August 8, 2023
“The beauty of Israel is slain upon thy high places: how are the mighty fallen! Tell it not in Gath, publish it not in the streets of Askelon; let not the daughters of the Philistines rejoice, lest the daughters of the uncircumcised triumph.” 2 Samuel 1:19, 20 KJV, emphasis added.
The tragic death of King Saul and his sons, especially his son Jonathan, is the reason for this lament by King David. David loved Jonathan very much. He was like a brother, maybe even closer than a brother, to David. Despite Saul’s numerous attempts to kill David, and when given multiple opportunities to kill Saul, David chose not to do so. Why didn’t David kill Saul when he had so many chances? Because Saul was God’s anointed King. David knew that God was making him the next King of Israel. He left the death of his enemy, Saul, in God’s hands. There is a lesson for all of us in how David handled this situation.
As you recall, Saul was badly wounded in battle after being shot with an arrow. Saul, Israel’s first king, actually took his own life after his armor-bearer refused to finish the job the arrow started. He did this by falling on his sword so that his enemies would not mock him. The fall of Israel’s first king into complete apostasy is a tragic ending to a story that could have had such a glorious conclusion. How are the mighty fallen!
God chose Saul and made him king, but Saul refused to submit to God’s authority and obey His commands. As a result, God departed from Saul and rejected him as king. He then made David the next king. God gave up on Saul and sent an evil spirit to torment him. “But the spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD troubled him.” 1 Samuel 16:14. Due to his own faithlessness, Saul was rejected by God. At one point, Saul did have the Spirit of God, but now an evil spirit sent by God tormented him. Does God give His repentant children evil spirits? Of course not.
And it came to pass on the morrow, that the evil spirit from God came upon Saul…..” 1 Samuel 18:10. It is difficult for Christians today to understand that God sent an evil spirit to torment Saul, but that is what the word of God declares. It wasn’t the devil who sent the evil spirit to Saul; it was God. The wages of sin are death, even for a king. When will Christians believe the Word of God?
Saul had God’s anointing and calling when he first became king. He was filled with the Spirit of God and even prophesied alongside the prophets. Saul understood that his position was conditional. To stay in God’s favor, he had to walk in obedience to God. However, Saul often disobeyed God and made excuses for his actions. When God’s patience ran out, He declared that Saul was rejected and would be replaced by someone more worthy.
King Saul fell so low that he even consulted a witch at En-dor. Desperate for a favorable word from God, he turned to someone who dealt with familiar spirits. The witch summoned the spirit of dead Samuel, as Saul requested. Samuel rebuked Saul, saying that God had abandoned him and had become his enemy. Samuel also warned Saul that he and his sons would all die the next day. How the mighty have fallen!
Samuel again told King Saul that because he did not obey the voice of God and failed to carry out God’s wrath on the Amalekites, all this evil from God would come upon him. “Tell it not in Gath and publish it not in the streets of Askelon,” that the mighty King Saul, chosen by God Himself, perished because he repeatedly disobeyed the voice of the LORD. His role as king had conditions. Being filled with the Holy Spirit of God had conditions. Saul was not unconditionally chosen, loved, and filled with the Spirit of God. There must be a message in this for us today. But how few are those who will hear it.
How the mighty have fallen. As unlikely as it seems, the explanation is quite simple. Too many of the “mighty” take God’s grace for granted. That is why they fall. Whenever anyone, especially a significant leader, believes they are so special to God that they can continually sin against Him, they have lost their anointing and salvation with God. Strong words, but isn’t this the message of scripture to us all?
Very often, God’s blessings become a source of pride within us. They can lead us to believe that we are deserving of His blessings. The “mighty” often think they merit His favor and believe they are immune from God’s judgment on the wicked. Prosperity and success can frequently foster pride. Pride then produces the evil fruit of presumption and fosters the false belief that our security is guaranteed—that God will never abandon us, even if we intentionally disobey His commands. However, God’s commands are not negotiable, and most of His promises are conditional.
Does anyone truly believe that Saul was taken to heaven after he committed suicide? Does anyone genuinely think Saul was in a justified state when he tried to kill David multiple times? What about when Saul sought out a witch for guidance—was he saved and on his way to glory despite his terrible sins?
From many pulpits across America, renowned pastors are telling their congregations that today’s “Sauls” are eternally secure in their ongoing sin. They preach that the “mighty are not fallen.” They claim that the “mighty” are safe and secure in their rebellion against God. Like the false prophets in Jeremiah’s day, who told the Jews that Jerusalem would never be destroyed and that they would never go into Babylonian captivity or die, these false prophets “strengthened the hands of evil doers so that no one was turned back from his evil deeds.” Many American pastors are doing the same today, telling their congregations that they can never sin enough for God to reject them. They lie, and the people love it so.
Let’s now look at King Solomon, son of King David. As you probably know, Solomon asked God for wisdom when he was made King of Israel. God granted his request and also told him that he would receive other great blessings from God besides wisdom to lead the people. Solomon built Millo, his own house, and the temple of the LORD, all of which took many years and cost a fortune. These achievements were truly spectacular. But there was much more he accomplished to show his power, authority, wealth, and God’s favor.
