LA ADIVINA DE ENDOR Y SAMUEL

¿HIZO VOLVER LA ADIVINA DE ENDOR A SAMUEL DE ENTRE LOS MUERTOS?

Para algunos podría parecer un tema no relevante. Sin embargo es importante abordarlo y responder con honestidad a la luz de la Biblia la pregunta anterior. El texto en cuestión se encuentra en 1 Sam.28:1-25 cuando por insistencia y por desesperación Saúl consulta con una adivina, queriendo buscar una respuesta diferente a la que Dios ya le había dado. Este caso es bastante único en la Biblia al estar envuelto en la escena; un rey de Israel, una adivina (no autorizada por Dios) y un profeta del Señor que por cierto ya había muerto. Hay un par de aspectos que debemos tener presentes antes de proceder a conclusiones serias.

adivina de endor

¿HIZO VOLVER LA ADIVINA DE ENDOR A SAMUEL DE ENTRE LOS MUERTOS?

La muerte es un estado de ausencia del espíritu fuera del cuerpo. En Lc.16 el Señor Jesús ofrece una de las explicaciones más claras a travez del ejemplo en Lazaro y el rico. Evidentemente nada podía hacer volver al rico de entre los muertos. No, no las buenas intenciones que tenía para con su familia, ni siquiera el buen patriarca Abraham podía conceder privilegios o actos bondadosos estando en el Hadez: “Y de la manera que está establecido para los hombres que mueran una sola vez, y después de esto el juicio,” (Heb. 9:27). Es verdad que ningún ser humano tiene tal autoridad de regresar a un muerto, al mismo tiempo debemos de reconocer que Dios sí puede si así lo desea. De hecho Juan 11 y la resurrección de Lazaro amigo de Jesús es de los ejemplos mas claros que tenemos de ello. El ya tenía 4 días de haber partido al mundo de los espíritus y el Señor le hizo volver. ¿Acaso no podía Dios hacer venir del mundo de los muertos a Samuel para dar un mensaje divino a Saúl? ¡Pero claro que sí podía!.

Por otro lado es importante entender que Saúl mismo había echado y matado a muchos de los adivinos de la tierra de Israel, por eso la adivina teme por su vida. Concerniente a la instrucción dada en Lv.19:31  la  versión en inglés(KJV) dice: “familiar Spirit” al igual que la versión griega del Antiguo Testamento (LXX), que generalmente representa la expresión òb (“espíritu familiar”) por el término griego engastrimuthos, es una palabra que significa “la profecía desde el vientre”. Tal cual lo sugiere Francis Brown al decir:  esta palabra lo que presupone es que las “voces de los muertos” fueron simplemente el resultado del ventriloquismo por parte de los embaucadores que fingieron comunicarse con los muertos durante muchos años ( Francis Brown, et al., 15).  Dios deseaba que su pueblo se mantuviera alejado de estas prácticas no porque funcionaran, ni tampoco porque fueran a desestimar al Dios de los Hebreos, sino más bien porque el Señor deseaba completa y exclusiva dependencia de él. Está muy de moda buscar “hierveros” o espiritistas  para que realicen  “trabajos” relacionados al amor o las finanzas. Otros ponen su confianza en el horóscopo para ver qué les depara el día. Cristo dijo: “Más buscad primeramente el reino de Dios y su justicia, y todas estas cosas os serán añadidas.” (Mt.6:33), hoy mas que nunca nuestra confianza debe de recaer en el Señor y en su Iglesia gloriosa, el Señor nunca nos abandona. Saúl falló en comprender y aplicar eso. Desde el c.13 comenzamos a observar el descenso de este rey que fue escogido por Dios para reinar sobre su pueblo. Saúl era arrogante y desobediente, el  deseaba hacer las cosas a su manera. Nadie puede negar que tuvo un buen inicio pero su final fue caótico. Es verdad que el Señor no le contestaba por ningún medio y la razón, es porque no tenía nada nuevo que decirle. Samuel en este capítulo controversial aparece para pronunciar la misma sentencia de parte del Señor. Nada cambiaría y aquí algunas de las razones principales para creer con seguridad que Samuel si vino de entre los muertos, pero en respuesta simple a la pregunta del encabezado, la adivina no fue quién lo trajo. Observe usted:

