What Were They Thinking?

Not every German was Hitler. Not every German was a die-hard nazi or nazi supporter. They weren’t all gung-ho fans of the gestapo. Sometimes when we look back on events that happened in history, particularly when things in history went wrong (like during the Holocaust), we can have a tendency to quickly lump people into the two categories of victims and perpetrators. We can also falsely make the assumption that everyone in our “perpetrator” category was hard-hearted and motivated by pure evil. In reality, things aren’t necessarily quite as simple as that.

When individuals or groups come to a crossroads in life that involve weighty matters, decisions often come with varying levels of mixed emotions, reluctance and passivity. If we’re not taking our thoughts captive, fear can seep its way into the decision-making process to the point that it trumps what we know is right or successfully deters us from obeying clear commands from God.

In this post, we’re going to look at several biblical examples of people who chose not to do what they knew was right and will analyze (or better…conjecture) as to what may have driven them to choose the path they walked down.

Moses and the Rock, Part 2 (Numbers 20)
In Chapter 20 of Numbers, we see the account of the second time that Moses pleaded with God to provide water for the Israelites as they wandered through the wilderness. The first time this happened (in Exodus 17, forty years prior), God said “you shall strike the rock, and water will come out of it, that the people may drink.” But this time God tells Moses to “speak to the rock before their eyes, that it may yield its water.” Neglecting the fact that the outcome was going to be miraculous, the instructions were quite simple. “Speak to the rock.” To mess that up, you’d think you’d have to be trying to.

However, Moses struck the rock…and water came forth. We’re not told why Moses hit the rock instead of speaking to it and, to be fair, we’re also not told that Moses made any excuses. It could seem like a harmless turn of events. All the people, including Moses, got the results they were looking for. Water came forth. The Israelites were happy. God?…not so much. He didn’t get the results He was looking for, namely, obedience from the leader He had chosen.

What was Moses thinking? Why do you think Moses disobeyed? Maybe it was pent-up frustration with his circumstances. Ironically (in Numbers 20:11), Moses addressed the Israelites as “rebels” immediately before striking the rock. Go figure! He accuses the people of being rebels as he himself rebels against God’s clear instruction. Maybe he was stressed out or in mourning. Verse 1 tells us that Moses’ sister Miriam had recently died and been buried in this region. So, Moses could have had what we might mistakenly refer to as extenuating circumstances. The fact is…we don’t know why Moses disobeyed.

But we do know what happened as a result of Moses’ disobedience.

Exodus 20:12 “But the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, ‘Because you have not believed Me, to treat Me as holy in the sight of the sons of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them.’”

Do you think this seems harsh? What do you think Moses was thinking? I guess he could have been thinking, “Are you kidding me? Do You mean to tell me I’ve spent forty years in the wilderness leading these complainers to have You deny my entrance into the Promised Land because I hit a rock instead of speaking to it? What’s the big deal with hitting the rock? That’s what You told me to do last time. Why’s it such a big deal to hit it this time?”

Again, we don’t know if Moses responded this way at all. But he may have. I tend to doubt that Moses woke up that morning premeditating to blatantly disobey God out of a hardened heart and pure evilness.

No matter what reason Moses had or what excuse he may have given, God’s expectation for Moses was that he would obey what God clearly had told him to do. No ifs, ands or buts. It was obviously important to God that Moses learn to obey Him completely despite his own understanding of the circumstances. It was also important to God that Moses esteem Him to the people by following through with His instructions.

Do you think God’s response was unloving?......or loving? (Hint: Hebrews 12:6, 1 John 4:8)

Saul and the Amalekites (1 Samuel 15)
When the Israelites demanded a king, God Himself hand-picked Saul (1 Samuel 9:17). 
In 1 Samuel 15, God gave Saul clear instructions through Samuel.

1 Samuel 15:3 “Now go and strike Amalek and utterly destroy all that he has, and do not spare him; but put to death both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.”

So, what did God’s anointed king do? He wiped out all the Amalekites except their king (Agag) and kept the best of the livestock.

What was Saul thinking? Why do you think he disobeyed the Lord’s clear instructions? Well, this time we’re given an answer. In 1 Samuel 15:15, if we take Saul at his word, they refrained from killing the best of the livestock so that they could later offer a sacrifice to God.

In other words…they disobeyed God in order to honor Him? Samuel didn’t buy it. Nor did God.

Is it possible that Saul didn’t act out of greed or pride and that he had what he felt were honorable intentions? I suppose. It at least appears as though he had talked himself into believing he had a plan that would bring God more glory and honor than if he had followed God’s clear instructions.

However, if Saul’s stated intentions were indeed legitimate, it seems God placed a much higher value on obedience than He did on Saul’s “good” intentions. Samuel responded by letting Saul know that it is better to obey God than to offer sacrifices. He also let Saul know that God had rejected him as king of Israel. Saul confesses to having sinned (in 1 Samuel 15:24) hoping to dodge the consequences, but God’s decision to reject Saul as king stood.

Do you feel that God was unforgiving in this situation? Do you think it would have been more loving for God to have just let this mistake slide?

Eli and Sons (1 Samuel 2-3)
For the last 40 years of his life, Eli served as both a priest and a judge in Israel. Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, also served as priests but scripture doesn’t beat around the bush regarding Hophni and Phinehas.

