the apple core came from, he turns around and sees another rough looking man, mistaking him for the culprit, and a fist fight ensues. The two men are bikers and their rough friends join in the fight, which gets out of hand quickly, and in the end half of the city ends up being burned, wasted and destroyed—all because a police officer sincerely missed the garbage pail with his left over apple core!
I saw another funny scene many years ago on Tv. Due to a political happening in the country, there was a large group of several hundred angry citizens who were protesting outside the royal palace's gate, where the king and queen lived. At the same time, the queen of England held a big gala event for hundreds of affluent wealthy guests. When the event was over, they had much cake desert left over. So with a kind heart, the queen sincerely tells her servant to give the cake to the protesting people outside in the streets. She lovingly says to her servant, “Let the people eat cake.” So her servant goes and roughly shouts out the window, “The queen said let the people eat cake!” They misunderstood her sincere intentions, because of the rough manner in which her servant relayed the message to them, and in their anger they broke down the castle's gate and destroyed the castle! I've never forgot that funny scene. Both of the illustrations I just gave you show how the sincerest intentions can be horribly misunderstood.
King David had sincerely sent his servants to king Nahash, perhaps with flowers and bearing gifts, to show compassion for the death of the king's father. But due to the wicked hearts of a group of ungodly critics (the princes), and their horrible mistreatment of David's servants, a bloody war broke out in the land between the two powers (and their allied powers). Just a few verses later we read that 47,000 men were killed as a result! ...
1st Chronicles 19:17b-18, “So when David had put the battle in array against the Syrians, they fought with him. But the Syrians fled before Israel; and David slew of the Syrians seven thousand men which fought in chariots, and forty thousand footmen, and killed Shophach the captain of the host.”
You couldn't make this stuff up! David in his sincerity, simply sent condolences for the death of king Nahash's father, which led to an all out war and the death of 47,000 men! As Dr. David Gibbs Jr. would say, “SWEET ALABAMA!”
The truth I want you dear reader to take away is the sin of wrongly
judging someone else's motives.
A Christian Always Gives Others the Benefit of The Doubt
I love something that Pastor
Robert York once said in a sermon I heard—“A Christian always gives
others the benefit of the doubt!” I never forgot that truth, because it
is so important for all of us to apply to our life. A Christian should
ALWAYS give others the BENEFIT OF THE DOUBT! Wicked people try to
connect dots that don't exist. That is what Pastor Jack Hyles' ungodly
enemies do—accusing him of the sin of adultery merely because there
allegedly was a curtain between his church office, and the adjacent
office of his secretary. That is so evil to even say something
slanderous like that. Hey, just because I see you standing in front of a
tavern waiting for a bus, doesn't mean that you are an alcoholic!
Listen, only wicked people believe rumors! I think having a curtain
between a pastor's office and his secretary's office would be a great
idea, to allow communication. I have no idea if there was a curtain in
Brother Hyles' office. When I met with Dr. Hyles in 1993 in his church
office, there was no curtain! So please don't foolishly believe all the
rumors that you read on the sinnernet!
A Helpful Life-Changing Philosophy Taught By Solomon
I
love a philosophy that king Solomon lived by. As a ruler, Solomon
realized that he would self-destruct if he tried to micromanage his
people and kingdom, reacting every time he learned of someone who
criticized him, or some gossip got back to him. Solomon admits that he
himself at times had spoken gossip and cursed others, so he was wise
enough to allow ROOM FOR CRITICISM. Read Solomon's wisdom for
yourself...
Ecclesiastes 7:15-22, “All things have I seen in the days of my vanity: there is a just man that perisheth in his righteousness, and there is a wicked man that prolongeth his life in his wickedness. Be not righteous over much; neither make thyself over wise: why shouldest thou destroy thyself? Be not over much wicked, neither be thou foolish: why shouldest thou die before thy time? It is good that thou shouldest take hold of this; yea, also from this withdraw not thine hand: for he that feareth God shall come forth of them all. Wisdom strengtheneth the wise more than ten mighty men which are in the city. For there is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not. Also take no heed unto all words that are spoken; lest thou hear thy servant curse thee: For oftentimes also thine own heart knoweth that thou thyself likewise hast cursed others.”
This is a widely interpreted passage of Scripture among Bible scholars. Albeit, here is what I humbly think it means. Solomon realized (as a righteous man) that he didn't need to know about everything going on in his kingdom. Solomon learned to LET PEOPLE BE PEOPLE, and not to become a sin-detector or critic. Solomon teaches to have a proper “BALANCE.” Proverbs 11:1, “A false balance is abomination to the LORD: but a just weight is his delight.” Solomon is giving helpful advice on “HOW NOT TO DESTROY YOURSELF!” I think Solomon is simply advising us, from a leader's point of view, that SOMETIMES IT IS WISE NOT TO KNOW EVERYTHING ABOUT A MATTER! I think Solomon said something like—“Look, I have said some bad things about my own servants, and I know that my servants have said some bad things about me too, so I'm not going to worry about it, because I've got bigger and better things to do with my time.” That is what I humbly believe this passage means. Solomon didn't want to have a dog-eat-dog kingdom of critics, where everybody is snitching on each other continually. I think Solomon didn't want to pounce on everybody for every little mistake they made.
May we be wise like Solomon, who chose not to listen to gossip, and saw the virtue of allowing people to live. I allow my web visitors to disagree with me, and still be friends with me. This is America and people have a right to hold their own opinions. A truly “free” society is only one in which it is safe to be unpopular. I am not worried that some of my web visitors will follow Pastor Steven Anderson's PreWrath Rapture doctrinal position. Hey, if that is what you believe, I am fine with that, just so long as you know why you believe it, and aren't merely following what somebody else says. I firmly believe that only a PreTribulation Rapture is logical.
The truth is that we simply do not know what someone else's motives are, and it is sinful to judge others based upon mere speculation. Many false allegations are made from an ungodly suspicious heart. Any Christian who works in the secular workplace knows exactly what I am talking about. If a man or woman merely has a casual conversation with the opposite sex, ungodly people start spreading rumors of infidelity around the workplace. That is what wicked sinners do, and God hates it! Revelation 12:10, “And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.” Satan is “THE ACCUSER OF THE BRETHREN,” but we overcome the Devil today, just like the saints will during the Tribulation period—through the precious blood of the Lamb, and by the word (influence) of our Christian testimony. Hebrews 12:14, “Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord.”
