32 men of Issachar, who understood the times and knew what Israel should
do — 200 chiefs, with all their relatives under their command;
- 1 Chronicles 12:31, The New International Version, (Grand Rapids,
MI: Zondervan Publishing House) 1984.
Dear Friends in Christ,
Issachar was the ninth of
Jacob’s twelve sons. His mother was
Leah, and in Hebrew his name sounds like “reward” because Leah believed his
birth was the result of God blessing her for something she had done. Later Issachar became the name-bearer for one
of the tribes of Israel that inhabited the Promised Land in early Old Testament
times.
That being said, Issachar is,
at best, a role player in the pages of Old Testament history. But as is often the case with role players,
Issachar had a bright shining moment worthy of remembering. It comes to us in our text, buried among the
names and events that largely make up the Book of First Chronicles. Here’s the story...
The year is approximately
1000 B.C. A shift in leadership is
taking place among God’s people. When
David was about to become king in place of Saul, men from all over Israel began
to come to his side. In 1 Chronicles
12:22 we read: “Day after day men
came to help David, until he had a great army, like the army of God.” Among those who cast their lot with David
were the men of Issachar. What is
significant about them is the way in which they are described: They “understood the times and knew what
Israel should do.”
In many ways the year 1000 B.C. was not unlike the world
we live in 3000 years later. Certainly
things have changed technologically, politically and socially. But other things have remained the same. God’s people always live in times of
uncertainty. In every age there are all
kinds of conflicting and competing voices.
There are temptations to follow what is expedient rather than what is
correct. There is and always will be a
right and a wrong and any number of shades of gray in between...
It was in this kind of world
that the men of Issachar stood tall. And
in an equally confusing world, it is in this respect that they are worthy of
our imitation. So on this designated
Life Sunday, I can think of no better counsel for us than this:
PRAY
FOR THE WISDOM OF ISSACHAR
1. To understand the times
2. To know what to do
A protest ballad from the
1960’s had as its refrain, “the times, they are a’changing.” It was true then, and it’s true now. The world we live in today has been described
in various ways by modern day philosophers and sociologists. Maybe you’ve heard some of the
terminology. If not, let me run a few by
you...
The term we hear more and
more is that we have now entered the age of “post-modernism.” It’s hard to put a tight definition on this,
but what it means is that everything is essentially up for grabs as to what’s
right and what’s wrong. Values are not
based on any set of universally agreed upon standards (like the Bible), but
entirely on each individual’s preferences.
So there is no right or wrong, good or evil, only preferences.
An outstanding example of
this way of thinking that I’ve heard at least a couple of times now is how, on
some university campuses, the whole 9.11.01 event is viewed. Real post-modernists will say that while they
cannot condone Osama bin Laden for what he did, they also cannot sit in
judgment of him because, given his set of preferences, he was just doing what
he believed was the right thing to do.
The same is said about Adolf Hitler.
Think of how this relates to
life issues. If there is no compass, then
any direction is as good as another. As
so we hear that no one has the right to criticize things like abortion or
euthanasia or developing embryos to be destroyed in stem-cell research or
cloning human beings for the sole purpose of harvesting their organs. Not only does our post-modern world say these
things are not wrong, but that they are in fact admirable because of the
“choices” they give people...
In a post-modern world,
anything goes.
Another term applied to our
age is “utilitarianism.” This means that
everything has to either serve some productive purpose or be disposed of. Again, think of the impact this has on life
issues. If life is not sacred (as God
deems it in Scripture), then, according to the utilitarian viewpoint, it better
be useful. Otherwise, for the good of
all it really ought to go – lest it become a burden and drain on society...
Let me give you an
illustration. In 1987 an American writer
by the name of Walker Percy wrote a novel entitled “The Thanatos
Syndrome.” I heard about it because it
was supposed to be one of the few works of contemporary American fiction at the
time which took a strong stand on life.
So I read it.
The story line dealt with the
covert attempt of several medical technocrats to chemically alter the minds of
an unsuspecting Louisiana community, all for the supposed cause of “the common
good.” One of the characters in the book
was an old, semi-lucid priest named Father Smith. He spent his time in an abandoned fire tower
where he made his pronouncements on the evil he saw around him. Addled and eccentric, he was, nonetheless,
the voice of sanity.