  1. La adivina estaba sorprendida. Algunos han querido argumentar que lo que vino fue un demonio. Tal aseveración se torna descabellada. Si en realidad era un demonio el que vino en vez de Samuel mismo y esta adivina tenía relación cercana con ellos, por haber trabajado varios años en el negocio, la pregunta correspondiente es ¿porqué se sorprendió al ver al demonio? Ciertamente el v.12 dice que “ella dio voces” y el v.13 menciona que ella se sintió engañada de lo que estaba sucediendo. Estos indicativos son fuerte para entender que la mujer no tenía control sobre nada aquí (no era un “medium”) quien tenía por negocio engañar resultó engañada.
  2. La autoridad de Dios. Ni la adivina, Saúl ni siquiera el mismo Samuel son poderosos y suficientes en sí mismos para nada de lo que aquí acontece. Aunque Samuel estaba muerto desde hace un buen rato, Dios tenía el poder y la autoridad para impartir un último mensaje a Samuel. El hecho de que anteriormente Dios no había hablado no prueba absolutamente nada. Por cuatrocientos años el Señor estuvo en silencio durante el periodo conocido como intertestamentario, hasta que apareció Juan el bautista y rompió ese silencio. Es absurdo pensar que como Dios estaba en silencio el debía continuar en silencio. El Señor es soberano y absoluto, como pudo haber enviado a Samuel a dar un último mensaje a Saúl, bien pudo enviar a Josué o a Moises inclusive a la mula de Balaam. Ese es el Dios absoluto en autoridad y único que tenemos.
  3. La profecía se cumple. El v.17 es claro en declarar que efectivamente Samuel ya había hablado de esto a Saúl, y el mensaje no cambia. Sin embargo vemos indicios nuevos como por ejemplo “mañana estarás con migo”, “tu y tus hijos”, “y el ejercito de Israel será entregado a los filisteos”. Ningun demonio o espíritu, ni aún satanás mismo conoce el futuro. Eso es un atributo único de nuestro buen Dios. Samuel mismo era quien estaba dando este mensaje por el Señor. Pensar que un demonio en conjunto con la adivina conocen el futuro es realmente algo peligroso.
  4. El estilo. Al leer 1Samuel 15 y como Samuel literalmente regaña a Saúl por su testarudez  y desobediencia uno puede notar un tono fuerte, muy cortante con sarcasmo pero directo por parte del profeta Samuel. En la corta intervención que tiene aquí, sus palabras o más bien su estilo corresponden precisamente al estilo del profeta Samuel: v.16 “¿Y para que me preguntas a mí si Jehová se ha apartado?” Suena muy parecido a la voz de Samuel con como lee 1Sam. 15:13-14 “vino, pues, Samuel a Saúl, y Saúl le dijo: Bendito seas tú de Jehová; yo he cumplido la palabra de Jehová. Samuel entonces dijo: ¿Pues qué balido de ovejas y bramido de vacas es este que yo oigo con mis oídos?”. El mensaje es el mensaje del Señor, el estilo es el perteneciente a Samuel, no a ningún demonio.

En este capítulo Saúl experimentó una noche de decepción y estrés. Saúl no recibió la ayuda de parte de Dios (3-6), el desobedeció la palabra de Dios (7-14), Saúl descubrió el plan de Dios (15-19) y por último estaba desesperado por su difícil situación (20-25). Si algo debemos de aprender de todo esto y como lección  practica es que debemos comprender que la desobediencia a Dios se paga a un precio muy alto y que por más grandes de seamos v.20 Dios puede hacernos caer en tierra.

Referencias

Brown, Francis, Driver, S.R., Briggs, Charles. 1907. Hebrew English Lexicon of the Old

Testament. Boston: Houghton, Mifflin, Co.

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Are Some People “Animals”?

Are Some People “Animals”?

Not too long ago, President Trump was criticized for calling gang members “animals.” The response from his critics was that everyone has the spark of the divine within them, and that “animals” was dehumanizing. The truth is that some people invite this description by their behavior.

animals bull

Do you behave in a reasoning fashion or unreasoning?

Read Jude 8-13:

“Yet in like manner these people also, relying on their dreams, defile the flesh, reject authority, and blaspheme the glorious ones. . . . But these people blaspheme all that they do not understand, and they are destroyed by all that they, like unreasoning animals, understand instinctively. Woe to them! For they walked in the way of Cain. . . . These are hidden reefs at your love feasts, as they feast with you without fear, shepherds feeding themselves; waterless clouds, swept along by winds; fruitless trees in late autumn, twice dead, uprooted; wild waves of the sea, casting up the foam of their own shame; wandering stars, for whom the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved forever” (English Standard Version).

