Why Does God Allow Some People to Die Before Their Time. (1 Chronicles 10 1-14)

This Podcast is part of a 10-year project to complete an in-depth, daily study of the entire Bible, chapter by chapter, verse by verse. 

Episode Notes: Why Does God Allow Some People to Die Before Their Time. (1 Chronicles 10 1-14)

Today we begin a new chapter — literally and spiritually in our journey through 1 Chronicles. For nine chapters, we’ve walked through names, families, tribes, and genealogies. We’ve traced Israel’s story from Adam to Abraham, from Judah to Benjamin, from exile to restoration. And now, with chapter 10, the Chronicler shifts gears.

 This is considered by some an ominous chapter; it’s certainly a surprising chapter, and it raises a question that many believers have asked at one time or another: Why does it seem like God allows some people to die before their time?

 Saul’s death feels premature. It feels tragic. It feels like a life cut short, a man who began with promise but ended in disaster. And the Chronicler wants us to wrestle with that. 

But he also wants us to see something deeper, something personal: God is sovereign over life and death. God is just in His judgments, and God is faithful even when His people are not.

 1 Chronicles 10 is not simply a battlefield report. It is a theological reflection on the consequences of unfaithfulness and on God's mercy in raising up a new king, a new hope, and a new future. 

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:16

Welcome back to the podcast. Today we begin a new chapter, literally and spiritually, in our journey through One Chronicles. For nine chapters now we've walked through these lists of names, these families, these tribes, these genealogies, and we've traced Israel's story from Adam to Abraham, from Judah to Benjamin, and from the exile to the restoration. And now with chapter ten, the chronicler of Schiffskires. The family trees and the genealogies end, and the narrative begins. And the very first story he chooses to tell us is that of the death of Saul. Now it is considered by some an ominous chapter. It's certainly a surprising chapter, and it raises a question that many believers have asked throughout the ages and at one time or another, which is why does it seem like God allows some people to die before their time? Now Saul's death feels premature, it feels tragic, it feels like a life cut short, a man who began with such promise but ends in disaster. And the chronicler wants us to wrestle with that. He wants us to see that Saul's death was not random, not accidental, and not meaningless, that it was in fact the result of spiritual choices and in this occasion spiritual unfaithfulness. But he also wants us to see something deeper and something personal. In that God is sovereign over life and death. God is just in his judgment, and God is faithful even when his people are not. You see, one Chronicles ten is not simply a historic battlefield report, it is a spiritual and theological reflection on the consequences of unfaithfulness, as well as the mercy of God in how he raises up a new king and a new hope and a new future out of these tragic events. So in this episode we're going to slow down and walk through the chapter together. We'll explore Saul's first moments, the chroniclers' interpretation of his death, and the spiritual principles that flow from this well what is quite a sobering story. And we'll ask the question honestly, does God sometimes ever allow a life to end early? And if so why? It's an aching question and it's a difficult question. But it's a biblical question, and 1 Chronicles 10 gives us a window into how God sometimes views life, leadership, and obedience, and on this occasion the consequences of turning away from Him. So take a breath, settle in and open your Bible and listen to 1 Chronicles chapter 10 as we explore this together in today's episode of the Bible Journey Daily Podcast. The Philistines were in hot pursuit of Saul and his sons, and they killed his sons Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malakshuah. The fighting grew fierce around Saul, and when the archers overtook him, they wounded him. Saul said to his armor bearer, Draw your sword and run me through, or these uncircumcised fellows will come and abuse me. But his armor bearer was terrified and would not do it. So Saul took his own sword and fell on it. When the armor bearer saw that Saul was dead, he too fell on his sword and died. So Saul and his three sons died, and all his house died together. When all the Israelites in the valley saw that the army had fled, and that Saul's sons had died, they abandoned their towns and fled, and the Philistines came and occupied them. The next day when the Philistines came to strip the dead, they found Saul and his sons fallen on Mount Gilboah. They stripped him and took his head and his armor, and sent messengers throughout the land of the Philistines to proclaim the news among their idols and their people. They put his armor in the temple of their gods, and hung up his head in the temple of Dagon. When all the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead heard what the Philistines had done to Saul, and all the val all their valiant men went and took the bodies of Sauls and his sons and brought them to Jabesh. Then they buried their bones under the great tree of Jabesh, and they fasted seven days. Saul died because he was unfaithful to the Lord. He did not keep the word of the Lord, and he even consulted a medium for guidance. He did not inquire of the Lord, so the Lord put him to death and turned the kingdom over to David, the son of Jesse. So when you step back and look at the opening verses of One Chronicle, something remarkable emerges. The chronicler begins with Adam, the very beginning of humanity, then he backs up and begins again with Judah, the tribe of promise, and then he backs up once more and begins with Benjamin, the tribe of Saul. So why does he do that? Because as I said yesterday, he's not just recording history for us, he's giving us a theological and spiritual perspective. He's giving us a message, a sermon, if you like, in the form of these genealogies, these family trees. One commentator said this the chronicler establishes Israel's place in the world through these lengthy genealogies, so that his readers, his audience might understand their role among the nations anew. Another I read wrote this: These family trees are there to prepare us for the