Talking FOOTPRINTS
in the sands of O ld Testament History
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occasion to fall in his brother’s way” (Rom. 14: 13). No two people in Old Testament his tory ever cut a wider path in wicked ness and diabolical cunning than did Ahab and his wife Jezebel. So pro voking is the pattern they described that it can only magnify the grace of God for putting up with such behav ior. With vain ambitions and greedy hearts, they rode roughshod over the Lord’s inheritance having not the least feeling for the bruised and broken vic tims they left in their path. Blinded by loyalty to Baal and prodded on by Jezebel’s amoral urg- ings, Ahab rode out to the end of his road. Ruthlessly driving at a mad pace, and caring not a whit for the Lord or the warnings from His prophets, Ahab raced his chariot past God’s last red light and was broken to pieces. Jezebel’s gruesome end has been left as a solemn warning to all. To this day her name is a byword depicting the wretchedness of godless woman hood. Scripture has hung up their record as a warning for all to see, “ There was none like unto Ahab, which did sell himself to work wicked ness in the sight of the Lord, whom Jezebel his wife stirred up” (1 Ki. 21:25). One of the most notable actors on the stage is Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. His infamous demise shows that the higher we get the harder we may fall. He definitely set himself to fighting the revealed counsel of God. He resisted the miraculous de monstrations of power given by the Lord through Moses to show him God was calling. Desperately fighting God’s revealed will, Pharaoh lashed the backs of the (Continued on Page 20) T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
W E CAN thank God for the actors on the stage of Old Testament history. After giv ing us an invaluable performance,they have left “ footprints in the sands of time” that take the guess out of liv ing. And he who walks in these steps will come out at the same place as the one in whose tracks he puts his feet. There is no conjecture about it; each separate path always comes out at the same end. The stage of this theater is full of action and drama. Marching before us in plain view is a long procession of common people, of kings and queens, of prophets and false prophets, of tyrants, dictators and judges. If curi osity stirs our hearts to ponder where any particular road leads, the pageant of Old Testament history will give us the answer. Dressed in gala array, these real people pass before us by families, groups, kingdoms, nations, and leagues of nations. Scattered among the marchers are haters and lovers, sin ners and saints, godless and God-fear ing. But each of these has left foot prints that blueprint for us the end results of any road we may choose to take. We can be thankful for the record of the lives of David, Saul, Ahab, Jero boam, Ezekiel, Jeremiah, Pharaoh and all the rest. If we take a lesson from their successes and failures, we will know how to win their happiness and miss their disappointments. We can learn from them without the bitter ness of personal experience. Through them, we can live by proxy. King Saul is a great teacher. From him we can learn more of what we should not do and be than we can of what we should do and be. Soon after Page Ten
he took over the throne jealousy took over his heart. Its evil bent shriveled the soul of an otherwise noble char acter. Clutching his heart with a vise like grip, it led him to cowardly ac tions, useless wars, family dissensions and the shameful treatment of his best friend. His jealous and insatiable rage urged Saul on to the bitter rewards of a disgraceful death. Its ugly scars plagued the nation after he was gone. The “ sweet psalmist of Israel” la mented the passing of this man who let jealousy enslave his life and who allowed it to cheat him from the good opportunity God put into his hands, “ The beauty of Israel is slain . . . how are the mighty fallen!” (2 Sam. 1:19). Jeroboam’s erratic tracks will lead us to the ragged end o f pigheadedness. His effort to preserve himself by leav ing God out of the picture boomer- anged back into his face with a ter rific wallop. Our Lord said, “ He that findeth [saveth] his life shall lose it.” Jeroboam shows us how to lose it. The golden calves he erected to save the nation finally lost the nation into captivity. His wicked example dragged the nation down to his own level of worshiping the beastly image o f a calf with all its attending evils. The blighting judgment of God followed, and left “ not any [of Jeroboam] to breathe.” Over and over again, the Old Testament reminds us of his evil actions in the words, “ Jeroboam the son of Nebat” that made Israel to sin. Words reminding us that we may pull others down with us to our level— that when we sin we do not sin alone. Paul calls the attention of the Homan Christians to this same thing, “ That no man put a stumblingblock or an
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