The King James Version uses the words “brute beasts”; the NIV says, “irrational animals” as does the CSB, and RSV. The NASB says, “unreasoning animals.” Why does the Bible call them that? It is due to their own behavior. They have no spiritual component to their lives. Their actions are simply based on their primitive animal desires. Everyone has the spark of the divine within them being made in the image of God (Genesis 1:27), but if we deny it, we act no different than animals; President Trump was right to use the word regarding such base behavior. Don’t deny your spirituality by acting like an animal.

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Calm in the Storm

Calm in the Storm

Jesus’ first-century disciples endured a number of life-threatening storms at sea. In the first one that we have a record of, once Jesus calmed the “great tempest” that had suddenly arisen and threatened to send both them and their small boat to the bottom, they asked “Who can this be…?” (See: Matt. 8:23-27). It took them experiencing a second horrendous storm at sea and His instantly calming it in order for them to realize exactly who He was and worship Him appropriately (See: Matt. 14:22-33). A number of years later, yet another, even lengthier and more severe storm at sea arose, which God once again used as a teaching tool in order to prove His all-powerful ability to provide and protect (Acts 27).

storm boat

Jesus can bring calm to a live threatening storm.

And of course, lest we forget, let us also step back into the Old Testament and reconsider that monster of all storms; that cataclysmic weather event that was so epic it engulfed the entire world. That one incredible storm in which “all the fountains of the great deep were broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened. And the rain was on the earth forty days and forty nights” (Gen. 7:11-12), covering all the earth (vss. 18-20). Have you ever thought about just how much Noah’s experience during those days, parallels ours today? Consider…

Noah was a man of faith (Hebs 11:7); a preacher of righteousness (2 Ptr. 2:5). He trusted God completely, as evidenced in his obedience (Gen. 6:22, 7:5). But because of the death and destruction that would soon be all around him, he, like us today, would also have to be “quarantined,” in close quarters, with only his immediate family present (Gen. 7:7, 13, 17-23). For them, this would be an ordeal which would last a little over a year (Compare: 7:11, 8:13-15). How on earth did they survive? What on earth did they do, all cramped up in that one boat for over a year, with nothing but their faith in God to guide them? They did that which we must do, as we are in a similar situation of “self-quarantine today; that which will see us through, just as it did them (Rom. 15:4).

Although the Scriptures do not give us a “daily diary” account of Noah and his family’s specific activities during their time of isolation in the ark, certainly any Biblical reading of Noah’s life will leave nothing but the impression that the same things he did to build and get into the ark, he did in his time while shut up in the ark. He surely continued to trust, obey, and serve the Lord (Gen. 6:22, 7:5), carrying out those daily tasks which the Lord set before him. Activities such as feeding his family’s faith, feeding the animals on board, and doing whatever else the Lord commanded, while he and his family waited the storm out.

What do we learn for us and our current Coronavirus storm from the lesson of Noah? As he had obeyed God and was therefore sealed safe and sound in the ark by God (Gen. 7:16b), so, too, are those of us who have obeyed the gospel by being baptized into Christ for the forgiveness of our sins, sealed safe and sound in Christ by God as well (Acts 2:36-42, 47; Rom. 6:1-11; Eph. 1:13-14; 2 Thess. 1:7-10; 1 Ptr. 3:18-21, 4:16-19). Let us, like Noah, therefore continue to maintain that same level of faithfulness that got us into Christ in the first place (Gal. 3:26-27; Col. 2:12). Let us, like him, continue to feed and encourage our families spiritually, while continuing to obey and carry out His other commands daily during this storm (Matt. 6:33; Phil. 2:12-16).

In light of all of these Biblical stormy seas examples and God’s all-powerful ability to calm and carry His people through them; and in view of the current Coronavirus storm of chaos which is raging all around us; I would like to share the following version of an illustration I heard many years ago… The boat was being tossed up and down and side to side as the wind-blown waves continued to strengthen. The captain, crew, and divers on board could see the storm-clouds and lightning strikes all around and closing in on them from the horizon. The scuba diver went over the side and into the depths anyway. Ten, twenty, thirty, and finally fifty feet down, near the bottom and at his destination, he noticed that the fish were being tossed side to side; the vegetation and sea bed were being thrust up and down by the storm… no he didn’t! Of course he didn’t. What he did notice was that life in the depths, went on quite unaffected; and in fact, completely oblivious to the storm wreaking havoc on the surface above.