narrative section of the book. God permitted leadership by Saul and worship at Gibeon, but his plan called for the leadership of David and worship at Jerusalem. In other words, these family trees are not random, they are purposeful. They are the theological scaffolding of the narrative story that follows. They highlight, of course, God's faithfulness, but they also highlight the unfaithfulness of God's own people sometimes. And of course that brings us right to Saul, a man who began his life with promise but ends in real tragedy. So what do we learn from Saul's story? What do we learn from a life that seemed to end, in a sense, before its time? Well, Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians chapter 11 that believers can die prematurely because of persistent sin. Writing there, he says, some are weak and some are sick and some sleep. This is not being said because God is cruel, but because God is holy and because sin will always have consequences. And Saul's death here illustrates that vividly for us. He died prematurely, he died tragically, he in a sense died unnecessarily, but he did not die accidentally. His death was the result of not just disobedience but repeated disobedience, refusal to heed God's word, refusal to live a life, and his choice to live a life increasingly far from the Lord. The chronicler wants us to see that Saul's death was not simply a battlefield loss, but was a result, a spiritual consequence of his action. And that leads us to the great spiritual truth of the nine chapters that preceded us. They were all meant to show us that God is faithful, but sometimes God's people are not, and yet God still in that always calls his people to learn faithfulness and return to it. Paul also would write, Moreover, it is required of stewards that a man be found faithful. Salvation, you see, is by faith, but rewards are earned by faithfulness. And to drive that point home, Jesus himself told a parable, the one called the Parable of the Talents, where a man is seen to entrust his servants with resources. One receives five coins, five talents, one receives two and one receives one. The first we are told invested what they were given and doubled it. The third buried his talent in the ground, and when the fat the master returned, he said to the third, described as faithful servant, Well done, good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of the Lord. But to the unfaithful one who buried it in the ground, he said, You are wicked and a lazy servant. Take the talent from him and cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness. Now, however you interpret the details of the paragraph, and we don't have time to do that here, look back on my teaching at One Chronicles for a deeper analysis, but one clear truth still stands out with remarkable clarity. In that the basic truth that God honors faithfulness and God rebukes unfaithfulness. And Saul's life illustrates that. And Saul's death illustrates that, and the chronicler really wants us to learn from it. Some lives end early because sin has consequences. But God remains faithful, even when his people are not, and God calls people who fall in this way to reflect on their faithlessness in their own lives and turn it around, go in a different direction. So Saul's story is indeed sobering, but it is also instructive because it reminds us that unfaithfulness matters deeply, eternally, practically, it can have consequences. It will have consequences. And it simply invites us to pray, Lord, make me a faithful servant, make me someone who can finish well. So we can see in the tragedy of Saul's death and disgrace that follows that the Philistines occupied the Israelite cities, mutilated the bodies, and displayed Saul's head in the temple of their god Dagon. But the story didn't end there, did it? Verse eleven told us when all Jabesh Gilead heard all the Philistines had done to Saul, all the valiant men rose and took the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons, and they brought them to Jabesh, and buried their bones under the oak in Jabes, and then fasted for seven days. These men travelled all day and all night, and indeed the original count in one Samuel thirty one adds the extra detail that to retrieve the bodies of Saul and his sons from the wall, where the Philistines had hung them, they risked their lives in order just to give Saul a decent burial. Why? Because years early they remembered that Saul was the one who saved their city. They remembered him with kindness, it said. They remembered his courage in his early life, and they honored him in death for that. So even in Saul's disgrace there were some who still remained loyal to him, and it's a reminder that even deeply flawed leaders can leave behind moments of genuine goodness. But the chronicler isn't finished, because he now gives us the reason behind Saul's death, an extra insight, something one Samuel did not explicitly state in his account of events. The final verses at the end, verses thirteen and fourteen, say this. So Saul died for his unfaithfulness, which he had committed against the Lord, because he did not keep the word of the Lord, and also because he consulted the medium for guidance. But he did not inquire of the Lord, therefore he killed him and turned the kingdom over to David, the son of Jesse. Now this, friends, is hugely significant, because it tells us explicitly that Saul died because of what is called general disobedience. He simply didn't keep the word of the Lord, but also the specific rebellion. It names the fact that he consulted the medium instead of seeking God. So the chronicler wants us to see that Saul's death was not merely this battlefield death or tragedy, it was God, it was effectively God's judgment on a king who repeatedly refused to listen to God's word. So in a sense, 1 Samuel 31 gives us so 1 Samuel and Chronicles give us two accounts of the same events. But 1 Samuel chapter 31 gives us the historical account, but here in 1 Chronicles 10, because it gives us the spiritual explanation, we can see that Saul's death was a result of ignoring God's command, rejecting God's prophet, and seeking guidance from demonic spirits. The chronicler is preaching a sermon, it's giving us a message through this historical account. He wants the returning exiles that have been written to in this day, and of course, us reading it today to understand that unfaithfulness, particularly in this way, has consequences. Confusingly, for