For instance, Solomon’s wealth is hard to imagine. He received 666 talents of gold each year. My rough estimate, in today’s dollars, suggests an annual income solely in gold of about $51 billion. At that time, silver was so abundant it was not considered valuable. Solomon’s empire was enormous, and his staff was equally large. He had 700 wives and 300 concubines. How many wives does one man need? He was the wisest person in the world at that time, and many traveled great distances to listen to him, see his magnificent house, God’s temple, and his kingdom. He enjoyed peace on all sides because of God’s blessings. But he fell, just like Saul. “Tell it not in Gath, publish it not in the streets of Ashkelon, how are the mighty fallen”? King Solomon became an apostate, just like King Saul. God-like wisdom didn’t prevent Solomon from becoming presumptuous and sinning. In this crucial life decision, Solomon’s wisdom was forsaken for lust.
“For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods: and his heart was not perfect with the LORD his God, as was the heart of David his father. For Solomon went after Ashtoreth, the goddess of the Zidonians, and after Milom, the abomination of the Ammonites. And Solomon did evil in the sight of the LORD, and went not fully after the LORD, as did David his father.” 1 Kings 11:4-6.
The wisest man alive turned away from the LORD who gave him wisdom, glory, riches, and honor. Solomon knew the commandments of Moses that forbade the Jews from marrying the godless women around them. God had warned them that these women would lead them into idol worship and away from pure devotion to their God. Moses also told them that if they turned from God to worship idols, God would reject and destroy their nation. How the mighty have fallen! So much for Solomon’s wisdom. The beggar who fears God has more wisdom than the great King Solomon. How often are the mighty turned away from God because they assume God’s blessings mean His favor is unconditional. It is not.
The worship of idols was often part of a system of idolatry that included child sacrifice, sexual immorality, and all kinds of whoredom against the LORD. Solomon served many of these idols in his old age. Just because someone has walked with God for a long time, they are not exempt from obeying God’s will. No person should ever presume on the grace of God, no matter how much God has used them in the past. Being used by God in the past and blessed by God now doesn’t give anyone a license to sin without consequences.
King Solomon, like King Saul, presumed on God’s grace and sinned, thinking God would exempt him from condemnation. He must have believed that his relationship with God was so special that God would allow him to disobey without facing eternal consequences. Pride goes before the fall, and a haughty spirit before destruction. Just because you and I have received God’s blessings doesn’t mean He will exempt us from faithful obedience to His laws and His will. Why do we think it will? We have leaders who tell us we can sin against God and still go to heaven, even if we never repent. Their condemnation is justified.
The “mighty are fallen” because their pride and selfishness know no limits. The mighty are fallen because they stop listening to the pure word of God and start listening to the false teachers of the day who appeal to their lusts. They look for those who will tell them what they want to hear, not what they should hear. We are no different today. The mighty are fallen because they think they are too big or too special to fall.
This is true on an individual level, but it also applies to nations. Our nation’s pride will be our downfall. The USA is not too big to fall, and neither are we as individuals. The arrogance of US leadership has led them to believe that God’s favor is no longer important. They incorrectly think that we are too big to fall. When individuals and nations turn their back on God, He doesn’t just leave them; He becomes their enemy. God brings leaders and nations to a day of judgment. If that person or nation refuses to repent, God will send destruction and deliver them over to strong delusion. Strong delusion is rampant in our nation and signals God’s displeasure. And from there, things only get worse.
One quick example of strong delusion is the idea that man-made climate change threatens our very existence. Many people are being indoctrinated into believing this is a serious threat and that we must essentially destroy our standard of living to stop the harm we are causing to the environment. (By the way, climate scientists can’t accurately predict the weather tomorrow, let alone the climate years from now.) Some of the more informed believers in climate change hysteria know that this is a deception used to gain political and economic control over people worldwide. For these individuals, the end always justifies the means. Their fear tactics are working. Could this be one of the ways God has sent a strong delusion on our nation and others around the world? For the godless leaders in our country and others, it never occurs to them that “climate changes” might actually be a sign of God’s judgment on an unholy and unrighteous world. Throughout the Old Testament, God used nature to discipline and punish His people and bring them back to Himself. God, the creator, owns the universe and everything in it. We have much more to fear from a holy God than from man-made climate change.
Tell it not in Washington, DC, and publish it not in the streets of LA and New York; how is the mighty USA fallen. The beauty of the USA is slain upon its high places (where the worship of idols takes place). My prayer is that this refrain from 2 Samuel is not your future nor the future of this land of ours. Only our deep repentance, from our many sins, will prevent total ruin. I recommend that we humble ourselves, confess our sins, and seek God’s mercy and forgiveness. We must turn from all our sins, become new creations in Jesus Christ by faith in Him, and pray as if our future depends on God’s favor. The beginning of wisdom is to fear God. Are you going to be wiser than Solomon?