Today, as those focused only on their momentary, surface, and vaporous earthly life continue to be rocked and blown about by the current storm of Coronavirus concerns that they are enduring, do something different. Put on your spiritual scuba gear (S.C.U.B.A. – “Savior Calling Us Back Again”), and plunge yourself deep into the heart of Jesus’ teaching. Leave the stormy surface of news reports behind, and dive deep, deep, deep down into the heart of the word of the living and all-powerful God. It is only there that you will find the kind of peace, comfort, beauty and stability, that can make the storm on the surface, seem pretty much like just a distant memory (Phil. 4:6-13). Allow Jesus to calm your storm today. Only by so doing, shall we come through this storm the same way as God’s people always have… as “more than conquerors” in Christ Jesus our Lord (Rom. 8:28-39). Sail on! God bless!  …And… get your dove ready!

 

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A Lazy Man’s Burden

A Lazy Man’s Burden

Growing up, some of us were taught about the “lazy man’s burden.”

For those who have never heard the phrase, the idea is quite simple: the lazy man, trying to avoid work, ends up making more work for himself. The classic example is the man who does not want to make multiple trips, and so staggers under an overbearing load, trying to carry everything all at once.

lazy man load

How do you handle the task before you?

Quite often, a little extra thought, and forethought, can make a job easier and quicker. While some things might seem like extra work, they are, in fact, the logical means of being efficient. Or, to put it another way, a lot of people end up doing a lot more work because they didn’t take the time to properly prepare for the job.

The Bible, in the writings of Solomon, speaks to this truth. “If the iron is blunt, and one does not sharpen the edge, he must use more strength, but wisdom helps one to succeed(Ecclesiastes 10:10; ESV).”

If you take the time to sharpen your ax, you end up doing less work. If you are lazy and don’t take care of your tools, you end up doing more work.

Closely related to this is the idea of gaining knowledge ahead of an endeavor so as to make a particular task quicker and easier. Again, from the same section of Scripture, Solomon writes, “The toil of a fool wearies him, for he does not know the way to the city(Ecclesiastes 10:15; ESV).”

As many wives have told their husbands over the years, “you should have asked for directions.” Wandering around, lost, because you did not take the time to actually learn the route to where you are going only makes the trip more arduous.

These are ideas that are true of physical tasks, and physical journeys, but they are equally applicable to our spiritual labors, and our spiritual journey.

One might think of Saul of Tarsus, who was asked by our risen Lord, “Is it hard for you to kick against the goads (Acts 26:14)?” Jesus recognized that Saul had made choices which made his life harder. Saul had failed to ascertain the proper path that God wanted him to be on, and so ended up going the wrong way.

The Scriptures teach us, “there is a way that seem right to a man, but the end of that way is death  (Proverbs 14:12).” We are going to journey far in the wrong direction, making the wrong choices, if we don’t take the time to stop and ask God for directions in life.

We read elsewhere in the Bible of another man, Ezra. Of him, God says, “For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the Law of the Lord, and to do it, and to teach statutes and ordinances in Israel(Ezra 7:10; NKJV).” In the words of Solomon, Ezra had taken the time to sharpen his iron. He had spent time studying God’s word, he had made a choice to do God’s word, and he was ready to teach others what God had said. Instead of wasting many years going the wrong way, only to find himself lost, Ezra was on the path God wanted him to be on.

In the first Psalm we read, “Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stand in the way of the sinners, nor sit in the seat of the scornful; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on His law he meditates day and night(Psalm 1:1-2).” If you want to be going the right direction, God has given us that which we can study in order to properly prepare ourselves.

In a similar way, in Ecclesiastes we also read this pertinent advice: “Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come and the years draw near of which you will say, ‘I have no pleasure in them (Ecclesiastes 12:1; ESV).’” If one starts early, preparing to do what God wants them to do, avoided will be all the various burdens that come from a life spent in rebelling against God.

The lazy man suffers physically because he does not prepare himself properly for the jobs of life, or because he tries to take shortcuts. In a similar manner, when we are spiritually lazy, taking the path of least resistance, we are going to very frequently find we suffer from a similar burden.