Speaking to a doctor who had
come to see him, he unloaded with this stinging indictment: “You are a member of the first generation
of doctors in the history of medicine to turn their backs on the oath of
Hippocrates and kill millions of old, useless people, unborn children, born
malformed children, for the good of mankind – and to do so without a single
murmur from one of you.”
What he described to a tee is
“utilitarianism.” And in a post-modern, utilitarian
world, there is no room for the inconvenient, unwanted or unproductive.
A third term I’ve heard
applied to our time is “neo-paganism.”
This is a replacement for an older term, “post-Christian,” which has
been around for the last few decades. “Neo-paganism”
takes things a step farther. It means
that we are in a new age which is okay with the idea of “spirituality.”
For example, George Harrison,
member of the renowned Beatles, recently died.
Just about every article or report about him held him up as being a very
“spiritual” man because while he was still with the Beatles he had very
publicly embraced a form of Hinduism. In
fact, a Hindu “holy man” was present during his final hours, and it was Harrison’s
final wish to have his ashes scattered in the Ganges River in India.
So, “spirituality” is quite
acceptable in our day. But spirituality
is not the same as Christianity.
George Harrison may be applauded by the world as being a deeply
spiritual man, but the sad fact – and it is indeed a sad fact – is that he
died without a Savior. Because the only
way to become “right with God” is through understanding our own sinfulness and
turning to the redemptive work of Jesus Christ who says “I am the way and
the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father except through me.” Which
is a very exclusive claim, isn’t it?
However, the world we live in
has no room for exclusive claims. The
world we live in says everyone must find their own path to God, and all paths
are equally acceptable. Maybe it’s the
Christian path. Maybe it’s the Hindu
path. Maybe it’s the Wiccan path (like
the new taxpayer funded Wisconsin Penitentiary chaplain). Jesus is tolerable, they will say, as long as
you don’t take seriously His claim of being the only way. Or, the Bible is acceptable – as long as you
view it as one of any number of other holy books. Or, Christianity is alright – as long as you
don’t suggest it is the exclusive truth.
And again, it is not hard to see how such views of “tolerance” carry
over into life issues...
Post-modern, utilitarian,
neo-pagan. To understand the times like
the men of Issachar did is to understand that this is the world that surrounds
us today.
However, not only did the men
of Issachar understand the times, they also knew what to do. They obviously had the wisdom to discern the
thinking of the world around them. They apparently
were able to live out their lives and make their decisions in a God-pleasing
manner. That is our desire as well.
So what do we do? We, who live in a world full of different
ideas and temptations and concessions and confusion over what is right and
wrong not only when it comes to life issues, but all issues?
We pray. We pray for the same level of clear-thinking
that the men of Issachar possessed. And
then we act. In order to think
straight, we must continue to immerse ourselves in God’s Word. There alone the Holy Spirit will give us the
ability to think straight.
The Apostle Paul it this way
in Romans 12:1,2: “Therefore I
urge you brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living
sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God – which is your spiritual worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of
this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test
and approve what God’s will is – his good, pleasing and perfect will.”
There are many outside voices
to be heard, but the Word alone is the ultimate determination and touchstone of
truth... as Isaiah the prophet tells us in 8:20: “To the law and to the
testimony! If they do not speak
according to this word, they have no light of dawn.”
This is not to say that when
it comes to life issues in particular as well as life’s issues in general, we
can expect no gray areas. Although gray
areas do not exist in the mind of God, they do exist in ours. We are finite creatures who struggle, but who
do not always perfectly succeed, in knowing the mind of Christ. But then we must be fervent in prayer and
rely on this promise found in the Book of James: “If any of you lacks wisdom, he should
ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be
given to him.”
Developing an ever deepening
Christian mindset by spending time in the Word... sifting all issues through the
sieve of Scripture... and seeking God’s guidance through prayer... These are the
things we can do so we can know what to do.
Let’s go back to our original
thought. The men of Issachar don’t hold
center stage in the Bible. They are role
players. But the role they played for us
today is important and exemplary. They
understood the times and knew what to do.
So that He may be glorified
before a watching world, may God grant us that same understanding.
And on our part, let each of
us pray for the wisdom of Issachar.
Amen.