Honouring and respecting the Lord

In cultures where kingdoms and monarchy still exist, it is a normal thing to see the authority a king, a chief or a monarch has over the people and the land they govern. The king’s wishes are often treated as instructions or commands. In such cultures, the people understand what an instruction is and they tend to simply obey in order to not face the consequences of such disobedience. In the past, Kings and Queens were treated with the utmost respect and some in our day would even find it repulsive. I think of the way these highly influential people used to be greeted. For example, the King James bible has this inscription at the beginning of the letter in the preface: “To the most high and mighty prince James by the grace of God King of Great Britain, France, and Ireland defender of the faith”. From that address you can see the respect and honour that was given to King James as a monarch. In fact, it is in reading that letter that I got to know that it was King James that authorized this version of the bible to be translated, hence its name! In our modern world, this type of respect is a bit lost, but we still give respect to those in authority. Probably not at the same level but the practice is recognized by everyone that the honour due a President for example is not the same as that due a friend. Similarly, in the kingdom of God, honour and respect must be given to the King of kings and this is done through obedience to the King’s commandments. Let us look at two examples of people in the bible who disobeyed God and paid the heavy price for doing so.

The first example I want us to look at is Moses. As you probably remember, Moses is the great leader whom God use to bring his people out of the land of oppression and slavery, the land of Egypt to bring them into the land flowing with milk and honey. From the scriptures, we know that Moses was a passionate man, a man who had a burden for justice, a great intercessor (Exodus 32). We also know he was a man who exercised great strength leading the people of Israel who were many. We also know Moses was a man who listened to sound advice, despite his high rank in the society, he was a teachable man, ready to glean from the wisdom of the elderly (Exodus 18). Moses was also meek above all the men which were upon the face of the earth (Numbers 12:3). As a matter of fact, I believe it is this very quality that caused him to be defended by the Most High God when his brother and sister rallied up against him. Moses also had the privilege of being in the presence of God and having God speak to him as a man speaks to his friend (Exodus 33:11). I don’t know anyone else in the bible with such a pedigree! The revelation he got from being in the presence of God must have been out of this world! The Law of God came through him as well. What strikes me the most is that this same Moses disobeyed God’s instruction as he was leading the people of Israel through the Desert of Zin (Exodus 20:1). There “the people gathered in opposition to Moses and Aaron” because there was no water. As a good leader, Moses went before the Lord to ask for the course of action to take in this situation. It is important to note that the way Moses approached the Lord was always in a humble fashion. Here he fell facedown before the Lord. The Lord told Moses to take his staff, gather the people with his brother Aaron and speak to the rock before the assembly and it would pour out its water for the people and their livestock to drink (Exodus 20:8). This sounds like a simple enough instruction in my opinion but what Moses does instead is that upon taking his staff and gathering the assembly with his brother, he then “raised his arms and struck the rock twice with his staff” (Numbers 20:11). Moses’ anger led him to disobey God. The most astonishing part of this all to me is that water still came out and the people were satisfied with their thirst being quenched. This disobedience displeased the Lord greatly and he told Moses that he and his brother would not enter the Promised Land because they did not trust in Him enough to honour Him as Holy in the sight of the Israelites. Can you imagine how this one act has tainted his legacy? The consequences were grave. Moses led the people into the Promised Land but never got to see the Promised Land. The whole purpose of his existence was taken away because of an act of disobedience. If anything, I believe the story of Moses tells us that when it comes to God, as a King He must be obeyed and regarded as Holy. His Holiness will not tolerate sin in any form from any man. Your proximity with God does not exempt you from the wrath of God when you disobey. Your closeness to God, your service and good acts toward God do not give you a pass when you disobey. Consequences will always follow, and they will be detrimental.

Another example of disobedience in the bible is found in the story of Saul. Saul was the first King of Israel. He was minding his own business shepherding his flock, looking for his father’s donkey when the word of God came to Samuel concerning him. Samuel met Saul and anointed him King over Israel as the Lord had instructed him. The series of events that happened after the anointing of Saul, prove that this was an act of God (1 Samuel 10:2-7). The final event which was to happen at Gilgal was the one that would solidify this new kingship. Of all stories in the bible, the story of Saul’s beginning is one that always baffles me, I often wonder what it would have been like had Saul obeyed God? Anyway, Saul was given an instruction from Samuel to wait for him seven days at Gilgal to sacrifice burnt offerings and fellowship offerings (1 Samuel 10:8). This is a simple enough instruction but as we know, the circumstances changed, and Saul was no longer in that “honeymoon” period where he was even thought to be a prophet (1 Samuel 10:11). Reality sank in and he was faced with a battle against the Philistines. Seeing that his army was being hard pressed by the Philistines and getting smaller as many of his men left him, he decided to go ahead and offer sacrifices to God. Unfortunately for Saul, this act of blatant disobedience caused him the kingdom. One interesting note about the story of Saul is that it teaches us that there is a difference between being anointed king and having a kingdom established. This same principle will also be evident in the life of David. Anyway, by the time Samuel came as he had said, Saul had already gone ahead of him and offered sacrifices which by the way were only to be done by priests. He showed that he could not even depend on God in difficult situations. This is a man that God himself had chosen to deliver his people from the hands of the Philistines, this is a man who was supposed to be great, he was meant for greatness, but he fell. He disobeyed. Again, nothing will exempt you from the holiness of God, from facing his consequences for disobeying his law even when you are chosen.

The point is clear, honour God as God. Do not take Him to be your friend that you disregard and treat anyhow you want. God is God. He is to be feared, He is to be revered. He is Holy and He is Jealous. His glory is not shared with anyone, and His name will not be mocked. In the same way we honour earthly kings and are quick to take their wishes as instructions, we should do so even more with the King of kings. He alone deserves our utmost obedience, our complete dedication, and our unwavering faith. I pray the Lord gives us the grace to honour Him as King.