some, the text says the Lord killed him, but we also read in the same section that Saul committed suicide. So the question that some that for some that comes out of that is to say, well, is that a contradiction? Now, it's helpful to understand that in the Old Testament, when it says God did something, it can often mean he acted through what are called secondary means, providential means, through circumstances, through human decisions, through even natural events. You see, Saul's suicide was ultimately a human act. God's judgment was the divine act that lie behind it, but both and and are true. Saul's death was, of course, ultimately the result of his own choices, but those choices placed him under God's discipline. So why does the chronicler spend this time unfilling a sin and going over again the circumstances of Saul's death? Well, I think the chronicler has the major objective in writing both of the books we today call One and Two Chronicles as a way to sort of enhance the reign of David and his dynasty by showing it was divinely ordered, directed, and even established here. And one effective way to do that is to set David's rise alongside Saul's fall. Saul reigned only for forty years. David's dynasty will be seen to last four hundred and twenty-five years. Saul was the king, the people demanded prematurely before they could, a king like the nations they asked for. His very name Saul translates as the one requested. He was the king after the people's heart, but he was not the king after God's heart. Saul did many things wrong in his life. He failed to submit to God's authority, he failed to obey God's word, he failed to respond to God's grace, and he failed to listen to God's prophet, and eventually God stopped listening to him, and finally God removed himself from him, and very finally then God removed him by his own hands. Now this is the only place in Scripture where we read that God directly intervenes to replace one king with another. So the chronicler wants us to see Saul as the prototype of all false or evil kings in the future, but he also wants us to recognize David as the prototype of good kings, and the death of Saul represents that turning point in history, in Israel's history. And of course, we can't ignore that there's an additional warning here about dabbling in the occult. One of the specific lessons in this passage is the danger of seeking guidance from occult sources. It deliberately pauses to tell us that extra detail in those final two verses that Saul died not only because he disobeyed, because he disobeyed God's word, but because he consulted a medium, a woman called the Witch of Endor. The chronicler wants us to understand that God's people must seek guidance from the Holy Spirit and through the Word of God, and not from mediums, spirits, or occult practices. In this we see a very serious and solemn warning to stay away from things of the occult. The Christian believer has no business, no business at all with fortune tellers or the practice of the so-called black arts. The word occult actually means secret or hidden things, and it can refer to astrology, to forms of magic, to witchcraft, to fortune telling, and importantly, attempts to communicate with the spirit world, what we call communing with the dead. Millions today make decisions based on horoscopes. In the local theatre in my town, many times a year, spiritualists come and openly commune with the dead for people's entertainment. Or people even use things like tarot cards, seances, or a Ouija board. But scripture is clear here and elsewhere. Deuteronomy 18 says, There shall not be found among you anyone who uses divination or consults mediums. And that's the establishment and codification of the law of God being described there. So Saul's death is indeed a warning. Seek God Himself, not the spirits. Seek Scripture, God's word, not superstition. Seek the Holy Spirit, not the occult. So in closing, I want to ask what do we learn from Saul's story? Remind you what we learn from Saul's story. Saul ultimately died prematurely because of persistent disobedience, and he died because he specifically sought guidance from a medium instead of God. That's the key. Saul's death also sets the stage for David's rise now. Saul's feel warns us to seek God faithfully and to avoid the occult entirely. So Saul's life is framed wholly as a cautionary tale, but David's life will be framed now as a story of hope. And the chronicler in recording these events wants us to learn from them both. And I do hope you have learnt from them both today. And thanks for joining me today. But I believe it's a necessary chapter, because it is a chapter that reminds us that faithfulness is not optional in the life of God's people. Saul's story is indeed tragic, but it can be instructive for us. It shows us what can happen when a life drifts from obedience and when God's word is neglected, and the potential consequences when guidance is sought anywhere except from the Lord Himself. But also it is meant to prepare us for the hope to come. Because the chronicler doesn't end with despair, he ends with the rise of David. Saul's fall has become the backdrop for now David's rise. And the darkness of this last chapter we've looked at today, chapter 10, becomes a sort of doorway to step through into the light of chapters 11 and 12. And that's where we're heading next tomorrow. In our next episode, I'll hopefully cover all of Chronicles chapter 11 and 12, and will introduce us to David's mighty men. The loyal warriors who first appeared here in the closing verses of 10, but now who will gather round him and the tribes, the one who comes to support him as God establishes his king and kingdom. It's a chapter full of examples of courage, loyalty, and people expressing their calling of God, and also the beautiful way God knits together people round his purposes. So I do hope you'll return tomorrow and join with me and continue on our journey. And if today's episode helps you think more deeply about faithfulness and obedience and the seriousness of seeking God's guidance, then consider sharing it with someone who might benefit from walking through the Bible with us and particularly these more challenging and less known Old Testament scriptures like One Chronicles here. So thank you for listening. Thank you for being a part of this unfolding journey and season together. And until next time, take care, stay curious, and keep walking in the grace and will of God. Bye-bye for now.