No Neutral Ground | 1 Samuel 16:13-15

Vince Miller Podcast

There is no neutral ground in leadership with God.

Welcome to the Daily Devo. I am Vince Miller.

This week, we are in 1 Samuel 16. I've titled this chapter "God's Criteria for Choosing Leaders."

Here's the context for this moment. Samuel has gone to Bethelem for what looks like a sacrifice of atonement, but it's a sacrifice of anointment. Here, he is going to anoint David, king of Israel. The town has prepared for the sacrifice, and Jesse has seven sons whom God has not chosen. We realize the youngest of his boys, David, was out tending the sheep and was absent. David, the youngest and left out child, now enters the ceremony. All eyes are locked on him, and this happens:

And the Lord said, "Arise, anoint him, for this is he." Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers. And the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon David from that day forward. And Samuel rose up and went to Ramah. Now the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and a harmful spirit from the Lord tormented him. And Saul's servants said to him, "Behold now, a harmful spirit from God is tormenting you. — 1 Samuel 16:13-15

There are two important observations in this text.

First, the rushing of the Spirit. The Spirit rushes onto David and noticeably off of Saul. This appears to happen instantaneously, meaning that the events coincide, which would be appropriate. This is the passing of the divine anointing from one king to the next, as Samuel predicted. God's people, authority, and blessing would pass to the next man.

I have mentioned this before, but the anointing of the Spirit was different in the Old Testament than today. In the Old Testament, the Spirit fell on certain men at certain times, but after Jesus's ascension, the Spirit lives in us. The difference is on versus in, and the reason for this is that the anointing of Jesus is permanent and done by a perfect prophet, priest, and king. Here are a couple of texts that emphasize this:

And it is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us. — 2 Corinthians 1:21

But you have been anointed by the Holy One, and you all have knowledge. — 1 John 2:20

But the anointing that you received from him abides in you, and you have no need that anyone should teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about everything, and is true, and is no lie—just as it has taught you, abide in him. — 1 John 2:27

A second observation is that the Spirit not only rushes off Saul, but a harmful spirit torments him. This can appear disturbing for two reasons: first, it's tormenting him, and second, it reads like God is doing the tormenting. But let's remember that Saul was in this situation because he was deliberately disobedient, which means that the torment directly resulted from Saul's wicked choices. The observers had no problem seeing God's sovereign hand in this situation. This is not to infer that God made Saul do it, but that he gave Saul the option to obey or disobey. The blessing of being God's anointed and the consequences of not was up to Saul, but whatever his choice in the end, God was never surprised by the result and still in complete control of the outcome.

There is no "neutrality" when it comes to God.

I think even believers get this wrong. We believe that there are neutral positions tucked into God's commands. When action is required, we convince ourselves inaction is permitted. But inaction is just apathetic disobedience disguised by our inclinations for indifference. We believe our indifference and passivity are neutral, but they're not. The options are to obey God or obey the Devil. You submit to the Spirit of God, or you submit to the Spirit of the Devil. One brings truth, and the other brings torment.

Throughout the Bible, God demands that his followers and leaders make a choice. The choice is definitive. You are either with Christ or against Christ (Matt. 12:30); you are either hot or cold (Rev. 3:15-16); otherwise, you are spat out of his mouth.

#LeadershipByGod, #DivineAnointing, #ObeyOrDisobey