But there is a solution. Jesus calls to us, “Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light (Matthew 11:29-30; ESV).”

Yes, there is work God wants us to be doing (cf. Ephesians 2:10), but the more we try to avoid that work, the harder the burdens we will be bearing. Let’sprepare ourselves to be pleasing to God and so do our best to avoid the burden that comes with being spiritually lazy.

 

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Design Demands a Designer

Design Demands a Designer

Dear friend, For months now you have referred to Christians as illogical. You condemn the belief in God because you say it’s irrational and unscientific to believe in something you cannot see. Yet, in making this proclamation you neglect to realize that the design and complexity that allow you to make such an argument. Without a brain to formulate thoughts and without muscles to pen those thoughts you would be unable to wage war against God.

Design Designer

There is an intelligent designer… He is God.

Have you ever stopped to honestly consider the complexity and design that must be present for you to reject God? Consider what all must be present just for you to be able to vocalize your atheistic beliefs. Think about the muscles that must be present to control your vocal chords. Then consider that nerves must innervate each one of those muscles in order to contract properly.

Also, making sounds by themselves is not enough. You must also be able to mentally arrange language together so that others can understand what you are saying. You must be able to use the alphabet to form words and comprehend the meaning of those words—all the while the rest of your bodily functions continue to work (i.e., respiration, circulation, digestion, etc.). You state that a belief in God is illogical but in forming words and using speech you overlook the design that God placed in the human body.

In his book, Eve Spoke: Human Language and Human Evolution, evolutionist Philip Lieberman admitted: “Speech is so essential to our concept of intelligence that its possession is virtually equated with being human. Animals who talk are human, because what sets us apart from other animals is the “gift” of speech” (1998). Your ability to argue and claim a belief in God is illogical is hinged around your ability to use language—which is not found in other animals. In The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Human Evolution, editors Jones, Martin, and Pilbeam conceded that “there are no non-human languages,” and then went on to observe that “language is an adaptation unique to humans, and yet the nature of its uniqueness and its biological basis are notoriously difficult to define” (P. 128, 1999, emp. added).

So where did language and the ability to speak come from? Why haven’t other creatures “evolved” this useful style of communication? In his book, The Symbolic Species: The Co-Evolution of Language and the Brain, Terrance Deacon noted:

“In this context, then, consider the case of human language. It is one of the most distinctive behavioral adaptations on the planet. Languages evolved in only one species, in only one way, without precedent, except in the most general sense. And the differences between languages and all other natural modes of communicating are vast” (p. 25, 1997).

Is it logical to believe that only one creature would “evolve” such a useful tool? What events transpired that have allowed humans to speak, while animals remain silent? Having dissected literally hundreds of human cadavers, I can speak boldly on the design of the larynx and vocal folds. I have witnessed first hand these small but efficient muscles that raise or lower the pitch in a person’s voice. This evidence cannot be denied or passed over. Design demands a Designer! The human body, the Universe, and all the complexities of the Earth point to an Intelligent Designer.

The statistical odds of man living in a place where the composition of the air, atmospheric pressure, gravity, heat, stability, etc. happening by chance are beyond measure. As NASA astronomer John O’Keefe explained: “We are, by astronomical standards, a pampered, cosseted, cherished group of creatures … . If the Universe had not been made with the most exacting precision we could never have come into existence. It is my view that these circumstances indicate the universe was created for man to live in” (1995, p. 200). Dr. O’Keefe realizes the impossibility of things happening as the result of some cosmological accident. But he is not alone.

Physicist Frank Tipler put it this way: “When I began my career as a cosmologist some twenty years ago, I was a convinced atheist. I never in my wildest dreams imagined that one day I would be writing a book purporting to show that the central claims of Judeo-Christian theology are in fact true, that these claims are straightforward deductions of the laws of physics as we now understand them. I have been forced into these conclusions by the inexorable logic of my own special branch of physics” (1994, Preface).

An honest evaluation reveals the evidence points towards a creation by an Intelligent Designer. Paul Davies admitted: “There is for me powerful evidence that there is something going on behind it all … . It seems as though somebody has fine-tuned nature’s numbers to make the Universe …. The impression of design is overwhelming” (1988, p. 203, emp. added). I hope you will think on these things. Until next time, I continue to pray for you.

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