1 Samuel 2:12 “Now the sons of Eli were worthless men, they did not know the Lord”

Though they served as priests, Eli’s sons had no regard for God, for Jewish law or for their own role as priests. They broke all sorts of sacrificial laws and slept with the women who served at the door of the tent of meeting. Eli approached his sons about their sin and made them aware of his disapproval. However, his encounter with them lacked any kind of disciplinary follow-through.

As a priest, Eli knew what Jewish law had to say about the actions of his sons. And certainly, being both their father and a judge, he had both the responsibility and authority to institute disciplinary action but failed to do so.

What was Eli thinking? Do you think he didn’t realize the seriousness of the matter?

My personal viewpoint is that Eli likely felt he had trapped himself by establishing a pattern of past gentle parenting mistakes. Maybe he felt like he had set a precedent by letting too many of his sons’ past escapades slip without saying a word…and that taking a strong stance at this point would have been inconsistent. Maybe he felt he was too old to be “interfering” with his sons’ lives. On the one hand, I do think that Eli loved the Lord… in feeling. But, on the other hand, He was not loving the Lord in action through this situation. Again, it’s difficult to say for sure what led Eli to not take action. 

But we know what God had to say about what transpired. In 2:29, God accuses Eli of honoring Hophni and Phinehas above Him. And, in 2:31-34, He curses Eli’s family and lets Eli know that both his sons would die on the same day. In Chapter 3, God tells Samuel why Eli’s family is being cursed.

1 Samuel 3:13 “For I have told him that I am about to judge his house forever for the iniquity which he knew, because his sons brought a curse on themselves and he did not rebuke them.”

It’s clear that God saw Eli as having a responsibility to appropriately confront his sons for their sin and to hold them accountable. The curse was clearly placed on Eli’s family and not just the families of his sons.

Does it seem unfair to you that God held Eli accountable in this situation?

Not a 2 ½ God (A Contemplative Interlude)
How many times have you heard parents attempt to corral their kids by saying the following?
“If you don’t obey me on the count of three, I’ll [insert threat]! One!.....Two!....Two and a half!...”

The “two and a half” really begins to deplete the credibility of the parent in the eyes of the child because it’s seen as an empty threat that the child doesn’t believe is likely to be backed up when push comes to shove. The “two and a half” can make the parent look weak and really open themselves up to being run over by the child (or others) in the future.

Our God is not a 2 ½ God. (I digress)

A Corinthian Mindset (1 Corinthians 5)
Now let’s talk about Corinth. When Paul wrote his first letter to this church, he was already bewildered and somewhat annoyed by the fact that the believers had not already disciplined one of their fellow believers for having a sexual relationship with his step-mom. Paul made it clear that they were not to be associating with this man in his unrepentant state but were rather to remove him from their midst.

Why do you figure they hadn’t dealt with this problem? Do you think they were all so carnally-minded that they truly took no issue with this man’s behavior? Or maybe they were so worldly that they didn’t even notice that it was happening?

I tend to think that there were probably plenty of people in the Corinthian church who were troubled by the behavior of this man but were almost paralyzed by a mix of different fears, emotions or questions. What if I’m the only person who seeks to do the right thing? What if people label me as “unloving”, “unforgiving” or “divisive” for trying to do the right thing?  They may have been very fond of this man. He could have been very friendly or popular. They may have had skeletons in their own closet that they were fearful would be exposed if they dared approach the subject of this man’s sin. If he was a man of power and influence, they may have been fearful of how confrontation might affect their own personal standing in society. He could have been a wealthy or high-profile person in their church. They may have even been afraid of what people would think of Jesus if non-believers found out that this type of sin existed in the church.

While addressing this issue (in 1 Corinthians 5:6), Paul says something rather interesting to the Corinthian believers. He says, “Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough?”

In what way do you think “boasting” was playing into this situation?  What would there have been for the recipients of his letter to be boasting about?

It would seem as though Paul was implying that the Corinthian believers were actually taking pride in the fact that they hadn’t dealt with the unrepentant man…almost as if they had talked themselves into believing that doing nothing was the godly way to handle unrepentant sin. According to Paul, boasting and not confronting the issue directly was guaranteed to promote more sin just like it.

Undoubtedly there were likely varying perspectives the Corinthian believers had regarding the sin this man was partaking in. Some of them may have had no problem with it at all. Others may have been grieved by it but were reluctant to get involved. And some of them were proud of their non-response.

But Paul was calling people to action and take things seriously.

Conclusion
A lot can be learned from looking at history, especially biblical history. And it can be a good exercise to imagine yourself in the shoes of those who found themselves at a crossroads in the past and learn from what they did, whether right or wrong. As sinners in a fallen world, we can find a million reasons not to do the right thing. Hopefully, we can learn from those who have gone before us and that this will help us be poised to take appropriate action whenever we come to a crossroads in the future.

One thing’s for sure…God is not big on excuses when it comes to following His clear instructions.
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If you’re Hitler, you don’t necessarily need the masses to actively support what you’re doing in order to commit atrocities. You just need an ample amount of people who aren’t going to stand in your way from committing them. If you can manipulate people into a state of indifference or petrification, you’re golden. You’ve now got free reign to wreak havoc in whatever way you feel is necessary to accomplish your purposes.